Movies like Outland (1981)
The best movies like Outland (1981) are Saturn 3 (1980), Pitch Black (2000) and Escape from New York (1981). If Outland hooked you with its science fiction and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAlien (1979)8.2/10 from 17,106 votes
- NewestCode 8 (2019)Released 2019
Saturn 3 (1980)
In the future, Earth is overcrowded and the population relies on distant bases to be fed. In the Saturn 3 station, Major Adam and the scientist Alex, who is also his lover and has never been on Earth, have been researching hydroponics for three years in the base alone with their dog Sally. Captain Benson arrives Saturn 3 with Hector, incapable to controlling his emotions he transfers his homicidal tendency and insanity to Hector. Now Major Adam and Alex are trapped in the station with a dangerous psychopath robot.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisPitch Black (2000)
When their ship crash-lands on a remote planet, the marooned passengers soon learn that escaped convict Riddick isn't the only thing they have to fear. Deadly creatures lurk in the shadows, waiting to attack in the dark, and the planet is rapidly plunging into the utter blackness of a total eclipse. With the body count rising, the doomed survivors are forced to turn to Riddick with his eerie eyes to guide them through the darkness to safety. With time running out, there's only one rule: Stay in the light.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEscape from New York (1981)
In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam free. After the US president crash-lands inside, war hero Snake Plissken has 24 hours to bring him back.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlade Runner (1982)
In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDune (1984)
In the year 10,191, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spice is vital to space travel. The spice exists on only one planet in the entire universe, the vast desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. Its native inhabitants, the Fremen, have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah who would lead them to true freedom.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRunaway (1984)
In the near future, a police officer specializes in malfunctioning robots. When a robot turns out to have been programmed to kill, he begins to uncover a homicidal plot to create killer robots... and his son becomes a target.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisZardoz (1974)
In the far future, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisAliens (1986)
Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo's deadly encounter with the monstrous Alien, returns to Earth after drifting through space in hypersleep for 57 years. Although her story is initially met with skepticism, she agrees to accompany a team of Colonial Marines back to LV-426.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPandorum (2009)
Two crew members wake up on an abandoned spacecraft with no idea who they are, how long they've been asleep, or what their mission is. The two soon discover they're actually not alone – and the reality of their situation is more horrifying than they could have imagined.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2010 (1984)
While planet Earth poises on the brink of nuclear self-destruction, a team of Russian and American scientists aboard the Leonov hurtles to a rendezvous with the still-orbiting Discovery spacecraft and its sole known survivor, the homicidal computer HAL.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien (1979)
During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEnemy Mine (1985)
A soldier from Earth crashlands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor, but from the enemy species he was fighting; they band together to survive on this hostile world. In the end the human finds himself caring for his enemy in a completely unexpected way.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFortress (1992)
In the future, the inmates of a private underground prison are computer-controlled with cameras, dream readers, and devices that can cause pain or death. John and his illegally pregnant wife Karen are locked inside "The Fortress" but are determined to escape before the birth of their baby.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInto Pitch Black (2000)
After the events of Pitch Black, a contractor is hired to locate Riddick, dead or alive. He reviews available information on him and the events of Pitch Black. Terrified, he hires a female cyberpunk merc to do the job for him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien³ (1992)
After escaping with Newt and Hicks from the alien planet, Ripley crash lands on Fiorina 161, a prison planet and host to a correctional facility. Unfortunately, although Newt and Hicks do not survive the crash, a more unwelcome visitor does. The prison does not allow weapons of any kind, and with aid being a long time away, the prisoners must simply survive in any way they can.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScreamers (1995)
SIRIUS 6B, Year 2078. On a distant mining planet ravaged by a decade of war, scientists have created the perfect weapon: a blade-wielding, self-replicating race of killing devices known as Screamers designed for one purpose only -- to hunt down and destroy all enemy life forms.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Andromeda Strain (1971)
When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scrambles to a secure laboratory and tries first to isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form, unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCargo (2009)
The story of CARGO takes place on rusty space-freighter KASSANDRA on its way to Station 42. The young medic LAURA is the only one awake on board while the rest of the crew lies frozen in hibernation sleep. In 4 months will Laura's shift be over.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisSilent Running (1972)
After the entire flora goes extinct, ecologist Lowell maintains a greenhouse aboard a space station for the future with his android companions. However, he rebels after being ordered to destroy the greenhouse in favor of carrying cargo, a decision that puts him at odds with everyone but his mechanical companions.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Terminator (1984)
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Thing (1982)
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMoon (2009)
With only three weeks left in his three-year contract, Sam Bell is eager to return to Earth. Stationed alone at a Moon-based facility with his computer assistant GERTY, an unexpected accident sets off a series of unsettling events that shake his isolation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHardware (1990)
Mark 13 is a government-built killing machine programmed with artificial intelligence, able to repair and recharge itself from any energy source. Through a series of coincidences, the cyborg's head ends up in the home of a sculptress as a bizarre Christmas present from her boyfriend. Once inside its new home, the cyborg promptly reconstructs the rest of its body using a variety of household utensils and proceeds to go on a murderous rampage.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Days (1995)
In the last days of 1999, ex-cop turned street hustler Lenny Nero receives a disc which contains the memories of the murder of a prostitute. With the help of bodyguard Mace, he starts to investigate and is pulled deeper and deeper in a whirl of murder, blackmail and intrigue.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRed Planet (2000)
Astronauts search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisHunter Prey (2010)
The Prometheus has dropped out of orbit. Communications and life support systems are down. Situation Critical: Status of Crew and Prisoner unknown. With orders to catch their Alien Prisoner alive the surviving crew of the spaceship Prometheus pursue a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with their escaped prisoner on a deserted and barren planet. But, who is the hunter and who is its prey?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisSpace Truckers (1996)
John Canyon is one of the last independent space transport entrepreneurs. Rough times force him to carry suspicious cargo to Earth without questions being asked. During the flight the cargo turns out to be a multitude of unstoppable killer robots.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisSerenity (2005)
A group of rebels travel the outskirts of space evading the sinister Alliance regime. Their lives of smuggling and cargo-running are interrupted by a psychic passenger who harbours a dangerous secret. Soon, the crew find themselves being pursued by an Alliance agent who will stop at nothing to find them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCode 8 (2019)
In Lincoln City, some inhabitants have extraordinary abilities. Most live below the poverty line, under the close surveillance of a heavily militarized police force. Connor, a construction worker with powers, involves with a criminal gang to help his ailing mother. (Based on the short film “Code 8,” 2016.)
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Angel (1990)
Jack Caine is a Houston vice cop who's forgotten the rule book. His self-appointed mission is to stop the drugs trade and the number one supplier Victor Manning. While involved in an undercover operation to entrap Victor Manning, his partner is killed, and a sinister newcomer enters the scene...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Outland?
The closest matches to Outland are Saturn 3 (1980), Pitch Black (2000) and Escape from New York (1981). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Outland?
People who watched Outland most often go on to Saturn 3 (1980), Pitch Black (2000) and Escape from New York (1981).
What is the highest-rated movie like Outland?
Alien (1979), rated 8.2/10 by 17,106 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Outland?
Code 8 (2019) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Outland?
Yes: Saturn 3 (1980), Pitch Black (2000) and Escape from New York (1981).
How are movies similar to Outland chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Outland, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.