Movies like The Defender (1997)
The best movies like The Defender (1997) are Monsters of Man (2020), Halo: Nightfall (2014) and Code 8 Part II (2024). If The Defender hooked you with its science fiction and action, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGhost in the Shell (1995)7.9/10 from 4,136 votes
- NewestAfterburn (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseGantz: Perfect Answer (2011)Also in Japanese
Monsters of Man (2020)
A robotics company vying to win a lucrative military contract team up with a corrupt CIA agent to conduct an illegal live field test. They deploy four weaponized prototype robots into a suspected drug manufacturing camp in the Golden Triangle, assuming they'd be killing drug runners that no one would miss. Six doctors on a humanitarian mission witness the brutal slaughter and become prime targets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHalo: Nightfall (2014)
Set between the events of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians… Halo: Nightfall tells the dramatic story of legendary man hunter and Naval Intelligence Officer Jameson Locke and his team as they are caught in a horrific biological attack while investigating terrorist activity on the distant colony world of Sedra. As they unravel a plot that draws them to an ancient, hellish artifact, they will be forced to fight for their survival, question everything and ultimately choose between their loyalty and their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCode 8 Part II (2024)
In a world where superpowered people are heavily policed by robots, an ex-con teams up with a drug lord he despises to protect a teen from a corrupt cop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers - To Live and Die in Starlight (2002)
After being punished for retreat from combat, Ranger David Martel is given command of the Liandra, a haunted 20-year old Minbari fighting ship. He's escorting ambassadors to a secret archaeological site, the oldest city on record and a clue to a dangerous ancient race.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGantz: Perfect Answer (2011)
Summoned by the black sphere, Kei and Masaru fight against extraterrestrials until Masaru grows tired of fighting and refuses to continue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost in the Shell (1995)
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMetal Skin Panic MADOX-01 (1987)
Ace female test pilot Kusomoto Elle humiliates macho tank driver Lt. Kilgore in the first demonstration of the advanced personal battle tank, the MADOX. Kilgore vows revenge, and gets his chance when the army rather carelessly loses the prototype in Tokyo. The MADOX is found by engineering student Sujimoto Kouji, who doesn't take the time to completely read the manual and ends up zooming around Tokyo trapped in a machine he doesn't quite know how to operate. Guess who gets the job of stopping the now mobile missing MADOX? Poor Kouji. If he's late for his date, it's over between him and his girlfriend. His current attire redefines the term "over-dressed." And to top it all off, Kilgore wants to make him late- as in "the late Kouji!"
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterburn (2025)
Set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParasyte: Part 2 (2015)
Humanity is under attack by human-mimicking flesh-eating alien parasites. One parasite bonds with his young high school student host, and he convinces the parasite to help him stop the others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonster Hunters (2020)
When an alien prison ship crash lands and unleashes creature after creature in the California desert, they make quick work of the army that tries to stop them. Now, the only hope of stopping the aliens rests with a secret branch of the government specializing in alien weaponry. But with the team untested in actual combat, the battle for Earth will be brutal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMessage from Space (1978)
The peaceful planet of Jillucia has been nearly wiped out by the Gavanas, whose leader takes orders from his mother rather than the Emperor. King Kaiba sends out eight Liabe holy seeds, each to be received by a chosen one to defend the Gavanas. Each recipient, ranging from hardened General Garuda to Gavana Prince Hans to young Terrans Meia, Kido, and Aaron all have different reactions to being chosen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisBabylon 5: The River of Souls (1998)
A group of Soul Hunters come to Babylon 5 demanding the return of something that was stolen from them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUniversal Soldier: The Return (1999)
Luc Deveraux, the heroic former Universal Soldier, is about to be thrown into action once again. When SETH, the supercomputer-controlled ultra-warrior, decides to take revenge and destroy its creators, only Luc can stop it. All hell breaks loose as Luc battles SETH and a deadly team of perfect soldiers in a struggle that pits man against machine and good against evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisGintama (2017)
In an era where aliens have invaded and taken over feudal Tokyo, a young samurai finds work however he can.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturner (2002)
A young woman from the future forces a local gunman to help her stop an impending alien invasion which will wipe out the human race.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAttack on Titan II: End of the World (2015)
Eren Yeager leaves to restore a break in the wall destroyed by a Titan. He comes under attack by the Titans and is cornered. Shikishima comes to his aid. The titans never stops attacking. Eren is now injured and tries to protect Armin, but is swallowed by a titan. A Titan with black hair appears and begins to expel the other titans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExpelled from Paradise (2014)
A.D. 2400, DEVA's central council detects an incident of unauthorized access into their mainframe. Someone on Earth was trying to hack into the system. The only information DEVA was able to retrieve was that hacker referred to themselves as "Frontier Setter." To investigate the mysterious hacker's motives, the high officials of DEVA dispatch system Security Third Officer Angela Balzac to the Earth's surface. Equipped with a prosthetic "material body," Angela attempts to make contact with a local agent Dingo, but what awaited her instead was a swarm of Sandworms now infesting the Earth's surface. Angela intercepts the gruesome pests with her exoskeleton powered suit Arhan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIron Man: Rise of Technovore (2013)
Iron Man enlists the help of ruthless vigilante the Punisher to track down War Machine's murderer. All the while, he's being pursued by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Black Widow and Hawkeye, who suspect his involvement in a recent terrorist plot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlita: Battle Angel (2019)
When Alita awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido, a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTimescape (1992)
Before they can complete renovations on their new country inn, a widowed father and his young daughter are visited by a strange group of tourists. He soon makes a chilling discovery: they are disaster junkies from the future who visit the past to witness history's greatest catastrophes—and his small town is their next stop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Defender?
The closest matches to The Defender are Monsters of Man (2020), Halo: Nightfall (2014) and Code 8 Part II (2024). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Defender?
Start with Monsters of Man (2020), the closest match to The Defender.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Defender?
Ghost in the Shell (1995), rated 7.9/10 by 4,136 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Defender?
Afterburn (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Defender?
Yes: Gantz: Perfect Answer (2011), Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 (1987).
How are movies similar to The Defender chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Defender, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.