Movies like Stranger Surfing
The best movies like Stranger Surfing are Riding Giants (2004), Top Secret! (1984) and Chasing Mavericks (2012). If Stranger Surfing hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Stranger Surfing
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBeastie Boys Story (2020)7.5/10 from 203 votes
- NewestAir Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025)Released 2025
Riding Giants (2004)
Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTop Secret! (1984)
Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond, he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul, from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChasing Mavericks (2012)
Surfer Jay Moriarity sets out to ride the Northern California break known as Mavericks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHot Shots! (1991)
The gang that created Airplane! and The Naked Gun sets its sights on Top Gun in this spoof. Topper Harley is a talented but unstable fighter pilot with an axe to grind: clearing the family name. His mission is to avenge his father and save a mission sabotaged by greedy weapons manufacturers. He also gets involved in a relationship with Ramada Thompson, a woman with an unusually talented stomach. Hot Shots! makes fun of a variety of other films, from Dances with Wolves to The Fabulous Baker Boys.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAir Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025)
The elite pilots of the Air Force Thunderbirds display exceptional skill, trust and courage during a high-stakes training season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisxXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017)
Xander Cage is left for dead after an incident, though he secretly returns to action for a new, tough assignment with his handler Augustus Gibbons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEscobar: Paradise Lost (2014)
For Pablo Escobar family is everything. When young surfer Nick falls for Escobar's niece, Maria, he finds his life on the line when he's pulled into the dangerous world of the family business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSurf's Up 2: WaveMania (2017)
Cody, Chicken Joe and Lani are back in their most epic adventure yet! The most radical surfing dream team, The Hang Five puts Cody and his friends to the test and teaches them the meaning of teamwork as they journey to the most legendary surfing spot on the planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisPoint Break (1991)
In Los Angeles, a gang of bank robbers who call themselves The Ex-Presidents commit their crimes while wearing masks of Reagan, Carter, Nixon and Johnson. Believing that the members of the gang could be surfers, the F.B.I. sends young agent Johnny Utah to the beach undercover to mix with the surfers and gather information.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGleaming the Cube (1989)
An Orange County teenager's carefree life of ditching class and skateboarding abandoned pools comes to a screeching halt when someone close to him dies. The cops rule the death a suicide, but the bereaved skater believes he was murdered. It's up to him to solve the case, with a skateboard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNitro Circus: The Movie (2012)
You will see Travis Pastrana and the whole Nitro Circus crew perform some of the most ridiculous, awe-inspiring, and simply insane stunts ever caught on camera. Coming to you in three dimensional glory, it will feel like you are there sitting shotgun with the crew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDìdi (弟弟) (2024)
In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can't teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCKY 4: The Latest & Greatest (2002)
Fourth and final entry in the CKY series, directed by Bam Margera, featuring the CKY crew and the Margera family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTour de Pharmacy (2017)
A mockumentary that chronicles the prevalence of doping in the world of professional cycling.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoint Break (2015)
A young undercover FBI agent infiltrates a gang of thieves who share a common interest in extreme sports. A remake of the 1991 film, "Point Break".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJackass 4.5 (2022)
Through outrageous, never-before-seen footage, witness the making of the Jackass crew's last go at wild stunts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeastie Boys Story (2020)
Here's a little story they're about to tell... Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz share the story of their band and 40 years of friendship in a live documentary experience directed by friend, collaborator, and their former grandfather, Spike Jonze.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTeen Beach Movie (2013)
Life's a beach for surfers Brady and McKenzie – until a rogue wave magically transports them inside the classic '60s beach party flick, "Wet Side Story," where a full-blown rivalry between bikers and surfers threatens to erupt. There, amidst a sea of surfing, singing and dancing, Brady and Mack accidentally change the storyline, and the film’s dreamy hero and heroine fall for them instead of for each other!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off (2022)
A wide-ranging, definitive look at Hawk’s life and iconic career, and his relationship with the sport with which he’s been synonymous for decades, featuring unprecedented access, never-before-seen footage, and interviews with Hawk and prominent figures in the sport including Stacy Peralta, Rodney Mullen, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, Neil Blender, Andy MacDonald, Duane Peters, Sean Mortimer, and Christian Hosoi.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDaddy's Little Girl (2014)
After the police find Derek’s daughter brutally murdered on the beach, he vows to make the culprit suffer for his actions, even if that person is ‘part of the family.’ With careful research into the history of torture, Derek prepares himself and his basement for a week of brutal tactics that will make his daughter’s killer feel the pain that he has inflicted upon so many others. In a time when stranger danger is ever present, a single father learns that it’s the ones you trust most who have to be watched the closest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Stranger Surfing?
The closest matches to Stranger Surfing are Riding Giants (2004), Top Secret! (1984) and Chasing Mavericks (2012). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Stranger Surfing?
Start with Riding Giants (2004), the closest match to Stranger Surfing.
What is the highest-rated movie like Stranger Surfing?
Beastie Boys Story (2020), rated 7.5/10 by 203 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Stranger Surfing?
Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Stranger Surfing?
Yes: Riding Giants (2004), Top Secret! (1984) and Chasing Mavericks (2012).
How are movies similar to Stranger Surfing chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Stranger Surfing, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.