Movies like World War III Breaks Out (1960)
The best movies like World War III Breaks Out (1960) are Panic in Year Zero! (1962), Testament (1983) and Right at Your Door (2006). If World War III Breaks Out hooked you with its science fiction and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAkira (1988)7.9/10 from 5,114 votes
- NewestRage of Stars (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseThe Land of Hope (2012)Also in Japanese
Panic in Year Zero! (1962)
While on a fishing trip, Harry Baldwin and his family hear an explosion and realize that Los Angeles has been leveled by a nuclear attack. Looters and killers are everywhere. Escaping to the hills with his family, he sets about the business of surviving in a world where, he knows, the old ideals of humanity will be the first casualties.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTestament (1983)
It's just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has been dropped along the Eastern Seaboard and, more locally, in California. As people begin coping with the devastating aftermath of the attacks — many suffer radiation poisoning — the Wetherly family tries to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRight at Your Door (2006)
A dirty bomb goes off in Los Angeles, jamming freeways and spreading a toxic cloud.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisTHX 1138 (1971)
People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption of drugs that the government uses to make puppets out of people. As THX is without drugs for the first time he has feelings for a woman and they start a secret relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWatchmen: Chapter II (2024)
Suspicious of the events ensnaring their former colleagues, Nite Owl and Silk Spectre are spurred out of retirement to investigate. As they grapple with personal ethics, inner demons and a society turned against them, they race the clock to uncover a deepening plot that might trigger global nuclear war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Quiet Earth (1985)
After a top-secret experiment misfires, a scientist may be the only man left alive in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAwake (2021)
After a sudden global event wipes out all electronics and takes away humankind’s ability to sleep, chaos quickly begins to consume the world. Only Jill, an ex-soldier with a troubled past, may hold the key to a cure in the form of her own daughter. The question is, can Jill safely deliver her daughter and save the world before she herself loses her mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisOn the Beach (2000)
The world has finally managed to blow itself up and only Australia has been spared from nuclear destruction and a gigantic wave of radiation is floating in on the breezes. One American sub located in the Pacific has survived and is met with disdain by the Australians. The calculations of Australia's most renowned scientist says the country is doomed. However, one of his rivals says that he is wrong. He believes that 1000 people can be relocated to the northern hemisphere, where his assumptions indicate the radiation levels may be lower. The American Captain is asked to take a mission to the north to determine which scientist is right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Land of Hope (2012)
An old couple, their only son, the son's wife, a young man and his lover live peacefully in a village. Then, a terrifying earthquake strikes that causes a nearby nuclear station to explode. The residents must evacuate, but the family lives on a farm, with only half of the area designated as an evacuation area.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrequency (2000)
When a rare phenomenon gives police officer John Sullivan the chance to speak to his father, 30 years in the past, he takes the opportunity to prevent his dad's tragic death. After his actions inadvertently give rise to a series of brutal murders he and his father must find a way to fix the consequences of altering time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGrave of the Fireflies (2005)
Hisako loses her home in Tokyo to Allied bombing. With her husband fighting somewhere in Asia, she and her two children evacuate to a suburb of Kobe, where they share a house with Hisako's cousin, Kyoko. Kobe is bombed and Kyoko is killed. Hisako is forced to take care of Kyoko's two children in addition to her own, but there is not enough food for everyone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisI Am Mother (2019)
A teenage girl is raised underground by a robot "Mother", designed to repopulate the earth following an extinction event. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger arrives with alarming news.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAppleseed (1988)
In the futuristic city of Olympus, built on the ashes of the third world war, a police officer and her cyborg partner fight terrorism.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFukushima 50 (2020)
Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan risk their lives and stay at the nuclear power plant to prevent total destruction after the region is devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGodzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
The Futurians, time-travelers from the 23rd century, arrive in Japan to warn them of the nation's destruction under Godzilla. They offer to help erase Godzilla from history by preventing his creation. With Godzilla seemingly gone, a new monster emerges as the Futurians' true intentions are revealed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRage of Stars (2026)
A story about a woman from the International Special Forces Unit, who has a premonition about the impending end of humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAkira (1988)
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWatchmen (2009)
In a gritty and alternate 1985, the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown. But after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered, an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so they uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Rain (1989)
Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlood on the Sun (1945)
Nick Condon, an American journalist in 20s Tokyo, publishes the Japanese master plan for world domination. Reaction from the understandably upset Japanese provides the action, but this is overshadowed by the propaganda of the time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like this1984 (1956)
In a totalitarian future society, a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerminator Salvation (2009)
All grown up in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor must lead the resistance of humans against the increasingly dominating militaristic robots. But when Marcus Wright appears, his existence confuses the mission as Connor tries to determine whether Wright has come from the future or the past -- and whether he's friend or foe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAway from Her (2007)
Fiona and Grant have been married for nearly 50 years. They have to face the fact that Fiona’s absent-mindedness is a symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. She must go to a specialized nursing home, where she slowly forgets Grant and turns her affection to Aubrey, another patient in the home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKing Charles III (2017)
Prince Charles' accession to the throne following the Queen's death. When he refuses to sign a controversial bill into law, political chaos ensues: a constitutional crisis, rioting on the streets and a tank in front of Buckingham Palace.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lovebirds: Ai愛 (2024)
Sky and VI-990 are two humanoid AI products developed by Ai Tech, one of the largest AI corporations, currently under investigation due to "The Blast", catastrophic event that disrupted their operating systems. Researchers are now delving into a significant incident that occurred between Sky and VI-990.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Last Pair Out (1956)
About the life of the student, Bo Dahlin. Bo's parents are divorced. Both have been unfaithful. Bo is engaged to Kerstin, but only has eyes for Anita. Anita is filled with self-disgust.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hitman (2007)
A genetically engineered assassin with deadly aim, known only as "Agent 47" eliminates strategic targets for a top-secret organization. But when he's double-crossed, the hunter becomes the prey as 47 finds himself in a life-or-death game of international intrigue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Piano Teacher (2001)
Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Island (2005)
In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly "Utopian" but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to The Island — reportedly the last uncontaminated location on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Life (1987)
Psychological drama about a university dean who leads a double life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like World War III Breaks Out?
The closest matches to World War III Breaks Out are Panic in Year Zero! (1962), Testament (1983) and Right at Your Door (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after World War III Breaks Out?
Start with Panic in Year Zero! (1962), the closest match to World War III Breaks Out.
What is the highest-rated movie like World War III Breaks Out?
Akira (1988), rated 7.9/10 by 5,114 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like World War III Breaks Out?
Rage of Stars (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like World War III Breaks Out?
Yes: The Land of Hope (2012), Grave of the Fireflies (2005) and Appleseed (1988).
How are movies similar to World War III Breaks Out chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside World War III Breaks Out, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.