Movies like Pagan Island (1961)
The best movies like Pagan Island (1961) are China Seas (1935), The Navigator (1924) and The Legend of Johnny Lingo (2003). If Pagan Island hooked you with its adventure and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMoana (2016)7.6/10 from 14,171 votes
- NewestMoana (2026)Released 2026
China Seas (1935)
Captain Alan Gaskell sails the perilous waters between Hong Kong and Singapore with a secret cargo: a fortune in British gold. That's not the only risky cargo he carries; both his fiery mistress and his refined fiancee are aboard!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Navigator (1924)
The wealthy and impulsive Rollo Treadway decides to propose to his beautiful socialite neighbor, Betsy O'Brien. Although Betsy turns Rollo down, he still opts to go on the cruise that he intended as their honeymoon. When circumstances find both Rollo and Betsy on the wrong ship, they end up having adventures on the high seas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Legend of Johnny Lingo (2003)
When a storm washes a canoe bearing an infant boy ashore upon a small South Pacific island, he is at first well-received as a gift from the heavens, even to the point of the tribal chief adopting him as a successor. However, with time as hardships are blamed upon Tama (as he is named), he is finally outcast to live with the poorest people on the island, Mahana and her drunken father. Mahana is considered homely and undesirable, but Tama feels differently, so when he is old enough to build a craft to sail away, he vows to return for her one day. A lucky stroke brings him to land upon the island of the legendary Johnny Lingo, the wealthiest trader in the islands, and after years of service to him, Tama has learned much about life and himself as he dreams of honoring his pledge to Mahana.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
After losing Captain Jack Sparrow to the locker of Davy Jones, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, and Captain Barbossa journey to the ends of the earth to rescue him. And as the East India Trading Company tightens its grip on the seas under Lord Cutler Beckett—now in control of Davy Jones—the fate of piracy hangs by a thread. Now, they must unite the pirate lords for one final stand. But as loyalties are tested and alliances shift, each must ultimately choose where they stand in the battle for freedom on the high seas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSwashbuckler (1976)
A pirate and a hot-tempered noblewoman join forces to protect Jamaica from a tyrant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTomb Raider (2018)
Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, must push herself beyond her limits when she finds herself on the island where her father disappeared.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHellfighters (1968)
The adventures of oil well fire specialist Chance Buckman (based on real-life Red Adair), who extinguishes massive fires in oil fields around the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrimeval (2007)
A news team is sent to Burundi to capture and bring home a legendary 25-foot crocodile. Their difficult task turns potentially deadly when a warlord targets them for death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoseidon (2006)
A packed cruise ship traveling the Atlantic is hit and overturned by a massive wave, compelling the passengers to begin a dramatic fight for their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Blue Lagoon (1980)
Two small children and a ship's cook survive a shipwreck and find safety on an idyllic tropical island. Soon, however, the cook dies and the young boy and girl are left on their own. Days become years and Emmeline and Richard make a home for themselves surrounded by exotic creatures and nature's beauty. But will they ever see civilization again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoana (2026)
Teenage Moana answers the Ocean's call and, for the first time, voyages beyond the reef of her island of Motunui with infamous demigod Maui on an unforgettable journey to restore prosperity to her people.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoana (2016)
In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by Maui reaches an impetuous Chieftain's daughter's island, she answers the Ocean's call to seek out the demigod to set things right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Fletcher Christian successfully leads a revolt against the ruthless Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty. However, Bligh returns one year later, hell bent on revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLord Jim (1965)
After being discredited as a coward, a 19th century seaman lives for only one purpose: to redeem himself. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2000.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012)
Two high school students become stranded on a tropical island and must rely on each other for survival. They learn more about themselves and each other while falling in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Poseidon Adventure (1972)
When their ocean liner capsizes, a group of passengers struggle to survive and escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoby Dick (1956)
In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service aboard the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the great white whale. Ahab lost his leg to that creature and is desperate for revenge. As the crew soon learns, he will stop at nothing to gain satisfaction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrue Spirit (2023)
When the tenacious young sailor Jessica Watson sets out to be the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop and unassisted around the world, many expect her to fail. With the support of her sailing coach and mentor Ben Bryant and her parents, Jessica is determined to accomplish what was thought to be impossible, navigating some of the world’s most challenging stretches of ocean over the course of 210 days.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCastaway (1986)
Middle-aged Gerald Kingsland advertises in a London paper for a female companion to spend a year with him on a desert island. Young Lucy Irving takes a chance on contacting him, but once on the island, things prove a lot less idyllic than in the movies. Gradually, it becomes clear that it is Lucy who has the desire and the strength to try and see the year through.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bounty (1984)
An idyllic voyage to Tahiti in 1789 turns a crew aboard the H.M.S. Bounty against its captain when they find a tropical paradise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Saved the World (1982)
Two space cadets crash-land on a desert planet, where an evil wizard seeks the ultimate power to take over the world. Although the movie borrows some background footage from Star Wars, the plot is mostly unrelated.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Abyss (1989)
A civilian oil rig crew is recruited to conduct a search and rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver soon finds himself on a spectacular odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean's surface where he confronts a mysterious force that has the power to change the world or destroy it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattle Royale (2000)
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattle Royale II: Requiem (2003)
It's three years after the events of the original Battle Royale, and Shuya Nanahara is now an internationally-known terrorist determined to bring down the government. His terrorist group, Wild Seven, stages an attack that levels several buildings in Tokyo on Christmas Day, killing 8000 people. In order for the government to study the benefits of "teamwork", the new students work in pairs, with their collars electronically linked so that if one of them is killed, the other dies as well. They must kill Nanahara in three days - or die.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisMysterious Island (1941)
Based on Verne's book The Mysterious Island, five POWs escape from a camp in a balloon during the Civil War and crash-land on an uninhabited island in the Pacific. Trying to settle with their lives they find someone is helping them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
The VelociPastor (2018)
After losing his parents, a priest travels to China, where he inherits a mysterious ability to turn into a dinosaur. At first horrified by this new power, a prostitute convinces him to fight crime. And ninjas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)
There's trouble brewing in Bikini Bottom. Someone has stolen King Neptune's crown, and it looks like Mr. Krab, SpongeBob's boss, is the culprit. Though he's just been passed over for the promotion of his dreams, SpongeBob stands by his boss, and along with his best pal Patrick, sets out on a treacherous mission to Shell City to reclaim the crown and save Mr. Krab's life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlone in the Dark (2005)
Edward Carnby is a private investigator specializing in unexplainable supernatural phenomena. His cases delve into the dark corners of the world, searching for truth in the occult remnants of ancient civilizations. Now, the greatest mystery of his past is about to become the most dangerous case he has ever faced.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisBattle Legends: The Legend of Battle Master (2024)
In the land of Duffyville, Jim Duffy is the unquestioned battle master. While in the process of training his younger brother Slim to become his successor, his title is challenged by local scoundrel J.T. Smash.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Farewell to the King (1989)
An American soldier who escapes the execution of his comrades by Japanese soldiers in Borneo during WWII becomes the leader of a personal empire among the headhunters in this war story told in the style of Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling. The American is reluctant to rejoin the fight against the Japanese on the urging of a British commando team but conducts a war of vengeance when the Japanese attack his adopted people.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Pagan Island?
The closest matches to Pagan Island are China Seas (1935), The Navigator (1924) and The Legend of Johnny Lingo (2003). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Pagan Island?
Start with China Seas (1935), the closest match to Pagan Island.
What is the highest-rated movie like Pagan Island?
Moana (2016), rated 7.6/10 by 14,171 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Pagan Island?
Moana (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Pagan Island?
Yes: China Seas (1935), The Navigator (1924) and The Legend of Johnny Lingo (2003).
How are movies similar to Pagan Island chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Pagan Island, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.