Movies like Patlabor: The Movie (1989)
The best movies like Patlabor: The Movie (1989) are Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 2: The Wyvern Divided (2013), Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 4: Memories of Hatred (2015) and Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 3: The Brightness Falls (2015). If Patlabor: The Movie hooked you with its action and animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedEvangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)7.8/10 from 1,065 votes
- NewestLiberated from Paradise: Resonance of the Heart (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseCode Geass: Akito the Exiled 2: The Wyvern Divided (2013)Also in Japanese
Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 2: The Wyvern Divided (2013)
The war between Euro Britannia and the European Union continues. New orders are given to the W-0 Unit. To land in the middle of the enemy territory as a diversion. The pilots of the W-0 Unit consist only of the commanding officer, Leila, the only surviving Japanese from their last battle, Akito, and the three that escaped from the Eleven ghettos and lived in the underworld, Ryou, Yukiya, and Ayano. With everyone holding their respective expectations, the operation moves forward. On the other side in Euro Britannia, Shin, who made his benefactor commit suicide with the mysterious power of “Geass”, is appointed the leader of the Knights of St. Michael. As Shin steadily advances for the sake of his own ambition, he and his subordinates in the Ashura squad are given orders to deploy. The one that lives in order to fight, and the one that fights in order to live.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCode Geass: Akito the Exiled 4: Memories of Hatred (2015)
While W-0 is away, Leila and the remaining crew at base find themselves surrounded by Britannian Knightmares. Piloting the Vercingetorix, Shin Hyuuga leads the enemy charge, having usurped the position of Grand Master in the Knights of St. Michael. With her core members unavailable, it's up to Leila to protect her comrades, but this may be much tougher than she realizes: a spy lurking among them is finally ready to reveal himself. Left with no choice but to surrender, Leila arranges a meeting with Shin in order to ensure the safety of her squad. But as negotiations begin to fall apart, Akito and an unexpected ally return in the nick of time to turn things around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCode Geass: Akito the Exiled 3: The Brightness Falls (2015)
After discovering the face of their true enemy, someone who is related to Akito and responsible for the Geass placed upon him, W-0 attempts to return to their base at Castle Weisswolf. However, stranded in Warsaw due to a complication involving their military identification, they are forced to accept the help of local gypsies, allowing the squad to take some time to deepen their bonds. Meanwhile, Britannian advisor Julius Kingsley and his guard Suzaku Kururugi begin working together with the Knights of St. Michael in order to crush the European resistance once and for all, armed with the destructive power of a giant weapon known as the Ark Fleet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho-Pass 3: First Inspector (2020)
Inspector Kei Mikhail Ignatov finds himself involved with an organization named Bifrost with the possibility of freeing his wife if he betrays Unit One. Koichi Azusawa coordinates an assault on the Public Safety Bureau tower using his hacker Obata, locking down the building and kidnapping Inspector Arata Shindo. Azusawa demands that governor Karina Komiya resign from her position.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAppleseed (2004)
In a utopian society created at the end of World War III, a female warrior who has been plucked from the badlands begins to see cracks in this new facade. And what does this community have planned for the rest of humankind?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCode Geass: Akito the Exiled 5: To Beloved Ones (2016)
The Ark Fleet has been destroyed, and a significant number of the enemy's troops have been wiped out due to its crash landing. As the remaining forces of the Holy Order of Michael regroup in order to launch a final assault on Weiswolf Castle, the wZERO unit, along with their new ally Ashley Ashra, stand ready to intercept them. Meanwhile, with his Geass out of control, Shin moves to erase his younger brother's existence once and for all. But Akito, having promised Leila that he will come back alive, refuses to accept such a fate, and the two clash in their final battle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Conan: Dimensional Sniper (2014)
A rash of sniper attacks leaves the streets of Tokyo empty and the public terrified to go outside. It’s up to Conan and his friends to find the culprit, but the case goes deeper than it seems. Military cover-ups, conspiracies and murder abound in this fast-paced, thrilling mystery!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBLAME! (2017)
In the distant technological future, civilization has reached its ultimate Net-based form. An "infection" in the past caused the automated systems to spiral out of order, resulting in a multi-leveled city structure that replicates itself infinitely in all directions. Now humanity has lost access to the city's controls, and is hunted down and purged by the defense system known as the Safeguard. In a tiny corner of the city, a little enclave known as the Electro-Fishers is facing eventual extinction, trapped between the threat of the Safeguard and dwindling food supplies. A girl named Zuru goes on a journey to find food for her village, only to inadvertently cause doom when an observation tower senses her and summons a Safeguard pack to eliminate the threat. With her companions dead and all escape routes blocked, the only thing that can save her now is the sudden arrival of Killy the Wanderer, on his quest for the Net Terminal Genes, the key to restoring order to the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAppleseed Alpha (2014)
The Third World War (2099–2126) devastated part of the Earth. Former nations are reforming while new powers emerge, and groups of humans struggle to survive in ruined cities. The story follows Deunan Knute and her partner Briareos as they search for the legendary city of Olympus.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMegazone 23 (1985)
A young biker stumbles onto a prototype motorcycle with a hidden function that has a link to the true nature of his world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAppleseed: Ex Machina (2007)
As members of ESWAT, the elite forces serving Olympus, Deunan and Briaereos are deployed anywhere trouble strikes. Olympus finds itself under a stealth attack - cyborg terrorism, deadly nanotech zealots, and rioting citizens are just some of the threats that Deunan must contend with as she fights to save Olympus!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
Under constant attack by monstrous creatures called Angels that seek to eradicate humankind, U.N. Special Agency NERV introduces two new EVA pilots to help defend the city of Tokyo-3: the mysterious Makinami Mari Illustrous and the intense Asuka Langley Shikinami. Meanwhile, Gendo Ikari and SEELE proceed with a secret project that involves both Rei and Shinji.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAvengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (2014)
When the Punisher takes out a black-market weapons dealer, he stumbles upon a far-reaching terrorist plot devised by a group known as Leviathan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPromare (2019)
Galo and the Burning Rescue Fire Department face off against BURNISH, a group of mutants who are able to control and wield flames, and the fire disaster they have unleashed on Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrincess Principal Crown Handler: Chapter 1 (2021)
The story is set in London at the end of the 19th century. A new task has been assigned to Team White Pigeon, a group of spies from the Commonwealth. It is a delivery of a used bookstore owner to the Commonwealth. Ange, Dorothy and Chise successfully recapture the owner, who had been held in a detention center by the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the "spy hunt" became more intense in the Kingdom following an assassination attempt on the queen, and tension is strained at Control in the Commonwealth. Control speculates that the spy who has dispatched to the royal family might be a "double agent." To find out the truth, they order Team White Pigeon to contact with the spy, whose codename is "Bishop." How their new mission will be accomplished? And who is "Bishop"?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & action
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 animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Conan: The Time Bombed Skyscraper (1997)
Once brilliant teenage detective Shinichi Kudo was given a poison that reverted him to a 4-year-old. He's adopted the pseudonym Conan Edogawa so no one (save for an eccentric inventor) will know. Now he's got to solve a series of bombings before his loved ones become victims. Who is this madman and why is he doing this? Only the young genius can save the day but will even he be up to the task?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDetective Conan: Private Eye in the Distant Sea (2013)
It’s a high-stakes mystery on the high seas! Enjoying a free prize cruise on a military ship, Conan and his friends find their relaxation interrupted by the threat of possible explosives on board! It’s a race against time to find the culprit and save the ship — and potentially the whole country!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Conan: The Last Wizard of the Century (1999)
Kaitou Kid dares to challenge the police once more, setting his sights on the Russian Imperial Easter Egg. With the date, time, and place, the Osaka police force scrambles to stop him. But this time, Kid may have bitten off more than he can chew—Conan Edogawa, Heiji Hattori, and numerous others are also trying to get their hands on the jeweled egg.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRobot Carnival (1987)
An anthology of various tales told in various styles with robots being the one common element among them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDigimon Adventure tri. Part 5: Coexistence (2017)
Meicoomon rampages after witnessing Meiko Mochizuki being injured by the man bearing Gennai's likeness. "It would have been better if you hadn't been born..." Meicoomon disappears into the Real World, which has since become distorted. Possessing overwhelming power, she's the key to the world's destruction.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLiberated from Paradise: Resonance of the Heart (2026)
In 2400, most of humanity still lives without physical bodies inside the digital paradise DEVA, but Angela Balzac's rebellion left consequences its security forces could not erase. During the chaos, numerous agents escaped to Earth after stealing material bodies and hardware containing their personal data, then vanished from DEVA's surveillance. These fugitives, now called the Fallen, have become a threat whose true purpose is unknown. Agents Gabriel, Arma, and Daniel are sent to track them across the surface, where the lingering Nano Hazard makes the environment itself dangerous. The closer they come to the Fallen, the harder it becomes to trust everything they were told about Angela's revolt and the 'paradise' they have been ordered to protect.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & science fiction
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)
Two years have passed since the final battle with Sephiroth. Though Midgar, city of mako, city of prosperity, has been reduced to ruins, its people slowly but steadily walk the road to reconstruction. However, a mysterious illness called Geostigma torments them. With no cure in sight, it brings death to the afflicted, one after another, robbing the people of their fledgling hope.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & action
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: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisDEEMO Memorial Keys (2022)
Deemo is a lonely individual who lives in solitude, playing the piano in a castle. One day, a girl who has lost her memory falls from the sky. Wanting to help her recover her memories and return to her world, Deemo discovers that a tree kept atop the piano will grow whenever the piano is played.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & mystery
Steamboy (2004)
In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya: Vow in the Snow (2017)
Despite his adoptive father's warnings that the girl found in the remnants of a destroyed city is too dangerous to be considered anything other than a tool or weapon, Shirou Emiya comes to treat Miyu as a younger sister. But when Shirou relaxes his guard and Miyu starts normal school, the Ainsworth family and their agents swoop in, kidnapping the girl with the goal of sacrificing her! Faced with the realization that Miyu's ability to do good will always be equaled by her capacity for destruction, Shirou must attempt to both rescue his adopted sister, and decide how to confront the threat that her powers will always pose.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & animation
VeggieTales: The Wonderful World Of Auto-tainment! (2003)
Larry the Cucumber's vision of the future includes automated robotic hosts telling jokes with random punch lines and musical numbers in which the performers and themes are chosen entirely by chance. As Bob the Tomato quickly points out, the jokes of the future aren't very funny because they don't make sense. Worse, technical malfunctions in the Ventrilomatic hosts actually promote emotional instability. Nonetheless, Bob admits that Larry's vision of the future contains some very cool adaptations of classic songs like Gilbert and Sullivan's fast-talking "Modern Major General" and Binky the Aardvark's solo performance of Mozart's The Barber of Seville. Larry's vision of the future also includes an amusing animated short about greed called "Lunch." Junior Asparagus calls Bob and Larry back to the present with a final song celebrating God's unconditional love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Nakshatram (2017)
A young boy is made to realise that the police form the backbone of society and every cop is akin to Lord Hanuman the protector. He then makes up his mind about becoming a cop when he grows up.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Metro (1997)
Roper, a hostage negotiator catches a murderous bank robber after a blown heist. The bank robber escapes and immediately goes after the man who put him behind bars.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like this
Like Patlabor: The Movie and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Patlabor: The Movie?
The closest matches to Patlabor: The Movie are Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 2: The Wyvern Divided (2013), Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 4: Memories of Hatred (2015) and Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 3: The Brightness Falls (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Patlabor: The Movie?
Start with Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 2: The Wyvern Divided (2013), the closest match to Patlabor: The Movie.
What is the highest-rated movie like Patlabor: The Movie?
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009), rated 7.8/10 by 1,065 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Patlabor: The Movie?
Liberated from Paradise: Resonance of the Heart (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Patlabor: The Movie?
Yes: Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 2: The Wyvern Divided (2013), Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 4: Memories of Hatred (2015) and Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 3: The Brightness Falls (2015).
How are movies similar to Patlabor: The Movie chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Patlabor: The Movie, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.