Movies like Area 88 (1985)
The best movies like Area 88 (1985) are Supercross (2005), Sahara (1983) and The Program (1993). If Area 88 hooked you with its action and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Rock (1996)7.2/10 from 5,473 votes
- NewestALL YOU NEED IS KILL (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseMacross Plus: The Movie (1995)Also in Japanese
Supercross (2005)
Faced with the suspicious death of their father, two brothers must motivate one another to get back on their bikes and take the Las Vegas Motocross Championships by storm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSahara (1983)
Intent on winning a competition in place of her distinguished late father, beautiful young heiress Dale takes on the guise of a man and competes in his spot, embarking on a car race that crosses the unforgiving Sahara desert.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Program (1993)
Several players from different backgrounds try to cope with the pressures of playing football at a major university. Each deals with the pressure differently, some turn to drinking, others to drugs, and some to studying.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBaywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (2003)
Mitch Buchannon, believed to have died in a boating accident survived and only has amnesia, he has been recovering in a Los Angeles hospital. His new fiancée, Allison Ford, resembles his old lover, Lt. Stephanie Holden who died years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMacross Plus: The Movie (1995)
Three decades after the great war between the humans and the Zentradi, the U.N. government is developing new technologies to use in their transforming fighter aircraft by running tests on the colony planet Eden. Military test pilots and former childhood friends, loose cannon Isamu Alva Dyson and the Zentradi mixed race Guld Goa Bowman, are selected to each pilot a new aircraft (Shinsei Industries' YF-19 & General Galaxy's YF-21) for Project Super Nova, to choose the newest successor to the VF-11 Thunderbolt variable fighter which is currently still in use by the U.N. Spacy military forces. Their own personal grudges end up disrupting the tests, and begin to wreak havoc on the program.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisK-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces (2008)
In an alternate version of 1949 Japan in which World War II never happened, the Japanese capital of Teito is home to both an ultra rich upper class and the dirt poor masses. The city is thrown into a state of panic when a phantom thief called “The Kaijin (Fiend) with 20 Faces” (K-20 for short) begins to use his mysterious abilities to steal from the rich and give to the poor. One day a circus acrobat named Heikichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is framed for K-20’s crimes and becomes determined to clear his name. He teams up with K-20’s next target, a wealthy duchess named Yoko Hashiba (Takako Matsu) and her detective fiancé (Toru Nakamura), to take K-20 down once and for all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shepherd (2023)
On Christmas Eve, a fighter pilot on his way home becomes lost while flying over water and needs a miracle to land safely.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPicnic (1996)
Believing that the world will end that very day, three mental patients Coco, Tsumuji, and Satoru set out upon a journey. Walking upon the tops of the walls of the city, they seek to find a picnic spot with the best vantage point to view the final event.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWeekend in Taipei (2024)
A former DEA agent and a former undercover operative revisit their romance during a fateful weekend in Taipei, unaware of the dangerous consequences of their past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt Feels So Good (2019)
When it rains it pours. Kenji divorced his wife, lost his job and his old squeeze Naoko is getting married back home in the north of Japan, specifically in Akita. He returns there in order to attend her wedding. Naoko surprises him by proposing that they have sex again. The one night stand is the new beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Long (2017)
Long is a Taiwanese killer known for his sword skills. After Long fails a Tokyo mission, he moves to a small town where no one knows about him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTokyo Fist (1995)
A businessman, Tsuda, runs into a childhood friend, Kojima, on the subway. Kojima is working as a semiprofessional boxer. Tsuda soon begins to suspect that Kojima might be having an affair with his fiancée Hizuru. After an altercation, Tsuda begins training rigorously himself, leading to an extremely bloody, violent confrontation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConvict (2014)
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSister Street Fighter (1974)
Li Mansei is a martial-arts champion turned undercover agent. When he is captured by a drug lord, his sister Li Koryu turns to his former martial-arts school, including the powerful Sonny Kawasaka, for help in the inevitable battle royale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDirt (2018)
In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJawbone (2017)
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fugitive Kind (1960)
Val Xavier, a drifter of obscure origins, arrives at a small town and gets a job in a store run by Lady Torrence. Her husband, Jabe M. Torrance, is dying of cancer. Val is pursued by Carol Cutere, the enigmatic local tramp-of-good-family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Full Bloom (2019)
Set shortly after the end of World War II, a philosophical boxing drama of two fighters from opposite worlds (USA and Japan) who are pulled together for a questionable fight arranged by their unscrupulous managers and the Yakuza.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIron Eagle II (1988)
Chappy Sinclair is called to gather together a mixed Soviet/U.S. strike force that will perform a surgical strike on a massively defended nuclear missile site in the Middle East. Chappy finds that getting the Soviet and U.S. Pilots to cooperate is only the most minor of his problems as he discovers someone in the Pentagon is actively sabotaging his mission.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisReflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Bizarre tale of sex, betrayal, and perversion at a military post.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCode Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion I - Initiation (2017)
The world is at war. Lelouch Lamperouge, an exiled prince, encounters a strange girl known as C.C., who gifts him with a great power. With this ability, Lelouch can get anyone to do as he wills. But the power of Geass: is it a blessing…or a curse?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCode Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion II - Transgression (2018)
Having achieved miraculous victories in a series of battles against the Britannian Army, Lelouch Lamperouge has brought the Black Knights, his paramilitary organization, to a more powerful state than ever before. Nothing seems impossible for him when he utilizes his military strength, intellect, and Geass power of absolute obedience. However, obstacles in the face of the uprising never cease, putting Lelouch in a difficult predicament. Most worryingly, Kururugi Suzaku's combat prowess and the appearance of a mysterious child named V.V. threaten to put an end Lelouch's great rebellion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion III - Glorification (2018)
With his spell of impressive successes seemingly behind him, Lelouch Lamperouge's hopes of destroying the Brittanian Empire presided over by his father are crumbling at an alarming rate. With his sister kidnapped, his former friend Suzaku ignoring his pleas for help, and his organisation The Black Knights losing their faith in him, the man behind Zero's mask is left with nowhere to turn.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
King Kong Lives (1986)
After falling from the Twin Towers, Kong lies in a coma for ten years. When his heart begins to fail, scientists engineer an artificial heart, and a giant female ape is captured to serve as a source for a blood transfusion. When Kong awakens following his heart transplant, he senses the nearby presence of the female ape and the two escape to wreak havoc together.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Rock (1996)
When vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into San Francisco, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert and notorious Federal prisoner have the skills to penetrate the impregnable island fortress and take him down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLong-running (2018)
Min-kyu, who is on vacation from the army, is busy dressing up without having time to spend the night with his mother. Min-kyu borrows his mother's car and goes camping with his friend Dong-wan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Love at First Fight (2014)
Arnaud, facing an uncertain future and a dearth of choices in a small French coastal town, meets and falls for the apocalyptic-minded Madeleine, who joins an army boot camp to learn military and survival skills to prepare for the upcoming environmental collapse. Intrigued and excited by Madeleine’s wild ideas, Arnaud signs up for the boot camp himself. They soon realize that the boot camp is harder than they’d imagined, but the experience nonetheless cements them together as the couple continues to explore their young love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisALL YOU NEED IS KILL (2026)
When a massive alien flower known as "Darol" unexpectedly erupts in a deadly event, unleashing monstrous creatures that decimate the population of Japan, Rita is caught in the destruction—and killed. But then she wakes up again. And again. Caught in an endless time loop, Rita must navigate the trauma and repetition of death until she crosses paths with Keiji, a shy young man trapped in the same cycle. Together, they fight to break free from the loop and find meaning in the chaos around them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Area 88?
The closest matches to Area 88 are Supercross (2005), Sahara (1983) and The Program (1993). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Area 88?
Start with Supercross (2005), the closest match to Area 88.
What is the highest-rated movie like Area 88?
The Rock (1996), rated 7.2/10 by 5,473 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Area 88?
ALL YOU NEED IS KILL (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Area 88?
Yes: Macross Plus: The Movie (1995), K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces (2008) and Picnic (1996).
How are movies similar to Area 88 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Area 88, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.