Movies like West of Zanzibar (1954)
The best movies like West of Zanzibar (1954) are Tarzan and His Mate (1934), Hatari! (1962) and Primeval (2007). If West of Zanzibar hooked you with its adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBlack Panther (2018)7.4/10 from 24,236 votes
- NewestDora and the Search for Sol Dorado (2025)Released 2025
Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
Harry Holt returns to Africa with his friend Martin Arlington to head up a large ivory expedition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHatari! (1962)
A female wildlife photographer arrives on an East African reservation where a group of men trap wild animals for zoos and circuses.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Legion (2020)
Noreno, a half-Roman, is entrusted with the mission of crossing the snowy mountains of Armenia, swarming with Parthian patrols, to seek help for his slowly dying men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Gold (2011)
On the Arabian Peninsula in the 1930s, two warring leaders come face to face. The victorious Nesib, Emir of Hobeika, lays down his peace terms to rival Amar, Sultan of Salmaah. The two men agree that neither can lay claim to the area of no man’s land between them called The Yellow Belt. In return, Nesib adopts Amar’s two boys Saleeh and Auda as a guarantee against invasion. Twelve years later, Saleeh and Auda have grown into young men. Saleeh, the warrior, itches to escape his gilded cage and return to his father’s land. Auda cares only for books and the pursuit of knowledge. One day, their adopted father Nesib is visited by an American from Texas. He tells the Emir that his land is blessed with oil and promises him riches beyond his wildest imagination. Nesib imagines a realm of infinite possibility, a kingdom with roads, schools and hospitals all paid for by the black gold beneath the barren sand. There is only one problem. The precious oil is located in the Yellow Belt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lion Guard: Return of the Roar (2016)
Set in the African savannah, the film follows Kion as he assembles the members of the 'Lion Guard'. Throughout the film, the diverse team of young animals will learn how to utilize each of their unique abilities to solve problems and accomplish tasks to maintain balance within the Circle of Life, while also introducing viewers to the vast array of animals that populate the prodigious African landscape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Panther (2018)
King T'Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country's new leader. However, T'Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne by factions within his own country as well as without. Using powers reserved to Wakandan kings, T'Challa assumes the Black Panther mantle to join with ex-girlfriend Nakia, the queen-mother, his princess-kid sister, members of the Dora Milaje (the Wakandan 'special forces') and an American secret agent, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Warrior (2001)
In feudal India, a warrior who renounces his role as the longtime enforcer to a local lord becomes the prey in a murderous hunt through the Himalayan mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMackenna's Gold (1969)
A bandit kidnaps a Marshal who has seen a map showing a gold vein on Indian lands, but other groups are looking for it too, while the Apache try to keep the secret location undisturbed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark of the Sun (1968)
A band of mercenaries led by Captain Curry travel through war-torn Congo across deadly terrain, battling rival armies, to steal $50 million in uncut diamonds. But infighting, sadistic rebels and a time lock jeopardize everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThunder Bay (1953)
Shrimpers and oilmen clash when an ambitious wildcatter begins constructing an off-shore oilrig.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlumberland (2022)
A young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDora and the Search for Sol Dorado (2025)
Dora, Diego, and their new friends trek through the perilous dangers of the Amazonian jungle in search of the ancient and powerful treasure of Sol Dorado to keep it out of enemy hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSword of Sherwood Forest (1960)
Robin of Loxley and his men stumble on a plot to overthrow Hubert Walter, King's Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury. The plotters, the Sheriff of Nottingham and the Earl of Newark, have set an ambush for Walter and Lady Marian Fitzwater. Will Robin get to them before it is too late?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTarzan & Jane (2002)
With the first anniversary of her wedding to Tarzan beckoning, Jane ponders how to make it the perfect English celebration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956)
Davy Crockett and his sidekick Georgie compete against boastful Mike Fink ("King of the River") in a boat race to New Orleans. Later, Davy and Georgie, allied with Fink, battle a group of river pirates trying to pass themselves off as Native Americans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRio 2 (2014)
It's a jungle out there for Blu, Jewel and their three kids after they're hurtled from Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel, and meets the most fearsome adversary of all: his father-in-law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUltimate Avengers 2 (2006)
Mysterious Wakanda lies in the darkest heart of Africa, unknown to most of the world. An isolated land hidden behind closed borders, fiercely protected by its young king: Black Panther. But when brutal alien invaders attack, the threat leaves Black Panther with no option but to go against the sacred decrees of his people and ask for help from outsiders.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit (2010)
Jack Hunter, an adventurous treasure seeker, goes to Syria after his mentor and father figure Professor Fredrick Shaffer is killed. Professor Frederick Shaffer believed that the people of Ugarit, a town in Syria that existed during the Pharoah’s reign, had buried a treasure before they were wiped out by the Pharoahs. Jack Hunter is one of the few archaeologists in the world who can interpret Ugarit writings
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorn Free (1966)
At a national park in Kenya, English game warden George Adamson and his wife, Joy, care for three orphaned lion cubs. After the two larger lions are shipped off to a zoo in the Netherlands, the smallest of the three, Elsa, stays with the couple. When Elsa is blamed for causing an elephant stampede in the nearby village, head warden John Kendall demands the young lion either be trained to survive in the wilds of the Serengeti or be sent to a zoo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Naked Prey (1965)
A group of men are on safari. One of the party refuses to give a gift to a tribe they encounter. The tribe is offended, seizes the party, and one-by-one, kills all but one of the safari members in various creative and horrifying ways. The last surviving member is given "The Lion's Chance" by the tribal leader to be hunted down by a party of tribal warriors.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFive Weeks in a Balloon (1962)
Professor Fergusson plans to make aviation history by making his way across Africa by balloon. He plans to claim uncharted territories in West Africa as proof of his inventions worth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Road to Zanzibar (1941)
Stranded in Africa, Chuck and his pal Fearless have comic versions of jungle adventures, featuring two attractive con-women.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Hugo the Hippo (1975)
The Sultan of Zanzibar has a harbor infested with sharks, which makes it impossible for ships to trade with him. In an attempt to fix the problem, he brings twelve hippos into the harbor to keep the sharks away. His idea works well enough, but once the hippos are no longer a novelty and the people no longer feed them, they begin to starve. After the hungry hippos rampage through the city looking for food, Aban-Khan, the king's adviser, slaughters all the hippos except one, a little hippo named Hugo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Shout at the Devil (1976)
During World War One an English adventurer, an American elephant poacher and the latter's attractive young daughter, set out to destroy a German battle-cruiser which is awaiting repairs in an inlet just off Zanzibar. The story is based on a novel by Wilbur Smith, which in turn is very loosely based on events involving the light cruiser SMS Königsberg, which was sunk after taking refuge in Rufigi delta in 1915.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Vampires of Zanzibar (2010)
Paul Lewis is a high school senior in Zanzibar, VA with not a care in the world... or so it seems... until he finds out he is a half breed vampire. Together with his father and new girlfriend Laney, they must fight off evil vampires to save humankind in one intense night.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Mammoth Hunter (2005)
Since the ban on elephant hunting, Russia has had a monopoly on the ivory trade. But this ivory comes from mammoths, whose tusks, skeletons and sometimes frozen bodies are regularly found in the frozen ground of Siberia. According to estimates by some scientists, it could contain the remains of several million mammoths! eternal ice. Their goal: to discover the frozen remains of mammoths trapped in the permafrost. Using derisory means, they dig the frozen ground from which they extract bones, teeth, skulls... and above all, precious mammoth tusks. Ivory - the white gold of the tundra - will sell for over $50 a kilo. A total market appears at $2.5 million, with hubs in Moscow and Hong Kong.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Susanna Pass (1949)
The bad guys dynamite a fish hatchery. They're trying to put the hatchery out of business so they can get possession of oil underneath the lake. Roy is a game warden investigating the dynamiting.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Neanderthal Man (1953)
A scientist develops a formula which will cause animals to regress to the form of their primitive ancestors, and tries it on himself with disastrous results.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like West of Zanzibar?
The closest matches to West of Zanzibar are Tarzan and His Mate (1934), Hatari! (1962) and Primeval (2007). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after West of Zanzibar?
Start with Tarzan and His Mate (1934), the closest match to West of Zanzibar.
What is the highest-rated movie like West of Zanzibar?
Black Panther (2018), rated 7.4/10 by 24,236 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like West of Zanzibar?
Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like West of Zanzibar?
Yes: Tarzan and His Mate (1934), Hatari! (1962) and Primeval (2007).
How are movies similar to West of Zanzibar chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside West of Zanzibar, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.