Movies like Escal (1982)
The best movies like Escal (1982) are The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), Afterburn (2025) and The Dark Crystal (1982). If Escal hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAvatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026)9.0/10 from 1,427 votes
- NewestAvatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026)Released 2026
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
Adventurer/surgeon/rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his band of men, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, take on evil alien invaders from the 8th dimension.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterburn (2025)
Set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dark Crystal (1982)
On another planet in the distant past, a Gelfling embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of a magical crystal and restore order to his world, before the grotesque race of Skeksis find and use the crystal for evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBarbarella (1968)
In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAvatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026)
Avatar Aang, the world's last Airbender, learns of an ancient power that could save his culture from extinction. With the help of his friends, he embarks on a global quest to find it before it falls into the wrong hands and threatens to upend the peace they sacrificed everything to achieve.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMaster of the World (1961)
A mad genius tries to bomb the world into peace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dark Tower (2017)
A boy haunted by visions of a parallel world aids its disillusioned guardian in preventing the destruction of the nexus of universes known as the Dark Tower.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisInterstate 60 (2002)
An aspiring painter meets various characters and learns valuable lessons while traveling across America.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUniversal Soldier: The Return (1999)
Luc Deveraux, the heroic former Universal Soldier, is about to be thrown into action once again. When SETH, the supercomputer-controlled ultra-warrior, decides to take revenge and destroy its creators, only Luc can stop it. All hell breaks loose as Luc battles SETH and a deadly team of perfect soldiers in a struggle that pits man against machine and good against evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisEquilibrium (2002)
In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCity of Ember (2008)
For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers, in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, before the the lights go out forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtinction (2018)
A chief mechanic at a factory, haunted by apocalyptic nightmares, becomes a hero when Earth is invaded by a mysterious army bent on destruction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChaos Walking (2021)
Two unlikely companions embark on a perilous adventure through the badlands of an unexplored planet as they try to escape a dangerous and disorienting reality, where all inner thoughts are seen and heard by everyone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing of Killers (2023)
Garan is a part of a group of international hitmen who are contracted to take out the most dangerous killer in the world, only to find out that they're the ones being hunted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrive (1997)
A prototype enhanced human, on the run from Chinese-hired hit men, hooks up with a dread-locked bystander, and the two of them elude their pursuers narrowly each time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster Hunter (2020)
US Ranger Captain Artemis and her team are part of a UN joint security mission north of Hemat, in Afghanistan. While searching for a missing team (Bravo), they are transported to a strange world where powerful monsters rule with deadly ferocity. Faced with relentless danger, the team encounters a mysterious hunter who may be their only hope to find a way home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2010 (1984)
While planet Earth poises on the brink of nuclear self-destruction, a team of Russian and American scientists aboard the Leonov hurtles to a rendezvous with the still-orbiting Discovery spacecraft and its sole known survivor, the homicidal computer HAL.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisValerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
In the 28th century, Valerian and Laureline are special operatives charged with keeping order throughout the human territories. On assignment from the Minister of Defense, the two undertake a mission to Alpha, an ever-expanding metropolis where species from across the universe have converged over centuries to share knowledge, intelligence, and cultures. At the center of Alpha is a mysterious dark force which threatens the peaceful existence of the City of a Thousand Planets, and Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInception (2010)
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisStargate: The Ark of Truth (2008)
SG-1 searches for an ancient weapon which could help them defeat the Ori, and discover it may be in the Ori's own home galaxy. As the Ori prepare to send ships through to the Milky Way to attack Earth, SG-1 travels to the Ori galaxy aboard the Odyssey. The International Oversight committee have their own plans and SG-1 finds themselves in a distant galaxy fighting two powerful enemies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Escal?
The closest matches to Escal are The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), Afterburn (2025) and The Dark Crystal (1982). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Escal?
Start with The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), the closest match to Escal.
What is the highest-rated movie like Escal?
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026), rated 9.0/10 by 1,427 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Escal?
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Escal?
Yes: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), Afterburn (2025) and The Dark Crystal (1982).
How are movies similar to Escal chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Escal, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.