Movies like Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
The best movies like Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) are Planet of the Apes (1968), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) and Oblivion (2013). If Escape from the Planet of the Apes hooked you with its action and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTerminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)8.2/10 from 15,188 votes
- NewestSpace/Time (2025)Released 2025
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Astronaut Taylor crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
Several generations following Caesar's reign, apes – now the dominant species – live harmoniously while humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all he's known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOblivion (2013)
Jack Harper is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete. His existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
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 · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, a chimpanzee named Caesar resurfaces after almost twenty years of hiding from the authorities, and prepares for a revolt against humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlash Gordon (1980)
A football player and his mates travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStar Trek (2009)
The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a Vulcan, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before. The human adventure has begun again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Creator (2023)
Amid a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war—and mankind itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStar Trek Into Darkness (2013)
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStar Trek: Insurrection (1998)
When an alien race and factions within Starfleet attempt to take over a planet that has "regenerative" properties, it falls upon Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise to defend the planet's people as well as the very ideals upon which the Federation itself was founded.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTitan A.E. (2000)
A young man finds out that he holds the key to restoring hope and ensuring survival for the human race, while an alien species called the Drej are bent on mankind's destruction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpace/Time (2025)
After a fatal test shuts down their project, a disgraced team of scientists enters the criminal underworld to rebuild a forbidden space-bending engine that could rescue humanity or annihilate it entirely.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisStar Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStowaway (2021)
A three-person crew on a mission to Mars faces an impossible choice when an unplanned passenger jeopardizes the lives of everyone on board.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adam Project (2022)
After accidentally crash-landing in 2022, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed teams up with his 12-year-old self on a mission to save the future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 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 · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinch (2021)
On a post-apocalyptic Earth, a robot, built to protect the life of his dying creator's beloved dog, learns about life, love, friendship, and what it means to be human.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDark Star (1974)
A group of scientists are sent on a mission to destroy unstable planets. Twenty years into their mission, they have to battle their alien mascot as well as a "sensitive" and intelligent bombing device that starts to question the meaning of its existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like this2073 (2024)
Inspired by Chris Marker's iconic 1962 featurette La Jetée; the year is 2073—a not-so-distant dystopian future—and the setting is New San Francisco, the scorched-earth tech-dominant police state where democracy and personal freedom have been well and truly obliterated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAliens vs Predator: Requiem (2007)
After a horrifying PredAlien crash-lands near a small Colorado town, killing everyone it encounters and producing countless Alien offspring, a lone Predator arrives to "clean up" the infestation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisJurassic Park III (2001)
In need of funds for research, Dr. Alan Grant accepts a large sum of money to accompany Paul and Amanda Kirby on an aerial tour of the infamous Isla Sorna. It isn't long before all hell breaks loose and the stranded wayfarers must fight for survival as a host of new -- and even more deadly -- dinosaurs try to make snacks of them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
It's been 10 years since John Connor saved Earth from Judgment Day, and he's now living under the radar, steering clear of using anything Skynet can trace. That is, until he encounters T-X, a robotic assassin ordered to finish what T-1000 started. Good thing Connor's former nemesis, the Terminator, is back to aid the now-adult Connor … just like he promised.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Four years after Jurassic Park's genetically bred dinosaurs ran amok, multimillionaire John Hammond shocks chaos theorist Ian Malcolm by revealing that he has been breeding more beasties at a secret location. Malcolm, his paleontologist ladylove and a wildlife videographer join an expedition to document the lethal lizards' natural behavior in this action-packed thriller.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Ten years after the events of the original, a reprogrammed T-800 is sent back in time to protect young John Connor from the shape-shifting T-1000. Together with his mother Sarah, he fights to stop Skynet from triggering a nuclear apocalypse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTerminator Salvation (2009)
All grown up in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor must lead the resistance of humans against the increasingly dominating militaristic robots. But when Marcus Wright appears, his existence confuses the mission as Connor tries to determine whether Wright has come from the future or the past -- and whether he's friend or foe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlien (1979)
During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBatman Forever (1995)
Batman faces off against two foes: the schizophrenic, horribly scarred former District Attorney Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face, and the Riddler, a disgruntled ex-Wayne Enterprises inventor seeking revenge against his former employer by unleashing his brain-sucking weapon on Gotham City's residents. As the caped crusader also copes with tortured memories of his parents' murder, he has a new romance, with psychologist Chase Meridian.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisBeverly Hills Cop III (1994)
When his boss is killed, Detroit cop Axel Foley finds evidence that the murderer had ties to a California amusement park called Wonder World. Returning to sunny Beverly Hills once more, Foley reunites with Detective Billy Rosewood to solve the case. Along with Billy's new partner, Detective Jon Flint, they discover that Wonder World is being used as a front for a massive counterfeiting ring.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Escape from the Planet of the Apes?
The closest matches to Escape from the Planet of the Apes are Planet of the Apes (1968), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) and Oblivion (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Escape from the Planet of the Apes?
Start with Planet of the Apes (1968), the closest match to Escape from the Planet of the Apes.
What is the highest-rated movie like Escape from the Planet of the Apes?
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), rated 8.2/10 by 15,188 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Escape from the Planet of the Apes?
Space/Time (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Escape from the Planet of the Apes?
Yes: Planet of the Apes (1968), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) and Oblivion (2013).
How are movies similar to Escape from the Planet of the Apes chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Escape from the Planet of the Apes, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.