Movies like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man (2005)
The best movies like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man (2005) are Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 4: Ghost Stands Alone (2014), Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (2008) and Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 1: Ghost Pain (2013). If Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man hooked you with its science fiction and animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGhost in the Shell (1995)7.9/10 from 4,145 votes
- NewestThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseGhost in the Shell: Arise - Border 4: Ghost Stands Alone (2014)Also in Japanese
Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 4: Ghost Stands Alone (2014)
The upcoming installment's story takes place amidst signs of postwar reconstruction in the winter of 2028. Tensions are rising in New Port City as demonstrations are held concerning the interests of foreign cartels. This leads to a shooting incident involving riot police. It all started with a cyberbrain infection released by the terrorist "Fire Starter." An independent offensive unit led by Makoto Kusanagi entrusts the suppression of the situation to their ghosts and aims for their own justice. Below the surface of the incident, lies the "tin girl" Emma and the "scarecrow man" Burinda Junior. As Kusanagi deals with the incident, she draws near to what those two ghosts were seeking.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost in the Shell 2.0 (2008)
In the year 2029, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Arise - Border 1: Ghost Pain (2013)
The story is set in 2027, one year after the end of the fourth non-nuclear war. New Port City is still reeling from the war's aftermath when it suffers a bombing caused by a self-propelled mine. Then, a military member implicated in arms-dealing bribes is gunned down. During the investigation, Public Security Section's Daisuke Aramaki encounters Motoko Kusanagi, the cyborg, wizard-level hacker assigned to the military's 501st Secret Unit. Batou, a man with the "eye that does not sleep," suspects that Kusanagi is the one behind the bombing. The Niihama Prefectural Police detective Togusa is pursuing his own dual cases of the shooting death and a prostitute's murder. Motoko herself is being watched by the 501st Secret Unit's head Kurutsu and cyborg agents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War (2021)
In the year 2045, after an economic disaster known as the Synchronized Global Default, rapid developments in AI propelled the world to enter a state of "Sustainable War". However, the public is not aware of the threat that AI has towards the human race. A compilation film with newly added footage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Arise - Border 2: Ghost Whispers (2013)
Freed of her responsibilities with the 501 Organization, Motoko Kusanagi must now learn how to take orders from Aramaki. Someone hacks the Logicomas, and Batou enlists the help of former army intelligence officer Ishikawa and former air artillery expert Borma. Kusanagi also seeks to enlist ace sniper Saito and undercover cop Paz into the new Public Security Section 9.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPsycho-Pass: Sinners of the System - Case.1 Crime and Punishment (2019)
In the winter of 2117, a runaway vehicle crashes into the Public Safety Bureau Building. The driver is identified as Izumi Yasaka, a psychological counselor at the Sanctuary, a Latent Criminal Isolation Facility in Aomori Prefecture. But right before her interrogation, Inspector Mika Shimotsuki and Enforcer Nobuchika Ginoza are tasked with promptly escorting Yasaka back to Aomori. What awaits them there is a False Paradise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho-Pass: Sinners of the System - Case.3 On the Other Side of Love and Hate (2019)
Following the incident in the Southeast Asia Union in 2116, Shinya Kogami resumes his vagrant journey. In a small South Asian nation, Kogami rescues a bus of refugees under attack by armed guerrilla forces. Among the refugees is a young lady by the name of Tenzin, who begs Kogami to teach her how to retaliate against the enemy. Just what does the girl who wishes for revenge and the man who has exacted revenge see as they gaze upon the edge of a world from which there is no escape?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho-Pass: Sinners of the System - Case.2 First Guardian (2019)
2112; the summer before Akane Tsunemori was assigned to Division One of the Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Department. Teppei Sugo, an accomplished pilot of the Defense Army's 15th Integrated Task Force, joins the military operation in Okinawa. Three months later, an unmanned combat drone opens fire on the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo. Enforcer Tomomi Masaoka of CID Division One is dispatched to Sugo's military base to investigate the truth behind this case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle Angel (1993)
In his travels as a bounty hunter, Hunter–Warrior and cyborg healer Ido one day discovers and repairs the remnants of a cyborg whom he names Gally. Though possessing the body of a young woman, Gally now embodies Ido's most sophisticated and lethal cybernetic skills. The preternaturally strong, amnesiac Gally begins to forge a life for herself in a world where every day is a struggle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & action
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPSYCHO-PASS: The Movie (2015)
In a futuristic Japan, the Sibyl System is charged with keeping the peace. When the state of SEAUn brings the Sibyl System in to test its effectiveness, it becomes a haven of peace and safety—for a time. Eventually, terrorists from SEAUn begin appearing in Japan, somehow slipping through the System's security and attacking from within. Desperate for answers, Inspector Akane Tsunemori is sent overseas to bring the terrorists to justice. But when her investigation forces her into a standoff with an old ally, will she be able to pull the trigger?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Arise - Border 3: Ghost Tears (2014)
Posing as lovers on vacation, Motoko and Batou work to try to stop a terrorist organization whose symbol is the Scrasath. Meanwhile, Togusa investigates a murder of a man who possessed a prosthetic leg manufactured by the Mermaid's Leg corporation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho-Pass: Providence (2023)
While attending a meeting as a Chief Inspector of the Public Security Bureau, Akane Tsunemori received a report that an incident had occurred on a foreign vessel , and this was the beginning of a big and unexpected case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space (1982)
Amuro Ray and the rest of the White Base crew, now denominated the 13th Autonomous Corps, return to outer space to support the rest of the Earth Federation forces for the decisive battle against the Principality of Zeon's forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost in the Shell (1995)
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSpace Adventure Cobra (1982)
Cobra, a notorious space pirate, is enlisted by bounty hunter Jane to rescue her sister from the strange being known as Crystal Bowie, but then finds himself drawn into a complex struggle over the fate of a mysterious wandering planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like this009-1: The End of the Beginning (2013)
In a universe where the Cold War never ended and growing conflicts result in the rapid advancement of technological warfare, the cyborg spy Mylene Hoffman of the 00 Organization battles the agents of the Eastern block in a game of high tech espionage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG - Individual Eleven (2006)
The year is 2030, and an influx of refuges have effortlessly transformed themselves into a terrorist organization known as the "Individual Eleven." With a sadistic intent of mass destruction, will they triumph in victory or discover the gloomy pitfalls of defeat?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMardock Scramble: The Second Combustion (2011)
Rescued by Doctor Easter from a deadly assault on their headquarters by Dimsdale Boiled, Rune Balot finds temporary shelter in "Paradise," a high-tech laboratory where the Scramble 09 protocol originated. While the severely injured Oeufcoque regenerates in a healing vat, Rune struggles to find the answers within herself that will let her equally injured psyche find some measure of peace. But as the search for clues to the location of Shell's hidden memories continues, Boiled finds them again, and Rune and the Doctor decide it's time to carry the war to the enemy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
Cyborg detective Batou is assigned to investigate a series of murders committed by gynoids—doll-like cyborgs, which all malfunctioned, killed, then self-destructed afterwards. The brains of the gynoids initialize in order to protect their manufacturer's software, but in one gynoid, which Batou himself neutralized, one file remains: a voice speaking the phrase "Help me."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpace Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark (2014)
2199 AD. Yamato tried to leave behind the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, after receiving a "Cosmo Reverse System" at its destination, Iscandar. However, suddenly, it encounters a mysterious group at the edge of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The crew finds out that the group is called the "Gatlantis," and that its leader is the Gutaba expeditionary force commander who calls himself "Goran Dagaamu of Thunder." The commander demands that Yamato be handed over to him. Yamato, wanting to hurry to Earth, escapes the fray. However, Yamato is attacked by a devastating beam weapon called the "Flame Direct Attack Cannon" that can transcend space.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & action
Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture - Act 1 (2024)
A recap of Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture episodes 1–3, with new footage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & action
Getter Robo (1974)
When earthquakes shake up Japan, Professor Saotome is certain that it is the work of the Dinosaur Empire. Michiru goes out to investigate in the Command Module but is quickly shot down and injured; the culprit is none other than Megazaus! Team Getter Robo is eager to get revenge for Michiru, but first they have to brave the fractured roads and find a physician for her. Once Getter Robo is formed, they must track Megazaus underground and defeat him before he destroys the cities of Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & action
Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)
In Japan, the vampire-hunter Saya, who is a powerful original, is sent by her liaison with the government, David, posed as a teenage student to the Yokota High School on the eve of Halloween to hunt down vampires. Saya asks David to give a new katana to her. Soon she saves the school nurse Makiho Amano from two vampires disguised of classmates and Makiho witnesses her fight against the powerful demon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVideodrome (1983)
As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonsters 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation (2024)
A samurai's path leads him to a young waitress whose hometown was destroyed by a dragon. He doesn't want any trouble — but it finds them anyway.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHappiness Charge Precure! the Movie: Ballerina of the Doll Kingdom (2014)
While performing a puppet show at a nursery, the HappinessCharge Pretty Cures are surprised when one of the dolls starts talking. “Save our kingdom!” Tsumugi, the ballerina doll, pleads. The Pretty Cures accompany Tsumugi to the land of dolls, a girls’ paradise of cute stuffed animals, talking dolls, music and dance ruled by the noble Prince Zeke. But the kingdom is under attack by the forces of Black Fang, a mysterious man who wants to conquer the land for his own nefarious purposes. As sorrow spreads throughout the Kingdom of Dolls, the Pretty Cures come to the rescue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & action
Inayathalam (2017)
A team of cybercrime officials are left scratching their heads after an untraceable website starts streaming murders live on the internet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Bright: Samurai Soul (2021)
Izo, a Ronin, and Raiden, an orc, work to bring a young elf girl and the wand she carries to the land of the elves in the north.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and traitorous lord of Rohan seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man?
The closest matches to Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man are Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 4: Ghost Stands Alone (2014), Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (2008) and Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 1: Ghost Pain (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man?
Start with Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 4: Ghost Stands Alone (2014), the closest match to Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man?
Ghost in the Shell (1995), rated 7.9/10 by 4,145 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man?
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man?
Yes: Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 4: Ghost Stands Alone (2014), Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (2008) and Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 1: Ghost Pain (2013).
How are movies similar to Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.