Movies like Maya and the Starboy (1988)
The best movies like Maya and the Starboy (1988) are The Adam Project (2022), Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars (2014) and The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (1981). If Maya and the Starboy hooked you with its adventure and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Empire Strikes Back (1980)8.4/10 from 19,120 votes
- NewestLong Distance (2024)Released 2024
The 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 adventure & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPhineas and Ferb: Star Wars (2014)
Phineas and Ferb become the galaxy's unlikeliest last hope when they must return the Death Star plans to the Rebel Alliance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
Don't Panic! The story of Arthur Dent, an average Englishman whose life was spared by his friend, who turned out to be an alien, while the planet Earth is destroyed. His friend tells him about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a guide with anything you ever needed, and wanted to know. They travel across the galaxy, meeting friendly, and not so friendly characters in order to find the great question (the answer being 42).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPlanet 51 (2009)
When Earth astronaut Capt. Chuck Baker arrives on Planet 51 -- a world reminiscent of American suburbia circa 1950 -- he tries to avoid capture, recover his spaceship and make it home safely, all with the help of an empathetic little green being.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies 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 · both science fiction & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark (2007)
This instalment of Babylon 5 is in two parts: the first is about an entity that has possessed a worker. Colonel Lochley prevents a priest from performing an exorcism. The host is returned to Earth. The second has Galen trying to dupe President Sheridan into assassinating the future Centauri emperor to stop him from attacking Earth in around 30 years time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: The River of Souls (1998)
A group of Soul Hunters come to Babylon 5 demanding the return of something that was stolen from them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)
The rebels gear up for battle against the ruthless forces of the Motherworld as unbreakable bonds are forged, heroes emerge — and legends are made.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReal Men (1987)
A womanizing CIA agent and an insecure insurance agent are paired together to make sure a deal goes through with aliens for the future of mankind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeavy Metal 2000 (2000)
Upon discovery of a shard of what could be the Loc-Nar, a miner named Tyler becomes possessed with an insatiable hunger for power and a thirst for immortality. On his way to the planet of youth, Tyler wipes out most of a space colony and kidnaps a beautiful young woman. His only mistake is that he doesn't kill her sister, Julie, who then sets out on a mission of rescue and revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once again as the journey of Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron continues. With the power and knowledge of generations behind them, the final battle begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLong Distance (2024)
After crash-landing on an alien planet, an asteroid miner must contend with the challenges of his new surroundings, while making his way across the harsh terrain to the only other survivor – a woman who is trapped in her escape pod.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStar Trek Beyond (2016)
The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPower Rangers (2017)
Five ordinary teens must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove — and the world — is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so, they will have to overcome their real-life issues and before it’s too late, band together as the Power Rangers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: The Road Home (2023)
Travel across the galaxy with John Sheridan as he unexpectedly finds himself transported through multiple timelines and alternate realities in a quest to find his way back home. Along the way he reunites with some familiar faces, while discovering cosmic new revelations about the history, purpose, and meaning of the Universe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisExplorers (1985)
Middle schooler Ben spends his free time watching sci-fi films, playing video games and reading comic books. Surprisingly, his affinity for all things fantastical yields a real result – when he has a vivid dream about technology, his prodigy best friend Wolfgang manages to create a working spacecraft. Joined by their buddy Darren, the boys take off into outer space and encounter some very odd extraterrestrial life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)
When the ruthless forces of the Motherworld threaten a quiet farming village on a distant moon, a mysterious outsider becomes its best hope for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers - To Live and Die in Starlight (2002)
After being punished for retreat from combat, Ranger David Martel is given command of the Liandra, a haunted 20-year old Minbari fighting ship. He's escorting ambassadors to a secret archaeological site, the oldest city on record and a clue to a dangerous ancient race.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreen Lantern: First Flight (2009)
Test pilot Hal Jordan finds himself recruited as the newest member of the intergalactic police force, The Green Lantern Corps.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGalaxy Quest (1999)
For four years, the courageous crew of the NSEA Protector — Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, Lieutenant Tawny Madison, and Doctor Lazarus — set off on a thrilling and often dangerous mission in space... until their series was cancelled! Now, twenty years later, aliens under attack have mistaken the Galaxy Quest television transmissions for "historical documents" and beam up the crew of has-been actors to save the universe. With no script, no director, and no clue, the actors must turn in the performances of their lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe City of Lost Children (1995)
A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThis Island Earth (1955)
Aliens have landed and are hiding on Earth, but need Earth’s scientists to help them fight an inter-planetary war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The epic saga continues as Luke Skywalker, in hopes of defeating the evil Galactic Empire, learns the ways of the Jedi from aging master Yoda. But Darth Vader is more determined than ever to capture Luke. Meanwhile, rebel leader Princess Leia, cocky Han Solo, Chewbacca, and droids C-3PO and R2-D2 are thrown into various stages of capture, betrayal and despair.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisReturn of the Jedi (1983)
Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMission to Mars (2000)
When the first manned mission to Mars meets with a catastrophic and mysterious disaster after reporting an unidentified structure, a rescue mission is launched to investigate the tragedy and bring back any survivors.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & adventure
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: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAntonia's Line (1995)
After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalking on Sunshine (2014)
Set to the music of popular hit 1980s songs. A beautiful coastal village, present day Italy. After a whirlwind romance, Maddie is preparing to marry gorgeous Italian Raf, and has invited her sister Taylor to the wedding. Unbeknownst to Maddie, however, Raf is Taylor's ex-holiday flame, and the love of her life...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKeep the Change (2018)
When aspiring filmmaker David is mandated by a judge to attend a social program at the Jewish Community Center, he is sure of one thing: he doesn't belong there. But when he's assigned to visit the Brooklyn Bridge with the vivacious Sarah, sparks fly and his convictions are tested. Their budding relationship must weather Sarah's romantic past, David's judgmental mother, and their own pre-conceptions of what love is supposed to look like.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Maya and the Starboy?
The closest matches to Maya and the Starboy are The Adam Project (2022), Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars (2014) and The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (1981). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Maya and the Starboy?
Start with The Adam Project (2022), the closest match to Maya and the Starboy.
What is the highest-rated movie like Maya and the Starboy?
The Empire Strikes Back (1980), rated 8.4/10 by 19,120 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Maya and the Starboy?
Long Distance (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Maya and the Starboy chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Maya and the Starboy, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.