Movies like Steel Dawn (1987)
The best movies like Steel Dawn (1987) are Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), The Blood of Heroes (1989) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). If Steel Dawn hooked you with its action and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMad Max: Fury Road (2015)7.6/10 from 24,948 votes
- NewestAfterburn (2025)Released 2025
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Blood of Heroes (1989)
Set in a futuristic world where the only sport that has survived in a wasted society is the brutal game known as jugging. Sallow, the leader of a rag-tag team, has played in the main Leagues before, but was cast out because of indiscretions with a lady. Now joined by a talented newcomer, Kidda, an ambitious young peasant girl, he and his team find they have one last chance for glory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisMad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Mad Max becomes a pawn in a decadent oasis of a technological society, and when exiled, becomes the deliverer of a colony of children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)
Thomas and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
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 thisThe Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Plagued by strange memories, Neo's life takes an unexpected turn when he finds himself back inside the Matrix.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)
Burt Gummer and Travis Welker find themselves in a fight for survival after investigating deadly giant worm attacks in the Canadian arctic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Last Survivors (2014)
In the near future, society collapses and water becomes scarce. When a greedy water baron starts violently clearing out survivors, Kendal, a 17-year-old teenager, fights the baron's henchman to keep a well open.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
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 · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTurbo Kid (2015)
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, an orphaned teen must battle a ruthless warlord to save the girl of his dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTimescape (1992)
Before they can complete renovations on their new country inn, a widowed father and his young daughter are visited by a strange group of tourists. He soon makes a chilling discovery: they are disaster junkies from the future who visit the past to witness history's greatest catastrophes—and his small town is their next stop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster Hunters (2020)
When an alien prison ship crash lands and unleashes creature after creature in the California desert, they make quick work of the army that tries to stop them. Now, the only hope of stopping the aliens rests with a secret branch of the government specializing in alien weaponry. But with the team untested in actual combat, the battle for Earth will be brutal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaylight's End (2016)
Years after a mysterious plague has devastated the planet and turned most of humanity into blood-hungry creatures, a rogue drifter on a vengeful hunt stumbles across a band of survivors in an abandoned police station and reluctantly agrees to try to help them defend themselves and escape to the sanctuary they so desperately need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Years after the Racoon City catastrophe, survivors travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to Alaska. Alice joins the caravan and their fight against hordes of zombies and the evil Umbrella Corp.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Book of Eli (2010)
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoomsday (2008)
The lethal Reaper virus spreads throughout Britain—infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands. Authorities brutally and successfully quarantine the country but, three decades later, the virus resurfaces in a major city. An elite group of specialists is urgently dispatched into the still-quarantined country to retrieve a cure by any means necessary. Shut off from the rest of the world, the unit must battle through a landscape that has become a waking nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisCode 8 Part II (2024)
In a world where superpowered people are heavily policed by robots, an ex-con teams up with a drug lord he despises to protect a teen from a corrupt cop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDredd (2012)
In the future, America is a dystopian wasteland. The latest scourge is Ma-Ma, a prostitute-turned-drug pusher with a dangerous new drug and aims to take over the city. The only possibility of stopping her is an elite group of urban police called Judges, who combine the duties of judge, jury and executioner to deliver a brutal brand of swift justice. But even the top-ranking Judge, Dredd, discovers that taking down Ma-Ma isn’t as easy as it seems in this explosive adaptation of the hugely popular comic series.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAttack on Titan (2022)
As viable water is depleted on Earth, a mission is sent to Saturn's moon Titan to retrieve sustainable H2O reserves from its alien inhabitants. But just as the humans acquire the precious resource, they are attacked by Titan rebels, who don't trust that the Earthlings will leave in peace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Formula for Water (TBA)
A post-apocalyptic story about a girl named Dana who sets on a journey to save her kidnapped father, a scientist who created a machine that could restore the drinking water reserves on the planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
Led by a strange dream, scientist Aki Ross struggles to collect the eight spirits in the hope of creating a force powerful enough to protect the planet. With the aid of the Deep Eyes Squadron and her mentor, Dr. Sid, Aki must save the Earth from its darkest hate and unleash the spirits within.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDouble Dragon (1994)
Two brothers have half of a powerful ancient Chinese talisman. An evil gang leader has the other half, and determines to get the brothers' half and have a complete medallion so he can gain absolute power.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisHulk (2003)
Bruce Banner, a genetics researcher with a tragic past, suffers massive radiation exposure in his laboratory that causes him to transform into a raging green monster when he gets angry.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisEscape from New York (1981)
In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam free. After the US president crash-lands inside, war hero Snake Plissken has 24 hours to bring him back.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGun Law (1938)
Finding a man alone in the desert, Marshal Tom is relieved - of his horse, clothes and water. When he catches up to Raven, he finds him dying from drinking bad water. When he gets to Gunsight, everyone thinks that he is the outlaw Raven and he plays it out so that he can end lawlessness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
The Way of the Gun (2000)
Two criminal drifters without sympathy get more than they bargained for after kidnapping and holding for ransom the surrogate mother of a powerful and shady man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHidalgo (2004)
Set in 1890, this is the story of a Pony Express courier who travels to Arabia to compete with his horse, Hidalgo, in a dangerous race for a massive contest prize, in an adventure that sends the pair around the world...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGerry (2002)
Two friends named Gerry become lost in the desert after taking a wrong turn. Their attempts to find their way home only lead them into further trouble.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisToro Loco (2012)
Mateo, son of a notorious mob lord of the city, has been dumped by his wife who took his son away. He doesn't resist the shame and hires the most ruthless hit-man available to kill them. He hires Toro Loco, a cold, eccentric assassin with will bring the hell to this family, always under his own twisted rules.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Like Steel Dawn and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Steel Dawn?
The closest matches to Steel Dawn are Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), The Blood of Heroes (1989) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Steel Dawn?
Start with Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), the closest match to Steel Dawn.
What is the highest-rated movie like Steel Dawn?
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), rated 7.6/10 by 24,948 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Steel Dawn?
Afterburn (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Steel Dawn?
Yes: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), The Blood of Heroes (1989) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985).
How are movies similar to Steel Dawn chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Steel Dawn, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.