Movies like The Launching of Spaceship-1 (1940)
The best movies like The Launching of Spaceship-1 (1940) are Destination Moon (1950), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Countdown (1967). If The Launching of Spaceship-1 hooked you with its science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest rated2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)8.0/10 from 13,144 votes
- NewestBugonia (2025)Released 2025
- In GermanWoman in the Moon (1929)Also in German
Destination Moon (1950)
A team composed of an aerospace scientist, an ex-Air Force general, and an industrialist conceives an ambitious plan to land Americans on the moon. From their base in the Mojave Desert, they construct and successfully launch a spacecraft named "Luna" that contains a cargo of four astronauts. But a critical miscalculation of needed power to escape the moon's gravitational pull may put the astronauts' lives in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like this2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCountdown (1967)
Desperate to land a man on the moon before Russia does, NASA hastily preps a would-be spaceman for a mission that would leave him alone in a lunar shelter for a year.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisWoman in the Moon (1929)
A scientist discovers that there's gold on the moon. He builds a rocket to fly there, but there's too much rivalry among the crew to have a successful expedition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Grand Day Out (1990)
Wallace and Gromit have run out of cheese, and this provides an excellent excuse for the duo to take their holiday to the moon, where, as everyone knows, there is ample cheese.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEuropa Report (2013)
A crew travels to Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon, to investigate signs of life in its subsurface ocean, but disaster cuts them off from Earth, leading to a tense and dangerous exploration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoonfall (2022)
A mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoon (2009)
With only three weeks left in his three-year contract, Sam Bell is eager to return to Earth. Stationed alone at a Moon-based facility with his computer assistant GERTY, an unexpected accident sets off a series of unsettling events that shake his isolation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlien: Containment (2019)
Aboard a small escape pod, four survivors try to discover what caused the destruction of their spaceship.
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 thisFirst Men in the Moon (1964)
The world is delighted when a spacecraft containing a crew comprised of the world's astronauts lands on the moon, but are shocked when the astronauts discover an old British flag and a document declaring that the moon is taken for Queen Victoria, proving that the astronauts were not the first men on the moon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGravity (2013)
Dr Ryan Stone, an engineer on her first space mission, and Matt Kowalski, an astronaut on his final expedition, have to survive in space after they are hit by debris while spacewalking.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrater (2023)
After the death of his father, a boy growing up on a lunar mining colony takes a trip to explore a legendary crater, along with his four best friends, prior to being permanently relocated to another planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisMickey 17 (2025)
Unlikely hero Mickey Barnes finds himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wild Blue Yonder (2005)
An alien narrates the story of his dying planet, his and his people's visitations to Earth and Earth's self-made demise, while human astronauts in space are attempting to find an alternate planet for surviving humans to live on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Guy Presents: Blue Harvest (2007)
With the Griffins stuck at home during a blackout, Peter tells the story of "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBURN·E (2008)
What lengths will a robot undergo to do his job? BURN·E is a dedicated hard working robot who finds himself locked out of his ship. BURN·E quickly learns that completing a simple task can often be a very difficult endeavor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBugonia (2025)
Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlien Abduction: Incident in Lake County (1998)
After a mysterious blackout, a son goes out to investigate and captures footage of actual aliens. When the aliens follow he and his brothers back to their home all hell breaks lose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArmageddon (1998)
When an asteroid threatens to collide with Earth, NASA honcho Dan Truman determines the only way to stop it is to drill into its surface and detonate a nuclear bomb. This leads him to renowned driller Harry Stamper, who agrees to helm the dangerous space mission provided he can bring along his own hotshot crew. Among them is the cocksure A.J. who Harry thinks isn't good enough for his daughter, until the mission proves otherwise.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfronauts (2014)
16th July 1969: America prepares to launch Apollo 11. Thousands of kilometers away, a ragtag group of Zambian exiles is trying to beat America to the Moon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
K-PAX (2001)
Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEscape (2017)
After crash landing on a desolate planet, a lone space explorer must find a way to make her new home habitable. Using innovation, grit and courage, she casts out the darkness in this new land.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Flip (2019)
Some fifty years in the future, a mother and daughter are held captive in a refugee compound, their lives in imminent danger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
I Want Pluto to Be a Planet Again (2016)
A transhumanist romance in the near future. A young boy of modest origins, Marcus, an H- , falls madly in love with an H+.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
The Cloud (2015)
Mike is trapped in an elevator. His only solution is "The Cloud" an Operating System Phone which saves a copy of his brain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
The Morphable Man (2018)
Adio is a young man able to control a condition that causes his involuntary transformation into objects based on his emotions until he meets Sophie.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Capture the Heart of That Day (2019)
It's the year 20XX, and the latest technologies are protecting the nature of rural towns. The main character, Ruuto, and Michi, are childhood friends. But during the second year of junior high, as Michi moves to an urban area, the two drift apart. Ruuto doesn't want Michi to forget him. Michi doesn't want to show her weak side. The two friends go their separate ways. Mobility services transcend space and time and connect their hearts.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Youth Forever (2014)
Somewhere in the future where plastic surgery and decorative body implants is an essential part of a human's fashion and lifestyle, a woman called Susan under the pressure of family and friends takes a big step to begin her first facelift.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Launching of Spaceship-1?
The closest matches to The Launching of Spaceship-1 are Destination Moon (1950), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Countdown (1967). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Launching of Spaceship-1?
Start with Destination Moon (1950), the closest match to The Launching of Spaceship-1.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Launching of Spaceship-1?
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), rated 8.0/10 by 13,144 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Launching of Spaceship-1?
Bugonia (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like The Launching of Spaceship-1?
Yes: Woman in the Moon (1929).
How are movies similar to The Launching of Spaceship-1 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Launching of Spaceship-1, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.