Movies like The Inventors (1934)
The best movies like The Inventors (1934) are Maximum Overdrive (1986), Drive (1997) and Primer (2004). If The Inventors hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Inventors
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)7.8/10 from 3,577 votes
- NewestJackass Forever (2022)Released 2022
Maximum Overdrive (1986)
When a comet passes close to the earth, machines all over the world come alive and go on homicidal rampages. A group of people at a desolate truck stop are held hostage by a gang of murderous 18-wheelers. The frightened people set out to defeat the killer machines…Or be killed by them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisDrive (1997)
A prototype enhanced human, on the run from Chinese-hired hit men, hooks up with a dread-locked bystander, and the two of them elude their pursuers narrowly each time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrimer (2004)
A group of fledgling inventors discover a complex method to manipulate reality. At first, they successfully game the stock market with it, but the consequences of the invention start to catch up with them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtinction (2018)
A chief mechanic at a factory, haunted by apocalyptic nightmares, becomes a hero when Earth is invaded by a mysterious army bent on destruction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
A quirky, dysfunctional family's road trip is upended when they find themselves in the middle of the robot apocalypse and suddenly become humanity's unlikeliest last hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPacific Rim (2013)
Using massive piloted robots to combat the alien threat, Earth's survivors take the fight to the invading alien force lurking in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless enemy, the forces of mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes who now stand as Earth's final hope against the mounting apocalypse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001)
Survivalist Burt Gummer returns home to Perfection, to find that the little town has been shaken up again by morphing, man-eating Graboids.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFreaked (1993)
A vain actor, his best friend, and an activist end up at a mutant freak farm run by a weirdo scientist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJackass Forever (2022)
The Jackass crew, along with some newcomers, returns for one more round of hilarious, absurd, and dangerous stunts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScreamers (1995)
SIRIUS 6B, Year 2078. On a distant mining planet ravaged by a decade of war, scientists have created the perfect weapon: a blade-wielding, self-replicating race of killing devices known as Screamers designed for one purpose only -- to hunt down and destroy all enemy life forms.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRobots (2005)
Rodney Copperbottom is a young robot inventor who dreams of making the world a better place, until the evil Ratchet takes over Bigweld Industries. Now, Rodney's dreams – and those of his friends – are in danger of becoming obsolete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions (2002)
Wallace and Gromit try out ten of their latest inventions—which rarely work as planned.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien Resurrection (1997)
Two hundred years after Lt. Ripley died, a group of scientists clone her, hoping to breed the ultimate weapon. But the new Ripley is full of surprises … as are the new aliens. Ripley must team with a band of smugglers to keep the creatures from reaching Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEarth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
Test space rockets exploding at liftoff and increased reporting of UFO sightings culminate in a direct attempt by alien survivors of a dead, extra-galactic civilization to invade Earth from impervious flying saucers, using ray-weapons of mass destruction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBen 10: Race Against Time (2008)
Ben, Gwen, and Max must stop an extraterrestrial who plans to open a gateway that leads to an alien invasion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisDon't Hang Up (2016)
An evening of drunken prank calls becomes a nightmare for a pair of teenagers when a mysterious stranger turns their own game against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBusy Bodies (1933)
In this short film, Laurel and Hardy wage battle with inanimate objects, their co-workers, and the laws of physics during a routine work day at a sawmill.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJackass: The Movie (2002)
Johnny Knoxville and his band of maniacs perform a variety of stunts and gross-out gags on the big screen for the first time. They wander around Japan in panda outfits, wreak havoc on a once civilized golf course, they even do stunts involving LIVE alligators, and so on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIgor (2008)
A cliché hunchbacked evil scientist's assistant aspires to become a scientist himself, much to the displeasure of the rest of the evil science community.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Inventors?
The closest matches to The Inventors are Maximum Overdrive (1986), Drive (1997) and Primer (2004). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Inventors?
Start with Maximum Overdrive (1986), the closest match to The Inventors.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Inventors?
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), rated 7.8/10 by 3,577 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Inventors?
Jackass Forever (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Inventors?
Yes: Maximum Overdrive (1986), Drive (1997) and Primer (2004).
How are movies similar to The Inventors chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Inventors, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















