Movies like H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds (2005)
The best movies like H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds (2005) are The 5th Wave (2016), Captive State (2019) and War of the Worlds (2005). If H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds 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 ratedEdge of Tomorrow (2014)7.6/10 from 15,752 votes
- NewestElevation (2024)Released 2024
The 5th Wave (2016)
16-year-old Cassie Sullivan tries to survive in a world devastated by the waves of an alien invasion that has already decimated the population and knocked mankind back to the Stone Age.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisCaptive State (2019)
Nearly a decade after occupation by an extraterrestrial force, the lives of a Chicago neighborhood on both sides of the conflict are explored. In a working-class Chicago neighborhood occupied by an alien force for nine years, increased surveillance and the restriction of civil rights have given rise to an authoritarian system -- and dissent among the populace.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisWar of the Worlds (2005)
Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEdge of Tomorrow (2014)
Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonsters (2010)
Six years ago NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was launched to collect samples, but crashed upon re-entry over Central America. Soon after, new life forms began to appear and half of Mexico was quarantined as an infected zone. Today, the American and Mexican military still struggle to contain "the creatures," while a journalist agrees to escort a shaken tourist through the infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the U.S. border.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkyline (2010)
When strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, people are drawn outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth. Now the band of survivors must fight for their lives as the world unravels around them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisWar of the Worlds the True Story (2012)
What if the Earth/Mars battle from H.G. Wells' classic novel The War of the Worlds wasn't fiction but actually fact? Like the famous 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast that caused Americans to believe an actual invasion was in progress, the movie assumes an Earth/Mars War in 1900 actually occurred and is presented as the first hand memoir of journalist Bertie Wells, the last living survivor as he struggles to find his wife amidst the destruction of humankind at the hands of terrifying alien invaders.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
We always knew they were coming back. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe War of the Worlds (1953)
The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills, until they discover it is the first of many transport devices from Mars bringing an army of invaders invincible to any man-made weapon, even the atomic bomb.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerminal Invasion (2002)
Aliens in human disguise commandeer a rural airport during a snowstorm. To survive, the people trapped inside must determine which of their own is not of this Earth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisDistrict 9 (2009)
Thirty years ago, aliens arrive on Earth. Not to conquer or give aid, but to find refuge from their dying planet. Separated from humans in a South African area called District 9, the aliens are managed by Multi-National United, which is unconcerned with the aliens' welfare but will do anything to master their advanced technology. When a company field agent contracts a mysterious virus that begins to alter his DNA, there is only one place he can hide: District 9.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStarship Troopers (1997)
Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as "the Bugs."
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattle: Los Angeles (2011)
When once distant UFOs become a terrifying threat and an alien invasion force begins attacking Earths major costal and riverside cities, a U.S Marine staff sergeant and his team are sent into battle only to find they must take it upon themselves to defeat an unknown enemy and protect what remains of Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisIndependence Day (1996)
Strange phenomena surface around the globe. The skies ignite. Terror races through the world's major cities. As these extraordinary events unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that a force of incredible magnitude has arrived. Its mission: total annihilation over the Fourth of July weekend. The last hope to stop the destruction is an unlikely group of people united by fate and unimaginable circumstances.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien Invasion: S.U.M.1 (2017)
An aggressive race of aliens took over Planet Earth and humanity's at its end, living in giant bunkers below ground. Young Military rookie S.U.M.1 (Iwan Rheon) is sent to the surface to save a group of unprotected survivors.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies 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: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Host (2013)
A parasitic alien soul is injected into the body of Melanie Stryder. Instead of carrying out her race's mission of taking over the Earth, "Wanda" (as she comes to be called) forms a bond with her host and sets out to aid other free humans.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAttack the Block (2011)
A South London teen gang must team up with the other residents of their housing estate to protect the neighbourhood from a terrifying alien invasion.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien Outpost (2014)
A documentary crew follows an elite unit of soldiers in the wake of an alien invasion.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisElevation (2024)
Post-apocalyptic survivors find refuge in the Rocky Mountains to hide from giant, insect-like creatures that can't live above 8,000 feet. However, when one of them needs life-saving supplies, they risk it all to venture into the danger zone.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfter Earth (2013)
One thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity's escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind's new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai. When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai's craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisInvasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
The residents of San Francisco are becoming drone-like shadows of their former selves, and as the phenomenon spreads, two Department of Health workers uncover the horrifying truth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
A representative of an alien race that went through drastic evolution to survive its own climate change, Klaatu comes to Earth to assess whether humanity can prevent the environmental damage they have inflicted on their own planet. When barred from speaking to the United Nations, he decides humankind shall be exterminated so the planet can survive.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisRiddick (2013)
Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick fights for survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Darkest Hour (2011)
In Moscow, five young people lead the charge against an alien race which has attacked Earth via our power supply.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisOccupation: Rainfall (2020)
Two years into an intergalactic invasion of Earth, survivors in Sydney, Australia, fight back in a desperate ground war. As casualties mount by the day, the resistance and their unexpected allies, uncover a plot that could see the war come to a decisive end. With the Alien invaders hell-bent on making earth their new home, the race is on to save mankind.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Invasion (2007)
Washington, D.C. psychologist Carol Bennell and her colleague Dr. Ben Driscoll are the only two people on Earth who are aware of an epidemic running rampant through the city. They discover an alien virus aboard a crashed space shuttle that transforms anyone who comes into contact with it into unfeeling drones while they sleep. Carol realizes her son holds the key to stopping the spread of the plague and she races to find him before it is too late.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Colony (2013)
Forced underground by the next ice age, a struggling outpost of survivors must fight to preserve humanity against a threat even more savage than nature.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisWar of the Worlds: Goliath (2012)
Fifteen years have passed since the Martians’ first failed invasion of Earth. The year is 1914, and at the eve of World War I, Mars launches a sudden and more devastating second attack. A small defense force, A.R.E.S., is Earth’s only hope. The giant A.R.E.S. battle tripod GOLIATH is called up to war, and its young multinational crew must face their fears in their struggle to save Humanity from the alien invaders.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Roswell (1994)
Based on the book "UFO Crash at Roswell" by Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt, Roswell follows the attempts of Major Jesse Marcel to discover the truth about strange debris found on a local rancher's field in July of 1947. Told by his superiors that what he has found is nothing more than a downed weather balloon, Marcel maintains his military duty until the weight of the truth, however out of this world it may be, forces him to piece together what really occurred.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds?
The closest matches to H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds are The 5th Wave (2016), Captive State (2019) and War of the Worlds (2005). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds?
People who watched H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds most often go on to The 5th Wave (2016), Captive State (2019) and War of the Worlds (2005).
What is the highest-rated movie like H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds?
Edge of Tomorrow (2014), rated 7.6/10 by 15,752 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds?
Elevation (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds?
Yes: The 5th Wave (2016), Captive State (2019) and War of the Worlds (2005).
How are movies similar to H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.