Movies like The Flying Saucer (1950)
The best movies like The Flying Saucer (1950) are The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Space/Time (2025). If The Flying Saucer hooked you with its thriller and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedNorth by Northwest (1959)8.0/10 from 4,731 votes
- NewestSpace/Time (2025)Released 2025
The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
Based on an "actual event" that took place in 1943. About a US Navy Destroyer Escort that disappeared from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and sent two men 40 years into the future to 1984.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpace/Time (2025)
After a fatal test shuts down their project, a disgraced team of scientists enters the criminal underworld to rebuild a forbidden space-bending engine that could rescue humanity or annihilate it entirely.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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 & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIce Station Zebra (1968)
A top-secret Soviet spy satellite -- using stolen Western technology -- malfunctions and then goes into a descent that lands it near an isolated Arctic research encampment called Ice Station Zebra, belonging to the British, which starts sending out distress signals before falling silent. The atomic submarine Tigerfish, commanded by Cmdr. James Ferraday, is dispatched to save them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thing from Another World (1951)
Scientists and US Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while investigating at a remote arctic outpost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 27th Day (1957)
Five individuals from five nations, including the USA, USSR, and China, suddenly find themselves on an alien saucer, where an alien gives each a container holding three capsules. The alien explains that no power on earth can open a given container except a mental command from the person to whom it is given, then anyone may take a capsule and, by speaking a latitude and longitude at it, cause instant death to all within a given radius: thus each of the five has been provided with the power of life and death. Then, they are given 27 days to decide whether to use the capsules, and returned to the places from which each one came...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForbidden Planet (1956)
Starship C57D travels to planet Altair 4 in search of the crew of spaceship "Bellerophon," a scientific expedition that has been missing for twenty years. They find themselves unwelcome by the expedition's lone survivor and warned of destruction by an invisible force if they don't turn back immediately.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOur Man Flint (1966)
When scientists use eco-terrorism to impose their will on the world by affecting extremes in the weather, Intelligence Chief Cramden calls in top agent Derek Flint.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: Thirdspace (1998)
Susan Ivanova discovers a derelict spaceship in hyperspace. They tow it back to Babylon 5, then strange things start happening. People are being telepathically taken over by aliens from another (third)space.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
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 · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChief of Station (2024)
After learning that the death of his wife was not an accident, a former CIA Station Chief is forced back into the espionage underworld, teaming up with an adversary to unravel a conspiracy that challenges everything he thought he knew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNorth by Northwest (1959)
Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisStargate SG-1: Children of the Gods (2009)
An alien similar to Ra appears out of the Stargate, killing five soldiers and kidnapping another, a year after the original Stargate mission. A new team is assembled, including some old members, and they go in search of the missing soldier in order to find out how Ra could still be alive. Meanwhile, the alien Goa'uld kidnap Sha're and Skaara, implanting them with symbiotes and making them Goa'uld hosts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGet Smart (2008)
When members of the nefarious crime syndicate KAOS attack the U.S. spy agency Control and the identities of secret agents are compromised, the Chief has to promote hapless but eager analyst Maxwell Smart to field agent. He is partnered with veteran and capable Agent 99, the only spy whose cover remains intact. Can they work together to thwart the evil world-domination plans of KAOS and its crafty operative?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEarth to Echo (2014)
After a construction project begins digging in their neighbourhood, best friends Tuck, Munch and Alex inexplicably begin to receive strange, encoded messages on their cell phones. Convinced something bigger is going on, they go to their parents and the authorities. The three embark on a secret adventure to crack the code and follow it to its source, and discover a mysterious being from another world who desperately needs their help. The journey that follows will change all their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisJourney to the Center of the Earth (2008)
On a quest to find out what happened to his missing brother, a scientist, his nephew and their mountain guide discover a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStargate: The Ark of Truth (2008)
SG-1 searches for an ancient weapon which could help them defeat the Ori, and discover it may be in the Ori's own home galaxy. As the Ori prepare to send ships through to the Milky Way to attack Earth, SG-1 travels to the Ori galaxy aboard the Odyssey. The International Oversight committee have their own plans and SG-1 finds themselves in a distant galaxy fighting two powerful enemies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTopaz (1969)
Copenhagen, Denmark, 1962. When a high-ranking Soviet official decides to change sides, a French intelligence agent is caught up in a cold, silent and bloody spy war in which his own family will play a decisive role.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVera (2022)
Vera has young woman as the main heroine, who is in the jaws of the war spy network in WW2 and also of the patriarchal society in the Balkans with full of powerful, arrogant men with whom she deals bravely and arrogantly.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Man in the Trunk (2019)
On an otherwise quiet night there is a startling knock at the door. Andrew Tucker answers the door to find an old friend whom he hasn't seen in years. The disheveled and absent friend comes to him with one request: "I need you to come with me but, I can't tell you where we're going." Andrew takes a chance but learns that every answer brings more questions. Nothing good ever comes knocking after midnight and Andrew's nightmare asks how far you would go to help a friend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Runaway Train (1985)
A hardened convict and a younger prisoner escape from a brutal prison in the middle of winter only to find themselves on an out-of-control train with a female railway worker while being pursued by the vengeful head of security.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThat Beautiful Somewhere (2007)
A detective teams up with a young female archaeologist to unravel the mysterious death of a 'bog body' found in a native swamp rumoured to have curative powers. It is the story of two wounded souls searching for healing and redemption
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Sleeper (1973)
Miles Monroe, a clarinet-playing health food store proprietor, is revived out of cryostasis 200 years into a future world in order to help rebels fight an oppressive government regime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClass of 1984 (1982)
Andy is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is unlike any he has seen before. There are metal detectors at the front door and the place is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and Stegman become enemies and Stegman will stop at nothing to protect his turf and drug dealing business.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Accidental Spy (2001)
A fun-filled story about an ordinary guy about to kick into an action-packed adventure. Jackie Chan plays a bored and unsuccessful salesman who never thought his life would amount to anything. All that changes one day when he becomes an instant hero by foiling an attempted bank robbery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisU.S. Marshals (1998)
U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard is accompanying a plane load of convicts from Chicago to New York. The plane crashes spectacularly, and Mark Sheridan escapes. But when Diplomatic Security Agent John Royce is assigned to help Gerard recapture Sheridan, it becomes clear that Sheridan is more than just another murderer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouthern Comfort (1981)
A squad of National Guards on an isolated weekend exercise in the Louisiana swamp must fight for their lives when they anger local Cajuns by stealing their canoes. Without live ammunition and in a strange country, their experience begins to mirror the Vietnam experience.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArachnid (2001)
Mercer's brother, an amateur pilot, crashes on an island and is killed by a giant spider. A year later, when Mercer goes in search of him, she discovers a breed of venomous arachnids ready to attack.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Flying Saucer?
The closest matches to The Flying Saucer are The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Space/Time (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Flying Saucer?
Start with The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), the closest match to The Flying Saucer.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Flying Saucer?
North by Northwest (1959), rated 8.0/10 by 4,731 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Flying Saucer?
Space/Time (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Flying Saucer?
Yes: The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Space/Time (2025).
How are movies similar to The Flying Saucer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Flying Saucer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.