Movies like Appleseed (1988)
The best movies like Appleseed (1988) are Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2007), Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector (2020) and Appleseed Alpha (2014). If Appleseed hooked you with its crime and animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2007)7.5/10 from 293 votes
- NewestMilky☆Subway: The Galactic Limited Express - the Movie (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2007)Also in Japanese
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2007)
The story takes place in the year 2034, two years after the events in Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG. Female cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi has left Public Security Section 9, an elite counter-terrorist and anti-crime unit specializing in cyber-warfare, which has expanded to a team of 20 field operatives with Togusa acting as the field lead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPsycho-Pass 3: First Inspector (2020)
Inspector Kei Mikhail Ignatov finds himself involved with an organization named Bifrost with the possibility of freeing his wife if he betrays Unit One. Koichi Azusawa coordinates an assault on the Public Safety Bureau tower using his hacker Obata, locking down the building and kidnapping Inspector Arata Shindo. Azusawa demands that governor Karina Komiya resign from her position.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAppleseed Alpha (2014)
The Third World War (2099–2126) devastated part of the Earth. Former nations are reforming while new powers emerge, and groups of humans struggle to survive in ruined cities. The story follows Deunan Knute and her partner Briareos as they search for the legendary city of Olympus.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAppleseed: Ex Machina (2007)
As members of ESWAT, the elite forces serving Olympus, Deunan and Briaereos are deployed anywhere trouble strikes. Olympus finds itself under a stealth attack - cyborg terrorism, deadly nanotech zealots, and rioting citizens are just some of the threats that Deunan must contend with as she fights to save Olympus!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like this009 Re:Cyborg (2012)
009 Re:Cyborg follows a group of nine cyborgs, each of them created by a shadowy organization for use as weapons against humanity. The group turns on their creators to protect the population instead, using the powers given them to fight their creators.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisExpelled from Paradise (2014)
A.D. 2400, DEVA's central council detects an incident of unauthorized access into their mainframe. Someone on Earth was trying to hack into the system. The only information DEVA was able to retrieve was that hacker referred to themselves as "Frontier Setter." To investigate the mysterious hacker's motives, the high officials of DEVA dispatch system Security Third Officer Angela Balzac to the Earth's surface. Equipped with a prosthetic "material body," Angela attempts to make contact with a local agent Dingo, but what awaited her instead was a swarm of Sandworms now infesting the Earth's surface. Angela intercepts the gruesome pests with her exoskeleton powered suit Arhan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBLAME! (2017)
In the distant technological future, civilization has reached its ultimate Net-based form. An "infection" in the past caused the automated systems to spiral out of order, resulting in a multi-leveled city structure that replicates itself infinitely in all directions. Now humanity has lost access to the city's controls, and is hunted down and purged by the defense system known as the Safeguard. In a tiny corner of the city, a little enclave known as the Electro-Fishers is facing eventual extinction, trapped between the threat of the Safeguard and dwindling food supplies. A girl named Zuru goes on a journey to find food for her village, only to inadvertently cause doom when an observation tower senses her and summons a Safeguard pack to eliminate the threat. With her companions dead and all escape routes blocked, the only thing that can save her now is the sudden arrival of Killy the Wanderer, on his quest for the Net Terminal Genes, the key to restoring order to the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPatlabor: The Movie (1989)
A mysterious suicide and a series of unmanned robot run-aways sparks off a Police investigation into the suspicious software on-board thousands of industrial robots around Tokyo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMegazone 23 (1985)
A young biker stumbles onto a prototype motorcycle with a hidden function that has a link to the true nature of his world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPatlabor WXIII the Movie (2002)
Set in the year 2000, when the level of Labor accidents begin to escalate around Tokyo Bay, police detectives Kusumi and Hata are assigned to investigate. What they discover leads to a series of government cover-ups, conspiracy concerning a new biological weapon entitled WXIII-Wasted Thirteen and a tragic, personal connection to Hata. The only hope to stop this threat is to cooperate with the military and lead WXIII into a showdown with the Labors of Special Vehicle Division 2.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEden of the East Movie II: Paradise Lost (2010)
Accused of terrorism and feeling the heat, Saki's high-tech crew is in the crosshairs. Meanwhile, the shroud of mystery covering Takizawa is lifted as he and his fellow Selecao make their final moves. Every game must come to an end. For those playing Mr. Outside's twisted game of conspiracy thrills, the end comes now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPromare (2019)
Galo and the Burning Rescue Fire Department face off against BURNISH, a group of mutants who are able to control and wield flames, and the fire disaster they have unleashed on Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMetropia (2009)
In the near future, oil reserves are nearly depleted and Europe is connected by series of underground tunnels. While navigating these tunnels, Roger hears voices, one in particular. Seeking a way to rid himself of the voice only leads Roger deeper into a bizarre conspiracy of control - mind and body.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAvengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (2014)
When the Punisher takes out a black-market weapons dealer, he stumbles upon a far-reaching terrorist plot devised by a group known as Leviathan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Animatrix (2003)
Straight from the creators of the groundbreaking Matrix trilogy, this collection of short animated films from the world's leading anime directors fuses computer graphics and Japanese anime to provide the background of the Matrix universe and the conflict between man and machines. The shorts include Final Flight of the Osiris, The Second Renaissance, Kid's Story, Program, World Record, Beyond, A Detective Story and Matriculated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Magic M-66 (1987)
A top-secret weapon escapes from military custody ready to destroy its pre-programmed target. The nosy freelance reporter who shows up to cover the story lands herself at the center of something even more dangerous than the international scandal she signed up for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMilky☆Subway: The Galactic Limited Express - the Movie (2026)
Six delinquents are tasked with cleaning a train as part of a community service program. But when the train suddenly takes off, chaos ensues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMy Hero Academia: You're Next (2024)
In a society devastated by the effects of an all-out war between heroes and villains, a mysterious giant fortress suddenly appears, engulfing towns and people one after another. Then, a man reminiscent of All Might, the 'symbol of peace', stands in front of Izuku and his friends...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVIRGIN PUNK Clockwork Girl (2025)
In an unforgiving world, Ubu Kamigori hunts criminals as a bounty hunter. But one day, waiting in her home is the man she shares a sordid history with—Mr. Elegance. And so, her destiny begins to unravel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBatman Ninja (2018)
Batman, along with many of his allies and adversaries, finds himself transported to feudal Japan by Gorilla Grodd's time displacement machine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisVirtuosity (1995)
The Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre (LETAC) has developed SID version 6.7: a Sadistic, Intelligent, and Dangerous virtual reality entity which is synthesized from the personalities of more than 150 serial killers, and only one man can stop him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisFreejack (1992)
Time-traveling bounty hunters find a doomed race-car driver in the past and bring him to 2009 New York, where his mind will be replaced with that of a terminally ill billionaire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Devil's Own (1997)
Frankie McGuire, one of the IRA's deadliest assassins, draws an American family into the crossfire of terrorism. But when he is sent to the U.S. to buy weapons, Frankie is housed with the family of Tom O'Meara, a New York cop who knows nothing about Frankie's real identity. Their surprising friendship, and Tom's growing suspicions, forces Frankie to choose between the promise of peace or a lifetime of murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)
A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and traitorous lord of Rohan seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEbirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
Searching for his brother, Ryota stows away on a boat belonging to a criminal alongside two other teenagers. The group shipwrecks on Letchi island and discover the Infant Island natives have been enslaved by a terrorist organization controlling a crustacean monster. Finding a sleeping Godzilla, they decide to awaken him to defeat the terrorists and liberate the natives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDigimon Adventure 3D: Digimon Grand Prix! (2000)
Digimon Adventure 3D: Digimon Grand Prix! was first shown in July 2000 in Sanrio Puroland and in Sanrio's character theme park Haromy Land. The movie was later rerun at Toei's anime festival "Tobidasu! 3D Toei Anime Matsuri" on 03.10.2009. Together with Digimon Savers 3D: Digital World Kiki Ippatsu!, and 2 other CG anime works by Toei, it was released on DVD on 21.02.2010.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Time Lapse (2014)
Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures 24 hours into the future and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHisashi Eguchi's Kotobuki Goro Show (1991)
In this anthology of animation parodies based on the manga of Hisashi Eguchi, an obscene family ascends to Japanese high society; a boxing prodigy faces his sex-crazed rival in the ring; and scientists get caught in a game of rock-paper-scissors with increasingly dangerous giant monsters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
What Is Happiness? (1991)
Based on a series of books authored by Ryuho Ookawa. Alto is going home from school, when he finds a girl who calls herself an angel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Waking Life (2001)
Waking Life is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Appleseed?
The closest matches to Appleseed are Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2007), Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector (2020) and Appleseed Alpha (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Appleseed?
Start with Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2007), the closest match to Appleseed.
What is the highest-rated movie like Appleseed?
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2007), rated 7.5/10 by 293 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Appleseed?
Milky☆Subway: The Galactic Limited Express - the Movie (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Appleseed?
Yes: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2007), Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector (2020) and Appleseed Alpha (2014).
How are movies similar to Appleseed chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Appleseed, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.