Movies like Arabian Nights (1974)
The best movies like Arabian Nights (1974) are City of Women (1980), The Primevals (2023) and Heavy Metal 2000 (2000). If Arabian Nights hooked you with its adventure and fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedShrek (2001)7.8/10 from 19,581 votes
- NewestBalls Up (2026)Released 2026
- In ItalianCity of Women (1980)Also in Italian
City of Women (1980)
The charismatic Snaporaz encounters an alluring woman on a train and pursues her through a forest. He ends up at a hotel populated by women gathered for a feminist conference, where he is an unwanted presence. Snaporaz soon discovers he’s entered a phantasmagoric world where women have taken power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Primevals (2023)
Deep in the Himalayas, a group of sherpas kills a gigantic humanoid creature. Convinced that it is the legendary Yeti, Dr. Claire Collier organizes an expedition with her former student Matt Connor and hunter Rondo Montana, among others, to search for more specimens. But what awaits them is something that none of them could have imagined. A colorful fusion of real image and stop-motion that is reminiscent of fantastic films from the 1980s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeavy Metal 2000 (2000)
Upon discovery of a shard of what could be the Loc-Nar, a miner named Tyler becomes possessed with an insatiable hunger for power and a thirst for immortality. On his way to the planet of youth, Tyler wipes out most of a space colony and kidnaps a beautiful young woman. His only mistake is that he doesn't kill her sister, Julie, who then sets out on a mission of rescue and revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeavy Metal (1981)
The embodiment of ultimate evil, a glowing orb terrorizes a young girl with bizarre stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIntimacy (2001)
Failed musician Jay abandoned his family and now earns a living as head bartender in a trendy London pub. Every Wednesday afternoon, a woman comes to his house for graphic, almost wordless, sex. One day, Jay follows her and learns about her. This eventually disrupts their relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCat People (1982)
After years of separation, Irena Gallier and her minister brother, Paul, reunite in New Orleans. When zoologists capture a wild panther, Irena is drawn to the cat – and zoo curator Oliver to her. Soon, Paul will have to reveal the family secret: that when sexually aroused, they revert into predatory jungle cats.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spine of Night (2021)
When ancient dark magic falls into sinister hands and unleashes ages of suffering onto mankind, a group of heroes from different eras and cultures must band together in order to defeat it at all costs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaples to New York (2024)
In the immediate post-war period, amidst the rubble of a poverty-ridden Naples, two kids, Carmine and Celestina, try to survive as best they can by helping each other out. One night, they secretly board a ship bound for New York to reach Celestina’s sister, who emigrated to America several years earlier. The two children join the many Italian emigrants seeking a new life in America and arrive in an unknown metropolis, which, after several misadventures, they will learn to call home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlesh + Blood (1985)
A band of medieval mercenaries take revenge on a noble Lord who cheated them by kidnapping his son's fiancée. As the plague and warfare cut a swathe of destruction throughout the land, the mercenaries hole up in a castle and await their fate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMandy (2018)
The Shadow Mountains, 1983. Red and Mandy lead a loving and peaceful existence; but when their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMad God (2021)
A silent figure known as The Assassin travels through a nightmare underworld of tortured souls, ruined cities and wretched monstrosities forged from the primordial horrors of the unconscious mind of Phil Tippett, the world's preeminent stop-motion animator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouthbound (2015)
On a desolate stretch of desert highway, weary travelers — two men on the run from their past, a band on their way to the next gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation — are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in these interwoven tales of terror and remorse on the open road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisEnter the Void (2010)
This psychedelic tour of life after death is seen entirely from the point of view of Oscar, a young American drug dealer and addict living in Tokyo with his prostitute sister, Linda. When Oscar is killed by police during a bust gone bad, his spirit journeys from the past -- where he sees his parents before their deaths -- to the present -- where he witnesses his own autopsy -- and then to the future, where he looks out for his sister from beyond the grave.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (2021)
Escaping from poverty to become a witcher, Vesemir slays monsters for coin and glory, but when a new menace rises, he must face the demons of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)
The vicious, power-mad Kano is determined to take over Earthrealm, one soul at a time. Assisted by a trio of cold Black Dragon mercenaries, he embarks on a brutal assault from town to defenseless town. The choice is simple: kneel or be annihilated. Kenshi, a rebel warrior, calls on Kuai Liang, the only one powerful enough to challenge the malevolent Kano. But Kuai Liang has given up the ways of the warrior, and Kenshi is too undisciplined to defeat Kano himself. If Kuai Liang cannot break through the glacier of doubt that holds him back, Earthrealm will fall.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Warrior (2001)
In feudal India, a warrior who renounces his role as the longtime enforcer to a local lord becomes the prey in a murderous hunt through the Himalayan mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShogun Assassin (1980)
A Shogun who grew paranoid as he became senile sent his ninjas to kill his samurai. They failed but did kill the samurai’s wife. The samurai swore to avenge the death of his wife and roams the countryside with his toddler son in search of vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisO Lucky Man! (1973)
An ambitious coffee salesman has a series of improbable and ironic adventures seemingly designed to challenge his naive idealism.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMountains of the Moon (1990)
The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBalls Up (2026)
Two marketing executives go "balls out" and pitch a bold full‑coverage condom sponsorship with the World Cup. After their drunken celebration in Brazil sparks a global scandal, they must outrun furious fans, criminals, and power-hungry officials to salvage their careers and make it home alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisReturn to Oz (1985)
Dorothy, saved from a psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, finds herself back in the land of her dreams, and makes delightful new friends, and dangerous new enemies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShrek (2001)
It ain't easy bein' green -- especially if you're a likable (albeit smelly) ogre named Shrek. On a mission to retrieve a gorgeous princess from the clutches of a fire-breathing dragon, Shrek teams up with an unlikely compatriot -- a wisecracking donkey.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAladdin (1992)
In the boorish city of Agrabah, kind-hearted street urchin Aladdin and Princess Jasmine fall in love, although she can only marry a prince. He and power-hungry Grand Vizier Jafar vie for a magic lamp that can fulfill their wishes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDragonslayer (1981)
A sorcerer and his apprentice are on a mission to kill an evil dragon to save the King’s daughter from being sacrificed according to a pact that the King himself made with the dragon to protect his kingdom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
When the lovely Princess Parisa is shrunken by wicked Sokurah the Magician, Sinbad must embark on a quest to an island of monsters to cure her and prevent a war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHappily N'Ever After (2007)
An alliance of evil-doers, led by Frieda, looks to take over Fairy Tale Land. But when Ella realizes her stepmother is out to ruin her storybook existence, she takes a dramatic turn and blossoms into the leader of the resistance effort.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Illusionist (2006)
With his eye on a lovely aristocrat, a gifted illusionist named Eisenheim uses his powers to win her away from her betrothed, a crown prince. But Eisenheim's scheme creates tumult within the monarchy and ignites the suspicion of a dogged inspector.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKing Thrushbeard (1965)
A fairy-tale about a beautiful but very haughty princess Anna who cruelly mocks each of her suitors. Finally she is forced by the king to marry a beggar. The poor life, hard work and love teach the princess a lesson and turn her into a loving and kind person.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
The Goose Princess (1989)
Princess Aurinia goes with her maid Lisa to the castle of King Ewald, his son Ivo, to whom she is promised as a wife. On the way, Lisa forces the princess into a role reversal, her secret plan is that she herself wants to be queen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Electric Angel (1981)
A typical experimental film, in which a variety of audiovisual techniques are used to create the sense of polymorphic eroticism as developed by European and Mediterranean cinematography of the 20th century. Combining the methods of “animation” and “live action”, this intricate work embodies the idea of an “ars combinatoria”. The structure is loose, with neither a central axis nor a point where everything converges, contributing greatly to the open-ended character of the film, where rhythm is the key element.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Arabian Nights?
The closest matches to Arabian Nights are City of Women (1980), The Primevals (2023) and Heavy Metal 2000 (2000). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Arabian Nights?
Start with City of Women (1980), the closest match to Arabian Nights.
What is the highest-rated movie like Arabian Nights?
Shrek (2001), rated 7.8/10 by 19,581 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Arabian Nights?
Balls Up (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Arabian Nights?
Yes: City of Women (1980) and Naples to New York (2024).
How are movies similar to Arabian Nights chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Arabian Nights, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.