Movies like Time of the Apes (1987)
The best movies like Time of the Apes (1987) are Roswell (1994), Harrison Bergeron (1995) and Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods (2009). If Time of the Apes hooked you with its science fiction and tv movie, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPlanet of the Apes (1968)7.7/10 from 4,192 votes
- NewestAfterburn (2025)Released 2025
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHarrison Bergeron (1995)
"All men are not created equal. It is the purpose of the Government to make them so." This is the premise of the Showtime film adaption of Kurt Vonnegut's futuristic short story Harrison Bergeron. The film centers around a young man (Harrison) who is smarter than his peers, and is not affected by the usual "Handicapping" which is used to train all Americans so everyone is of equal intelligence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 this4 Horsemen: Apocalypse (2022)
A small team of scientists must race against time to stop what seems to be a cascade of global disasters signaling the possible apocalypse and end of days.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisDoctor Who: Deep Breath (2014)
The newly-regenerated Doctor arrives in Victorian London, and Clara Oswald struggles to embrace the man he has become. All the while, they reunite with the Paternoster Gang to investigate a series of combustions that have been occurring all around the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMegaboa (2021)
On a trip to Colombia, a group of college students encounter a fifty-foot boa constrictor, hungry for blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeltdown: Days of Destruction (2006)
Despite scientist Nathan's warnings, his boss continues an experiment meant as publicity for his satellite firm: exploding an asteroid. Instead it splits, and the major piece, the size of Iceland, changes course to earth. It is deflected but so close that it shift our course closer to the sun, causing rapid extreme heating, hopefully only mid-term. Nathan warns his sister, TV journalist Carly, and she her lover, police detective Tom. He brings his unruly daughter Kim, her ex-con lover C.J. and her mother, nurse Bonnie, when Nathan offers a flight to a friend's Arctic weather station. Tom takes charge of a dangerous trip to the airport, as everywhere on earth things catch fire and people fight for water, transport and sheer looting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like this12:01 (1993)
Office employee Barry Thomas is caught in a "time bounce" caused by a glitch in the company's secret project. Now the same day occurs again and again - and Barry's the only one who can do anything about it, including saving the life of beautiful research assistant Lisa Fredericks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoctor Who: Planet of the Dead (2009)
A meeting in a London bus with jewel thief Lady Christina takes a turn for the worse for the Doctor when the bus takes a detour to a desert-like planet, where the deadly Swarm awaits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1989)
The Bionic Woman and the Six-Million-Dollar Man reunite--with a few younger bionic assistants--and try to catch a bionic spy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnow Queen (2002)
Since a bitter winter storm stole the life of Gerda's mother, she and her father have sadly continued to run the remote hotel they call home. Lonely and isolated, Gerda's only joy is Kai, the handsome bellboy. A mysterious guest with an icy stare arrives at the hotel one night, wrapped in fur and diamonds. By daybreak, the "Snow Queen" has vanished with Kai! Gerda embarks on a journey of morphing seasons, fantastical creatures, and long-frozen mysteries in a desperate quest to find her stolen love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDr. Strange (1978)
A psychiatrist becomes the new Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth in order to battle an evil Sorceress from the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlackadder: Back & Forth (1999)
What was a cunning plan from Lord Edmund Blackadder V to fake a time machine on his gullibly incompetent friends, turns out to be the real thing and hurls him and his imbecile underling, Baldrick, through the course of human history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission lands on the planet of the apes, and uncovers a horrible secret beneath the surface.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
Several generations following Caesar's reign, apes – now the dominant species – live harmoniously while humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all he's known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTimescape (1992)
Before they can complete renovations on their new country inn, a widowed father and his young daughter are visited by a strange group of tourists. He soon makes a chilling discovery: they are disaster junkies from the future who visit the past to witness history's greatest catastrophes—and his small town is their next stop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterburn (2025)
Set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlanet of the Apes (1968)
Astronaut Taylor crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist.
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 thisVesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpectreman versus Hedron (1984)
Spectreman, on an assignment from the Overlord, assumes the earth name 'George' and starts working the Pollution Research & Control Squad. Dr. Gori quickly creates 'Hedron' out of the earth to pollute & attack the earth cities. In a vicious battle, Spectreman defeats Hedron, the gas breathing monster. But - the evil genius Dr. Gori revives Hedron and it continues its attacks on earth. A young boy discovers Spectreman's secret identity and helps Spectreman to regain his strength and defeat Hedron once and for all!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Ape vs. Monster (2021)
An ape crash-lands on Earth, which creates a sludge that makes him and a passing lizard grow to giant-size, resulting in a fight for dominance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisMega Ape (2023)
A genetically mutated ape escapes from a top secret facility and wreaks havoc in Hollywood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
The Jungle Captive (1945)
Once again Paula the ape woman is brought back to life, this time by a mad doctor and his disfigured assistant, who also kidnaps a nurse in order to have a female blood donor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Red Ape: Saving the Orangutan (2018)
For the last decade, a team of frontline medics has been fighting to save Borneo's critically endangered orangutans. Armed with cameras, International Animal Rescue has documented their struggle: pulling apes from devastated jungle, giving emergency medical care, rehabilitating and releasing the healthiest orangutans back into the wild. This is both the story of their life-saving work and of how one of our closest wild relatives has been pushed to the brink of extinction. Combining genuine rescue footage with contributions from experts throughout, this documentary looks toward the future and asks what hope remains to save the orangutan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
A highly intelligent chimpanzee named Caesar has been living a peaceful suburban life ever since he was born. But when he gets taken to a cruel primate facility, Caesar decides to revolt against those who have harmed him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmpire of The Apes (2013)
In a distant galaxy three escaped female convicts crash land on a primitive world inhabited by a race of warlike apes. They fight for survival as the humanoid apes fight for their possession, body and soul. A daring escape is their only way out. Hot on their heels are the blood lusting gorillas and a prison warden bent on their return to the prison ship they escaped from. Treachery, alliances and battle await the fighting factions. Who will survive on a planet where apes rule and humans are only breeding stock.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisConquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, a chimpanzee named Caesar resurfaces after almost twenty years of hiding from the authorities, and prepares for a revolt against humanity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
The fifth and final episode in the Planet of the Apes series. After the collapse of human civilization, a community of intelligent apes led by Caesar lives in harmony with a group of humans. Gorilla General Aldo tries to cause an ape civil war and a community of human mutants who live beneath a destroyed city try to conquer those whom they perceive as enemies. All leading to the finale.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Time of the Apes?
The closest matches to Time of the Apes are Roswell (1994), Harrison Bergeron (1995) and Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Time of the Apes?
Start with Roswell (1994), the closest match to Time of the Apes.
What is the highest-rated movie like Time of the Apes?
Planet of the Apes (1968), rated 7.7/10 by 4,192 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Time of the Apes?
Afterburn (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Time of the Apes?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to Time of the Apes chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Time of the Apes, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.