Movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The best movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) are Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and The Jewel of the Nile (1985). If Raiders of the Lost Ark hooked you with its adventure and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Matrix (1999)8.3/10 from 29,233 votes
- NewestFountain of Youth (2025)Released 2025
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Set during the Cold War, the Soviets—led by sword-wielding Irina Spalko—are in search of a crystal skull which has supernatural powers related to a mystical Lost City of Gold. Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young man whose friend—and Indy's colleague—Professor Oxley has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees – and stumbles upon a secret cult plotting a terrible plan in the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Jewel of the Nile (1985)
Joan Wilder is thrust back into a world of murder, chases, foreign intrigue... and love. This time out she's duped by a duplicitous Arab dignitary who brings her to the Middle East, ostensibly to write a book about his life. Of course, he's up to no good, and Joan is just another pawn in his wicked game. But Jack Colton and his sidekick Ralph show up to help our intrepid heroine save the day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Finding himself in a new era, and approaching retirement, Indy wrestles with fitting into a world that seems to have outgrown him. But as the tentacles of an all-too-familiar evil return in the form of an old rival, Indy must don his hat and pick up his whip once more to make sure an ancient and powerful artifact doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines (2006)
After retrieving the Crystal Skull in Utah, Flynn Carsen receives a map in the mail with the secret location of King Solomon's Mines. When the scroll is stolen, Judson explains the power of the Key of Solomon's book and assigns Flynn to retrieve the map. The map is useless without the legend piece to decipher it, which is located in Volubilis near the Roman ruins in Morocco. Flynn heads to Casablanca to the ruins where he is chased by a group of mercenaries leaded by General Samir. They too want to find the location of King Solomon's mines. Flynn teams-up with Professor Emily Davenport working in the dig and they escape from General Samir and his men. While traveling to Gedi, they save the local Jomo from death and the trio faces a dangerous journey through the wild Africa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Treasure (2004)
Modern treasure hunters, led by archaeologist Ben Gates, search for a chest of riches rumored to have been stashed away by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin during the Revolutionary War. The chest's whereabouts may lie in secret clues embedded in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and Gates is in a race to find the gold before his enemies do.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit (2010)
Jack Hunter, an adventurous treasure seeker, goes to Syria after his mentor and father figure Professor Fredrick Shaffer is killed. Professor Frederick Shaffer believed that the people of Ugarit, a town in Syria that existed during the Pharoah’s reign, had buried a treasure before they were wiped out by the Pharoahs. Jack Hunter is one of the few archaeologists in the world who can interpret Ugarit writings
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004)
When a magical artifact is lifted from his library, a meek librarian sets out to ensure its safe return.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mummy (1999)
Dashing legionnaire Rick O'Connell stumbles upon the hidden ruins of Hamunaptra while in the midst of a battle to claim the area in 1920s Egypt. It has been over three thousand years since former High Priest Imhotep suffered a fate worse than death as a punishment for a forbidden love—along with a curse that guarantees eternal doom upon the world if he is ever awoken.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mummy Returns (2001)
Rick and Evelyn O’Connell, along with their 8-year-old son Alex, discover the key to the legendary Scorpion King’s might: the fabled Bracelet of Anubis. Unfortunately, a newly resurrected Imhotep has designs on the bracelet as well, and isn’t above kidnapping its new bearer, Alex, to gain control of Anubis’s otherworldly army.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJack Hunter and the Star of Heaven (2009)
Jack Hunter pursues his arch nemesis Littman across ancient Europe, intent on thwarting his attempt to salvage a deadly artefact.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
Benjamin Franklin Gates and Abigail Chase re-team with Riley Poole and, now armed with a stack of long-lost pages from John Wilkes Booth's diary, Ben must follow a clue left there to prove his ancestor's innocence in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUncharted (2022)
A young street-smart, Nathan Drake and his wisecracking partner Victor “Sully” Sullivan embark on a dangerous pursuit of “the greatest treasure never found” while also tracking clues that may lead to Nathan’s long-lost brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFountain of Youth (2025)
A treasure-hunting mastermind assembles a team for a life-changing adventure. But to outwit and outrun threats at every turn, he'll need someone even smarter than he is: his estranged sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
Thrust into an all-new adventure, a down-on-his-luck Capt. Jack Sparrow feels the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost sailors led by his old nemesis, the evil Capt. Salazar, escape from the Devil's Triangle. Jack's only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it, he must forge an uneasy alliance with a brilliant and beautiful astronomer and a headstrong young man in the British navy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Intrepid young reporter, Tintin, and his loyal dog, Snowy, are thrust into a world of high adventure when they discover a ship carrying an explosive secret. As Tintin is drawn into a centuries-old mystery, Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine suspects him of stealing a priceless treasure. Tintin and Snowy, with the help of salty, cantankerous Captain Haddock and bumbling detectives, Thompson and Thomson, travel half the world, one step ahead of their enemies, as Tintin endeavors to find the Unicorn, a sunken ship that may hold a vast fortune, but also an ancient curse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Matrix (1999)
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRomancing the Stone (1984)
Though she can spin wild tales of passionate romance, novelist Joan Wilder has no life of her own. Then one day adventure comes her way in the form of a mysterious package. It turns out that the parcel is the ransom she'll need to free her abducted sister, so Joan flies to South America to hand it over. But she gets on the wrong bus and winds up hopelessly stranded in the jungle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Two rock-'n-rolling teens, on the verge of failing their class, set out on a quest to make the ultimate school history report after being presented with a time machine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKings of the Sun (1963)
In order to flee from powerful enemies, young Mayan king Balam leads his people north across the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of what will become the United States. They build a home in the new land but come into conflict with a tribe of Native Americans led by their chief, Black Eagle, while both Balam and Black Eagle fall in love the beautiful Mayan princess Ixchel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
In 1938, an art collector appeals to eminent archaeologist Dr. Indiana Jones to embark on a search for the Holy Grail. Indy learns that a medieval historian has vanished while searching for it, and the missing man is his own father, Dr. Henry Jones Sr.. He sets out to rescue his father by following clues in the old man's notebook, which his father had mailed to him before he went missing. Indy arrives in Venice, where he enlists the help of a beautiful academic, Dr. Elsa Schneider, along with Marcus Brody and Sallah. Together they must stop the Nazis from recovering the power of eternal life and taking over the world!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & action
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisArmageddon (1998)
When an asteroid threatens to collide with Earth, NASA honcho Dan Truman determines the only way to stop it is to drill into its surface and detonate a nuclear bomb. This leads him to renowned driller Harry Stamper, who agrees to helm the dangerous space mission provided he can bring along his own hotshot crew. Among them is the cocksure A.J. who Harry thinks isn't good enough for his daughter, until the mission proves otherwise.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing Kong (2005)
In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Scout (2009)
No-one expected an ordinary scout camp would turn into an extraordinary adventure that the children would never forget. The camp is situated near an ancient castle in a forest which the teachers consider as a peaceful and harmless place. But as the night falls, things go from bad to worse when the children encounter a giant ferocious serpent, flying frogs, and many more such horrifying creatures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Just released from prison, Jake Blues puts his old band back together with his brother Elwood to save the Catholic home where they were raised.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Russian and British submarines with nuclear missiles on board both vanish from sight without a trace. England and Russia both blame each other as James Bond tries to solve the riddle of the disappearing ships. But the KGB also has an agent on the case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
When a huge alien probe enters the galaxy and begins to vaporize Earth's oceans, Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in order to bring back whales and save the planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Terminator (1984)
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAkira (1988)
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
It's been 10 years since John Connor saved Earth from Judgment Day, and he's now living under the radar, steering clear of using anything Skynet can trace. That is, until he encounters T-X, a robotic assassin ordered to finish what T-1000 started. Good thing Connor's former nemesis, the Terminator, is back to aid the now-adult Connor … just like he promised.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark?
The closest matches to Raiders of the Lost Ark are Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and The Jewel of the Nile (1985). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Start with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), the closest match to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
What is the highest-rated movie like Raiders of the Lost Ark?
The Matrix (1999), rated 8.3/10 by 29,233 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Fountain of Youth (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Yes: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and The Jewel of the Nile (1985).
How are movies similar to Raiders of the Lost Ark chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Raiders of the Lost Ark, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.