Movies like Hard Knuckle (1988)
The best movies like Hard Knuckle (1988) are Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (2009), 12:01 (1993) and 4 Horsemen: Apocalypse (2022). If Hard Knuckle 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 ratedDoctor Who: Planet of the Dead (2009)7.5/10 from 229 votes
- NewestKVÄVD (2026)Released 2026
Doctor 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 & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisLand of the Dead (2005)
The living dead have taken over the world, and the remaining humans live in a walled city to protect themselves as they cope with the situation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Sister (2015)
As a top student at St. Adeline's Catholic Boarding School, Zoe senses that something is not quite right about the school's new nun-- a sense proven to be true when it is revealed the "good' nun is an imposter with a fatal attraction to Zoe's brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2073 (2024)
Inspired by Chris Marker's iconic 1962 featurette La Jetée; the year is 2073—a not-so-distant dystopian future—and the setting is New San Francisco, the scorched-earth tech-dominant police state where democracy and personal freedom have been well and truly obliterated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInfidelity in Suburbia (2017)
With her husband away at work, and her son at school, Laura dreams of a home-renovation project to supplant her restless days. Elliott, her irresistibly hot private contractor, soon fulfills her more forbidden dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRight at Your Door (2006)
A dirty bomb goes off in Los Angeles, jamming freeways and spreading a toxic cloud.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisExtinction (2015)
And suddenly, overnight, the world came to a halt. Two men, two survivors, one kid, and hatred that separates them. A place forgotten by everyone, including the creatures that inhabit the Earth... until now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDie Alone (2024)
Lost in a world reclaimed by nature and overrun by mysterious creatures, Ethan, a young man with amnesia navigates the dangerous landscape in search of his lost love Emma. His journey takes an unexpected turn when he encounters Mae, a hardened and eccentric survivor. Together, Ethan and Mae face threats both human and otherwise before a fateful encounter with Kai unravels a secret that lies just beyond Ethan's fractured memory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Survivors (2014)
In the near future, society collapses and water becomes scarce. When a greedy water baron starts violently clearing out survivors, Kendal, a 17-year-old teenager, fights the baron's henchman to keep a well open.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)
Thomas and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThese Final Hours (2014)
With the end of the world only hours away, self-absorbed James heads to the ultimate party-to-end-all-parties. On his way there, he saves the life of a young girl named Rose who is searching desperately for her missing father. This simple act sets James on a path to redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerminator Salvation (2009)
All grown up in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor must lead the resistance of humans against the increasingly dominating militaristic robots. But when Marcus Wright appears, his existence confuses the mission as Connor tries to determine whether Wright has come from the future or the past -- and whether he's friend or foe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisMad Max 2 (1981)
Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by the charismatic Lord Humungus, a violent leader whose scruples are as barren as the surrounding landscape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAutomata (2014)
Jacq Vaucan, an insurance agent of ROC robotics corporation, routinely investigates the case of manipulating a robot. What he discovers will have profound consequences for the future of humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Moment After (1999)
In the twinkling of an eye, a mass disappearance has occurred. Moments after the turmoil and confusion, the FBI is called in to investigate and locate the missing persons. For Agent Adam Riley, it is personal. For Agent Charles Baker, it doesn't matter, it's just a job.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & thriller
JESUS IS COMING (to take the Church away) (2025)
North Carolina, 1971. When his community is ravaged by inexplicable disappearances, a reverend uncovers an extraterrestrial explanation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Glen and Randa (1971)
Teenagers Glen and Randa are members of a tribe that lives in a rural area, several decades after nuclear war has devastated the planet. They know nothing of the outside world, except that Glen has read about and seen pictures of a great city in some old comic books. He and Randa set out to find this city.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Love Me (2025)
In a story that spans billions of years, a buoy and a satellite meet online long after humanity’s extinction. As they learn what life was like on Earth, they discover themselves and what it means to be alive and in love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Caller (1965)
The inhabitants of Ganymede need to find mates from another world or they will become extinct. They soon discover a suitable breeding stock amongst the females of planet Earth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Revelation: The City of Haze (2017)
After witnessing his mother's death, the boy has a breakdown and cannot remember his own name. One day, a girl finds the boy and brings him back to the City of Haze. Since then they've depended on each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Welcome to Praeris (2024)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Forever's End (2013)
Six years after an apocalyptic event killed her family and seemingly everyone else on earth, a lone girl on the verge of insanity is forced to question everything she has ever known when a strange man suddenly appears at her door. The last girl on earth... is not alone.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Steel Frontier (1995)
Set in a post-nuclear-holocaust future, this sci-fi western takes place in the frontier city of New Hope, the only place around with a working oil refinery. Ever since a megalomaniac general and his followers took over the place, life has been miserable. Then a stranger, a man-of-few-words, comes to town. A quick-drawing gunslinger, he first joins the conquerors. As time passes, however, it rapidly becomes apparent that he really sides with the townsfolk, and when the time is right, he leads them into a violent uprising.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Hard Knuckle?
The closest matches to Hard Knuckle are Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (2009), 12:01 (1993) and 4 Horsemen: Apocalypse (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Hard Knuckle?
Start with Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (2009), the closest match to Hard Knuckle.
What is the highest-rated movie like Hard Knuckle?
Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (2009), rated 7.5/10 by 229 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Hard Knuckle?
KVÄVD (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Hard Knuckle?
Yes: Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (2009), 12:01 (1993) and 4 Horsemen: Apocalypse (2022).
How are movies similar to Hard Knuckle chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Hard Knuckle, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.