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2001: A Space Odyssey poster

Movies that feel like2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.

If you loved 2001: A Space Odyssey, the closest films we have are Solaris (1972), Project Hail Mary (2026) and Dune: Part Two (2024). All three share 2001: A Space Odyssey's cerebral and awe feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Planet of the Apes (1968).

🍅 90% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Stanley Kubrickcerebraltwistyepicawe
11 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Disney Plus

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If 2001: A Space Odyssey hit the spot, these will too

Solaris poster
Solaris
1972 · dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
🍅 92%★ 7.9drama · science fiction · mysteryMax

Space as a mirror for the mind — patient, eerie and unresolved

The difference: Inward and grief-soaked where 2001 stays cosmic and cold

A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of cosmonauts on the station. He soon discovers that the water on the planet is a type of brain which brings out repressed memories and obsessions.

Project Hail Mary poster
Project Hail Mary
2026 · dir. Phil Lord
🍅 95%★ 8.2science fiction · adventurePrime Video

Problems solved by patient thought in the enormous quiet of space

The difference: Chatty and warm, with an emotional payoff Kubrick refuses

Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction.

Dune: Part Two poster
Dune: Part Two
2024 · dir. Denis Villeneuve
🍅 92%★ 8.4science fiction · adventureMax

Enormous, unhurried images that treat scale as the whole point

The difference: Political and propulsive — a story, where 2001 offers a riddle

Follow the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

Planet of the Apes poster
Planet of the Apes
1968 · dir. Franklin J. Schaffner
🍅 86%★ 8science fiction · adventure · drama

Same year, same species-scale question about where humanity stands

The difference: A blunt satirical adventure, not an abstract visual poem

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.

Return of the Jedi poster
Return of the Jedi
1983 · dir. Richard Marquand
🍅 83%★ 8.3adventure · action · science fictionDisney+

A journey toward confronting something ancient and larger than you

The difference: Sentimental and conclusive — nothing left ambiguous

Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.

Silent Running poster
Silent Running
1972 · dir. Douglas Trumbull
🍅 71%★ 6.6science fiction · adventure · drama

Long wordless stretches alone in space with only machines for company

The difference: Sentimental eco-fable — it tells you exactly how to feel

After the entire flora goes extinct, ecologist Lowell maintains a greenhouse aboard a space station for the future with his android companions. However, he rebels after being ordered to destroy the greenhouse in favor of carrying cargo, a decision that puts him at odds with everyone but his mechanical companions.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture poster
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1979 · dir. Robert Wise
🍅 51%★ 6.4science fiction · adventure · mysteryParamount+

A slow, reverent voyage toward a vast machine intelligence

The difference: Franchise duty dilutes the mystery — long stretches simply drift

When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command.

Arrival poster
Arrival
2016 · dir. Denis Villeneuve
🍅 94%★ 7.9drama · science fiction · mysteryParamount+Peacock

Both land ideas and twists at once

The difference: Takes it somewhere less epic than 2001: A Space Odyssey does

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

Moonraker poster
Moonraker
1979 · dir. Lewis Gilbert
🍅 59%★ 6.3action · adventure · thrillerPrime Video

Orbital sets and space hardware staged with genuine scale

The difference: A campy Bond romp — spectacle without a single big idea

After Drax Industries' Moonraker space shuttle is hijacked, secret agent James Bond is assigned to investigate, traveling to California to meet the company's owner, the mysterious Hugo Drax. With the help of scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond soon uncovers Drax's nefarious plans for humanity, all the while fending off an old nemesis, Jaws, and venturing to Venice, Rio, the Amazon...and even outer space.

Oblivion poster
Oblivion
2013 · dir. Joseph Kosinski
🍅 53%★ 7action · science fiction · adventurePrime VideoStarz

A lone operator in clean, quiet rooms sensing something is wrong

The difference: Answers arrive with a twist and a fight, not with silence

Jack Harper is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete. His existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

Star Trek poster
Star Trek
2009 · dir. J.J. Abrams
🍅 94%★ 7.9science fiction · action · adventureParamount+

Common ground: space mission

The difference: Trades the twists of 2001: A Space Odyssey for an angle of its own

The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a Vulcan, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before. The human adventure has begun again.

Independence Day poster
Independence Day
1996 · dir. Roland Emmerich
🍅 77%★ 7action · adventure · science fiction

Epic where it counts, awestruck underneath

The difference: Sits closer to action than 2001: A Space Odyssey does

Strange phenomena surface around the globe. The skies ignite. Terror races through the world's major cities. As these extraordinary events unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that a force of incredible magnitude has arrived. Its mission: total annihilation over the Fourth of July weekend. The last hope to stop the destruction is an unlikely group of people united by fate and unimaginable circumstances.

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The best-reviewed films that share 2001: A Space Odyssey’s defining feeling.