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Demolition Man poster

Movies that feel likeDemolition Man (1993)

In 1996, brash L.A. detective John Spartan and maniac killer Simon Phoenix are both sentenced to decades in a cryogenic prison as punishment for a rescue mission gone wrong. When Phoenix escapes 36 years later to wreak havoc on the future, Spartan is awakened to capture his nemesis the old-fashioned way.

If you loved Demolition Man, the closest films we have are Chappie (2015), Logan's Run (1976) and Dredd (2012). All three share Demolition Man's kinetic and cerebral feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is District B13 (2004).

🍅 67% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Marco Brambillagrittykineticcerebralbleak
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Disney Plus

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See it on the Mood Map

If Demolition Man hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Demolition (2016)

Chappie poster
Chappie
2015 · dir. Neill Blomkamp
🍅 32%★ 6.8crime · action · science fiction

Both are working the same pair: the future, dystopia

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Every child comes into the world full of promise, and none more so than Chappie: he is gifted, special, a prodigy. Like any child, Chappie will come under the influence of his surroundings—some good, some bad—and he will rely on his heart and soul to find his way in the world and become his own man. But there's one thing that makes Chappie different from any one else: he is a robot.

Logan's Run poster
Logan's Run
1976 · dir. Michael Anderson
🍅 58%★ 6.8action · science fiction

Both keep coming back to the same thing: utopia

The difference: Takes it somewhere less gritty than Demolition Man does

In the 23rd century, inhabitants of a domed city freely experience all of life's pleasures — but no one is allowed to live past 30. Citizens can try for a chance at being "renewed" in a civic ceremony on their 30th birthday. Escape is the only other option.

Dredd poster
Dredd
2012 · dir. Pete Travis
🍅 80%★ 7.1action · science fiction

Two things both keep coming back to: police and crime fighter

In the future, America is a dystopian wasteland. The latest scourge is Ma-Ma, a prostitute-turned-drug pusher with a dangerous new drug and aims to take over the city. The only possibility of stopping her is an elite group of urban police called Judges, who combine the duties of judge, jury and executioner to deliver a brutal brand of swift justice. But even the top-ranking Judge, Dredd, discovers that taking down Ma-Ma isn’t as easy as it seems in this explosive adaptation of the hugely popular comic series.

I, Robot poster
I, Robot
2004 · dir. Alex Proyas
★ 7.1action · science fictionApple TV+

One thread runs through both: the future

In 2035, where robots are commonplace and abide by the three laws of robotics, a technophobic cop investigates an apparent suicide. Suspecting that a robot may be responsible for the death, his investigation leads him to believe that humanity may be in danger.

Tron poster
Tron
1982 · dir. Steven Lisberger
🍅 61%★ 6.7science fiction · action · adventureDisney+

Common ground: dystopia

The difference: Leans harder into adventure than Demolition Man does

When brilliant video game maker Flynn hacks the mainframe of his ex-employer, he is beamed inside an astonishing digital world and becomes part of the very game he is designing. In his mission through cyberspace, Flynn matches wits with a maniacal Master Control Program and teams up with Tron, a security measure created to bring balance to the digital environment.

eXistenZ poster
eXistenZ
1999 · dir. David Cronenberg
🍅 77%★ 6.8action · thriller · science fiction

Both land momentum and ideas at once

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than Demolition Man does

A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.

Surrogates poster
Surrogates
2009 · dir. Jonathan Mostow
🍅 37%★ 6.3science fiction · action · thriller

Action with a pulse of bleakness, in both cases

Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes poster
🍅 64%★ 6.6science fiction · actionNetflix

Science fiction built on momentum, twice over

The difference: Made in the 2020s, in a different era of the craft

64 years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, Coriolanus Snow sees a chance for a change in fortunes when he mentors Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12.

The Running Man poster
The Running Man
1987 · dir. Paul Michael Glaser
🍅 59%★ 6.6action · thriller · science fictionParamount+Starz

Both lean on ideas more than on crime

By 2017, the global economy has collapsed and U.S. society has become a totalitarian police state, censoring all cultural activity. The government pacifies the populace by broadcasting a number of game shows in which convicted criminals fight for their lives, including the gladiator-style The Running Man, hosted by the ruthless Damon Killian, where “runners” attempt to evade “stalkers” and certain death for a chance to be pardoned and set free.

District B13 poster
District B13
2004 · dir. Pierre Morel
🍅 81%★ 7.1action · thriller · science fictionPrime Video

Both are built on the same subject: martial arts

Set in the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.

Escape from New York poster
Escape from New York
1981 · dir. John Carpenter
🍅 70%★ 7.1action · thriller · science fiction

The same preoccupation in both: martial arts

In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam free. After the US president crash-lands inside, war hero Snake Plissken has 24 hours to bring him back.

They Live poster
They Live
1988 · dir. John Carpenter
🍅 86%★ 7.2science fiction · action · thrillerPrime Video

Bleak action, and it commits to that

A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission.

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The best-reviewed films that share Demolition Man’s defining feeling.