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Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines poster

Movies that feel likeTerminator 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.

If you loved Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the closest films we have are District B13 (2004), eXistenZ (1999) and Equilibrium (2002). All three share Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' kinetic and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is RoboCop (1987).

🍅 70% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Jonathan Mostowkinetictensecerebralbleak
9 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium · MGM Plus

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If Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Terminator (1984) · Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) · Terminator Salvation (2009) · Terminator Genisys (2015) · Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

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

A near-future setting turns city streets into a relentless battleground

The difference: Parkour-driven crime thriller, no robots or killer machines involved

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.

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

Reality keeps slipping as technology blurs what's real and what's programmed

The difference: A surreal game-within-a-game plot, weirder and less action-driven

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.

Equilibrium poster
Equilibrium
2002 · dir. Kurt Wimmer
🍅 40%★ 7.3action · science fiction · thrillerParamount+

One person rises up against a system built to control everyone else

The difference: A totalitarian-regime uprising, not a machine hunting a single target

In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.

The Book of Eli poster
The Book of Eli
2010 · dir. Allen Hughes
🍅 46%★ 6.8action · thriller · science fiction

One person presses forward through a ruined world toward an uncertain future

The difference: A quiet post-apocalyptic walk, not a machine actively hunting him

A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.

Children of Men poster
Children of Men
2006 · dir. Alfonso Cuarón
🍅 92%★ 7.9science fiction · thriller · action

The same preoccupation in both: dystopia

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

RoboCop poster
RoboCop
1987 · dir. Paul Verhoeven
🍅 84%★ 7.6action · thriller · science fiction

A corporation's machine turns violent when it stops following orders

The difference: A satire about corporate greed, not a war against a hostile AI

In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the company leads street cop Alex Murphy into an armed confrontation with crime lord Boddicker so they can use his body to support their untested RoboCop prototype. But when RoboCop learns of the company's nefarious plans, he turns on his masters.

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

A world built on artificial bodies turns detection work deadly serious

The difference: A murder-mystery framework, no relentless single hunter chasing one target

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.

RoboCop poster
RoboCop
2014 · dir. José Padilha
🍅 50%★ 6.1action · science fiction · thriller

A machine-enhanced enforcer raises questions about what it costs to fight back

The difference: A corporate-satire origin story, not a chase to prevent judgment day

In RoboCop, the year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years, but have been forbidden for law enforcement in America. Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front, and they see a golden opportunity to do it. When Alex Murphy – a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit – is critically injured, OmniCorp sees their chance to build a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders, but they never counted on one thing: there is still a man inside the machine.

Death Race poster
Death Race
2008 · dir. Paul W. S. Anderson
🍅 41%★ 6.4action · thriller · science fictionStarz

A near-future world turns brutal survival into public spectacle

The difference: A prison-arena thriller, not machines hunting a single target

Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyland Corporation, which sees jails full of thugs as an opportunity for televised sport. Adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for violence and a spectacular, enclosed arena come together to form the 'Death Race', the biggest, most brutal event.

Gamer poster
Gamer
2009 · dir. Brian Taylor
🍅 29%★ 5.7action · thriller · science fiction

Control over the body and mind becomes the whole fight for freedom

The difference: A mind-control game premise, not a relentless robotic assassin

Mind-control technology has taken society by a storm, a multiplayer on-line game called "Slayers" allows players to control human prisoners in mass-scale. Simon controls Kable, the online champion of the game. Kable's ultimate challenge becomes regaining his identity and independence by defeating the game's mastermind.

Total Recall poster
Total Recall
2012 · dir. Len Wiseman
🍅 30%★ 6.2action · science fiction · thriller

Nothing about reality can be trusted once the chase actually begins

The difference: A memory-implant mystery, not a machine sent to finish the job

Factory worker Doug Quaid takes a virtual mind-trip vacation with the Rekall company, opting for implanted memories of being a spy. When the procedure goes wrong, Quaid becomes a wanted man by the police and joins forces with a rebel fighter to stop the evil Chancellor Cohaagen.

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

One thread runs through both: dystopia

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.

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The best-reviewed films that share Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ defining feeling.