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Movies that feel like The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

If you loved The Day the Earth Stood Still, the closest films we have are The Andromeda Strain (1971), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) and Europa Report (2013). All three share The Day the Earth Stood Still's cerebral and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and Paramount Plus Premium and others, checked against today's data.

An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.

πŸ… 92% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Robert Wisecerebraltensecontemplativeawe
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If The Day the Earth Stood Still hit the spot, these will too

The Andromeda Strain poster
The Andromeda Strain
1971 Β· dir. Robert Wise
πŸ… 68%β˜… 7.2science fiction Β· thriller Β· drama

The same hand behind both of them: Robert Wise

The difference: Without the same awe

When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scrambles to a secure laboratory and tries first to isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form, unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.

Feels alike?
The Day the Earth Stood Still poster
The Day the Earth Stood Still
2008 Β· dir. Scott Derrickson
πŸ… 21%β˜… 5.5drama Β· science fiction Β· thriller

Common ground in both: spacecraft and ufo

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

A representative of an alien race that went through drastic evolution to survive its own climate change, Klaatu comes to Earth to assess whether humanity can prevent the environmental damage they have inflicted on their own planet. When barred from speaking to the United Nations, he decides humankind shall be exterminated so the planet can survive.

Feels alike?
Europa Report poster
Europa Report
2013 Β· dir. SebastiΓ‘n Cordero
πŸ… 81%β˜… 6.4science fiction Β· thriller Β· drama

One thread runs through both: spacecraft

The difference: 62 years apart, and the 2010s show

A crew travels to Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon, to investigate signs of life in its subsurface ocean, but disaster cuts them off from Earth, leading to a tense and dangerous exploration.

Feels alike?
Forbidden Planet poster
Forbidden Planet
1956 Β· dir. Fred M. Wilcox
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.5science fiction Β· adventure

The same preoccupation in both: flying saucer

The difference: Lighter on tension

Starship C57D travels to planet Altair 4 in search of the crew of spaceship "Bellerophon," a scientific expedition that has been missing for twenty years. They find themselves unwelcome by the expedition's lone survivor and warned of destruction by an invisible force if they don't turn back immediately.

Feels alike?
Star Trek: The Motion Picture poster
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1979 Β· dir. Robert Wise
πŸ… 51%β˜… 6.4science fiction Β· adventure Β· mystery

Robert Wise working the same nerve twice

The difference: Played as adventure first

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.

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Ikarie XB 1 poster
Ikarie XB 1
1963 Β· dir. JindΕ™ich PolΓ‘k
πŸ… 100%β˜… 6.9science fiction

Both keep coming back to the same thing: black and white

The year is 2163. Starship Ikaria XB-1 embarks on a mission deep into space in search of alien life. During their perilous journey the crew confront the effects of a malignant dark star, the destructive legacy of the 20th century and, ultimately, the limits of their own sanity.

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Sunshine poster
Sunshine
2007 Β· dir. Danny Boyle
πŸ… 77%β˜… 7.2science fiction Β· thriller

Cerebral and tense in the same breath

Fifty years into the future, the sun is dying, and Earth is threatened by arctic temperatures. A team of astronauts is sent to revive the Sun β€” but the mission fails. Seven years later, a new team is sent to finish the mission as mankind’s last hope.

Feels alike?
The Face of Another poster
The Face of Another
1966 Β· dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.9drama Β· science fiction

Common ground: black and white

A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his new doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality and causing him to question his identity.

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The Spacewalker poster
The Spacewalker
2017 Β· dir. Dmitry Kiselyov
β˜… 7.2adventure Β· drama Β· history

Both land stillness and awe at once

March 1965. In the heat of the Cold War, the USA and the USSR are competing for supremacy in space. What both superpowers aim for in this race, is to be the first to have a man walk in outer space. To accomplish that, no price is too high and no risk is too great. Now it’s up to the unlikely duo of a seasoned war veteran and a hot-headed test-pilot to fulfill this mission. Two men in a tiny spaceship, without proper testing, facing the complete unknown. They were supposed to do what no man has done beforeβ€”and no man imagined what would happen next.

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The War of the Worlds poster
The War of the Worlds
1953 Β· dir. Byron Haskin
β˜… 7science fiction Β· action

Cerebral science fiction, and it commits to that

The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills, until they discover it is the first of many transport devices from Mars bringing an army of invaders invincible to any man-made weapon, even the atomic bomb.

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Prospect poster
Prospect
2018 Β· dir. Zeek Earl
πŸ… 89%β˜… 6.3science fiction

Awestruck thriller in both cases

A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They've secured a contract to harvest a large deposit of the elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon's toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the job quickly devolves into a fight to survive.

Feels alike?
A Man Escaped poster
A Man Escaped
1956 Β· dir. Robert Bresson
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.2drama Β· thriller

Drama built on tension, twice over

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Day the Earth Stood Still’s defining feeling.