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The Fifth Element poster

Movies that feel likeThe Fifth Element (1997)

In 2257, a taxi driver is unintentionally given the task of saving a young girl who is part of the key that will ensure the survival of humanity.

If you loved The Fifth Element, the closest films we have are Total Recall (1990), Serenity (2005) and The Creator (2023). All three share The Fifth Element's cerebral and kinetic 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).

🍅 70% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Luc Bessoncerebralkineticepicbleakawe
10 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Hulu · Disney Plus

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If The Fifth Element hit the spot, these will too

Total Recall poster
Total Recall
1990 · dir. Paul Verhoeven
🍅 80%★ 7.5action · adventure · science fictionPrime VideoParamount+

Grubby, inventive future built from practical effects and wild ideas

The difference: Violent and paranoid — the humor is nastier, the world dirtier

Construction worker Douglas Quaid's obsession with the planet Mars leads him to visit Rekall, a virtual vacation company that manufactures memories. When something goes wrong during Quaid's memory implant procedure, his life turns upside down, leading him to question what is reality and what isn't.

Serenity poster
Serenity
2005 · dir. Joss Whedon
🍅 82%★ 7.8science fiction · action · adventure

A scrappy crew, a special girl and a regime that wants her

The difference: Western-flavored grit — dusty and lived-in, never flamboyant

A group of rebels travel the outskirts of space evading the sinister Alliance regime. Their lives of smuggling and cargo-running are interrupted by a psychic passenger who harbours a dangerous secret. Soon, the crew find themselves being pursued by an Alliance agent who will stop at nothing to find them.

The Creator poster
The Creator
2023 · dir. Gareth Edwards
🍅 67%★ 6.7science fiction · action · adventureHulu

A hardened man protecting a girl who might save everything

The difference: Melancholy and serious, with no camp or comic energy

Amid a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war—and mankind itself.

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

A stranded hero decoding a civilization built on a dark truth

The difference: Stark 60s allegory — satire instead of pop-art fun

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.

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

Nineties end-of-world spectacle carried by big personalities

The difference: Patriotic and earnest — no fashion-plate weirdness

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.

Pitch Black poster
Pitch Black
2000 · dir. David Twohy
🍅 58%★ 7thriller · science fiction · action

Survival against creatures on a hostile, sun-scorched world

The difference: Lean horror in the dark — none of Besson's color

When their ship crash-lands on a remote planet, the marooned passengers soon learn that escaped convict Riddick isn't the only thing they have to fear. Deadly creatures lurk in the shadows, waiting to attack in the dark, and the planet is rapidly plunging into the utter blackness of a total eclipse. With the body count rising, the doomed survivors are forced to turn to Riddick with his eerie eyes to guide them through the darkness to safety. With time running out, there's only one rule: Stay in the light.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets poster
🍅 47%★ 6.4adventure · science fiction · actionMaxHulu

Besson's overstuffed universe, alien design crammed in every corner

The difference: Prettier and emptier, with nothing as charming at its center

In the 28th century, Valerian and Laureline are special operatives charged with keeping order throughout the human territories. On assignment from the Minister of Defense, the two undertake a mission to Alpha, an ever-expanding metropolis where species from across the universe have converged over centuries to share knowledge, intelligence, and cultures. At the center of Alpha is a mysterious dark force which threatens the peaceful existence of the City of a Thousand Planets, and Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

Planet of the Apes poster
Planet of the Apes
2001 · dir. Tim Burton
🍅 42%★ 5.7thriller · science fiction · actionHulu

A garish, designed-to-the-teeth alien civilization

The difference: Burton's grim remake — muddled and famously unloved

After a spectacular crash-landing on an uncharted planet, brash astronaut Leo Davidson finds himself trapped in a savage world where talking apes dominate the human race. Desperate to find a way home, Leo must evade the invincible gorilla army led by Ruthless General Thade.

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

The same preoccupation in both: dystopia

The difference: Leans harder into mystery than The Fifth Element does

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.

John Carter poster
John Carter
2012 · dir. Andrew Stanton
🍅 52%★ 6.6action · adventure · science fictionDisney+

Common ground: space travel

The difference: Trades the bleakness of The Fifth Element for an angle of its own

John Carter is a war-weary, former military captain who's inexplicably transported to the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars) and reluctantly becomes embroiled in an epic conflict. It's a world on the brink of collapse, and Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

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

Cerebral and kinetic in the same breath

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.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace poster
🍅 54%★ 6.5adventure · action · science fictionDisney+

Dense alien worldbuilding and a prophecy that picks its person

The difference: Stately and talky, with no manic pop-art playfulness

Anakin Skywalker, a young slave strong with the Force, is discovered on Tatooine. Meanwhile, the evil Sith have returned, enacting their plot for revenge against the Jedi.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Fifth Element’s defining feeling.