feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like You Only Live Twice (1967)

If you loved You Only Live Twice, the closest films we have are Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010), Mission: Impossible II (2000) and Runaway Train (1985). All three share You Only Live Twice's kinetic and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 11 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu and others, checked against today's data.

A mysterious spacecraft captures Russian and American space capsules and brings the two superpowers to the brink of war. James Bond investigates the case in Japan and comes face to face with his archenemy Blofeld.

πŸ… 73% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.8 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Lewis Gilbertkinetictenseepic

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

See it on the map

When is You Only Live Twice streaming? β†’

If You Only Live Twice hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Dr. No (1962) Β· From Russia with Love (1963) Β· Goldfinger (1964) Β· Thunderball (1965) Β· On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) Β· Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen poster
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
2010 Β· dir. Andrew Lau Wai-Keung
πŸ… 47%β˜… 6.2drama Β· action Β· history

Common ground in both: assassin and assassination

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

The Japanese forces occupy Shanghai and slowly start spreading terror in the city. Chen Zhen, who was presumed dead, returns to fight against the Japanese and put an end to their tyrannical rule.

Feels alike?
Mission: Impossible II poster
Mission: Impossible II
2000 Β· dir. John Woo
β˜… 6.1adventure Β· action Β· thriller

Both are working the same pair: island, helicopter

The difference: Made in the 2000s, in a different era of the craft

With computer genius Luther Stickell at his side and a beautiful thief on his mind, agent Ethan Hunt races across Australia and Spain to stop a former IMF agent from unleashing a genetically engineered biological weapon called Chimera. This mission, should Hunt choose to accept it, plunges him into the center of an international crisis of terrifying magnitude.

Feels alike?
Runaway Train poster
Runaway Train
1985 Β· dir. Andrei Konchalovsky
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.2action Β· thriller Β· drama

Kinetic and tense in the same breath

The difference: Leans harder into drama than You Only Live Twice does

A hardened convict and a younger prisoner escape from a brutal prison in the middle of winter only to find themselves on an out-of-control train with a female railway worker while being pursued by the vengeful head of security.

Feels alike?
Come Drink with Me poster
Come Drink with Me
1966 Β· dir. King Hu
πŸ… 100%β˜… 6.9action Β· adventure

Epic action in both cases

The difference: Not nearly as tense as You Only Live Twice

Golden Sparrow is a fighter-for-hire who has been contracted by the local government to retrieve the governor's kidnapped son. Holding him is a group of rebels who are demanding that their leader be released from prison in return for the captured son. After a brief encounter with the gang at a local restaurant, Golden Sparrow is joined by an inebriated wanderer Drunken Cat who aids her in her mission.

Feels alike?
The Wolf's Call poster
The Wolf's Call
2019 Β· dir. Antonin Baudry
β˜… 6.9thriller Β· action Β· adventure

Thriller with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

Shown from the perspective of a young submariner with unusually sensitive hearing and uncannily precise sound recognition. The fate of many often depends on his ability, and one time, whilst highly stressed, he makes a incorrect call which put his entire crew in mortal danger. Trying to regain the confidence of his comrades, he conducts an unauthorised investigation of an apparent plot which, it turns out, risks escalating into a nuclear apocalypse. Suddenly working under pressure with the fleet admiral, they must do whatever is necessary, even the unthinkable, to prevent a nuclear war, since a confirmed nuclear strike order cannot be countermanded.

Feels alike?
Ashfall poster
Ashfall
2019 Β· dir. Kim Byung-seo
πŸ… 70%β˜… 6.2action Β· adventure Β· thriller

Tense adventure, and it commits to that

A group of unlikely heroes from across the Korean peninsula try to save the day after a volcano erupts on the mythical and majestic Baekdu Mountain.

Feels alike?
Mission: Impossible III poster
Mission: Impossible III
2006 Β· dir. J.J. Abrams
πŸ… 73%β˜… 6.9adventure Β· action Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: funeral

Retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Ethan Hunt faces the toughest foe of his career: Owen Davian, an international broker of arms and information, who's as cunning as he is ruthless. Davian emerges to threaten Hunt and all that he holds dear – including the woman Hunt loves.

Feels alike?
Anna poster
Anna
2019 Β· dir. Luc Besson
πŸ… 33%β˜… 6.7action Β· adventure Β· thriller

Both lean on scale more than on action

Beneath Anna Poliatova's striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of the world's most feared government assassins.

Feels alike?
Sorcerer poster
Sorcerer
1977 Β· dir. William Friedkin
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.7thriller Β· adventure

Thriller built on tension, twice over

Four men from different parts of the globe, all hiding from their pasts in the same remote South American town, agree to risk their lives transporting several cases of dynamite (which is so old that it is dripping unstable nitroglycerin) across dangerous jungle terrain.

Feels alike?
The King's Man poster
The King's Man
2021 Β· dir. Matthew Vaughn
πŸ… 41%β˜… 6.3action Β· adventure Β· thriller

London shapes both of them

As a collection of history's worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them.

Feels alike?
Mission: Impossible poster
Mission: Impossible
1996 Β· dir. Brian De Palma
πŸ… 66%β˜… 7.2adventure Β· action Β· thriller

Kinetic adventure in both cases

When Ethan Hunt, the leader of a crack espionage team whose perilous operation has gone awry with no explanation, discovers that a mole has penetrated the CIA, he's surprised to learn that he's the prime suspect. To clear his name, Hunt now must ferret out the real double agent and, in the process, even the score.

Feels alike?
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning poster
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
2025 Β· dir. Christopher McQuarrie
πŸ… 80%β˜… 7.1action Β· thriller Β· adventure

Epic action, and it commits to that

Ethan Hunt and team continue their search for the terrifying AI known as the Entity β€” which has infiltrated intelligence networks all over the globe β€” with the world's governments and a mysterious ghost from Hunt's past on their trail. Joined by new allies and armed with the means to shut the Entity down for good, Hunt is in a race against time to prevent the world as we know it from changing forever.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more kinetic?

all kinetic movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share You Only Live Twice’s defining feeling.