30 Best Movies Like Avatar Every James Cameron Fan Needs to Watch
Avatar, directed by James Cameron, is a cinematic masterpiece that has become one of the highest-grossing films of all time. The film’s stunning visuals, compelling story, and complex characters have made it a favorite among audiences worldwide. If you’re a fan of James Cameron and the world of Avatar, then you’ll be happy to know that there are several movies like Avatar out there that offer a similar experience.
From epic science fiction to thrilling action, these films offer a glimpse into other worlds and captivating stories that will transport you to new realms of imagination. Whether you’re a fan of the original Avatar, and its sequel, or are looking for something new to watch, these movies are sure to impress. So, sit back, relax, and prepare to be transported to new and exciting worlds.
Dune (2021)
The story follows Paul Atreides of House Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born for great things, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to secure the future of his family and his people.
He finds himself in the middle of a conflict over the exclusive supply of the most prized resource in existence, the galaxy’s most valuable element found only on Arrakis that can unlock humanity’s greatest potential, where only those who can overcome their fear will survive.
Prometheus (2012)
A team of researchers discovers a clue about the origin of the human species that takes them on a tense journey into the dark parts of the Universe where they will engage in a terrifying battle on which the survival of humanity depends. The expedition is led by two brilliant young scientists, Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) with opposite motives. Shaw is a believer: she wants to meet these “gods” to get closer to her traditional religious views, while Holloway wants to expose that kind of spirituality.
In their work as archaeologists, they discovered clues in cave pictographs from ancient civilizations all over the world, all pointing to the same place in far space, and convinced Weyland Industries to finance the mission. None of the scientists were prepared for the unimaginable terrors they would encounter.
John Carter (2012)
The protagonist of the story is a war-weary ex-military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes involved against his will in a conflict of epic proportions between the local inhabitants of the planet which includes Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captive princess Dejah Thoris ( Lynn Collins).
In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter will rediscover his humanity after discovering that the fate of Barsoom and its people lies in his hands…
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
It is the age of civil war in a distant galaxy, and the rebels have achieved their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire, believing that this is just the beginning of the restoration of the overthrown Galactic Republic. Many peoples and planets once lived in it in prosperity, but the current Emperor imposed his tyranny on them by gaining the power of the dark side of the Force.
Princess Leia leads the rebellion against the Emperor, his two cruel assistants Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin, and the overwhelming Imperial army. When Darth Vader captures Leia, she manages to enter information about the Emperor’s cruel intentions into her robot R2-D2 and, together with the droid C-3PO, catapults it to the desert of Tatooine. When the robot and the droid reach Luke Skywalker and he discovers the message in the robot, he sets off in search of the mysterious Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom the princess mentions in the message.
When he finds him, he realizes that his life will never be the same again, so with the help of the mercenary and pilot Han Solo and Chewbacca, Luke joins Obi-Wan in saving the princess and the entire universe from the encroaching Evil.
Interstellar (2014)
Caring father Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a trained pilot and engineer, has devoted himself to a peaceful life as a farmer on the farm where he lives with his children. When a group of scientists discovers a hole in the universe that could allow the human species to travel interstellar, they will turn to him to start a journey from which there may be no return. The stakes are as high as the responsibility that Cooper carries on his back…
An epic story of a heroic interstellar journey beyond the limits of scientific knowledge. The film explores the premise of the existence of a man who was born on Earth, but who is not destined to die on Earth.
Inception (2010)
Leonardo DiCaprio is Dom Cobb, a man who possesses the ability to manipulate dreams. Thanks to this fantastic ability, Cobb has become extremely sought after by powerful corporations who use his unique skills to outwit the competition and obtain valuable information. However, his latest assignment is unlike anything he’s done before.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Valerian and Laureline are special government agents tasked with maintaining order throughout the universe. Valerian has plans for a romantic relationship with his partner Laureline, but she will reject him due to his extensive history with women. Under the directive of the Commander, Valerian and Laureline are sent on a mission to the intergalactic city of Alpha, a growing metropolis made up of a thousand planets.
Alpha has seventeen million inhabitants who have united their talents, technology and resources for the benefit of all. However, not everyone at Alpha has the same interests and goals; unseen forces will put the whole city in great danger.
The Abyss (1989)
An American nuclear submarine is killed after encountering a mysterious object, and the military hires employees of a nearby underwater oil rig to reach it and check for survivors. The chief of the oil company executives is Virgil Bud Brigman, and Lt. Coffey leads the military side of the rescue crew.
Bud’s wife Lindsay, who now works for the army and intends to divorce Bud, plays a prominent role in the team. Approaching the submarine, the crew members realize that something unknown and mysterious is present in those waters.
The Shape of Water (2017)
Sally Hawkins portrays the character of a woman working in a maximum security government laboratory, who longs to have a relationship with someone. But that all changes when he discovers that a strange being is kept in the laboratory, which has incredible human characteristics. The two create an unusual connection, despite the opposition of the ruthless guards.
Stargate (1994)
Daniel Jackson (James Spader) is a failed Egyptologist who claims that the Egyptian pyramids have a non-human origin. His theories are noticed by the US Air Force, who hire him to help them decipher the hieroglyphs from the stones found in Giza, now housed in a secret military complex. Jackson manages to open a miraculous device known as a Stargate that opens a portal to another dimension several light-years away.
Under the leadership of Lieutenant Jack O’Neil (Kurt Russell), a selected group together with Jackson sets out to explore an unknown planet. They soon realize that a relatively primitive human colony is being ruled by someone or something posing as the Egyptian sun god Ra. The team is soon captured by a said ruler who comes into possession of their nuclear weaponry.
Blade Runner (1982)
Los Angeles, 2019. The city is overcrowded and dirty. On other planets, so-called colonies are formed. “replicants”, androids created by the Tyrell Corporation in the image and likeness of humans. Replicants develop their own feelings over time and are programmed to live only 4 years. They are stronger than humans, so a false memory of their childhood is implanted in them in order to live in the delusion that they are real humans.
Replicants are not allowed to come to Earth, and the special police organization “Blade Runner” is in charge of liquidating criminals. Rick Deckard from Blade Runner is tasked with eliminating several of them who have come to Earth and killed several people, led by Roy Batty. The problems begin when Rick falls in love with the replicant Rachael and begins to doubt the justification of the mission.
The Martian (2015)
Astronaut Watney is left alone on a merciless planet with only meager supplies and must rely on his inventiveness, ingenuity and spirit to survive and find a way to send a signal to Earth that he is still alive.
Millions of kilometers away, NASA and a team of international scientists are working tirelessly to bring “The Martian” home, while his crewmates simultaneously hatch a plan for a daring, and perhaps impossible, rescue mission. As the story of incredible bravery unfolds, the world unites in wanting Watney to return safely to Earth.
Oblivion (2013)
Jack Harper is one of the last humans stationed on old Earth, destroyed by the long-standing war against the Scav. His mission to extract vital resources is coming to an end.
He patrols the skies, and the discovery of a crashed spaceship with a beautiful alien woman will set off a series of events that will make him question everything he knows and put the fate of humanity in his hands.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
It’s 2018. It’s been 23 days since Thanos killed half the life in the universe. Carol Danvers rescues Tony Stark and Nebula from the depths of space and brings them to Earth with the remaining Avengers (Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, James Rhodes and Rocket). Five years later, in 2023, Scott Lang accidentally (fortunately) exits the quantum microscopic universe and manages to reach the remaining Avengers and convey to them his experience where five years passed in just five hours.
Scott has a theory that time travel is possible, and for that they will need Tony Stark who has retired and is living a happy family life. But at stake is the finding of the infinity stones and the return of all the lives that have disappeared…
The Revenant (2015)
In an expedition into the unexplored parts of the American wilderness, the legendary explorer Hugh Glass was brutally attacked by a bear, and the members of his team, led by John Fitzgerald, left him so badly injured to die in the wilderness.
Driven by a strong will as his only weapon, surrounded by a harsh winter and hostile tribes, Glass fights for his life, while the desire to take revenge on the friends of yesterday does not subside.
Ready Player One (2018)
Player #1 follows the story of a teenager, Wade, who spends his days playing the OASIS. Wade has the desire to escape from the bleak world into a global network of virtual utopias where users lead idyllic alternative lives.
When eccentric multibillionaire game creator James Halliday dies, he leaves his fortune in his will to whoever wins a well-conceived treasure hunt. Using his avatar, Wade will have to face powerful opponents who will not stop attacking him in the real world in the race for the treasure.
Ender’s Game (2013)
The film follows an exceptionally gifted boy, Ender. He will be selected for elite military training to save the world destroyed in the war against aliens. Namely, only the way children think and react can save humanity.
Jurassic Park (1993)
John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), an eccentric billionaire who heads the InGen corporation, is forced to call in a team of experts to investigate the safety of Jurassic Park. The team of experts consists of paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician, that is, a self-described “chaoticist”, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum).
- RELATED: 30 Best Island Movies
They are joined by the lawyer who requested the investigation, Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero). But this team of scientists has no idea what kind of park it is. Until at one point, a living Brachiosaurus is found in front of them. Then they meet a Dilophosaurus and then go in search of a T-rex. During the continuation of the ride, they also meet sick Triceratops. Ellie Sattler stays with the Triceratops, and the others continue their journey through the strange park.
Passengers (2016)
During a routine journey through space that takes them to their new home, the two travelers wake up ninety years too early, after the ship breaks down.
Soon, Jim and Aurora are faced with the fact that they will spend the rest of their lives on a ship where they will enjoy all the benefits they could ever imagine, and not long after that mutual sympathy appears… Until they discover that the ship is in mortal danger. With the lives of five thousand passengers they are responsible for, Jim and Aurora will have to work together to save them all.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
The producers of “Godzilla” bring their version of the source of one of the most powerful monster myths of all time. In this exciting original adventure, a group of scientists, soldiers and adventurers explore a mythical, hitherto unexplored island in the Pacific Ocean that is equal parts beautiful and dangerous.
The team is cut off from everything they know and enters the territory of the mighty Congo, which begins the final battle between man and nature. Their mission of exploration turns into a mission of survival and they must fight to escape from a primeval paradise where humanity does not belong.
Pacific Rim (2013)
The alien threat to the world has come from the depths of the Pacific, from a rift between two tectonic plates, from a portal between dimensions. To defend themselves from the monsters, the leaders of the great powers united and created their own monsters – the Jäger program was born, which after the initial successes will come to the brink of destruction, along with the whole world.
However, a group of top pilots does not give up and has only one task – to cancel the apocalypse!
Clash of the Titans (2010)
Born a god but raised a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is powerless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), the vengeful god of the underworld.
With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission against Hades before he tries to take over from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and literally unleash hell on Earth.
Outlander (2008)
In the age when the Vikings dominated the world, a man from a distant other planet, Kainan (Caviezel), crashes his spacecraft on Earth, bringing with him a dangerous predator known as Moorwen.
Although both man and monster seek revenge for the violence done to them, Kainan secretly forms an alliance to kill Moorwen, trying to fuse his advanced technology and ancient Viking weapons…
After Earth (2013)
After an accident with their ship, teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his father Cypher (Will Smith) remain imprisoned on Earth, a planet that was completely abandoned by the human race due to cataclysmic events a thousand years ago.
Cypher’s injuries leave him in critical condition, so little Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to send a signal for help while battling unfamiliar terrain, a brand new evolved animal species that now rule the planet, and an unstoppable alien phenomenon that has escaped in their accidents. Father and son will have to learn to work together and trust each other if they are to have any chance of returning home safely.
The Matrix (1999)
A retired software professional leads a double life. He spends his nights in front of his computer where, under the pseudonym Neo, he becomes a hacker trying to discover something he himself is not sure exists. After he comes into contact with Morpheus, a legendary hacker whom the government claims is a terrorist, he is pursued by the police led by the dangerous agent Smith (H. Weaving).
Morpheus reveals to him that he is part of the matrix, which is an illusion of the world, that is, a virtual reality that computers have been using for centuries to control the enslaved human race. Morpheus is the leader of a small group of people who have learned the truth and are trying to start a war for liberation from the computers. A new hope awakens in them, because according to legend, the Chosen One is coming – the only one who will be able to stand up to the machines. Everything indicates that Neo could be the one.
Planet of the Apes (2001)
The film stars Mark Wahlberg as astronaut Leo Davidson, who accidentally travels through a wormhole to a distant planet where talking apes enslave humans. He leads a human revolt and upends ape civilization by discovering that the apes evolved from the normal Earth primates who had accompanied his mission and had arrived on the planet years before. Helena Bonham Carter played chimpanzee Ari, while Tim Roth played the human-hating chimpanzee General Thade.
The film received mixed reviews; most critics believed it failed to compare to the original. Much of the negative commentary focused on the confusing plot and twist ending, though many reviewers praised the special effects. The film succeeded at the box office, taking in $362 million worldwide. Fox had initially hoped for a sequel, but the difficult production left Burton unenthusiastic about participating, and the film failed to generate enough interest for the studio to pursue a follow-up.
Arrival (2016)
A total of twelve egg-shaped crafts have landed in various locations around the world. The American army soon recruits linguist Louise Banks, whose task, with the help of physicist Ian Donnelly, is to find out whether our visitors have come in peace or whether they pose a threat to the entire humanity.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Climatologist Jack Hall (D. Quaid) in Antarctica experienced something completely unexpected: namely, a whole piece of ice block broke off “by itself”. Although he attributed this phenomenon to an unusual whim of the nature of that part of the world, he had no idea that it was actually a complete disruption of the climate that befell the Earth due to pollution, carelessness, but also historical-cyclical changes. And indeed, soon the great cold descends almost to the equator, encasing the entire northern hemisphere in snow and ice.
This causes complete traffic chaos, many people die, and the entire Manhattan floods and is paralyzed. It is clear to everyone that this is probably the beginning of a new ice age that can completely destroy the planet. A team of top scientists led by Jack Hall forms a special committee that should try to find a solution to this catastrophic situation…
Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Jupiter Jones was born under a starry night sky and with signs that predicted she was destined for great deeds. But in reality, the now grown-up Jupiter is an ordinary cleaner.
Things change when Cain, a genetically modified ex-soldier, comes to Earth with the intention of finding her because his genetic record indicates that he is a person who can upset the balance of the universe.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
In ancient times, the evil sorcerer Sauron (S. Baker) created an all-powerful ring with which he mastered all the other rings of power in the mythical Middle-earth. However, the inhabitants of Middle-earth stood up to Sauron and after the sorcerer’s defeat, his ring disappeared. Years later, the good wizard Gandalf (I. McKellen) discovers that the ring is in the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins (I. Holm), a resident of the picturesque Shire. Knowing what terrible power he possesses, Gandalf forces Bilbo to give up the ill-fated ring and give it to his nephew Frodo (E. Wood).
At Gandalf’s persuasion, Frodo sets out for the dark land of Mordor, into whose volcano Mount Doom he must throw a ring and thus rid Middle-earth of evil forever. In order to help the young hobbit, his fellow countrymen Sam (S. Astin), Pippin (B. Boyd) and Merry (D. Monaghan), then the men Aragorn (V. Mortensen) and Boromir (S. Bean), the dwarf Gimli (J. Rhys-Davies), the elf Legolas (O. Bloom), and Gandalf. On the other hand, the forces of evil, led by Sauron’s servant Saruman (C. Lee), began to gather a terrible army of monstrous orcs to hunt for the ring…
