feelsalike.comSign in
King Kong poster

Movies that feel likeKing Kong (2005)

In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady.

If you loved King Kong, the closest films we have are House of Flying Daggers (2004), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and Troy (2004). All three share King Kong's epic and kinetic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Deep Water (2006).

🍅 84% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Peter Jacksonepiccontemplativekinetic
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Disney Plus

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Stream it:Netflix ↗
See it on the Mood Map

When is King Kong streaming? →

If King Kong hit the spot, these will too

House of Flying Daggers poster
House of Flying Daggers
2004 · dir. Zhang Yimou
🍅 87%★ 7.5adventure · drama · actionPrime Video

Lavish spectacle where doomed love keeps breaking through the action

The difference: Wuxia romance in imperial China — no monsters, no old Hollywood

In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug poster
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2013 · dir. Peter Jackson
🍅 74%★ 7.8fantasy · adventure · actionMax

Peter Jackson working the same nerve twice

The difference: Trades the stillness of King Kong for an angle of its own

The Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf have successfully escaped the Misty Mountains, and Bilbo has gained the One Ring. They all continue their journey to get their gold back from the Dragon, Smaug.

Troy poster
Troy
2004 · dir. Wolfgang Petersen
🍅 53%★ 7.3action · adventureParamount+

The same mix in both: scale, then momentum

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

In year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age, two emerging nations begin to clash. Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. They set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull poster
🍅 77%★ 6.2adventure · actionPrime VideoDisney+

Adventure built on scale, twice over

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than King Kong does

Set during the Cold War, the Soviets—led by sword-wielding Irina Spalko—are in search of a crystal skull which has supernatural powers related to a mystical Lost City of Gold. Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young man whose friend—and Indy's colleague—Professor Oxley has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation poster
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
2015 · dir. Christopher McQuarrie
🍅 94%★ 7.4action · adventureParamount+

Action with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet—eradicating 'The Syndicate', an International and highly-skilled rogue organization committed to destroying the IMF.

Deep Water poster
Deep Water
2006 · dir. Louise Osmond
🍅 96%★ 7.8documentary · adventure · drama

An ambitious voyage into the unknown that curdles into tragedy

The difference: A true-story documentary — the spectacle is psychological

DEEP WATER is the stunning true story of the fateful voyage of Donald Crowhurst, an amateur yachtsman who enters the most daring nautical challenge ever – the very first solo, non-stop, round-the-world boat race.

Mulan: Rise of a Warrior poster
Mulan: Rise of a Warrior
2009 · dir. Jingle Ma Choh-Sing
★ 6.6adventure · drama · action

War-torn epic sweep with a tragic devotion at its center

The difference: Sober battlefield drama with none of Kong's adventure wonder

When barbarian hordes threaten her homeland, the brave and cunning Mulan disguises herself as a male soldier to swell the ranks in her aging father's stead. The warrior's remarkable courage drives her through powerful battle scenes and brutal wartime strategy. Mulan loses dear friends to the enemy's blade as she rises to become one of her country's most valuable leaders — but can she win the war before her secret is exposed?

Chinese Zodiac poster
Chinese Zodiac
2012 · dir. Jackie Chan
🍅 25%★ 6action · adventure

Both lean on scale more than on drama

Asian Hawk leads a mercenary team to recover several lost artifacts from the Old Summer Palace, the bronze heads of the twelve Chinese Zodiac animals which were sacked by the French and British armies from the imperial Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860. Assisted by a Chinese student and a Parisian woman, Hawk stops at nothing to accomplish the mission.

Twister poster
Twister
1996 · dir. Jan de Bont
🍅 68%★ 6.6action · adventure · drama

Contemplative adventure, and it commits to that

An unprecedented series of violent tornadoes is sweeping across Oklahoma. Tornado chasers, headed by Dr. Jo Harding, attempt to release a groundbreaking device that will allow them to track them and create a more advanced warning system. They are joined by Jo's soon to be ex-husband Bill, a former tornado chaser himself, and his girlfriend Melissa.

Robin Hood poster
Robin Hood
2010 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 43%★ 6.6action · adventure · historyMax

A mud-and-steel period epic staged with massive physical scale

The difference: Dour historical realism — adventure with the wonder drained out

When soldier Robin happens upon the dying Robert of Loxley, he promises to return the man's sword to his family in Nottingham. There, he assumes Robert's identity; romances his widow, Marion; and draws the ire of the town's sheriff and King John's henchman, Godfrey.

Waterworld poster
Waterworld
1995 · dir. Kevin Reynolds
🍅 61%★ 6.3adventure · actionStarz

Kinetic action in both cases

In a futuristic world where the polar ice caps have melted and made Earth a liquid planet, a beautiful barmaid rescues a mutant seafarer from a floating island prison. They escape, along with her young charge, Enola, and sail off aboard his ship. But the trio soon becomes the target of a menacing pirate who covets the map to 'Dryland'—which is tattooed on Enola's back.

Hercules poster
Hercules
2014 · dir. Brett Ratner
🍅 58%★ 6action · adventure

Cut from the same adventure cloth

When a new enemy threatens the innocent, Hercules must lead his fearless team of warriors in a battle against overwhelming odds.

In the mood for more epic?

all epic movies →

The best-reviewed films that share King Kong’s defining feeling.