50 Movies Like Spaceballs (1987) You Need to Watch Next
Updated August 2026
View Spaceballs details →Mel Brooks's 1987 comedy is a gleeful space-opera spoof in which the villainous Dark Helmet schemes to kidnap Princess Vespa and siphon off her planet's air. Space-bum-for-hire Lone Starr and his clueless sidekick take the rescue job, and along the way meet the sage Yogurt, who introduces Lone Starr to a mystical force called 'The Schwartz' that he must master in time to save the day. It's broad, pun-loaded parody that cheerfully skewers blockbuster sci-fi conventions with slapstick and running gags. Ideal for viewers in the mood for silly, quotable comedy and anyone who enjoys affectionate genre send-ups that never take themselves seriously for a second.
If you loved Spaceballs (1987) by Mel Brooks, here are 50 movies that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are Don't Look Up, Barbarella, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
The Best Movies Similar to Spaceballs
Selected for their real similarity in content, these are the movies that share the most with Spaceballs in terms of theme, narrative tone, and cinematic style. Every recommendation goes beyond genre — we evaluate the type of conflict, pacing, dramatic context, and the experience they create for viewers.
Don't Look Up
2021 · Adam McKay
Two astronomers go on a media tour to warn humankind of a planet-killing comet hurtling toward Earth. The response from a distracted world: Meh.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Barbarella
1968 · Roger Vadim
In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
1989 · Joe Johnston
The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for
In common: Comedy
Mickey 17
2025 · Bong Joon Ho
Unlikely hero Mickey Barnes finds himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Free Guy
2021 · Shawn Levy
A bank teller discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, and decides to become the hero of his own story. Now, in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Borderlands
2024 · Eli Roth
Returning to her home planet, an infamous bounty hunter forms an unexpected alliance with a team of unlikely heroes. Together, they battle monsters and dangerous bandits to protect a young girl who ho
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Downsizing
2017 · Alexander Payne
A kindly occupational therapist undergoes a new procedure to be shrunken to four inches tall so that he and his wife can help save the planet and afford a nice lifestyle at the same time.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Evolution
2001 · Ivan Reitman
A comedy that follows the chaos that ensues when a meteor hits the Earth carrying alien life forms that give new meaning to the term "survival of the fittest." David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann Wil
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
The World's End
2013 · Edgar Wright
Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Ron's Gone Wrong
2021 · Sarah Smith
In a world where walking, talking, digitally connected bots have become children's best friends, an 11-year-old finds that his robot buddy doesn't quite work the same as the others do.
In common: Comedy
Monster Trucks
2016 · Chris Wedge
Tripp is a high school senior with a knack for building trucks who makes an incredible discovery - a gas-guzzling creature named Creech. To protect his mischievous new friend, Tripp hides Creech under
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
2024 · Jeff Fowler
Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team
In common: Comedy
Lilo & Stitch
2025 · Dean Fleischer Camp
The wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
The Nutty Professor
1996 · Tom Shadyac
When beautiful Carla Purty joins the university faculty, genetic professor Dr. Sherman Klump grows desperate to whittle his 400-pound frame down to size and win her heart. So, with one swig of his exp
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
1975 · Jim Sharman
After getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, newly engaged couple Brad and Janet encounter the eerie mansion of the flamboyant, seductive Dr Frank-N-Furter and a variety of eccentric characters
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
1988 · Stephen Chiodo
Aliens disguised as clowns crash land on Earth in a rural town to capture unsuspecting victims in cotton candy cocoons for later consumption.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
2020 · Jason Woliner
14 years after making a film about his journey across the USA, Borat risks life and limb when he returns to the United States with his young daughter, and reveals more about the culture, the COVID-19
In common: Comedy
PK
2014 · Rajkumar Hirani
A stranger in the city asks questions no one has asked before. Known only by his initials, the man's innocent questions and childlike curiosity take him on a journey of love, laughter and letting go.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Not Another Teen Movie
2001 · Joel Gallen
On a bet, a gridiron hero at John Hughes High School sets out to turn a bespectacled plain Jane into a beautiful and popular prom queen in this outrageous send-up of the teen movies of the 1980s and '
In common: Comedy
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
2006 · Larry Charles
Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev travels to America to make a documentary. As he zigzags across the nation, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences. His backwards behav
In common: Comedy
Office Space
1999 · Mike Judge
A depressed white-collar worker tries hypnotherapy, only to find himself in a perpetual state of devil-may-care bliss that prompts him to start living by his own rules, and hatch a hapless attempt to
In common: Comedy
The Dictator
2012 · Larry Charles
The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.
In common: Comedy
Robots
2005 · Chris Wedge
Rodney Copperbottom is a young robot inventor who dreams of making the world a better place, until the evil Ratchet takes over Bigweld Industries. Now, Rodney's dreams – and those of his friends – are
In common: Comedy
Men in Black: International
2019 · F. Gary Gray
The Men in Black have always protected the Earth from the scum of the universe. In this new adventure, they tackle their biggest, most global threat to date: a mole in the Men in Black organization.
In common: Comedy
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
2016 · Dave Green
After supervillain Shredder escapes custody, he joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady, to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. A
In common: Comedy
Journey to the Center of the Earth
2008 · Eric Brevig
On a quest to find out what happened to his missing brother, a scientist, his nephew and their mountain guide discover a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the earth.
In common: Comedy
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
2003 · Robert Rodriguez
Carmen's caught in a virtual reality game designed by the Kids' new nemesis, the Toymaker. It's up to Juni to save his sister, and ultimately the world.
In common: Comedy
Love and Monsters
2020 · Michael Matthews
Seven years since the Monsterpocalypse began, Joel Dawson has been living underground in order to survive. But after reconnecting over radio with his high school girlfriend Aimee, Joel decides to vent
In common: Comedy
Life of Brian
1979 · Terry Jones
Brian Cohen is an average young Jewish man, but through a series of ridiculous events, he gains a reputation as the Messiah. When he's not dodging his followers or being scolded by his shrill mother,
In common: Comedy
Paul
2011 · Greg Mottola
For the past 60 years, a space-traveling smart-ass named Paul has been locked up in a top-secret military base, advising world leaders about his kind. But when he worries he’s outlived his usefulness
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Despicable Me
2010 · Pierre Coffin
Gru is a supervillain determined to prove he’s the greatest by stealing the Moon. To pull off his plan, he adopts three orphaned girls—Margo, Edith, and Agnes—intending to use them as part of his sche
In common: Comedy
Bugonia
2025 · Yorgos Lanthimos
Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Sonic the Hedgehog
2020 · Jeff Fowler
Powered with incredible speed, Sonic The Hedgehog embraces his new home on Earth. That is, until Sonic sparks the attention of super-uncool evil genius Dr. Robotnik. Now it’s super-villain vs. super-s
In common: Comedy
Ice Age: Collision Course
2016 · Mike Thurmeier
Set after the events of Continental Drift, Scrat's epic pursuit of his elusive acorn catapults him outside of Earth, where he accidentally sets off a series of cosmic events that transform and threate
In common: Comedy
The Adam Project
2022 · Shawn Levy
After accidentally crash-landing in 2022, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed teams up with his 12-year-old self on a mission to save the future.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Back to the Future Part III
1990 · Robert Zemeckis
The final installment finds Marty digging the trusty DeLorean out of a mineshaft and looking for Doc in the Wild West of 1885. But when their time machine breaks down, the travelers are stranded in a
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
2022 · James Gunn
On a mission to make Christmas unforgettable for Quill, the Guardians head to Earth in search of the perfect present.
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Hot Tub Time Machine
2010 · Steve Pink
Four pals are stuck in a rut in adulthood: Adam has just been dumped, Lou is a hopeless party animal, Nick is a henpecked husband, and Jacob does nothing but play video games in his basement. But they
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
Easy A
2010 · Will Gluck
Olive, an average high school student, sees her below-the-radar existence turn around overnight once she decides to use the school's gossip grapevine to advance her social standing. Now her classmates
In common: Comedy
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
1989 · Jeremiah S. Chechik
It's Christmastime, and the Griswolds are preparing for a family seasonal celebration. But things never run smoothly for Clark, his wife Ellen, and their two kids. Clark's continual bad luck is worsen
In common: Comedy
Young Frankenstein
1974 · Mel Brooks
A young neurosurgeon inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback, a pretty lab assistant and the elderly housekeeper. Young
In common: Comedy
Neighbors
2014 · Nicholas Stoller
A couple with a newborn baby face unexpected difficulties after they are forced to live next to a fraternity house.
In common: Comedy
Booksmart
2019 · Olivia Wilde
Two academic teenage superstars realize, on the eve of their high school graduation, that they should have worked less and played more. Determined to never fall short of their peers, the girls set out
In common: Comedy
Stealth
2005 · Rob Cohen
Deeply ensconced in a top-secret military program, three pilots struggle to bring an artificial intelligence program under control ... before it initiates the next world war.
In common: Science Fiction
Bottoms
2023 · Emma Seligman
Unpopular best friends PJ and Josie start a high school self-defense club to meet girls and lose their virginity. They soon find themselves in over their heads when the most popular students start bea
In common: Comedy
The Little Hours
2017 · Jeff Baena
Garfagnana, Italy, 1347. The handsome servant Masseto, fleeing from his vindictive master, takes shelter in a nunnery where three young nuns, Sister Alessandra, Sister Ginevra and Sister Fernanda, try
In common: Comedy
Back to the Future Part II
1989 · Robert Zemeckis
Marty and Doc are at it again as the time-traveling duo head to 2015 to nip some McFly family woes in the bud. But things go awry thanks to bully Biff Tannen and a pesky sports almanac. In a last-ditc
In common: Comedy · Science Fiction
The Hangover
2009 · Todd Phillips
When three friends finally come to after a raucous night of bachelor-party revelry, they find a baby in the closet and a tiger in the bathroom. But they can't seem to locate their best friend, Doug –
In common: Comedy
Grown Ups
2010 · Dennis Dugan
After their high school basketball coach passes away, five good friends and former teammates reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend.
In common: Comedy
Grown Ups 2
2013 · Dennis Dugan
Lenny has relocated his family back to the small town where he and his friends grew up. This time around, the grown ups are the ones learning lessons from their kids on a day notoriously full of surpr
In common: Comedy
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