Movies Like Fresh Out of Ideas

If you liked Fresh Out of Ideas (1984), a movie directed by Jamie Walters, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989)
★ 7.1/10
Xixo is back again. This time, his children accidentally stow away on a fast-moving poachers' truck, unable to get off, and Xixo sets out to rescue them. Along the way, he encounters a couple of soldiers trying to…
2
The Expendables 2 (2012)
★ 6.4/10
Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat.
3
The Dog Stars (2026)
★ 7/10
After the world's population has been ravaged by a pandemic, a man lives a lonesome existence in a Colorado airplane hangar with his dog and a dour gunman he has befriended. When a mysterious transmission comes through…
4
Airplane! (1980)
★ 7.3/10
An ex-fighter pilot is forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
5
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
★ 6.5/10
When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command.
6
The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
★ 7.3/10
A Coca-Cola bottle dropped from an airplane raises havoc among a normally peaceful tribe of African bushmen who believe it to be a utensil of the gods.
7
Arrival (2016)
★ 7.6/10
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
8
57 Seconds (2023)
★ 6.2/10
When a tech blogger lands an interview with a tech guru and stops an attack on him, he finds a mysterious ring that takes him back 57 seconds into the past.
9
The Doors (1991)
★ 7.1/10
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.
10
Mickey 17 (2025)
★ 6.8/10
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.
11
Hot Shots! (1991)
★ 6.6/10
The gang that created Airplane! and The Naked Gun sets its sights on Top Gun in this spoof. Topper Harley is a talented but unstable fighter pilot with an axe to grind: clearing the family name. His mission is to…
12
The Fog (1980)
★ 6.7/10
Strange things begin to occur as a tiny California coastal town prepares to commemorate its centenary. Inanimate objects spring eerily to life; Rev. Malone stumbles upon a dark secret about the town's founding; radio…
13
Salomé (2013)
★ 6.1/10
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé…
14
Play Dirty (1969)
★ 6.3/10
During World War II in North Africa, a group of British commandos disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital Nazi oil depot.
15
Beast of War (2025)
★ 6.2/10
When their boat sinks while crossing the Timor Sea during World War II, a troop of young Australian soldiers must find a way to survive the harsh seas on a quickly shrinking raft. Hundreds of miles from anywhere, they…
16
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
★ 7.2/10
When a huge alien probe enters the galaxy and begins to vaporize Earth's oceans, Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in order to bring back whales and save the planet.
17
Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941)
★ 5.9/10
A scientific expedition happens to discover that gold exists on Tarzan's escarpment. The villainous Medford and Vandermeer kidnap Jane and Boy to extort from Tarzan the location of the gold.
18
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
★ 6/10
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…
19
Black Mirror (2011)
★ 7.8/10
A nameless drifter navigates a barren landscape punctuated by satellite dishes, radio towers and droning airplanes. Stopping periodically in anonymous hotel rooms, she makes attempts to connect to an unidentified…
20
The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
★ 7.2/10
A cargo aircraft crashes in a sandstorm in the Sahara with less than a dozen men on board. One of the passengers is an airplane designer who comes up with the idea of ripping off the undamaged wing and using it as the…