Movies Like A Whale for the Killing

If you liked A Whale for the Killing (1981), a adventure and drama movie directed by Richard T. Heffron, 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
Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove (2010)
★ 6.1/10Also family and adventure
After young Kirra leaves her Australian home to summer with her grandfather in South Africa, she soon discovers a baby orca stranded in the lagoon near her grandfather’s rundown seaside amusement park. She names the…
2
My Penguin Friend (2024)
★ 7.4/10Also family and adventure
A lost penguin rescued from an oil spill transforms the life of a heartbroken fisherman. They become unlikely friends, so bonded that even the vast ocean cannot divide them.
3
Moby Dick (1956)
★ 7.1/10Also adventure and drama
In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service aboard the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the…
4
Free Willy (1993)
★ 6.2/10Also family and adventure
When maladjusted orphan Jesse vandalizes a theme park, he is placed with foster parents and must work at the park to make amends. There he meets Willy, a young Orca whale who has been separated from his family. Sensing…
5
Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997)
★ 6.1/10Also family and adventure
Willy the whale is back, this time threatened by illegal whalers making money off sushi. Jesse, now 16, has taken a job on an orca-researching ship, along with old friend Randolph and a sarcastic scientist, Drew. On…
6
Dog Gone (2023)
★ 6.2/10Also family and adventure
When his beloved dog goes missing, a young man embarks on an incredible search with his parents to find him and give him life-saving medication.
7
The Jungle Book (1994)
★ 6/10Also family and adventure
Raised by wild animals since childhood, Mowgli is drawn away from the jungle by the beautiful Kitty. But Mowgli must eventually face corrupt Capt. Boone, who wants both Kitty's hand and the treasures of Monkey City – a…
8
Eight Below (2006)
★ 7/10Also adventure and drama
In the Antarctic, after an expedition with Dr. Davis McClaren, the sled dog trainer Jerry Shepherd has to leave the polar base with his colleagues due to the proximity of a heavy snow storm. He ties his dogs to be…
9
Once Upon a Forest (1993)
★ 6.5/10Also family and adventure
A young mouse, mole and hedgehog risk their lives to find a cure for their badger friend, who's been poisoned by men.
10
The Count of Monte-Cristo (1975)
★ 6.8/10Also adventure and drama
Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.
11
White Fang (1991)
★ 6.7/10Also adventure and drama
Jack London's classic adventure story about the friendship developed between a Yukon gold hunter and the mixed dog-wolf he rescues from the hands of a man who mistreats him.
12
Life of Pi (2012)
★ 7.4/10Also adventure and drama
The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
13
A Dog's Purpose (2017)
★ 7.6/10Also adventure and family
A dog goes on quest to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes with multiple owners.
14
The Legend of Ochi (2025)
★ 6.1/10Also family and adventure
In a remote village on the island of Carpathia, a shy farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an elusive animal species known as ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby ochi has been left behind, she escapes on a…
15
White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994)
★ 6.9/10Also adventure and family
A boy and his dog, White Fang, must try to save the noble Haida tribe from evil white men in turn-of-the-century Alaska.
16
The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (1995)
★ 6.2/10Also adventure and family
When the water supply to the Great Valley is blocked, Littlefoot and his friends must cooperate with a group of bullies to find the reason the cause.
17
The Wolf and the Lion (2021)
★ 7.5/10Also family and adventure
After her grandfather's death, 20-year-old Alma decides to go back to her childhood home - a little island in the heart of the majestic Canadian forest. Whilst there, she rescues two helpless cubs: a wolf and a lion…
18
Storm Boy (2019)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and adventure
Storm Boy lives a lonely life with his reclusive father on a desolate coastline, but when he forms a close bond with a pelican, Mr. Percival, his life takes a new and unexpected turn.
19
A Dog's Way Home (2019)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and adventure
The adventure of Bella, a dog who embarks on an epic 400-mile journey home after she is separated from her beloved human.
20
The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water (2002)
★ 6.3/10Also adventure and family
Littlefoot befriends with a mysterious, fun-loving dolphin-like creature named Mo, who is trapped in "new water" caused by heavy rain. The gang then goes on an adventure to the "big water" to bring Mo home.