Bethesda's upcoming action-adventure title Starfield, lets you go on adventures in various star systems across the galaxy. If you’re constantly staring at your clock, awaiting the September 6 release of the game, we recommend watching some movies like Starfield to keep you hyped. Here are our picks for the best 15 movies similar to Starfield to watch while you wait.
Table of Contents
- Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Sunshine (2007)
- Moon (2009)
- Event Horizon (1997)
- Pandorum (2009)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Ad Astra (2019)
- Prospect (2018)
- Dune (2021)
- Arrival (2016)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- Star Wars Episodes 1 to 6 (1977 - 2005)
- The Martian (2015)
- Interstellar (2014)
While many of the movies presented here don’t have any direct correlation to the game, we are looking at films that share many similar themes and settings. So, without further ado, let’s get started and look at movies similar to Starfield.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
click to enlarge
+ 15Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock
If you’re looking for an immersive and cinematic experience to watch while you wait for Starfield, try the 2017 space opera Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Focused around two space operatives, Valerian and Laureline, the movie takes you on a journey to explore a wide array of planets and alien species.
The narrative of this movie focuses heavily on space exploration, interstellar travel, and galactic diplomacy, themes that are highly anticipated in Starfield.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
click to enlarge + 15Director: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace
Another solid action-packed space movie you could watch is Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. It centres around Peter Quill and his group of misfit heroes who take on formidable villains threatening the existence of the multi-verse.
The team’s dynamic and humour are some of the best aspects of the movie, a feature you are sure to see in Starfield when building chemistry with the companions in the game.
Sunshine (2007)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Chris Evans, Troy Garity, Hiroyuki Sanada
This sci-fi thriller puts you in the shoes of a team embarking on the mission to save the dying by re-igniting it. It’s an epic and intense telling of the human condition under stressful situations, where stakes are as high as possible.
The stunning visuals and fantastic storytelling in this movie will provide you with a visceral experience that is certain to increase your hype for Starfield.
Moon (2009)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Dominique McElligott, Kaya Scodelario, Benedict Wong, Matt Berry, Malcolm Stewart
If you’re looking for something more thought-provoking, check out Duncan Jones’ Moon, which centres around an astronaut nearing the end of his three-year mission on the Moon’s mining base. The movie can get unsettling, delving into deep themes similar to the immersive storylines you will encounter in Starfield.
The sense of solitude in the vast open universe is a dreadful thought, a feeling encumbered perfectly in Moon and Starfield.
Event Horizon (1997)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson
For fans of psychological horror and space, Event Horizon is the perfect pick as it resolves around a crew investigating a spaceship after its sudden disappearance into a black hole. The spaceship re-appears with malevolent force, troubling the astronauts.
The sense of cosmic wonder, paired with the fear of the unknown, relates this movie to the latest Bethesda title.
Pandorum (2009)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Christian Alvart
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue, Cung Le, Eddie Rouse
Exploring the themes of memory loss, survival, and the unknown terrors of space, Pandorum is a sci-fi thriller about two astronauts stuck in a spaceship. After waking up on the ship with no memory, they fight some monstrous beings while discovering their reality.
This movie taps into the psychological and physical struggles of space travel, creating an atmosphere of suspense and discovery, a feeling Starfield aims to provide to its players.
Blade Runner (1982)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
This classical sci-fi film, based on Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” explores a dystopian world where artificial humans, known as Replicants, are hunted by Blade Runners. Both the original film and Denis Villeneuve’s sequel, Blade Runner 2049, explore the themes of personal identity, inner humanity, and the blurred line between real and artificial.
The moral dilemmas confronted by characters in this series while searching for what it means to be human are reminiscent of Starfield’s narrative, where your decisions can affect the fate of entire colonies of stars.
Ad Astra (2019)
click to enlarge + 15Director: James Gray
Starring: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland
With an emotional and heartfelt story, Ad Astra takes you on a journey across the stars, following an astronaut who’s on a mission to search for his father.
Just like Starfield, this movie explores the emotional and psychological toll of venturing into the unknown, highlighting the connections and conflicts that arise as individuals confront the vastness of space, underscoring the innate human desire for connection and understanding amid the stars.
Prospect (2018)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Zeek Earl, Chris Caldwell
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Sophie Thatcher, Jay Duplass
Another solid sci-fi thriller on the list, Prospect follows the journey of a father-daughter duo. They travel to a distant moon, looking for valuable resources, only to end up encountering various strange and dangerous individuals in a hostile environment.
The film's focus on survival, resource extraction, and the complexities of human interactions in a vicious and unknown space setting mirrors the anticipated themes of Starfield, which also explores multi-faceted aspects of space travel.
Dune (2021)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista
The visually striking adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel, Dune, transports you into the shoes of Paul Atreides as he learns about the political struggle over Spice, a valuable resource on the desert planet Arrakis.
With a sequel in development, Dune is highly recommended for Starfield lovers as it explores the power dynamics and struggles for resources between different parties in a vast galactic setting.
Arrival (2016)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma
In Arrival, we follow the heartfelt story of a linguist expert whose life takes a sudden turn when extraterrestrial strangers visit Earth. In her attempt to understand and communicate with these aliens, we learn about the complexities of the past, present, and future of her life.
The reflective themes of Arrival, like the burden of choice and one’s need to develop a bond amidst the harshest of times, may resonate with the depth and narrative exploration of cultural interactions in Starfield.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood
Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece from 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey, is a tale of human evolution from prehistoric times to a cosmic future. Similar to Starfield, it explores human interaction with advanced technology, artificial intelligence, and extraterrestrial entities.
Both the movie and the game present a rich narrative, delving deep into the mysteries of existence and addressing one’s place in a vast cosmic arena.
Star Wars Episodes 1 to 6 (1977 - 2005)
click to enlarge + 15Director: George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Richard Marquand
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz
The space opera created by George Lucas, Star Wars, follows the struggle between Jedi and Sith in a galaxy far far away. The theme of heroism in the diverse galactic civilization of Star Wars is a reflection of the key gameplay features of Starfield.
If you still haven’t gotten into this massive world, this is the best time to explore this iconic franchise by watching episodes 1 to 6 in chronological order as you await the release of Starfield.
The Martian (2015)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara
Based on Andy Weir’s novel, The Martian, is an epic tale of an astronaut stranded on the surface of Mars who uses ingenuity to survive while awaiting rescue. It grips the audience by depicting a man in a dire situation as he struggles with isolation and maintaining the human spirit.
Since Starfield is an immersive experience where you will be able to navigate challenges, craft solutions, and make impactful decisions, you can feel right at home when watching Matt Damon’s own struggles in The Martian.
Interstellar (2014)
click to enlarge + 15Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Caine
The best movie to simulate Starfield’s experience is Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece, Interstellar. It follows a group of astronauts as they warp through a wormhole to reach distant galaxies with the mission of saving a dying earth.
It is a heartfelt and emotional story that dives deep into the themes of time dilation, relativity, and human intellectual curiosity while depicting love as an essence of all emotions. We can only hope that Starfield is able also to reach such emotional heights with its own storytelling.
That concludes our list of 15 movies like Starfield to watch while we collectively await the release of Bethesda’s latest space adventure. Hopefully, this will be enough to stave off the boredom for a while, you could also check out some games to play similar to Starfield and learn about all the companions within the game.
For all things Starfield, stick with us at Starfield Portal.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Pre-Release Guides and Guides page.