Best movies like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Similar in 83%

The Adventures of RoboRex (2014)

Plot Summary:

When a robot dog from the future pops up in their backyard on a mission to help them, 11-year-old James and his beloved golden retriever, Rex, learn that it is up to them to save the world from Dr. Apocalypse, an evil scientist, and his wily robotic Destructo-Cat.

Similar in 81%

Shorts (2009)

Plot Summary:

A young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock causes chaos in the suburban town of Black Falls when jealous kids and scheming adults alike set out to get their hands on it.

Similar in 76%

The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)

Plot Summary:

A nine-year-old boy gets a plastic Indian and a cupboard for his birthday and finds himself involved in adventure when the Indian comes to life and befriends him.

Similar in 88%

Earth to Echo (2014)

Plot Summary:

After a construction project begins digging in their neighborhood, best friends Tuck, Munch and Alex inexplicably begin to receive strange, encoded messages on their cell phones. Convinced something bigger is going on, they go to their parents and the authorities. When everyone around them refuses to take the messages seriously, the three embark on a secret adventure to crack the code and follow it to its source. But taking matters into their own hands gets the trio in way over their heads when they discover a mysterious being from another world who desperately needs their help. The epic, suspenseful and exciting journey that follows will change all of their lives forever.

Similar in 87%

Star Kid (1997)

Plot Summary:

Shy seventh-grader Spencer Griffith's life changes when the meteor falls into local junkyard and he finds a Cybersuit - the wise and strong robot from another galaxy. Spencer puts Cybersuit on and becomes a different kind of guy.

Similar in 75%

D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)

Plot Summary:

Daryl is a normal 10-year-old boy in many ways. However, unbeknown to his foster parents and friends, Daryl is actually a government-created robot with superhuman reflexes and mental abilities. Even his name has a hidden meaning -- it's actually an acronym for Data Analyzing Robot Youth Life-form. When the organization that created him deems the "super soldier" experiment a failure and schedules Daryl to be disassembled, it is up to a few rogue scientists to help him escape.

Similar in 84%

Mac and Me (1988)

Plot Summary:

A Mysterious Alien Creature (MAC) escaping from nefarious NASA agents, is befriended by a young boy in a wheelchair. Together, they try to find MAC's family from whom he has been separated.

Similar in 86%

Short Circuit (1986)

Plot Summary:

After a lightning bolt zaps a robot named Number 5, the lovable machine starts to think he's human and escapes the lab. Hot on his trail is his designer, Newton, who hopes to get to Number 5 before the military does. In the meantime, a spunky animal lover mistakes the robot for an alien and takes him in, teaching her new guest about life on Earth.

Similar in 76%

Explorers (1985)

Plot Summary:

The visionary dreams of three curious and adventuresome young boys become an exciting reality in Explorers, the action-fantasy from director Joe Dante, who combines keen humor, warmth and fantasy with unexpected twists. In their makeshift laboratory, the boys use an amazing discovery and their ingenuity to build their own spaceship and launch themselves on a fantastic interplanetary journey.

Similar in 90%

The Last Mimzy (2007)

Plot Summary:

Two siblings begin to develop special talents after they find a mysterious box of toys, and soon their parents and even their teacher are drawn into a strange new world – and find a task ahead of them that is far more important than any of them could imagine.

Similar in 88%

Starman (1984)

Plot Summary:

An alien takes the form of a young widow's husband and asks her to drive him from Wisconsin to Arizona. The government tries to stop them.

Similar in 87%

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Plot Summary:

Sonic and the gang must team up to fight Dr. Eggman.

Similar in 80%

Super 8 (2011)

Plot Summary:

In 1979 Ohio, several youngsters are making a zombie movie with a Super-8 camera. In the midst of filming, the friends witness a horrifying train derailment and are lucky to escape with their lives. They soon discover that the catastrophe was no accident, as a series of unexplained events and disappearances soon follows. Deputy Jackson Lamb, the father of one of the kids, searches for the terrifying truth behind the crash.

Similar in 85%

Aliens in the Attic (2009)

Plot Summary:

A group of kids must protect their vacation home from invading aliens.

Similar in 85%

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

Plot Summary:

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 them.

Similar in 85%

The BFG (2016)

Plot Summary:

The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, or any of the other giants—rather than the BFG—she would have soon become breakfast. When Sophie hears that the giants are flush-bunking off to England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!.

Similar in 84%

SpaceCamp (1986)

Plot Summary:

Andie Bergstrom, an astronaut eagerly awaiting her first trip to space, runs a summer camp for teenagers with her NASA-employed husband, Zach. One night during an engine test, Andie and four teenage campers are accidentally shot into space. Together, the group -- which includes Kathryn, a pilot-in-training, and Tish, a ditz with a perfect memory -- must work together to operate the spacecraft and return home.

Similar in 89%

The Ewok Adventure (1984)

Plot Summary:

The Towani family civilian shuttlecraft crashes on the forest moon of Endor. The four Towani's are separated. Jermitt and Catarine, the mother and father are captured by the giant Gorax, and Mace and Cindel, the son and daughter, are missing when they are captured. The next day, the Ewok Deej is looking for his two sons when they find Cindel all alone in the shuttle (Mace and Cindel were looking for the transmitter to send a distress call), when Mace appears with his emergency blaster. Eventually, the four-year old Cindel is able to convince the teenage Mace that the Ewoks are nice. Then, the Ewoks and the Towani's go on an adventure to find the elder Towanis.

Similar in 89%

The Last Starfighter (1984)

Plot Summary:

A video game expert Alex Rogan finds himself transported to another planet after conquering The Last Starfighter video game only to find out it was just a test. He was recruited to join the team of best Starfighters to defend their world from the attack.

Similar in 78%

Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

Plot Summary:

Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school, so he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences, including that she's rich, he's poor, and she's a city girl, he's a country boy, the two become fast friends. Together, they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants and rule as king and queen.

Similar in 78%

*batteries not included (1987)

Plot Summary:

In a soon to be demolished block of apartments, the residents resist the criminal methods used to force them to leave so a greedy tycoon can build his new skyscraper. When tiny mechanical aliens land for a recharge, they decide to stay and help out.

Similar in 88%

Independence Day (1996)

Plot Summary:

On July 2, a giant alien mothership enters orbit around Earth and deploys several dozen saucer-shaped 'destroyer' spacecraft that quickly lay waste to major cities around the planet. On July 3, the United States conducts a coordinated counterattack that fails. On July 4, a plan is devised to gain access to the interior of the alien mothership in space, in order to plant a nuclear missile.

Similar in 84%

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Plot Summary:

Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful wizard -- with a place waiting for him at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he learns to harness his newfound powers with the help of the school's kindly headmaster, Harry uncovers the truth about his parents' deaths -- and about the villain who's to blame.

Similar in 89%

Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

Plot Summary:

After their father is called into work, two young boys, Walter and Danny, are left in the care of their teenage sister, Lisa, and told they must stay inside. Walter and Danny, who anticipate a boring day, are shocked when they begin playing Zathura, a space-themed board game, which they realize has mystical powers when their house is shot into space. With the help of an astronaut, the boys attempt to return home.

Similar in 88%

The Goonies (1985)

Plot Summary:

A young teenager named Mikey Walsh finds an old treasure map in his father's attic. Hoping to save their homes from demolition, Mikey and his friends Data Wang, Chunk Cohen, and Mouth Devereaux run off on a big quest to find the secret stash of Pirate One-Eyed Willie.

Similar in 83%

Flight of the Navigator (1986)

Plot Summary:

This 1986 Disney adventure tells the story of 12-year-old David who lives with his family in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. When he awakens from being accidentally knocked out in the forest near his home, he finds that eight years have passed. His family is overjoyed to have him back, but just as perplexed as he is by the fact that he hasn't aged. When a NASA scientist discovers a UFO nearby, David gets the chance to unravel the mystery and recover the life he lost.

Similar in 81%

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Plot Summary:

After an encounter with UFOs, a line worker feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.

Similar in 80%

Jumanji (1995)

Plot Summary:

When siblings Judy and Peter discover an enchanted board game that opens the door to a magical world, they unwittingly invite Alan -- an adult who's been trapped inside the game for 26 years -- into their living room. Alan's only hope for freedom is to finish the game, which proves risky as all three find themselves running from giant rhinoceroses, evil monkeys and other terrifying creatures.

Similar in 85%

Back to the Future (1985)

Plot Summary:

Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.