Best movies like Approaching the Unknown
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Approaching the Unknown Starring Mark Strong, Luke Wilson, Sanaa Lathan, Anders Danielsen Lie, and more. If you liked Approaching the Unknown then you may also like: 3022, The Wild Blue Yonder, Oxygen, Queen of Blood, Red Planet and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
Captain William Stanaforth is on a one-way solo mission to take the first steps in colonising Mars. Like all pioneers throughout history, Stanaforth will face insurmountable odds and life and death decisions as he rockets bravely through space.
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The Wild Blue Yonder
An alien narrates the story of his dying planet, his and his people's visitations to Earth and Earth's self-made demise, while human astronauts in space are attempting to find an alternate planet for surviving humans to live on.
Queen of Blood
A spaceship is sent to Mars after a alien distress signal is picked up. They find one survivor, but when a crew member is found drained of blood it's evident they have rescued a bloodsucking monster.
Red Planet
Astronauts search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Stranded on Mars with only a monkey as a companion, an astronaut must figure out how to find oxygen, water, and food on the lifeless planet.
Rocketship X-M
Astronauts blast off to explore the moon on Rocketship X-M or "Rocketship eXploration Moon". A spacecraft malfunction and some fuel miscalculations cause them to end up landing on Mars. On Mars, evidence of a once powerful civilization is found. The scientists determined that an atomic war destroyed most of the Martians. Those that survived reverted to a caveman like existence.
Roving Mars
Join the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity for an awe-inspiring journey to the surface of the mysterious red planet.
Ad Astra
The near future, a time when both hope and hardships drive humanity to look to the stars and beyond. While a mysterious phenomenon menaces to destroy life on planet Earth, astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across the immensity of space and its many perils to uncover the truth about a lost expedition that decades before boldly faced emptiness and silence in search of the unknown.
Apollo 18
Officially, Apollo 17 was the last manned mission to the moon. But a year later in 1973, three American astronauts were sent on a secret mission to the moon funded by the US Department of Defense. What you are about to see is the actual footage which the astronauts captured on that mission. While NASA denies its authenticity, others say it's the real reason we've never gone back to the moon.
Conquest of Space
A team of American astronauts leave their space station on the first mission to Mars, but the captain's religious beliefs may get in the way.
Interstellar
The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
The Martian
During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.
The Last Days on Mars
On the last day of the first manned mission to Mars, a crew member of Tantalus Base believes he has made an astounding discovery – fossilized evidence of bacterial life. Unwilling to let the relief crew claim all the glory, he disobeys orders to pack up and goes out on an unauthorized expedition to collect further samples. But a routine excavation turns to disaster when the porous ground collapses and he falls into a deep crevice. His devastated colleagues attempt to recover his body. However, when another vanishes, they start to suspect that the life-form they have discovered is not without danger.
Titan A.E.
A young man finds out that he holds the key to restoring hope and ensuring survival for the human race, while an alien species called the Drej are bent on mankind's destruction.
Silent Running
In a future Earth barren of all flora and fauna, the planet's ecosystems exist only in large pods attached to spacecraft. When word comes in that the pods are to be jettisoned into space and destroyed so that the spacecraft can be reused for commercial purposes, most of the crew of the Valley Forge rejoice at the prospect of going home. Not so for botanist Freeman Lowell who loves the forest and its creatures, so decides to take matters into his own hands to protect what he loves.
Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
A planet is discovered in the same orbit as Earth's but is located on the exact opposite side of the sun, making it not visible from Earth. The European Space Exploration Council decide to send American astronaut Glenn Ross and British scientist John Kane via spaceship to explore the other planet.
Europa Report
A crew of international astronauts are sent on a private mission to Jupiter's fourth moon.
Flight To Mars
Four scientists and a newsman crash land on Mars and meet martians who act friendly.
Gravity
Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness of space. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.
It! The Terror from Beyond Space
In 1973, the first manned expedition to Mars is marooned; by the time a rescue mission arrives, there is only one survivor: the leader, Col. Edward Carruthers, who appears to have murdered the others! According to Carruthers, an unknown life form killed his comrades during a sandstorm. But the skeptical rescuers little suspect that "it" has stowed away for the voyage back to Earth...
Love
After losing contact with Earth, Astronaut Lee Miller becomes stranded in orbit alone aboard the International Space Station. As time passes and life support systems dwindle, Lee battles to maintain his sanity - and simply stay alive. His world is a claustrophobic and lonely existence, until he makes a strange discovery aboard the ship.
Marooned
After spending several months in an orbiting lab, three astronauts prepare to return to Earth only to find their de-orbit thrusters won't activate. After initially thinking they might have to abandon them in orbit, NASA decides to launch a daring rescue. Their plans are complicated by a Hurricane headed towards the launch site—and a shrinking air supply in the astronauts' capsule.
Mission to Mars
When contact is lost with the crew of the first Mars expedition, a rescue mission is launched to discover their fate.
Moon
With only three weeks left in his three year contract, Sam Bell is getting anxious to finally return to Earth. He is the only occupant of a Moon-based manufacturing facility along with his computer and assistant, GERTY. When he has an accident however, he wakens to find that he is not alone.
The Space Between Us
A young man raised by scientists on Mars returns to Earth to find his father.
The Colony
In the not-too-distant future: after a global catastrophe has wiped out nearly all of humanity on Earth, an elite astronaut from Space Colony Kepler must make a decision that will seal the fate of the people on both planets.
Passengers
A spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction in its sleep chambers. As a result, two passengers are awakened 90 years early.
Prospect
A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They've secured a contract to harvest a large deposit of the elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon's toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the job quickly devolves into a fight to survive.
Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster
When an atomic war on Mars destroys the planet's women, it's up to Martian Princess Marcuzan and her right-hand man Dr. Nadir to travel to earth and kidnap women for new breeding stock. Landing in Puerto Rico, they shoot down a NASA space capsule manned by an android. With his electronic brain damaged, the android terrorizes the island while the Martians raid beaches and pool parties
The Wizard of Mars
In 1974, four astronauts, silver shoe-clad Dorothy, overweight Doc, goofy Charlie, and wooden Steve, crash land on Mars when taking readings, with only four days of supplies. They must try to survive on the surface, which is barren except for some canals with huge maggots with fins. After embarking through a golden igneous cavern, braving a storm and finding an unmanned Earth vessel, they discover a golden road which leads them to the unchanging ruins of what was once a beautiful Martian city. The Martians are modeled on the Flatheads of Oz, and their collective consciousness, the "Wizard," forbids them to leave until they perform a very small task...
Trapped in Space
After an accident during a routine trip to Venus, a spaceship has only enough oxygen left for three people... out of five on board.
Beyond White Space
When a deep space fishing vessel is robbed by a gang of pirates, the Captain makes a daring decision to go after a rare and nearly extinct species. His obsession propels them further into space as the crew spins toward mutiny and betrayal.
400 Days
4 would be astronauts spend 400 days in a land locked space simulator to test the psychological effects of deep space travel but, when something goes terribly wrong and they are forced to leave the simulation, they discover that everything on earth has changed. Is this real or is the simulation on a higher level than they could have ever imagined?
Aurora
In the 22nd century, seven explorers set out on a mission to earth's nearest sister planet, AURORA. Their mission - to survey and explore for future colonization. When their ship suddenly malfunctions, the crew is forced to crash land on the planet's surface, where crippling heat, poisonous water, and fierce storms threaten their lives at every turn. With a handful of supplies and little hope of rescue, their only option is a grueling four hundred mile trek to their ship's lost supply bunkers. To survive, the men will have to push their endurance to the limit and entrust their lives to a leader who will risk everything to succeed, no matter what the consequences.
Good Night Oppy
The inspirational true story of Opportunity, a rover that was sent to Mars for a 90-day mission but ended up surviving for 15 years. Follow Opportunity’s groundbreaking journey on Mars and the remarkable bond forged between a robot and her humans millions of miles away.
Dune Drifter
When the trainee pilot and her mortally wounded gunner are shot down, they crash land on a nearby planet. An enemy craft offers the chance of spare parts to fix her ship, but then she spots another survivor - an enemy alien soldier with no intention of letting her escape.
2036 Origin Unknown
After the first manned mission to Mars ends in a deadly crash, mission controller Mackenzie 'Mack' Wilson assists an artificial intelligence system, A.R.T.I. Their investigation uncovers a mysterious object under the surface of Mars that could change the future of our planet as we know it.
Crimson Force
The crew of the first manned mission to Mars crash land on the surface in search of a clean everlasting power source they believe to be hidden somewhere beneath the ground. However, the crew find themselves in the middle of a civil war between the High Priest of Mars' royal guards and the High Priestess' warriors. The crew is divided with one half deciding to help the High Priest make peace with Earth and the other side with the High Priestess who is secretly plotting to kill her husband and invade Earth.
The Astronaut
An elaborate deception emerges when an American astronaut is lost on a mission to Mars. Space agency officials fearful of losing public support and government funding decide to cover up the accident by employing an exact double for the lost astronaut. The ruse begins to unravel when the wife of the lost astronaut realizes she is living with a different man. Although angered by the deception, the woman has fallen in love with the replacement and plans to keep the secret. They both have a change of heart and decide to reveal the secret when they discover a new Mars mission is underway.
Mission Mars
Three American astronauts who land on Mars discover the body of a frozen Russian cosmonaut and a mysterious talking orb.
3022
A group of astronauts living in the haunting emptiness of deep space struggle to cope after Earth suffers an extinction-level event.