The isekai subgenre of anime has been a popular one for years, featuring anime like Overlord, Sword Art Online, Digimon Adventure, The Rising of Shield Hero, and yes even Sonic X. All these anime have something in common, which of course is that they follow the isekai basic of a character being transported to and trapped to an unknown world.
Anime isn't the only media where this subgenre is prominent however. In fact, there are plenty of non-anime movies that have taken this premise and ran with it as well. So if you enjoy isekai anime, you may want to check these non-anime isekai movies out.
10 SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER
The one film that you may have not have even thought of in the last ten years is, in fact, a big-budget isekai film. Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over honestly can be compared to a live-action version of Sword Art Online starring the characters from the hit film series Spy Kids. It follows all the same beats, as well as being stuck in a videogame world.
This of course puts it in the realm of being a live-action isekai film. It also apparently carries some biblical similarities, but that's a story for another article and another day.
9 JUMANJI
Now this is a film that you've got to be familiar with. The 1995 hit starring the late and great Robin Williams is a textbook example of an isekai anime on the big screen. However, this time the thing sucking the main characters inside the new mysterious world is a board game.
Much like other isekai of the "trapped inside of a game" genre, the only way to escape from Jumanji is to finish the game. The series has spawned two recent direct sequels where instead of being trapped in a board game, the characters are trapped in a videogame.
8 ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Along with The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland is recognized as one of the earliest examples of an isekai (or trapped in another world) based pieces of media. Alice in Wonderland has been adapted into films from the original 1865 novel countless times, but none are more well known than the 1951 animated Disney classic.
Of course, following the isekai formula, our main character Alice is transported and trapped in Wonderland. A land where things fall in line much differently than in reality.
7 X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
For those of you that don't know, isekai isn't exclusive to a character being stuck in a different universe or world. As seen in Dr. Stone, the character can be stuck in the same world but in a different time, which is a completely different world to them. This is the case with the film X-Men: Days of Future Past, in which everyone's favorite mutant, Wolverine, goes back to the past to save the future and in turn gets stuck in the past.
There are more isekai films that follow this time travel concept as well.
6 BACK TO THE FUTURE
Back to the Future is probably the most popular isekai film that you didn't even recognize as an isekai film. It follows the same time travel concept that X-Men: Days of Future Past and Dr. Stone follow, with the main character ending up trapped in a different time than the one they belong in.
And yes, this means that Back to the Future is an entire isekai film trilogy. It's also an isekai film trilogy you should watch if you haven't watched it yet.
5 ENCHANTED
Enchanted is one of those isekai that we like to call a reverse-isekai. This means that instead of the normal character being transported into a mystical world that is much different than their own, a mystical character is transported into a more realistic world, much like the one we live in.
This 2007 Disney film has animated characters from your usual Disney fairy tale getting sucked into real-world New York City and bringing all of their cartoon magic with them.
4 SPACE JAM
This is probably another isekai film that you never knew was an isekai. Who would even think of connecting the two in the first place? Anyways, Space Jam is the tale of sports star Michael Jordan being taken out of retirement from basketball, as he's recruited to lead a team to save a universe that is parallel to his own.
The game that will be played to decide this world's fate is basketball. The team that he will be leading is a team of cartoon characters. Specifically the Looney Tunes, featuring characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
3 ARMY OF DARKNESS
Whereas the first two films in the iconic horror movie series Evil Dead were "trapped in a haunted house" films, the third film in the trilogy, Army of Darkness, is a complete change of pace. The comedy is turned up to ten, the action is given more focus, and this time our hero Ash is thrown into another dimension.
This dimension is full of medieval warriors locked into a full-on war with a demonic and supernatural enemy called the deadites.
2 TRON
This is another film that falls into the Sword Art Online realm of isekai films. Tron and its sequel Tron Legacy are two of the most breathtakingly good looking films of their time (although the original doesn't quite hold up today). Both these films feature a cast of characters being transported into and trapped inside of a videogame/computer world, then fighting to get out while saving that world.
Tron and Tron Legacy are two films that we highly recommend you to check out if you love isekai anime and want a truly immersive experience that takes you into a new world as well.
1 SUPER MARIO BROS
The film we're sure you don't want to remember but we're going to remind you of it anyways. You all know the classic tale of the Mario Brothers. Two plumber brothers from New York City are working on a drain (or in the case of the film chasing a kidnapper of an interdimensional princess) and fall through a portal to a new world.
Yeah, the film was pretty darn bad, but that doesn't change the fact that the Super Mario Bros. film is a live-action and non-anime isekai film.