Movies Like Mechanical Principles (1930)

Mechanical Principles is a 1930 documentary film from Ralph Steiner with a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Modern Times and Jack-Jack Attack.

Documentary

Modern Times

1936

A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

8.3

MagicScore

Jack-Jack Attack

2005

The Parrs' baby Jack-Jack is thought to be normal, not having any super-powers like his parents or siblings. But when an outsider is hired to watch him, Jack-Jack shows his true potential.

7.3

MagicScore

Invention of Love

2010

An inventor tries to impress the woman he loves. Will she love him back?

6.3

MagicScore

Wild Life

2011

An English dreamer experiences both the beauty and harshness of nature when he relocates to the Canadian prairie.

5.6

MagicScore

A Walk in the Woods

2015

After spending two decades in England, Bill Bryson returns to the U.S., where he decides the best way to connect with his homeland is to hike the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends.

6.1

MagicScore

Sugar Mill

2025

A group of young men and women who work as seasonal workers in a sugar factory face terror from the kingdom of demons where the factory is located. They must find out the cause of the demons' anger, before the terror ends their lives.

7.8

MagicScore

Cube

1998

A group of strangers find themselves trapped in a maze-like prison. It soon becomes clear that each of them possesses the peculiar skills necessary to escape, if they don't wind up dead first.

6.8

MagicScore

My Sweet Satan

1994

A group of directionless, bored, drug-using teenagers get involved in a cult, resulting in a murder.

4.3

MagicScore

Machines

2017

This portrayal of the rhythm of life and work in a gigantic textile factory in Gujarat, India, moves through the corridors and bowels of the enormously disorienting structure—taking the viewer on a journey of dehumanizing physical labor and intense hardship.

6.1

MagicScore

#10

Timecrimes

2007

A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.

7.0

MagicScore

#11

Possessor

2020

Tasya Vos, an elite corporate assassin, uses brain-implant technology to take control of other people’s bodies to terminate high profile targets. As she sinks deeper into her latest assignment, Vos becomes trapped inside a mind that threatens to obliterate her.

6.4

MagicScore

#12

The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes

2005

Dark fairytale about a demonic doctor who abducts a beautiful opera singer with designs on transforming her into a mechanical nightingale.

6.3

MagicScore

#13

Freaked

1993

A vain actor, his best friend, and an activist end up at a mutant freak farm run by a weirdo scientist.

6.1

MagicScore

#14

Brain Dead

1990

In a battle of man versus machine, Martin, a top neurosurgeon who's studying brain malfunctions that cause mental illness, delves deep into his own mind to save himself from a megalomaniacal corporation.

5.7

MagicScore

#15

Cyborg X

2016

After X-Corp, a radical weapons manufacturer, is taken over by a Cyber Virus, a group of survivors must fight to save humanity from the army of Machines the Virus now controls.

5.3

MagicScore

#16

The Vindicator

1986

An employee of a secret company operation becomes the victim of the company's special weapons project. He is transformed into a robotic killing machine that, because of his programming must destroy anything that comes near him.

4.4

MagicScore

#17

Rain

1929

A lyrical portrait of Amsterdam and its changing appearance during a rain-shower.

7.3

MagicScore

#18

A Bronx Morning

1931

Arrival in the Bronx is shown with a view from an elevated train as it enters the city. Then follows a montage of sights from the Bronx. Many typical neighborhood activities are shown, along with scenes from many local businesses.

6.8

MagicScore

#19

Manhatta

1921

Morning reveals New York harbor, the wharves, the Brooklyn Bridge. A ferry boat docks, disgorging its huddled mass. People move briskly along Wall St. or stroll more languorously through a cemetery. Ranks of skyscrapers extrude columns of smoke and steam. In plain view. Or framed, as through a balustrade. A crane promotes the city's upward progress, as an ironworker balances on a high beam. A locomotive in a railway yard prepares to depart, while an arriving ocean liner jostles with attentive tugboats. Fading sunlight is reflected in the waters of the harbor. The imagery is interspersed with quotations from Walt Whitman, who is left unnamed.

6.6

MagicScore

#20

Snowball Fight

1897

Wintertime in Lyon. About a dozen people, men and women, are having a snowball fight in the middle of a tree-lined street. The cyclist coming along the road becomes the target of opportunity. He falls off his bicycle. He's not hurt, but he rides back the way he came, as the fight continues.

6.5

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Mechanical Principles?

The top films similar to Mechanical Principles by MovieMagicScore are Modern Times (8.3), Jack-Jack Attack (7.3), Invention of Love (6.3). Each shares documentary themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Mechanical Principles worth watching?

Mechanical Principles holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10 from 20 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Mechanical Principles?

Mechanical Principles (1930) is a documentary film directed by Ralph Steiner.

Where can I find more recommendations like Mechanical Principles?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more documentary recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Modern Times Movies like Jack-Jack Attack Movies like Invention of Love Movies like Wild Life Movies like A Walk in the Woods Movies like Sugar Mill

About movies like Mechanical Principles

This ranked list pairs Mechanical Principles (1930), a documentary film from Ralph Steiner, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap. Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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