Best movies like Pale Blue Balloons
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Dave is a bad cop fighting a deadly heroin addiction while working a case deep inside the mafia. After killing numerous drug dealers and even undercover police officers for the mob, he is kept from his money for trivial reasons. As his drug problem gets worse, and Dave sinks deeper into a murderous lifestyle, he runs from the city to live with an old friend. But Dave can't hide for long, and he is soon lured back to town in a dangerous war to get his money back from the men that wronged him.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 37
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: independent film
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Best tv shows and movies like Pale Blue Balloons (2008):
Similar in 81%
Nightstick (1987)
Plot Summary:
A cop tries to prevent a gang of extortionists from blowing up New York City with nitroglycerin.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 163
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
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Similar in 77%
Permanent (2014)
Plot Summary:
Six unrelated people must push through their past and the mob underworld to discover what has controlled each of them all these years. Sex, Drugs, Guns and God have created a series of events which will leave each of them changed forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 56
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: independent film
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Similar in 85%
Devlin (1992)
Plot Summary:
A troubled cop is framed in the murder of his brother-in-law, whose father is a political boss.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 227
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, neo noir
Similar in 76%
Alone in the Neon Jungle (1988)
Plot Summary:
A by the book female police officer is assigned to the most corrupt precinct in Pittsburgh and told to get it cleaned up.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 179
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 76%
Newman's Law (1974)
Plot Summary:
LAPD Officer Newman has not gotten the reputation of a straight arrow by avoiding conflict when fighting for right. In this police drama, his honesty is put to the test when he and his partner discover a international drug ring involving some of the department's highest ranking officers.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 371
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: detective
Similar in 80%
Hunter and the Hunted (2016)
Plot Summary:
An annual hunting trip for four longtime friends turns into a backwoods nightmare when they run into a group of devout locals deep inside the Pacific Northwest. As tension mounts between the two groups, the men become caught in a vicious game of cat and mouse while struggling to deal with their own personal demons and growing distrust among each other in this pulse-pounding action thriller.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 18
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
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Similar in 82%
Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (1976)
Plot Summary:
Fred and Tony are members of an elite 'special squad' of police in Rome, Italy who are licensed-to-kill, undercover cops and who love to live dangerously.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: poliziottesco, perverse, cult classic, psychotronic, cult film
Similar in 88%
American Rampage (1989)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 215
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: independent film, gay cinema, cult film
Similar in 84%
Nails (1992)
Plot Summary:
The wife of a wild Los Angeles police detective becomes a hostage of the heroin ring he and his partner have exposed.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 477
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: cult classic, neo noir, surprise ending, detective, cult film
Similar in 89%
Center of the Web (1992)
Plot Summary:
An actor is wrongly taken as a professional killer by a band planning to murder the Governor. Then he is hired by the Security Dept. to try to unmask and to catch the leaders.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 218
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: independent film, suspense
Similar in 78%
No Code of Conduct (1998)
Plot Summary:
A cop (Charlie Sheen), his partner (Dacascos), and his father (Martin Sheen) uncover a plot by city elders to smuggle drugs from Mexico into Phoenix, Arizona.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense
Similar in 86%
Violent Cop (1989)
Plot Summary:
Detective Azuma is a Dirty-Harry style rogue cop who often uses violence and unethical methods to get results.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: neo noir, bloody, detective, bleak, crime drama, ironic, witty, controversial, hood, suspense thriller
Similar in 83%
Sharky's Machine (1981)
Plot Summary:
Sharky gets busted back to working vice, where he happens upon a scandalous conspiracy involving a local politician. Accompanied by an all-star jazz soundtrack, Sharky's new "machine" gathers evidence while Sharky falls in love with a woman he has never met.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, neo noir, tense, sexy, suspense, detective, terrifying, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 86%
Shakedown (1988)
Plot Summary:
When a local drug dealer shoots a dishonest cop in self-defense, lawyer and renegade undercover cop join forces to clear him. But when their investigation leads them into a maze of greed and corruption, they learn that in a town where everything is for sale, anything can happen.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, serious, neo noir, perverse, cult classic, independent film, detective, grindhouse
Similar in 83%
Miami Vice (2006)
Plot Summary:
Miami Vice is a feature film based on the 1980s action drama TV series. The film tells the story of vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs and how their personal and professional lives are dangerously getting mixed.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 122000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Paraguay, Uruguay
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: suspense, intense, rough, serious, suspenseful, action packed, visually stunning, neo noir, stylized, action thriller
Similar in 75%
Rapid Fire (1992)
Plot Summary:
College student Jake Lo is pursued by smugglers, mobsters and crooked federal agents after he witnesses a murder by a Mafia kingpin.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: exciting, intense, serious, suspenseful, cult classic, suspense, crime drama, rough, realistic, fast
Similar in 85%
The French Connection (1971)
Plot Summary:
Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 133000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: detective, neo noir, atmospheric, tense, realistic, breathtaking, cerebral, grim, crime drama, exciting
Similar in 76%
Carlito's Way: Rise to Power (2005)
Plot Summary:
Jay Hernandez (Friday Night Lights), Mario Van Peebles (Ali), Luis Guzmán (Carlito's Way) and Sean Combs (Monster's Ball) star in the gripping tale of the early years of gangster legend Carlito Brigante. Seduced by the power of the brutal New York underworld, he enters a deadly circle of greed and retribution. Assisted by his two brothers-in-crime, Carlito is on the fast track to becoming Spanish Harlem's ultimate kingpin. He quickly learns, however, that the only way to survive at the top is through loyalty to his friends and respect for the rules of the street. (FILMAFFINITY).
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, hood, crime drama, action packed, surprise ending
Similar in 82%
Out for Justice (1991)
Plot Summary:
Gino Felino (Steven Seagal) is an NYPD detective from Brooklyn who knows everyone and everything in his neighborhood. Killing his Partner was someone's mistake, because he's now Out For Justice.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: suspense, bloody, detective, cult classic, suspenseful, grindhouse, hood, perverse, action thriller, exciting
Similar in 86%
A Man Apart (2003)
Plot Summary:
When Vetter's wife is killed in a botched hit organized by Diablo, he seeks revenge against those responsible. But in the process, Vetter and Hicks have to fight their way up the chain to get to Diablo but it's easier said than done when all Vetter can focus on is revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 49000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: suspense, harsh, emotional, rough, serious, suspenseful, exciting, realistic, captivating, cult classic
Similar in 89%
Year of the Dragon (1985)
Plot Summary:
In New York, racist Capt. Stanley White becomes obsessed with destroying a Chinese-American drug ring run by Joey Tai, an up-and-coming young gangster as ambitious as he is ruthless. While pursuing an unauthorized investigation, White grows increasingly willing to violate police protocol, resorting to progressively violent measures -- even as his concerned wife, Connie, and his superiors beg him to consider the consequences of his actions.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: neo noir, controversial, brutal, suspense, intense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, detective
Similar in 87%
Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
Plot Summary:
Enforcing the law within the notoriously rough Brownsville section of the city and especially within the Van Dyke housing projects is the NYPD's sixty-fifth precinct. Three police officers struggle with the sometimes fine line between right and wrong.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 66000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, suspense, neo noir, hood, depressing, stylized, detective, bleak, rough
Similar in 77%
Cop Land (1997)
Plot Summary:
Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 104000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, neo noir, talky, intense, realistic, serious, suspense, crime thriller, detective, sexy
Similar in 79%
Harsh Times (2005)
Plot Summary:
Jim Davis is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates. His best friend is pressured by his girlfriend Sylvia to find a job, but Jim is more interested in hanging out and making cash from small heists, while trying to get a law enforcement job so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: tense, bleak, intense, hood, serious, suspense, cult classic, independent film, realistic, exciting
Similar in 85%
Hard to Kill (1990)
Plot Summary:
Mason Storm, a 'go it alone' cop, is gunned down at home. The intruders kill his wife, and think they've killed both Mason and his son too. Mason is secretly taken to a hospital where he spends several years in a coma. His son meanwhile is growing up thinking his father is dead. When Mason wakes up, everyone is in danger - himself, his son, his best friend, his nurse - but most of all those who arranged for his death.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, serious, suspenseful, perverse, cult classic, action adventure, rough, realistic, fast
Similar in 87%
Marked for Death (1990)
Plot Summary:
Just retired from the Drug Enforcement Agency, John Hatcher returns to his hometown and quickly discovers that drugs have infiltrated his old neighborhood. Determined to drive the dealers out, Hatcher crosses paths with a ferocious Jamaican drug lord who vows that Hatcher and his family are now marked for death.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, serious, suspenseful, rough, realistic, grindhouse, intense, hood, cult classic
Similar in 86%
Running Scared (2006)
Plot Summary:
After a drug-op gone bad, Joey Gazelle is put in charge of disposing the gun that shot a dirty cop. But things goes wrong for Joey after the neighbor kid stole the gun and used it to shoot his abusive father. Now Joey has to find the kid and the gun before the police and the mob find them first.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 103000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: suspense, brutal, bloody, action packed, rough, suspenseful, serious, neo noir, clever, entertaining
Similar in 87%
We Own the Night (2007)
Plot Summary:
A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: suspense, harsh, stylized, rough, serious, captivating, tense, realistic, suspenseful, dark
Similar in 79%
Gangster Squad (2013)
Plot Summary:
Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and — if he has his way — every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop… except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara and Jerry Wooters who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 221000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: rough, tense, exciting, stylized, serious, suspenseful, suspense, intense, realistic, neo noir
Similar in 90%
End of Watch (2012)
Plot Summary:
Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 264000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: emotional, tense, suspense, independent film, realistic, harsh, brutal, hood, captivating, heroic