Best movies like Direct Action
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Frank Gannon, a veteran cop, is being hunted by his fellow police officers after they learned he has betrayed the brotherhood and exposed to the feds wide scale corruption of the LAPD. He has one day left to prove his case and survive.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, rough, serious, realistic, cult classic, fast, detective, cult film
Best tv shows and movies like Direct Action (2004):
Similar in 77%
Maximum Risk (1996)
Plot Summary:
A policeman takes his twin brother's place and inherits his problems and a beautiful girlfriend. He is forced to kickbox his way from France to the U.S. and back while playing footsie with the FBI and Russian mafia. Not just muscles with a badge, the policeman must find the answers to some tough questions, none harder than what the heck is an accordian player doing in a sauna.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, serious, suspenseful, erotic, metafiction, cult classic, rough, realistic, fast
Similar in 89%
Kill Switch (2008)
Plot Summary:
A troubled detective travels to Memphis in order to track down a pair of serial killers.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, rough, suspenseful, realistic, fast, suspense, neo noir, detective
Similar in 89%
Executive Target (1997)
Plot Summary:
His wife held hostage, a stunt driver is forced to drive a getaway car in a plot to kidnap the President from a motorcade.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspense, cult classic, independent film, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, fast, political thriller
Similar in 82%
Army of One (1993)
Plot Summary:
Wellman Santee (Dolph Lundgren) a former race car driver, whose livelihood is transporting exotic stolen super cars, is involved, with his partner Eddie, in shoot out, resulting in the deaths of his friend and a highway cop. Santee is framed for the cop's murder and jailed in a maximum security prison. A few months later, Santee breaks out after narrowly escaping an attempt on his life. He reaches a local diner where he steals a car, abducts the owner, Rita and flees, completely unaware that his hostage is a deputy sheriff. A massive manhunt ensues, spearheaded by Lt. Severance a tough, obessive cop. Santee leads the detective and his men on a dramatic high speed chase, from the desert wilderness to the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Santee's out to clear his name and when it comes to getting even, he's taking revenge into overdrive.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: serious, rough, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, neo noir, bloody, suspense, crime drama, perverse
Similar in 76%
The Russian Specialist (2005)
Plot Summary:
A Russian ex-hit man is called back to Russia for one last job. This time against his former employees, the Russian mob.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, satanic, perverse, action packed
Similar in 86%
Black Moon Rising (1986)
Plot Summary:
An FBI free-lancer stashes a stolen Las Vegas-crime tape in a high-tech car stolen by someone else.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, cult classic, retro, harsh, atmospheric, independent film, realistic
Similar in 82%
Hidden Agenda (2001)
Plot Summary:
Former government Jason Price (Dolph Lundgren) makes people disappear for a living. But when a top lieutenant for a crime syndicate asks Price to help him drop out of sight, things take a grisly, unexpected turn. A mysterious hit man known as The Cleaner has infiltrated Price's tightly-controlled system, leaving a bloody trail behind. With the help of an enigmatic seductress posing as the mobster's chief assistant, Price methodically works through his network of associates to find out what went wrong, and is plunged headlong into a spiraling gauntlet of half-truths and full-blown lies where nobody is who they appear to be, and everyone has a deadly, hidden agenda.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, suspense, cult classic, rough, captivating, realistic, fast, neo noir
Similar in 89%
The Hitman (1991)
Plot Summary:
After surviving an attempt on his life by his former partner, officer Cliff Garrett (Norris) exacts revenge on those who wronged him by going undercover as a hit man. He works to gain the reputation and trust needed in order to be accepted by the burgeoning Seattle-area criminal underworld, but it is all done in order to take it down from within.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, realistic, serious, suspenseful, suspense, grindhouse, cult classic, independent film, fast
Similar in 90%
Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
Plot Summary:
An American with a Japanese upbringing, Chris Kenner is a police officer assigned to the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. Kenner is partnered with Johnny Murata, a Japanese-American who isn't in touch with his roots. Despite their differences, both men excel at martial arts, and utilize their formidable skills when they go up against Yoshida, a vicious yakuza drug dealer with ties to Kenner's past.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, rough, realistic, grindhouse, cult classic, action comedy, crime drama, mind blowing, detective
Similar in 88%
Death Train (2003)
Plot Summary:
A man is supposed to guard a shipment of diamonds being sent by rail. But a man robs the train and kills the men guarding the diamonds. The robbers derail the train and hope to get away with their crime. The robbers get caught in Mexico and are sent to prison by rail. The robbers take over the prison train they are on. Will these robbers get away with their crime or will the bodyguard kill all of the robbers and reclaim the train?.
IMDB Rating: 3.2
IMDB Votes: 399
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, suspenseful, suspense, serious, realistic, fast, cult film
Similar in 85%
The Defender (2004)
Plot Summary:
The global war on terror rages on. When a government official goes missing, Lance, a man with an impressive record of service to his country, finds himself protecting the man who embodies everything he has dedicated his life to fight against.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Germany, Romania
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, exciting, realistic, suspenseful, fast
Similar in 83%
Detention (2003)
Plot Summary:
A heroic high school teacher leads a band of students trapped in school by violent drug-runners.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspense, exciting, suspenseful, fast
Similar in 79%
Dark Angel (1990)
Plot Summary:
Jack Caine is a Houston vice cop who's forgotten the rule book. His self-appointed mission is to stop the drugs trade and the number one supplier Victor Manning. Whilst involved in an undercover operation to entrap Victor Manning, his partner gets killed, and a sinister newcomer enters the scene.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Action, Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: detective, suspense, rough, serious, suspenseful, neo noir, christmas horror, tech noir, perverse, cult classic
Similar in 88%
Ticker (2001)
Plot Summary:
Ray Nettles, a detective of San Francisco, and his partner Fuzzy must take up to one of the most dangerous terrorist gangs of the city. When one of the terrorists, the beautiful scientist Claire Manning is arrested, Swan, the leader of the terrorists, claims he will let explode bombs throughout the city if she will not be released. Because of the possible bloodshed, Nettles calls for the help of explosive expert Frank Glass.
IMDB Rating: 3.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, neo noir, independent film, detective, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 75%
Bullet to the Head (2012)
Plot Summary:
After watching their respective partners die, a cop and a hitman form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 52000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, India, Switzerland
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: exciting, intense, brutal, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, bloody, detective, action packed
Similar in 87%
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 86%
Raw Deal (1986)
Plot Summary:
Mark Kaminsky is kicked out of the FBI for his rough treatment of a suspect. He winds up as the sheriff of a small town in North Carolina. FBI Chief Harry Shannon, whose son has been killed by a mobster named Patrovina, enlists Kaminsky in a personal vendetta with a promise of reinstatement into the FBI if Patrovina is taken down. To accomplish this, he must go undercover and join Patrovina's gang.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, Netherlands
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: intense, rough, realistic, exciting, serious, suspenseful, action packed, cult classic, hood, perverse
Similar in 75%
The Punisher (1989)
Plot Summary:
The avenging angel of Marvel Comics fame comes brilliantly to life in this searing action-adventure thriller! Dolph Lundgren stars as Frank Castle, a veteran cop who loses his entire family to a mafia car bomb. Only his ex-partner believes Castle survived the blast to become THE PUNISHER ... a shadowy, invincible fighter against evil who lives for total revenge on his mob enemies.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: futuristic, cult classic, exciting, stylized, serious, epic, slasher, hood, perverse, independent film
Similar in 82%
The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008)
Plot Summary:
A Texas cop battles ex-navy seals who are trying to traffic drugs from Mexico into the USA.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, cult classic, action packed, fast
Similar in 77%
Blackjack (1998)
Plot Summary:
After saving Casey, a daughter of his friend, from hired assassins, Jack Devlin is hit with a strange phobia - fear of white color. But when his other friend, who works as a bodyguard for a supermodel, is wounded, Jack decides to step in for him. Now he must confront his fear and the assassin, who seems to be well aware of Jack's problem.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, surprise ending, neo noir, independent film
Similar in 76%
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 89%
The Cutter (2005)
Plot Summary:
A former cop turned Los Angeles P.I. takes on a case of a missing diamond cutter that leads him on an adventure of love and villainy spanning of mob to the present day Jewelry District.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, suspense, cult classic, action packed, bleak, realistic, fast, surprise ending
Similar in 84%
Exit Wounds (2001)
Plot Summary:
Maverick cop Orin Boyd always brings down the domestic terrorists he tracks, but he ruffles feathers with his unorthodox techniques -- and soon finds himself reassigned to the toughest district in Detroit. When he discovers a group of detectives secretly operating a drug ring, Boyd joins forces with an unlikely ally -- gangster Latrell Walker -- to bring down the rotten cops.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: stylized, suspense, detective, black comedy, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast paced
Similar in 83%
Out for a Kill (2003)
Plot Summary:
An unsuspecting university professor is an unwitting accomplice in a foiled Chinese cocaine deal. Wrongly imprisoned, he escapes to take his revenge and prove his innocence.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Aruba, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, neo noir, freeze frame, campy
Similar in 82%
Urban Justice (2007)
Plot Summary:
Seagal plays a man with a dark and violent past, who seeks revenge for the murder of his son.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: rough, suspenseful, exciting, serious, realistic, suspense, bloody, cult classic, bleak, fast
Similar in 84%
Skin Trade (2014)
Plot Summary:
After his family is killed by a Serbian gangster with international interests. NYC detective Nick goes to S.E. Asia and teams up with a Thai detective to get revenge and destroy the syndicates human trafficking network.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Thailand, Canada, USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, action thriller, action adventure, fast, surprise ending
Similar in 81%
An Eye for an Eye (1981)
Plot Summary:
Sean Kane is forced to resign from the San Francisco Police Department's Narcotics Division when he goes berserk after his partner is murdered. He decides to fight alone and follows a trail of drug traffickers into unexpected high places.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: suspense, serious, exciting, cult classic, tense, neo noir, independent film, rough, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 80%
New Police Story (2004)
Plot Summary:
Sent into a drunken tailspin when his entire unit is killed by a gang of thrill-seeking punks, disgraced Hong Kong police inspector Wing (Jackie Chan) needs help from his new rookie partner, with a troubled past of his own, to climb out of the bottle and track down the gang and its ruthless leader.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong, China
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: exciting, stylized, suspenseful, rough, serious, fast paced, action packed, detective, bleak, cult classic
Similar in 78%
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 89%
Until Death (2007)
Plot Summary:
Van Damme plays a dirty cop who is hooked on heroin, and everyone dislikes him. Because of an accident he is put into a coma, and comes out of it a better person. He wakes up wanting to put things right.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Bulgaria, Germany, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspense, cult classic, action packed, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending, neo noir, independent film