Best movies like Emperor of the North
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Hobos encounter a sadistic railway conductor that will not let anyone "ride the rails" for free.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: cult classic, terrifying, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending, vintage, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like Emperor of the North (1973):
Similar in 84%
Samuel Fuller's Street of No Return (1989)
Plot Summary:
Renowned director Samuel Fuller's final film stars Keith Carradine as a former pop music star whose career was cut short after his throat was slit for dating a gangster's girlfriend. Carradine roams the country as a vagrant, until the day comes when he can take revenge on those who did him wrong, in this brutal action tale. Samantha Fuller and Bernard Fresson co-star.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 585
Genere: Action, Drama, Crime, Thriller
Country: France, Portugal
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: neo noir, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, crying, detective, weeping
Similar in 84%
Vigilante Force (1976)
Plot Summary:
Vigilante Force is a 1976 American action film concerning a Vietnam War veteran (Kris Kristofferson) and his buddies, who are hired by his brother (Jan-Michael Vincent) and others in a small California town for protection from rowdy oil-field workers.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: hood, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, poliziottesco
Similar in 76%
Final Run (1999)
Plot Summary:
The Grand Royale is a new high-tech passenger train with a computerized engine. On its maiden voyage, it suffers a severe technical failure, killing the controller and gradually increasing its already high speed, at the rate of 2 more miles per minute. With heavily populated areas ahead and the risk of a deadly derailment, every minute counts and once again, it's up to Lucky singer to save the 200 passengers on board.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 670
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: action thriller, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Avalanche Express (1979)
Plot Summary:
CIA agent Harry Wargrave is sent to aid Gen. Marenkov, a senior Russian official, who is defecting to the west. Wargrave decides they should travel to safety on a train across Europe, the "Atlantic Express". During the journey they must survive attacks by terrorists and an avalanche, all planned by Russian spy-catcher Nikolai Bunin.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: Ireland, USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: political thriller, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, freeze frame
Similar in 88%
Moonshine Highway (1996)
Plot Summary:
The plans of a moonshine runner trying to make a better life by becoming a stock car racer go awry when the local sheriff is determined to kill the driver over an affair with his wife.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 286
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
The Redemption: Kickboxer 5 (1995)
Plot Summary:
Kickboxing champion Matt Reeves witnesses the murder of his friend Johnny. While investigating the crime, he learns that a Mr. Negaal in South Africa has founded a new kickboxing association and does not leave international champions much of a chance. Johnny had to pay with his life when he did not want to join. Neegal seems to kill everybody who is in his way especially David Sloan from the previous Kickboxer films. Matt is on his own now, but suddenly finds an unexpected ally.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
Death Hunt (1981)
Plot Summary:
Canada 1931: The unsociable trapper Johnson lives for himself in the ice-cold mountains near the Yukon river. During a visit in the town he witnesses a dog-fight. He interrupts the game and buys one of the dogs - almost dead already - for $200 against the owner's will. When the owner Hasel complains to Mountie Sergeant Millen, he refuses to take action. But then the loathing breeder and his friends accuse Johnson of murder. So Millen, although sympathetic, has to try to take him under arrest - but Johnson defends his freedom in every way possible.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller, Western
Country: Hong Kong, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: cult classic, visually stunning, exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending, suspense, independent film, black comedy
Similar in 86%
24: Redemption (2008)
Plot Summary:
Former federal agent Jack Bauer confronts African dictator Benjamin Juma, whose forces have been ordered to capture the children Bauer oversees for malicious military training.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: intense, rough, serious, suspenseful, exciting, clever, suspense, cliffhanger, realistic, stylized
Similar in 90%
Terminal Rush (1996)
Plot Summary:
A group of terrorists, led by a Brit and a psycho (in a great performance by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper) take control of the Hoover Dam and demand $25 million or they will kill civilians and dam workers they have taken hostage. But the terrorists didn't count on Sheriff Jacob Harper, (Don "The Dragon" Wilson), an ex-Army Ranger whose father is one of the hostages. But after the FBI takes over the the crisis, and relieves him of his duties, he must take on the terrorists by himself and save his father and any hostages that are still alive.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 368
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: cliffhanger, independent film, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, cult film
Similar in 86%
Deadly Outbreak (1995)
Plot Summary:
Dutton Hatfield, played by Jeff Speakman, is working for the American embassy. He finds himself inside a biochemical weapon laboratory when terrorists headed by Colonel Baron (played by TimeCop villain Ron Silver) take over the place. Baron is looking for a sample of a deadly virus that is being developed inside the facility.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 598
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 89%
Hijack (1998)
Plot Summary:
A prestigious senator and the passengers on board a train are kidnapped by a militia group.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 432
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, independent film, fast
Similar in 83%
Runaway Train (1985)
Plot Summary:
A hardened convict and a younger prisoner escape from a brutal prison in the middle of winter only to find themselves on an out-of-control train with a female railway worker while being pursued by the vengeful head of security.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, road movie, suspense, intense, rough, realistic, bad ending, exciting, existential, cult classic
Similar in 79%
The Evil That Men Do (1984)
Plot Summary:
Professional killer Holland is forced out of retirement to break a Central American government's political torture ring when one of his friends, a Latin American journalist, is killed. The murderer, Doctor Clement Molloch, is the master sadist behind the political torture of innocent victims. Posing as a journalist, Holland lures Molloch out of his fortress-like headquarters by using his murdered friend's wife and daughter as bait. When Holland kidnaps Molloch's sister, the doctor is led on a wild chase that takes him to an abandoned opal mine where he finally comes face to face with Holland.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Mexico, USA, UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: cult classic, action adventure, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, cult film
Similar in 87%
The Delta Force (1986)
Plot Summary:
A 707 aircraft jetliner on its way from Athens to Rome and then to New York City is hijacked by Lebanese terrorists. The terrorists demand that the pilot take them to Beirut. What the terrorists don't realize is that an elite team of commandoes led by Major McCoy (Norris) and by Colonel Alexander (Marvin) has been called into service to eliminate all terrorists on the jetliner.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA, Israel
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, exciting, suspenseful, cult classic, funny, action thriller, independent film, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 82%
On Deadly Ground (1994)
Plot Summary:
Forrest Taft is an environmental agent who works for the Aegis Oil Company in Alaska. Aegis Oil's corrupt CEO, Michael Jennings, is the kind of person who doesn't care whether or not oil spills into the ocean or onto the land, just as long as it's making money for him.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: entertaining, realistic, rough, serious, suspenseful, funny, spiritual, political, suspense, cult classic
Similar in 76%
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)
Plot Summary:
A passenger train has been hijacked by an electronics expert and turned into an untraceable command center for a weapons satellite. He has planned to blow up Washington DC and only one man can stop him, former Navy SEAL Casey Ryback.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 49000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspense, intense, funny, saga, perverse, cult classic, action adventure, action drama, rough, serious
Similar in 85%
Broken Arrow (1996)
Plot Summary:
When rogue stealth-fighter pilot Vic Deakins deliberately drops off the radar while on maneuvers, the Air Force ends up with two stolen nuclear warheads -- and Deakins's co-pilot, Riley Hale, is the military's only hope for getting them back. Traversing the deserted canyons of Utah, Hale teams with park ranger Terry Carmichael to put Deakins back in his box.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 104000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: exciting, stylized, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, entertaining, heroic, cliffhanger, cult classic
Similar in 88%
Prime Cut (1972)
Plot Summary:
A Chicago mob enforcer is sent to Kansas City to settle a debt with a cattle rancher who not only grinds his enemies into sausage, but sells women as sex slaves.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: tense, independent film, exciting, serious, grindhouse, neo noir, suspense, offbeat, satanic, psychotronic
Similar in 88%
The Professionals (1966)
Plot Summary:
The Professionals is a 1966 American Western film directed by Richard Brooks. A kidnap-rescue adventure set in about 1917, it features a small group of experts heading into Mexico to free the Mexican-born wife of a wealthy Texan from several hundred bandits. The film is based on the novel A Mule for the Marquesa by Frank O'Rourke.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: retro, epic, spaghetti western, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, independent film
Similar in 83%
Aces 'N' Eights (2008)
Plot Summary:
Already taking a gamble settling in the uncharted west, the peaceful settlers of a town destined for railroad greatness suddenly find themselves being ruthlessly gunned down. With no law and order to be found, justice falls onto the shoulders of an elderly rancher and an accomplished, but retired, gunslinger.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 828
Genere: Action, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, rough, independent film
Similar in 88%
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Plot Summary:
12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Action, Adventure, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, suspense, intense, serious, realistic, perverse, action adventure, mind blowing, spectacular
Similar in 82%
Unstoppable (2004)
Plot Summary:
The deranged military and former CIA agent Dean Cage is in a rehab program, trying to forget the traumatic loss of his best friend Scott in Bosnia. When he dates with his girl-friend and Scott's sister, Detective Amy Knight, in a dinning restaurant, he is mistakenly taken as being the CIA agent that is investigating the robbery of the military experiment EX by a man called Sullivan. He is injected with the drug and abducted by the thieves. Amy has six hours to find the also stolen antidote and save Dean's life.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Aruba
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, exciting, rough, realistic, suspense, political thriller, psychological, experimental, fast
Similar in 87%
Best of the Best 4: Without Warning (1998)
Plot Summary:
A group of Russian mobsters have stolen a huge supply of paper for printing U.S. currency, and are now flooding the market with conterfeit bills. When one of the mobsters decides to give herself in and hand over a data CD to the DA, she is shot and killed, but not before handing the disc to an unsuspecting Tommy Lee. Despite working with the police as a martial arts instructor, Lee doesn't go to the cops with the disc, but instead goes on the run, giving the mafia time to kidnap his daughter and hold as a hostage in exchange for return of the disc. Will Tommy ever see his daughter again?.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast
Similar in 80%
Laser Mission (1989)
Plot Summary:
A CIA agent is sent to get Professor Braun before the KGB can seize him as the Prof's knowledge, together with a recently stolen diamond, could be used to make a laser cannon.
IMDB Rating: 3.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: West Germany, South Africa, USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, feel good, captivating, exciting, melancholic, cult classic, action adventure, independent film, fast
Similar in 88%
The Eliminator (2004)
Plot Summary:
Former LAPD cop, Dakota Varley, enters a power boat race seeking the prize of $250,000, but immediately discovers, first hand, that this race's risk matches the prize: one racer is killed, 3 others seriously injured in multiple action-packed crashes and explosions. Varley tries to leave the lake and collect his prize money but is drugged and kidnapped by Dawson and thrown into a different world: a world where survival means everything and no-one follows the rules. Surrounded by heavily-armed men, he soon learns that he and six other victims have been assembled to be contestants in the ultimate survival game: they will be hunted nightly by hunters with rifles until there is one remaining survivor, who will win a $10,000,000 cash prize!.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 554
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, rough, suspense, action packed, independent film, serious, realistic, fast
Similar in 75%
Hour of Valor (2000)
Plot Summary:
A Presidential candidate running against the Vice-President plans a trip to the Balkans to negotiate the release of American servicemen being held hostage. Before he leaves, he receives a disk documenting evidence that the Vice-President has been trying to revive the American economy by causing a war in the Balkans. He plans to show it to both sides in the hopes of ending the situation. However, Secret Service agents hijack the Concorde he is on and kill the pilots. It's up to an Air Force officer, nicknamed "Washout" because he can't fly a plane, to land the Concorde. Written by Leigh Roche.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 650
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, fast, disaster movie
Similar in 80%
Surviving the Game (1994)
Plot Summary:
Mason is a man down on his luck with nothing to lose when he's approached to lead a group of wealthy hunters on an expedition in the Pacific Northwest. But things get really twisted when Mason discovers the group isn't after wild animals -- they're after him.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: suspense, harsh, rough, suspenseful, exciting, road movie, cliffhanger, psychotronic, perverse, action thriller
Similar in 90%
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Plot Summary:
The Poseidon Adventure was one of the first Catastrophe films and began the Disaster Film genre. Director Neame tells the story of a group of people that must fight for their lives aboard a sinking ship. Based on the novel by Paul Gallico.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, tense, serious, psychological, psychotronic, cult classic, erotic
Similar in 83%
Speed (1994)
Plot Summary:
Los Angeles SWAT cop Jack Traven is up against bomb expert Howard Payne, who's after major ransom money. First it's a rigged elevator in a very tall building. Then it's a rigged bus--if it slows, it will blow, bad enough any day, but a nightmare in LA traffic. And that's still not the end.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 385000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, exciting, tense, action packed, romantic, clever, road movie, thrilling, fast
Similar in 80%
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Plot Summary:
Aging outlaw Pike Bishop (William Holden) prepares to retire after one final robbery. Joined by his gang, which includes Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine) and brothers Lyle (Warren Oates) and Tector Gorch (Ben Johnson), Bishop discovers the heist is a setup orchestrated in part by his old partner, Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan). As the remaining gang takes refuge in Mexican territory, Thornton trails them, resulting in fierce gunfights with plenty of casualties.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 89000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: controversial, intense, cult classic, brutal, bloody, suspense, disturbing, epic, atmospheric, bleak