Best movies like Essential Killing
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A Taliban soldier struggles to survive after he escapes his captors and flees into the Polish countryside.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Thriller, War
Country: Poland, Norway, Ireland, Hungary, UK
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, thought provoking, serious, captivating, political, offbeat, realistic, suspense, allegory
Best tv shows and movies like Essential Killing (2010):
Similar in 89%
Orion's Belt (1985)
Plot Summary:
Live to tell the truth. What can one man do against the most lethal army on earth? Local fishermen/smugglers/tourist guides Tom, Lars and Sverre discover the Soviet Union aren't just mining for coal in the arctic archipelago of Svalbard. This is a secret too big for any of them, and soon they find themselves hunted down by soviet forces and secret agents.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: Norway
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: retro, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, political thriller
Similar in 89%
Paintball (2009)
Plot Summary:
Eight strangers engaged in an intense game of experts-only paintball find their friendly game taking a terrifying turn when one member of the team begins playing by a different set of rules. It started as a remote raw battle of wits and wiles set against the backdrop of majestic wilderness. With each shot fired, the stakes grew higher. But something horrible has happened, and what was once a team sport has become a relentless struggle for individual survival. The danger growing by the minute, the combatants gradually come to realize that their greatest adversary may be the very game they set out to play.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, scary, serious, realistic, slasher, tense, suspense, exciting, captivating, melancholic
Similar in 88%
Deep Dark Canyon (2013)
Plot Summary:
Bloom Towne is a small-town sheriff under the thumb of the well-established, deeply influential Mayor Dick Cavanaugh's family. When Bloom's two teenage sons, Nate and Skylar accidentally shoot and kill Dick during a deer-hunt, Bloom's long-held allegiance to the reigning Cavanaugh clan is tested. Skylar (still a minor) decides to take the wrap for his older brother Nate, claiming he fired the fatal shot. The Cavanaugh family's quick retaliation sends Skylar on his way to county jail, soon to be tried as an adult. Desperate and guilt-ridden, Nate breaks Skylar out of jail and sets off a chain of lawless acts, which send them deep into the woods and on the run. Bloom's choice between the law and his sons leads to revelations of old family secrets that threaten to destroy everything he loves.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, tense, captivating, suspense, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 81%
Armed Response (2017)
Plot Summary:
The story follows a team of highly trained operatives who find themselves trapped inside an isolated military compound.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: suspense, captivating, exciting, tense, suspenseful, surprise ending, gothic, dark, psychotronic, independent film
Similar in 87%
Red Sands (2009)
Plot Summary:
During a mission in the Middle East, a group of US soldiers destroy a statue out of boredom only to then be visited by something the next day.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Horror, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: rough, suspenseful, scary, serious, suspense, demonic, spooky, surprise ending, disaster movie
Similar in 88%
Sniper: Legacy (2014)
Plot Summary:
A rogue gunman is assassinating high-ranking military officers one by one. When Gunnery Sgt. Brandon Beckett is informed his father, legendary shooter Thomas Beckett has been killed, Brandon springs into action to take out the perpetrator. But when his father rescues him from an ambush, Brandon realizes he's a pawn being played by his superiors to draw out the killer. It's up to the two men, bound by blood, to bring an end to the carnage.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Thriller, War
Country: USA, Bulgaria
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, perverse, action thriller, bleak, realistic, vintage
Similar in 75%
Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil (2006)
Plot Summary:
Navy SEALS, headed by Lt. Bobby James, are dispatched to North Korea on a covert mission, all in an effort to take out a missile site.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, suspense, action packed, surprise ending, freeze frame, cult film
Similar in 81%
Hangfire (1991)
Plot Summary:
When a large group of escaped convicts take Ike Slayton, a Vietnam veteran's wife hostage, Slayton enlists the help of his old army friend in a furious search to find her, while a hard-nosed National Guardsman leads a platoon of solders determined to kill or capture all the convicts, even if it means killing all the hostages in the crossfire.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 387
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending, suspense, psychotronic, independent film, tension, cult film
Similar in 87%
Heatstroke (2013)
Plot Summary:
On a family trip in the African desert, a research scientist unintentionally travels off course and is brutally murdered by an arms dealer. His girlfriend is put to the ultimate survival test as she attempts to evade the killers and protect his teenage daughter.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, South Africa, Germany
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, independent film, fast
Similar in 84%
Special Forces (2003)
Plot Summary:
When the crazed commander (Eli Danker) of a sadistic army in Moldavia kidnaps an American photojournalist (Daniella Deutscher) and holds her hostage, his misguided actions ignite a targeted response from Maj. Don Harding (Marshall R. Teague) and his trained squad of special forces soldiers. With help from a local schoolteacher (Scott Adkins) who's trained in martial arts, Maj. Harding readies his troops for an all-out offensive.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, serious, suspenseful, action packed, fast
Similar in 83%
The Foreigner (2003)
Plot Summary:
This story is about a freelance agent (Seagal) who is the courier of a package from France to Germany. He soon finds that many people want to get their hands on it.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, Poland
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult classic, action packed, fast
Similar in 77%
Sniper: Special Ops (2016)
Plot Summary:
A Special Ops military Force, led by expert sniper Sergeant Jake Chandler, are sent to a remote Afghan village to extract an American congressman being held by the Taliban.
IMDB Rating: 3.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, entertaining, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
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%
Hunt to Kill (2010)
Plot Summary:
A U.S. Border Patrol agent Jim Rhodes, a tough divorcée mourning the loss of his murdered partner while struggling to raise his rebellious daughter in the mountains of Montana. But when a crew of trigger-happy fugitives takes Rhodes and his daughter hostage, a rugged wilderness will explode in all-terrain vengeance. Is there any wounded animal more dangerous than a lawman left for dead? Daniels portrays one of the villains.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, suspense, cliffhanger, cult classic, rough, realistic, independent film, fast
Similar in 79%
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 88%
Rogue Warfare (2019)
Plot Summary:
A group of military elite from the U.S., Russia, UK, China and France join forces to fight an elite underground terrorist network.
IMDB Rating: 2.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, War
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, captivating, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 81%
The One That Got Away (1996)
Plot Summary:
The existence of the anti-Iraq coalition was threatened when Saddam targetted Israel. In order to keep Israel out of the war, and the coalition together the Scuds had to be stopped. SAS patrol Bravo Two Zero, under the command of Sgt. Andy McNab was tasked to destroy these weapons. Three of the SAS troopers were killed and four captured: Only one escaped - Cpl. Chris Ryan.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 441
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 87%
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988)
Plot Summary:
When Colonel James Braddock is told that his Asian wife and 12-year-old son are still alive in Communist Vietnam, he mounts a one-man assault to free them. Armed with the latest high-tech firepower, Braddock fights his way into the heart of the country and ends up battling his way out with several dozen abused Amerasian children in tow! Struggling to keep them alive while outmaneuvering a sadistic Vietnamese officer, Braddock ignites the jungle in a blazing cross-country race for freedom.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, War
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: cult classic, funny, grindhouse, independent film, exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending, suspense
Similar in 89%
Bravo Two Zero (1999)
Plot Summary:
When an elite eight-man British SAS team is dropped behind enemy lines, their mission is clear: take out Saddam Hussein's SCUD missile systems. But when communications are cut and the team finds themselves surrounded by Saddam's army, their only hope is to risk capture and torture in a desperate 185-kilometer run to the Syrian border. Based on the true story of a British Special Forces unit behind enemy lines during the Gulf War, Bravo Two Zero explores the tragedies and triumphs of men taken to the edge of survival in the Persian Gulf War.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: South Africa, UK
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 89%
Sniper (1993)
Plot Summary:
Tough guy Thomas Beckett is an US soldier working in the Panamanian jungle. His job is to seek out rebels and remove them using his sniper skills. Beckett is notorious for losing his partners on such missions. This time he's accompanied by crack marksman Richard Miller.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Action, Thriller, War
Country: USA, Peru
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, exciting, suspenseful, suspense, political thriller, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, stylized
Similar in 75%
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985)
Plot Summary:
Prequel to the first Missing In Action, set in the early 1980s it shows the capture of Colonel Braddock during the Vietnam war in the 1970s, and his captivity with other American POWs in a brutal prison camp, and his plans to escape.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: cult classic, grindhouse, independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending, psychotronic
Similar in 80%
Second in Command (2006)
Plot Summary:
Armed insurgents attempt a coup d'etat in a troubled Eastern European country, and the president flees to the U.S. embassy for protection. When the U.S. ambassador is murdered by the ruthless and gun-happy rebels, it comes down to the second-in-command of the embassy, Sam Keenan, played by Belgian kickboxer Jean-Claude Van Damme, to use his amazing martial arts technique to defend the besieged.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Thriller, War
Country: UK, Romania
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, cult classic, fast
Similar in 78%
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
Plot Summary:
While flying a routine reconnaissance mission over Bosnia, fighter pilot Chris Burnett photographs something he wasn't supposed to see and gets shot down behind enemy lines, where he must outrun an army led by a ruthless Serbian general. With time running out and a deadly tracker on his trail, Burnett's commanding officer decides to risk his career and launch a renegade rescue mission to save his life.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 111000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, dramatic, rough, suspenseful, serious, intense, action packed, realistic, psychological
Similar in 84%
Southern Comfort (1981)
Plot Summary:
A squad of National Guards on an isolated weekend exercise in the Louisiana swamp must fight for their lives when they anger local Cajuns by stealing their canoes. Without live ammunition and in a strange country, their experience begins to mirror the Vietnam experience.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, southern gothic, psychological, grindhouse, cult classic, gothic, exciting, bleak, suspenseful, offbeat
Similar in 78%
Beyond the Reach (2014)
Plot Summary:
A high-rolling corporate shark and his impoverished young guide play the most dangerous game during a hunting trip in the Mojave Desert.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, atmospheric, exciting, serious, realistic, psychological, suspense, minimal cast, independent film
Similar in 83%
Uncommon Valor (1983)
Plot Summary:
A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: intense, tense, suspense, exciting, serious, suspenseful, cult classic, perverse, surprise ending, black comedy
Similar in 85%
Escape Plan (2013)
Plot Summary:
Ray Breslin is the world's foremost authority on structural security. After analyzing every high security prison and learning a vast array of survival skills so he can design escape-proof prisons, his skills are put to the test. He's framed and incarcerated in a master prison he designed himself. He needs to escape and find the person who put him behind bars.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 254000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, suspense, twist ending, clever, entertaining, intense, serious, action packed, brutal
Similar in 83%
Arctic Blue (1993)
Plot Summary:
An environmentalist gets involved in transporting an accused killer (Ben) from an isolated Alaskan town to the authorities. Ben is determined to escape, and his fellow trappers are ready to help.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: suspense, independent film, exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 90%
'71 (2014)
Plot Summary:
A young British soldier must find his way back to safety after his unit accidentally abandons him during a riot in the streets of Belfast.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: suspense, serious, suspenseful, political, atmospheric, intense, rough, bleak, tense, realistic
Similar in 89%
Seraphim Falls (2006)
Plot Summary:
The Civil War has ended, but Colonel Morsman Carver is on one final mission – to kill Gideon, no matter what it takes. Launched by a gunshot and propelled by rage, the relentless pursuit takes the two men through frigid snow-capped mountains and arid deserts, far from the comforts and codes of civilisation, into the bloodiest recesses of their own souls.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, suspense, intense, atmospheric, rough, captivating, serious, suspenseful, breathtaking