Best movies like Léon: The Professional
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Leon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Leon's footsteps.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 12000000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: neo noir, cult classic, rough, touching, suspenseful, suspense, emotional, tense, dramatic, intense
Best tv shows and movies like Léon: The Professional (1994):
Similar in 83%
Wasabi (2001)
Plot Summary:
Hubert is a French policeman with very sharp methods. After being forced to take 2 months off by his boss, who doesn't share his view on working methods, he goes back to Japan, where he used to work 19 years ago, to settle the probate of his girlfriend who left him shortly after marriage without a trace.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Action, Drama, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: France, Japan
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: funny, realistic, exciting, semi serious, action packed, hilarious, humorous, stylized, intense, detective
Similar in 80%
Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
Plot Summary:
When carrying out a hit, assassin Joe (Cage) always makes use of the knowledge of the local population. On arriving in Bangkok, Joe meets street kid Kong and he becomes his primary aide. But when Kong is nearly killed, he asks Joe to train him up in the deadly arts and unwittingly becomes a target of a band of killers.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 58000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, Czech Republic, Thailand
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: intense, action packed, suspense, stylized, rough, suspenseful, exciting, powerful, disgusting, serious
Similar in 79%
Unleashed (2005)
Plot Summary:
Raised as a slave, Danny is used to fighting for his survival. In fact, his "master," Bart, thinks of him as a pet and goes as far as leashing him with a collar so they can make money in fight clubs, where Danny is the main contender. When Bart's crew is in a car accident, Danny escapes and meets a blind, kindhearted piano tuner who takes him in and uses music to free the fighter's long-buried heart.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 107000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: intense, suspenseful, emotional, rough, fast paced, action packed, sincere, mind bending, neo noir, slang
Similar in 87%
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 80%
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 84%
Ronin (1998)
Plot Summary:
A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 192000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, suspenseful, neo noir, clever, serious, realistic, stylized, inspirational, twisted
Similar in 86%
Safe (2012)
Plot Summary:
After a former elite agent rescues a 12-year-old Chinese girl who's been abducted, they find themselves in the middle of a standoff between Triads, the Russian Mafia and high-level corrupt New York City politicians and police.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 116000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, stylized, fast paced, action packed, suspenseful, captivating, suspense, disturbing, inspirational
Similar in 81%
War (2007)
Plot Summary:
FBI agent Jack Crawford is out for revenge when his partner is killed and all clues point to the mysterious assassin Rogue. But when Rogue turns up years later to take care of some unfinished business, he triggers a violent clash of rival gangs. Will the truth come out before it's too late? And when the dust settles, who will remain standing?.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 96000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, fast paced, action packed, stylized, crime drama, tense, suspense, perverse
Similar in 76%
Last Man Standing (1996)
Plot Summary:
John Smith is a mysterious stranger who is drawn into a vicious war between two Prohibition-era gangs. In a dangerous game, he switches allegiances from one to another, offering his services to the highest bidder. As the death toll mounts, Smith takes the law into his own hands in a deadly race to stay alive.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: neo noir, stylized, exciting, serious, suspenseful, action packed, tense, captivating, retro, epic
Similar in 86%
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Plot Summary:
An African-American Mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 96000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Germany, USA, Japan
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: art house, stylized, atmospheric, cult classic, hood, thought provoking, captivating, neo noir, tense, philosophical
Similar in 90%
Nikita (1990)
Plot Summary:
A beautiful felon, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a policeman, is given a second chance - as a secret political assassin controlled by the government.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, stylized, atmospheric, psychological, exciting, suspenseful, erotic, sincere, retro
Similar in 85%
The Jackal (1997)
Plot Summary:
Hired by a powerful member of the Russian mafia to avenge an FBI sting that left his brother dead, the perfectionist Jackal proves an elusive target for the men charged with the task of bringing him down: a deputy FBI boss and a former IRA terrorist.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 123000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, France, Germany, Japan
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, serious, realistic, clever, intense, cult classic, action thriller, psychological, political
Similar in 76%
Colombiana (2011)
Plot Summary:
Zoe Saldana plays a young woman who, after witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target: the mobster responsible for her parents' death.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 106000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, USA, UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, intense, tricky, realistic, fast paced, teen, action thriller, stylized
Similar in 76%
The Killer (1989)
Plot Summary:
Mob assassin Jeffrey is no ordinary hired gun; the best in his business, he views his chosen profession as a calling rather than simply a job. So, when beautiful nightclub chanteuse Jennie is blinded in the crossfire of his most recent hit, Jeffrey chooses to retire after one last job to pay for his unintended victim's sight-restoring operation. But when Jeffrey is double-crossed, he reluctantly joins forces with a rogue policeman to make things right.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 50000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, atmospheric, bloody, cult classic, harsh, neo noir, serious, suspenseful, emotional
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 78%
Payback (1999)
Plot Summary:
With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 143000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, black comedy, exciting, rough, suspenseful, bloody, entertaining, action packed, clever
Similar in 77%
Man on Fire (2004)
Plot Summary:
Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 383000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Switzerland, UK, USA, Mexico
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, brutal, exciting, emotional, psychological, harsh, rough, bloody, tragic ending
Similar in 84%
The Raid 2 (2014)
Plot Summary:
After fighting his way through an apartment building populated by an army of dangerous criminals and escaping with his life, SWAT team member Rama goes undercover, joining a powerful Indonesian crime syndicate to protect his family and uncover corrupt members of his own force.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 130000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Indonesia, USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: brutal, stylized, bloody, suspense, grindhouse, rough, exciting, serious, suspenseful, breathtaking
Similar in 84%
Desperado (1995)
Plot Summary:
A gunslinger is embroiled in a war with a local drug runner.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 195000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller, Western
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: stylized, grindhouse, action packed, intense, rough, suspenseful, realistic, bloody, cult classic, neo western
Similar in 77%
Taken (2008)
Plot Summary:
While vacationing with a friend in Paris, an American girl is kidnapped by a gang of human traffickers intent on selling her into forced prostitution. Working against the clock, her ex-spy father must pull out all the stops to save her. But with his best years possibly behind him, the job may be more than he can handle.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 625000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, exciting, entertaining, suspense, intense, serious, harsh, fast paced, action packed, action thriller
Similar in 84%
The Man from Nowhere (2010)
Plot Summary:
His only friend called him 'the man from nowhere'... Taesik, a former special agent becomes a loner after losing his wife in a miserable accident and lives a bitter life running a pawnshop. He only has a few customers and a friend named Somi, a little girl next door. As Taesik spends more and more time with Somi, he gets attached to her. Then Somi is kidnapped by a gang, and as Taesik tries to save Somi by becoming deeply associated with the gang his mysterious past is revealed.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 74000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, brutal, exciting, touching, emotional, neo noir, bleak, suspense, harsh
Similar in 78%
The Mechanic (2011)
Plot Summary:
Arthur Bishop is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It's a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when he is ordered to take out his mentor and close friend Harry, Bishop is anything but detached.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 169000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: clever, stylized, brutal, tense, suspense, action packed, exciting, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 81%
The Equalizer (2014)
Plot Summary:
In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a man who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when McCall meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 407000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, suspense, brutal, tense, stylized, suspenseful, captivating, action packed, action thriller
Similar in 86%
The Accountant (2016)
Plot Summary:
As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 313000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: suspense, surprise ending, tense, suspenseful, intense, clever, action thriller, crime thriller, neo noir, psychological
Similar in 88%
John Wick (2014)
Plot Summary:
Ex-hitman John Wick comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 722000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, China
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: exciting, stylized, neo noir, serious, brutal, entertaining, suspense, action thriller, rough, cult classic
Similar in 81%
Road to Perdition (2002)
Plot Summary:
Mike Sullivan works as a hit man for crime boss John Rooney. Sullivan views Rooney as a father figure, however after his son is witness to a killing, Mike Sullivan finds himself on the run in attempt to save the life of his son and at the same time looking for revenge on those who wronged him.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 281000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, harsh, visually stunning, bleak, tense, emotional, suspense, road movie, melancholic, visual
Similar in 77%
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Plot Summary:
An assassin is shot at the altar by her ruthless employer, Bill and other members of their assassination circle – but 'The Bride' lives to plot her vengeance. Setting out for some payback, she makes a death list and hunts down those who wronged her, saving Bill for last.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 12000000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: bloody, non-linear, tense, suspense, visually appealing, visual, visually stunning, grindhouse, cult classic, action packed
Similar in 87%
Taxi Driver (1976)
Plot Summary:
A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 898000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: psychological, neo noir, bleak, cult classic, disturbing, controversial, psychological thriller, depressing, rough, atmospheric
Similar in 85%
The Departed (2006)
Plot Summary:
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 14000000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Hong Kong
Duration: 151 min
Plot tags: twist ending, suspense, surprise ending, clever, tense, captivating, serious, neo noir, psychological, mind bending
Similar in 80%
The Godfather (1972)
Plot Summary:
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
IMDB Rating: 9.2
IMDB Votes: 20000000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 175 min
Plot tags: serious, epic, atmospheric, dramatic, captivating, rough, realistic, family saga, entertaining, breathtaking