Best movies like Once a Thief

Similar in 86%

Invisible Target (2007)

Plot Summary:

Three cops team up to bring down a criminal gang of seven, who have their own hidden agenda.

Similar in 81%

Today You Die (2005)

Plot Summary:

A former thief who is trying to go straight seeks vengeance on those who framed him.

Similar in 83%

Project A 2 (1987)

Plot Summary:

Dragon is now transferred to be the police head of Sai Wan district, and has to contend with a gangster kingpin, anti-Manchu revolutionaries, some runaway pirates, Manchu Loyalists and a corrupt police superintendent.

Similar in 80%

City War (1988)

Plot Summary:

Two cops--both partners and best friends--find their friendship and their lives at stake when they try to take down a ruthless drug dealer.

Similar in 90%

Full Contact (1992)

Plot Summary:

In an effort to get his buddy out of a gambling debt, Jeff agrees to join forces with Judge in a weapons heist. The job goes bad and Judge betrays Jeff. Jeff plots the ultimate revenge on Judge and his followers and it is a question of whether he can follow through with his plan.

Similar in 78%

Police Story (1985)

Plot Summary:

A virtuous Hong Kong police officer must clear his name after he is framed for murder.

Similar in 75%

3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)

Plot Summary:

It was an ingenious enough plan: rob the Riviera Casino's count room during an Elvis impersonator convention. But Thomas Murphy decided to keep all the money for himself and shot all his partners, including recently-freed ex-con Michael Zane. With $3.2 million at stake, the Marshals Service closing in, Michael must track down Murphy.

Similar in 75%

Police Story 3: Supercop (1992)

Plot Summary:

A Hong Kong detective teams up with his female Red Chinese counterpart to stop a Chinese drug czar.

Similar in 85%

The Replacement Killers (1998)

Plot Summary:

Hired assassin John Lee is asked by Chinatown crime boss Terence Wei to murder the young son of policeman Stan Zedkov. Lee has the boy in his sights, but his conscience gets the better of him, and he spares the child's life. Afraid that Wei will take revenge on his family in China, Lee seeks out expert forger Meg Coburn to obtain the passport he needs to get out of the country, but a band of replacement killers is soon on his trail.

Similar in 85%

Flash Point (2007)

Plot Summary:

Detective Sergeant Ma Jun, known for dispensing his own brand of justice during arrests, teams up with an undercover cop, Wilson, to try and bring down three merciless Vietnamese brothers running a smuggling ring in the months before mainland China's takeover of Hong Kong. Jun pursues the gang tirelessly, sometimes ignoring police protocols. A showdown is inevitable!.

Similar in 78%

The Corruptor (1999)

Plot Summary:

Danny is a young cop partnered with Nick, a seasoned but ethically tainted veteran. As the two try to stop a gang war in Chinatown, Danny relies on Nick but grows increasingly uncomfortable with the way Nick gets things done.

Similar in 87%

Bullet in the Head (1990)

Plot Summary:

When three close friends escape from Hong Kong to war-time Saigon to start a criminal's life, they all go through a harrowing experience which totally shatters their lives and their friendship forever.

Similar in 75%

Shanghai Grand (1996)

Plot Summary:

Gangsters abound in this lively, romantic crime drama that is set in Shanghai during WW II. The tale of Taiwanese patriot Hsu Wen-Chiang begins as he is washed up on a beach near Shanghai. He is taken in by Ting Lik, a kindly beggar who is desperately in love with Feng Ching-Ching, the daughter of a prominent gangster. It isn't long before Ting Lik successfully rises through the underworld ranks to become one of the city's most powerful gangsters. Hsu is beside him all the way and uses his own power to get revenge against those who tried to have him killed much earlier. The film's later focus is on the exploits of Feng who long ago had a relationship with Hsu when he was on the lam in northern China. Back in the present, Hsu and Feng meet again by chance and they resume their affair until Hsu learns that Feng's father is one of his enemies and kills him. Poor Feng goes mad with grief. Ting finds out and swears revenge upon Hsu.

Similar in 86%

A Better Tomorrow II (1987)

Plot Summary:

A restaurant owner his ex-con brother and a policeman team up to avenge the murder of his old friends daughter by the Triad.

Similar in 79%

Rich and Famous 2 (1987)

Plot Summary:

After being released from prison, Tang Kat-Yung exacts revenge on Li Ah Chai, in this sequel to Rich and Famous.

Similar in 81%

A Better Tomorrow (1986)

Plot Summary:

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.

Similar in 80%

City on Fire (1987)

Plot Summary:

Ko Chow is an undercover cop who is under pressure from all sides. His boss, Inspector Lau, wants him to infiltrate a gang of ruthless jewel thieves; in order to do this he must obtain some handguns; his girlfriend wants him to commit to marriage or she will leave Hong Kong with another lover; and he is being pursued by other cops who are unaware that he is a colleague.What is more Chow would rather quit the force. He feels guilty about having to betray people who have become his friends, even if they do happen to be killers, drug dealers, loan sharks and protection racketeers: "I do my job, but I betray my friends."To add to his problems, he begins to bond with Fu, a member of the gang.

Similar in 85%

Hard Boiled (1992)

Plot Summary:

A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.

Similar in 78%

Running Out of Time (1999)

Plot Summary:

Police inspector and excellent hostage negotiator Ho Sheung-Sang finds himself in over his head when he is pulled into a 72 hour game by a cancer suffering criminal out for vengeance on Hong Kong's organized crime syndicates.

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.