Best movies like Prison on Fire
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Ching and Yiu and problems they face with Mickey, a fellow inmate and "Assassin", a prison guard. Yiu is sentenced to three years for manslaughter. In a fight for his father, he pushed a man and was run over by a bus. Ching was sent to prison for killing his wife for being a prostitute. During the end of the film, inmates decide to go on hunger strike to protest against the cigarette price rise, this causes problems with Assassin. Ching bit Surface's ear off and gets an extended sentence, continued on Prison on Fire II, Yiu is released later on.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Best tv shows and movies like Prison on Fire (1987):
Similar in 87%
The Suspect (1998)
Plot Summary:
Louis Koo plays an assassin who wants to go straight after getting out of prison, so he turns down a job from his former employer Simon Yam to kill a politician. Yam carries out the hit himself and manages to frame Koo for the crime, who then must run from both the cops and criminals as he tries to clear his name.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 279
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
The Return of the God of Gamblers (1994)
Plot Summary:
Chow returns to play Ko Chun, a skilled gambler who now lives in retirement in France. Wu Xingguo plays an evil gangster who forces Ko out of retirement by killing his pregnant wife. Ko is forced to team up with a variety of other people to win out in the end. Wu Chien-lien plays Chow's romantic interest, Chingmy Yau plays a Taiwanese femme fatale, and Tony Leung provides much of the laughs.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: crime drama, slapstick, exciting, rough, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, slapstick comedy
Similar in 89%
A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon (1989)
Plot Summary:
The year is 1974. A young Hong Kong Chinese, Mark (Chow Yun-Fat), travels to Saigon to make his fortune. There, he encounters a mysterious femme fatale, the lovely Kit. As he becomes more involved in her various underworld deals, a tragic romance develops. On the eve of the outbreak of war, Kit's past returns to endanger her, and Mark must risk everything for the one true love of his life.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, War
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, heroic, crime drama, cult classic, stylized
Similar in 90%
Island of Fire (1990)
Plot Summary:
Someone in a prison run by a corrupt warden fakes the deaths of convicts to later use them as expendable assassins. A police officer is sent into the prison to gather evidence of the corruption.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: cult classic, action adventure, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, independent film, cult film
Similar in 78%
Legacy of Rage (1986)
Plot Summary:
Brandon plays Brandon Ma, a regular working Joe who holds down two jobs, so he can support his girlfriend May and his dream of owning a motorcycle. Brandon's best friend is Michael, an ambitious and murderous dope peddler. Michael covets May and so he comes up with a plan that will win her for him, and solves a problem he's been having. It seems that an undercover cop named Sharky has been using his police connections to dominate the local cocaine trade, so Michael has him killed and uses Brandon as the fall guy. Brandon goes to jail, though he thinks that he will be released soon thanks to the efforts of his good buddy Michael. Eight years later Brandon finally gets out of jail and vows revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: heroic, crime drama, cult classic, serious, realistic, suspenseful, neo noir, independent film, cult film
Similar in 76%
Walking the Edge (1985)
Plot Summary:
A Los Angeles taxi driver helps a distraught young woman on the run from gangsters after they murder her husband and young son.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 878
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: neo noir, hood, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
The Manhunt (1984)
Plot Summary:
A young man buys two horses at an Arizona race track but fails to get a receipt. Later, when riding across the land of a rancher named Robeson, he's accused of stealing the two horses. Unable to prove ownership, the young man is then sentenced to prison where he's forced to do chain-gang type work. He escapes, is recaptured, and escapes again as he tries to locate the man who sold him the horses.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 203
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: spaghetti western, serious, realistic, suspenseful, poliziottesco
Similar in 81%
Legendary Assassin (2008)
Plot Summary:
An assassin who is fresh from his latest kill becomes stranded in an island, when he inadvertently befriends a female police officer. As the night progresses, the unspoken truth honored by the two sides of the law is broken. After the remains of a body that belonged to a drug lord and syndicate crime leader are found, chaos ensues and criminals ravage the once peaceful streets in a race against time to find the mysterious murderer that's loose and out for blood.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong, China
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic, fast
Similar in 84%
Triads: The Inside Story (1989)
Plot Summary:
Li Man-Ho comes to Hong Kong after his father's death following a double crossed peace meeting at the hands of a rival gang. The family's business begins to crumble as rival organizations stir violence and trouble in acknowledgment of this weakness. Li Man-Ho reluctantly agrees after pressure from other members to temporarily act as leader in order to restore stability and order. But he is soon faced with violence, betrayal and confusion, in this world he tried so long to avoid.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 309
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Full Alert (1997)
Plot Summary:
Police Inspector Pao is trying to catch Mak Kwan, a gang member who is first arrested, but then escapes from the prison. By chance, Pao realizes that the target of Kwan's gang is the H.K. Jockey Club.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: neo noir, heroic, crime drama, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
Return to a Better Tomorrow (1994)
Plot Summary:
An adventure that delves into the dark caverns of the underworld and tells the tale of three chivalrous gangsters who attempt to escape the powerful clutch of their gang leader.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 331
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: heroic, crime drama, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 86%
Harold Robbins' Body Parts (2001)
Plot Summary:
Ty's pal J.J. frames him in a murder and cocaine theft in Hong Kong in 1992. Ty's wife Rachel may be in on the con, so, when Ty gets early release from prison as a gesture of good will from the city's new Mainland government, he doesn't bother to look her up. But she finds him in Southern California to warn him that J.J. wants him dead. Whack J.J. first, she tells Ty, so he heads for Manila where J.J. runs a lucrative business under the cover of exporting tropical fish. But what is that business and who's pulling the strings? With the help of Inez, a young Filipina prostitute, Ty gets to the heart of the matter even after Inez no longer has the stomach to pursue the guilty ones.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 132
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense
Similar in 77%
Rich and Famous (1987)
Plot Summary:
To pay off his debt as a gambler, a man drags his sister and step-brother into a life of crime and a violent war between rival gang lords.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 749
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: heroic, crime drama, cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
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.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 482
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: heroic, cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong, Thailand
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: neo noir, heroic, stylized, bloody, suspense, cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 86%
Prison on Fire II (1991)
Plot Summary:
Ching is a prisoner in a Honk Kong jail that has a large population of Mainland Chinese prisoners. Ching escapes to see his young son, who he has been put in an orphanage. He surrenders himself to authorities, but the vengeful chief of security, Zau, arranges for Ching to be set up in the eyes of the Mainland gang, led by the affable Dragon. Dragon and Ching both then escape separately, and while fugitives, hook up together and bond. Ching is recaptured and instigates a riot to save his own hide from the Mainlanders. In the chaos Ching gets revenge on Skull (who, working with Zau, set him up) and Zau.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Sitting Target (1972)
Plot Summary:
Imprisoned Harry Lomart is a vicious, brute of a man and yet he is prepared to do his long jail term as he is confident that on his release his beautiful wife Pat will be waiting for him, but a visit from Pat brings him his worst nightmare.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: neo noir, offbeat, grindhouse, cult classic, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
Marked Man (1996)
Plot Summary:
A jailed auto mechanic must run for his life after he witnesses the murder of a fellow inmate by two prison guards.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 351
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, campy
Similar in 86%
Doing Hard Time (2004)
Plot Summary:
A father's eight year old son is murdered in a gangland shooting. The father (Boris Kodjoe) gets himself thrown into prison to avenge his son's death.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, hood, crime drama
Similar in 88%
Women's Prison (1988)
Plot Summary:
A young woman about to get married discovers all too late that her spouse has mafia connections, when violence breaks out during her wedding. Caught up in the crossfire Lynn gets arrested and thrown into a women's prison.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 98
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 87%
An Innocent Man (1989)
Plot Summary:
Jimmie Rainwood was minding his own business when two corrupt police officers (getting an address wrong) burst into his house, expecting to find a major drug dealer. Rainwood is shot, and the officers frame him as a drug dealer. Rainwood is convicted of drug dealing, based on the perjured evidence of a police informant. Thrown into a seedy jail, fighting to prove his innocence is diffucult when he has to deal with the realities of prison life, where everyone claims they were framed.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: tense, psychological, suspense, intense, suspenseful, disturbing, rough, serious, realistic, scary
Similar in 78%
Tiger Cage (1988)
Plot Summary:
Something fishy is going on in the anti-Drug Trafficking Unit of the HK Police, and only a few honest cops know that the corruption goes all the way to the top. However, they must prove their case quickly, and by unconventional means, after they are framed for murder and drug-trafficking themselves. Dodging bullets from cops and criminals alike, the race is on to clear their names, protect their loved ones, and bring their corrupt colleagues to justice.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: bloody, heroic, cult classic, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast
Similar in 84%
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: neo noir, heroic, stylized, bloody, perverse, cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 80%
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.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 673
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: heroic, crime drama, cult classic, exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic, stylized, nostalgic
Similar in 76%
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: neo noir, bloody, cult classic, intense, heroic, exciting, stylized, suspense, manga, hood
Similar in 80%
The Tigers (1991)
Plot Summary:
Cops find their careers and their lives in jeopardy when they spend a gangster's bribe money after releasing him from custody during a drug bust.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 246
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: neo noir, heroic, cult classic, bloody, crime drama, action thriller, tense, rough, serious, captivating
Similar in 88%
The Escapist (2002)
Plot Summary:
Denis Hopkins, a pilot, lives with his pregnant wife Valerie and has a comfortable lifestyle. When a gang of criminals led by the sadistic Ricky Barnes breaks into his home, he offers whatever the criminals want to protect his wife and unborn child, but the evil Ricky kills Valerie anyway. Their baby is saved, and later Barnes is arrested and sentenced to life in the maximum security prison, Sullen Voe. Denis fakes his own suicide, then assaults a police car in order to get himself arrested and sent to prison with the intention of tracking down and killing Ricky Barnes. He does not reveal his true name and is called John "What" by the prisoners and guards. Denis escapes from successive prisons, forcing his eventual transfer to Sullen Voe. When he reaches his objective, Ricky Barnes schedules a confrontation, but things do not quite turn out the way Denis had expected.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious, rough
Similar in 89%
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 85%
Terra Nova (2008)
Plot Summary:
A story, which takes place in 2013, describes the world overflowing with "dangerous" criminals due to the official termination of death penalty. The UN "blue helmets" under the directive from the central authority (i.e., One World Government) decided to conduct a social "experiment" by forcibly dumping the outlaws on the deserted island.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Russia
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, sadistic, psychological horror, bleak