Best movies like To Live and Die in L.A.

Similar in 81%

Black Moon Rising (1986)

Plot Summary:

An FBI free-lancer stashes a stolen Las Vegas-crime tape in a high-tech car stolen by someone else.

Similar in 88%

Magnum Force (1973)

Plot Summary:

"Dirty" Harry Callahan is a San Francisco Police Inspector on the trail of a group of rogue cops who have taken justice into their own hands. When shady characters are murdered one after another in grisly fashion, only Dirty Harry can stop them.

Similar in 85%

White Sands (1992)

Plot Summary:

A small southwestern town sheriff finds a body in the desert with a suitcase and $500,000. He impersonates the man and stumbles into an FBI investigation.

Similar in 77%

Sudden Impact (1983)

Plot Summary:

When a young rape victim takes justice into her own hands and becomes a serial killer, it's up to Dirty Harry Callahan, on suspension from the SFPD, to bring her to justice.

Similar in 87%

The Package (1989)

Plot Summary:

Experienced Green Beret sergeant Johnny Gallagher is escorting a prisoner, Airborne Ranger Thomas Boyette, back to the US, but Boyette escapes and Gallagher must risk life and limb to catch him.

Similar in 86%

Miami Vice (2006)

Plot Summary:

Miami Vice is a feature film based on the 1980s action drama TV series. The film tells the story of vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs and how their personal and professional lives are dangerously getting mixed.

Similar in 78%

Bullitt (1968)

Plot Summary:

Senator Walter Chalmers is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross with the help of testimony from the criminal's hothead brother Johnny, who is in protective custody in San Francisco under the watch of police lieutenant Frank Bullitt. When a pair of mob hitmen enter the scene, Bullitt follows their trail through a maze of complications and double-crosses. This thriller includes one of the most famous car chases ever filmed.

Similar in 80%

36th Precinct (2004)

Plot Summary:

The Film takes place in Paris, where two cops are competing for the vacant seat of chief of police while in the middle of a search for a gang of violent thieves. The movie is directed by Olivier Marchal, a former police officer who spent 12 years with the french police before creating this story, which in part is taken from real facts that happened during the 1980s in France.

Similar in 90%

Raw Deal (1986)

Plot Summary:

Mark Kaminsky is kicked out of the FBI for his rough treatment of a suspect. He winds up as the sheriff of a small town in North Carolina. FBI Chief Harry Shannon, whose son has been killed by a mobster named Patrovina, enlists Kaminsky in a personal vendetta with a promise of reinstatement into the FBI if Patrovina is taken down. To accomplish this, he must go undercover and join Patrovina's gang.

Similar in 78%

10 to Midnight (1983)

Plot Summary:

Based on the real-life Richard Speck murders, amoral, nearly psychotic killer Warren Stacey (Gene Davis) is a serial killer who has murdered a number of women; he stabs them while they are naked to minimize leaving any physical evidence. Police detective Leo Kessler (Charles Bronson) is convinced of Stacey’s guilt and, over the objections of his partner, plants evidence to get him behind bars. When Stacey is released on a technicality, he threatens to go after Kessler and his family, leaving Kessler to defend himself against a killer with little help from the police.

Similar in 90%

The French Connection (1971)

Plot Summary:

Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.

Similar in 79%

Dirty Harry (1971)

Plot Summary:

When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath. Harry eventually collars Scorpio in the process of rescuing a kidnap victim, only to see him walk on technicalities. Now, the maverick detective is determined to nail the maniac himself.

Similar in 82%

Mulholland Falls (1996)

Plot Summary:

In 1950s Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.

Similar in 83%

The Rookie (1990)

Plot Summary:

Veteran cop Nick Pulovski is used to playing musical partners; many of the partners he's had in the past have died on the job, and often as a result of Nick's risky tactics. But the rookie who's been assigned to help Nick bust a carjacking ring is almost as hotheaded as he is … and when Nick gets kidnapped, his newbie partner is his only hope.

Similar in 79%

Extreme Justice (1993)

Plot Summary:

Jeff Powers is the newest member of a very elite and very secret LAPD division. Their mission is to target important criminals and to get them to stop. Police brutality is not a known term for the division and they will stop at nothing to get the job done, even if it means murder.

Similar in 75%

The Cutter (2005)

Plot Summary:

A former cop turned Los Angeles P.I. takes on a case of a missing diamond cutter that leads him on an adventure of love and villainy spanning of mob to the present day Jewelry District.

Similar in 86%

The Driver (1978)

Plot Summary:

The Driver specializes in driving getaway cars for robberies. His exceptional talent has prevented him from being caught yet. After another successful flight from the police a self-assured detective makes it his primary goal to catch the Driver. He promises pardons to a gang if they help to convict him in a set-up robbery. The Driver seeks help from The Player to mislead the detective.

Similar in 82%

Boiling Point (1993)

Plot Summary:

Red is an aging scam-artist who's just been released from prison together with Ronnie, a young and not-so-bright hoodlum who is easily manipulated. Their new business is to organize fake-money sales and then kill the buyer to take his money; but when Ronnie kills an undercover secret service agent, his partner Jimmy Mercer vows revenge and is given one week to catch the killers before being transferred. Written by Giancarlo Cairella.

Similar in 75%

Thief (1981)

Plot Summary:

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

Similar in 87%

Dark Blue (2002)

Plot Summary:

Set during the Rodney King riots, a robbery homicide investigation triggers a series of events that will cause a corrupt LAPD officer to question his tactics.

Similar in 89%

Internal Affairs (1990)

Plot Summary:

Keen young Raymold Avila joins the Internal Affairs Department of the Los Angeles police. He and partner Amy Wallace are soon looking closely at the activities of cop Dennis Peck whose financial holdings start to suggest something shady. Indeed Peck is involved in any number of dubious or downright criminal activities. He is also devious, a womaniser, and a clever manipulator, and he starts to turn his attention on Avila.

Similar in 85%

Black Rain (1989)

Plot Summary:

Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. In Japan, however, he manages to escape. As they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game the Japanese way.

Similar in 80%

Shoot to Kill (1988)

Plot Summary:

When a cunning murderer vanishes into the rugged mountains of the Pacific Northwest, pursuing FBI agent Warren Stantin must exchange familiar city streets for unknown wilderness trails. Completely out of his element, Stantin is forced to enlist the aid of expert tracker Jonathan Knox. It's a turbulent yet vital relationship they must maintain in order to survive... and one that becomes increasingly desperate when Knox's girlfriend Sarah becomes the killer's latest hostage!.

Similar in 81%

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.

Similar in 82%

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.

Similar in 76%

Drive (2011)

Plot Summary:

A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman for criminals discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong.

Similar in 80%

Sicario (2015)

Plot Summary:

A young female FBI agent joins a secret CIA operation to take down a Mexican cartel boss, a job that ends up pushing her ethical and moral values to the limit.

Similar in 77%

Cold in July (2014)

Plot Summary:

How can a split-second decision change your life? While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of low-life burglar Freddy Russell. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father, Ben, rolls into town, hell-bent on revenge.

Similar in 79%

Collateral (2004)

Plot Summary:

Cab driver Max picks up a man who offers him $600 to drive him around. But the promise of easy money sours when Max realizes his fare is an assassin.

Similar in 84%

Heat (1995)

Plot Summary:

Obsessive master thief, Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective, Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.