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The Boondock Saints poster

Movies that feel likeThe Boondock Saints (1999)

Tired of the crime overrunning the streets of Boston, Irish Catholic twin brothers Conner and Murphy are inspired by their faith to cleanse their hometown of evil with their own brand of zealous vigilante justice. As they hunt down and kill one notorious gangster after another, they become controversial folk heroes in the community. But Paul Smecker, an eccentric FBI agent, is fast closing in on their blood-soaked trail.

If you loved The Boondock Saints, the closest films we have are In the Line of Duty 4 (1989), Spy Game (2001) and Ong-Bak (2003). All three share The Boondock Saints' kinetic and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Infernal Affairs II (2003).

🍅 26% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Troy Duffykinetictensegritty
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If The Boondock Saints hit the spot, these will too

In the Line of Duty 4 poster
In the Line of Duty 4
1989 · dir. Yuen Woo-ping
★ 7.1action · crime · thriller

The same preoccupation in both: detective

Two detectives who are up to their necks in trouble and in each other's face, as they try to shut down a drug-trafficking scheme that could be connected with international ties to organized crime. But in the midst of their investigation, innocent immigrant dock worker Luk Wan-Ting gets caught up in the mix when he witnesses the murder of an intelligence operative and is framed for the crime.

Spy Game poster
Spy Game
2001 · dir. Tony Scott
🍅 64%★ 7.1action · crime · thrillerNetflix

The same mix in both: momentum, then tension

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

On the day of his retirement, a veteran CIA agent learns that his former protégé has been arrested in China, is sentenced to die the next morning in Beijing, and that the CIA is considering letting that happen to avoid an international scandal.

Ong-Bak poster
Ong-Bak
2003 · dir. Prachya Pinkaew
🍅 85%★ 7.2action · crime · thrillerPrime Video

Action with a pulse of grit, in both cases

When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.

Infernal Affairs II poster
Infernal Affairs II
2003 · dir. Alan Mak Siu-Fai
🍅 75%★ 7.2action · thriller · crimeMax

Thriller built on momentum, twice over

In this prequel to the original, a bloody power struggle among the Triads coincides with the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, setting up the events of the first film.

Hard Boiled poster
Hard Boiled
1992 · dir. John Woo
🍅 92%★ 7.7action · thriller · crimeRent or buy

Both lean on tension more than on crime

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.

RocknRolla poster
RocknRolla
2008 · dir. Guy Ritchie
🍅 60%★ 7.2action · crime · thriller

Gritty action, and it commits to that

When a Russian mobster sets up a real estate scam that generates millions of pounds, various members of London's criminal underworld pursue their share of the fortune. Various shady characters, including Mr One-Two, Stella the accountant, and Johnny Quid, a druggie rock-star, try to claim their slice.

Lethal Weapon 4 poster
Lethal Weapon 4
1998 · dir. Richard Donner
🍅 54%★ 6.6action · crime · thriller

Kinetic thriller in both cases

With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with a deadly Chinese crime lord trying to get his brother out of prison.

Con Air poster
Con Air
1997 · dir. Simon West
🍅 59%★ 6.9action · thriller · crime

Both are built on the same subject: shootout

Newly-paroled former US Army ranger Cameron Poe is headed back to his wife, but must fly home aboard a prison transport flight dubbed "Jailbird" taking the “worst of the worst” prisoners, a group described as “pure predators”, to a new super-prison. Poe faces impossible odds when the transport plane is skyjacked mid-flight by the most vicious criminals in the country led by the mastermind — genius serial killer Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, and backed by black militant Diamond Dog and psychopath Billy Bedlam.

Swordfish poster
Swordfish
2001 · dir. Dominic Sena
🍅 27%★ 6.5action · crime · thriller

Tense crime, and it commits to that

Rogue agent Gabriel Shear is determined to get his mitts on $9 billion stashed in a secret Drug Enforcement Administration account. He wants the cash to fight terrorism, but lacks the computer skills necessary to hack into the government mainframe. Enter Stanley Jobson, a n'er-do-well encryption expert who can log into anything.

Police Story 3: Super Cop poster
Police Story 3: Super Cop
1992 · dir. Stanley Tong Gwai-Lai
🍅 93%★ 7action · crime · thriller

Both lean on grit more than on action

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

The Outlaws poster
The Outlaws
2017 · dir. Kang Yun-sung
🍅 92%★ 7.2action · crime · thrillerPrime Video

One thread runs through both: detective

In Chinatown, law and order is turned upside down when a trio of feral Chinese gangsters arrive, start terrorizing civilians, and usurping territory. The beleaguered local gangsters team up with the police, lead by the badass loose cannon Ma Seok-do, to bring them down. Based on a true story.

S.W.A.T. poster
S.W.A.T.
2003 · dir. Clark Johnson
🍅 48%★ 6.1action · thriller · crime

Both are thriller through and through

Hondo Harrelson recruits Jim Street to join an elite unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. Together they seek out more members, including tough Deke Kay and single mom Chris Sanchez. The team's first big assignment is to escort crime boss Alex Montel to prison. It seems routine, but when Montel offers a huge reward to anyone who can break him free, criminals of various stripes step up for the prize.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Boondock Saints’ defining feeling.