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The Protector poster

Movies that feel likeThe Protector (2005)

A young fighter named Kham must go to Australia to retrieve his stolen elephant. With the help of a Thai-born Australian detective, Kham must take on all comers, including a gang led by an evil woman and her two deadly bodyguards.

If you loved The Protector, the closest films we have are Ong-Bak (2003), Chocolate (2008) and Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1 (2012). All three share The Protector's kinetic and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013).

🍅 53% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Prachya Pinkaewkineticgrittycontemplativetense
11 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Peacock Premium

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See it on the Mood Map

If The Protector hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Protector 2 (2013)

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

Prachya Pinkaew working the same nerve twice

The difference: Reviewed even better

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.

Chocolate poster
Chocolate
2008 · dir. Prachya Pinkaew
🍅 71%★ 6.9action · crime

The same hand behind both of them: Prachya Pinkaew

The difference: Easier on the stillness than The Protector

Zen, an autistic teenage girl with powerful martial arts skills, gets money to pay for her sick mother Zin's treatment by seeking out all the people who owe Zin money and making them pay.

Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1 poster
Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1
2012 · dir. Anurag Kashyap
🍅 91%★ 8.2action · thriller · crime

Both keep coming back to the same thing: gang

In 1970s India, Sardar Khan vows to take revenge on the man who killed his father decades earlier.

Undisputed III: Redemption poster
Undisputed III: Redemption
2010 · dir. Isaac Florentine
★ 7.4action · thriller · crime

Both are working the same pair: martial arts, fighter

Russian inmate Boyka, now severely hobbled by the knee injury suffered at the end of Undisputed 2. No longer the feared prison fighter he was, he has declined so far that he is now good only for cleaning toilets. But when a new prison fight tournament begins - an international affair, matching the best fighters from prisons around the globe, enticing them with the promise of freedom for the winner - Boyka must reclaim his dignity and fight for his position in the tournament.

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

Both are built on the same subject: martial arts

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.

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

One thread runs through both: gang

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.

Ninja: Shadow of a Tear poster
Ninja: Shadow of a Tear
2013 · dir. Isaac Florentine
🍅 100%★ 6.2action · crime · thrillerPrime Video

Kinetic where it counts, gritty underneath

Fight everyone and trust no one: it's the code of survival practiced by martial-arts master Casey Bowman after his life of domestic bliss is shattered by a savage act of violence. Vowing revenge, the fearless American stealthily tracks the killer from Osaka to Bangkok to Rangoon with the help of a wise and crafty sensei. His only clues: a series of victims whose necks bear the distinctive mark of strangulation by barbed wire. Fighting to avenge as well as to survive, Casey must sharpen his razor-like responses and take his battle skills to the next level, even using deep meditation to fake his own death. His target: the sinister drug lord Goro, who is flooding the streets with deadly meth cooked at his remote jungle factory. To prepare for his ultimate confrontation, Casey must finally become an invisible warrior worthy of the name Ninja. But just when his prey is cornered, an unexpected twist shows Casey that his battle is only beginning: he truly can trust no one.

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

Tense action in both cases

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.

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

Crime built on momentum, twice over

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

Cold Eyes poster
Cold Eyes
2013 · dir. Kim Byung-seo
★ 7.1crime · action · thriller

Gritty thriller, and it commits to that

Ha Yoon-ju becomes the newest member of a unit within the Korean Police Forces Special Crime Department that specializes in surveillance activities on high-profile criminals. She teams up with Hwang Sang-jun, the veteran leader of the unit, and tries to track down James who is the cold-hearted leader of an armed criminal organization.

The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil poster
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil
2019 · dir. Lee Won-tae
🍅 97%★ 7action · crime · thrillerPrime VideoPeacock

Both lean on tension more than on drama

After barely surviving a brutal attack by a sadistic serial killer, crime boss Jang Dong-su is left humiliated. Determined to catch the killer known as K, he forms an uneasy alliance with Jung Tae-seok, a relentless and incorruptible detective who often disrupts his illegal business. However, while Jang Dong-su wants K dead, Jung Tae-suk is determined to bring him to justice. With a deal in place—whoever finds K first will decide his fate—the hunt begins, blurring the lines between crime and law.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In poster
🍅 90%★ 6.9action · crime · thrillerPrime Video

Action with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

In 1980s Hong Kong, troubled youth Chan Lok-kwun, a mainland refugee, struggles to survive in the Kowloon Walled City by joining underground fights. Betrayed by crime boss Mr. Big while trying to buy a fake ID, he steals drugs from him and seeks refuge in the Walled City, where he encounters Cyclone, a compassionate yet authoritative crime lord.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Protector’s defining feeling.