Movies like Burning with Desire (1999)
The best movies like Burning with Desire (1999) are The Protector (1985), Jarhead: Law of Return (2019) and Love in a Puff (2010). If Burning with Desire hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHard Boiled (1992)7.5/10 from 1,009 votes
- NewestThe Killer's Game (2024)Released 2024
The Protector (1985)
Billy Wong is a New York City cop whose partner is gunned down during a robbery. Billy and his new partner, Danny Garoni, are working security at a fashion show when a wealthy man's daughter, Laura Shapiro, is kidnapped. The Federal authorities suspect that Laura's father is involved with Mr. Ko, a Hong Kong drug kingpin, so the NYC police commissioner sends the two cops to Hong Kong to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisJarhead: Law of Return (2019)
Major Ronan Jackson, an accomplished fighter pilot for the Israel Defense Forces and son of a U.S. Senator, is shot down while flying through Syrian airspace. After miraculously surviving the crash, Jackson is taken captive by a group of Hezbollah militiamen. A squad of elite soldiers, led by Gunnery Sergeant Dave Torres, risk their own lives in the hopes of saving an ally they've never met.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove in a Puff (2010)
When the Hong Kong government enacts a ban on smoking cigarettes indoors, hard-core smokers are driven outside and a budding romance develops between two co-workers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHard Boiled (1992)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVulgaria (2012)
Struggling movie producer To Wai-chen needs money for child support, so he reluctantly agrees to film a softcore remake of a Chinese classic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTiger on the Beat (1988)
A seasoned cop and his rookie partner try to solve the murder of a heroin trafficker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDue West: Our Sex Journey (2012)
Set in contemporary Hong Kong, several young people are searching for romance and struggling to learn the difference between lust and love in an adventure that takes them to the mainland where pleasure is much more readily available.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAl Capone (1959)
In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder, extortion, and political fraud. He becomes head of Chicago's biggest "business," but moves inexorably toward his downfall and ignominious end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParadox (2017)
When a Hong Kong police negotiator is informed about the sudden disappearance of his 16-year-old daughter in Thailand, he travels there to search for her whereabouts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGolden Job (2018)
A group of former mercenaries reunite to plan an epic heist: boosting a truck full of medicine held by a foreign intelligence agency to supply a refugee camp in need. But when they find the truck is actually filled with stolen gold, the band of brothers realize they’ve been double-crossed by one of their own - and putting the situation right will be all out war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outfit (1973)
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeroes Shed No Tears (1984)
The Thai government hires a group of Chinese mercenaries to capture a powerful drug lord from the Golden Triangle. The mercenaries manage to capture the drug lord, but soon find themselves pursued by his forces, and the forces of a bitter Thai officer. The Chinese mercenaries are vastly outnumbered, and as their numbers begin to dwindle, their desperation pulls them into a corner as their enemies close in on them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZ Storm (2014)
ICAC principal investigator William Luk takes his job seriously, and he needs every last scintilla of support from his team to take on the powerful and cunning Supt Wong, who is corrupt to the core. Wong is an enthusiastic tool of the monstrous Malcolm Wu, a cowboy big-time share trader who will stop at nothing to secure a large slice of the upcoming float of the HK government pension fund, worth billions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWarriors Two (1978)
In an attempt to save his village from being taken over by brutes, Wah is beaten to a pulp and his mother brutally murdered. Determined to take revenge, Wah learns the art of Wing Chun and enters into a showdown with the nasty villains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLong Arm of the Law (1984)
A group of desperate Chinese criminals hope to make a quick, effortless score in Hong Kong. Things go afoul, and the gang must hide out until the heat dies down, besmirched with the blood of an undercover cop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killer's Game (2024)
When top hitman Joe Flood is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he decides to take matters into his own hands – by taking a hit out on himself. But when the very hitmen he hired also target his ex-girlfriend, he must fend off an army of assassin colleagues and win back the love of his life before it's too late.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Warrior (2001)
In feudal India, a warrior who renounces his role as the longtime enforcer to a local lord becomes the prey in a murderous hunt through the Himalayan mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Romance (1993)
Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980)
Three lazybones friends manufacture a firebomb and place it in a cinema. Pearl, a sadistic young girl, has observed the scene, follows the bombers and starts to manipulate them. The four criminals plan more and more daring acts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVengeance (2009)
A French chef swears revenge after a violent attack on his daughter's family in Macau, during which her husband and her two children are murdered. To help him find the killers, he hires three local hit-men working for the mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Burning with Desire?
The closest matches to Burning with Desire are The Protector (1985), Jarhead: Law of Return (2019) and Love in a Puff (2010). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Burning with Desire?
Start with The Protector (1985), the closest match to Burning with Desire.
What is the highest-rated movie like Burning with Desire?
Hard Boiled (1992), rated 7.5/10 by 1,009 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Burning with Desire?
The Killer's Game (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Burning with Desire chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Burning with Desire, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.