Movies like Sharky's Machine (1981)
The best movies like Sharky's Machine (1981) are Vice Squad (1982), The Getaway (1972) and The Substitute (1996). If Sharky's Machine hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAnatomy of a Murder (1959)7.8/10 from 1,245 votes
- NewestDen of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025)Released 2025
Vice Squad (1982)
An unlikely Hollywood hooker helps a detective set a trap for a mutilator pimp.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Getaway (1972)
A recently released ex-convict and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Substitute (1996)
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRun (1991)
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rookie (1990)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisRunning Scared (2006)
A low-ranking thug is entrusted by his boss to dispose of a gun that killed corrupt cops, but things spiral out of control when the gun ends up in wrong hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like this10th & Wolf (2006)
A former street thug returns to his Philadelphia home after a stint in the military. Back on his home turf, he once again finds himself tangling with the mob boss who was instrumental in his going off to be a soldier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisAbsolution (2024)
An aging ex-boxer gangster working as muscle for a Boston crime boss receives an upsetting diagnosis. Despite a faltering memory, he attempts to rectify the sins of his past and reconnect with his estranged children. He is determined to leave a positive legacy for his grandson, but the criminal underworld isn’t done with him and won’t loosen their grip willingly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisFoxy Brown (1974)
A voluptuous black woman takes a job as a high-class prostitute in order to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmpire (2002)
Big time drug dealer Victor Rosa is looking to get out of the game and sees his chance with a big deal with a new friend who happens to be a Wall St. stockbroker. Thinking this will be his chance to go out on top, Victor soon finds out that he's been double crossed and his last option is to get revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Grissom Gang (1971)
Violent crime caper set in 1930s Kansas in which a gang kidnap an heiress and attempt to recover a ransom. However, the scheme is jeopardised when the leader falls in love with their beautiful captive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSleepless (2017)
Undercover Las Vegas police officer Vincent Downs, who has a lot of enemies, is caught in a high stakes web of corrupt cops and the mob-controlled casino underground. When a heist goes wrong, a crew of homicidal gangsters kidnap Downs’ teenage son T. In one sleepless night, Downs will have to rescue his son, evade an internal affairs investigation, and bring the kidnappers to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisRise of the Footsoldier (2007)
Carlton Leach rises from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late '80s and early '90s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDen of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025)
Big Nick is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie, who is embroiled in the treacherous and unpredictable world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world's largest diamond exchange.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBelly (1998)
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoodlum (1997)
In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running 'the numbers'. When Madam Queen—the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harlem—is arrested, Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson takes over the business and must resist an invasion from a merciless mobster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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 · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisTed Bundy: American Boogeyman (2021)
Set in a gritty and decadent 1970s America, American Boogeyman follows the elusive and charming killer and the manhunt that brought him to justice involving the detective and the FBI rookie who coined the phrase ‘serial killer’.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Valachi Papers (1972)
When Joe Valachi has a price put on his head by Don Vito Genovese, he must take desperate steps to protect himself while in prison. An unsuccessful attempt to slit his throat puts him over the edge to break the sacred code of silence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGet Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)
A tale of an inner city drug dealer who turns away from crime to pursue his passion, rap music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBerserk! (1967)
A lady ringmaster milks the publicity from a string of murders.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Newton Boys (1998)
The story of the Newton gang, the most successful bank robbers in history, owing to their good planning and minimal violence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirls Guns and Blood (2019)
A Sexy Grindhouse/Action/Comedy where a little brothel in Texas gets robbed by a gang of thieves. The ladies are not going to take this laying down and track down the thieves and take them out one by one in both sexual and violent ways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
The Interpreter (2005)
After Silvia Broome, an interpreter at United Nations headquarters, overhears plans of an assassination, an American Secret Service agent is sent to investigate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnatomy of a Murder (1959)
Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeverly Hills Cop II (1987)
Axel Foley returns to the land of sunshine and palm trees to investigate the near-fatal shooting of police Captain Andrew Bogomil. With the help of Sgt. Taggart and Det. Rosewood, they soon uncover that the shooting is associated with a series of "alphabet" robberies masterminded by a heartless weapons kingpin—and the chase is on.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHer Study of a Killer (2023)
A group of Liberty High School's alumni are preparing for their fifteen-year reunion when the death of one of their most beloved teachers starts a chain of events filled with secrets and revenge no one expects.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
The Night of the Generals (1967)
A German intelligence officer investigates a prostitute's killing in Warsaw during World War II. He lands on three major Nazi generals as suspects, two of whom are also involved in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoad to Nowhere (2010)
A passionate filmmaker creating a film based upon a true crime casts an unknown mysterious young woman bearing a disturbing resemblance to the femme fatale in the story. Unsuspectingly, he finds himself drawn into a complex web of haunting intrigue: he becomes obsessed with the woman, the crime, her possibly notorious past, and the disturbing complexity between art and truth. From the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina to Verona, Rome, and London, new truths are revealed and clues to other crimes and passions, darker and even more complex, are uncovered.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisDirty Dancing (1987)
Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like Sharky's Machine and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sharky's Machine?
The closest matches to Sharky's Machine are Vice Squad (1982), The Getaway (1972) and The Substitute (1996). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sharky's Machine?
Start with Vice Squad (1982), the closest match to Sharky's Machine.
What is the highest-rated movie like Sharky's Machine?
Anatomy of a Murder (1959), rated 7.8/10 by 1,245 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sharky's Machine?
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Sharky's Machine?
Yes: Vice Squad (1982), The Getaway (1972) and The Substitute (1996).
How are movies similar to Sharky's Machine chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sharky's Machine, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.