Movies like The Big Bird Cage (1972)
The best movies like The Big Bird Cage (1972) are Convict (2014), The Enforcer (2022) and The Substitute (1996). If The Big Bird Cage hooked you with its action and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Shawshank Redemption (1994)8.7/10 from 31,830 votes
- NewestDiablo (2025)Released 2025
Convict (2014)
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
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 thisSilverton Siege (2022)
After a failed sabotage mission, a trio of anti-apartheid freedom fighters ends up in a tense bank hostage situation. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGet the Gringo (2012)
A career criminal nabbed by Mexican authorities is placed in a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
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 · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalting the Battlefield (2014)
David Hare concludes his trilogy of films about MI5 renegade Johnny Worricker with another fugue on power, secrets and the British establishment. Johnny Worricker goes on the run with Margot Tyrell across Europe, and with the net closing in, the former MI5 man knows his only chance of resolving his problems is to return home and confront prime minister Alec Beasley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Site (2022)
A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching and dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDiablo (2025)
Ex-con Kris Chaney seizes the daughter of a Colombian gangster to fulfill a noble promise to the young girl's mother. When her father enlists both the criminal underworld and a psychotic killer to exact his revenge, Kris relies on everything he's ever learned to stay alive and keep his word.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kitchen (2019)
The mobster husbands of three 1978 Hell's Kitchen housewives are sent to prison by the FBI. Left with little but a sharp ax to grind, the ladies take the Irish mafia's matters into their own hands — proving unexpectedly adept at everything from running the rackets to taking out the competition… literally.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Perfect Weapon (1991)
Jeff, a young delinquent, is enrolled by his father in a kenpo school, in the hopes of teaching the boy some self-discipline. Years later, Jeff's mentor, Kim, is being threatened by one of the Korean mafia families. Jeff tries to help his old friend, but is too late to prevent Kim's death at the hands of an unknown hitman. Vowing revenge, Jeff takes on all of the families, using his martial arts skills to find the man who killed his friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl padrino: The Latin Godfather (2004)
In the streets of East Los Angeles, Manny is a formidable drug dealer. Impressed by his extravagant lifestyle and prowess, his young son, Kilo, yearns to follow in his footsteps. Kilo resolves to learn how to prosper in the drug world, and his new life as a dealer begins. In a world where a man wants everything, he may end up with nothing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNowhere to Run (1993)
Escaped convict Sam Gillen single-handedly takes on ruthless developers who are determined to evict a widow with two young children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
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 thisThe Unforgivable (2021)
A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe System (2022)
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like this6 Bullets (2012)
An ex-mercenary known for finding missing children is hired by a mixed martial arts fighter whose daughter has been kidnapped.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisPrison Break: The Final Break (2009)
Michael and Sara wed, but the happiness is short-lived when the Feds apprehend her for the murder of Michael's mother, Christina. Once a hit is ordered on Sara, the team reunite to break out the increasingly vulnerable target.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCatwoman (2004)
Liquidated after discovering a corporate conspiracy, mild-mannered graphic artist Patience Phillips washes up on an island, where she's resurrected and endowed with the prowess of a cat — and she's eager to use her new skills... as a vigilante. Before you can say "cat and mouse", handsome gumshoe Tom Lone is on her tail, fascinated by both of her personas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBrute (1997)
Shipped off to a Romanian orphanage to finish his sentence, a British criminal finds romance but also discovers corruption inside the facility.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Bang, Boom, Bang (1999)
Bank robber Kalle Grabowski escapes from prison while his unemployed smalltime crook buddy is sitting around doing nothing after he just lost all their money. A fast paced comedy from German director Peter Thorwarth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJohnny Handsome (1989)
A career criminal who has been deformed since birth is given a new face by a kindly doctor and paroled from prison. It appears that he has gone straight, but he is really planning his revenge on the man who killed his mentor and sent him to prison.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIrreversible (2002)
A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnkle Bone (1968)
While escaping from prison to be with her lesbian friend, a 19-year-old girl breaks her ankle and is picked up by an ex-con, with whom she begins a passionate affair. She finally turns to prostitution and robbery to support herself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Distant Lights (2003)
Two countries, two towns, one river. The Oder River separates not only Frankfurt in Germany from Slubice in Poland, but entire worlds. People, whether rich or poor, come here in search of happiness—and often find themselves pushed to their limits. A film about people who, by a twist of fate, are inextricably linked for two days—stealing and cheating, loving and helping, hoping and despairing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
36 Fillette (1988)
A 14-year-old pursues romance with a man while vacationing with her family in Switzerland.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCasablanca (1943)
In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Big Bird Cage?
The closest matches to The Big Bird Cage are Convict (2014), The Enforcer (2022) and The Substitute (1996). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Big Bird Cage?
Start with Convict (2014), the closest match to The Big Bird Cage.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Big Bird Cage?
The Shawshank Redemption (1994), rated 8.7/10 by 31,830 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Big Bird Cage?
Diablo (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Big Bird Cage?
Yes: Convict (2014), The Enforcer (2022) and The Substitute (1996).
How are movies similar to The Big Bird Cage chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Big Bird Cage, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.