Movies like Apuesta Mortal (1997)
The best movies like Apuesta Mortal (1997) are The Substitute (1996), Code of Silence (1985) and The Black Book (2023). If Apuesta Mortal hooked you with its action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Substitute (1996)7.0/10 from 621 votes
- NewestBorder Hunters (2025)Released 2025
- In SpanishDeath Dealers (1995)Also in Spanish
The 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCode of Silence (1985)
A Chicago cop is caught in the middle of a gang war while his own comrades shun him because he wants to take an irresponsible cop down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Black Book (2023)
After his son is wrongly accused of kidnapping, a deacon who has just lost his wife takes matters into his own hands and fights a crooked police gang to clear him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shipment (2021)
A former U.S. Navy Seal is forced to become the international criminal he once fought against when a powerful and violent drug cartel kidnaps his wife and daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
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
SnoozefestMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoint Blank (2019)
A nurse is forced to spring a wounded murder suspect from the hospital when the man’s brother kidnaps his pregnant wife and wants to make a trade.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Marine 3: Homefront (2013)
A Marine must do whatever it takes to save his kidnapped sister and stop a terrorist attack masterminded by a radical militia group.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWake of Death (2004)
Ben Archer, an ex-mob enforcer, seeks revenge against a ruthless Chinese kingpin responsible for his wife's brutal murder. When Archer joins forces with his old underworld friends, an all-out war is waged against the Chinese Triad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorder Hunters (2025)
After his police officer brother is killed by a drug dealer who flees to the protection of his cartel-connected uncle in Mexico, an American man with a diverse law enforcement/military background goes south of the border to get revenge
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVendetta (2022)
When his daughter is murdered, William Duncan takes the law into his own hands, setting out on a quest for retribution. After killing the street thug responsible for her death, he finds himself in the middle of a war with the thug's brother, father, and their gang, who are equally hell-bent on getting even. What ensues is a tense back-and-forth game of vengeance. By the end, William comes to find that the quest for revenge never has a winner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNinja: Shadow of a Tear (2013)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWar (2007)
FBI agent Jack Crawford is out for revenge when his partner is killed and all clues point to the mysterious assassin Rogue. But when Rogue turns up years later to take care of some unfinished business, he triggers a violent clash of rival gangs. Will the truth come out before it's too late? And when the dust settles, who will remain standing?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
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
SnoozefestMovies like thisIn the Blood (2014)
When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisHavoc (2025)
When a drug heist swerves lethally out of control, a jaded cop fights his way through a corrupt city's criminal underworld to save a politician's son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisState Property (2002)
A Philadelphia gang member becomes a drug kingpin and starts a feud with vicious rivals in his quest for the American Dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like this44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out (2003)
After a failed bank robbery, two heavily armed men hold the Los Angeles Police Department at bay for 44 minutes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath Dealers (1995)
A city is terrorized by vicious drug dealers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
De parranda con el diablo (2005)
Satan's playing for the soul of a dim-witted narco dude...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
El de los lentes carrera (2014)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Leal (2018)
Former Colonel Fernandez is appointed Minister of the National Anti-Drug Agency (SENAD) and purges the special forces to fight the first of many battles against drug trafficking on the border of Paraguay and Argentina.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Call Him One Eye Faggot (2015)
Ignacio Pereztrona (Vic Cicuta / Víctor Melman) is a tough anti-drug police officer, after being captured by a gang of drug traffickers who decides to prostitute him and become addicted to the "deadly drug" of marijuana, until he manages to escape and take revenge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Narcotráfico: Sentencia De Muerte (1985)
It’s the Feds vs. the Cartel as both sides of the law race through the desert to snag a hidden dope stash in New Drug City.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
La Sombra Del Sahuaro (2005)
Film based loosely on the life of Mexican drug kingpin Ricardo Lopez.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
La Venganza de la Entalladita (2024)
In this complete narco movie, we present the story of Teodora, a beautiful woman who is famous for dressing in tight clothes, which bothered her boyfriend Roberto, who loves her but is very jealous. Roberto's father wants to take over Teodora's father's land and plans to get him out of the way at any cost. But none of them have the bravery of Teodora, who is braver than pretty and is not willing to let herself be controlled by anyone and will go to great lengths to defend her lands.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
The Human Hyena (1995)
The dead body of a young man who was kidnapped is found, the police looks for the kidnappers as a web of corruption its uncovered in the police department.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Apuesta Mortal?
The closest matches to Apuesta Mortal are The Substitute (1996), Code of Silence (1985) and The Black Book (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Apuesta Mortal?
Start with The Substitute (1996), the closest match to Apuesta Mortal.
What is the highest-rated movie like Apuesta Mortal?
The Substitute (1996), rated 7.0/10 by 621 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Apuesta Mortal?
Border Hunters (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Apuesta Mortal?
Yes: Death Dealers (1995), De parranda con el diablo (2005) and El de los lentes carrera (2014).
How are movies similar to Apuesta Mortal chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Apuesta Mortal, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.