Movies like For Bad Boys Only (2000)
The best movies like For Bad Boys Only (2000) are In the Line of Duty 4 (1989), Welcome to the Punch (2013) and Absolution (2024). If For Bad Boys Only hooked you with its crime and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Thin Man (1934)7.5/10 from 569 votes
- NewestAbsolution (2024)Released 2024
In the Line of Duty 4 (1989)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWelcome to the Punch (2013)
When notorious criminal Jacob Sternwood is forced to return to London, it gives detective Max Lewinsky one last chance to take down the man he's always been after.
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 thisCurry & Pepper (1990)
Two best friends and cop partners become the subject of a beautiful news reporter's documentary. The two soon find themselves competing for screen time as well as the love of the reporter while after a murderous arms dealer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMotorway (2012)
Two police pursuit drivers, a hothead rookie and his long-suffering, almost-retired mentor, face off against an escape car driver from the latter's past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisP Storm (2019)
Liu Yue Ping reports to the ICAC about a rich 2G Cao Yuen Yuen who bribed officers of the Hong Kong Correctional Services (HKCS) from inside the prison. William Luk decides to infiltrate the prison as an inmate to conduct his investigation, while his partner Ching Tak Ming and Chief Inspector Lau Po-keung back him up from the outside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLegacy of Rage (1986)
A man is framed for murder by his drug-dealing best friend who covets his girlfriend, leading to eight years in jail and a vow of revenge upon release.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFast Charlie (2023)
When his aging mob boss is whacked, Charlie Swift, a loyal friend and hired gun, will stop at nothing to destroy the upcoming crew that took him out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaging Fire (2021)
Cheung Sung-bong is a highly respected cop with a long history of success in dangerous cases. However, his past soon comes back to haunt him when a former protégé resurfaces, seeking revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisNo Man's Land (1987)
A rookie cop goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of car thieves led by smooth and charming Ted. The rookie becomes too involved and starts to enjoy the thrill and lifestyle of the game, and becomes romanticly involved with the leaders sister.
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 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 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 thisEnter the Fat Dragon (2020)
After being dumped by his fiancé, heartbroken Hong Kong police officer Fallon Zhu gains 200+ pounds. His superiors demote him to the job of escorting convicts to Japan. When a convict in his custody mysteriously dies, he must team up with citizen Thor to solve the mystery.
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 & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOverdrive (2017)
Master car thieves square off against French gangsters in the South of France with money, women and lives all on the line.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
To the Los Angeles elite, Ford Fairlane is known as "Mr. Rock 'n' Roll Detective." This loudmouthed ladies' man serves an exclusive rock star clientele, who depend on his keen eye and smug discretion. So when a heavy-metal musician dies mid-concert, Fairlane is on the case before the lights come up. But things turn shocking when radio personality Johnny Crunch hires Fairlane to find a missing groupie mere hours before he is electrocuted live on air.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thin Man (1934)
Former detective Nick Charles has retired from police work, preferring a life of cocktails, parties, and relaxation with his wealthy wife, Nora. Their holiday is interrupted when the daughter of Nick’s former client asks for help finding her missing father, eccentric inventor Clyde Wynant. When Wynant’s body is discovered, Nick is drawn back into the investigation, with Nora eagerly joining him. As the couple questions Wynant’s family, friends, and business associates, a tangled web of greed, deception, and murder begins to unravel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHarper (1966)
Harper is a cynical private eye in the best tradition of Bogart. He even has Bogie's Baby hiring him to find her missing husband, getting involved along the way with an assortment of unsavory characters and an illegal-alien smuggling ring.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOh! Heavenly Dog (1980)
Browning is a PI with a bad cold, who's sent to investigate a case by a mysterious client. He stumbles across the body of a young woman and is stabbed to death, and when he wakes up in heaven, they tell him he's "marginal material," and they can only decide on his final destination through one last assignment: to go back and solve his own murder. As a dog. A cute fluffy little dog (Benji). Undaunted, Browning begins to investigate the case as best he can around his canine disabilities (dialing the phone presents a special challenge) to solve the murders, save the girl, and see justice done.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisTravis McGee (1983)
Travis McGee is a world-weary private eye trying to help boat skipper friend Van Harder salvage his reputation that sank when his boat ran aground, resulting in a death that might have been faked.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
City Hunter (2024)
An exceptional marksman and hopeless playboy, private eye Ryo Saeba reluctantly forms an alliance with his late partner's sister to investigate his death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder Suspicion (1991)
In the late 1950s, British police officer Tony Aaron resigns from the force after sleeping with Hazel, wife of the man whose house he was supposed to guard. In his new job as a fake private investigator, he helps couples get divorces by photographing Hazel having "affairs" with the husband. When she is murdered during a job, Tony begins having an affair with the dead man's mistress, Angeline, while trying to prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisSatan Met a Lady (1936)
In the second screen version of The Maltese Falcon, a detective is caught between a lying seductress and a lady jewel thief.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
The Maltese Falcon (1931)
A lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quickly caught up in the mystery and intrigue of a statuette known as the Maltese Falcon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Moves (1975)
Private detective and former football player Harry Moseby gets hired on to what seems a standard missing person case - a former Hollywood actress wants Moseby to find and return her daughter. Harry travels to Florida to find her, but he begins to see a connection between the runaway girl, the world of Hollywood stuntmen, and a suspicious mechanic when an unsolved murder comes to light.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like For Bad Boys Only?
The closest matches to For Bad Boys Only are In the Line of Duty 4 (1989), Welcome to the Punch (2013) and Absolution (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after For Bad Boys Only?
Start with In the Line of Duty 4 (1989), the closest match to For Bad Boys Only.
What is the highest-rated movie like For Bad Boys Only?
The Thin Man (1934), rated 7.5/10 by 569 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like For Bad Boys Only?
Absolution (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to For Bad Boys Only chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside For Bad Boys Only, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.