Movies like To Be Number One (1991)
The best movies like To Be Number One (1991) are Belly (1998), Prison on Fire (1987) and The Goldfinger (2023). If To Be Number One hooked you with its crime and drama, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInfernal Affairs (2002)7.8/10 from 1,974 votes
- NewestKing Ivory (2025)Released 2025
Belly (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 thisPrison on Fire (1987)
A veteran inmate takes a newcomer under his wing as the pair confront both other violent inmates and the prison's corrupt wardens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Goldfinger (2023)
In 1970s Hong Kong, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was formed to bring down the corruption syndicate led by British government officials. One of its top investigators is Senior Investigator Lau Kai-Yuen, who brought down countless corrupted officials. Just as he thought stability and prosperity are within reach, a new era of greed and riches takes him into a new battlefield of corruption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSiberian Education (2013)
The story of a gang of children growing up in a community of banished criminals, in a forgotten corner of the former Soviet Union. This community rejects the world outside. The only law it obeys… is its own. Against this backdrop two best friends, Kolyma and Gagarin, gradually become fierce enemies as they find themselves on opposite sides of the strict code of honour of the ‘honest criminal’ brotherhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrivisa (2016)
Three notorious gangsters who have never crossed paths find themselves in the same restaurant at the same time, and their fates are changed forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrue Believer (1989)
Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaster Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018)
Following his defeat by Master Ip, Cheung Tin Chi tries to make a life with his young son in Hong Kong, waiting tables at a bar that caters to expats. But it's not long before the mix of foreigners, money, and triad leaders draw him once again to the fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Murderer (2022)
The True story of how charismatic con man Jason Derek Brown bankrolls his extravagant lifestyle through a series of scams. On Brown’s trail: Lance Leising, a dogged FBI special agent determined to put Brown behind bars. When Brown’s funds run low and his past catches up with him, he plots his most elaborate scheme yet, pitting himself against Leising in a deadly game of cat and mouse — and becoming the most unlikely and elusive fugitive on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWinged Creatures (2009)
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSpecial ID (2013)
A career-long undercover Hong Kong cop is sent to Mainland China when his former protégé becomes the primary suspect in a murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Nite in Mongkok (2004)
A gangster's son is accidentally killed during a drunken dispute with a rival gang, and Officer Milo's task force is assigned to the case. He soon learns that a hitman has been hired to take out the rival gang leader. While Milo and his crew desperately try to find and stop the hired gun, fearing all-out war in the streets, Lai Fu, a smart but inexperienced killer from a small town in the mainland, arrives in Hong Kong to do his job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElection (2005)
After losing an election to become chairman of the Wo Lin Shing triad, a gang leader lashes out and tries to seize the dragon-head baton, the official symbol of a chairman's authority.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInfernal Affairs (2002)
Chan Wing Yan, a young police officer, has been sent undercover as a mole in the local mafia. Lau Kin Ming, a young mafia member, infiltrates the police force. Years later, their older counterparts, Chen Wing Yan and Inspector Lau Kin Ming, respectively, race against time to expose the mole within their midst.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKing Ivory (2025)
Based on extensive research involving law enforcement and gang members, a never-before-seen, authentic look inside the underworld of fentanyl trafficking from gangs inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester a.k.a. "Big Mac."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInside Man (2023)
Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.
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 crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisTriad Wars (2008)
In the midst of a violent gang war, a series of misfortunes threaten the fate of a gang boss and his mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
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 · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChasing the Dragon (2017)
An illegal immigrant from Mainland China sneaks into the corrupt British-colonized Hong Kong in 1963, transforming himself into a ruthless drug lord.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies 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 crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like To Be Number One?
The closest matches to To Be Number One are Belly (1998), Prison on Fire (1987) and The Goldfinger (2023). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after To Be Number One?
Start with Belly (1998), the closest match to To Be Number One.
What is the highest-rated movie like To Be Number One?
Infernal Affairs (2002), rated 7.8/10 by 1,974 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like To Be Number One?
King Ivory (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to To Be Number One chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside To Be Number One, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.