Movies like The Veteran (2011)
The best movies like The Veteran (2011) are Nighthawks (1981), RocknRolla (2008) and Cobra (1986). If The Veteran 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 ratedFuze (2025)7.1/10 from 496 votes
- NewestThe Fix (2026)Released 2026
Nighthawks (1981)
When one of Europe's most lethal terrorists shows up in New York, an elite undercover cop is assigned to take him down by any means necessary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRocknRolla (2008)
When a Russian mobster sets up a real estate scam that generates millions of pounds, various members of London's criminal underworld pursue their share of the fortune. Various shady characters, including Mr One-Two, Stella the accountant, and Johnny Quid, a druggie rock-star, try to claim their slice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCobra (1986)
A tough-on-crime street cop must protect the only surviving witness to a strange murderous cult with far reaching plans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
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 & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFuze (2025)
An unexploded WWII bomb is discovered on a busy construction site in the centre of London. Chaos ensues as the military and police begin a mass evacuation against a ticking clock.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & 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 thisBlack Lotus (2023)
An ex-special forces operative wages a one man war through the streets of Amsterdam to rescue his friend's daughter from the local crime syndicate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Foreigner (2017)
Quan is a humble London businessman whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fueled vendetta when the only person left for him to love – his teenage daughter – dies in an Irish Republican Army car bombing. His relentless search to find the terrorists leads to a cat-and-mouse conflict with a British government official whose own past may hold the clues to the identities of the elusive killers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVFW (2019)
A typical night for veterans at a VFW turns into an all-out battle for survival when a desperate teen runs into the bar with a bag of stolen drugs. When a gang of violent punks come looking for her, the vets use every weapon at their disposal to protect the girl and themselves from an unrelenting attack.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisRun All Night (2015)
Brooklyn mobster and prolific hit man Jimmy Conlon has seen better days. Longtime best friend of a mob boss, Jimmy is haunted by the sins of his past—as well as a dogged police detective who’s been one step behind Jimmy for 30 years. But when Jimmy’s estranged son becomes a target, Jimmy must make a choice between the crime family he chose and the real family he abandoned long ago. Now, with nowhere safe to turn, Jimmy has just one night to figure out exactly where his loyalties lie and to see if he can finally make things right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jackal (1997)
Hired by a powerful member of the Russian mafia to avenge an FBI sting that left his brother dead, a psychopathic hitman known only as The Jackal proves an elusive target for the people charged with the task of bringing him down: a deputy FBI director, a Russian MVK Major, and a jailed IRA terrorist who can recognize him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoad of No Return (2009)
Road of no Return follows the final nine days in the lives of four atypical hit men who are secretly brought together in a covert operation to fight the drug trafficking epidemic in the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisTransfusion (2023)
Ryan Logan, a former Special Forces operative, is battling to cope with life after the loss of his wife. He is thrusted into the criminal underworld to keep his only son from being taken from him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrisis (2021)
Three stories about the world of opioids collide: a drug trafficker arranges a multi-cartel Fentanyl smuggling operation between Canada and the U.S., an architect recovering from an OxyContin addiction tracks down the truth behind her son's involvement with narcotics, and a university professor battles unexpected revelations about his research employer, a drug company with deep government influence bringing a new "non-addictive" painkiller to market.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLayer Cake (2004)
When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fix (2026)
Disillusioned by the end of the war in Afghanistan, a group of disgraced, war-torn ex-CIA operatives set out to Tehran to take down a life-changing score.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisSniper: Rogue Mission (2022)
When a crooked federal agent is involved in a human sex trafficking ring, Sniper and CIA Rookie Brandon Beckett goes rogue, teaming up with his former allies Homeland Security Agent Zero and assassin Lady Death to uncover the corrupt agent and take down the criminal organization.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHostile Takeover (2025)
Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnjaan (2014)
A man travels to Mumbai in search of his estranged brother, a feared figure in the criminal underworld. As he follows the trail through gang rivalries and shifting alliances, he uncovers a complex web of loyalty, deception, and violence that blurs the line between justice and revenge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisIn letzter Sekunde (2008)
The plan seems to be working. The beautiful policewoman takes up a position in Deniz's company and quickly gains the trust and affection of her young compatriot. Gradually, she learns details about the planned attack from Deniz, who is actually in contact with fanatical Islamists, including German Muslim converts. And she gets to know the head of the group, the shady Abu "Ayman" Gallaz. But Yasemin can't fool him. Ayman immediately starts his own investigations. When his suspicions are confirmed and he is certain that Deniz has been seduced by an undercover agent, he skillfully exploits this knowledge. He lures the police onto the wrong track with targeted false information and gives Deniz the job of eliminating Yasemin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Presumed Innocent (1990)
Rusty Sabich is a deputy prosecutor engaged in an obsessive affair with a coworker who is murdered. Soon after, he's accused of the crime. And his fight to clear his name becomes a whirlpool of lies and hidden passions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVishwaroopam II (2018)
RAW agent Wisam Ahmad Kashmiri prevents an al-Qaida terrorist from executing a massive attack on New York. He must now wade through further traps and conspiracies to thwart a new plot against three democratic nations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
The Man in the Trunk (2019)
On an otherwise quiet night there is a startling knock at the door. Andrew Tucker answers the door to find an old friend whom he hasn't seen in years. The disheveled and absent friend comes to him with one request: "I need you to come with me but, I can't tell you where we're going." Andrew takes a chance but learns that every answer brings more questions. Nothing good ever comes knocking after midnight and Andrew's nightmare asks how far you would go to help a friend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Freeway (1996)
Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona, young Vanessa Lutz decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton. During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSee No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
A murder takes place in the shop of David Lyons, a deaf man who fails to hear the gunshot being fired. Outside, blind man Wally Karue hears the shot, but cannot see the perpetrator. Both are arrested, but escape to form an unlikely partnership. Being chased by both the law AND the original killers, can the pair work together to outwit them all?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRing of the Nibelungs (2004)
In this swords-and-sorcery tale, good-hearted blacksmith Eyvind hides away infant Prince Siegfried after two malevolent kings murder his father. But a fiery meteor sent by the gods reveals Siegfried's destiny, sending him on the quest of a lifetime. To save a crumbling kingdom claim the heart of his true love, he'll have to slay the nefarious dragon, Fafnir.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Final Cut (2004)
Set in a world with memory implants, Alan Hakman is a 'cutter'—someone with the power of final edit over people's recorded histories—but his latest assignment puts him in great danger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Foot Crane (1979)
As a child, Fong Lin I witnesses the murder of her lawman father at the hand of 4 outlaws. She devotes her life to Martial Arts, with the aim of taking revenge years later.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Like The Veteran and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Veteran?
The closest matches to The Veteran are Nighthawks (1981), RocknRolla (2008) and Cobra (1986). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Veteran?
Start with Nighthawks (1981), the closest match to The Veteran.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Veteran?
Fuze (2025), rated 7.1/10 by 496 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Veteran?
The Fix (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Veteran?
Yes: Nighthawks (1981), RocknRolla (2008) and Cobra (1986).
How are movies similar to The Veteran chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Veteran, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.