Movies like Licence to Kill (1989)
The best movies like Licence to Kill (1989) are For Your Eyes Only (1981), Never Say Never Again (1983) and Thunderball (1965). If Licence to Kill hooked you with its adventure and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Dark Knight Rises (2012)7.8/10 from 25,285 votes
- NewestSolo: A Star Wars Story (2018)Released 2018
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
A British spy ship has sunk and on board was a hi-tech encryption device. James Bond is sent to find the device that holds British launching instructions before the enemy Soviets get to it first.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNever Say Never Again (1983)
James Bond returns as the secret agent 007 to battle the evil organization SPECTRE. Bond must defeat Largo, who has stolen two atomic warheads for nuclear blackmail. But Bond has an ally in Largo's girlfriend, the willowy Domino, who falls for Bond and seeks revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThunderball (1965)
A criminal organization has obtained two nuclear bombs and are asking for a 100 million pound ransom in the form of diamonds in seven days or they will use the weapons. The secret service sends James Bond to the Bahamas to once again save the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLive and Let Die (1973)
James Bond must investigate a mysterious murder case of a British agent in New Orleans. Soon he finds himself up against a gangster boss named Mr. Big.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe World Is Not Enough (1999)
Greed, revenge, world dominance and high-tech terrorism – it's all in a day's work for Bond, who's on a mission to protect a beautiful oil heiress from a notorious terrorist. In a race against time that culminates in a dramatic submarine showdown, Bond works to defuse the international power struggle that has the world's oil supply hanging in the balance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Cool government operative James Bond searches for a stolen invention that can turn the sun's heat into a destructive weapon. He soon crosses paths with the menacing Francisco Scaramanga, a hitman so skilled he has a seven-figure working fee. Bond then joins forces with the swimsuit-clad Mary Goodnight, and together they track Scaramanga to a Thai tropical isle hideout where the killer-for-hire lures the slick spy into a deadly maze for a final duel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOctopussy (1983)
James Bond is sent to investigate after a fellow “00” agent is found dead with a priceless Fabergé egg. Bond follows the mystery and uncovers a smuggling scandal and a Russian General who wants to provoke a new World War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpectre (2015)
A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDr. No (1962)
Agent 007 battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program. As the countdown to disaster begins, Bond must go to Jamaica, where he encounters beautiful Honey Ryder, to confront a megalomaniacal villain in his massive island headquarters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDie Another Day (2002)
James Bond is sent to investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul, who is funding the development of an international space weapon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCasino Royale (2006)
Le Chiffre, a banker to the world's terrorists, is scheduled to participate in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro, where he intends to use his winnings to establish his financial grip on the terrorist market. M sends Bond—on his maiden mission as a 00 Agent—to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. With the help of Vesper Lynd and Felix Leiter, Bond enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkyfall (2012)
When Bond's latest assignment goes gravely wrong, agents around the world are exposed and MI6 headquarters is attacked. While M faces challenges to her authority and position from Gareth Mallory, the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, it's up to Bond, aided only by field agent Eve, to locate the mastermind behind the attack.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTomorrow Never Dies (1997)
A deranged media mogul is staging international incidents to pit the world's superpowers against each other. Now James Bond must take on this evil mastermind in an adrenaline-charged battle to end his reign of terror and prevent global pandemonium.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNorth Sea Hijack (1980)
When terrorists take over two oil rigs, and threaten to blow them up if their demands are not met, an eccentric anti-terrorism expert volunteers his unique commando unit to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrom Russia with Love (1963)
Agent 007 is back in the second installment of the James Bond series, this time battling a secret crime organization known as SPECTRE. Russians Rosa Klebb and Kronsteen are out to snatch a decoding device known as the Lektor, using the ravishing Tatiana to lure Bond into helping them. Bond willingly travels to meet Tatiana in Istanbul, where he must rely on his wits to escape with his life in a series of deadly encounters with the enemy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA View to a Kill (1985)
A newly-developed microchip designed by Zorin Industries for the British Government that can survive the electromagnetic radiation caused by a nuclear explosion has landed in the hands of the KGB. James Bond must find out how and why. His suspicions soon lead him to big industry leader Max Zorin who forms a plan to destroy his only competition in Silicon Valley by triggering a massive earthquake in the San Francisco Bay.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJason Bourne (2016)
The most dangerous former operative of the CIA is drawn out of hiding to uncover hidden truths about his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman assumes responsibility for Dent's crimes to protect the late attorney's reputation and is subsequently hunted by the Gotham City Police Department. Eight years later, Batman encounters the mysterious Selina Kyle and the villainous Bane, a new terrorist leader who overwhelms Gotham's finest. The Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSolo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHarley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991)
It's the lawless future, and renegade biker Harley Davidson and his surly cowboy buddy, Marlboro, learn that a corrupt bank is about to foreclose on their friend's bar to further an expanding empire. Harley and Marlboro decide to help by robbing the crooked bank. But when they accidentally filch a drug shipment, they find themselves on the run from criminal financiers and the mob in this rugged action adventure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn Deadly Ground (1994)
Forrest Taft is an environmental agent who works for the Aegis Oil Company in Alaska. Aegis Oil's corrupt CEO is the kind of person who doesn't care whether or not oil spills into the ocean or onto the land—just as long as it's making money for him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisSpace Sheriff Sharivan: NEXT GENERATION (2014)
Kai Hyuga / Sharivan uncovers the existence of a spy from the Neo Madou organization. In addition to that Kai's friend, Seigi, becomes the new Space Sheriff Estevan. They must find the spy and stop a drug ring from shipping a pain suppressing narcotic called Hyper-M on Earth. But the new Space Sheriff must learn to trust his instincts and that not all is as it seems...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
The Principal (1987)
Burglary. Drugs. Assault. Rape. The students at Brandel High are more than new Principal Rick Latimer bargained for. Gangs fight to control the school using knives - even guns - when they have to. When Latimer and the head of security try to clean up the school and stop the narcotics trade, they run up against a teenage mafia. A violent confrontation on the campus leads to a deadly showdown with the drug dealer's gang, and one last chance for Latimer to save his career... and his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAir Force One (1997)
When Russian neo-nationalists hijack Air Force One, the world's most secure and extraordinary aircraft, the President is faced with a nearly impossible decision to give in to terrorist demands or sacrifice not only the country's dignity, but the lives of his wife and daughter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAirspeed (1998)
When wealthy executive Raymond Stone sends out his private plane to pick up his spoiled teenage daughter, Nicole, and a pair of his top-ranking employees, disaster strikes. While the jet flies through an electrical storm, the pilot and other passengers are incapacitated, and Nicole is left on her own to keep the plane in the air, guided by an air traffic controller. Can the irresponsible and panic-stricken teen find a way to land the jet?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & action
The Flyboys (2008)
Two boys from a small town find their courage tested when they accidentally stow away aboard an airplane owned by the mob...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeep Cover (1992)
Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
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: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisFlight of the Navigator (1986)
12-year-old David is accidentally knocked out in the forest near his home, but when he awakens eight years have passed. His family is overjoyed to have him back, but is just as perplexed as he is that he hasn't aged. When a NASA scientist discovers a UFO nearby, David gets the chance to unravel the mystery and recover the life he lost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Woman Deceived (2017)
It’s been one year since Elizabeth’s husband, Bill, died in a tragic horseback riding accident and she is starting to move on. When she runs into Travis Brown, the cowboy she met the same weekend Bill died, the two immediately hit it off. Travis is just what Elizabeth needed to come into her life and they soon get married. When new evidence surfaces implying that Bill’s death wasn’t an accident, Elizabeth must find a way to protect herself and her son from the man she married.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Licence to Kill?
The closest matches to Licence to Kill are For Your Eyes Only (1981), Never Say Never Again (1983) and Thunderball (1965). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Licence to Kill?
Start with For Your Eyes Only (1981), the closest match to Licence to Kill.
What is the highest-rated movie like Licence to Kill?
The Dark Knight Rises (2012), rated 7.8/10 by 25,285 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Licence to Kill?
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Licence to Kill?
Yes: For Your Eyes Only (1981), Never Say Never Again (1983) and Thunderball (1965).
How are movies similar to Licence to Kill chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Licence to Kill, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.