Movies like Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong (2021)
The best movies like Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong (2021) are Exit Wounds (2001), Year of the Dragon (1985) and Young and Dangerous 4 (1997). If Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong 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 ratedRebel Ridge (2024)7.0/10 from 1,810 votes
- NewestTrap House (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseYoung and Dangerous 4 (1997)Also in Chinese
Exit Wounds (2001)
Maverick cop Orin Boyd always brings down the domestic terrorists he tracks, but he ruffles feathers with his unorthodox techniques -- and soon finds himself reassigned to the toughest district in Detroit. When he discovers a group of detectives secretly operating a drug ring, Boyd joins forces with an unlikely ally -- gangster Latrell Walker -- to bring down the rotten cops.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisYear of the Dragon (1985)
In New York, racist Capt. Stanley White becomes obsessed with destroying a Chinese-American drug ring run by Joey Tai, an up-and-coming young gangster as ambitious as he is ruthless. While pursuing an unauthorized investigation, White grows increasingly willing to violate police protocol, resorting to progressively violent measures -- even as his concerned wife, Connie, and his superiors beg him to consider the consequences of his actions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung and Dangerous 4 (1997)
The boss of the Hung Hing gang, Tian Sang, has died. Ho Nam and Hon Bun find Sangs younger brother, Yang to lead the gang. Meanwhile, Hon Bun receives news that his younger brother, a leader of the Tuen Mun gang has been assasinated. They travel to Hong Kong to settle the matter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFirestorm (2013)
Hong Kong. When Cao Nan and his group of thieves rob an armored car in broad daylight, they don't hesitate to murder innocent people on the run. Lui Ming Chit, a veteran police inspector, is forced to use sinister tactics to catch them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrap House (2025)
An undercover DEA agent and his partner embark on a game of cat and mouse with an audacious, and surprising group of thieves – their own rebellious teenagers, who have begun robbing from a dangerous cartel, using their parents' tactics and top-secret intel to do it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebel Ridge (2024)
A former Marine confronts corruption in a small town when local law enforcement unjustly seizes the bag of cash he needs to post his cousin's bail.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUntil Death (2007)
Anthony Stowe is a dirty cop who is hooked on heroin—and everyone hates him. After a serious accident, he is placed into an induced coma, but emerges from it a better person who wants to put things right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisSleepless (2017)
Undercover Las Vegas police officer Vincent Downs, who has a lot of enemies, is caught in a high stakes web of corrupt cops and the mob-controlled casino underground. When a heist goes wrong, a crew of homicidal gangsters kidnap Downs’ teenage son T. In one sleepless night, Downs will have to rescue his son, evade an internal affairs investigation, and bring the kidnappers to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisRapid Fire (1992)
College student Jake Lo is pursued by smugglers, mobsters and crooked federal agents after he witnesses a murder by a Mafia kingpin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOut for Justice (1991)
Gino Felino is an NYPD detective from Brooklyn who knows everyone and everything in his neighborhood. Killing his partner was someone's big mistake... because he's now out for justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQ & A (1990)
A young district attorney seeking to prove a case against a corrupt police detective encounters a former lover and her new protector, a crime boss who refuses to help him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisS.W.A.T.: Under Siege (2017)
When a D.E.A. and S.W.A.T. cartel takedown ends in a shootout, S.W.A.T. Agent Travis Hall seizes a mysterious prisoner taking him into custody. Before long, the S.W.A.T. compound is under siege by wave-after-wave of assault teams attempting to recover the prisoner known as “The Scorpion” for the tattoo blazed across his back. When Travis discovers that his prisoner is a Secret Ops double agent planted within the cartel, it’s up to him and his expert S.W.A.T. team to keep “The Scorpion” and his billion dollar secrets safe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Island (2023)
When his brother is killed, LAPD officer Mark leaves the city to return to the island he grew up on. Seeking answers and ultimately vengeance, he soon finds himself in a bloody battle with the corrupt tycoon who's taken over the island paradise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrince of the City (1981)
New York City detective Daniel Ciello agrees to help the United States Department of Justice eliminate corruption in the police department, as long as he will not have to turn in any close friends. In doing so, Ciello uncovers a conspiracy within the force to smuggle drugs to street informants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlood Ties (2013)
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man from Hong Kong (1975)
Australian authorities arrest a man believed to be connected to the Sydney criminal underworld and send for Inspector Fang Sing Leng from Hong Kong to question him. After the alleged criminal is assassinated, Inspector Leng and the Sydney police try to hunt down those responsible and hope to solve their case along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bank Job (2008)
Terry is a small-time car dealer trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Martine is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighbourhood who knows that Terry is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a bank, Terry recognises the danger but realises this may be the opportunity of a lifetime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Blue (2002)
Set during the Rodney King riots, a robbery homicide investigation triggers a series of events that will cause a corrupt LAPD officer to question his tactics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Easy (1986)
Remy McSwain is a New Orleans police lieutenant who investigates the murder of a local mobster. His investigation leads him to suspect that fellow members of the police force may be involved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Racket (1951)
The big national crime syndicate has moved into town, partnering up with local crime boss Nick Scanlon. McQuigg, the only honest police captain on the force, and his loyal patrolman, Johnson, take on the violent Nick.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Fetish (2010)
When the son of an alleged killer inherits a "blue movie" that may be the key to solving a 50 year old murder, he finds himself drawn into a forbidden world of sexual obsession. But the closer he gets to the heart of the mystery, the more the past threatens to reach out into the present and reveal terrifying truths that lead him to the brink of madness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Push (2009)
After his father, an assassin, is brutally murdered, Nick Gant vows revenge on Division, the covert government agency that dabbles in psychic warfare and experimental drugs. Hiding in Hong Kong's underworld, Nick assembles a band of rogue psychics dedicated to destroying Division. Together with Cassie, a teenage clairvoyant, Nick goes in search of a missing girl and a stolen suitcase that could be the key to accomplishing their mutual goal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAt Close Range (1986)
Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin (2008)
In the late Seventies, a Dutch teenager named Frankie, who is the son of a holocaust survivor, lives in a working class area in Holland. Frankie’s mother is taken to hospital in a terminal condition, causing a bigger rift between him and his father. This leads to Frankie becoming the interest of the local Nazi skinhead group.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
A Suspeita (2022)
Lúcia is a renowned police investigator. At age 50, has dedicated her entire life to her profession and is a respected name among her peers. Everything changes during an investigation, a writer that was writing the memoir of one of the drug trafficking lord, and had his phone tapped illegally by Lúcia, is assassinated and she is under investigation by her superiors. At the same time, she finds out she has Alzheimer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
The Getaway King (2021)
Comedy about Zdzisław Najmrodzki, most famous polish criminal in the times of Polish People Republic, named "the getaway king", known for stealing cars and escaping prison many times, but never hurting anybody.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Watch (1995)
UN agents Mike Graham and Sabrina Carver are sent by their director Nick Caldwell to investigate the theft of Rembrandt's painting, "The Night Watch". The trail takes them from Amsterdam to Hong Kong and involves them in not only art theft and forgery, but the high-tech schemes of Martin Schraeder and his Korean cohort Mao Yixin
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhen Liberty Burns (2020)
An in-depth analysis on the 40th Anniversary of the life and untimely death of Arthur Lee McDuffie at the hands of Miami Dade police officers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Lessons in Love (2004)
A photograph from Carol's recent shoot reveals a threatening man harassing a woman in his car. Suspicious, Carol enlarges the photo and brings it to her friend, a novice police officer, who in turn passes it to her boss. The police captain realizes the man is a detective on the force named Childs and warns him of his behavior. But Childs is out for revenge, putting Gina, Carol and others into harm's way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Neo-Northeast Hero (1949)
A robber named Zhang Kui hid in a coffin to avoid the authorities before being transported to another associate. Instead of joining his friend in a major robbery, Zhang Kui ran away together with wife and daughter. Zhang failed to escape, but his daughter would train as a marital artist until she can take revenge for her father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong?
The closest matches to Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong are Exit Wounds (2001), Year of the Dragon (1985) and Young and Dangerous 4 (1997). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong?
Start with Exit Wounds (2001), the closest match to Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong.
What is the highest-rated movie like Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong?
Rebel Ridge (2024), rated 7.0/10 by 1,810 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong?
Trap House (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong?
Yes: Young and Dangerous 4 (1997) and Firestorm (2013).
How are movies similar to Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.