Movies like Three Tough Guys (1974)
The best movies like Three Tough Guys (1974) are Black Caesar (1973), Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and Foxy Brown (1974). If Three Tough Guys 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 Enforcer (2022)7.0/10 from 533 votes
- NewestTrap House (2025)Released 2025
Black Caesar (1973)
Raised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisCotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
Harlem's African-American population is being ripped off by the Rev. Deke O'Malley, who dishonestly claims that small donations will secure parcels of land in Africa. When New York City police officers Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson look into O'Malley's scam, they learn that the cash is being smuggled inside a bale of cotton. However, the police, O'Malley, and lots of others find themselves scrambling when the money goes missing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFoxy Brown (1974)
A voluptuous black woman takes a job as a high-class prostitute in order to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
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 action & crime
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisShade (2003)
Tiffany, Charlie and Vernon are con artists looking to up the ante from their typical scams. They figure a good way of doing this is taking down Dean "The Dean" Stevens, a well-known cardsharp, in a rigged game. However, they first need enough money to enter a game with Stevens, so they decide to strike a deal with fellow crook Larry Jennings to scam a local gangster -- which turns out to be a bad idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
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 thisThe International (2009)
An interpol agent and an attorney are determined to bring one of the world's most powerful banks to justice. Uncovering money laundering, arms trading, and conspiracy to destabilize world governments, their investigation takes them from Berlin, Milan, New York and Istanbul. Finding themselves in a chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShaft (1971)
Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisState Property (2002)
A Philadelphia gang member becomes a drug kingpin and starts a feud with vicious rivals in his quest for the American Dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIcefall (2025)
A young Indigenous game warden arrests an infamous poacher only to discover that the poacher knows the location of a plane carrying millions of dollars that has crashed in a frozen lake. When a group of criminals and dirty cops are alerted to the poacher’s whereabouts, the warden and the poacher team up to fight back and escape across the treacherous lake before the ice melts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)
Jack Spade returns from the army in his old ghetto neighbourhood when his brother, June Bug, dies. Jack declares war on Mr. Big, powerful local crimelord. His army is led by John Slade, his childhood idol who used to fight bad guys in the 70s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Blood (2014)
When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like this12 Rounds 3: Lockdown (2015)
Detective Shaw returns to active duty after the death of his partner. When he uncovers evidence linking his fellow officers to a murder, they frame him for a homicide he didn't commit. Trapped in his own precinct, Shaw will do whatever it takes to expose the dirty cops and clear his name. With twelve rounds in the clip and one shot at redemption, nothing will stand in Shaw's way in this action-packed thriller.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThick as Thieves (1999)
Two master thieves go at odds with one another as one sets the other up for a crime. The first, a suave pro who does his job and then hides in his own privacy, listening to old jazz records and caring for his ailing dog, Wally. The other is a local gangster with a taste for the finer life, who decides to eliminate the competition. This ignites a war between the two men and their aides. An angry mob boss and a female police officer try to sort the mess before things get too out of hand.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAcross 110th Street (1972)
In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Capt. Mattelli are two New York City cops trying to break the case. Three small-time criminals are on the run with the money. Will the mafia catch them first, or will the police?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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 thisCoffy (1973)
After her younger sister gets involved in drugs and is severely injured by contaminated heroin, a nurse sets out on a mission of vengeance and vigilante justice, killing drug dealers, pimps, and mobsters who cross her path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
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 thisBlack Shampoo (1976)
A promiscuous Black hairstylist has sex with his white female clientele, but when he begins a relationship with his Black secretary, her white mobster ex-boyfriend resorts to violent measures to get her back.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Cleopatra Jones (1973)
After federal agent Cleopatra Jones orders the burning of a Turkish poppy field, the notorious drug lord Mommy vows to destroy her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Slams (1973)
Rival prison factions surround a Los Angeles convict who has $1.5 million stashed on the outside.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Sugar Hill (1974)
When a nightclub owner is murdered by gangsters after refusing to sell his business to the mob boss, his grieving fiancé enlists the help of a voodoo priestess to avenge his death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)
A black man plays Uncle Tom in order to gain access to CIA training, then uses that knowledge to plot a new American Revolution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Gordon's War (1973)
A black soldier comes home to Harlem after a tour in Vietnam and discovers that his wife had become a heroin addict and died of an overdose. Infuriated, he gathers three of his ex-GI buddies and they lay out plans to fight the drug dealers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Blackenstein (1973)
Eddie is a Vietnam veteran who loses his arms and legs when he steps on a land mine, but a brilliant surgeon is able to attach new limbs. Unfortunately, an insanely jealous assistant (who has fallen in love with Eddie's fiancée) switches Eddie's DNA injections, transforming him into a gigantic killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Inglorious Bastards (1978)
Set in Europe during WWII, a group of American soldiers on their way to military prison are beset upon by a German artillery attack, escaping with Switzerland in their sights. Before making it any farther, they volunteer to steal a V2 warhead for the French Underground - taking them deep into the heart of German territory.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThat Man Bolt (1973)
Fred Williamson chop-sockeys his way through this popular blaxploitation adventure as Jefferson Bolt, a Kung Fu expert assigned to deliver a cool $1 million to Mexico City from Hong Kong with a stop in Los Angeles. When Bolt discovers the cash is dirty mob money and his gal has been killed, he heads back to the Far East to get even.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
The Human Tornado (1976)
Dolemite comes to the rescue of Queen Bee, whose nightclub is threatened by the Mafia.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Three Tough Guys?
The closest matches to Three Tough Guys are Black Caesar (1973), Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and Foxy Brown (1974). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Three Tough Guys?
Start with Black Caesar (1973), the closest match to Three Tough Guys.
What is the highest-rated movie like Three Tough Guys?
The Enforcer (2022), rated 7.0/10 by 533 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Three Tough Guys?
Trap House (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Three Tough Guys?
Yes: Black Caesar (1973), Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and Foxy Brown (1974).
How are movies similar to Three Tough Guys chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Three Tough Guys, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.