20 best movies like On the Waterfront (1954)

List of the best movies like On the Waterfront (1954): A Most Violent Year, Black Mass, Run All Night, Gangster Land, King of New York, The Kitchen, Road to Perdition, Stiletto, Gotti, The Trust.

Tags: movies similar to On the Waterfront (1954) - full list

Markimdb: 7
Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
CountryUSA, United Arab Emirates
Duration02:05

A thriller set in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically one of the most violent years in the city's history, and centered on a the lives of an immigrant and his family trying to expand their business and capitalize on opportunities as the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built.

Markimdb: 6.9
Genredrama, crime, biography
CountryUSA, United Kingdom
Duration02:09

    The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.

    Markimdb: 6.6
    Genreaction, drama, crime
    CountryUSA
    Duration02:33

      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.

      Markimdb: 4.4
      Genreaction, drama, crime
      CountryUSA

      The story of America's most famous mobsters and their rise to power. Examine Al Capone's ascension through the eyes of his second in command, “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn.

      Markimdb: 6.9
      Genrethriller, crime
      CountryItaly, USA
      Duration01:43

      A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on Robin Hood.

      Markimdb: 5.5
      Genreaction, drama, crime
      CountryUSA, Canada
      Duration02:23

      After a group of Irish mobsters in Hell's Kitchen are sentenced to jail, their wives take their place—and do as good of a job, if not better.

      Markimdb: 7.7
      Genrethriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:57

      Mike Sullivan works as a hit man for crime boss John Rooney. Sullivan views Rooney as a father figure, however after his son is witness to a killing, Mike Sullivan finds himself on the run in attempt to save the life of his son and at the same time looking for revenge on those who wronged him.

      Markimdb: 4.8
      Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA

      The seemingly random killings of an assassin puzzle her former lover, a wealthy Greek crime boss whose organization is jeopardized by his love for her, and the detective following her rising body count

      Markimdb: 4.7
      Genredrama, crime, biography
      CountryCanada, USA
      Duration02:12

      John Gotti rises to the top of the New York underworld to become the boss of the Gambino crime family. His life takes a tumultuous turn as he faces tragedy, multiple trials and a prison sentence.

      Markimdb: 5.4
      Genrethriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration02:21

      A pair of cops investigating a drug invasion stumble upon a mysterious bank vault.

      Markimdb: 7.4
      Genrefantastic, action, thriller, drama
      CountryUSA, China
      Duration01:58

      In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past where a looper, a hired gun, like Joe is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good until the day the mob decides to close the loop, sending back Joe's future self for assassination.

      Markimdb: 6.4
      Genrethriller, drama, crime
      CountryJapan
      Duration01:14

      Ôtomo gets involved with new Yakuza battles after he comes back the Yakuza society.

      Markimdb: 7.5
      Genredrama, crime
      CountryUSA, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy
      Duration02:47

      It's 1863. America was born in the streets. Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points of America to seek vengeance against the psychotic gangland kingpin, Bill the Butcher, who murdered his father years earlier. With an eager pickpocket by his side and a whole new army, Vallon fights his way to seek vengeance on the Butcher and restore peace in the area.

      Markimdb: 6.6
      Genredrama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:39

      The story concerns the funeral of one of three brothers in a family of gangsters that lived in New York in 1930s. Details of the past of the brothers and their families are shown through a series of flashbacks.

      Markimdb: 7.6
      Genredrama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:23

      Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.

      Markimdb: 6.5
      Genreaction, thriller, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:34

      After a former elite agent rescues a 12-year-old Chinese girl who's been abducted, they find themselves in the middle of a standoff between Triads, the Russian Mafia and high-level corrupt New York City politicians and police.

      Markimdb: 6.8
      Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:52

      A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen.

      Markimdb: 6.3
      Genredrama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration02:10

      In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running 'the numbers'. When Madam Queen—the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harlem—is arrested, Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson takes over the business and must resist an invasion from a merciless mobster.

      Markimdb: 6.8
      Genredrama, crime, detective
      CountryUSA

      Lionel Essrog, a private detective living with Tourette syndrome, ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and best friend — a mystery that carries him from the gin-soaked jazz clubs of Harlem to the slums of Brooklyn to the gilded halls of New York's power brokers.

      Markimdb: 7.9
      Genrethriller, drama, crime, film noir
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:46

      After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.

      Markimdb: 7
      Genrethriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:41

      Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law.

      Markimdb: 7.2
      Genreaction, thriller, melodrama, drama, crime
      CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
      Duration02:09

      Terry Noonan returns home to New York's Hells Kitchen after a ten year absence. He soon hooks up with childhood pal Jackie who is involved in the Irish mob run by his brother Frankie. Terry also rekindles an old flame with Jackie's sister Kathleen. Soon, however, Terry is torn between his loyalty to his friends and his loyalties to others.

      Markimdb: 7.2
      Genremelodrama, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:30

      The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.

      Markimdb: 8.3
      Genredrama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration02:50

      After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.

      Markimdb: 6.9
      Genreaction, thriller, crime, detective
      CountrySouth Korea
      Duration01:22

      In Cheonan, a serial murder case takes place, but the case becomes more and more of a mystery. Only Tae-suk, a cop, immediately senses that all the cases are by the same killer and starts investigation. One day, Dong-soo, a gang boss, got attacked by a suspicious man, and Tae-suk realizes that this man is the serial killer, K. Now, Dong-soo becomes the only witness and a survived victim from K.

      Markimdb: 7.6
      Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration02:50

      In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.

      Markimdb: 5.5
      Genredrama, crime, biography, history
      CountryUnited Kingdom, Japan, USA
      Duration01:50

      Fact and fiction are combined in this story about Jack Ruby and a stripper, Candy Cane, and how they become involved in a conspiracy to kill J.F.K.

      Markimdb: 4.8
      Genrethriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:50

      A rising Boston gangster (Ben Barnes) endangers those around him when he starts to make moves without the knowledge of his boss (Harvey Keitel).

      Markimdb: 6.8
      Genrethriller, drama, crime, biography
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:45

      The true story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man.

      Markimdb: 6.5
      Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:54

      Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

      Markimdb: 6.3
      Genrethriller, drama
      CountryUSA
      Duration02:34

      A drama centered around the relationship between journalist Michael Finkel and Christian Longo, an FBI Most Wanted List murderer who for years lived outside the U.S. under Finkel's name.

      Markimdb: 7.1
      Genrethriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA

      When a young boy's family is killed by the mob, their tough neighbor Gloria becomes his reluctant guardian. In possession of a book that the gangsters want, the pair go on the run in New York.

      Markimdb: 7.9
      Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime
      CountryUSA, France
      Duration02:01

      Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.

      Markimdb: 6.8
      Genredrama, crime, biography
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:21

      A look behind the scenes at Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme, how it was perpetrated on the public and the trail of destruction it left in its wake, both for the victims and Madoff's family.

      Markimdb: 7.9
      Genrethriller, crime, film noir
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:30

      Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.

      Markimdb: 6.3
      Genrethriller, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:25

      Two kids find themselves in the centre of a deadly game of cat and mouse after taking a sheriff's cruiser for a joy ride.

      Markimdb: 6.4
      Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:57

      In the rail yards of Queens, contractors repair and rebuild the city's subway cars. These contracts are lucrative, so graft and corruption are rife. When Leo Handler gets out of prison, he finds his aunt married to Frank Olchin, one of the big contractors; he's battling with a minority-owned firm for contracts.

      Markimdb: 4.3
      Genreaction, thriller, crime, detective
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:05

      After a massive shootout, a mysterious stranger (Van Damme) arrives at a local hospital on the brink of death. Then, a foreign gang brazenly comes to the hospital to hunt him down. His nurse, the sole surviving witness to the follow-up shootout, must face an FBI interrogation that unlocks a plot of international intrigue and revenge. With enough twists and turns, KILL'EM ALL will keep you guessing until the final bullet is fired.

      Markimdb: 6.3
      Genredrama, crime
      CountryUSA

      Set in Newark during the 1960s race riots between the African-American and Italian communities. The war between the cultural mobs turns especially lethal. Prequel to the TV series The Sopranos.

      Markimdb: 5.5
      Genrethriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:31

      Three teenage friends get in way over their head when they cross a down-home crime syndicate. They hope to make a break for it and escape their dead-end existence in a cotton-mill town but get sucked into the seedy underbelly of organized crime when one of them steals from the wrong man.

      Markimdb: 6.9
      Genrethriller, drama, crime
      CountryUnited Kingdom, France, USA
      Duration02:29

      Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.

      Markimdb: 4.4
      Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:25

      Quinn Forte had it all: power, money, a brother who idolized him, and a woman who loved him. He also had enemies. In the course of one night, he loses everything. Betrayed by someone in his inner circle, Quinn is set up and arrested. His father, the patriarch of the criminal empire is killed and his brother suspects that Quinn is behind it all. When he's released from jail he tries to escape the demons from his past, but that becomes an impossible task. Campbell, the ruthless new leader of "The Company" won't let him leave in peace. So instead of escaping them, Quinn fights back. He joins forces with his former henchman and friend, The Swede, and takes on his enemies head on.

      Markimdb: 8.5
      Genrethriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA, Hong Kong
      Duration02:31

      To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

      Markimdb: 7.2
      Genrecomedy, drama
      CountryUSA, China
      Duration02:18

        A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild FBI agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia.

        Markimdb: 6.3
        Genrethriller, drama, crime
        CountryUSA
        Duration02:13

        A gang of criminals and corrupt cops plan the murder of a police officer in order to pull off their biggest heist yet across town.

        Markimdb: 6.3
        Genreaction, thriller, crime, detective
        CountrySouth Korea
        Duration01:10

        On the run from a dogged internal affairs agent, a corrupt cop reluctantly teams up with a defiant teen to unravel a conspiracy -- before it's too late.

        Markimdb: 8.2
        Genredrama, crime
        CountryFrance, USA
        Duration02:51

        The life of the gambling paradise – Las Vegas – and its dark mafia underbelly.

        Markimdb: 8.4
        Genreaction, thriller, crime
        CountryIndia

        A notorious gangster Vedha surrenders himself to encounter specialist Vikram whom he challenges every step of the way by narrating his life events in the form of riddles that needs to be solved in order to capture him.

        Markimdb: 6.8
        Genrecomedy, drama, crime
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:45

        Chronicles Jack Harris, one of the pioneers of internet commerce, as he wrestles with his morals and struggles not to drown in a sea of conmen, mobsters, drug addicts, and pornstars.

        Markimdb: 5.9
        Genredrama, short, crime
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:40

        When the New York journalist Jake Bridges catches his girlfriend with another guy, he goes to Atlantic City to drink himself to oblivion. He is saved from a bar brawl by a small-time mobster Frankie, and Jake falls in love with Frankie's girlfriend Melissa. Jake soon also joins Frankie in his money-collecting duties.




        MoviesList