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Movies that feel like A Better Tomorrow (1986)

If you loved A Better Tomorrow, the closest films we have are Lady Snowblood (1973), The Killer (1989) and Iron Monkey (1993). All three share A Better Tomorrow's kinetic and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel and HBO Max and others, checked against today's data.

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.

🍅 95% Rotten Tomatoes7.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. John Wookineticgrittycontemplativerelentless

When is A Better Tomorrow streaming? →

If A Better Tomorrow hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) · Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) · The Day After Tomorrow (2004) · Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Lady Snowblood poster
Lady Snowblood
1973 · dir. Toshiya Fujita
🍅 100%7.6action · crime · drama

Revenge sits at the heart of each

A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.

Feels alike?
The Killer poster
The Killer
1989 · dir. John Woo
🍅 96%7.7action · crime · drama

John Woo directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Missing the relentlessness of A Better Tomorrow

Mob assassin Jeffrey is no ordinary hired gun; the best in his business, he views his chosen profession as a calling rather than simply a job. So, when beautiful nightclub chanteuse Jennie is blinded in the crossfire of his most recent hit, Jeffrey chooses to retire after one last job to pay for his unintended victim's sight-restoring operation. But when Jeffrey is double-crossed, he reluctantly joins forces with a rogue policeman to make things right.

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Iron Monkey poster
Iron Monkey
1993 · dir. Yuen Woo-ping
🍅 91%7.5action · crime · drama

Kinetic and gritty in the same breath

The difference: None of the relentlessness that defines A Better Tomorrow

In this Hong Kong variation of Robin Hood, corrupt officials of a Chinese village are robbed by a masked bandit known as "Iron Monkey", named after a benevolent deity. When all else fails, the Governor forces a traveling physician into finding the bandit.

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Training Day poster
Training Day
2001 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 74%7.8action · crime · drama

Both trade on stillness more than on being action

On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears.

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Rolling Thunder poster
Rolling Thunder
1977 · dir. John Flynn
🍅 82%6.9drama · thriller · action

The same preoccupation in both: revenge

The difference: Plays it as thriller more than A Better Tomorrow does

A Vietnam veteran, Charles Rane, returns home after years in a POW camp and is treated as a hero. He has a hard time adjusting, and things go badly. A movie about the walking dead, before that meant just flesh-eating zombies.

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Face/Off poster
Face/Off
1997 · dir. John Woo
🍅 93%7.3action · crime · science fiction

The same hand behind both of them: John Woo

In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity of a criminal mastermind. The plan turns sour when the criminal wakes up prematurely and seeks revenge.

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Léon: The Professional poster
Léon: The Professional
1994 · dir. Luc Besson
🍅 76%8.5crime · drama · action

Relentless crime in both cases

Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Léon's footsteps.

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Kill Bill: Vol. 1 poster
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
2003 · dir. Quentin Tarantino
🍅 85%8.2action · crime

Drama with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

An assassin is shot by her ruthless employer, Bill, and other members of their assassination circle – but she lives to plot her vengeance.

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Scarface poster
Scarface
1983 · dir. Brian De Palma
🍅 77%8.3action · crime · drama

Both built around brothers and sisters

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.

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Bob le Flambeur poster
Bob le Flambeur
1956 · dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
🍅 97%7.6drama · action · crime

Action built on grit, twice over

The difference: A 1950s film, from a different era of filmmaking

In Paris, Bob Montagne is practically synonymous with gambling -- and winning. He is kind, classy and well-liked by virtually everyone in town, including police inspector Ledru. However, when Bob's luck turns sour, he begins to lose friends and makes the most desperate gamble of his life: to rob the Deauville casino during Grand Prix weekend, when the vaults are full. Unfortunately, Bob soon learns that the game is rigged and the cops are on to him.

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Heat poster
Heat
1995 · dir. Michael Mann
🍅 84%8.3crime · drama · action

Contemplative crime, and it commits to that

Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.

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Hard Boiled poster
Hard Boiled
1992 · dir. John Woo
🍅 92%7.7action · thriller · crime

Hong Kong shapes both of them

A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.

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In the mood for more kinetic?

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The best-reviewed films that share A Better Tomorrow's defining feeling.