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Con Air poster

Movies that feel likeCon Air (1997)

Newly-paroled former US Army ranger Cameron Poe is headed back to his wife, but must fly home aboard a prison transport flight dubbed "Jailbird" taking the “worst of the worst” prisoners, a group described as “pure predators”, to a new super-prison. Poe faces impossible odds when the transport plane is skyjacked mid-flight by the most vicious criminals in the country led by the mastermind — genius serial killer Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, and backed by black militant Diamond Dog and psychopath Billy Bedlam.

If you loved Con Air, the closest films we have are Infernal Affairs II (2003), Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and The Boondock Saints (1999). All three share Con Air's kinetic and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Police Story 2 (1988).

🍅 59% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Simon Westkinetictensegritty
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Con Air hit the spot, these will too

Infernal Affairs II poster
Infernal Affairs II
2003 · dir. Alan Mak Siu-Fai
🍅 75%★ 7.2action · thriller · crimeMax

The same preoccupation in both: undercover

In this prequel to the original, a bloody power struggle among the Triads coincides with the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, setting up the events of the first film.

Assault on Precinct 13 poster
Assault on Precinct 13
1976 · dir. John Carpenter
🍅 94%★ 7.3thriller · action · crimePrime Video

Both are working the same pair: ambush, psychopath

The difference: Reviewed even better

A highway patrol officer, two criminals, and a station secretary form an unlikely alliance to defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang.

The Boondock Saints poster
The Boondock Saints
1999 · dir. Troy Duffy
🍅 26%★ 7.6action · thriller · crimePrime VideoHulu

Both keep coming back to the same thing: shootout

Tired of the crime overrunning the streets of Boston, Irish Catholic twin brothers Conner and Murphy are inspired by their faith to cleanse their hometown of evil with their own brand of zealous vigilante justice. As they hunt down and kill one notorious gangster after another, they become controversial folk heroes in the community. But Paul Smecker, an eccentric FBI agent, is fast closing in on their blood-soaked trail.

Hard Target poster
Hard Target
1993 · dir. John Woo
🍅 63%★ 6.2action · thriller · crimePrime Video

Both are built on the same subject: psychopath

When a woman's father goes missing, she enlists a local to aid in her search. The pair soon discover that her father has died at the hands of a wealthy sportsman who hunts homeless men as a form of recreation.

Police Story 2 poster
Police Story 2
1988 · dir. Jackie Chan
🍅 84%★ 7.1action · crime · thrillerMax

One thread runs through both: undercover

The Hong Kong super-cop must stop a group of blackmailing bombers at the same time that the villains of the first Police Story are out for revenge.

Spy Game poster
Spy Game
2001 · dir. Tony Scott
🍅 64%★ 7.1action · crime · thrillerNetflix

Both land momentum and tension at once

On the day of his retirement, a veteran CIA agent learns that his former protégé has been arrested in China, is sentenced to die the next morning in Beijing, and that the CIA is considering letting that happen to avoid an international scandal.

The Mechanic poster
The Mechanic
2011 · dir. Simon West
🍅 54%★ 6.5action · thriller · crimeParamount+

The same hand behind both of them: Simon West

Arthur Bishop is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code requiring professional perfection and total detachment. One of an elite group of assassins, Bishop may be the best in the business - with a unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. When Harry McKenna, his close friend and mentor, is murdered, Harry's son comes to him with vengeance in his heart and a desire to learn Bishop's trade, signaling the birth of a deadly partnership.

Transporter 2 poster
Transporter 2
2005 · dir. Louis Leterrier
★ 6.3action · thriller · crime

Action built on grit, twice over

Professional driver, and former Special Forces officer, Frank Martin is living in Miami, where he is temporarily filling in for a friend as the chauffeur for a government narcotics control policy director and his family. The young boy in the family is targeted for kidnapping, and Frank immediately becomes involved in protecting the child and exposing the kidnappers.

Lethal Weapon 4 poster
Lethal Weapon 4
1998 · dir. Richard Donner
🍅 54%★ 6.6action · crime · thriller

Both lean on momentum more than on thriller

With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with a deadly Chinese crime lord trying to get his brother out of prison.

Swordfish poster
Swordfish
2001 · dir. Dominic Sena
🍅 27%★ 6.5action · crime · thriller

Tense crime, and it commits to that

Rogue agent Gabriel Shear is determined to get his mitts on $9 billion stashed in a secret Drug Enforcement Administration account. He wants the cash to fight terrorism, but lacks the computer skills necessary to hack into the government mainframe. Enter Stanley Jobson, a n'er-do-well encryption expert who can log into anything.

Ong-Bak poster
Ong-Bak
2003 · dir. Prachya Pinkaew
🍅 85%★ 7.1action · crime · thrillerPrime Video

Gritty action in both cases

When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.

From Paris with Love poster
From Paris with Love
2010 · dir. Pierre Morel
🍅 37%★ 6.4action · crime · thriller

Thriller with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

James Reese has a good job as an ambassador's aid in France, but his real passion is a side gig—working in a minor role in the CIA. He would love to be a full-fledged agent and can't believe his luck when he lands an assignment with Charlie Wax. Trigger-happy Charlie soon has James crying for his desk job, but when he learns that the same guys they're trying to catch are after him, James realises that Charlie may be his only hope of survival.

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The best-reviewed films that share Con Air’s defining feeling.