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Dead Presidents poster

Movies that feel likeDead Presidents (1995)

On the streets they call cash dead presidents. And that's just what a Vietnam veteran is after when he returns home from the war only to find himself drawn into a life of crime. With the aid of his fellow vets he plans the ultimate heist -- a daring robbery of an armored car filled with unmarked U.S. currency!

If you loved Dead Presidents, the closest films we have are Pusher 3 (2005), Dhoom 3 (2013) and Bad Education (2004). All three share Dead Presidents' gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973).

🍅 47% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Albert Hughesgrittycontemplativekineticwarmplayful
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Paramount Plus Premium

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If Dead Presidents hit the spot, these will too

Pusher 3 poster
Pusher 3
2005 · dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
🍅 93%★ 7.3action · thriller · crime

The same mix in both: grit, then momentum

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

Milo is aging, he is planning his daughter's 25th birthday, and his shipment of heroin turns out to be 10,000 pills of ecstasy. When Milo tries to sell the pills anyway, all Hell breaks loose and his only chance is to ask for help from his ex-henchman and old friend Radovan.

Dhoom 3 poster
Dhoom 3
2013 · dir. Vijay Krishna Acharya
🍅 65%★ 5.4action · crimeNetflix

Both are built on the same subject: heist

The difference: Easier on the stillness than Dead Presidents

To avenge his father's death, a circus entertainer trained in magic and acrobatics robs banks to take down a corrupt bank owner. Two cops from Mumbai are assigned to the case.

Bad Education poster
Bad Education
2004 · dir. Pedro Almodóvar
🍅 88%★ 7.4drama · crime

The same preoccupation in both: drug abuse

When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school. Weaving through past and present, the script follows a transvestite performer who reconnects with a grade school sweetheart. Spurred on by this chance encounter, the character reflects on her childhood sexual victimization and the trauma of closeting her sexual orientation.

Knockin' on Heaven's Door poster
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
1997 · dir. Thomas Jahn
★ 7.8comedy · crime · action

Contemplative and warm in the same breath

The difference: Leans harder into comedy than Dead Presidents does

Two young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in tequila and decide to take one last trip to the sea. Drunk and still in pajamas they steal the first fancy car they find, a 60's Mercedes convertible. The car happens to belong to a bunch of gangsters, which immediately start to chase it, since it contains more than the pistol Martin finds in the glove box.

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

Both lean on grit more than on crime

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.

The Yards poster
The Yards
2000 · dir. James Gray
🍅 64%★ 6.4crime · drama · thrillerParamount+

One thread runs through both: male friendship

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than Dead Presidents does

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.

Brother 2 poster
Brother 2
2000 · dir. Aleksei Balabanov
★ 7.6action · crime · drama

Contemplative drama in both cases

Arriving in Moscow, Chechen War veteran Danila meets Konstantin, an old friend who tells him that his twin brother has been forced into signing a crooked contract with a US ice hockey team. Soon after this meeting, Danila discovers Konstantin dead and he sets out to avenge his death; a journey that leads him to Chicago and a whole new experience.

Infernal Affairs III poster
Infernal Affairs III
2003 · dir. Andrew Lau Wai-Keung
★ 6.8crime · drama · actionMax

Action built on momentum, twice over

Triad gangster turned corrupt cop Lau Kin-ming goes to dangerous lengths to avoid detection.

Flickering Lights poster
Flickering Lights
2000 · dir. Anders Thomas Jensen
🍅 70%★ 7.5action · comedy · crime

Both keep coming back to the same thing: male friendship

Four small gangsters from Copenhagen trick a gangster boss: they take over 4,000,000 kroner which they were supposed to bring him. Trying to escape to Barcelona they are forced to stop in the countryside, in an old, wrecked house, hiding there for several weeks. Slowly, one after another, they realize, that they would like to stay there, start a new life.

Chocolate poster
Chocolate
2008 · dir. Prachya Pinkaew
🍅 71%★ 6.9action · crime

Gritty crime, and it commits to that

Zen, an autistic teenage girl with powerful martial arts skills, gets money to pay for her sick mother Zin's treatment by seeking out all the people who owe Zin money and making them pay.

Enforcement poster
Enforcement
2020 · dir. Anders Ølholm
🍅 82%★ 6.5action · crimeRent or buy

Action with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

The difference: Made in the 2020s, in a different era of the craft

The exact details of what took place while Talib Ben Hassi was in police custody remain unclear. Police officers Jens and Mike are on routine patrol in Svalegården's ghetto when news of Talib's death comes in over the radio, igniting uncontrollable, pent-up rage in the ghetto's youth, who lust for revenge. Suddenly, the two officers find themselves fair game and must fight tooth and claw to find a way out.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity poster
Battles Without Honor and Humanity
1973 · dir. Kinji Fukasaku
★ 7.4crime · action · drama

A 1970s answer to the same itch

In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.

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The best-reviewed films that share Dead Presidents’ defining feeling.