feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like El Mariachi (1993)

If you loved El Mariachi, the closest films we have are Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992), Hard Target (1993) and In the Line of Duty 4 (1989). All three share El Mariachi's kinetic and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 11 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

El Mariachi just wants to play his guitar and carry on the family tradition. Unfortunately, the town he tries to find work in has another visitor, a killer who carries his guns in a guitar case. The drug lord and his henchmen mistake el Mariachi for the killer, Azul, and chase him around town trying to kill him and get his guitar case.

🍅 91% Rotten Tomatoes6.8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Robert Rodriguezkineticgrittytense

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

See it on the map

When is El Mariachi streaming? →

If El Mariachi hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Desperado (1995)

Police Story 3: Super Cop poster
Police Story 3: Super Cop
1992 · dir. Stanley Tong Gwai-Lai
🍅 93%7action · crime · thriller

Kinetic and gritty in the same breath

A Hong Kong detective teams up with his female Red Chinese counterpart to stop a Chinese drug czar.

Feels alike?
Hard Target poster
Hard Target
1993 · dir. John Woo
🍅 63%6.2action · thriller · crime

Both lean on tension more than on action

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

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.

Feels alike?
In the Line of Duty 4 poster
In the Line of Duty 4
1989 · dir. Yuen Woo-ping
7.1action · crime · thriller

Kinetic crime in both cases

Two detectives who are up to their necks in trouble and in each other's face, as they try to shut down a drug-trafficking scheme that could be connected with international ties to organized crime. But in the midst of their investigation, innocent immigrant dock worker Luk Wan-Ting gets caught up in the mix when he witnesses the murder of an intelligence operative and is framed for the crime.

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

Thriller built on grit, twice over

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.

Feels alike?
Police Story 2 poster
Police Story 2
1988 · dir. Jackie Chan
🍅 84%7.1action · crime · thriller

Tense western, and it commits to that

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.

Feels alike?
Infernal Affairs II poster
Infernal Affairs II
2003 · dir. Andrew Lau Wai-Keung
🍅 75%7.2action · thriller · crime

Action with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

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.

Feels alike?
Ong-Bak poster
Ong-Bak
2003 · dir. Prachya Pinkaew
🍅 85%7.1action · crime · thriller

Gritty crime 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.

Feels alike?
Assault on Precinct 13 poster
Assault on Precinct 13
1976 · dir. John Carpenter
🍅 94%7.3thriller · action · crime

Tense thriller in both cases

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.

Feels alike?
Cold Eyes poster
Cold Eyes
2013 · dir. Kim Byung-seo
7.1crime · action · thriller

Both are action through and through

The difference: 20 years apart, and the 2010s show

Ha Yoon-ju becomes the newest member of a unit within the Korean Police Forces Special Crime Department that specializes in surveillance activities on high-profile criminals. She teams up with Hwang Sang-jun, the veteran leader of the unit, and tries to track down James who is the cold-hearted leader of an armed criminal organization.

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

Both working the same crime territory

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.

Feels alike?
Ninja: Shadow of a Tear poster
Ninja: Shadow of a Tear
2013 · dir. Isaac Florentine
🍅 100%6.1action · crime · thriller

Cut from the same thriller cloth

Fight everyone and trust no one: it's the code of survival practiced by martial-arts master Casey Bowman after his life of domestic bliss is shattered by a savage act of violence. Vowing revenge, the fearless American stealthily tracks the killer from Osaka to Bangkok to Rangoon with the help of a wise and crafty sensei. His only clues: a series of victims whose necks bear the distinctive mark of strangulation by barbed wire. Fighting to avenge as well as to survive, Casey must sharpen his razor-like responses and take his battle skills to the next level, even using deep meditation to fake his own death. His target: the sinister drug lord Goro, who is flooding the streets with deadly meth cooked at his remote jungle factory. To prepare for his ultimate confrontation, Casey must finally become an invisible warrior worthy of the name Ninja. But just when his prey is cornered, an unexpected twist shows Casey that his battle is only beginning: he truly can trust no one.

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

Action approached the same way

The difference: Leans harder into drama than El Mariachi does

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.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more kinetic?

all kinetic movies →

The best-reviewed films that share El Mariachi’s defining feeling.