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Movies that feel like Elite Squad (2007)

If you loved Elite Squad, the closest films we have are Training Day (2001), Brother 2 (2000) and Brother (1997). All three share Elite Squad's contemplative and kinetic feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video and others, checked against today's data.

In 1997, before the visit of the pope to Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento from BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) is assigned to eliminate the risks of the drug dealers in a dangerous slum nearby where the pope intends to be lodged.

🍅 53% Rotten Tomatoes8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. José Padilhacontemplativekineticgritty

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If Elite Squad hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)

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

Two things both keep coming back to: drug dealer and police brutality

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

The same mix in both: stillness, then momentum

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.

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Brother poster
Brother
1997 · dir. Aleksei Balabanov
🍅 100%7.8crime · drama · action

Gritty drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Reviewed even better

Danila goes to his successful brother, Victor, in Petersburg to start a new life. Unknown to Danila, Victor is a contract killer, but is in hiding after asking for too much money to assassinate a Chechen mob boss. To avoid exposure, Victor convinces Danila to kill the boss instead.

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

Contemplative action in both cases

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

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Law of Tehran poster
Law of Tehran
2019 · dir. Saeed Roustaee
🍅 95%7.8action · crime · drama

Crime with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

Samad is nobody’s fool. The narcotics officer has seen his share of a drug dealer’s lies and games, and his patience has come to run thin. While searching for the infamous drug baron Nasser Khakzad, he and his colleague Hamid scour the streets of Tehran, turning an overcrowded prison on its head. With his rough and dubious approach, Samad finally manages to find the criminal’s whereabouts – but things do not quite go according to plan...

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

Drama built on grit, twice over

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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Police Story: Lockdown poster
Police Story: Lockdown
2013 · dir. Ding Sheng
🍅 25%5.9action · crime · drama

Both lean on stillness more than on action

A man looking for the release of a long-time prisoner takes a police officer, his daughter, and a group of strangers hostage.

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Master Z: Ip Man Legacy poster
Master Z: Ip Man Legacy
2018 · dir. Yuen Woo-ping
6.5action · crime · drama

Crime built on momentum, twice over

Following his defeat by Master Ip, Cheung Tin Chi tries to make a life with his young son in Hong Kong, waiting tables at a bar that caters to expats. But it's not long before the mix of foreigners, money, and triad leaders draw him once again to the fight.

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Blow poster
Blow
2001 · dir. Ted Demme
🍅 56%7.5crime · drama

Common ground in both: war on drugs and drug trafficking

The difference: Not nearly as kinetic as Elite Squad

The story of how George Jung, together with the Medellín Cartel led by Pablo Escobar, established the billion-dollar cocaine empire in the United States in the 1970s.

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Furioza poster
Furioza
2021 · dir. Cyprian T. Olencki
6.3action · crime · drama

Both lean on grit more than on drama

A policewoman makes her ex-boyfriend an offer he can't refuse: either he infiltrates and informs on a gang of hooligans, or his brother goes to jail.

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

Both are action through and through

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.

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Mesrine: Killer Instinct poster
Mesrine: Killer Instinct
2008 · dir. Jean-François Richet
🍅 81%7.5drama · action · thriller

Both know what they want from crime

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than Elite Squad does

Jacques Mesrine, a loyal son and dedicated soldier, is back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian War. Soon he is seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. Mentored by Guido, Mesrine turns his back on middle class law-abiding and soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share Elite Squad’s defining feeling.