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Need for Speed poster

Movies that feel likeNeed for Speed (2014)

The film revolves around a local street-racer who partners with a rich and arrogant business associate, only to find himself framed by his colleague and sent to prison. After he gets out, he joins a New York-to-Los Angeles race to get revenge. But when the ex-partner learns of the scheme, he puts a massive bounty on the racer's head, forcing him to run a cross-country gauntlet of illegal racers in all manner of supercharged vehicles.

If you loved Need for Speed, the closest films we have are RocknRolla (2008), Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Kill Boksoon (2023). All three share Need for Speed's kinetic and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013).

🍅 23% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Scott Waughkineticgrittycontemplativetense
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium

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See it on the Mood Map

If Need for Speed hit the spot, these will too

RocknRolla poster
RocknRolla
2008 · dir. Guy Ritchie
🍅 60%★ 7.2action · crime · thriller

Common ground: money

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

When a Russian mobster sets up a real estate scam that generates millions of pounds, various members of London's criminal underworld pursue their share of the fortune. Various shady characters, including Mr One-Two, Stella the accountant, and Johnny Quid, a druggie rock-star, try to claim their slice.

Undisputed III: Redemption poster
Undisputed III: Redemption
2010 · dir. Isaac Florentine
★ 7.4action · thriller · crime

Kinetic where it counts, gritty underneath

Russian inmate Boyka, now severely hobbled by the knee injury suffered at the end of Undisputed 2. No longer the feared prison fighter he was, he has declined so far that he is now good only for cleaning toilets. But when a new prison fight tournament begins - an international affair, matching the best fighters from prisons around the globe, enticing them with the promise of freedom for the winner - Boyka must reclaim his dignity and fight for his position in the tournament.

Kill Boksoon poster
Kill Boksoon
2023 · dir. Byun Sung-hyun
🍅 79%★ 6.6action · drama · thrillerNetflix

Contemplative and tense in the same breath

At work, she's a renowned assassin. At home, she's a single mom to a teenage daughter. Killing? That's easy. It's parenting that's the hard part.

The Protector poster
The Protector
2005 · dir. Prachya Pinkaew
🍅 53%★ 7action · crime · drama

Kinetic action, and it commits to that

A young fighter named Kham must go to Australia to retrieve his stolen elephant. With the help of a Thai-born Australian detective, Kham must take on all comers, including a gang led by an evil woman and her two deadly bodyguards.

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

Crime built on grit, twice over

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.

Jack Reacher poster
Jack Reacher
2012 · dir. Christopher McQuarrie
🍅 64%★ 7crime · drama · thrillerPrime VideoParamount+

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

One morning in an ordinary town, five people are shot dead in a seemingly random attack. All evidence points to a single suspect: an ex-military sniper who is quickly brought into custody. The interrogation yields one written note: 'Get Jack Reacher!'. Reacher, an enigmatic ex-Army investigator, believes the authorities have the right man but agrees to help the sniper's defense attorney. However, the more Reacher delves into the case, the less clear-cut it appears. So begins an extraordinary chase for the truth, pitting Jack Reacher against an unexpected enemy, with a skill for violence and a secret to keep.

Gangster Squad poster
Gangster Squad
2013 · dir. Ruben Fleischer
🍅 30%★ 6.7crime · drama · action

Both lean on tension more than on thriller

Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and — if he has his way — every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop… except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara and Jerry Wooters who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart.

Colombiana poster
Colombiana
2011 · dir. Olivier Megaton
🍅 29%★ 6.4action · thriller · crime

Kinetic action in both cases

After witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, Cataleya Restrepo grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target: the mobster responsible for her parents' death.

Hitman: Agent 47 poster
Hitman: Agent 47
2015 · dir. Aleksander Bach
🍅 8%★ 5.7action · crime · thriller

Gritty crime in both cases

The difference: Trades the stillness of Need for Speed for an angle of its own

An assassin teams up with a woman to help her find her father and uncover the mysteries of her ancestry.

Premium Rush poster
Premium Rush
2012 · dir. David Koepp
🍅 75%★ 6.5crime · action · thriller

Tense thriller in both cases

In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city.

The Last Stand poster
The Last Stand
2013 · dir. Kim Jee-woon
🍅 61%★ 6.3action · crime · thrillerPrime Video

Action in the same key

Ray Owens is sheriff of the quiet US border town of Sommerton Junction after leaving the LAPD following a bungled operation. Following his escape from the FBI, a notorious drug baron, his gang, and a hostage are heading toward Sommerton Junction where the police are preparing to make a last stand to intercept them before they cross the border. Owens is reluctant to become involved but ultimately joins in with the law enforcement efforts.

Ninja: Shadow of a Tear poster
Ninja: Shadow of a Tear
2013 · dir. Isaac Florentine
🍅 100%★ 6.2action · crime · thrillerPrime Video

Both know what they want from crime

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.

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The best-reviewed films that share Need for Speed’s defining feeling.