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Rambo poster

Movies that feel likeRambo (2008)

In Thailand, ex-Green Beret John James Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn neighboring Myanmar to rescue a group of Christian aid workers who have been kidnapped by a ruthless local infantry unit.

If you loved Rambo, the closest films we have are Sisu (2022), Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (2023) and Operation Red Sea (2018). All three share Rambo'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 Shadow (2018).

πŸ… 38% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Sylvester Stallonekinetictensebleak
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· MUBI

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If Rambo hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: First Blood (1982) Β· Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) Β· Rambo III (1988) Β· Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

Sisu poster
Sisu
2022 Β· dir. Jalmari Helander
πŸ… 94%β˜… 6.9action Β· war Β· thrillerRent or buy

Both land momentum and tension at once

The difference: Reviewed even better

When an ex-soldier who discovers gold in the Lapland wilderness tries to take the loot into the city, German soldiers led by a brutal SS officer battle him.

Guy Ritchie's The Covenant poster
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant
2023 Β· dir. Guy Ritchie
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.5war Β· action Β· thrillerPrime Video

Bleak action, and it commits to that

After an ambush, Afghan interpreter Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save US Army Sergeant John Kinley's life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must return to the war zone and repay his debt.

Operation Red Sea poster
Operation Red Sea
2018 Β· dir. Dante Lam Chiu-yin
πŸ… 80%β˜… 6.6action Β· thriller Β· warPrime Video

Thriller with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to adventure than Rambo does

A squad of the Jiaolong Commando Unit - Sea Dragon, a spec ops team of the Chinese Navy, carries out a hostage rescue operation in the nation of Yewaire, on the Arabian Peninsula, and fiercely fights against local rebel groups and Zaka, a terrorist organization.

Shadow poster
Shadow
2018 Β· dir. Zhang Yimou
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7action Β· warPrime Video

Both lean on bleakness more than on war

The difference: Takes it somewhere less tense than Rambo does

In a kingdom ruled by a young and unpredictable king, the military commander has a secret weapon: a shadow, a look-alike who can fool both his enemies and the King himself. Now he must use this weapon in an intricate plan that will lead his people to victory in a war that the King does not want.

District B13 poster
District B13
2004 Β· dir. Pierre Morel
πŸ… 81%β˜… 7.1action Β· thriller Β· science fictionPrime Video

Tense action in both cases

The difference: Leans harder into science fiction than Rambo does

Set in the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.

eXistenZ poster
eXistenZ
1999 Β· dir. David Cronenberg
πŸ… 77%β˜… 6.8action Β· thriller Β· science fiction

Thriller built on momentum, twice over

A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.

Tom Clancy's Without Remorse poster
Tom Clancy's Without Remorse
2021 Β· dir. Stefano Sollima
πŸ… 45%β˜… 5.8action Β· thriller Β· warPrime Video

War built on tension, twice over

An elite Navy SEAL uncovers an international conspiracy while seeking justice for the murder of his pregnant wife.

Black Crab poster
Black Crab
2022 Β· dir. Adam Berg
πŸ… 53%β˜… 5.7action Β· thrillerNetflix

Action built on bleakness, twice over

To end an apocalyptic war and save her daughter, a reluctant soldier embarks on a desperate mission to cross a frozen sea carrying a top-secret cargo.

Death Race poster
Death Race
2008 Β· dir. Paul W. S. Anderson
πŸ… 41%β˜… 6.4action Β· thriller Β· science fictionStarz

The same thriller instincts

Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyland Corporation, which sees jails full of thugs as an opportunity for televised sport. Adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for violence and a spectacular, enclosed arena come together to form the 'Death Race', the biggest, most brutal event.

Surrogates poster
Surrogates
2009 Β· dir. Jonathan Mostow
πŸ… 37%β˜… 6.3science fiction Β· action Β· thriller

Cut from the same action cloth

Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates.

Tears of the Sun poster
Tears of the Sun
2003 Β· dir. Antoine Fuqua
πŸ… 34%β˜… 6.6war Β· action Β· dramaNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: border

The difference: Trades the tension of Rambo for an angle of its own

Navy SEAL Lieutenant A.K. Waters and his elite squadron of tactical specialists are forced to choose between their duty and their humanity, between following orders by ignoring the conflict that surrounds them, or finding the courage to follow their conscience and protect a group of innocent refugees. When the democratic government of Nigeria collapses and the country is taken over by a ruthless military dictator, Waters, a fiercely loyal and hardened veteran is dispatched on a routine mission to retrieve a Doctors Without Borders physician.

Gamer poster
Gamer
2009 Β· dir. Brian Taylor
πŸ… 29%β˜… 5.7action Β· thriller Β· science fiction

Thriller approached the same way

Mind-control technology has taken society by a storm, a multiplayer on-line game called "Slayers" allows players to control human prisoners in mass-scale. Simon controls Kable, the online champion of the game. Kable's ultimate challenge becomes regaining his identity and independence by defeating the game's mastermind.

In the mood for more kinetic?

all kinetic movies β†’

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