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Movies that feel like The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

If you loved The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, the closest films we have are The Last Stand (2013), Unstoppable (2010) and The Mechanic (2011). All three share The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3's tense and kinetic feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 12 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus Premium and others, checked against today's data.

Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.

πŸ… 51% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Tony Scottgrittytensekinetic
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If The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 hit the spot, these will too

The Last Stand poster
The Last Stand
2013 Β· dir. Kim Jee-woon
πŸ… 61%β˜… 6.3action Β· crime Β· thriller

Both keep coming back to the same thing: hostage

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.

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Unstoppable poster
Unstoppable
2010 Β· dir. Tony Scott
πŸ… 87%β˜… 6.8action Β· thriller

Tony Scott directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

When a massive, unmanned locomotive roars out of control, the threat is more ominous than just a derailment. The train is laden with toxic chemicals, and an accident would decimate human life and cause an environmental disaster. The only hope of bringing the train to a safe stop is in the hands of veteran engineer Frank Barnes, and young conductor Will Colson, who must risk their lives to save those in the runaway's path. Inspired by true events.

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The Mechanic poster
The Mechanic
2011 Β· dir. Simon West
πŸ… 54%β˜… 6.5action Β· thriller Β· crime

Gritty and tense in the same breath

Arthur Bishop is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code requiring professional perfection and total detachment. One of an elite group of assassins, Bishop may be the best in the business - with a unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. When Harry McKenna, his close friend and mentor, is murdered, Harry's son comes to him with vengeance in his heart and a desire to learn Bishop's trade, signaling the birth of a deadly partnership.

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Swordfish poster
Swordfish
2001 Β· dir. Dominic Sena
πŸ… 27%β˜… 6.5action Β· crime Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: hostage

Rogue agent Gabriel Shear is determined to get his mitts on $9 billion stashed in a secret Drug Enforcement Administration account. He wants the cash to fight terrorism, but lacks the computer skills necessary to hack into the government mainframe. Enter Stanley Jobson, a n'er-do-well encryption expert who can log into anything.

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Crank: High Voltage poster
Crank: High Voltage
2009 Β· dir. Mark Neveldine
πŸ… 64%β˜… 6.1action Β· thriller Β· crime

Crime built on momentum, twice over

Chelios faces a Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart and replaced it with a battery-powered ticker that requires regular jolts of electricity to keep working.

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Ninja: Shadow of a Tear poster
Ninja: Shadow of a Tear
2013 Β· dir. Isaac Florentine
πŸ… 100%β˜… 6.1action Β· crime Β· thriller

Gritty thriller, and it commits to that

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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RocknRolla poster
RocknRolla
2008 Β· dir. Guy Ritchie
πŸ… 60%β˜… 7.2action Β· crime Β· thriller

Action with a pulse of tension, in both cases

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.

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Transporter 2 poster
Transporter 2
2005 Β· dir. Louis Leterrier
β˜… 6.3action Β· thriller Β· crime

Both lean on momentum more than on crime

Professional driver, and former Special Forces officer, Frank Martin is living in Miami, where he is temporarily filling in for a friend as the chauffeur for a government narcotics control policy director and his family. The young boy in the family is targeted for kidnapping, and Frank immediately becomes involved in protecting the child and exposing the kidnappers.

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Cold Eyes poster
Cold Eyes
2013 Β· dir. Kim Byung-seo
β˜… 7.1crime Β· action Β· thriller

Gritty thriller in both cases

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.

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Hitman: Agent 47 poster
Hitman: Agent 47
2015 Β· dir. Aleksander Bach
πŸ… 8%β˜… 5.7action Β· crime Β· thriller

Tense action, and it commits to that

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

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Ong-Bak poster
Ong-Bak
2003 Β· dir. Prachya Pinkaew
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.1action Β· crime Β· thriller

Kinetic 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.

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Infernal Affairs II poster
Infernal Affairs II
2003 Β· dir. Andrew Lau Wai-Keung
πŸ… 75%β˜… 7.2action Β· thriller Β· crime

Both play thriller straight

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.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3’s defining feeling.