Movies Like The Defiant Ones (1958)

The Defiant Ones is a 1958 action, adventure, crime, drama, thriller film from Stanley Kramer with a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Thieves Like Us and Rites of Passage.

Action Adventure Crime Drama Thriller

Thieves Like Us

1974

Three criminals escape from prison and embark on a robbery spree across USA. Along the way, one of them falls in love while they plan a final heist before going their separate ways.

6.5

MagicScore

Rites of Passage

1999

A father and his two sons go on holiday together hoping to reconcile some of their differences, but when the arrival of two escaped convicts interrupts their vacation, the three men must cooperate in order to survive.

5.4

MagicScore

Mississippi Masala

1991

Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda, twentysomething Mina finds herself helping to run a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. It's there that a passionate romance with the charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African American communities.

6.4

MagicScore

A Man Escaped

1956

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.

7.9

MagicScore

The Hurricane

1937

A Polynesian sailor is separated from his wife when he's unjustly imprisoned for defending himself against a colonial bully. Members of the community petition the governor for clemency but all pretense of law and order are soon shattered by an incoming tropical storm.

6.7

MagicScore

The Chase

1966

The escape of Bubber Reeves from prison affects the inhabitants of a small Southern town.

7.1

MagicScore

Fast Five

2011

Former cop Brian O'Conner partners with ex-con Dom Toretto on the opposite side of the law. Since Brian and Mia Toretto broke Dom out of custody, they've blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom.

7.2

MagicScore

Life

1999

Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.

6.6

MagicScore

Sniper 2

2002

A former Marine sniper is lured back in on a top-secret mission to take out a rogue general accused of running a stealth operation of hit-and-run ethnic cleansing missions in an area known as "No Man's Land."

5.5

MagicScore

#10

Becky

2020

A teenager's weekend at a lake house with her father takes a turn for the worse when a group of convicts wreaks havoc on their lives.

6.3

MagicScore

#11

In the Heat of the Night

1967

African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.

7.6

MagicScore

#12

We're No Angels

1989

Two escaped cons' only prayer to escape is to pass themselves off as priests and pass by the police blockade at the border into the safety of Canada.

6.2

MagicScore

#13

Mississippi Burning

1988

Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his partner, a former sheriff.

7.7

MagicScore

#14

A Time to Kill

1996

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

7.4

MagicScore

#15

Made in Britain

1983

After being sent to a detention centre, a teenage skinhead clashes with the social workers who want to conform him to the status quo.

7.0

MagicScore

#16

Welcome to Leith

2015

In September 2012, the tiny prairie town of Leith, North Dakota, sees its population of 24 grow by one. As the new resident's behavior becomes more threatening, tensions soar, and the residents desperately look for ways to expel their unwanted neighbor.

6.6

MagicScore

#17

The Frozen Ground

2013

An Alaska State Trooper partners with a young woman who escaped the clutches of serial killer Robert Hansen to bring the murderer to justice. Based on actual events.

6.3

MagicScore

#18

A Raisin in the Sun

1961

Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.

7.7

MagicScore

#19

The Island

2005

In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly "Utopian" but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to The Island — reportedly the last uncontaminated location on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie.

6.7

MagicScore

#20

La Ciénaga

2001

Amid the sweltering summer heat in northern Argentina, two middle-class families retreat to a crumbling country estate and a modest townhouse, where strained relationships, simmering tensions, and the presence of children and servants quietly expose the fractures of family life. Between idle days, gossip, and unspoken desires, the boundaries of class, tradition, and faith are reflected in their everyday interactions.

6.9

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Defiant Ones?

The top films similar to The Defiant Ones by MovieMagicScore are Thieves Like Us (6.5), Rites of Passage (5.4), Mississippi Masala (6.4). Each shares action/adventure/crime/drama/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Defiant Ones worth watching?

The Defiant Ones holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10 from 302 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Defiant Ones?

The Defiant Ones (1958) is a action, adventure, crime, drama, thriller film directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Defiant Ones?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more action recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Thieves Like Us Movies like Rites of Passage Movies like Mississippi Masala Movies like A Man Escaped Movies like The Hurricane Movies like The Chase

About movies like The Defiant Ones

This ranked list pairs The Defiant Ones (1958), a action and adventure and crime and drama and thriller film from Stanley Kramer, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Tony Curtis take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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