Movies Like The 51st State (2001)

The 51st State is a 2001 action, comedy, crime, thriller film from Ronny Yu with a MovieMagicScore of 6.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with An Eye for an Eye and Police Story.

Action Comedy Crime Thriller

An Eye for an Eye

1981

Sean Kane is forced to resign from the San Francisco Police Department's Narcotics Division when he goes berserk after his partner is murdered. He decides to fight alone and follows a trail of drug traffickers into unexpected high places.

5.1

MagicScore

Police Story

1985

Officer Chan Ka Kui manages to put a major Hong Kong drug dealer behind the bars practically alone, after a shooting and an impressive chase inside a slum. Now, he must protect the boss' secretary, Selina, who will testify against the gangster in court.

7.5

MagicScore

7 Seconds

2005

When an experienced thief accidentally makes off with a Van Gogh, his partner is kidnapped by gangsters in pursuit of the painting, forcing the criminal to hatch a rescue plan.

5.5

MagicScore

Killing Them Softly

2012

Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.

6.0

MagicScore

Batman

1989

Having witnessed his parents' brutal murder as a child, millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne fights crime in Gotham City disguised as Batman, a costumed hero who strikes fear into the hearts of villains. But when a deformed madman known as 'The Joker' seizes control of Gotham's criminal underworld, Batman must face his most ruthless nemesis ever while protecting both his identity and his love interest, reporter Vicki Vale.

7.2

MagicScore

Gumshoe

1971

A would be private eye gets mixed up in a smuggling case.

6.3

MagicScore

Shirley Valentine

1989

Wondering what has happened to herself, now feeling stagnant and in a rut, Shirley Valentine finds herself regularly talking to the wall while preparing her husband's chips and egg. When her best friend wins a trip-for-two to Greece Shirley begins to see the world, and herself, in a different light.

6.2

MagicScore

Bloodeaters

1980

After drug crops are sprayed with a chemical by a passing airplane, the growers of the crop are poisoned by the chemical and turn into zombie-like mutants.

3.9

MagicScore

Bullitt

1968

Senator Walter Chalmers is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross with the help of testimony from the criminal's hothead brother Johnny, who is in protective custody in San Francisco under the watch of police lieutenant Frank Bullitt. When a pair of mob hitmen enter the scene, Bullitt follows their trail through a maze of complications and double-crosses. This thriller includes one of the most famous car chases ever filmed.

7.2

MagicScore

#10

The Gauntlet

1977

Phoenix cop Ben Shockley is well on his way to becoming a derelict when he is assigned to transport a witness from Las Vegas. The witness turns out to be a belligerent prostitute with mob ties—and incriminating information regarding a high-ranking official.

6.5

MagicScore

#11

Get Carter

1971

Jack Carter is a small-time hood working in London. When word reaches him of his brother's death, he travels to Newcastle to attend the funeral. Refusing to accept the police report of suicide, Carter seeks out his brother’s friends and acquaintances to learn who murdered his sibling and why.

7.0

MagicScore

#12

Spike Island

2012

Teenage musicians travel to England's Spike Island in the hope of attending an outdoor performance by their favorite band, the Stone Roses.

6.3

MagicScore

#13

Quick

2011

A biker is forced to deliver a ticking time bomb by a mysterious caller who has put an explosive helmet on his ex-girlfriend.

5.9

MagicScore

#14

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

2020

Harley Quinn joins forces with a singer, an assassin and a police detective to help a young girl who had a hit placed on her after she stole a rare diamond from a crime lord.

6.9

MagicScore

#15

Running Scared

1986

Two street-wise Chicago cops have to shake off some rust after returning from a Key West vacation to pursue a drug dealer that nearly killed them in the past.

6.0

MagicScore

#16

Withnail & I

1987

Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty, they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.

7.3

MagicScore

#17

Caliber 9

1972

Just out of prison, ex-con Ugo Piazza meets his former employer, a psychopathic gangster Rocco who enjoys sick violence and torture. Both the gangsters and the police believe Ugo has hidden $300,000 that should have gone to an American drug syndicate boss. Caliber 9 is the first part in Di Leo's "Milieu" Trilogy of poliziotteschi films. It was followed by "The Italian Connection" (1972) and "The Boss" (1973).

7.5

MagicScore

#18

The Equalizer

2014

McCall believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri, a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

7.3

MagicScore

#19

A Hard Day

2014

After trying to cover up a car accident that left a man dead, a crooked homicide detective is stalked by a mysterious man claiming to have witnessed the event.

7.1

MagicScore

#20

Executive Protection

2001

After causing a commotion with his last assignment, Falk has been given a desk job, which hardly agrees with his personality, and he ends up accepting an offer from an old friend to buy into a private investigation agency. Another friend of Falk's, Sven, purchased a business in Estonia, and when local gangsters attempted to pressure him into paying protection money, Sven retained the services of Nikolaus Lehmann, a burly private eye, to throw them off his trail. However, Lehmann does his job all too well, murdering the racketeers, and then threatening Sven and his family. With no where else to turn, Sven asks Falk to help him deal with the crazed Lehmann; Falk agrees, but soon realizes he's dealing with a more dangerous man than he imagined when Lehmann kidnaps Falk's wife Jeanette, and then releases her with a time bomb locked around her neck, demanding that Falk hand over ownership of his detective agency to Lehmann.

6.2

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The 51st State?

The top films similar to The 51st State by MovieMagicScore are An Eye for an Eye (5.1), Police Story (7.5), 7 Seconds (5.5). Each shares action/comedy/crime/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The 51st State worth watching?

The 51st State holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.1/10 from 637 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The 51st State?

The 51st State (2001) is a action, comedy, crime, thriller film directed by Ronny Yu, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer.

Where can I find more recommendations like The 51st State?

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 An Eye for an Eye Movies like Police Story Movies like 7 Seconds Movies like Killing Them Softly Movies like Batman Movies like Gumshoe

About movies like The 51st State

This ranked list pairs The 51st State (2001), a action and comedy and crime and thriller film from Ronny Yu, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Samuel L. Jackson 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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