Movies Like Nighthawks (1981)

Nighthawks is a 1981 action, crime, thriller film from Bruce Malmuth with a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Veteran and An Eye for an Eye.

Action Crime Thriller

The Veteran

2011

Soldier Robert Miller returns home from Afghanistan unable to fit back into society. Living on a violent council estate and finding work in undercover surveillance, he becomes obsessed with taking down a group of local gangsters who are intrinsically tied to a suspected terrorist cell. Taking the situation into his own hands, Robert embarks on a brutal quest for justice, with devastating consequences.

5.8

MagicScore

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

Dirty Harry

1971

When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath.

7.5

MagicScore

Deep Cover

1992

Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.

6.8

MagicScore

A Stranger Among Us

1992

Detective Emily Eden is a tough New York City cop forced to go undercover to solve a puzzling murder. Her search for the truth takes her into a secret world of unwritten law and unspoken power, a world where the only way out is deeper in.

5.5

MagicScore

Cruising

1980

When New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who preys on patrons of the city's underground bars, young rookie Steve Burns infiltrates the S&M subculture to try and lure him out of the shadows.

6.6

MagicScore

Con Air

1997

Newly-paroled former US Army ranger Cameron Poe is headed back to his wife, but must fly home aboard a prison transport flight dubbed "Jailbird" taking the “worst of the worst” prisoners, a group described as “pure predators”, to a new super-prison. Poe faces impossible odds when the transport plane is skyjacked mid-flight by the most vicious criminals in the country led by the mastermind — genius serial killer Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, and backed by black militant Diamond Dog and psychopath Billy Bedlam.

6.8

MagicScore

Se7en

1995

Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Somerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.

8.4

MagicScore

Memories of Murder

2003

During the late 1980s, two detectives in a South Korean province attempt to solve series of gruesome rape-and-murder of young women.

8.1

MagicScore

#10

Fallen

1998

Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.

6.8

MagicScore

#11

Sea of Love

1989

Seen-it-all New York detective Frank Keller is unsettled - he has done twenty years on the force and could retire, and he hasn't come to terms with his wife leaving him for a colleague. Joining up with an officer from another part of town to investigate a series of murders linked by the lonely hearts columns he finds he is getting seriously and possibly dangerously involved with Helen, one of the main suspects.

6.6

MagicScore

#12

The Kingdom

2007

A team of U.S. government agents is sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.

6.7

MagicScore

#13

WΔZ

2007

There is something horribly wrong with the bodies found in the dark city streets. Some are mutilated while others have the Price equation (wΔz = Cov (w,z) = βwzVz) carved into their flesh. Detective Eddie Argo and his new partner Helen Westcott unearth the meaning of the odd equation and realise each victim is being offered a gruesome choice: kill your loved ones, or be killed. Before long it becomes clear that the perpetrator has suffered a similar fate and is now coping by seeking a way to solve this philosophical dilemma.

5.6

MagicScore

#14

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

1994

Frank Drebin is persuaded out of retirement to go undercover in a state prison. There he has to find out what top terrorist, Rocco, has planned for when he escapes. Adding to his problems, Frank's wife, Jane, is desperate for a baby.

6.5

MagicScore

#15

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

#16

Devil in a Blue Dress

1995

In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.

6.5

MagicScore

#17

Narc

2002

When the trail goes cold on a murder investigation of a policeman, an undercover narcotics officer is lured back to the force to help solve the case.

6.7

MagicScore

#18

Infernal Affairs II

2003

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.

7.3

MagicScore

#19

Heat

1995

Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.

7.9

MagicScore

#20

The Devil All the Time

2020

In Knockemstiff, Ohio and its neighboring backwoods, sinister characters converge around young Arvin Russell as he fights the evil forces that threaten him and his family.

7.2

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Nighthawks?

The top films similar to Nighthawks by MovieMagicScore are The Veteran (5.8), An Eye for an Eye (5.1), Dirty Harry (7.5). Each shares action/crime/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Nighthawks worth watching?

Nighthawks holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10 from 464 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Nighthawks?

Nighthawks (1981) is a action, crime, thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth, starring Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, Rutger Hauer.

Where can I find more recommendations like Nighthawks?

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 The Veteran Movies like An Eye for an Eye Movies like Dirty Harry Movies like Deep Cover Movies like A Stranger Among Us Movies like Cruising

About movies like Nighthawks

This ranked list pairs Nighthawks (1981), a action and crime and thriller film from Bruce Malmuth, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Sylvester Stallone 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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