Movies Like On the Waterfront (1954)

On the Waterfront is a 1954 crime, drama, romance film from Elia Kazan with a MovieMagicScore of 7.9/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and Moontide.

Crime Drama Romance

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

1999

A Black hitman who models after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.

7.3

MagicScore

Moontide

1942

After a drunken night out, a longshoreman thinks he may have killed a man.

6.3

MagicScore

The Man from London

2008

A switchman at a seaside railway witnesses a murder but does not report it after he finds a suitcase full of money at the scene of the crime.

7.1

MagicScore

Kill the Irishman

2011

Over the summer of 1976, thirty-six bombs detonate in the heart of Cleveland while a turf war raged between Irish mobster Danny Greene and the Italian mafia. Based on a true story, Kill the Irishman chronicles Greene's heroic rise from a tough Cleveland neighborhood to become an enforcer in the local mob.

6.8

MagicScore

Cop Land

1997

Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law.

6.8

MagicScore

Middle Men

2009

Chronicles Jack Harris, one of the pioneers of internet commerce, as he wrestles with his morals and struggles not to drown in a sea of conmen, mobsters, drug addicts, and pornstars.

6.5

MagicScore

The Toxic Avenger

1984

A gang of thugs devise a cruel hoax that goes horribly wrong as Melvin, a nerdy emaciated janitor at the local health club, is cast through a third story window into a vat of hazardous toxic waste.

6.3

MagicScore

Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion

1999

Police Inspector Paul Fein copes with family troubles while also dealing with the possibility of advancement to police chief. Meanwhile, his son is investigating the murder of a banker.

6.5

MagicScore

The Killers

1946

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

7.3

MagicScore

#10

The Good German

2006

An American journalist arrives in Berlin just after the end of World War Two. He becomes involved in a murder mystery surrounding a dead GI who washes up at a lakeside mansion during the Potsdam negotiations between the Allied powers. Soon his investigation connects with his search for his married pre-war German lover.

5.8

MagicScore

#11

American Hustle

2013

A conman and his seductive partner are forced to work for a wild FBI agent, who pushes them into a world of Jersey power-brokers and the Mafia.

6.9

MagicScore

#12

The Many Saints of Newark

2021

Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark, N.J., history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters start to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, whose influence over his nephew will help shape the impressionable teenager into the all-powerful mob boss, Tony Soprano.

6.3

MagicScore

#13

Another Dawn

1943

The disaffected wife of a failed civil servant, is thrilled to re-encounter Octavio, a former lover who is now a union activist on the run from a corrupt politician. Hoping to help him, she descends into the Mexican underworld, where she finds a purpose-and a thrill-missing from her married life.

6.7

MagicScore

#14

Scarface

1983

After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.

8.2

MagicScore

#15

Quite Like Paradise

2024

Ugo Conti, charismatic Italian aristocrat and influencer, arrives in Mexico where he seduces the Mexican high society. When he meets Frida Becker again, the love of his past, he will end up in the center of a struggle for political power.

7.5

MagicScore

#16

Suburra

2015

A gangster known as "Samurai" wants to turn the waterfront of Rome into a new Las Vegas. All the local mob bosses have agreed to work for this common goal. But peace is not to last long.

7.3

MagicScore

#17

Out for Justice

1991

Gino Felino is an NYPD detective from Brooklyn who knows everyone and everything in his neighborhood. Killing his partner was someone's big mistake... because he's now out for justice.

6.1

MagicScore

#18

Ruby

1992

Fact and fiction are combined in this story about Jack Ruby and a stripper, Candy Cane, and how they become involved in a conspiracy to kill J.F.K.

5.4

MagicScore

#19

Date Night

2010

Phil and Claire Foster fear that their mild-mannered relationship may be falling into a stale rut. During their weekly date night, their dinner reservation leads to their being mistaken for a couple of thieves—and now a number of unsavoury characters want Phil and Claire killed.

6.1

MagicScore

#20

La trattativa

2014

What are we talking about when we talk about negotiations? About the state's concessions to the Mafia in exchange for ending the massacres? About who assassinated Falcone and Borsellino? Of the eternal coexistence between the Mafia and politics? Between the mafia and the church? Between the Mafia and law enforcement? Or is there more? A group of actors enacts the most relevant episodes of the affair known as the Mafia-state negotiation, impersonating mobsters, secret service agents, high officials, magistrates, victims and murderers, Freemasons, honest and courageous people, and courageous people up to a point. Thus one of the most intricate events in our history becomes an exciting tale.

7.5

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like On the Waterfront?

The top films similar to On the Waterfront by MovieMagicScore are Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (7.3), Moontide (6.3), The Man from London (7.1). Each shares crime/drama/romance themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is On the Waterfront worth watching?

On the Waterfront holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.9/10 from 1,684 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is On the Waterfront?

On the Waterfront (1954) is a crime, drama, romance film directed by Elia Kazan, starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb.

Where can I find more recommendations like On the Waterfront?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai Movies like Moontide Movies like The Man from London Movies like Kill the Irishman Movies like Cop Land Movies like Middle Men

About movies like On the Waterfront

This ranked list pairs On the Waterfront (1954), a crime and drama and romance film from Elia Kazan, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Marlon Brando 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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