Best movies like Shanghai Surprise

A romantic adventure for the dangerous at heart.

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Shanghai Surprise Starring Madonna, Sean Penn, Paul Freeman, Richard Griffiths, and more. If you liked Shanghai Surprise then you may also like: 7 Seconds, VANish, Why Me?, The Night of the Following Day, No Contest and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

Glendon Wasey is a fortune hunter looking for a fast track out of China. Gloria Tatlock is a missionary nurse seeking the curing powers of opium for her patients. Fate sets them on a hectic, exotic, and even romantic quest for stolen drugs. But they are up against every thug and smuggler in Shangai.

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7 Seconds

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.

VANish

Three thugs kidnap Emma, the daughter of a drug kingpin, and have no idea that murderous blood that runs through her veins. As time passes, the unlucky threesome finds themselves in danger from the police, gangsters and their captive.

Why Me?

A jewel thief steals a sacred ruby which sets off a chase by the police, the Turkish government, nutty American terrorists, and the CIA.

The Night of the Following Day

A gang of four professional criminals kidnaps a wealthy teenage girl from an airport in Paris in a meticulous plan to extort money from the girl's wealthy father. Holding her prisoner in an isolated beach house, the gang's scheme runs perfectly until their personal demons surface and lead to a series of betrayals.

No Contest

A beauty contest turns into a hostage situation, when the Miss Galaxy competition is taken over by a gang, demanding a ransom of diamonds. Sharon, a kick-boxing actress, is the host of the show, and the thorn in the terrorists side.

Out for a Kill

An unsuspecting university professor is an unwitting accomplice in a foiled Chinese cocaine deal. Wrongly imprisoned, he escapes to take his revenge and prove his innocence.

Running Time

Carl, a career criminal, receives an early release from prison and immediately begins preparations for his next big heist.

Bandits

After escaping from prison, Joe and Terry go on a crime spree, robbing banks through Oregon and California in order to finance their scheme for a new life south of the border. Unfortunately, things get more complicated when they meet Kate, who runs into them with her car. She joins the bandits on their cross-country spree, and eventually she steals something, too: their hearts.

Bounty Killer

It’s been 20 years since the corporations took over the world’s governments. Their thirst for power and profits led to the Corporate Wars, a fierce global battle that laid waste to society as we know it. Born from the ash, the Council of Nine rose as a new law and order for this dark age. To avenge the corporations’ reckless destruction, the Council issues death warrants for all white collar criminals. Their hunters—the bounty killer. From amateur savage to graceful assassin, the bounty killers now compete for body count, fame and a fat stack of cash. They’re ending the plague of corporate greed and providing the survivors of the apocalypse with retribution. These are the new heroes. This is the age of the BOUNTY KILLER.

The Bourne Identity

An unconscious man is washed ashore on the beach of a small French village during a heavy storm. A retired doctor takes care of the unconscious stranger. When the mysterious man recovers, he can't remember a thing...he does not know his name, he does not know where his flashback memories come from, and he does not know why the access code for an anonymous Swiss bank account is implanted in his thigh. As he seeks his own identity, things quickly become dangerous. There are attempts to kill him, he is well known in first class hotels across Europe, and worst of all, there are strange similarities between his memories and reported actions of the notorious terrorist, Carlos the Jackal.

The Brothers Bloom

The Brothers Bloom are the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios of lust and intrigue. Now they've decided to take on one last job – showing a beautiful and eccentric heiress the time of her life with a romantic adventure that takes them around the world.

Confidence

What Jake Vig doesn't know just might get him killed. A sharp and polished grifter, Jake has just swindled thousands of dollars from the unsuspecting Lionel Dolby with the help of his crew. It becomes clear that Lionel wasn't just any mark, he was an accountant for eccentric crime boss Winston King. Jake and his crew will have to stay one step ahead of both the criminals and the cops to finally settle their debt.

The Equalizer 3

Robert McCall finds himself at home in Southern Italy but he discovers his friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends' protector by taking on the mafia.

The Informer

In New York, former convict Pete Koslow, related to the Polish mafia, must deal with both Klimek the General, his ruthless boss, and the twisted ambitions of two federal agents, as he tries to survive and protect the lives of his loved ones.

Desert Saints

Banks is a hit man, the best, usually working for Latin American drug cartels. He picks up solitary women, uses them briefly for a job, then kills them. He's in the Southwest, headed toward Mexico, when he picks up Bennie, a woman leaving an abusive marriage, going to Paradise, Arizona. The film follows three tracks: Banks's slow recruitment of Bennie, the set-up for the hit at a swank resort in Mexico, and the FBI's close pursuit of Banks, whom they want alive in hopes he'll rat out his bosses. Bennie may not be who she seems, and there may be a chink in Banks's tough-guy armor. Guns, money, and a chance at Paradise.

Stolen

Master thief Will Montgomery is just released from the State penitentiary after serving a 10 year sentence, is contacted by Vincent, his ex comrade in crime, who is holding Will’s teenage daughter ransom in a hijacked taxi cab. Vincent will only surrender her when Will reveals the whereabouts of the 20 million dollars he contrived to conceal from their last robbery.

Triple Threat

A crime syndicate places a hit on a billionaire's daughter, making her the target of an elite assassin squad. A small band of down-and-out mercenaries protects her, fighting tooth and nail to stop the assassins from reaching their target.

Fire with Fire

A fireman takes an unexpected course of action when a man whom he's been ordered to testify against—after being held up at a local convenience store—threatens him.

Point Blank

A nurse is forced to spring a wounded murder suspect from the hospital when the man’s brother kidnaps his pregnant wife and wants to make a trade.

End of a Gun

A mall security guard—and former federal agent—crosses paths with a drug kingpin's enforcer after the guard saves a woman from danger.

Exterminator 2

The flamethrower-wielding vigilante John Eastland returns to rid New York of a drug lord and his gang.

Assassination Games

Brazil is a contract killer, willing to take any job if the price is right. Flint left the assassin game when a ruthless drug dealer’s brutal attack left his wife in a coma. When a contract is put out on the same coldblooded drug dealer, both Brazil and Flint want him dead – one for the money, the other for revenge. With crooked Interpol agents and vicious members of the criminal underworld hot on their trail, these two assassins reluctantly join forces to quickly take out their target before they themselves are terminated.

The Asian Connection

Two American expatriates, Jack and Sam, unwittingly steal a drug lord's money when they rob a series of banks in Southeast Asia and become the target of the gang's vengeance.

Message Man

A retired assassin's past catches up with him and his brutality surfaces as he goes on a final killing spree to make things right.

Tactical Force

A training exercise for the LAPD SWAT Team goes terribly wrong when they find themselves pitted against two rival gangs while trapped in an abandoned Hangar, armed with nothing but blanks.

Point of Impact

Jack Davis is a tough, outspoken cop who finds himself wrongly accused for the death of a fellow agent by the depraved and power hungry chief of Miami Customs, Martin Cullen. Disgraced and dismissed, Jack swears revenge and goes to work for Roberto Largo, a rich, evil Cuban crime boss, as bodyguard for his smoldering wife, Eva. Jack knows Largo is connected to his old boss Cullen and is determined to learn the secret that will bring him down. Trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse, held captive by his passionate affair with Eva, Jack must figure out the significance of the mysterious Spanish Rose to survive.

Deadly Target

A Chinese gangster in Los Angeles escapes on the eve of his deportation to Hong Kong. A martial-arts master detective and his ragtag team get caught up in the action as they track down this ruthless killer.

Quick

A female assassin named "Quick" is hired to bring in a Mafia accountant, who is under police protection. Double crossed by the mafia, she takes her hostage to California to retrieve $3M that he took before running. The mafia and Quick's untrustworthy boyfriend are on the trail.

Mad Money

Three female employees of the Federal Reserve plot to steal money that is about to be destroyed.

Firepower

A mercenary is hired by the FBI to track down a powerful recluse criminal, a woman is also trying to track him down for her own personal vendetta.

Mortdecai

An art dealer, Charles Mortdecai, searches for a stolen painting rumored to contain a secret code that gains access to hidden Nazi gold.

Tequila Sunrise

In a seaside California town, best friends Mac and Nick are on opposite sides of the law. Mac is a former drug dealer trying to clean up his act, while Nick is a high-profile detective trying to take down a Mexican drug lord named Carlos. Soon Nick's loyalties are put to the test when he begins an affair with restaurateur Jo Ann -- a love interest of Mac's -- unwittingly leading his friend into a police-orchestrated trap.

Trespass

Two Arkansas firemen, Vince and Don, get hold of a map that leads to a cache of stolen gold in an abandoned factory in East St. Louis. What they don't know is that the factory is in the turf of a local gang, who come by to execute one of their enemies. Vince sees the shooting, the gang spots Vince, and extended mayhem ensues. As Vince and Don try to escape, gang leader King James argues with his subordinate Savon about how to get rid of the trespassers.

Hunt to Kill

U.S. Border Patrol agent Jim Rhodes is a tough divorcée mourning the loss of his murdered partner while struggling to raise his rebellious daughter in the mountains of Montana. But when a crew of trigger-happy fugitives takes Rhodes and his daughter hostage, the rugged wilderness will explode in all-terrain vengeance. Is there any wounded animal more dangerous than a lawman left for dead?

The Stickup

It's a quiet little town where nothing happens - until the day the bank is hit for half a million dollars of Indian casino money by a thief wearing a clowns mask.

Hollow Point

Livingston is trying to merge the Russians, Chinese and Italian gangsters into one group with huge amounts of money and power. FBI agent Susan and DEA agent Max are trying to stop them.

All Things To All Men

A thief is caught up in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse between a maverick cop and London crime boss.

Executive Target

His wife held hostage, a stunt driver is forced to drive a getaway car in a plot to kidnap the President from a motorcade.

Puppet on a Chain

Special agent Taube is on the case of a deadly heroin smuggling operation. This one is notable for an amazing power boat chase through the canals and waterways of Amsterdam

Lewis & Clark & George

A sultry woman joins an illiterate killer and a brainy hacker, both escaped convicts, to search for gold.

Jump Out Boys

Set in post hurricane New Orleans. A brutal Mexican drug lord (Armando LeDuc) busts out of jail to retrieve the $15 million that his girlfriend is hiding. But detective Raymond (Kris Kristofferson) and McCoy (Sheldon Robbins) will try their best to put him back to where he belongs.

How to Rob a Bank

Caught in the middle of a bank robbery, a slacker and a bank employee become the ones who arbitrate the intense situation.

Airborne

A gang of thieves break into a top secret government research centre and steal a deadly virus. Mach 1, a top secret special operations team, is called in to recover it. The team, lead by Commander Bill McNeil (Steve Guttenberg), boards the thieves' plane midflight and recovers the virus. When two members of the team are subsequently murdered, McNeil suspects that the thieves might have inside help. In an attempt to track down who was responsible, the team steals the virus in a hope that the thieves will come after them.

The Silencer

Lynette Walden and Chris Mulkey star in this action-packed ride through the sexy and dangerous world of flesh for sale and murder for hire.

The Hard Truth

A suspended cop and his girlfriend blackmail an electronics expert into helping them break into the safe of the girlfriend's boss, a corrupt city councilman who's on the local mob's payroll.

Seven Times Lucky

An aging con-man and a beautiful, ambitious student cross paths in a scam that promises to make them both rich.

Black Cat Run

A girl is in love with a gas station attendant and sees him against her father's wishes. The father is the sheriff and shortly after a confrontation with the boy friend, he is killed by escaped convicts and the daughter is kidnapped. Everyone, including the deputy, is convinced that the boy friend committed the murder and ran away with the girl. This sets up a chase of the convicts by the boy friend and of the boy friend by the police.

Bank Shot

A bank temporarily housed in a mobile home while a new building is built, looks like an easy target to break into. On the other hand, why not steal the whole bank, and rob it in a safer location.

Special Delivery

A gang of thieves plan a daring bank robbery, making their escape across the rooftops of Los Angeles. The police are quickly called in, however, and only one of the robbers, Murdock, makes a clean getaway. Unfortunately, in order to do so, he is forced to dump the stolen cash into a mailbox, which he then finds is locked until midnight, forcing him to wait until the mailman makes his late night pickup. As he waits, he discovers that his hiding place has been observed by several other people, all of whom want a share of the loot.

Trouble Bound

Upon getting out of prison, a man who took the rap for some thief buddies gets together with them again, and tells them he's not interested in doing things with them any more. They stick a dead body in his trunk, unbeknownst to him, and he roars off to find his future. Unfortunately, they forgot to get the key they need off the body, so they're chasing him. Meanwhile, a mafia kingpin's daughter is trying to kill the hitman that killed her father, but her grandmother is trying to make peace with the family that hired the hitman, so she and her thugs are trying to stop the daughter. The guy and the daughter get together and experience mayhem on the run from two directions.

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