Top 250 Movies Like Shanghai Vice

The story begins in 1923 where after an accident, a newspaper reporter needs to raise $5,000 to pay for an operation, otherwise his young sister will be crippled for life. The desperate reporter is finally able to get the cash from a shady acquaintance, Riggs. Eight years later in New York, circumstances conspire to place the reporter as the number one suspect in the murder of a showgirl. With no witness or alibi, the reporter devises a plan to smoke out the real culprit. A meeting is arranged under the cover of night and to the surprise of both men, the murderer is Riggs. Out of gratitude for past generosity to his sister, the reporter agrees not to expose Riggs, however unwittingly leads the police to him! Riggs is found guilty, and a dramatic scene in the courthouse ensues.

Anthony Stowe is a dirty cop who is hooked on heroin—and everyone hates him. After a serious accident, he is placed into an induced coma, but emerges from it a better person who wants to put things right.

In this true story, Veronica Guerin is an investigative reporter for an Irish newspaper. As the drug trade begins to bleed into the mainstream, Guerin decides to take on and expose those responsible. Beginning at the bottom with addicts, Guerin then gets in touch with John Traynor, a paranoid informant. Not without some prodding, Traynor leads her to John Gilligan, the ruthless head of the operation, who does not take kindly to Guerin's nosing.

A Los Angeles police captain (Edward G. Robinson) ties the case of a slain policeman to a bank robbery, all in a day.

An unlikely Hollywood hooker helps a detective set a trap for a mutilator pimp.

A diplomat is blackmailed by crooked vice cops into helping them frame prostitutes.

The documentary tells the hitherto unknown story behind an extraordinary and desperate fight to bring the truth to light. Told and made by those who lived it, the filmmakers' unprecedented access to the inner workings of the defense, allows the film to show the investigation, research and appeals process in a way that has never been seen before; revealing shocking and disturbing new information about a case that still haunts the Unitedstatian South.

On the afternoon of July 1, 1981, Los Angeles police responded to a distress call on Wonderland Avenue and discovered a grisly quadruple homicide. The police investigation that followed uncovered two versions of the events leading up to the brutal murders - both involving legendary porn actor John Holmes.

A cop (Charlie Sheen), his partner (Dacascos), and his father (Martin Sheen) uncover a plot by city elders to smuggle drugs from Mexico into Phoenix, Arizona.

A runner, serving a life sentence at Folsom Prison, works at becoming the world's fastest miler and wins a chance to compete for a spot on the Olympic team.

Liu Jian, an elite Chinese police officer, comes to Paris to arrest a Chinese drug lord. When Jian is betrayed by a French officer and framed for murder, he must go into hiding and find new allies.

Chick Williams, a prohibition gangster, rejoins his mob soon after being released from prison. When a policeman is murdered during a robbery, he falls under suspicion. The gangster took Joan, a policeman's daughter, to the theater, sneaked out during the intermission to commit the crime, then used her to support his alibi. The detective squad employs its most sophisticated and barbaric techniques, including planting an undercover agent in the gang, to bring him to justice.

An ex-cop gets pulled back in an undercover mission for the FBI by his former partner. The mission is to catch drug runners, but it is also sting operation against dirty cops, some of whom set up the ex-cops' dismissal from the force.

While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.

A smart-mouthed junkie and a former hairdresser spends his days looking for just "one more fix".

Bring on the Night is a 1985 documentary film, that focuses on the jazz-inspired project and band led by the British musician Sting during the early stages of his solo career. Some of the songs, whose recording sessions are featured in the film, appeared on his debut solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles. Each musician in the band through the course of the film is interviewed.

An undercover police officer named Rock Keats befriends a drug dealer and car thief named Archie Moses in a bid to catch the villainous drug lord Frank Coltan. But the only problem is that Keats is a cop, his real name is Jack Carter, and he is working undercover with the LAPD to bust Moses and Colton at a sting operation the LAPD has set up.

Two Los Angeles vice squad officers find themselves up against their corrupt superiors when they try to bring a crime boss to justice. During the course of their investigation, the two cops disguise themselves as gay men and raid a gay bar.

The true story of the rise and fall of sprint runner Oscar Pistorius, dubbed the “Blade Runner,” the first double-leg amputee to participate in the Olympics. From his Olympic fame, to the shooting that killed his girlfriend, Reeva, to the courtroom trials that followed.

Vincent LaMarca is a dedicated and well-respected New York City police detective who has gone to great lengths to distance himself from his past, but then makes the terrible discovery that his own son has fallen into a life of crime.

A stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in Needle Park in New York City. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless girl who finds in her relationship with Bobby the stability she craves.

Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.

A logger defends his family from a group of dangerous drug runners.

Ex-DEA agent Jack receives an emergency message from his brother Phillip, whose team was ambushed on the Caribbean island of St. Keith. Jack goes to St. Keith to find his brother, who has been turned into a cyborg by the drug runner he was after.

William Castle directed this Sam Katzman production, a gritty crime thriller about a newly-discharged sailor who gets a job as a longshoreman in The Big Easy. He swiftly discovers mob corruption throughout the docks, and when a friend is killed by the gangsters, he convinces the police to let him go undercover and take matters into his own hands. Filmed on location on the docks and in the French Quarter.

Construction company owner John Matthews learns that his estranged son, Jason, has been arrested for drug trafficking. Facing an unjust prison sentence for a first time offender courtesy of mandatory minimum sentence laws, Jason has nothing to offer for leniency in good conscience. Desperately, John convinces the DEA and the opportunistic DA Joanne Keeghan to let him go undercover to help make arrests big enough to free his son in return. With the unwitting help of an ex-con employee, John enters the narcotics underworld where every move could be his last in an operation that will demand all his resources, wits and courage to survive.

Prequel to the first Missing In Action, set in the early 1980s it shows the capture of Colonel Braddock during the Vietnam war in the 1970s, and his captivity with other American POWs in a brutal prison camp, and his plans to escape.

Lawyer Joe Morse wants to consolidate all the small-time numbers racket operators into one big powerful operation. But his elder brother Leo is one of these small-time operators who wants to stay that way, preferring not to deal with the gangsters who dominate the big-time.

Police detective Joe Leland investigates the murder of a gay man.

Tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. An embittered cop, Det. Jim McLeod, leads a precinct of characters in their grim daily battle with the city's lowlife. The characters who pass through the precinct over the course of the day include a young petty embezzler, a pair of burglars, and a naive shoplifter.

A heroic high school teacher leads a band of students trapped in school by violent drug-runners.

Retired cop and celebrity DJ Tucker Williams (aka The Disco Godfather) takes to the streets as a dangerous hallucinogenic drug called Angel Dust begins to take hold of the neighborhood.

"Popeye" Doyle travels to Marseilles to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler that eluded him in New York.

A young Los Angeles police officer and a mysterious gnome become unlikely partners as they track a killer. When a sting operation goes awry, officer Casey is blamed for the murder of his colleague and Gnorm the gnome is the only witness.

The brother and fiancee of a dead policeman infiltrate a female-led biker gang to uncover his murderer.

In San Francisco, a psychopathic gangster and his mentor retrieve heroin packages carried by unsuspecting travelers.

Bootlegger/cafe owner, Johnny Franks recruits crude working man Scorpio to join his gang, masterminded by crooked criminal defense lawyer Newton. Scorpio eventually takes over Frank's operation, beats a rival gang, becomes wealthy and dominates the city for several years until a secret group of 6 masked businessmen have him prosecuted and sent to the electric chair.

A mother goes to Hollywood to find her runaway daughter. She discovers that the girl has become involved in the pornography industry, and goes to the police to get help in finding her.

Hotheaded laborer B.J. Hammer can't go long without ending up in a fight, and, after he comes out on top in a particularly impressive workplace scuffle, word of his brawling skills makes its way to Davis, a top boxing manager. Hammer is hired by Davis and begins a lucrative career in the ring, only to find out that his new employer wants him to throw a fight and take part in other illicit activities. Hammer reacts to this news violently, and the feud is on.

A film about three high school friends who find their happy-go-lucky existence tarnished forever the instant they get embroiled in a drug-running scheme that goes awry. When things start getting messy, they rue the day they agreed to the venture; instead of smuggling weed from Canada to Detroit, which they'd expected, the threesome's forced to traffic a huge stash of heroin.

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

Rembrandt Macy (Tom Berenger) is a maverick cop assigned to a case where the primary evidence is a woman's hand found in a pond. Investigators identify the dead, and Macy is lead into a young woman's past. Macy's primary path to understanding the victim is through one of her roommates, Nikki. Through Nikki and others, Macy learns of the victim's shady contacts at City Hall, the involvement of a gang of Asian drug runners, and the sordid affairs of one of the city's bigwigs. As Macy begins to understand how all these crimes fit together, he learns that his new friend Nikki is not an innocent bystander.

Miranda Wells is an attorney with a sideline in immigration fraud and murder. Miranda's assistant, Carla, is unaware of her criminal activities. Rick Benes, a journalist setting out to expose Miranda, poses as David Lopez, an illegal immigrant, and takes a job in the office. Carla stubbles on incriminating files and Rick Benes pursuit of the story is threatened when he becomes infatuated with Miranda. Carla is attacked and her husband murdered, Miranda is the chief suspect. As the investigation progresses and Carla disappears from hospital, it is clear that Miranda will stop at nothing including murdering again to stay out.

Tells the story of the rise and fall of Michael Alig, a kid from Middle America who aspired to take the place of Andy Warhol. Michael quickly rose to become the biggest party promoter in New York and King of the so-called Club Kids. But after spiraling into drug addiction, Michael brutally murdered his roommate Angel Melendez.

A young doctor taking a break from work is shot in the head, and the police can't find a clue even as to a possible motive. Inspector Al Gordon (John Alexander) decides that he has to put some men on duty at the hospital, and one of them is Fred Rowan (Richard Conte), a detective with experience as an army medic, masquerading as an intern. What Rowan finds is a high-pressure world in which interns are hopelessly squeezed for time, sleep, energy, and -- most of all -- money, and walk a fine line on the edge of personal and professional disaster.

Ex heroin junkie, Daniel Léger, gets involved in a drug deal with the wrong people for the wrong reasons. When the deal goes sour, Daniel gets thrown into a Thai prison and slapped with a 100-year sentence. While he tries to survive his Bangkok incarceration, the news of his conviction captures the attention of Globe and Mail journalist Victor Malarek, who decides to go after the shady undercover cops responsible for wrongly accusing Daniel.

When his daughter's criminal boyfriend becomes an increasing threat to the family, a father must take action to protect them.

After getting out of jail, car thief Ernest "Stick" Stickley witnesses the murder of his friend Rainy during a drug deal. To avoid getting killed by the same people, who work for mobster Chucky, Stick gets a job as a chauffeur for millionaire Barry Braham and lies low. As he gets used to his new routine, Stick woos Barry's financial consultant, Kyle McClaren, but must fight back when Chucky's men come after him.

A 16 year old girl turns to prostitution to support her baby and encounters a treacherous underworld of pimps, hookers and johns while doing her best to maintain her hopes and dignity.

The son of a slain NYPD officer joins the force, where he falls in with his father's former partner and a team of rogue cops. His new boss, Sarcone, will see if he has what it takes to be rogue through many trials and tribulations of loyalty, trust and respect. When the truth about his father's death is revealed revenge takes him over and he won't stop until justice has been truly served.

Gambler Arnold Rothstein marries an actress, avenges his buddy and meets an underworld fate.

A duped bride joins a bookie in love and crime.

A disgraced cop aims to reclaim his honor by nailing a corrupt crime boss.

Darren McGavin is David Ross, a private investigator playing a game of follow the money. A simple case of embezzling turns bad quickly when bodies start dropping and the savvy P.I. is the primary suspect in an attractive woman's death. This NBC TV movie served as a pilot for the later series.

After his ex-wife dies in a fall from her balcony, PoliceSgt. Henry Smovinsky gets custody of his troubled teenage son. Smovinsky soon finds out that his ex-wife was a high-class hooker, her death was not a suicide and that the police have chosen him as their prime suspect. Maggie Furness is the only cop willing to help him protect his son and track down the real killer.

A police lieutenant and a patriotic professional gambler, rivals in life and love, combine efforts to corner a gang of Nazi saboteurs operating out of a barber shop, in which their mutual girlfriend works, and unmask its secret leader.

A shy young high school girl joins a secretive vigilante group of female high school students called "The Sisterhood."

Sean Haggerty only has an hour to deliver his illegal cargo. An hour to reassure a drug cartel, a hitman, and the DEA that nothing is wrong. An hour to make sure his wife survives. And he must do it all from the cockpit of his Cessna.

The true story of two murders that shaped the lives of several college students who went on to become some of the most influential writers of the "Beat Generation."

True story of an abusive husband's obsession with his wife and daughter.

A TV movie directed by Bob Mahoney. Based on the book by Dick Lee & Colin Pratt it tells the true story of a long running Police investigation which resulted in the arrests of 120 people and jail sentences of 170 years for the manufacture and distribution of £100M of LSD.

A female CIA agent is assigned to train and lead an all-female squad to Colombia to stop a renegade agent who has hired himself out to a drug cartel.

A film adaptation of a book written in 1963. It tells the true story of Wilkerson's first five years in New York City, where he ministered to disillusioned youth, encouraging them to turn away from the drugs and gang violence they were involved with.

A small town community comes together to eradicate the heroin epidemic from its midst by whatever means necessary.

Former DEA Agent Quinlan, removed from the force some years earlier for stealing confiscated drug money, is hired by Chung Wei, a leader in the Amsterdam drug cartel, who wants out of the business. Quinlan's job is to use Chung's information to tip DEA agents to drug busts, thereby destroying the cartel. But when the first two "tips" go awry, resulting in murdered DEA officers, the feds must decide whether to trust Quinlan further...

Dante and his girlfrend Micky run a very profitable drug operation in a seaside town, aided and abetted by a host of teens who sell the smack at discos around town, as well as by Lucas, a corrupt cop who's on the take. Their downfall comes when they suspect one of the boys, Pep, of ripping them off, and his accidental death causes disloyalty among the teens, who suspect Dante offed them. All of this is perfect for the return of Gabriel, a one-time partner of Dante, who has just been released from jail, and has an almost angelic demeanor and the certainty that he can fix everyone's lives.

Police officer Lucas only works at night. He also knows how to take a bite out of crime – literally. But when the vampire cop bites the city's reigning drug boss, he inadvertently creates a nemesis as powerful as himself.

The film follows a simple structure, and shows the drug-related degradation of five youths (Jake, Tracey, Jessica, Alice, Oreo) during the course of three years. The film depicts drug-related crimes and diseases: prostitution, male prostitution, AIDS, and lethal overdoses.

Two vice cops get entangled in a web of prostitution, blackmail and murder.

Michael is a basically decent guy with a pregnant girlfriend, great friends - and one massive drug problem. Because he missed his own Las Vegas bachelor party being too stoned, his four besties decide to kidnap him for a weekend of roughing it in the California wilderness. Caught off guard by this surprise camping trip and his nose candy supply dwindling, Michael is shocked when his buddies start being ritually murdered one by one. Suspecting it’s the vicious drug dealer he cheated getting bloody revenge, Michael’s life swirls out of all control as the real truth is revealed.

Two strangers strike up a conversation on a long journey. One is a suspect in an unsolved missing person’s case and the other an undercover operative on his trail. Their uneasy friendship becomes the core of this tightly wrought thriller, which is based on the true story of one of the largest investigations and undercover operations in Australia.

Regularly working alone undercover with a vice squad boss she dislikes as much as he dislikes her, Lottie Mason is living pretty much on the edge. An assignment helping out the Assistant D.A. may be the start of a serious relationship but then, tired and disillusioned after a job one night, she finds herself accepting a proposition in a bar that leads rapidly into a web of murder and deceit.

Mary Gillespie is restoring the Col. Gillespie Circus to its former splendor after her father's death. With the help of her publicist boyfriend Jim, the sell-out crowds are returning to the big top. Egotistical equestrian star Senor Martinet, however, holds $60,000 of notes signed by the Colonel and due in 24 hours. When a mysterious shadowy figure is seen on the circus lot, and Martinet is murdered in the center ring during his performance, there are suspects aplenty, including Vindecco, Martinet's badly abused hunchback assistant.

An innocent nightclub singer becomes mixed up in illegal drug dealings shortly after witnessing her husband's death and the murder of a couple of narcotics agents.

The dramatic story of a normal, intelligent man of good principles driven to contemplate thoughts of murder.

Gamblers who "took" an out-of-town sucker in a crooked poker game feel shadowy vengeance closing in on them.

A New York City detective teams up with a federal agent and a state trooper to bust up a drug ring.

The true-life story of a Harlem's notorious Nicky Barnes, a junkie turned multimillionaire drug-lord. Follow his life story from his rough childhood to the last days of his life.

A poignant story about overcoming our demons and finding hope through darkness. Haunted by the affects of PTSD induced by fighting a war, the physical injuries that led to copious amounts of opiates, the emotional strain of his squad leader committing suicide, losing his best friend from overdosing on heroin, all combined with his drug addiction ultimately left Shawn losing all hope in life.

A small-time drug-dealer gets into big trouble when a corrupt East London cop tries to steal a consignment meant for Welsh-Jamaican Yardies.

The Falcon is framed for the murder of a banker and the theft of war bonds. He makes his escape into the mountains where he hides out in a rustic lodge. From here he uncovers a phony war bond operation.

Government agent Sol Madrid travels to Mexico with hooker Stacey to bring mobster Villanova and drug kingpin Dietrich to justice.

While on a camping trip, a young girl is captured and almost raped by four drug runners. She escapes, and instead of running away, determines to get her revenge on her attackers.

A sting operation by the FBI on illegal gun trafficking leads to the arrest of arms dealing kingpin Charles Rainer. On December 31, 1984 he is about to be sentenced for his crimes in Haywood, Arizona. Rainer's female assassins have other plans for local law enforcement and due process when they siege the courthouse in an attempt to break him out on the night of his sentencing. During a courtroom shoot-out Rainer is taken hostage by a group of surviving security guards. A vicious cat and mouse game of survival erupts between the security guards and assassins as they try to rescue their leader. A night of justice turns into a night of death as the action rings like thunder.

Action thriller trails two attractive female cops (Zoli Marki and Kryska Witowska) on the hunt for a lethal drug lord who’s responsible for injuring one of the women’s former partners. Things get even more dangerous when the two women learn they must guard the suspect’s girlfriend, who has decided to testify against him.

Based on a shocking true story. An undercover cop puts his life on the line to fight corruption in his department, while trying to take down the biggest Drug Kingpin of New York City. No one can be trusted as the body count rises.

Mr. Clean (Harry Reems) is a police detective who heads a special task force of the vice squad. Clean's by-the-book attitude makes him none too popular with his underlings, so they try to fake a sex scandal that will cause him to be fired from the force.

Blackie is seen leaving a Chinese laundry where the proprietor has been murdered, and must track down the real killer in Chinatown.

A "straight" couple dabbles in drugs and become heroin addicts.

Government agent Frank Powell is determined to bring down racketeering crime lord Oliver Sully but cannot find any evidence. Powell concocts a plan to have the Justice Department buy a brothel, set up a professional call girl named Kathy Dunn as a hostess, and get the crime boss on extortion.

A detective investigating the murder of a heroin addict discovers that there is a connection between the junkie and his fiance, who is his boss' daughter.

The flight attendant Sue Chambers becomes frightened for her life when she discovers that one of her coworkers was killed because the murderer thought he was killing her. Her fear does not prevent Sue from looking into the matter and trying to learn the killer's identity.

Junior Rios started using heroin when he was 15. At age 29, Junior is a father of three. To support his $200-a-day heroin habit, he scours the rooftops of the South Bronx for materials he can sell. When he's finally caught, he enters an aggressive rehab program. Meanwhile, his ex has moved on, and is trying to make a better life for herself and their children.

Based on a shocking true story, Melanie McGuire was an exceptional fertility nurse, married to her ex-Navy husband Bill and doting mother of two boys. When she falls for Brad, a doctor at her clinic, and gets entangled in a steamy love affair, Melanie does the unthinkable. After drugging and murdering Bill, she dismembers him and places the body parts into three suitcases, throwing them into Chesapeake Bay. But when the suitcases are found on the shores of Virginia Beach, an investigation is launched leading to Melanie as the prime suspect. Led by the efforts of assistant attorney general Patti Prezioso, authorities eventually bring Melanie to justice, who despite being convicted, continues to maintain her innocence.

In wartime Italy nuns in a convent regularly smuggle Jewish children out of a nearby internment camp. The Italian army officer in charge suspects what may be going on but deliberately turns a blind eye. When the Germans take over the camp security the nuns' activities become far more dangerous.

Two young kids in love, one young graffiti artist and the other a foster-child, find trouble on the mean streets on the other side of the river in New York City. Officer Charles Banks finds young Danny tagging subway cars and then catches Teiresa selling drugs for another mislead teen, Kirk. The officer, instead of turning both of them in, gives both teens a chance to make more of their lives together. Changing their ways turns out to be more challenging than first thought.

A well meaning Dr. lends his building to a group of neighborhood kids. When the neighbors learn that they are members Harlem tough -kid gang, they suspect that their operation there conducting nefarious deeds.

After being busted for drug possession, Aiden, a troubled teenager, is forced by the cops to go undercover and risk his life to bring down a dangerous drug kingpin.

To the dismay of his girlfriend, Charlie is introduced to the beatnik scene when he falls in love with a hep chick named Steve. But when he discovers Steve is mixed up with a vicious drug ring, he has to decide where his values really lie.

Gotham tells the true story of what happened in New York City during the twenty years from 1993 to 2013. How did a city with over 2200 murders, 93,000 violent robberies and 147,000 car thefts in 1990 become the capitol of the world a mere handful of years later? This feature documentary explores what happened during these decades, told by the people who did the hard work, some at great personal and professional cost.