We all love a good action flick, and the genre has evolved. Action sequences and fast-moving plot lines are always the staples. Still, the delivery and attitude of the classic thriller are in constant flux as filmmakers play with nonlinear storylines, quick edits, complicated choreographed set pieces, and often more than a hint of humor. Think of the freeze frame graphics of Guy Ritchie and the bullet time of The Matrix as examples of the way the film has evolved.
Bullet Train from director David Leitch was a minor box office hit in 2022, and the premise of five deadly assassins on a train, and on a mission, with interlocking plots, was a heady mix of all the elements that make a film like this a crowd pleaser. Here at Ready Steady Cut, we love a well-made, tightly written, slick action popcorn movie, and we think you do too, so without further ado, here is a list of what we believe are the 10 best and similar movies like Bullet Train.
10 Best Movies like Bullet Train
The Commuter (2018)
So this is maybe an obvious start, but the gruff Irish owner of a particular set of skills, Liam Neeson, on a train, looking for a hidden passenger up against the clock, is a great premise that is a similar train movie to our featured film. With the lives of everybody on the train at stake, and a mysterious conspiracy at its heart, this is a suspenseful thriller often overlooked but ideal for our list.
Assassins (1995)
Starring mumbling ex-Rocky turned king of Tulsa, Sylvester Stallone, and Julianne Moore, this 1995 thriller from legendary director Richard Donner is a fast-paced thrill ride. Stallone is killer for hire Robert Rath, at a funeral on a mission to kill his latest target, a premise shared with Bullet Train, however when he is beaten to the punch by rival assassin Bain, he ends up in a cat and mouse game with other assassins, becoming the target himself.
Killers Anonymous (2020)
Here is one that might have slipped by you from 2019. Featuring an ensemble cast similar to Bullet Train, we have another group of assassins all brought together, but not for the usual reasons.
As the title implies, our cast of killers, including intense English method thespian Gary Oldman and Jessica Alba, are at a support group for hired killers and are trying to figure out who was behind the botched attempt on the life of a U.S. senator. Of course, nothing is what it seems, and this is one self-help group that is nothing of the sort.
Kate (2021)
From 2021, this high-octane thriller stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the titular Kate, an expert assassin, highly skilled but somewhat jaded with her chosen profession, just like Brad Pitt in Bullet Train.
On what might be her last mission, Kate botches an attempt on the life of a Yakuza leader in Tokyo. To ramp up the tension, Kate finds she has been poisoned and has only 24 hours left to get revenge on her would-be killers.
You may feel you have seen a lot of this before, but the film is saved by some glorious cinematography of the nightlife in Tokyo.
Six Underground (2019)
Like Bullet Train, we find another group of assassins brought together for this offering from over-the-top giant train robot cluster dump director Michael Bay. This time, we have six bad guys, all from around the world, but with exceptional talents, in murder. Ryan Reynolds leads the cast, all looking for a way to delete their past and save their future in this Netflix movie, the second most expensive film that Netflix has produced.
Train To Busan (2016)
So I suppose as far as train movies go, this must be on the list. Even though you need to substitute zombies for assassins, it still works. A virus in South Korea is turning the populace into zombies, and the poor passengers on a train from Seoul to Busan are trying their best not to be zombie food.
Non-stop action and unbearable suspense make this a must-have on our list of train movies, and visionary flash-like zombie comedy auteur director Edgar Wright says this is his favorite zombie film, so it must be good.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)
Aging, handsome award-winning ex-husband Brad Pitt is back, and he is also an assassin, so this makes our list. John and Jane Smith are in a pretty mundane marriage, but incredibly, and probably statistically unlikely, both are assassins working covertly for different organizations. They both get the same assignment to take out a mark and end up at each other’s throats. With its tongue firmly on its cheek, this tonally feels like another movie like Bullet Train.
Smokin’ Aces (2006)
Another ensemble cast, including Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds, Chris Pine, and private serious Murder She Wrote actor Andy Garcia is part of another group of assassins all finding themselves in the same location and with plot lines that converge and merge, making this a similar movie to Bullet Train.
A hotel in Lake Tahoe is the setting, and the carnage and ultra-violence make this a classic assassin convention movie that fans of this genre will love.
John Wick: Chapter Two (2017)
Bewildered one note, all-around Hollywood good guy Keanu Reeves is back for a second outing as John Wick, trying his best to live a quiet life but being dragged back into the daily grind by Winston, head of The Continental.
He is sent to Rome to assassinate the head of the Italian Camorra crime syndicate, but he ends up with a bounty on his head, and everyone wants to collect. For some, this is the best entry in the franchise, but with John Wick 4 on the way, who knows?
So that completes our list of 10 Best Movies like Bullet Train. What would you add to this list? Comment below.
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