Crime backdrop

Crime movies

A deep dive into the underworld of gangsters, detectives, and heists where the line between right and wrong blurs.

Subgenres include: Organized Crime, Heist, Con Artist Crime.

Dobermann

1491. Dobermann

Action Crime
6.5

19971h 43min

France

Director: Jan Kounen

The charismatic criminal Dobermann, who got his first gun when he was christened, leads a gang of brutal robbers. After a complex and brutal bank robbery, they are being hunted by the Paris police. The hunt is led by the sadistic cop Christini, who only has one goal: to catch Dobermann at any cost.


Con Air

1492. Con Air

Action Thriller Crime
6.9

19971h 56min

United States

Director: Simon West

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.


The Eel

1493. The Eel

Drama Crime
7.3

19971h 57min

Japan

Director: Shōhei Imamura

A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After his release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking to almost no one except for an eel he befriended while in prison.


Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

1494. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Science Fiction Comedy Crime
7.0

19971h 29min

Germany, United States

Director: Jay Roach

As a swinging fashion photographer by day and a groovy British superagent by night, Austin Powers is the '60s' most shagadelic spy. But can he stop megalomaniac Dr. Evil after the bald villain freezes himself and unthaws in the '90s? With the help of sexy sidekick Vanessa Kensington, he just might.


Breakdown

1495. Breakdown

Crime Mystery Thriller Drama Action
7.0

19971h 33min

United States

Director: Jonathan Mostow

On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after their SUV breaks down. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver offers Amy a ride to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, but Amy isn't there. He tracks down the trucker ― who tells the police he's never seen Jeff or his wife before. Jeff then begins a desperate, frenzied search for Amy.


Once brilliant teenage detective Shinichi Kudo was given a poison that reverted him to a 4-year-old. He's adopted the pseudonym Conan Edogawa so no one (save for an eccentric inventor) will know. Now he's got to solve a series of bombings before his loved ones become victims. Who is this madman and why is he doing this? Only the young genius can save the day but will even he be up to the task?


Murder at 1600

1497. Murder at 1600

Action Drama Mystery Thriller Crime
6.1

19971h 47min

United States

Director: Dwight H. Little

A secretary is found dead in a White House bathroom during an international crisis, and Detective Harlan Regis is in charge of the investigation. Despite resistance from the Secret Service, Regis partners with agent Nina Chance. As political tensions rise, they learn that the crime could be part of an elaborate cover-up. Framed as traitors, the pair, plus Regis' partner, break into the White House in order to expose the true culprit.


Night Falls on Manhattan

1498. Night Falls on Manhattan

Drama Crime Thriller
6.6

19971h 53min

United States

Director: Sidney Lumet

A newly elected District attorney finds himself in the middle of a police corruption investigation that may involve his father and his partner.


Insomnia

1499. Insomnia

Thriller Crime Mystery
7.2

19971h 36min

Norway

Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg

Detectives Jonas and Erik are called to the midnight sun country of northern Norway to investigate a recent homicide, but their plan to arrest the killer goes awry, and Jonas mistakenly shoots Erik. The suspect escapes, and a frightened Jonas pins Erik's death on the fugitive. Jonas continues to pursue the killer as he seeks to protect himself; however, his mounting guilt and the omnipresent sun plague him with an insomnia that affects his sanity.


The Devil's Own

1500. The Devil's Own

Crime Thriller Drama
6.2

19971h 47min

United States

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Frankie McGuire, one of the IRA's deadliest assassins, draws an American family into the crossfire of terrorism. But when he is sent to the U.S. to buy weapons, Frankie is housed with the family of Tom O'Meara, a New York cop who knows nothing about Frankie's real identity. Their surprising friendship, and Tom's growing suspicions, forces Frankie to choose between the promise of peace or a lifetime of murder.