Christopher Nolan's 2008 Batman sequel The Dark Knight quickly became lauded as one of the best comic book movies ever made and has been considered a yardstick within the action-thriller genre in general since.
Fans of The Dark Knight, who are looking for similar movies, should make sure they check out these 10 exhilarating and expertly-made thrillers as soon as possible.
10 Public Enemies (2009)
Christian Bale and Johnny Depp star as the infamous lawman Melvin Purvis and the even more infamous bank robber John Dillinger, respectively, in Micahel Mann's sprawling thriller about the height of the 1930's crime wave in America.
With shootouts, star power, and cinematic style galore, Public Enemies may not quite live up to the reverence held for the director's other movie on this list, but it is still a towering epic that tells a huge story for the runtime of a blockbuster thriller and manages it, as The Dark Knight did, through expert usage of realism, cinematography, and editing.
9 Den of Thieves (2018)
Though by no means a critical darling, Den of Thieves has earned a strong fanbase over its short lifespan thanks to some genuine grit and some surprisingly compelling lead performances from Gerard Butler and O'Shea Jackson Jr.
Butler is the gruff action hero cop determined to take down an elite team of former-Marines turned professional thieves and, much like The Dark Knight, it supercharges a number of elements from the number one movie on this list.
8 I Saw the Devil (2010)
Korean stars Lee Byung-hun and Chio Min-sik face off as a vengeful secret service agent and the psychotic serial killer who murdered his fiancee, respectively, in this explosive game of cat and mouse.
Each killer brings out the worst in the other, resulting in a sadistically escalating war between, as The Dark Knight would put it, immovable objects and unstoppable forces.
7 Jack Reacher (2012)
Tom Cruise takes on the role of Lee Child's beloved hard-nosed literary detective in Christopher McQuarrie's methodically brilliant thriller. The titular one-man A-team may not have the Caped Crusader's gadgets or wealth, but shares every bit of his brains and brawns.
Despite a much talked about height discrepancy, Cruise fits the role perfectly as an intimidating interrogator and precise fighter with Werner Herzog's mastermind criminal overlord, and Jai Courtney's right-hand man, providing some top-shelf villainy for him to play off of.
6 The Siege (1998)
The first of two surprisingly well-aged thrillers from 1998 on this list, The Siege stars powerhouses Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis as opposing forces on the same side of a war on terror attacks within New York City.
Though controversial for its depiction of Islamic terrorist cells at its time of release, events in following years recontextualized its remarkably prescient story about the pitfalls of American militarism being used to fight insurgency when the Army imposes martial law in Manhattan and begins to detain and torture citizens based on Islamophobic practices and policies.
5 Enemy of the State (1998)
Another uncannily prophetic movie from the same time period, Enemy of the State is a paranoid conspiracy chase thriller that revolves around government surveillance technology that was once relatively unheard of and eventually became revealed as real-world fact by Edward Snowden's leaked intelligence.
Will Smith leads the impressive ensemble as a lawyer who randomly stumbles into the middle of an assassination coverup and its stark forewarning of the abuses of power possible in a world of omniscient and invisible authorities predates the Dark Knight's by just shy of a full decade.
4 The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Matt Damon returned as his immensely-popular version of Robert Ludlum's superspy Jason Bourne for his first of many collaborations with director Paul Greengrass for a sequel that not only lived up to the original but enhanced its style and caused a seismic change within the DNA of modern action movies.
The Bourne Supremacy added a level of realism back into an increasingly bombastic action genre and is effectively a stepping stone between the whistleblowing of Enemy of the State and the spectacle of The Dark Knight.
3 John Wick (2014)
There are few action-thriller movies that can currently lay claim to the kind of far-reaching appeal that The Dark Knight enjoys around the world but John Wick is certainly one of them.
The elegantly simple revenge movie not only reinvigorated Keanu Reeve's career as an action movie star but redefined it also, creating not only an iconic character but a slew of imitators also.
2 Inception (2010)
Christopher Nolan followed The Dark Knight with an even more high-concept thriller with this reality-bending heist story about a team of expert thieves who infiltrate the dreams of their targets to steal priceless personal information.
When tasked with the impossible mission of implanting an idea with a business heir's brain without them knowing, Leonardo DiCaprio's master operator weaves a slick action rollercoaster that deceptively teaches the audience a thing or two about the structure of Hollywood filmmaking in the process.
1 Heat (1995)
Michael Mann's flawless cops and robbers masterpiece was the first movie to pit the powerhouses of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino against each other and each legendary actor brought their absolute best to the table for an unforgettable confrontation between two magnetically compelling forces.
Nolan recreated a lot of imagery from Heat almost shot-for-shot and has been very open about its influence on him, making it essential viewing for not just a Dark Knight fan but a movie fan in general.
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