Top Crime Thriller Action Dramas of 2001-2002: Unmissable Edge-of-Your-Seat Films

Half Past Dead

2002 • 98 min • Budget $25M • Box office $19M

Crime, Action, Thriller

To find the people who murdered his wife, a man goes undercover in a cutting-edge prison. While working inside, he uncovers a scheme involving a death row inmate and a hidden fortune of $200 million in gold.

5.1

4.6

13+

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Scenes of the Crime

2002 • 91 min

Drama, Thriller, Action

To pay for his upcoming wedding, a young man takes on driving work for a local mobster. His life is upended when the mobster is fatally shot by a rival crime boss.

5.4

5.7

17+

Stream on

The Hard Word

2002 • 102 min

Action, Comedy, Crime

Three brothers, imprisoned for bank robbery, find a lucrative, though questionable, way to pass the time. Crime can be profitable, if you understand. But when relationships complicate the dynamic between the criminals and the police, the results become strange and…

5.4

6.0

17+

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In August of 1944

2001 • 109 min

Action, Thriller, Drama

In Belarus, a counter-intelligence team has just three days to locate a German radio operator who has infiltrated Soviet lines, disguised as a Soviet soldier, right before a large offensive begins.

6.2

7.3

Agitator

2001 • 150 min

Crime, Drama, Action

A young Yakuza member terrorizes customers at a nightclub owned by a rival crime family, and he soon turns up dead. This sparks retaliation between the families, leading to the death of a powerful crime boss. Driven by grief and…

6.4

6.8

The Pretender 2001

2001 • 86 min

TV Movie, Action, Mystery

Continuing the story from the television series, "The Pretender 2001" delves further into the show's backstory, revealing how Jarod first escaped from the Centre. He must now infiltrate the NSA to capture a dangerous assassin – someone who may be…

7.1

7.4

14+

Pootie Tang

2001 • 81 min • Budget $7M • Box office $3M

Action, Comedy

Pootie Tang, a musician, actor, and beloved figure in his community, is followed from his childhood as he confronts powerful corporations. These corporations attempt to exploit him by stealing his magical belt and pressuring him into promoting harmful products to…

5.1

5.3

13+

Stream on

+11

Liberty Stands Still

2002 • 96 min • Budget $11M • Box office $595K

Thriller, Action, Drama

Liberty Wallace, heir to a major gun manufacturing company and its marketing director, is detached from the harm caused by her family's business and her CEO husband, Victor. While traveling to meet her actor lover, she is unexpectedly chained to…

5.4

5.7

17+

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Zu Warriors

2001 • 104 min • Box office $35M

Fantasy, Action

King Sky, the only student of the Kunlun Sect, develops feelings for his master, Dawn. Tragedy strikes when Insomnia destroys Kinlun Mountain, killing Dawn. King Sky spends two centuries waiting, then encounters Enigma, who is Dawn reincarnated. He falls in…

5.6

5.2

13+

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One 2 Ka 4

2001 • 178 min • Budget $5M • Box office $5M

Action, Drama, Comedy

After his partner is killed while on duty, a police officer becomes the guardian of his partner's orphaned children while working to solve the murder.

5.6

5.5

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Vidocq

2001 • 98 min • Box office $13M

Fantasy, Action, Thriller

Paris, 1830. Renowned detective Vidocq vanishes while pursuing the Alchemist, a killer he's been hunting. His young biographer, Etienne Boisset, resolves to avenge Vidocq’s death and continues the investigation.

5.9

6.4

17+

My Wife Is a Gangster

2001 • 110 min

Action, Comedy

Eun-jin is a legendary figure in the criminal underworld, feared and respected for her skill with blades. After being separated from her sister at an orphanage as a child, Eun-jin unexpectedly reconnects with her. Her sister's dying wish is for…

5.9

6.3

Voyage of the Unicorn

2001 • 170 min

Adventure, Fantasy, TV Movie

The Aislings are magically transported to a ship called the Unicorn and discover they've been chosen for a remarkable quest. Their journey takes them to fantastical lands filled with magical creatures, but it's a voyage of self-discovery. Along the way,…

6.7

6.5

Heist

2001 • 107 min • Budget $35M • Box office $28M

Action, Crime, Drama

Joe Moore is a skilled thief who enjoys his work. His life takes a turn when he's captured on security footage. His contact, Bergman, refuses to pay him what he's promised, and Moore suspects his wife is having an affair…

6.3

6.5

17+

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Dark Blue

2002 • 118 min • Budget $15M • Box office $12M

Crime, Thriller

Against the backdrop of the 1992 Rodney King riots, a robbery and homicide investigation sets off a chain of events that forces a corrupt LAPD officer to reconsider his methods.

6.2

6.6

17+

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xXx

2002 • 124 min • Budget $70M • Box office $277M

Action, Adventure, Thriller

Xander Cage is a thrill-seeking risk-taker with a rebellious streak. When the U.S. Government enlists him for a mission, he's far from enthusiastic. His task: to investigate an organization suspected of plotting global destruction, headed by the cynical Yorgi.

6.0

5.9

13+

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Sniper 2

2002 • 91 min • Budget $5M

Action

A former Marine sniper is persuaded to return to service for a highly classified mission. His objective: eliminate a rogue general suspected of orchestrating covert operations targeting ethnic groups in a region called "No Man's Land."

5.5

5.2

17+

Stream on

3000 Miles to Graceland

2001 • 125 min • Budget $62M • Box office $18M

Action, Adventure, Comedy

Thomas Murphy planned a heist: robbing the Riviera Casino's counting room during an Elvis impersonator convention. But instead of sharing the money, he kept it all and shot his partners, including Michael Zane, who had just been released from prison.…

5.8

6.0

17+

Stream on

Intacto

2001 • 108 min • Box office $1M

Action, Comedy, Drama

Four people, bound together by fate, find their lives determined by forces beyond their control. They realize they can't afford to be unlucky as they participate in a high-stakes, deadly game where only one person will survive.

6.5

6.7

17+

Stream on

The Last Castle

2001 • 131 min • Budget $72M • Box office $27M

Action, Drama, Thriller

After being court-martialed, a general unites 1200 fellow inmates in a rebellion against the very system that imprisoned him.

7.2

7.0

17+

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House of Flying Daggers

2004 • 119 min • Budget $15M • Box office $92M

Adventure, Drama, Action

In 9th century China, a dishonest government fights a rebellion led by the Flying Daggers. A skilled warrior rescues a captivating rebel from jail to aid her in reuniting with her forces, but the situation is more complicated than it…

7.3

7.5

13+

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American Outlaws

2001 • 94 min • Budget $35M • Box office $13M

Western, Action

A small town in the Midwest discovers a ruthless railroad tycoon has secretly acquired deeds to their land. A group of young ranchers band together to reclaim what's theirs, sparking a massive manhunt across the Old West. As they become…

6.0

5.9

13+

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Equilibrium

2002 • 107 min • Budget $20M • Box office $5M

Action, Science Fiction, Thriller

In a bleak future, a totalitarian government keeps its citizens docile with a drug, and any sign of emotion is a death sentence. The man tasked with enforcing these laws begins a dangerous path to overthrow the entire system.

7.0

7.3

17+

Stream on

The Time Machine

2002 • 96 min • Budget $80M • Box office $123M

Science Fiction, Adventure, Action

A 19th-century inventor attempts to change history but accidentally journeys 800,000 years into the future. He discovers humanity is now split into two warring factions.

6.3

6.0

13+

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Eight Legged Freaks

2002 • 99 min • Budget $30M • Box office $45M

Action, Comedy, Horror

In a remote mining town, a chemical spill transforms hundreds of spiders into giant, SUV-sized creatures overnight. Mining engineer Chris McCormack and Sheriff Sam Parker must rally a diverse group of locals – including the Sheriff's son Mike, her daughter…

5.8

5.5

13+

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Brotherhood of the Wolf

2001 • 151 min • Budget $29M • Box office $70M

Adventure, Horror, Action

France, 18th century. The King dispatches Chevalier de Fronsac and his Native American companion Mani to the Gevaudan province. Their mission: to investigate the mysterious killings of hundreds of people attributed to a beast.

6.7

7.0

17+

Stream on

+16

Evolution

2001 • 102 min • Budget $80M • Box office $98M

Comedy, Science Fiction, Action

When a meteor crashes to Earth, it brings alien life with a twisted sense of survival. A comedy about the ensuing chaos, the film follows David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, and Julianne Moore as they become humanity's last…

6.1

13+

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A Knight's Tale

2001 • 133 min • Budget $65M • Box office $117M

Adventure, Drama, Romance

William Thatcher, a peasant apprentice to a knight, sees an opportunity for advancement when his master dies unexpectedly during a tournament. Disguising himself as a knight, William is determined to win the tournament, relentlessly pursuing victory – as long as…

6.9

7.0

13+

Stream on

Oldboy

2003 • 120 min • Budget $3M • Box office $17M

Drama, Thriller, Mystery

A man awakens after fifteen years of captivity, having been imprisoned, drugged, and tortured, with no memory of how he arrived there. Driven by desperation, he now seeks revenge against those who held him.

8.2

8.3

17+

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Spider-Man

2002 • 121 min • Budget $139M • Box office $821M

Action, Science Fiction

While at Oscorp, Peter Parker, a shy high school student, is bitten by a genetically modified spider. This gives him extraordinary abilities, transforming him into the superhero Spider-Man.

7.3

7.4

13+

Stream on

+10