Best New Zealand-Australian Crime Dramas
by muybueno16 | created - 28 Mar 2014 | updated - 15 Jan 2020 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Once Were Warriors (1994)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama
A family descended from Maori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Julian Arahanga
Votes: 36,864 | Gross: $2.20M
2. What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999)
108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Jake Muss' oldest son is killed in a gang fight and the younger son wants revenge, but Jake doesn't want to lose his other son to violence as well.
Director: Ian Mune | Stars: Temuera Morrison, Rena Owen, Clint Eruera, Nancy Brunning
Votes: 3,769
3. Crooked Earth (2001)
100 min | Drama
Forces of tradition and tribal pride collide with government authority.
Director: Sam Pillsbury | Stars: Temuera Morrison, Lawrence Makoare, Jaime Passier-Armstrong, Quinton Hita
Votes: 254
4. Two Hands (1999)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
A 19 year old finds himself in debt to a local gangster when some gang loot disappears and sets him on the run from thugs. Meanwhile two street kids start a shopping spree when they find the missing money.
Director: Gregor Jordan | Stars: Heath Ledger, Bryan Brown, David Field, Tom Long
Votes: 13,669
5. Vigilante (II) (2008)
R | 90 min | Action
When Luke is viciously attacked and his fiancée is raped and murdered, he pledges to train himself in deadly hand-to-hand combat and use it against any wrongdoers who dare cross his path.
Director: Aash Aaron | Stars: Robert Díaz, Kazuya Wright, Lexie Symon, Margot Robbie
Votes: 541
6. Gettin' Square (2003)
Not Rated | 100 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Barry has good intentions when he is released after 8 years in prison, but finding a job is difficult with a prison record, and he can't keep his kid brother or his friend out of crime.
Director: Jonathan Teplitzky | Stars: Sam Worthington, David Wenham, Timothy Spall, Freya Stafford
Votes: 3,255
7. Pros and Ex-Cons (2005)
R | 92 min | Action
After completing their job, two ex-cons, are quickly informed that they have assassinated the wrong individual. With the stakes high they must quickly correct their mistake before covers are blown and innocent lives are lost.
Director: Timothy Boyle | Stars: Sam Worthington, Steve Bastoni, John Boxer, Jason Crewes
Votes: 379
8. Dirty Deeds (2002)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Crime
1973 Sydney: An Australian gangster sees booming business, due to U.S. soldiers being in town for relaxing between their tours to the Vietnam war, attracts the attention of first the Chicago mafia, and then their East Coast competitors.
Director: David Caesar | Stars: Bryan Brown, Toni Collette, John Goodman, Sam Neill
Votes: 3,427
9. Jack Irish: Bad Debts (2012 TV Movie)
90 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A former criminal lawyer is getting his life back together and now spends his days as a part-time investigator, debt collector, apprentice cabinet maker, punter and finding those who don't ... See full summary »
Director: Jeffrey Walker | Stars: Guy Pearce, Marta Dusseldorp, Aaron Pedersen, Roy Billing
Votes: 2,727
10. Jack Irish: Black Tide (2012 TV Movie)
93 min | Crime, Drama
Jack Irish has no shortage of friends, but family members are few and far between. His wife was murdered by an ex-client and his father is a fading photo on the pubs football wall of fame. ... See full summary »
Director: Jeffrey Walker | Stars: Guy Pearce, Marta Dusseldorp, Aaron Pedersen, Roy Billing
Votes: 2,161
11. Jack Irish: Dead Point (2014 TV Movie)
83 min | Crime, Drama
When a high profile judge commissions Jack Irish to locate a mysterious red book, Jack is thrown into a world of sexy club owners, drug dealers and unhinged killers.
Director: Jeffrey Walker | Stars: Guy Pearce, Marta Dusseldorp, Aaron Pedersen, Roy Billing
Votes: 1,845
12. Kiss or Kill (1997)
R | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After a robbery scam that goes bad, lovers Nikki and Al take off into the Australian outback, pursued by the police and a malevolent footballer named Zipper Doyle, and meet a number of offbeat characters.
Director: Bill Bennett | Stars: Matt Day, Frances O'Connor, Tiffany Peters, Julie Wood
Votes: 1,463 | Gross: $0.73M
13. Idiot Box (1996)
R | 83 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Looking for the fast track out of suburban hell, two natural born losers scheme an impossible heist. Two undercover cops and a highly strung speed dealer are not far behind.
Director: David Caesar | Stars: Ben Mendelsohn, Jeremy Sims, John Polson, Graeme Blundell
Votes: 915
14. Stickmen (2001)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
Three young men unwittingly become involved in an underground pool tournament.
Director: Hamish Rothwell | Stars: Robbie Magasiva, Paolo Rotondo, Scott Wills, Simone Kessell
Votes: 1,527
15. Contract Killers (2013)
TV-14 | 95 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Double-crossed by those he trusted the most, a newbie government hit man discovers that he's the target for the world's most dangerous assassin and so begins a ruthless game of kill first or be killed.
Director: Mathew John Pearson | Stars: Richard Alexander, Dallas Barnett, Renee Cataldo, Kerry Glamsch
Votes: 458
16. The Custodian (1993)
R | 109 min | Drama, Romance
A police detective decides to expose the pervasive corruption that permeates his department.
Director: John Dingwall | Stars: Anthony LaPaglia, Hugo Weaving, Barry Otto, Kelly Dingwall
Votes: 371
17. Chopper (2000)
R | 94 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Chopper tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison. His book, "From the Inside", upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.
Director: Andrew Dominik | Stars: Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Vince Colosimo, Renée Brack
Votes: 41,530 | Gross: $0.23M
18. Siege (2012 TV Movie)
90 min | Crime, Drama
On the 7th of May 2009, Senior Constables Len Snee, Grant Diver and Bruce Miller arrived at 41 Chaucer Rd in Napier to serve a search warrant on Jan Molenaar for the growing of cannabis. ... See full summary »
Director: Mike Smith | Stars: Joel Tobeck, Mark Mitchinson, Miriama Smith, Alistair Browning
Votes: 234
19. Risk (2000)
R | 93 min | Drama, Crime, Thriller
A naïve insurance adjuster comes under the tutelage of his jaded boss and gets caught in a web of deceit and lust.
Director: Alan White | Stars: Bryan Brown, Tom Long, Claudia Karvan, Melissa Madden-Gray
Votes: 543
20. The Bank (2001)
Not Rated | 104 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
The Bank is a thriller about banking, corruption and alchemy.
Director: Robert Connolly | Stars: David Wenham, Anthony LaPaglia, Sibylla Budd, Steve Rodgers
Votes: 2,991
21. Stiff (2004 TV Movie)
93 min | Comedy, Crime
Murray Whelan, a young political adviser to the Labor Minister for Ethnic Affairs, must play detective when he gets unwillingly dragged into a murder investigation. Based on a popular Australian series of detective books.
Director: John Clarke | Stars: David Wenham, Mick Molloy, Deborah Kennedy, Julian O'Donnell
Votes: 232
22. Rush (2008–2011)
TV-MA | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
They are trained to be smarter, tactically superior and technologically advantaged - Melbourne's answer for a cutting edge trend in policing worldwide.
Stars: Rodger Corser, Callan Mulvey, Nicole da Silva, Ashley Zukerman
Votes: 2,002
23. Underbelly (2008–2013)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Each season of this multi-award-winning television series takes you through a 13-episode run in the rise and fall of real-life Australian underworld figures as told from both sides of the law.
Stars: Caroline Craig, Paul Tassone, Dieter Brummer, Daniel Roberts
Votes: 5,291
24. Son of a Gun (2014)
R | 108 min | Action, Crime, Drama
JR busts out of prison with Brendan Lynch, Australia's most notorious criminal, and joins Lynch's gang for a gold heist that soon pits the two men against one another.
Director: Julius Avery | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Brenton Thwaites, Alicia Vikander, Brendan Kerkvliet
Votes: 29,576 | Gross: $0.00M
25. The Silence (2006 TV Movie)
R | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A former police detective working as a curator becomes obsessed with a victim in one of the crime scene photos in his exhibition from the 1960's. Delving into the mystery, he must confront the truth about this dead woman and his own life.
Director: Cate Shortland | Stars: Richard Roxburgh, Essie Davis, Alice McConnell, Emily Barclay
Votes: 296
26. City Homicide (2006–2011)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
On the Homicide floor of a police headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, detectives work to bring justice for the deceased.
Stars: Shane Bourne, Nadine Garner, Aaron Pedersen, Damien Richardson
Votes: 1,713
27. Water Rats (1996–2001)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Beneath its surface exists a playground for the murky underworld, pollution hazards, the remnants of huge drug hauls, and a graveyard of bodies from years of suicides, accidents and murders. That's the world of the WATER RATS.
Stars: Brett Partridge, Peter Bensley, Toni Scanlan, Jay Laga'aia
Votes: 1,151
28. Blue Heelers (1994–2006)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The series primarily focuses on the daily lives of Victorian police officers working at a police station in the fictional small town of Mount Thomas.
Stars: Julie Nihill, John Wood, Martin Sacks, Paul Bishop
Votes: 1,694
29. Murder Call (1997–2000)
TV-MA | 50 min | Drama, Crime, Thriller
Centers on homicide detective odd couple, Tessa Vance, and her partner Steve Hayden. Shot in Sydney, Australia, the show was known for portraying gripping crime drama, while displaying the grittier side of urban Sydney.
Stars: Lucy Bell, Peter Mochrie, Geoff Morrell, Glenda Linscott
Votes: 485
30. Outlaws (2017)
R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
1% is set within the primal underworld of outlaw motorcycle club gangs. It follows the heir to the throne of a motorcycle club who has to betray his president to save his brother's life.
Director: Stephen McCallum | Stars: Ryan Corr, Abbey Lee, Simone Kessell, Josh McConville
Votes: 1,301
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