Vigilante Movies

Vigilante Movies have been around for years and for good reason.  We love watching the bad guy get what he has coming to him.  It’s the situation where law enforcement just can’t help or won’t help and someone has to take the law or  justice into their own hands.

There are a variety of stories that can be told about vigilantes and vigilante justice.  We have the caped and masked crusaders like Batman and Kick-Ass and let’s not forget Defendor.   These masked vigilantes get our attention, are mysterious and entertaining to watch.

There are many vigiliante movie lists available however I am going to share 16 movies and even a television show worth watching if you are interested in the vigilante genre of movies. The movies are listed in no particular order.

Dexter

Dexter is a Miami Police Forensics expert that acts as a vigilante at night.  The problem with Dexter is that he also has a need to kill and being a vigilante is the only way he can quench his thirst for killing and be able to justify it in the process.  This is a Showtime television series that is quite entertaining.  I would recommend buying the series to watch it straight from beginning to end.

Death Wish 1 2 3 4

Yeah that is right, there were four Death Wish movies made starting Charles Bronson from 1974 to 1994 which is an amazing span for a movie series.  I can vouch for the early parts of the serious as worth taking a look at.  Charles Bronson plays a smart tough guy that rivaled the Clint Eastwood image of that era.

Falling Down

A great vigilante movie played by Michael Douglas in 1993.  This is one of those movies that’s timeless and many people can relate to the frustrations of this character.  Worth watching.

Gran Torino

This movie was very well done.  Clint Eastwood directed and started this movie where a war veteran tries to reform a kid that tried to steal his favorite possession, a Gran Tornio.  There are many bad things going on in the neighborhood and Clint sets out to fix it.  Very good movie!

Django Unchained

This is a great western vigilante movie with several twists in the plot.  A German bounty hunter frees a slave and sets out to rescue the slave’s wife from a plantation owner.  Directed by Quentin Tarantino with stars like Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz.  Did you know that Will Smith turned down the part of Django because he didn’t think the part was the lead?

 

The Boondock Saints

This 1999 movie is a timeless classic where two brothers set out to get rid of some bad guys while being tracked down themselves.  You may recognize Norman Reedus in his early days.  How is Norman Reedus?  Norman is Daryl Dixon from the walking dead.

Walking Tall

Based on a true story, a former U.S. soldier returns to his home town to find that it is filled with crime and corruption.  He decides to clean up the town.  Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) stars in this movie that has been made over several times.

Defendor

It’s listed as a comedy but that isn’t really how I remember it.  Woody Harrelson plays a slightly mentally challenged man that dresses like a super hero.  He befriends a teenager and fights crime.  Worth a look.

The Substitute 1996 (the original)

A mercenary goes undercover as a substitute teacher in Miani to combat a gang.

The Principal – Made in 1987

James Belushi really launched his career (in my opinion) with this movie.  A teacher is assigned to be a principal of a very violent school.  The prinicipal starts cracking down on the gang violence and other riff raff.  Louis Gossett Jr makes a great co start.  I loved this movie.

Kick-Ass

Big time twist on the vigilante justice movies.  A high school kid decides to dress up like a super hero and fight crime. With no powers, training or fighting skills he get seriously hurt .  This is when the story turns around.   Co-stars of Nicolas Cage and Chloe Grace Moretz make this movie a great vigilante movie.

Man on Fire

A former assassin seeks vengeance on those who killed the family he was sworn to protect.  I vaguely remember this movie with but with Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken and Dakota Fanning how can this movie go wrong?

Taken (1 and 2)

A very relevant topic with vigilante justice theme.  Liam Neeson gives a wonderful performance.  A retired CIA operative has his daughter taken hostage while on vacation in another country. Who is going to track them all down, kill everyone and save his daughter; this guy. Great movie

I haven’t seen part 2 yet but from what I understand it was a pretty decent movie.

Road House

Patrick Swayze was at the top of his game when he made this vigilante justice movie.  A tough bouncer takes a job at a new bar to get it on the right track.  Meanwhile he finds himself fighting against the most powerfully rich man in town.  Great fighting and plot.  Loved this movie!

Out for Justice

I feel like Steven Seagal has been in several vigilante Justice movies but this one was when he was skinny and at the top of his movie career.  In the movie Steven plays a Brooklyn cop that seeks justice for the death of a friend.

Batman (all of them)

Batman movies are the ultimate masked man superhero type movies ever made.  Batman get the bad guys and serves vigilante justice.  The first three Batman movies (with Michael Keaton) and the last three Batman movies (with Christian Bale) are the ones worth seeing.  Everything in between is a waste of time.

The movies listed are the movies I have personally seen over the years but does not make up a complete list of all vigilante movies.    There are bigger lists out there but these are the movies I can vouch for that are worth watching.  For a much bigger list click here.