Best movies like 47 Samurai
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming ronin) after their daimyo (feudal lord) was forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka, whose title was Kōzuke no suke. The ronin avenged their master's honor after patiently waiting and planning for over a year to kill Kira. In turn, the ronin were themselves forced to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 207 min
Plot tags: epic, bleak, harsh, atmospheric, serious, intense, emotional, jidai geki, historical drama, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like 47 Samurai (1962):
Similar in 90%
Kill! (1968)
Plot Summary:
In this pitch-black action comedy by Kihachi Okamoto, a pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin. Based on the same source novel as Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro, Kill! playfully tweaks samurai film convention, borrowing elements from established chanbara classics and seasoning them with a little Italian western.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, serious, realistic, jidai geki, spoof, black comedy, parody
Similar in 85%
Gojoe: Spirit War Chronicle (2000)
Plot Summary:
Benkei, a master fighter and killer, vows never to take another life after his conversion to Buddhism. His faith in pacifism, however, is shaken and ultimately broken by the attacks from a trio of fighters known only as "the demons". Taking up his sword once more, he sets out to end their murderous terror.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 907
Genere: Action, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, stylized, surprise ending
Similar in 79%
Sword of Desperation (2010)
Plot Summary:
A talented but troubled Edo Period swordsman, Kanemi Sanzawmon. Three years earlier, Kanemi killed a woman, Renko, the corrupt mistress of the powerful daimyo Tabu Ukyou. Unexpectedly, Kanemi received a lenient sentence for his crime and is allowed to return to his clan after only one year of imprisonment. Following his return, Kanemi is faced with the death of his wife, Mutsue. Thereafter, Kanemi lives with and cares for his wife's niece, Satoo, who has secret affections for Kanemi and expresses them by helping change his bleak outlook on life. Meanwhile, Kanemi's develops his unique "bird-catching" sword technique which he will soon put to test in battle for the first time against the fearsome swordsman, Hayatonosho Obiya.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 836
Genere: Action, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: captivating, atmospheric, suspenseful, tense, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, stylized
Similar in 77%
Harakiri (1962)
Plot Summary:
Peace in 17th-century Japan causes the Shogunate's breakup of warrior clans, throwing thousands of samurai out of work and into poverty. An honorable end to such fate under the samurai code is ritual suicide, or hara-kiri.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 66000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery
Country: Japan
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: tense, disturbing, bleak, black and white, enigmatic, melancholic, captivating, suspenseful, breathtaking, cerebral
Similar in 87%
The Sword of Doom (1966)
Plot Summary:
Through his unconscionable actions against others, a sociopathic samurai builds a trail of vendettas that follow him closely.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: black and white, cerebral, visual, tense, bleak, stylized, jidai geki, rough, epic, serious
Similar in 90%
Sanjuro (1962)
Plot Summary:
Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: black and white, atmospheric, tense, witty, stylized, exciting, serious, realistic, touching, epic
Similar in 78%
The Challenge (1982)
Plot Summary:
Rick, a down-and-out American boxer, is hired to transport a sword to Japan, unaware that the whole thing is a set up in a bitter blood-feud between two brothers, one who follows the traditional path of the samurai and the other a businessman. At the behest of the businessman, Rick undertakes samurai training from the other brother, but joins his cause. He also becomes romantically involved with the samurai's daughter.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: offbeat, crime drama, cult classic, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 85%
The Bushido Blade (1981)
Plot Summary:
A steel samurai blade that was to be given to the American ambassador by the Emperor of Japan is stolen. American sailors and Japanese samurai are sent to find it.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 436
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: UK, USA, Japan
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: action adventure, independent film, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Samurai Assassin (1965)
Plot Summary:
February 17 to March 3, 1860, inside Edo castle. A group of assassins wait by Sakurada Gate to kill the lord of the House of Ii, a powerful man in the Tokugawa government, which has ruled Japan for 300 years. They suspect a traitor in their midst, and their suspicions fall on Niiro, an impoverished ronin who dreams of samurai status, and Kurihara, an aristocratic samurai who befriends Niiro. Niiro longs to identify his father, knowing he is a high-ranking official who will disclose himself only if Niiro achieves samurai status. With American ships in Japan's harbors, cynicism among the assassins, and change in the air, Niiro resolves to reach ends that may prove ephemeral.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy, jidai geki, bizarre
Similar in 77%
Incident at Blood Island (1970)
Plot Summary:
In the Edo period, a nameless ronin accepts an assignment to go to a mountain pass and wait. Near the pass he stops at an inn where a collection of characters gather, including a gang set on stealing shogunate gold that's soon to come over the pass. When the Ronin's assignment becomes clear, to help the gang, he's ordered to kill the inn's residents, including a woman he's rescued from an abusive husband. He's reluctant to murder innocent people; then he learns that the gold shipment is a trap and he's part of a double cross. How he sorts through these divided loyalties tests of his samurai honor, and perhaps of his love for a woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 889
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, jidai geki
Similar in 82%
The Tale of Zatoichi (1962)
Plot Summary:
The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: art house, grindhouse, cult classic, atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, vintage, period drama, cult film
Similar in 88%
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)
Plot Summary:
With a price on his head, Ichi seeks tranquillity in a favorite village. Since his last visit, it has fallen prey to Boss Masagoro, the son of a merchant rumored to have stolen gold from the shogunate. The boss has hired Yojimbo as his hard-drinking enforcer, but Yojimbo is both a spy for the shogunate, trying to find the gold, and in love with the merchant's unwilling mistress, Umeno. Ichi hires on as the merchant's masseur and buys Umeno's freedom with his employer's own money. This embarrasses Yojimbo who withdraws from a pact with Ichi to stir up trouble between father and son and their gangs. As the two sides fight, Ichi finds the gold and sets up a final set of confrontations.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: cult classic, realistic, stylized, semi serious, cult film
Similar in 75%
New Tale of Zatoichi (1963)
Plot Summary:
Wishing to find peace, Zatoichi travels to his old village but only finds trouble when he ends up in a love triangle and finds old scores have followed him home.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, period drama, cult film
Similar in 81%
The Shogun's Samurai (1978)
Plot Summary:
Following the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the shogunate despite the stammer and birthmark which undermine his respect. Iemitsu and his brother Tadanaga become bitter rivals for the shogunate, and the land is split into factions, eventually erupting into warfare. Iemitsu's mentor, his fencing instructor Yagyu, is fixated upon securing Iemitsu the shogunate and ends up betraying everyone, even his own family, in pursuit of the goal.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: perverse, epic, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized
Similar in 76%
Ninja, a Band of Assassins (1962)
Plot Summary:
[Period covered: 1575-1681] Fist film in the Shinobi series starring Raizo Ichikawa. Warlord Oda Nobunaga seeks to unite a fractured Japan, a young man trained in the arts of ninjitsu is manipulated by a ninja master into attempting to assassinate the warlord before he completes his task.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 928
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, jidai geki, period drama
Similar in 76%
Yamada: Samurai of Ayothaya (2010)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true historic figure, Yamada Nagamasa, a Japanese adventurer who went to Ayothaya in the 16th century and became a soldier in King Naresuan's army. After the war in Burma it's restless in Ayothaya, because of a mysterious group of men that terrorizes and plunders the city. Yamada goes after them and discovers that the men are rebelious Japanese samurai. Now he has to fight his own countrymen.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: Thailand
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, inspirational
Similar in 86%
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons (1973)
Plot Summary:
In the fifth film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto is challenged by five warriors, each has one fifth of Ogami's assassin fee and one fifth of the information he needs to complete his assassination.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: visual, exciting, atmospheric, rough, epic, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 89%
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman (1989)
Plot Summary:
This 26th film installment of the Zatoichi series sees Shintaro Katsu return to this classic role after a 10 year hiatus. The blind masseur Ichi gets caught between rival Yakuza clans.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, tense, atmospheric, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 76%
Shogun's Ninja (1980)
Plot Summary:
In the middle of the 16th century, Hideyoshi, a power hungry warlord sets out to destroy the Momochi clan. He sends his war commander in search of the clan's hidden gold only to find that two daggers are the key to the hiding place of the treasured gold. Spanning decades, the quest for the missing daggers takes Shiranui through war and ancient tradition.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 759
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: jidai geki, exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 89%
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011)
Plot Summary:
An tale of revenge, honor and disgrace, centering on a poverty-stricken samurai who discovers the fate of his ronin son-in-law, setting in motion a tense showdown of vengeance against the house of a feudal lord.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan, UK
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: tense, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, erotic, intense, jidai geki, atmospheric, contemplative
Similar in 78%
The Hidden Blade (2004)
Plot Summary:
Set in 19th Century Japan a young samurai who finds himself in love with a farm girl leaves his home to begin a new life. He has to take stock of his new life when he is put to the test and ordered to kill a traitor who just happens to be his dearest friend.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, stylized, romantic, epic, jidai geki, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 83%
Goemon (2009)
Plot Summary:
Follow the infamous ninja bandit named Ishikawa Goemon (Yosuke Eguchi) in an epic story. One night while looting treasure from Nanban (Southern Barbarians), Goemon finds a mysterious box hidden inside a secret grave. A forgotten relic from the past containing untold powers.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: exciting, epic, captivating, anime, tense, suspense, action thriller, visually stunning, serious, stylized
Similar in 87%
Love and Honor (2006)
Plot Summary:
A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai (Kimura) and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, romantic, poignant, jidai geki, social, epic, period drama
Similar in 79%
Samurai Banners (1969)
Plot Summary:
Feudal Japan, 1543 to 1562. Kansuke Yamamoto is a samurai who dreams of a country united, peaceful from sea to sea. He enters the service of Takeda, the lord of Kai domain. He convinces Takeda to kill the lord of neighboring Suwa and take his wife as a concubine. He then convinces the widow, Princess Yu, to accept this arrangement and to bear Takeda a son. He pledges them his life. He then spends years using treachery, poetic sensibility, military and political strategy to expand Takeda's realm, advance the claim of Yu's son as the heir, and prepare for an ultimate battle with the forces of Echigo. Has Kansuke overreached? Are his dreams, blinded by love, too big? Written by [email protected].
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 798
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, jidai geki
Similar in 81%
Kagemusha (1980)
Plot Summary:
When a warlord dies, a peasant thief is called upon to impersonate him, in order to protect his clan from appearing weak and vulnerable. But he finds himself haunted by the warlord’s spirit as well as his own ambitions.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: captivating, enigmatic, bleak, costume drama, epic, tense, jidai geki, political, visually appealing, cerebral
Similar in 80%
13 Assassins (2010)
Plot Summary:
A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan, UK
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: suspense, intense, tense, harsh, visually appealing, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, grindhouse, spectacular
Similar in 83%
Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno (2014)
Plot Summary:
Kenshin has settled into his new life with Kaoru and his other friends when he is approached with a request from the Meiji government. Makoto Shishio, a former assassin like Kenshin, was betrayed, set on fire and left for dead. He survived, and is now in Kyoto, plotting with his gathered warriors to overthrow the new government. Against Kaoru's wishes, Kenshin reluctantly agrees to go to Kyoto and help keep his country from falling back into civil war.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Japan
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: stylized, suspense, intense, anime, exciting, suspenseful, manga, dorama, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 81%
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972)
Plot Summary:
In the second film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto battles a group of female ninja in the employ of the Yagyu clan and must assassinate a traitor who plans to sell his clan's secrets to the Shogunate.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: bloody, grindhouse, atmospheric, stylized, splatter, manga, perverse, exciting, rough, serious
Similar in 90%
Last Knights (2015)
Plot Summary:
When an evil emperor executes their leader, his band of knights – bound by duty and honour – embarks on a journey of vengeance that will not come to an end until they've destroyed their mortal foe.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, USA, South Korea, Czech Republic
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, epic, suspense, entertaining, futuristic, intense, visually appealing, realistic, stylized
Similar in 81%
The Last Samurai (2003)
Plot Summary:
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 463000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA, New Zealand, Japan
Duration: 154 min
Plot tags: epic, breathtaking, serious, exciting, captivating, period piece, realistic, stylized, dramatic, suspense