Best movies like Bandit vs. Samurai Squad
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Kumokiri Nizaemon, a former samurai warrior, has abandoned his class to become the leader of a gang of thieves. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 421
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 163 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, jidai geki
Best tv shows and movies like Bandit vs. Samurai Squad (1978):
Similar in 89%
Way of the Dragon 2 (1979)
Plot Summary:
A classic tribute to a legendary Kung-Fu master. The high-powered action and deadly fistfights don’t let up for a moment. When all the chips are down, the Dragon Master will prevail!.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 123
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 80%
Sword of the Beast (1965)
Plot Summary:
Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Gosha’s Sword of the Beast chronicles the flight of the low-level swordsman Gennosuke, who kills one of his ministers as part of a reform plot. His former comrades then turn on him, and this betrayal so shakes his sense of honor that he decides to live in the wild, like an animal. There he joins up with a motley group who are illegally mining the shogun’s gold, and, with the aid of another swordsman, gets a chance not just at survival but to recover his name and honor.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 89%
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 78%
Revenge (1964)
Plot Summary:
This tragic drama shows a young man fettered by Bushido, the way of the Samurai, who tried to escape the chains of his position, but was being forced to die. When the Tokugawa Shogunate ruled the land, Tatsuno castle in Wakisaka Clan's home of Harima held an established custom, the inspection of the arms warehouse. The Government Inspector Okuno Magodayu found a slight bit of dirt on the point of a spear and mentioned it with disdain. Ezaki Shinpachi heard it and started an argument with him. Magodayu then sent a a letter of challenge to him because he felt insulted by a low-ranking underling without a title. As it turned out Magodayu was killed. Since then, Shinpachi and the Okuno family have had continuous revenge duels. The tension mounts as this story builds to an extremely violent climax, when blood must pay for blood if the clan is to survive!.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 472
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, jidai geki
Similar in 84%
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 79%
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 85%
Sleepy Eyes of Death: Sword of Fire (1965)
Plot Summary:
Fifth film in the series. When Kyoshiro, in a moment of weakness, saves the life of a woman being attacked on the road, he quickly finds himself entangled in a conspiracy involving a corrupt chamberlain, a wily merchant, the survivors of a pirate gang, and a missing treasure trove.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 182
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, period drama
Similar in 85%
Goyokin (1969)
Plot Summary:
A guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, realistic, jidai geki, rough, bleak, stylized
Similar in 82%
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman's Pilgrimage (1966)
Plot Summary:
Our hero Zatoichi sails to one of the distant islands to begin a pilgrimage to a total of 88 Shinto shrines.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
Similar in 76%
Samurai Spy (1965)
Plot Summary:
Years of warfare end in a Japan unified under the Tokugawa shogunate, and samurai spy Sasuke Sarutobi, tired of conflict, longs for peace. When a high-ranking spy named Tatewaki Koriyama defects from the shogun to a rival clan, however, the world of swordsmen is thrown into turmoil. After Sasuke is unwittingly drawn into the conflict, he tracks Tatewaki, while a mysterious, white-hooded figure seems to hunt them both. By tale’s end, no one is who they seemed to be, and the truth is far more personal than anyone suspected. Director Masahiro Shinoda’s Samurai Spy, filled with clan intrigue, ninja spies, and multiple double crosses, marks a bold stylistic departure from swordplay film convention.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 83%
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 79%
Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (1970)
Plot Summary:
Zatoichi is mentored by the blind leader of a secret organization as he contends with both the Yakuza and a jealous husband.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Adventure, Action
Country: Japan
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, atmospheric, serious, suspenseful, cult film
Similar in 78%
Muscle Heat (2002)
Plot Summary:
In the year 2009, a young policeman must collapse a Yakuza family whose members make a large profit with a new drug.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 295
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: Japan
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, serious, crime drama, fast
Similar in 83%
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 80%
Zatoichi the Fugitive (1963)
Plot Summary:
After arriving in the town of Shimonita, Ichi finds that a price has been put on his head by a local yakuza boss. He's drawn into a trap, but after hearing of the slaying of a former love, Ichi furiously fights his way through the entire clan to face the killer, a hired ronin.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Adventure, Action
Country: Japan
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
Similar in 79%
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 88%
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 90%
Hunter in the Dark (1979)
Plot Summary:
Yataro Tanigawa, a one-eyed hired assassin, impresses yakuza boss Gomyo Kiyoemon with his skill. Gomyo hires Tanigawa as his bodyguard, or yojimbo, to protect him during an inter-clan conflict. Tanigawa quickly rises in stature in the clan, but finds his boss's enemies almost overwhelming.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 559
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, jidai geki
Similar in 77%
Zatoichi's Vengeance (1966)
Plot Summary:
Zatoichi comes upon a dying man who asks him to give a bag of money to "Taichi". Zatoichi has no idea who this is but when he comes upon a small town harassed by gangsters, he finds that "Taichi" was the man's young son. Along his travels he also met a blind monk who makes Zatoichi question his murderous lifestyle. In trying to help the town, Zatoichi kills some gangsters and becomes a hero to the boy. He must make a choice of whether to use non-violence and set a good example, or violence and set the boy on the wrong path in life.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
Similar in 76%
Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold (1964)
Plot Summary:
Ichi travels to the village of Itakura to pay his respects at the grave of Kichizo, a man he killed two years ago. When some tax money is stolen while in transit to the governor he is accused and sets out to find the money and clear his name.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
Similar in 75%
Zatoichi and the Doomed Man (1965)
Plot Summary:
Blind swordsman Zatoichi, jailed briefly, is implored by another prisoner to aid him in proving his innocence of a crime for which he is sentenced to death. Zatoichi is reluctant to get involved, because he knows how often such involvement has led to trouble in the past. But events conspire to thrust him repeatedly into involvement, and gradually he comes to believe in the man's innocence and determines to free him.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
Similar in 75%
Zatoichi's Flashing Sword (1964)
Plot Summary:
Blind masseur Zatoichi is nursed back to health by a young woman after he is shot by a gang member. Zatoichi, who had come to the village to repay a debt, now feels further indebted. He commits himself to use his amazing sword skills to help the young woman's father, whose river-crossing service is under attack by the same gang responsible for Zatoichi's wounds.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
Similar in 87%
Zatoichi's Revenge (1965)
Plot Summary:
Itinerant masseur and master swordsman, the blind Zatoichi, is near the village of his teacher, Hikonoichi, so he decides to visit. He learns of Hikonoichi's recent robbery and murder and the imprisonment of his virginal daughter, Osayo, in a brothel. Through friendship with Denroku, a local dice thrower and devoted father, Ichi uncovers an unholy alliance between the governor and the area strongman: among their scams is falsifying tax records to put farmers in debt, then forcing their daughters into prostitution at the boss's brothel. With help from Denroku's daughter, Otsuru, Ichi comforts Osayo until he can provoke showdowns with the villains and their henchmen.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, stylized, cult film
Similar in 83%
Zatoichi and the Fugitives (1968)
Plot Summary:
Zatoichi runs afoul of some evil fugitives, working for a corrupt law official.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Action, Adventure
Country: Japan
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
Similar in 87%
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 77%
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 90%
13 Assassins (1963)
Plot Summary:
A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Action
Country: Japan
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: epic, jidai geki, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 77%
Getting Even (1989)
Plot Summary:
After being betrayed by a fellow Marine and spending five years in a POW camp, homeless Vietnam vet Roy Evans reunites with his commander, Dundee, and is tasked by the FBI to find his betrayer, Slisko, who is suspected of slaying several women. Slisko has also become an arms dealer, and Evans and Dundee endure the trauma of returning to Southeast Asia to apprehend their old comrade.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 73
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: Italy
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cult film
Similar in 77%
Extreme Honor (2001)
Plot Summary:
A highly decorated Navy Seal is forced out of retirement in order to save his son's life and bring justice to the man who destroyed his career.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 237
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 76%
Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (1965)
Plot Summary:
Zatoichi makes friends with a dangerous chess player, while fending off angry yakuza and bloodthirsty relatives out for revenge, and trying to save a sick child. Meanwhile, his luck with dice is turning.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film