Best movies like Hard Way to Die
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Sung Shao Chong (Billy Chong) traverses the Arizona desert, helping those in need on the way to meet his old friend Kum (Lam Hak-Ming) in a small western town. Once there, he runs into a group of men who terrorize the town and extort the local businesses. Meanwhile, a trio of three bank robbers need a place to hide until the heat dies down from a recent heist. They pick the home of a black farming family and subsequently kill them, leaving only the severly injured eldest son Tommy (Carl Scott) to escape. Tommy is found by Chong and Kum and is brought to the home of Doctor Ko (Leung Siu-Chung), who heals his injuries. Eventually Tommy learns kung fu from Ko, and sets out for payback. Luckily for Tommy, Chong is also bent on revenge after the bandits hire the local troublemakers and some Japanese samurai to kill him.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 153
Genere: Action, Drama, Western
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, spaghetti western
Best tv shows and movies like Hard Way to Die (1979):
Similar in 80%
Kung Fu Executioner (1981)
Plot Summary:
Li, a martial artist, returns home to find out that his father is being harassed by a crime syndicate. Together with an American kung fu champion he vows revenge when the syndicate kills his father.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 75
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychotronic, grindhouse
Similar in 90%
Small Tiger (1973)
Plot Summary:
Ho Mei Fong is a young woman in trouble, running from a gang of criminals with something of importance hidden in her purse. She dies in Chien Chen's taxi while trying to escape, but not before hiding the purse. Chien Chen is now involved whether he likes it or not, along with Ho Mei's sister, who turns out to be an undercover Hong Kong policewoman. They must solve the mystery of the missing purse and what it contained, while being pursued by the criminals and their hired thugs.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 289
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: serious
Similar in 83%
To Kill with Intrigue (1977)
Plot Summary:
Young master Cao Le chases his pregnant girlfriend away from the family castle. He does it in order to save her from vicious bandits who are going to murder his family.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong, South Korea
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, surreal
Similar in 78%
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 87%
Shaolin Deadly Kicks (1979)
Plot Summary:
Eight thieves steal a treasure map and split it into eight pieces, vowing to regroup three years later. But they'll have to deal with a deadly-kicking cop.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 168
Genere: Action
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
Similar in 89%
Angry Tiger (1973)
Plot Summary:
Chang Chen-Wai, a martial arts expert who runs a jade-importing business, follows his missing brother to Thailand and learns he has been murdered. Chang vows revenge.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 98
Genere: Action
Country: Hong Kong, Thailand
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cult film
Similar in 79%
Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story (1977)
Plot Summary:
Bruce Li plays a young kung fu expert (and waiter) who is trying to live peacefully in San Francisco with his marital arts-challenged friend. But they run afoul of some American thugs, and the fight is on...right!.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
The Legend of Bruce Lee (1976)
Plot Summary:
The young Bruce Lee (Ho Tsung-Tao AKA Bruce Li) has studied the philosophy and art of kung fu since boyhood, but his girlfriend says that he lives in a world of his own and all he thinks of is fighting. She begs him to change his ways, yet after a humiliating defeat Bruce vows that it will never happen again, and while witnessing street thugs preying on innocent people, he is driven to defend them. Things appear to be no better when Bruce comes to the United States to begin teaching, and is under constant attack by rival martial artists, but all the while his unorthodox style is beginning to catch on. Finally he becomes an international sensation as a movie star with a wife, kids, money, and everything he's always wanted - who then must fight for both his life and his reputation back home in Hong Kong.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 137
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic
Similar in 82%
Fearless Hyena 2 (1983)
Plot Summary:
A pair of evil kung-fu artists, Heaven and Earth, are slaughtering the entire Yin-Yang brotherhood.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, stylized
Similar in 84%
The Executioner (1974)
Plot Summary:
Three street toughs are hired to take down a Tokyo drug dealer in this hard-hitting Toei karate action film.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 646
Genere: Action
Country: Japan
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
Challenge of the Masters (1976)
Plot Summary:
The Wong family kung fu school gets smacked around by a rival school. Wong Fei-hong gets fed up with the abuse and goes to learn from his fathers master. After one of the rival schools members kills some of the towns people Wong Fei-hong becomes enraged trains even more comes back and gets his revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 796
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, fast
Similar in 85%
Crippled Masters (1979)
Plot Summary:
Two men skilled in the arts of Kung-Fu are betrayed by their master and crippled for life, one left with no arms and the other with no legs. Despite their obvious disadvantages, they learn to combine their martial arts skills and seek revenge against the evil master.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 997
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Taiwan, Hong Kong
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: disturbing, cult classic, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, suspenseful, cult film
Similar in 85%
Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986)
Plot Summary:
Jet Li weasels out of the north Shaolin temple to assassinate a despotic ruler at the ruler's extravagant public birthday celebration. Two other men from the south Shaolin temple also set out to assassinate the ruler, but all three fail and are chased all over by soldiers. Meanwhile, one of the southerners turns out to be a cross-dressed woman, who is also discovered to wear a footbell to match Jet Li's, meaning they are somehow slated for an arranged marriage.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Drama
Country: Hong Kong, China
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, cult classic, cult film
Similar in 76%
Two Champions of Shaolin (1980)
Plot Summary:
Shaolin warrior Tung Chien-chen is injured in battle against the hated Wu Tang clan, and nursed back to health by a knife-throwing master. As he recovers, Tung learns this deadly art, and also falls in love with his teacher's daughter. But when a Wu Tang attack disrupts the young lovers' wedding, Tung must put his new skill to use as he seeks revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 752
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
Snake-Crane Secret (1976)
Plot Summary:
Snake and Crane Secret is a fast paced martial arts action film about a familys battle for survival. A family tries to uphold their honor while keeping their Sacred Kung Fu book from getting into the wrong hands. A tale of deceit mistrust and traditional values unfolds along with spectacular fight sequences necessary to keep the Snake Crane Secret.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 201
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, fast, campy, cult film
Similar in 82%
Brothers Five (1970)
Plot Summary:
The 5 Kao brothers, separated since childhood, are unaware that the master Teng Lung Manor, Lung Chen-feng has killed their father. All five, however, seek to defeat the vicious gangsters at the Manor.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 222
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 80%
5 Masters of Death (1974)
Plot Summary:
Hu Te et al. escape the burning Shaolin temple after the Qing soldiers destroyed it in Shaolin Temple. The group of 5 decide to develop secret codes to identify fellow patriots, enlist those patriots and eventually meet up again to escape to the south away from the Qings, and also identify the traitor who sold out Shaolin temple. Ma Fu Yi (the traitor, played by Wang Lung Wei), joins the Qing top fighters to eliminate the rebels but is exposed by Ma Chao-Tsing who gets captured by Ma Fu Yi. Hu meets up with a group of Shaolin men secretly posing as bandits to rescue Ma as their leader is killed in the process, thus the bandits join the rest of the Shaolin patriots.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
The Invincible Armour (1977)
Plot Summary:
Hwang Jang Lee is a corrupt Ming guard who frames John Liu for murder. A wanted fugitive, John hides out with a teen who is an expert in the infamous Iron Armor technique, a technique that means the expert can withstand anything. However, Hwang is an expert in it as well as the Eagle Claw's. Can John stop Hwang before it's too late?.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
The Fighter (1995)
Plot Summary:
1865. A young French officer, travelling the U.S. in search of the murderer of his best friend, gets involved in a struggle between poor farmers and a rich landowner. To help the farmers, he offers them his "Savate" (French kickboxing) skills.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 887
Genere: Action, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, slasher, splatter
Similar in 80%
Fury of the Shaolin Master (1978)
Plot Summary:
A government law officer is dispatched to bring his brother's killers to justice. On his bloody mission, untold assassins are thrown at him, but to no avail. One by one they are done away with in a most militant style.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 152
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Taiwan, Hong Kong
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 85%
In Eagle Dragon Fist (1979)
Plot Summary:
A dishonored student of the Dragon Fist Sect seeks revenge for the death of his teacher.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: cult classic, action adventure, exciting, serious, realistic, stylized, fast
Similar in 89%
New Fists of Fury (1976)
Plot Summary:
A brother and sister escape from Japanese-occupied Shanghai to Japanese-occupied Taiwan, to stay with their grandfather who runs a Kung-Fu school there. However, the master of a Japanese Kung-Fu school in Taiwan has designs on bringing all other schools on the island under his domination, and part of his plan involves the murder of the siblings' grandfather.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: cult classic, action adventure, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, cult film
Similar in 85%
Hate Thy Neighbor (1968)
Plot Summary:
Ken Dakota's search for the murderer of his brother, killed by bandit Gary Stevens, at the behest of land owner Chris Malone. Dakota attempts to bring the men responsible for his brothers death to justice.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 346
Genere: Action, Drama, Western
Country: Italy
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: spaghetti western, euro western, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Death Duel of Kung Fu (1979)
Plot Summary:
Ming General Cheng (Wang Dao) and his band of soldiers escape to Taiwan after Ching forces topple the Ming Dynasty. Still fearing the deposed general's deadly potential, however, the Ching prince Ta orders his own band of ruthless mercenaries to finish off Cheng and his warriors. The rivals prove to be equally skilled, and soon everybody is kung fu-fighting in this action-heavy martial arts spectacular.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 201
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Taiwan, Hong Kong
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 81%
Shao Lin men (1976)
Plot Summary:
A survivor of an attack on a rebel group opposing the Manchu invasion of China creates the Goose Fist fighting technique and tries for revenge on a traitor.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: cult classic, serious, fast, psychotronic
Similar in 79%
Executioners from Shaolin (1977)
Plot Summary:
A couple unite - she is fluent in the crane style of kung fu, he in tiger style. They have a son, but the boy's father is killed by the evil eunuch Pai Mei. Disguised as a girl, his mom trains him in crane style while he secretly learns tiger style from his father's training manual.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic, grindhouse
Similar in 79%
The Shaolin Temple (1982)
Plot Summary:
The Tang emperor is betrayed by one of his generals, who installs himself as emperor in the East Capital. The son of one of his slave workers escapes to the Shaolin Temple, learns kung fu, and sets out to kill the traitor who killed his father. Based on a true story from Shaolin folklore, but highly fictionalized.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Drama
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, stylized, captivating, tense, touching, cult classic, cult film
Similar in 89%
Fist of Legend (1994)
Plot Summary:
Chen Zhen, a Chinese engineering student in Kyoto, who braves the insults and abuse of his Japanse fellow students for his local love Mitsuko Yamada, daughter of the director, returns in 1937 to his native Shangai, under Japanse protectorate -in fact military occupation- after reading about the death of his kung-fu master Hou Ting-An in a fight against the Japanese champion Ryuichi Akutagawa.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: harsh, intense, tense, rough, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, serious, cult classic, brutal
Similar in 78%
Kill the Shogun (1975)
Plot Summary:
Action-drama set during the 1904 occupation of Korea (by Japan). An incident is sparked when the Japanese force the Korean soldiers to strip off their uniforms. Two of the Korean soldiers refuse and go on a rampage against the Japanese, forcing them to take their uniforms off.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 47
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
Clan of the White Lotus (1980)
Plot Summary:
Shaolin practitioners and brothers Wu and Hung kill the merciless Pai Mei. However, Pai Mei's even more merciless brother White Lotus takes revenge; killing most of the Shaolin disciples, including Wu and Hung's girlfriend, leaving only Wu's pregnant wife and Hung as the only remaining practitioners of Shaolin left to avenge the deaths. But Hung's kung-fu will not be powerful enough so he must learn feminine kung-fu techniques to help him try and defeat White Lotus.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, stylized, perverse, exciting, offbeat, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, cult film