Best movies like Heaven and Earth
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Warlords Kagetora and Takeda each wish to prevent the other from gaining hegemony in feudal Japan. The two samurai leaders pursue one another across the countryside, engaging in massive battles of cavalry and infantry. Younger and less brutal, Kagetora must find the strength to be as brutal as his opponent, but at what cost?.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: visually appealing, cult classic, epic, psychotronic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized
Best tv shows and movies like Heaven and Earth (1990):
Similar in 88%
Adventures of Zatoichi (1964)
Plot Summary:
Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman looking for her father, a village leader who has disappeared. As he helps her investigate the disappearance, Zatoichi also becomes involved with another young woman who is trying to help her brother, who has murdered someone at about the same time and place as the missing man was last seen.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
Similar in 88%
Sekigahara (2017)
Plot Summary:
In the year 1600, a battle determines the future ruler for Japan and the beginning of the rise of the Tokugawa shogunate.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 843
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, sentimental, thought provoking, captivating, suspenseful, jidai geki
Similar in 76%
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 89%
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 85%
Zatoichi's Cane-sword (1967)
Plot Summary:
Zatoichi comes upon the town of Tonda, overrun by gangsters. Using one of his favorite techniques, Zatoichi proceeds to win 8 ryo in a rigged gambling game. Of course, the local gangsters attempt to kill him, and the adventure begins. It turns out a blacksmith named Senzo examines Zatoichi's cane sword, and discovers it to be forged by his old mentor. Senzo discovers the sword is at the end of its usefulness and will break when it is used next.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
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 90%
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 90%
The Return of Masseur Ichi (1962)
Plot Summary:
Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love: his own brother. He must face in combat not only the pursuing retainers but his own flesh-and-blood.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, period drama, cult film
Similar in 85%
Zatoichi's Spurting Blood Road (1967)
Plot Summary:
Ichi is staying at an inn when a woman dies. Her dying wish is that Ichi take her son to his father, an artist living in a nearby town. After arriving in the town, Ichi finds out that the father has been forced by a local boss to create illegal pornography to pay off his gambling debts. Ichi makes it his mission to save tha man and reunite the family, even though it brings him into conflict with a samurai he sort of befriended on his way to the town.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Adventure, Action
Country: Japan
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: cult classic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, cult film
Similar in 81%
Fight, Zatoichi, Fight (1964)
Plot Summary:
Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman returning home with her baby. When gangsters mistake her for Zatoichi and kill her, Zatoichi determines to escort the baby to its father. He gains the reluctant help of a young pick pocket and together they travel to find the baby's father. But they do not reckon on the father's reaction to their arrival, nor on their own growing feelings for the child.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: rough, captivating, emotional, suspenseful, exciting, serious, realistic, cult classic, stylized, cult film
Similar in 90%
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 83%
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 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 82%
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 81%
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 77%
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 84%
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 88%
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 84%
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 84%
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 90%
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
Similar in 77%
Kingdom of War: Part 2 (2007)
Plot Summary:
Prince Naresuan is now the crown prince of Ayutthaya and the king of Burma is dead. While the new Burmese king is waging war, the crown prince plots to assassinate Naresuan. Hearing this, the prince decides to evacuate Thais out of the Burmese capital and declare that Siam will no longer bow to Burma. The war for the kingdom's independence begins.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 439
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Thailand
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: captivating, exciting, epic, serious, realistic, period drama
Similar in 86%
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 87%
Three Kingdoms (2008)
Plot Summary:
The aging Zhao embarks on his final and greatest campaign, a road to adventure that will crown his name in glory for all time.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: China, South Korea, Hong Kong
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, atmospheric, serious, stylized, epic
Similar in 89%
Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea (2007)
Plot Summary:
A look at Genghis Khan's life, from his birth to conquests in Asia.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 898
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, epic
Similar in 77%
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 3: The Legend Ends (2014)
Plot Summary:
Shishio has set sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the Meiji government and return Japan to chaos, carrying Kaoru with him. In order to stop him in time, Kenshin trains with his old master to learn his final technique.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Japan
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: exciting, stylized, dorama, captivating, suspense, manga, anime, tense, disturbing, psychological
Similar in 81%
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 83%
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