Best movies like Samurai Marathon
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like Samurai Marathon? Provide your familiarity to navigate others towards tv shows and films you've viewed previously that they may enjoy as well. Assist in enlarging the group of people introducing videos to each other. We value your input!
Plot Summary:
The American imperialists are at the door and intruding on Japan. To assess and train his troops the lord of the land announces a marathon through the land crisscrossing shores, forests and the mountain. The shogunate in Edo was not approving and views word of the contest with contempt and suspicion. Spies and moles are dispatched. One mole realizes the misunderstanding and is determined to stop lives and alliances being lost. He runs.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, History
Country: Japan, UK
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, bloody, captivating, suspense, intense, jidai geki, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like Samurai Marathon (2019):
Similar in 85%
Falling Camellia (2018)
Plot Summary:
During the Edo period, a gifted swordsman was exiled from his clan when he questioned the misconduct of his leader. Years after, his dying wife wish was for him to go back to his clan.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 235
Genere: Action, History, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: jidai geki, period drama
Similar in 76%
Dragon Inn (1967)
Plot Summary:
General Yu is executed after having been accused of treason by the powerful eunuchs, and his children will be deported. Eunuchs plotting to kill even the children, and prepare an ambush on Dragon's shelter in the middle of the desert. There are other guests, who are also interested in the deal.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: Taiwan, Hong Kong
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: bloody
Similar in 87%
Snow on The Blades (2014)
Plot Summary:
At Sakurada Gate in 1860, the shogun’s chief minister and his retinue of bodyguards are ambushed and annihilated. Bearing the responsibility and shame for this failure is Shimura Kingo, master swordsman and chief of the guard. Forbidden to take his own life in atonement, he is instead tasked with hunting down the remaining assassins; however, fate intervenes and now only one is left. Devoted to his late lord and his duty, he relentlessly pursues the sole remaining assassin for the next thirteen years. But times are changing in Japan and the way of the sword has become outlawed. What does this mean for Kingo?.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 268
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: Japan, Cyprus
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: captivating, crying, entertaining
Similar in 80%
Shogun's Shadow (1989)
Plot Summary:
Iemitsu, Tokugawa Shogun III, hates his eldest son Takechiyo; all his love is given to his younger son Tokumatsu. One day, he orders Takechiyo to an initiation rite in Yedo (today's Tokio). Takechiyo lives far away under the surveillance of Hotta Masamori, head of the Skura clan, where he was also raised. Hotta does suspect some kind of treachery, but he can not ignore the direct command of the Shogun. Therefore, he starts on his travel with Takechiyo and seven accompanying samurais. A large army under the command of Iba Shoemon, a vassal of the Shogun, attacks their night camp in the vicinity of a copper mine. Hotta dies in this first battle, but Takechiyo and the samurai manage to escape. They are chased by the army, and several skirmishes between the small force and the larger army follow.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 670
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Kill (2008)
Plot Summary:
Four segments by four different Directors. Kiriko (Takanori Tsujimoto), The Children’s Samurai (Kenta Fukasaku), The Firing Range (Makoto Tahara), and Assault Girl 2 (Mamoru Oshii). Kiriko: the spirit of a murdered assassin takes revenge on the gang that killed her and her sister. Children's Samurai: an educational film narrates the like of a modern grade-school samurai dealing with bullies. Firing Range: the rifle of a Meiji Era soldier and the pistol of a modern police officer are transformed into powerful new weapons when they face off. Assault Girl 2: two guardian angels duel in a wheat field.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 163
Genere: Action
Country: Japan
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: anthology, exciting, captivating, tense, suspense, humorous, stylized, semi serious, postmodern
Similar in 86%
Killing (2018)
Plot Summary:
Set during the Edo period, the film follows the life of a ronin (Sosuke Ikematsu) and those around him.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, psychological, exciting, crying, period drama
Similar in 89%
Samurai Fiction (1998)
Plot Summary:
Three centuries ago, a precious sword has been stolen by Kazamatsuri -- the sword, which historic and symbolic value is priceless for the clan (Shogun Tokugawa donated it to clan 80 years before that, at the same time that he established them as the local rulers). Lord's counselor's young son Heishiro goes to retrieve the sword himself to protect the clan from the shame or possible demise. He is accompanied with two friends, Shintaro and Tadasuke, and followed by the ninjas of the clan. After Kazamatsuri wounds Heishiro and kills one of his friends, the young aristocrat still wants revenge more than sword itself, but meanwhile have to recover from his wounds, in the small forest house of a lonely samurai and his daughter. At the same time, Kamazatsuri stays in nearby town in the entertainment center run by Okatsu and falls into her. The older samurai tries to dissuade Heishiro from fighting with Kamazatsuri, but is himself gradually drawn into the conflict.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Country: Japan
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: stylized, psychological, exciting, offbeat, humorous, semi serious, spoof, parody, light, atmospheric
Similar in 86%
God of War (2017)
Plot Summary:
During the 16th century, pirates rule the Chinese coastline, pillaging the small villages and terrorizing the citizens. When maverick leader Commander Yu enlists the help of a sharp young general, they devise a plan to defeat the pirates. A violent clash of wit and weapons will decide who will rule the land.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: exciting, captivating
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 90%
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 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 90%
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 76%
Shinsengumi: Assassins of Honor (1969)
Plot Summary:
Near the end of the nineteenth century, as the balance of power shifts from Shogunate towards the Emperor, Japan restlessly awaits the dawning of a new age. But not all are content...The Shinsengumi, a small army of samurai, farmers and peasants, band together to do battle against the tide of history. Their leader, Isami Kondo (Mifune) is a man who rises from farmer to fighter to head the fierce Shinsengumi brigade. Using a stern hand and a heart of gold, he rallies his men in defense of the tottering Shogunate. But bloodshed and treachery lurk around every corner.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 454
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: jidai geki
Similar in 80%
Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part I - The Final (2021)
Plot Summary:
In 1879, Kenshin and his allies face their strongest enemy yet: his former brother-in-law Enishi Yukishiro and his minions, who've vowed their revenge.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, epic, manga, anime, perverse, historical drama
Similar in 75%
Samurai Resurrection (2003)
Plot Summary:
Shiro Amasuka, dead leader of the Shimbara Revolt is resurrected from hell with the desire of overthrowing the shogunate for killing his companions. To do this , he resurrects an army od living dead swordsmen. Between him and his goal, only Yagyu Jubei stands.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 432
Genere: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, History, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: scary, exciting, epic, serious, suspenseful, offbeat
Similar in 75%
Shogun Assassin (1980)
Plot Summary:
A Shogun who grew paranoid as he became senile sent his ninjas to kill his samurai. They failed but did kill the samurai’s wife. The samurai swore to avenge the death of his wife and roams the countryside with his toddler son in search of vengeance.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: Japan
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: bloody, grindhouse, visual, atmospheric, stylized, psychotronic, retro, educational, manga, exciting
Similar in 85%
Blade of the Immortal (2017)
Plot Summary:
Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. The mission will change Manji in ways he could never imagine.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Action, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Japan, UK, South Korea
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: captivating, anime, exciting, tense, suspense, inspirational, epic, action adventure, jidai geki, splatter
Similar in 86%
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 75%
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 78%
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 83%
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 78%
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%
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972)
Plot Summary:
In this first film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, adapted from the manga by Kazuo Koike, we are told the story of the Lone Wolf and Cub's origin. Ogami Itto, the official Shogunate executioner, has been framed for disloyalty to the Shogunate by the Yagyu clan, against whom he now is waging a one-man war, along with his infant son, Daigoro.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: Japan
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, splatter, bloody, visual, stylized, manga, perverse, exciting, rough, serious
Similar in 87%
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 77%
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 88%
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 75%
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 79%
Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012)
Plot Summary:
Former legendary assassin Kenshin Himura has now become a wandering samurai. Offering aid & protecting those in need as atonement for his past deeds. During this time Kenshin Himura comes across and aides Kaoru Kamiya (Emi Takei). Her father opened the Kamiya Kasshin-ryu, a kendo school located in Tokyo and Kaoru is now an instructor there. Kaoru then invites Kenshin to stay at her dojo. Their relationship develops further, but Kenshin is still haunted by his violent past.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, manga, realistic, anime, tense, captivating, dorama, breathtaking, epic
Similar in 84%
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 76%
Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part II - The Beginning (2021)
Plot Summary:
Kenshin Himura goes up against mysterious weapons dealer Enishi. He controls the underworld of China. The secret of Kenshin Himura’s "Jujishou" is also revealed.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, epic, manga, anime, perverse, historical drama