Best movies like Sword of Desperation
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like Sword of Desperation (2010):
Similar in 82%
Playboy (2000)
Plot Summary:
A new magistrate in the town of Horisotoâwidely reputed to be the most lawless township in Japan, uses guile and his opponents' own misperceptions and prejudices to defeat his enemies and uproot corruption.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 562
Genere: Action, Crime
Country: Japan
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, biting, jidai geki, suspense
Similar in 89%
Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold? (1974)
Plot Summary:
Hanzo extracts a confession from a ghost using his assaulting methods, foils thieves, connects with Heisuke Takei a friend from his youth, offers protection to a forward-thinking physician Genan Sugino who has defamed his ruler, discovers a pleasure ring of young wives and a blind music teacher, and cuckolds a corrupt official under his very nose.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 950
Genere: Action
Country: Japan
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, rough, offbeat, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, sexual, jidai geki, grindhouse
Similar in 85%
Sword of the Beast (1965)
Plot Summary:
Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Goshaâs 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 shogunâs 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 88%
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%
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 79%
Hanzo the Razor: The Snare (1973)
Plot Summary:
Against the backdrop of the Edo treasury devaluing currency and driving many into poverty, Hanzo Itami enforces the law without regard to status. He shows inadequate respect to the treasurer, who wants him dead.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: splatter, rough, offbeat, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, sexual, jidai geki, grindhouse
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 85%
Samurai (2002)
Plot Summary:
An ageless Demon Warrior is magically impregnated into the womb of a Parisian Kung-Fu Master's girlfriend. But what is the Demon's relationship with a new-release blockbuster fighting game?.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 746
Genere: Action
Country: Spain, France, Germany
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: scary, exciting, serious, suspenseful, stylized, atmospheric
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Yakuza-Busting Girls: Duel in Hell (2010)
Plot Summary:
Asami returns exhausted after three years of intense training to become a yakuza hunter. She decides to visit her old master, Inokuma, who runs a bar. However, she finds his place in ruins and nothing is as it was when she left. As it turns out, the local yakuza had turned it into a gambling house and laid claim to the entire area with the help of a cold-blooded killer named Akira. Akira is relentless, and utilizes cruel tactics when anyone dares get in her way.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 118
Genere: Action
Country: Japan
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: exciting, stylized, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, splatter
Similar in 75%
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 78%
Ashura (2005)
Plot Summary:
Adapted from the successful play, the film takes place in 19th-century Japan, where a war between demons and their slayers is fought. Izumo, a kabuki actor with a demon-slaying past, meets and falls in love with Tsubaki. However, something is not right, as mysterious marks appear on her body as time progresses. At the same time, it is announced that Ashura, the queen of all demons, will be resurrected and bring destruction to the universe.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 750
Genere: Action, Fantasy
Country: Japan
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 88%
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 89%
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril (1972)
Plot Summary:
In the fourth film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto is hired to kill a tattooed female assassin and battles Retsudo, head of the Yagyu clan, and his son Gunbei.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, visual, stylized, manga, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
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
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Tajomaru: Avenging Blade (2009)
Plot Summary:
TAJOMARU is the famous 'bandit' of the forest from RASHOMON. Whoever kills Tajomaru inherits his name, status and sword. A royal brother leaves his kingdom to protect the princess he loves, only to find a series of harrowing adventures along the way which lead him back to where he came from, and then disinheriting his past to become the bandit TAJOMARU.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 351
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, tense, suspense, realistic, stylized
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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
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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 80%
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 89%
The Swordsman (1990)
Plot Summary:
When a scroll containing valuable martial arts secrets is stolen from the Emperor, an army detachment is sent to recover it. It is based on the novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer by Jinyong.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, History
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 75%
Zatoichi: The Last (2010)
Plot Summary:
A blind master swordsman attempts to lead a quiet life with his wife but he is provoked back into battle.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 393
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Japan, France
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, exciting, captivating, tense, rough, bleak, suspenseful, stylized, gloomy
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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 88%
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 86%
When the Last Sword is Drawn (2002)
Plot Summary:
Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, bleak, captivating, realistic, serious, spiritual, jidai geki, stylized, gloomy
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
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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
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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
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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
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47 Samurai (1962)
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 KĊzuke 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
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Unforgiven (2013)
Plot Summary:
Set in Hokkaido, Japan in the 1880s. Jubei Kamata (Ken Watanabe), who is on the side of the Edo shogunate government, kills many people. His name is infamous in Kyoto. When the battle at Goryoukaku is about to be finished, Jubei disappears. 10 years later, Jubei lives with his kid in relative peace. He is barely able to make a living. Protecting his dead wife's grave, Jubei has decided to never pick up a sword again, but due to poverty he has no choice but to pick the sword again. Jubei becomes a bounty hunter.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: tense, psychological, atmospheric, captivating, period piece, crime drama, serious, realistic, contemplative, jidai geki
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The Showdown (2011)
Plot Summary:
In the 11th year of Kwang Hae-gun, Jo-seon soldiers go to war with China after an invasion. In the middle of Manchu, three people who have barely survived are being cornered by the Chinese forces, and begin a bloody battle not with their enemies but with their friends.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 364
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: South Korea
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, exciting, tense, rough, captivating, realistic, serious, stylized