Movies like Dynamo (1978)
The best movies like Dynamo (1978) are Birth of the Dragon (2017), Hand of Death (1976) and Ip Man: Kung Fu Master (2019). If Dynamo hooked you with its action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPolice Story (1985)7.6/10 from 1,129 votes
- NewestBorder Hunters (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseHand of Death (1976)Also in Chinese
Birth of the Dragon (2017)
Set against the backdrop of San Francisco’s Chinatown, this cross-cultural biopic chronicles Bruce Lee’s emergence as a martial-arts superstar after his legendary secret showdown with fellow martial artist Wong Jack Man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisHand of Death (1976)
A young monk must face the Extended Iron Claw technique of a powerful warlord seeking to destroy Shaolin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIp Man: Kung Fu Master (2019)
Ip Man’s promising career as a Policeman is ruined after he is framed for murder and targeted by a mob boss’s daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJourney to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017)
Tang Monk brings three disciples on a journey to the West. On the outside, everything seems harmonious. However, tension is present beneath the surface, and their hearts and minds are not in agreement. After a series of demon-capturing events, the monk and his disciples gain mutual understanding of each others' hardships and unease. Finally, they resolve their inner conflict and work together to become an all-conquering, demon-exorcising team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEye for an Eye (2022)
A highly trained and exceptionally deadly swordsman looks for revenge after being caught in the middle of a power struggle that results in the assassination of an innocent woman's family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReturn of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969)
After the events of The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), a retired Fang Gang is drawn back into the jianghu to protect various young apprentices whose swordsmanship schools have been terrorized by 8 evil swordsmen seeking to rule the jianghu.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKid with the Golden Arm (1979)
Jin bei tong opens with a group of escort guards preparing to move a shipment of gold from the local government to an area stricken by famine... one of the very few Venom films where all six Venom actors are present within a single film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder (1987)
In this sequel, Scott Wylde, an American kickboxer, must go to Cambodia to rescue his Vietnamese girlfriend from Russian and Vietnamese troops.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Five Venoms (1978)
A dying master sends his last student to check up on five former pupils, who each know a special style of kung-fu.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrippled Avengers (1978)
A group of martial artists seek revenge after being crippled by Tu Tin-To, a martial arts master, and his son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn to the 36th Chamber (1980)
The workers of a dye factory have their pay cut by 20% when the factory owner brings in some Manchu thugs to try and increase production. Desperate to reclaim their full wages, the workers hire an actor to impersonate a priest and kung-fu expert from the temple of Shaolin. The factory owner proves the actor a fraud, and punishes all those involved. The young actor feels he has let the workers down, and promises to atone. He sets out for Shaolin, determined to be accepted as a kung-fu pupil at the elite temple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTai Chi Zero (2012)
In legendary Chen Village, everyone is a martial arts master, using their powerful Chen Style Tai Chi in all aspects of their lives. Lu Chan has arrived to train, but the villagers are forbidden to teach Chen Style to outsiders, and do their best to discourage him by challenging him to a series of fights. Everyone, from strong men to young children, defeats him using their Tai Chi moves. But when a man from the village's past returns with a frightening steampowered machine and plans to build a railroad through the village at any costs, the villagers realize they may have no choice but to put their faith in Lu Chan... who has a secret power of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNew Fist of Fury (1976)
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 plans to bringing all other schools on the island under his domination, and part of his plan involves the murder of the grandfather.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1990)
Two feuding brothers of differing political views, one a policeman, the other a martial artist, join forces to avenge the death of their father, a retired agent who was brutally murdered by the mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Grandmaster (2013)
The fall of China's last dynasty, a time of chaos, division and war, is the golden age of Chinese martial arts. Legendary kung fu master Ip Man, who will eventually train Bruce Lee, finds his peaceful life interrupted by vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFist of Legend (1994)
Chen returns to his school when he finds out that his martial arts teacher has died. When he learns that his school students are harassed by some hooligans, he gears himself up to save them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Paper Tigers (2020)
Three middle aged men polish their martial arts skills to avenge their fallen master.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDragon Fist (1979)
After the death of his master, martial arts student Tong Huo-wan travels with his adoptive family to seek redress from the man responsible but finds himself torn between righteousness and filial piety after becoming entangled in a feud between a local clan and gangsters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShootfighter: Fight to the Death (1993)
Nick and Ruben are hoodwinked into a "shootfighter" (no-holds-barred, to the death) martial arts match by the evil Mr. Lee, who has a grudge against world shootfighter champ(and teacher of Nick and Ruben) Shingo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorder Hunters (2025)
After his police officer brother is killed by a drug dealer who flees to the protection of his cartel-connected uncle in Mexico, an American man with a diverse law enforcement/military background goes south of the border to get revenge
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDOA: Dead or Alive (2006)
Four beautiful rivals at an invitation-only martial-arts tournament join forces against a sinister threat. Princess Kasumi is an aristocratic warrior trained by martial-arts masters. Tina Armstrong is a wrestling superstar. Helena Douglas is an athlete with a tragic past. Christie Allen earns her keep as a thief and an assassin-for-hire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Gloomy Tower (1977)
A gongfu feature about the mysterious deaths that keep occurring at an inn in the forest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Police Story (1985)
Officer Chan Ka Kui manages to put a major Hong Kong drug dealer behind the bars practically alone, after a shooting and an impressive chase inside a slum. Now, he must protect the boss' secretary, Selina, who will testify against the gangster in court.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Challenge (2005)
Welcome to the future. Civilization has been obliterated by natural catastrophes and global economic collapse. In the rotting skeletons of once great cities, the remnants of mankind struggle to survive under the brutal reign of vicious warlords who rule by fear and the power of the fist. The only hope for a courageous band of street urchins is the brave fighter Jonas, the last surviving keeper of the secrets of an ancient martial arts dynasty. Jonas must challenge the heartless Bosco in a fight for freedom or death ... only then can he become master of mankind's destiny.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)
This film is a glimpse into the life, love and the unconquerable spirit of the legendary Bruce Lee. From a childhood of rigorous martial arts training, Lee realizes his dream of opening his own kung-fu school in America. Before long, he is discovered by a Hollywood producer and begins a meteoric rise to fame and an all too short reign as one the most charismatic action heroes in cinema history.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShaolin Temple (1982)
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.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRevenge of the Ninja (1983)
A peaceful ex-ninja's life shatters when his son's kidnapping forces him back into violence amid an American-Japanese criminal drug war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKung Fu Girls (1978)
The inhabitants of a small village call on a new chief to protect them from bandits. The latter with the help of his two daughters make every effort to thwart the multiple attacks and looting launched on the village.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
The Way of the Dragon (1972)
After a Chinese restaurant in Rome is threatened by the mafia, who will stop at nothing to acquire the property, the owner recruits a family friend in Hong Kong, kung fu expert Tang Lung, to help them defend their business.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Korean from Seoul (2021)
An Australian trading company hires an inept, drunk Korean as their head of security, but their new employee is not exactly what he appears to be.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Like Dynamo and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Dynamo?
The closest matches to Dynamo are Birth of the Dragon (2017), Hand of Death (1976) and Ip Man: Kung Fu Master (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Dynamo?
Start with Birth of the Dragon (2017), the closest match to Dynamo.
What is the highest-rated movie like Dynamo?
Police Story (1985), rated 7.6/10 by 1,129 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Dynamo?
Border Hunters (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Dynamo?
Yes: Hand of Death (1976), Ip Man: Kung Fu Master (2019) and Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017).
How are movies similar to Dynamo chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Dynamo, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.