Movies like Circle of Iron (1978)
The best movies like Circle of Iron (1978) are Hawk the Slayer (1980), The Devil's Sword (1984) and Black Belt Jones (1974). If Circle of Iron hooked you with its action and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBig Trouble in Little China (1986)7.2/10 from 3,566 votes
- NewestPrince Valiant (1997)Released 1997
Hawk the Slayer (1980)
Hawk the Slayer, after seeing both his father and bride die at the hands of his malevolent brother, Voltan, sets out for revenge and the chance to live up to his title. Tooling himself up with the "mind-sword" and recruiting a motley band of warriors — a giant, a dwarf, a one-armed man with a machine-crossbow, and an elf with the fastest bow in the land — Hawk leads the battle against Voltan to free the land from the forces of evil and avenge his loved ones.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Devil's Sword (1984)
A legendary warrior embarks on a deadly quest to retrieve the cursed Devil’s Sword, a mystical weapon with dark powers capable of unleashing unimaginable destruction. When the sword falls into the wrong hands, chaos, and bloodshed follow. Now, it’s up to our hero to confront an army of evil warriors, deadly assassins, and supernatural creatures in a battle for the fate of the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & action
Black Belt Jones (1974)
Jones is a secret agent who has gone into semi-retirement, concentrating instead on teaching the martial arts to inner city youths. The karate school is run by a kindly old coot named Pops. His gambling debts, however, bring the local thug, Pinky, down on him. To make matters worse, Pinky is then hired by some white thugs who want to get a hold of the property Pops' school occupies so they can build a shopping mall. When things get heavy, Black Belt Jones leaps into action. Only he's not alone. Pops' daughter, Sidney, shows up to lend a hand, proving herself every bit as agile and powerful a martial artist as Jones.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dragon and the Tiger Kids (1979)
Two young kung fu experts are terrorized by an evil warlord whose weapon is known as the Hell's Wind Staff. With the aid of an old rival of the warlord, they train in the Dragon Hands and the Rowing Oar to face off against the deadly Hell's Wind Staff.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Dragon Princess (1976)
A karate master played by Sonny Chiba is attacked and left crippled and blinded in one eye. He trains his daughter with the intention of her avenging not only himself but a murdered friend.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Hitman in the Hand of Buddha (1981)
A country bumpkin arrives to help his brother's rice business. Things get out of hand while a rival company becomes corrupt. The bumpkin, an ace martial artist, fights off the rivals. Angered, the rivals hire a martial arts expert to fight the hero, only to get beaten up himself. The expert send his teacher to hurt the hero and succeeds. The hero is sent to a temple where he learns a new style of kung fu. Now with the skills, our hero is ready to get even.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Ring of Fire (1991)
Johnny Woo is a Chinese doctor who has given up fighting in the ring. His brother is a teacher at a kickboxing club. When Johnny falls in love with Julie, whose brother is a teacher in a rival kickboxing club, tension begins to build...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
One Down, Two to Go (1982)
A pair of tough cops go after the mob who jinxed the martial arts tournament and injured their buddy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
The Beastmaster (1982)
Dar, the son of a king, is hunted by a priest after his birth and grows up in another family. When he becomes a grown man, his new father is murdered by savages and he discovers that he has the ability to communicate with animals, which leads him on a quest for revenge against his father's killers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConan the Destroyer (1984)
Conan is commissioned by the evil queen Taramis to safely escort a teen princess and her powerful bodyguard to a far away castle to retrieve the magic Horn of Dagoth. Unknown to Conan, the queen plans to sacrifice the princess when she returns and inherit her kingdom after the bodyguard kills Conan. The queen's plans fail to take into consideration Conan's strength and cunning and the abilities of his sidekicks: the eccentric wizard Akiro, the warrior woman Zula, and the inept Malak. Together the hero and his allies must defeat both mortal and supernatural foes in this voyage to sword-and-sorcery land.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Barbarians (1987)
Orphaned brothers Kutchek and Gore are adopted by a tribe led by Canary the owner of a powerful jewel. The evil Kadar wants both Canary and the jewel. Attacking the tribe he kidnaps Canary but the stone eludes him. The brothers are taken to be trained as gladiators and years later have grown to be VERY big. They escape and set off on a quest to find the jewel and rescue Canary.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisHighlander (1986)
He fought his first battle on the Scottish Highlands in 1536. He will fight his greatest battle on the streets of New York City in 1986. His name is Connor MacLeod. He is immortal.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHercules (1983)
Hercules, a semi-divine being, squares off against King Minos, who is attempting to use science to gain power and take over the world. With the help of a benevolent sorceress, Circe, Hercules tries to save his beloved Cassiopeia from being sacrificed by Minos, and struggles against laser-breathing creatures and an evil sorceress.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe King of the Kickboxers (1990)
Jake, a New York policeman poses as an actor to expose the making of martial-arts death movies in Thailand.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRemo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)
Tough Brooklyn street cop Sam Makin is unwillingly recruited as an assassin for a secret United States organization known as CURE, who fake his death and give him a new identity: Remo Williams. With his appearance surgically altered, Williams is trained to be a human killing machine by his aged, derisive and impassive Korean martial arts master Chiun.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSleeping Fist (1979)
A plainclothes policeman, Chin Tai Ba, is seriously wounded in a fight with some ruffians but is helped to safety by a young wiseguy, Cub. Here he is taught the art of Sleeping Fist by Cub's master Chung Yiu, and the trio march to the Shang Wei martial arts school to take revenge on the thugs. However, in a last desperate attempt to get even, the gang call on Eagle Claw master Kao to sort out the snoozers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
A horde of rampaging warriors massacre the parents of young Conan and enslave the young child for years on The Wheel of Pain. As the sole survivor of the childhood massacre, Conan is released from slavery and taught the ancient arts of fighting. Transforming himself into a killing machine, Conan travels into the wilderness to seek vengeance on Thulsa Doom, the man responsible for killing his family. In the wilderness, Conan takes up with the thieves Valeria and Subotai. The group comes upon King Osric, who wants the trio of warriors to help rescue his daughter who has joined Doom in the hills.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBig Trouble in Little China (1986)
Truck driver Jack Burton gets embroiled in a supernatural battle when his best friend Wang Chi's green-eyed fiancée is kidnapped by henchmen of the sorcerer Lo Pan, who must marry a girl with green eyes in order to return to the human realm.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwin Dragon Encounter (1986)
Identical twin brothers on vacation are faced with an unexpected battle when their getaway spot is invaded by mercenaries. Using their martial arts expertise, the twins wage war against the invaders in order to free their kidnapped girlfriends.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Raw Force (1982)
A group of martial arts students are en route to an island that supposedly is home to the ghosts of martial artists who have lost their honor. A Hitler lookalike and his gang are running a female slavery operation on the island as well. Soon, the two groups meet and all sorts of crazy things happen which include cannibal monks, piranhas, zombies, and more!
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisZu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983)
5th century western China: As constant civil wars scars the nation, to evade death, Ti, a young scout, jumps through a crevice in the Zu mountains where he becomes entangled in a great battle against the Blood Demon, a supernatural entity seeking to wreak havoc upon the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDouble Dragon (1994)
Two brothers have half of a powerful ancient Chinese talisman. An evil gang leader has the other half, and determines to get the brothers' half and have a complete medallion so he can gain absolute power.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisWillow (1988)
The evil Queen Bavmorda hunts the newborn princess Elora Danan, a child prophesied to bring about her downfall. When the royal infant is found by Willow, a timid farmer and aspiring sorcerer, he's entrusted with delivering her from evil.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRed Sonja (1985)
The tyrant Gedren seeks the total power in a world of barbarism. She raids the city Hablac and kills the keeper of a talisman that gives her great power. Red Sonja, sister of the keeper, sets out with her magic sword to overthrow Gedren.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisSheena (1984)
Sheena's parents are killed while on Safari. She is raised by the mystical witch woman of an African tribe. When her foster mother is framed for the murder of a political leader, Sheena and a newsman, Vic Casey, are forced to flee while pursued by the mercenaries hired by the real killer, who hopes to assume power. Sheena's ability to talk to the animals and knowledge of jungle lore give them a chance against the high tech weapons of the mercenaries.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Return of Sister Street Fighter (1975)
When Koryu's childhood friend Shurei is abducted by gangsters, the desperate young woman recruits a female martial artist and a tough-as-nails stranger to join her for a dangerous rescue mission.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConquest (1983)
To mark his passage into manhood, young Ilias is gifted a magical bow by his father and embarks upon a journey into the wilderness to rid the land of evil, all the while battling the witch Ocron, who wishes to steal the bow for her own nefarious ends.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisPrince Valiant (1997)
An Arthurian legend of young Prince Valiant, son of the King of Scandia. After the King is exiled by an evil leader, the Prince travels to Camelot to secure the aid of King Arthur in helping restore his family to power and prevent a plot by the Black Knight.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisFirewalker (1986)
A pair of adventurers try to track down an ancient Aztec/Mayan/Egyptian/Apache horde of gold.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisGwendoline (1984)
A beautiful woman hires an intrepid adventurer to help find her father, who has disappeared in the jungle while searching for a rare and priceless butterfly. Along the way they run into cannibals, a race of Amazon warriors and all the usual attractions one would expect to find in a lost jungle.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & fantasy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Circle of Iron?
The closest matches to Circle of Iron are Hawk the Slayer (1980), The Devil's Sword (1984) and Black Belt Jones (1974). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Circle of Iron?
People who watched Circle of Iron most often go on to Hawk the Slayer (1980), The Devil's Sword (1984) and Black Belt Jones (1974).
What is the highest-rated movie like Circle of Iron?
Big Trouble in Little China (1986), rated 7.2/10 by 3,566 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Circle of Iron?
Prince Valiant (1997) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Circle of Iron?
Yes: Hawk the Slayer (1980), Black Belt Jones (1974) and Ring of Fire (1991).
How are movies similar to Circle of Iron chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Circle of Iron, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.