Movies like The Bird People in China (1998)
The best movies like The Bird People in China (1998) are Rainy Dog (1997), Takeshis' (2005) and The Woodsman and the Rain (2012). If The Bird People in China hooked you with its adventure and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Twilight Samurai (2002)7.8/10 from 382 votes
- NewestBoruto: Naruto the Movie (2015)Released 2015
- In JapaneseRainy Dog (1997)Also in Japanese
Rainy Dog (1997)
A Japanese assassin stranded in Taiwan must take work from a local crime boss to make ends meet when suddenly a woman from his past delivers a son to him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTakeshis' (2005)
Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Woodsman and the Rain (2012)
A widowed lumberjack's life is turned upside down when a film crew shooting a zombie movie asks for his help and increasingly starts to rely on him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Boiling Point (1990)
Masaki, a baseball player and gas-station attendant, gets into trouble with the local Yakuza and goes to Okinawa to get a gun to defend himself. There he meets Uehara, a tough gangster, who is in serious debt to the yakuza and planning revenge.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSukiyaki Western Django (2007)
A nameless gunfighter arrives in a town ripped apart by rival gangs and, though courted by both to join, chooses his own path.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZatoichi (2003)
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIzo (2004)
Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKikujiro (1999)
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead or Alive 2: Birds (2000)
Two contract killers cross paths in the middle of the same job and realize they are childhood friends. Together they take a break from killing and visit the small island they once called home. After reflecting on their past lives they decided to team up and use their talents in killing for good... much to the upset of the crime syndicates.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisR100 (2013)
Ruthless dominatrixes pursue a mild-mannered salesman who wants to get out of his unbreakable contract with a secret bondage club.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAnd the Mud Ship Sails Away... (2013)
Takashi is country hipster, work avoiding, not-so-smart life expert in vague rural-urban area in the north from Tokyo. He lives together with his grandmother and laughs at his friend who goes to real work - shoveling cow manure. On one day, a young woman arrives to the area and claims to be Takashi's half-sister from this' father's escapade. And she is the kind you can't get easily rid off...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Bayside Shakedown (1998)
Aoshima, a police detective working in the Bayside Precinct, is continually frustrated by the hierarchy and red tape that plague the system. His friend Muroi is climbing the ladder of the police bureaucracy. Muroi has made a pact with Aoshima that while Aoshima looks after the streets, Muroi would make life easier for the cops on the beat. One day in Bayside, a series of events turns the small station upside down.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Scabbard Samurai (2011)
Kanjuro Nomi is an aging samurai who only has a scabbard. Deserting his lord to wander the land with his daughter Tae, Kanjuro is captured and sentenced to an unusual punishment: he has 30 days to bring a smile to the sad prince who has lost his mother — or else he must die.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGlasses (2007)
An overworked career woman leaves her life in the city for an island vacation only to encounter eccentric local inhabitants.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdrift in Tokyo (2007)
A thug offers to pay a law student's gambling debt if the student will accompany him on a trip across Tokyo.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPostman Blues (1997)
Sawaki is a postman who's not quite thrilled about his boring way of life. But his life is about to change when he delivers mail to his old schoolmate Noguchi, who's now a member of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia, and just finished cutting his little finger off.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKids Return (1996)
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (1970)
The blind masseuse is targeted by the leader of a powerful yakuza group while also fending off a jealous husband bent on revenge. Zatoichi tours Edo's underground via a rousing onsen fight scene, gambling houses and the gender-bending character of Umeji, before a final, flame-filled conflagration.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Twilight Samurai (2002)
Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZatoichi's Pilgrimage (1966)
Zatoichi's trek through 88 temples to atone for his violent past is interrupted as he stumbles into a village terrorized by a violent yakuza boss.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGraveyard of Honor (2002)
A barkeeper saves a yakuza boss' life and thus makes his way up in the organization. However, his fear of nothing soon causes problems.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972)
Ogami Itto battles a group of female ninja in the employ of the Yagyu clan and must eliminate a traitor who plans to sell his clan's secrets to the Shogunate.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlessing Bell (2002)
Existential study on a newly unemployed factory worker who silently moves through the city, unknowingly influencing other people's lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Fireworks (1997)
Beleaguered police detective Nishi takes desperate measures to try and set things right in a world gone wrong. With those close to him suffering their own tribulations, Nishi's methods become increasingly extreme.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisICHI (2008)
Ichi is a blind entertainer that travels the countryside with her traditional Japanese guitar and walking stick. She’s in search for the kind man that brought her up as a child, but because of her beauty she encounters problems every step of the way. Fortunately for Ichi, she is also a gifted swordswoman and carries a lethal blade within her walking stick.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaruto Shippuden the Movie: The Will of Fire (2009)
Ninjas with bloodline limits begin disappearing in all the countries and blame points toward the fire nation. By Tsunade's order, Kakashi is sacrificed to prevent an all out war. After inheriting charms left by Kakashi, Naruto fights through friends and foes to prevent his death while changing the minds of those who've inherited the will of fire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPinocchio (2009)
The enchanted story of Pinocchio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrings (2004)
The story of Prince Hal who sets out to avenge his dead father against the city's rivals, the Zeriths, little knowing it was his wicked uncle Nezo who is the real killer, with his own designs on the throne.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoruto: Naruto the Movie (2015)
The spirited Boruto Uzumaki, son of Seventh Hokage Naruto, is a skilled ninja who possesses the same brashness and passion his father once had. However, the constant absence of his father, who is busy with his Hokage duties, puts a damper on Boruto's fire. He ends up meeting his father's friend Sasuke, and requests to become... his apprentice!? The curtain on the story of the new generation rises!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: The Great Adventure in Henderland (1996)
The Futaba Kindergarten kids are so excited for their trip to the Henderland amusement park, but Shin-chan soon learns there are evil forces at play!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Bird People in China?
The closest matches to The Bird People in China are Rainy Dog (1997), Takeshis' (2005) and The Woodsman and the Rain (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Bird People in China?
People who watched The Bird People in China most often go on to Rainy Dog (1997), Takeshis' (2005) and The Woodsman and the Rain (2012).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Bird People in China?
The Twilight Samurai (2002), rated 7.8/10 by 382 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Bird People in China?
Boruto: Naruto the Movie (2015) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Bird People in China?
Yes: Rainy Dog (1997), Takeshis' (2005) and The Woodsman and the Rain (2012).
How are movies similar to The Bird People in China chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Bird People in China, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.