Movies like American Yakuza (1993)
The best movies like American Yakuza (1993) are Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013), Until Death (2007) and Out for Justice (1991). If American Yakuza hooked you with its crime and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedM (1931)8.1/10 from 2,600 votes
- NewestShadow Master (2022)Released 2022
Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013)
Fight everyone and trust no one: it's the code of survival practiced by martial-arts master Casey Bowman after his life of domestic bliss is shattered by a savage act of violence. Vowing revenge, the fearless American stealthily tracks the killer from Osaka to Bangkok to Rangoon with the help of a wise and crafty sensei. His only clues: a series of victims whose necks bear the distinctive mark of strangulation by barbed wire. Fighting to avenge as well as to survive, Casey must sharpen his razor-like responses and take his battle skills to the next level, even using deep meditation to fake his own death. His target: the sinister drug lord Goro, who is flooding the streets with deadly meth cooked at his remote jungle factory. To prepare for his ultimate confrontation, Casey must finally become an invisible warrior worthy of the name Ninja. But just when his prey is cornered, an unexpected twist shows Casey that his battle is only beginning: he truly can trust no one.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUntil Death (2007)
Anthony Stowe is a dirty cop who is hooked on heroin—and everyone hates him. After a serious accident, he is placed into an induced coma, but emerges from it a better person who wants to put things right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisOut for Justice (1991)
Gino Felino is an NYPD detective from Brooklyn who knows everyone and everything in his neighborhood. Killing his partner was someone's big mistake... because he's now out for justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Blood (2014)
When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisExit Wounds (2001)
Maverick cop Orin Boyd always brings down the domestic terrorists he tracks, but he ruffles feathers with his unorthodox techniques -- and soon finds himself reassigned to the toughest district in Detroit. When he discovers a group of detectives secretly operating a drug ring, Boyd joins forces with an unlikely ally -- gangster Latrell Walker -- to bring down the rotten cops.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisDeath Wish 3 (1985)
Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey arrives back in New York City and is forcibly recruited by a crooked police chief to fight street crime caused by a large gang terrorizing the neighborhoods.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWanted (2008)
Doormat Wesley Gibson is an office worker whose life is going nowhere. He meets an attractive woman named Fox and discovers that his recently murdered father - whom Wesley never knew - belonged to the Fraternity, a secret society of assassins which takes its orders from Fate itself. Fox and Sloan, the Fraternity's leader, teach Wesley, through intense training, to tap into dormant powers and hone his innate killing skills. Though he enjoys his newfound abilities, he begins to suspect that there is more to the Fraternity than meets the eye.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAccident Man (2018)
Mike Fallon, the Accident Man, is a stone cold killer. When a loved one is murdered by his own crew, Fallon is forced to avenge the one person who actually meant something to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRise of the Footsoldier (2007)
Carlton Leach rises from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late '80s and early '90s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDarc (2018)
To bring down a global human trafficking ring, an Interpol agent recruits the help of a brutal criminal with inside knowledge of the yakuza.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShowdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
An American with a Japanese upbringing, Chris Kenner is a police officer assigned to the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. Kenner is partnered with Johnny Murata, a Japanese-American who isn't in touch with his roots. Despite their differences, both men excel at martial arts, and utilize their formidable skills when they go up against Yoshida, a vicious yakuza drug dealer with ties to Kenner's past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrying Freeman (1995)
A lethal assassin for a secret Chinese organisation, who sheds tears of regret each time he kills, is seen swiftly and mercilessly executing three Yakuza gangsters by a beautiful artist. She is captivated by the grace of his kill and later falls in love with him. An intense power struggle for the leadership of the Yakuza Clans ensues as they seek vengeance for the death of their leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAccident Man: Hitman's Holiday (2022)
The Accident Man is back, and this time he must best the top assassins in the world to protect the ungrateful son of a mafia boss, save the life of his only friend and rekindle his relationship with his maniacal father figure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Protector (1985)
Billy Wong is a New York City cop whose partner is gunned down during a robbery. Billy and his new partner, Danny Garoni, are working security at a fashion show when a wealthy man's daughter, Laura Shapiro, is kidnapped. The Federal authorities suspect that Laura's father is involved with Mr. Ko, a Hong Kong drug kingpin, so the NYC police commissioner sends the two cops to Hong Kong to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisAl Capone (1959)
In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder, extortion, and political fraud. He becomes head of Chicago's biggest "business," but moves inexorably toward his downfall and ignominious end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisState Property (2002)
A Philadelphia gang member becomes a drug kingpin and starts a feud with vicious rivals in his quest for the American Dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShadow Master (2022)
After being slain by a group of criminals, a man is reborn with animal-like superpowers and makes it his mission to right the wrongs of his city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCoffy (1973)
After her younger sister gets involved in drugs and is severely injured by contaminated heroin, a nurse sets out on a mission of vengeance and vigilante justice, killing drug dealers, pimps, and mobsters who cross her path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWake of Death (2004)
Ben Archer, an ex-mob enforcer, seeks revenge against a ruthless Chinese kingpin responsible for his wife's brutal murder. When Archer joins forces with his old underworld friends, an all-out war is waged against the Chinese Triad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWho Is Cletis Tout? (2001)
With a hitman’s gun aimed at him, Finch tells the story of how he broke out of jail, fell in love, and took the identity of a man wanted by the Mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisBullitt (1968)
Senator Walter Chalmers is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross with the help of testimony from the criminal's hothead brother Johnny, who is in protective custody in San Francisco under the watch of police lieutenant Frank Bullitt. When a pair of mob hitmen enter the scene, Bullitt follows their trail through a maze of complications and double-crosses. This thriller includes one of the most famous car chases ever filmed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPoint Break (1991)
In Los Angeles, a gang of bank robbers who call themselves The Ex-Presidents commit their crimes while wearing masks of Reagan, Carter, Nixon and Johnson. Believing that the members of the gang could be surfers, the F.B.I. sends young agent Johnny Utah to the beach undercover to mix with the surfers and gather information.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisM (1931)
In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMiss Congeniality (2000)
When the local FBI office receives a letter from a terrorist known only as 'The Citizen', it's quickly determined that he's planning his next act at the Miss America beauty pageant. Because tough-as-nails Gracie Hart is the only female agent at the office, she's chosen to go undercover as the contestant from New Jersey.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady in Black Cracks the Gate of Hell (1967)
Ghost-faced To is murdered in a mortuary after paying a visit to Muk Lan-fa. A set of teeth is found missing from another dead body. Lan-fa’s sister Sau-chen follows the leads on a business card To left behind to a dental clinic which suddenly bursts into flame. The news of her sister’s abduction by the infamous Japanese criminal Katsu Saburo soon reaches Lan-fa. Working together with her police friend Ko Cheung to crack the case, Lan-fa analyses photo evidences in minute detail. The duo order the retrieval of a pole that has survived the explosion intact while lying in wait at the clinic. Sau-chen, who has escaped, saves the duo from the chiller where they are detained. Inspector Yeung retrieves the operation plan concealed in the pole and the secret codes in the set of teeth, but the spook is shot dead by Katsu before he could reach the Hell’s Gate and the treasure buried there. Constable Kwan, and others and wipes out the gang at the Hell’s Gate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Curriculum (2006)
Two hit men are sent to kill the same woman not knowing that they are competing to assassinate her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Kungfu Master (2008)
The film features Kung Fu Panda and Chinese martial arts folk hero Wong Fei Hung. In the film, the panda is assigned by the Buddha to protect an ancient treasure that could give the bearer the power to conquer the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Wong Fei-Hung: Bravely Crushing the Fire Formation (1970)
Wong Fei-Hung: Bravely Crushing the Fire Formation is the last film of the long running Huang Fei-hong series starring Tak-Hing Kwan
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Wong Fei Hung's Battle with the Gorilla (1960)
Wong Fei-hung and his disciples hear that a small village is being terrorised by a ferocious gorilla. It turns out that the beast is actually a small-time crook in a gorilla suit under the orders of a precious metal smuggler who wants to intimidate the villagers. The crook takes advantage of his disguise to abduct a beautiful girl and escape to the mountains, but has a surprise in store for him. Just how many gorillas are loose in them there hills?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as his wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like American Yakuza?
The closest matches to American Yakuza are Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013), Until Death (2007) and Out for Justice (1991). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after American Yakuza?
Start with Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013), the closest match to American Yakuza.
What is the highest-rated movie like American Yakuza?
M (1931), rated 8.1/10 by 2,600 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like American Yakuza?
Shadow Master (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like American Yakuza?
Yes: Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013), Until Death (2007) and Out for Justice (1991).
How are movies similar to American Yakuza chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside American Yakuza, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.