Movies like Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983)
The best movies like Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983) are Samurai Reincarnation (1981), Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (1970) and Blade of the Immortal (2017). If Legend of the Eight Samurai hooked you with its fantasy and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSamurai Rebellion (1967)8.2/10 from 283 votes
- NewestBlack Clover: Sword of the Wizard King (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseSamurai Reincarnation (1981)Also in Japanese
Samurai Reincarnation (1981)
After surviving the slaughter of many Christians 350 years ago, a samurai denounces God for ignoring the pleas of believers. He sells his soul to Satan and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him in a murderous rampage.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies 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 & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlade of the Immortal (2017)
Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. The mission will change Manji in ways he could never imagine.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Samurai (1974)
The film follows the story of Sugi Toranosuke, a ronin, who returns to his home town of Edo many years after his attempted suicide as a sickly child. Rescued and adopted by a master swordsman, he has grown into a master swordsman and a very kind gentleman. The time is around 1868 the year that the nails were finally put into the coffin containing the feudal system that nurtured and sustained the samurai. Sugi is confused and unsure about what is happening but his teacher wants him out of the chaos of the multiple power struggles between the various clans.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (1974)
With most of his family already dead at Ogami Itto's hands, Retsudo launches one final plot to destroy him, and when that fails, unleashes the fury of every remaining member of the Yagyu clan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSamurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955)
After years on the road establishing his reputation as Japan's greatest fencer, Takezo returns to Kyoto. Otsu waits for him, yet he has come not for her but to challenge the leader of the region's finest school of fencing. To prove his valor and skill, he walks deliberately into ambushes set up by the school's followers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShogun's Samurai: The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy (1978)
Following the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the shogunate despite the stammer and birthmark which undermine his respect. Iemitsu and his brother Tadanaga become bitter rivals for the shogunate, and the land is split into factions, eventually erupting into warfare. Iemitsu's mentor, his fencing instructor Yagyu, is fixated upon securing Iemitsu the shogunate and ends up betraying everyone, even his own family, in pursuit of the goal.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril (1972)
Ogami Itto is hired to kill a tattooed female assassin and battles Retsudo, head of the Yagyu clan, and his son Gunbei.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like this47 Ronin (1994)
Kon Ichikawa's retelling of the classic true story of Samurai honor. When a young clan lord is forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide), his loyal followers (now Ronin, masterless Samurai) dedicate their lives to avenging his death.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Samurai Wolf (1966)
This is the story of a vagrant samurai – the solitary, savage and scrupulous Kiba – who arrives at a village to defend a beautiful, blind woman against a sinister plot. Her assailants then send against him another samurai, named Sana, who is without scruples. The fight between them will become personal, for the honor and love of the blind woman.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954)
Struggling to elevate himself from his low caste in 17th century Japan, Miyamoto trains to become a mighty samurai warrior.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972)
Official Shogunate executioner Ogami Itto has been framed for disloyalty to the Shogunate by the Yagyu clan, against whom he now is waging a one-man war, along with his infant son, Daigoro.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons (1973)
Ogami Itto is challenged by a quintet of warriors, each armed with one fifth of Ogami's assassin fee and one fifth of the information he needs to complete his assignment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDemons (1971)
Gengobe Satsuma, an exiled samurai cast out as an Asano clan retainer, is given a second chance to join his brothers in arms to become the 48th Ronin against the Shogunate. His faithful servant gathers the 100 ryo required for his acceptance. Gengobe is also in love with a greedy geisha named Koman. About to be sold to another man, Gengobe learns that in order to keep her, her debt is exactly 100 ryo.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fall of Ako Castle (1978)
This is the story of "The Forty-Seven Ronin." Based on historical events in 1701-2, the movie tells the tale of the Asano clan's downfall and the revenge of its former samurai on the perpetrator of the catastrophe. Lord Asano was goaded, or tricked, into drawing his sword inside the Shogun's palace -- a crime which carried the death penalty. The newly installed Shogun was furious at Asano and ordered all his clan's assets seized, meaning some 20,000 samurai and commoners were unemployed and landless at a stroke. Forty-seven of these ronin (masterless samurai) banded together to take attempt revenge on Lord Kira, who had goaded Asano into drawing his sword.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Zatoichi (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 & action
Worth the HypeMovies 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 action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally (1989)
Older, wiser but still a wandering loner, the blind, peace-loving masseur Ichi seeks a peaceful life in a rural village. When he's caught in the middle of a power struggle between two rival Yakuza clans, his reputation as a deadly defender of the innocent is put to the ultimate test in a series of sword-slashing showdowns.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShinobi: Heart Under Blade (2005)
Even though Gennosuke and Oboro are from rival ninja villages, they are secretly in love. At an annual conference with the Lord, it is dictated that a competition--a fight to the death--will take place between the five best shinobi from each village. Gennosuke and Oboro's love is made even more impossible when they each got picked as the leader of the five to represent their respective villages.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKill! (1968)
A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Magic Serpent (1966)
In ancient Japan, a good lord is killed and his throne is taken by the trecherous Yuki Daijo and the evil wizard Orochi-Maru. The lords young son Ikazuki-maru is rescued from the jaws of death by a magic bird sent by a wizard. Fourteen years later, Prince Ikazuki-maru embarks on an adventure to avenge his parents with his newfound magic powers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both fantasy & action
Samurai Rebellion (1967)
The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped by the lord. Her husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to rescue her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThree Outlaw Samurai (1964)
Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard, Sakura and Kikyo. The three outlaws find themselves in a battle to the death.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShogun's Ninja (1980)
In the middle of the 16th century, Hideyoshi, a power hungry warlord sets out to destroy the Momochi clan. He sends his war commander in search of the clan's hidden gold only to find that two daggers are the key to the hiding place of the treasured gold. Spanning decades, the quest for the missing daggers takes Shiranui through war and ancient tradition.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Eleven Samurai (1967)
The lord of the Oshi fief is killed by his trespassing neighbour, the cruel and despotic Nariatsu, son of the former Shogun. After an investigation, the Oshi clan is blamed for what happened and sentenced to be disbanded. Eleven of the best samurai of the clan refuse the sentence and are willing to give their life for justice.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & adventure
Knightriders (1981)
A medieval reenactment troupe struggles to maintain its family-like dynamic amid pressure from local authorities, interest from talent agents, and their so-called king's delusions of grandeur.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDragonheart: Vengeance (2021)
Lukas, a young farmer whose family is killed by savage raiders in the countryside, sets out on an epic quest for revenge, forming an unlikely trio with a majestic dragon and a swashbuckling, sword-fighting mercenary, Darius.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunter x Hunter: The Last Mission (2013)
Isaac Netero is the chairman of the Hunter Association. Decades ago he sealed away Jed, a Hunter who had mastered the use of On, the dark "shadow" of Nen. Now On users have reappeared at the Heaven's Arena "Battle Olympia" tournament. For Netero, this is the last mission: to protect the Association and the world from a threat driven by hatred and the thirst for revenge. And he's going to need all the help he can get in order to succeed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Clover: Sword of the Wizard King (2023)
As a lionhearted boy who can't wield magic strives for the title of Wizard King, four banished Wizard Kings of yore return to crush the Clover Kingdom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & action
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMy Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2019)
Class 1-A visits Nabu Island where they finally get to do some real hero work. The place is so peaceful that it's more like a vacation... until they're attacked by a villain with an unfathomable Quirk! His power is eerily familiar, and it looks like Shigaraki had a hand in the plan. But with All Might retired and citizens' lives on the line, there's no time for questions. Deku and his friends are the next generation of heroes, and they're the island's only hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & fantasy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Legend of the Eight Samurai?
The closest matches to Legend of the Eight Samurai are Samurai Reincarnation (1981), Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (1970) and Blade of the Immortal (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Legend of the Eight Samurai?
People who watched Legend of the Eight Samurai most often go on to Samurai Reincarnation (1981), Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (1970) and Blade of the Immortal (2017).
What is the highest-rated movie like Legend of the Eight Samurai?
Samurai Rebellion (1967), rated 8.2/10 by 283 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Legend of the Eight Samurai?
Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Legend of the Eight Samurai?
Yes: Samurai Reincarnation (1981), Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (1970) and Blade of the Immortal (2017).
How are movies similar to Legend of the Eight Samurai chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Legend of the Eight Samurai, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.