Movies like The Swordsman (2020)
The best movies like The Swordsman (2020) are Memories of the Sword (2015), Blades of Blood (2010) and The Fatal Encounter (2014). If The Swordsman hooked you with its action and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Tiger (2015)7.7/10 from 301 votes
- NewestUprising (2024)Released 2024
- In KoreanMemories of the Sword (2015)Also in Korean
Memories of the Sword (2015)
While in medieval Korea, a young girl sets out to revenge the betrayal and the death of her mother. But therefore she must face one of the most powerful men and warriors of the Goryeo Dynasty.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlades of Blood (2010)
Lee Mong-hak and a skilled blind swordsman Hwang Jeong-hak, both long to wipe away corruption and heal the world. Lee Mong-hak creates a rebel army to achieve his goal and get rid of the King.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fatal Encounter (2014)
Late 18th-century Joseon dynasty. The King is beleaguered and surrounded by traitors of the ruling elite. They plan to assassinate and replace him with a puppet. But the King has some aces up his sleeve that may help him defeat them all.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUprising (2024)
In the Joseon Dynasty, two friends who grew up together — one the master and one the servant — reunite post-war as enemies on opposing sides.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWar of the Arrows (2011)
After the death of their father, two siblings are raised by their father's best friend. However, when one gets kidnapped just before her wedding, the other rises against the Manchus.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Warlords (2007)
The civil war in China has ruined many lives including General Pang's. A wounded General Pang is saved by a beautiful young woman along with two other men. Together they vow to eradicate the rebels.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sword with No Name (2009)
Mu Myeong is a Joseon dynasty headhunter who meets and falls in love with lady Ja Yeong who will become the future Empress Myseongseong. A few years later, Ja Yeong enters the royal palace to marry King Gojong. Mu Myeong still having feelings for Ja Yeong and in an attempt to get closer to her becomes her personal body guard.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReign of Assassins (2010)
Set in ancient China, Zeng Jing is a skilled assassin who finds herself in possession of a mystical Buddhist monk's remains. She begins a quest to return the remains to its rightful resting place, and thus places herself in mortal danger because a team of assassins is in a deadly pursuit to possess the remains which holds an ancient power-wielding secret.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHero (2002)
During China's Warring States period, a district prefect arrives at the palace of Qin Shi Huang, claiming to have killed the three assassins who had made an attempt on the king's life three years ago.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fortress (2017)
Ancient Korea, 17th century. The powerful Khan of the Jurchen tribe of Manchuria, who fights the Ming dinasty to gain China, becomes the first ruler of the Qing dinasty and demands from King In-jo of Joseon to bow before him; but he refuses, being loyal to the Mings. On December 14th, 1636, the Qing horde invades Joseon, so King In-jo and his court shelter in the mountain fortress of Namhan and prepare to defend the kingdom.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKingdom (2019)
Set in Qin Dynasty during the warring states period in ancient China. Shin was a war orphan. He has a dream of becoming a great general Shin has a fateful encounter with young King Eisei. King Eisei aims to unify all of China.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & history
Worth the HypeMovies like this14 Blades (2010)
Commander Qinglong is the loyal leader of the assassin group that serves the emperor. But when his allies plan a rebellion against the ruler, he finds himself in danger.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tiger (2015)
In 1925 Korea, Japanese rulers demand the last remaining tiger be killed. The tiger easily defeats his pursuers until a legendary hunter takes him on.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this13 Assassins (2010)
A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Warrior (2001)
In 1375, China was in chaos between Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. Coryo (an ancient kingdom of Korea then) sent a delegation of many diplomats, soldiers and a silent slave to make peace with the new Chinese government. However, this delegation got charged as spies and sent in exile to a remote desert.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Age of Blood (2017)
Ancient Korea, 1728. Swordsman Kim Ho, guard of King Yeong-jo of Joseon, is demoted and sent to work in Uigeumbu prison. When night falls, the prison is assaulted by the master warrior Do Man-cheol and his powerful henchmen for the purpose of freeing Lee In-jwa, who has been condemned to death for rising up in revolt against the king.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
House of Flying Daggers (2004)
In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield (2017)
An imperial guard searches for the truth behind a conspiracy that framed him and his partners. The proof of his innocence lies with a wanted woman named Bei Zhai... but will she reveal what she knows? In this intense prequel to BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES, the only thing he can truly trust is his sword.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Golden Cane Warrior (2014)
A martial arts master angers two of her protégés when she selects a third to take her post and the legendary weapon that comes with it.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
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: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Divine Weapon (2008)
During the reign of King Sejong in the 15th century, the Joseon Dynasty was the embodiment of the perfect state. To the Ming China, the aspiring imperial power, Joseon presented an obstacle to territorial expansion. To protect themselves from war, King Sejong develops a secret weapon to defend their territory and take back their land and supremacy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Cliff (2008)
In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Assassin (2015)
9th century China. Ten year old general’s daughter Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who initiates her into the martial arts, transforming her into an exceptional assassin charged with eliminating cruel and corrupt local governors. One day, having failed in a task, she is sent back by her mistress to the land of her birth, with orders to kill the man to whom she was promised – a cousin who now leads the largest military region in North China. After 13 years of exile, the young woman must confront her parents, her memories and her long-repressed feelings.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNoryang: Deadly Sea (2023)
The Imjin War reaches its seventh year in December of 1598. Admiral Yi Sun-shin learns that the Wa invaders in Joseon are preparing for a swift withdrawal following the deathbed orders of their leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Determined to destroy the enemy once and for all, Admiral Yi leads an allied fleet of Joseon and Ming ships to mount a blockade and annihilate the Wa army. However, once Ming commander Chen Lin is bribed into lifting the blockade, Wa lord Shimazu Yoshihiro and his Satsuma army sail to the Wa army's rescue at Noryang Strait.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHansan: Rising Dragon (2022)
In 1592, admiral Yi Sun-sin and his fleet face off against the might of the invading Japanese navy and its formidable warships. As the Korean forces fall into crisis, the admiral resorts to using his secret weapon, the dragon head ships known as geobukseon, in order to change the tide of this epic battle at sea.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Final Master (2015)
Determined to pass down his art, the Final Master of Wing Chun is caught in a power struggle with malicious local officials and ultimately must choose between personal honor and his master’s dying wish.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBuffalo Boys (2018)
Betrayed by the Dutch colonial forces, Arana manages to escape along with his nephews Jamar and Suwo, the newborn sons of Hamza, one of the last Indonesian sultans fighting against foreign tyranny. In 1860, after wandering for years on the plains of the American Wild West, Arana and the two brothers return to Indonesia to avenge their dead loved ones and punish the evil man who caused their misfortune.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonstrum (2018)
Ancient Korea, 1506. The tyrannical King Yeonsan-gun of Joseon is overthrown by his half-brother Jung-jong, whose reign begins with a blood bath. Over the years, traitors plot against him, sinking the kingdom into chaos. In 1528, frightened rumors come to royal palace, regarding a mysterious creature, known as Monstrum by the peasants.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Swordsman?
The closest matches to The Swordsman are Memories of the Sword (2015), Blades of Blood (2010) and The Fatal Encounter (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Swordsman?
People who watched The Swordsman most often go on to Memories of the Sword (2015), Blades of Blood (2010) and The Fatal Encounter (2014).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Swordsman?
The Tiger (2015), rated 7.7/10 by 301 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Swordsman?
Uprising (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like The Swordsman?
Yes: Memories of the Sword (2015), Blades of Blood (2010) and The Fatal Encounter (2014).
How are movies similar to The Swordsman chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Swordsman, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.