Movies like Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death (2017)
The best movies like Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death (2017) are Game of Thrones The IMAX Experience (2015), 40 Acres (2025) and Mexicali (2026). If Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death hooked you with its action and fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBeast (2026)7.5/10 from 228 votes
- NewestBeast (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseKnuckle Girl (2023)Also in Japanese
Game of Thrones The IMAX Experience (2015)
The first episode of this IMAX screening takes place entirely at The Wall with the Night’s Watch (S4 EP9) hopelessly outnumbered as they attempt to defend Castle Black from the Wildings and features one the fiercest and most intense battle scenes ever filmed for television. The second episode (S4 EP10), features Dany coming to grips with the realities of ruling a kingdom, Bran learning the startling reality of his destiny and Tyrion facing the truth of his unfortunate situation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Absolute CinemaMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWelcome to Sudden Death (2020)
Jesse Freeman is a former special forces officer and explosives expert now working a regular job as a security guard in a state-of-the-art basketball arena. Trouble erupts when a tech-savvy cadre of terrorists kidnap the team's owner and Jesse's daughter during opening night. Facing a ticking clock and impossible odds, it's up to Jesse to not only save them but also a full house of fans in this highly charged action thriller.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Full Bloom (2019)
Set shortly after the end of World War II, a philosophical boxing drama of two fighters from opposite worlds (USA and Japan) who are pulled together for a questionable fight arranged by their unscrupulous managers and the Yakuza.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRev (2020)
A young thief with a history of grand theft auto becomes an informant and helps police bring down a criminal enterprise involved in the smuggling of hundreds of exotic super cars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKnuckle Girl (2023)
Following the story of Ran, who confronts a mysterious organization by participating in a no-rules deathmatch after discovering her missing younger sister Yuzuki is involved in a crime. With danger at every corner, Ran must trade in her boxing gloves for brass knuckles. Will she save her sister?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNine Days (2021)
A bureaucrat interviews five souls to decide which of them will be given a life on Earth. But he soon faces an existential challenge of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnly the Strong (1993)
Former Green Beret Louis Stevens returns to his hometown of Miami after completing military service in Brazil, only to learn that his old high school has become a haven for gangs and drug dealers. After Stevens uses his capoeira skills to kick several drug dealers off of the school property, Kerrigan, one of Stevens' old teachers, sees the impact that Stevens has on the students. Kerrigan gives him the task of teaching Capoeira to a handful of the worst at-risk students at the school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out (2003)
After a failed bank robbery, two heavily armed men hold the Los Angeles Police Department at bay for 44 minutes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFatal Fury: The Motion Picture (1994)
The Armor of Mars -- a suit of armor consisting of six pieces. If anyone from the bloodline of the ancient warrior Godimus were to find all six pieces for himself, he would receive power equal to the level of a god. The Curse of Godimus, however, also dictates that this same person would lose all sense of himself and become an insane killing machine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFreedom Fighters: The Ray (2018)
Earth-X is one of many realities in the multiverse, with one glaring difference from our Earth: The Nazis won World War II. Led by The Ray, a group of heroes known as the Freedom Fighters battle selflessly against tyranny. But when The Ray is transported to our Earth to save his life, he passes his powers to his unsuspecting counterpart, Ray Terrill. Charged with superhuman abilities, Terrill is newly christened The Ray and must adapt and overcome the challenges of crime-fighting with a little help from The Flash and Green Arrow. Seasoned and ready to fight, The Ray now faces his biggest battle: a return to Earth-X to lead the Freedom Fighters against Overgirl and her evil Nazi henchmen!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalkaway Joe (2020)
A young boy named Dallas goes on a search for his pool-hustling father after he abandons their family. Dallas is determined to bring his father home when he meets Joe Haley, a drifter wrestling with a past he'd rather forget, who feels responsible for Dallas' safety and reluctantly takes him in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInuyasha the Movie 2: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass (2002)
With their most formidable foe vanquished, Inuyasha and his comrades begin returning to their everyday lives. But their peace is fleeting as another adversary emerges: Kaguya, the self-proclaimed princess from the Moon of Legend, hatches a plot to plunge the world into an eternal night of the full moon. Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Shippou must reunite to confront the new menace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSAS: Red Notice (2021)
An off-duty SAS soldier, Tom Buckingham, must thwart a terror attack on a train running through the Channel Tunnel. As the action escalates on the train, events transpire in the corridors of power that may make the difference as to whether Buckingham and the civilian passengers make it out of the tunnel alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisHorns (2013)
In the aftermath of his girlfriend's mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJigen Daisuke (2023)
Feeling unhappy with his gun, Jigen is looking for the world’s best gunsmith. He finally finds out that Chiharu, who runs a watch shop, is the person he’s been seeking. Then, Jigen meets Oto, who comes to Chiharu’s shop looking for a gun. Jigen finds out about Oto's secrets and the mysterious organization that’s after her. After Oto is kidnapped, Jigen gets into a desperate battle to save her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFranklyn (2008)
Set between the parallel worlds of contemporary London and the futuristic faith dominated metropolis of Meanwhile City, Franklyn weaves a tale of four souls, whose lives are intertwined by fate, romance and tragedy. As these worlds collide, a single bullet determines the destiny of these four characters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThunderbolt Fantasy: Bewitching Melody of the West (2019)
Làng Wū Yáo is a boy born with a supernatural singing voice. Secluded in the snowy mountains, he is put through severe training by his blind mother. Her wish is for her son's voice to be unrivaled, so that it will be heard by the imperial court. But the intense training results in a tragic accident, where she dies. Left an orphan as a result, Làng wanders the land. His voice is used as a tool by the wicked and greedy, with his heart being ground down in the process. Eventually his strange singing catches the ear of the princess of Xī Yōu, and Làng is elevated to the stage his mother had dreamt of. But what awaits him is a life or death battle performance against other musicians for the amusement of the members of the court.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Chaisson: Rise of the Zerad (2010)
Driven from his homeland and faced with the genocide of his people, an inexperienced Elvish prince must forge an unlikely alliance with a tribe of Wolfmen to save his people from the bloodthirsty Zerad.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & fantasy
The Wild Rose (1977)
The bloom of wild roses connects an aging soldier from a large country with a youthful soldier from a small country, but the two are soon parted as one of them becomes a casualty of war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Puppetoon Movie (1987)
Animated characters introduce a compilation of George Pal replacement animation Puppetoon short films from the 1930s and 1940s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Mad God (2021)
A silent figure known as The Assassin travels through a nightmare underworld of tortured souls, ruined cities and wretched monstrosities forged from the primordial horrors of the unconscious mind of Phil Tippett, the world's preeminent stop-motion animator.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEverybody Goes to the Hospital (2022)
'Everybody Goes to the Hospital' is an animated exploration of a true physical, psychological, and familial trauma.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Kurohime Story (1967)
A Fairytale Story of Princess Kuro.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Birthday Night (1980)
The Night had her birthday, and gave a party to which she invited Dima, a little boy so afraid of the dark that he could never sleep when the light was out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Daughter (2019)
A young girl buries in her soul a memory of a painful moment, when as a child she brought home an injured bird and her father burdened by his own weight of worries didn’t notice her feelings and longing for understanding. The girl took her father’s reaction as indifference and closed herself in her inner world longing for her father’s love and its manifestations. Since that moment she and her dad continued to grow apart, and as an adult she is no longer able to accept his endearments. The father suffers from guilt and searches for a way back to his daughter, trying to revive their lost relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohn Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946)
John Henry springs to life as a full-grown man, and in no time at all establishes himself as the mightiest steel-driver around. When a newfangled steel-driving machine threatens his livelihood, he sets out to beat it in a one-on-one race.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death?
The closest matches to Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death are Game of Thrones The IMAX Experience (2015), 40 Acres (2025) and Mexicali (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death?
Start with Game of Thrones The IMAX Experience (2015), the closest match to Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death.
What is the highest-rated movie like Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death?
Beast (2026), rated 7.5/10 by 228 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death?
Yes: Knuckle Girl (2023), Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (1994) and Inuyasha the Movie 2: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass (2002).
How are movies similar to Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.