Movies like Judo Showdown (1965)
The best movies like Judo Showdown (1965) are Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two (1945), Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013) and Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012). If Judo Showdown hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSeven Samurai (1954)8.5/10 from 4,460 votes
- NewestKingdom: Return of the Great General (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseSanshiro Sugata, Part Two (1945)Also in Japanese
Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two (1945)
A few years after his breakthrough, Sanshiro resumes his path to judo mastery—testing his discipline against an American prizefighter and later facing vengeful karate brothers. As rival schools and public spectacle push him toward violence, he must reconcile strength with restraint and the true spirit of his art.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013)
After the defeat of Majin Buu, a powerful God of Destruction known as Beerus searches for the Saiyan warrior who defeated Frieza. Realizing the threat Beerus poses to Earth, the Z-fighters must stop him. Only Goku, humanity’s last hope, can ascend to the level of a legendary Super Saiyan God and save the planet, and possibly the entire universe!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012)
In 1868, after the Bakumatsu war ends, the ex-assassin Kenshin Himura traverses Japan with an inverted sword, to defend the needy without killing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sword of Doom (1966)
Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeven Samurai (1954)
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRevenge of the Ninja (1983)
A peaceful ex-ninja's life shatters when his son's kidnapping forces him back into violence amid an American-Japanese criminal drug war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNinja (2009)
A westerner named Casey, studying Ninjutsu in Japan, is asked by the Sensei to return to New York to protect the legendary Yoroi Bitsu, an armored chest that contains the weapons of the last Koga Ninja.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021)
In 1879, Kenshin and his allies face their strongest enemy yet: his former brother-in-law Enishi Yukishiro and his minions, who've vowed their revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSamurai Assassin (1965)
Japan, 1860. The men of the Mito clan, victims of the Ansei purge, anxiously prowl around the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle with the intention of assassinating Naosuke Ii of Hikone, tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate and responsible for their misfortune.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYojimbo (1961)
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like this47 Ronin (2013)
Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSamurai 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades (1972)
Ogami Itto volunteers to be tortured by Yakuza in order to save a prostitute and is hired by their leader to kill an evil chamberlain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKingdom: Return of the Great General (2024)
Depicts a continuation of the "Battle of Mayang", an all-out war against the neighboring country Zhao that Shin and Wang Ki fought in in the previous work "Flame of Fate".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn (1995)
Not paying attention to his job, a young demon allows the evil cleansing machine to overflow and explode, turning the young demon into the infamous monster Janemba. Goku and Vegeta make solo attempts to defeat the monster, but realize their only option is fusion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon (1995)
The Z Warriors discover an unopenable music box and are told to open it with the Dragon Balls. The contents turn out to be a warrior named Tapion who had sealed himself inside along with a monster called Hildegarn. Goku must now perfect a new technique to defeat the evil monster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGolden Kamuy (2024)
On the Hokkaido frontier, a war veteran and Ainu girl race against misfits and military renegades to find treasure mapped out on tattooed outlaws.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSanshiro Sugata (1943)
A hotheaded youth in 1880s Meiji Japan apprentices to judo master Shōgorō Yano, trading brute jujutsu bravado for discipline and humility. As Sanshirō matures, he proves judo’s spirit against old-guard challengers—including a deadly duel—while falling for his vanquished opponent’s daughter. Based on the novel by Tsuneo Tomita, son of Tomita Tsunejirō, the earliest disciple of judo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Judo Showdown?
The closest matches to Judo Showdown are Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two (1945), Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013) and Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Judo Showdown?
Start with Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two (1945), the closest match to Judo Showdown.
What is the highest-rated movie like Judo Showdown?
Seven Samurai (1954), rated 8.5/10 by 4,460 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Judo Showdown?
Kingdom: Return of the Great General (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Judo Showdown?
Yes: Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two (1945), Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013) and Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012).
How are movies similar to Judo Showdown chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Judo Showdown, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.