Movies like Zatoichi: The Last (2010)
The best movies like Zatoichi: The Last (2010) are Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman (1971), Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally (1989) and The Tale of Zatoichi (1962). If Zatoichi: The Last 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 ratedScarface (1983)8.2/10 from 13,683 votes
- NewestYolo (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseZatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman (1971)Also in Japanese
Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman (1971)
Zatoichi is a blind massage therapist and swordsman who finds out that something troubling is taking place on the outskirts of town. After discovering who the guilty parties are -- an accomplished Chinese martial artist named Wang Kang and his youthful attendant -- Zatoichi finds them and discovers that the pair's mixed up with a dangerous bunch of terrorist samurai who murdered the boy's parents. Now, Zatoichi must step in to save the day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tale of Zatoichi (1962)
The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tale of Zatoichi Continues (1962)
Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
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 · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZatoichi and the Chess Expert (1965)
Zatoichi makes friends with a dangerous chess player, while fending off angry yakuza and bloodthirsty relatives out for revenge, and trying to save a sick child. Meanwhile, his luck with dice is turning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZatoichi's Revenge (1965)
Itinerant masseur and master swordsman, the blind Zatoichi, is near the village of his teacher, Hikonoichi, so he decides to visit. He learns of Hikonoichi's recent robbery and murder and the imprisonment of his virginal daughter, Osayo, in a brothel. Through friendship with Denroku, a local dice thrower and devoted father, Ichi uncovers an unholy alliance between the governor and the area strongman: among their scams is falsifying tax records to put farmers in debt, then forcing their daughters into prostitution at the boss's brothel. With help from Denroku's daughter, Otsuru, Ichi comforts Osayo until he can provoke showdowns with the villains and their henchmen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFight, Zatoichi, Fight (1964)
Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman returning home with her baby. When gangsters mistake her for Zatoichi and kill her, Zatoichi determines to escort the baby to its father. He gains the reluctant help of a young pick pocket and together they travel to find the baby's father. But they do not reckon on the father's reaction to their arrival, nor on their own growing feelings for the child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZatoichi's Pilgrimage (1966)
Zatoichi's trek through 88 temples to atone for his violent past is interrupted as he stumbles into a village terrorized by a violent yakuza boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdventures of Zatoichi (1964)
Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman looking for her father, a village leader who has disappeared. As he helps her investigate the disappearance, Zatoichi also becomes involved with another young woman who is trying to help her brother, who has murdered someone at about the same time and place as the missing man was last seen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZatoichi the Outlaw (1967)
When a local gambling house kidnaps some peasants because they failed to pay their debts, a rival gambling house pays their debts and sets them free.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNew Tale of Zatoichi (1963)
Wishing to find peace, Zatoichi travels to his old village but only finds trouble when he ends up in a love triangle and finds old scores have followed him home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisICHI (2008)
Ichi is a blind entertainer that travels the countryside with her traditional Japanese guitar and walking stick. She’s in search for the kind man that brought her up as a child, but because of her beauty she encounters problems every step of the way. Fortunately for Ichi, she is also a gifted swordswoman and carries a lethal blade within her walking stick.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZatoichi and the Fugitives (1968)
Zatoichi runs afoul of some evil fugitives, working for a corrupt law official.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973)
Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSamaritan Zatoichi (1968)
Zatoichi is forced to kill a young man who owes a debt to a yakuza boss. Moments later, his sister Osode arrives with the money she earned (prostituting herself) to pay his debts. The bosses true motives are revealed and he attempts to steal Osode even though the debt is paid. Zatoichi realizes his grievous error and protects the girl from the gang. Osode and Zatoichi are caught in a dilemma as she must rely on her brother's killer for protection and Zatoichi wrestles with the injustice he has caused.
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 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScarface (1983)
After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKing Kong (2005)
In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYolo (2024)
After an argument with her younger sister, Le Ying moves out on her own. She meets a boxing trainer and starts boxing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGet Carter (2000)
Jack Carter, a mob enforcer living in Las Vegas, travels back to his hometown of Seattle for his brother's funeral. During this visit, Carter realizes that the death of his brother was not accidental, but a murder. With this knowledge, Carter sets out to kill all those responsible.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMiami Vice (2006)
A case involving drug lords and murder in South Florida takes a personal turn for undercover detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs. Unorthodox Crockett gets involved romantically with the Chinese-Cuban wife of a trafficker of arms and drugs, while Tubbs deals with an assault on those he loves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
An assassin is shot by her ruthless employer, Bill, and other members of their assassination circle – but she lives to plot her vengeance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPoseidon (2006)
A packed cruise ship traveling the Atlantic is hit and overturned by a massive wave, compelling the passengers to begin a dramatic fight for their lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Third Generation (1948)
The Goddess (1934) is remade once again. In this version, Zhu Shilin tackles the anxiety concerning the clash of 20th century Chinese traditions and modern Western culture. Despite her father’s strict discipline, Fun still manages to have a boyfriend secretly and give birth to twins. After leaving her son to her father, she takes off with her daughter. Twenty years later, Fun has become a streetwalker. The three generations finally come face-to-face at the police station. Her father laments that his generation should be ousted while Fun’s generation has been sacrificed, leaving the future for the next generation to establish. Zhu carefully depicts the shame of selling one’s body without passing judgment while he finds balance and reflects on the pain in the age of progress. Even though the production was far from lavish, Zhu’s astute handling of the narrative and mise-en-scène makes this a vivid and exciting film to watch.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Guard Dog (1997)
A tough and violent battle ensues between Hikaru Gotokuji, who's been assigned as the bodyguard for a popular young entertainer, and the ex-mercenary who is aggressively intent on assassination.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
The Mummy (1999)
Dashing legionnaire Rick O'Connell stumbles upon the hidden ruins of Hamunaptra while in the midst of a battle to claim the area in 1920s Egypt. It has been over three thousand years since former High Priest Imhotep suffered a fate worse than death as a punishment for a forbidden love—along with a curse that guarantees eternal doom upon the world if he is ever awoken.
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 Zatoichi: The Last?
The closest matches to Zatoichi: The Last are Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman (1971), Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally (1989) and The Tale of Zatoichi (1962). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Zatoichi: The Last?
Start with Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman (1971), the closest match to Zatoichi: The Last.
What is the highest-rated movie like Zatoichi: The Last?
Scarface (1983), rated 8.2/10 by 13,683 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Zatoichi: The Last?
Yolo (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Zatoichi: The Last?
Yes: Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman (1971), Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally (1989) and The Tale of Zatoichi (1962).
How are movies similar to Zatoichi: The Last chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Zatoichi: The Last, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.