Movies like The Scroll’s Secret (1958)
The best movies like The Scroll’s Secret (1958) are Ninja Assassin (2009), Shogun Assassin (1980) and Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (2005). If The Scroll’s Secret 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 4,459 votes
- NewestRurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021)Released 2021
- In JapaneseShinobi: Heart Under Blade (2005)Also in Japanese
Ninja Assassin (2009)
Ninja Assassin follows Raizo, one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShogun Assassin (1980)
A Shogun who grew paranoid as he became senile sent his ninjas to kill his samurai. They failed but did kill the samurai’s wife. The samurai swore to avenge the death of his wife and roams the countryside with his toddler son in search of vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)
Zatoichi treks to a village that has always been a favorite spot of his, only to discover that it’s become a living hell, plagued by feuding father and son yakuza as well as the younger crime boss’s bodyguard, scruffy, smart-mouthed, cash-hungry Yojimbo of legend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisZatoichi (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: 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 thisAzumi (2003)
In war-torn Japan, the Tokugawa Shogun, desperate to restore peace to his people, orders the assassination of the hostile warlords. A beautiful young woman is raised from birth with nine other orphans, to become an assassin. Her name is Azumi, the ultimate assassin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 thisSamurai Fiction (1998)
A warrior-in-training and his bumbling friends go in pursuit of a stolen sword.
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 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 thisNinja Scroll (1993)
Jubei is a masterless ninja who travels the land alone, lending his services to those with gold—or a worthy cause. His fearsome abilities have served him well, but a plot to overthrow the government threatens to end his wandering ways—and possibly his life.
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 thisGoemon (2009)
Follow the infamous ninja bandit named Ishikawa Goemon in an epic story. One night while looting treasure from Nanban, Goemon finds a mysterious box hidden inside a secret grave. A forgotten relic from the past containing untold powers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNinja Terminator (1986)
The hunt is on to gain the fabulous super-strength of ninja sorcery, after three top students of the Ninja Empire each steals one of the sections of the Golden Ninja Warrior statuette. On the case is interpol agent, Jaguar Wong, who must make sure that whoever re-unites the pieces uses the power for doing good not evil. A Hong Kong cut and paste edit of the 1984 Korean Film "스타페리의 不請客" (Uninvited Guest of The Star Ferry) with new ninja scenes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Scroll’s Secret?
The closest matches to The Scroll’s Secret are Ninja Assassin (2009), Shogun Assassin (1980) and Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (2005). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Scroll’s Secret?
Start with Ninja Assassin (2009), the closest match to The Scroll’s Secret.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Scroll’s Secret?
Seven Samurai (1954), rated 8.5/10 by 4,459 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Scroll’s Secret?
Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Scroll’s Secret?
Yes: Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (2005), Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970) and Zatoichi (2003).
How are movies similar to The Scroll’s Secret chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Scroll’s Secret, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.