Movies like The River Pirates (2018)
The best movies like The River Pirates (2018) are The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), Mud (2013) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975). If The River Pirates hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Man Who Would Be King (1975)7.5/10 from 751 votes
- NewestThe Lost City of Z (2017)Released 2017
- In ChineseThe White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom (2014)Also in Chinese
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
All her life, Englishwoman Gladys Aylward knew that China was where she belonged. Unqualified to be sent as a missionary, Gladys works as a domestic to earn to send herself to a poor, remote village. There, she eventually lives a full and happy life: running the inn, acting as 'foot inspector', advising the local Mandarin, and even winning the heart of mixed-race Captain Lin Nan. Gladys discovers her real destiny when the country is invaded by Japan and the Chinese children need her to save their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMud (2013)
Two teenage boys find a fugitive hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River and help him reunite with his lover and escape an avenging family and their armed posse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Man Who Would Be King (1975)
Tired of life as soldiers, Peachy Carnehan and Danny Dravot travel to the isolated land of Kafiristan, where they are ultimately embraced by the people and revered as rulers. After a series of misunderstandings, the natives come to believe that Dravot is a god, but he and Carnehan can't keep up their deception forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBuck and the Preacher (1972)
A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver of No Return (1954)
An itinerant farmer and his young son help a heart-of-gold saloon singer search for her estranged husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom (2014)
In the twilight of the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial court is plagued by corruption as tyrants rule the land. With the Manchurians preying on a weakened empire, war is imminent. To save the victims from suffering, sorceress Jade Raksha fights the soldiers that oppress people for their own gain. As payback, local officials pin the murder of Governor Zhuo Zhonglian on Jade, turning her and the members of her cult into wanted fugitives for a crime they didn't commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYellow Sky (1948)
In 1867, a gang robs a bank and flees into the desert. Out of water, the outlaws encounter a ghost town called Yellow Sky and its only residents, a hostile young woman and her grandfather.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuzhou River (2000)
After getting out of prison, small-time crook Mardar stumbles upon a woman who looks exactly like his long-lost lover, who he attempted to kidnap 3 years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Comancheros (1961)
Texas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves known as Comancheros.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Monkey King 2 (2016)
Taking place 500 years after the Havoc in Heaven, the Tang Priest is appointed by Buddha to go to the West to fetch the sacred scriptures, only to accidentally free the Monkey King. With Lady White aiming to break up the team assembled to defeat her, the Monkey King must fight in order to save his world!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lost City of Z (2017)
A true-life drama in the 1920s, centering on British explorer Col. Percy Fawcett, who discovered evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization in the Amazon and disappeared whilst searching for it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaving General Yang (2013)
When a rival nation sends troops to invade the Song Dynasty, the emperor sends general Yang Ye (Adam Cheng) to defend the nation. However, Yang's place in the court is shaky due to a feud with Pan Renmei caused by the accidental death of his son at the hands of one of Yang's sons. At the battle, Yang is abandoned by Pan's troops, leaving him trapped in the face of an attack by Yeli Yuan (Shao Bing), an enemy general who wants to kill Yang to avenge his father. After learning about their father's predicament, Yang Ye's seven sons set out to rescue their father at any cost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Tycoon (2012)
Cheng, a young man who is set up by the chief of police, must leave the life he knows and Qiu, the woman he loves, to start again. After escaping prison Cheng quickly and violently moves his way up the ladder of Shanghais criminal underworld to become on the most powerful mob bosses in Shanghais history. But fame and notoriety take their toll when Cheng finds himself stuck between the looming Japanese army and the scheming local secret service. Matters are only made worse when he bumps into the love of his life QIU, along with her writer husband. Will love re-kindle in the dusk of an era?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaining in the Mountain (1979)
In Ming Dynasty China, the retiring abbot of a Buddhist monastery invites two dignitaries to help him choose a successor, not suspecting that both of them have hired help to steal a priceless parchment kept in the temple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe African Queen (1952)
At the start of the First World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLust, Caution (2007)
During World War II, a secret agent must seduce, then assassinate an official who works for the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai. Her mission becomes clouded when she finds herself falling in love with the man she is assigned to kill.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOperation Mekong (2016)
The Chinese government launches a daring operation to arrest a violent drug cartel following the discovery of thirteen Chinese crew members' bodies on two ships sailing through the Mekong River.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRio Lobo (1970)
After the Civil War, a former Union colonel searches for the two traitors whose perfidy led to the loss of a close friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The River Pirates?
The closest matches to The River Pirates are The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), Mud (2013) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The River Pirates?
Start with The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), the closest match to The River Pirates.
What is the highest-rated movie like The River Pirates?
The Man Who Would Be King (1975), rated 7.5/10 by 751 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The River Pirates?
The Lost City of Z (2017) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The River Pirates?
Yes: The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom (2014), Suzhou River (2000) and The Monkey King 2 (2016).
How are movies similar to The River Pirates chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The River Pirates, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















