Movies like The Boss (1965)
The best movies like The Boss (1965) are Tokyo Drifter (1966), Dead or Alive (1999) and House of Bamboo (1955). If The Boss hooked you with its crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedKill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2011)8.1/10 from 1,474 votes
- NewestHell Dogs (2022)Released 2022
- In JapaneseTokyo Drifter (1966)Also in Japanese
Tokyo Drifter (1966)
After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead or Alive (1999)
Ryūichi and his small gang of Triad vie for control of the Japanese underworld in a crime-ridden Shinjuku quarter while Detective Jojima tries to bring it down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of Bamboo (1955)
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outsider (2018)
A former American G.I. joins a yakuza family after his release from prison in post-World War II Osaka.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Yakuza (1993)
When Nick Davis leaves prison after one year in solitairy, he is hired to operate a forklift in a warehouse in the harbor owned by the Japanese Yakuza patriarch Isshin Tendo. The place is assaulted by the Italian Mafia lead by Dino Campanela and Nick rescues and saves the life of Shuji Sawamoto, who is the representative of Yakuza interests in America. Shuji hires Nick to work for Yakuza and becomes his godfather in the family after his oath to join Yakuza. However, Nick is a lonely FBI undercover agent assigned to penetrate the criminal organization. When the FBI discovers that Campanela is organizing a massive attack to destroy the Yakuza, Nick's boss Littman calls off the operation to leave the dirty work to the Italian Mafia. But the connection of Nick with Shuji and his goddaughter Yuko forces him to help his Japanese family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisBranded to Kill (1967)
After botching his latest assignment, a third-ranked Japanese hit man becomes the target of another assassin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYouth of the Beast (1963)
When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBad City (2022)
Kensuke Sonomura directs the legendary Hitoshi Ozawa in this ultimate V-Cinema actioner. Kaiko City is plagued with poverty and crime. When a corrupt businessman decides to run for mayor and starts eliminating opponents from the rival mafia, a former police captain serving time for murder is secretly released and put in charge of a special task force to arrest him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHell Dogs (2022)
Bent on revenge, a traumatized ex-police officer must infiltrate a yakuza organization by befriending one of the group's most unhinged members.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGraveyard of Honor (1975)
A self-destructive man becomes a powerful member of the yakuza but quickly loses his self-control. Based on the true story of Rikio Ishikawa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOutrage (2010)
When a tough yakuza gangster is betrayed by his bosses, it means all out war. Bodies pile up as he takes out everyone in his way to the top in a brutal quest for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeyond Outrage (2012)
As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West. What started as an internal strife in Outrage has now become a nationwide war in Outrage Beyond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOutrage Coda (2017)
Five years after the all-out war between the Sanno and Hanabishi crime families, former yakuza boss Otomo works in South Korea for Mr. Chang, a noted fixer. When tensions rise between Chang and the Hanabishi, and Chang's life is endangered, Otomo returns to Japan to settle things once and for all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Yakuza (1974)
When George Tanner does business with high-ranking Yakuza Tono, Tono kidnaps his daughter, and George summons his old friend, private eye Harry Kilmer, to Japan to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBaby Assassins (2021)
Two high school girls who are about to graduate also happen to be highly-skilled assassins. When the organization they work for orders them to share a room, their relationship quickly sours. But when they become targets of the yakuza, the girls realize they'll have to work together to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattles Without Honor and Humanity (1973)
In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSex and Fury (1973)
Sex & Fury chronicles Ocho's exploits as she searches for her father's killers, each identified by unique tattoos on their backs (a deer, a boar, and a butterfly). Along the way, she also crosses paths with Shunosuke, a radical set on murdering prominent politician Kurokawa, and Christina, an American spy posing as a gambler.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji (2013)
Reiji Kikukawa, who has a strong sense of justice, graduated from the police academy with the lowest score ever. He becomes a police constable, but is suddenly fired by the Police Chief due to "disciplinary" issues. In actuality, the firing is part of a carefully orchestrated plan to set him up as an undercover cop in the Yakuza.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2011)
A former assassin, known simply as The Bride, wakes from a coma four years after her jealous ex-lover Bill attempts to murder her on her wedding day. Fueled by an insatiable desire for revenge, she vows to get even with every person who contributed to the loss of her unborn child, her entire wedding party, and four years of her life. After devising a hit list, The Bride sets off on her quest, enduring unspeakable injury and unscrupulous enemies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKanto Wanderer (1963)
Handsome young Katsuta tries to follow the yakuza code, but even his boss doesn't believe in it. Diamond Fuyu is less ethical, and allows the idiotic Tetsu to trick a schoolgirl he fancies, Hanako, into a type of bonded prostitution. Because of gang conflict, the Izu family (to whom Katsuta belongs) has their last gambling den taken over, and he seeks revenge. This brings him back into contact with a former lover who is also a card trickster - she is also Diamond Fuyu's sister, and is now married to Okaru-Hachi, who has mastered a clever card cheating trick called Okaru, which involves the deft use of mirrors.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Kamikaze Cop, The Poison Gas Affair (1971)
Exciting fights between the police and a crime syndicate over the secret of poison gas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
The Maizuru Showdown between The Yakuza Brothers (1974)
With a Kansai syndicate vying for Tokyo, one man reunites with his roguish half-brother in the midst of negotiations, when all hell breaks loose.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Heist (1995)
Two petty gangsters get ransomed by a group of Yakuza members, fortunately they are rescued by a kindly Kindergarten teacher.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Escape (1995)
Hapless gangsters are hired by the yakuza to tail his daughter. Once the identity of the boy she's dating has been unveiled, the boss offers a reward for his capture.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Third Generation Boss (1974)
Based on Kazuo Taoka's autobiography, this film follows a Kobe gangster as he builds the small Yamaguchi-gumi into Japan's largest criminal clan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
The Ando Gang Documentary Film (1973)
This biopic of notorious yakuza-turned-actor Noboru Ando focuses on the days leading to his arrest after the shooting of businessman Hideki Yokoi.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Law of the Wild (1965)
The story centers on a young yakuza, played by Keiji Takamiya, who teams up with a group of delinquent girls to commit crimes and make money. The second film in Shochiku's series the Law / Okite.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Escape and the Law (1965)
Minami Yoichiro is a gang member who has killed the boss of opponent clan. Before leaving Japan forever, he visits his sister's grave and becomes involved with a rival gang. He then discovers that his sister was murdered; also it becomes apparent that the pursuing detective has a personal reason for trying to capture him. In the end both he and the girl who was escaping with him are killed. The third film in Shochiku's series Law / Okite.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Down with The Big Boss (1979)
In pre-war Japan, two members of a large yakuza syndicate instigate a turf war that embroils the highest echelons of Tokyo's underworld.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Like The Boss and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Boss?
The closest matches to The Boss are Tokyo Drifter (1966), Dead or Alive (1999) and House of Bamboo (1955). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Boss?
Start with Tokyo Drifter (1966), the closest match to The Boss.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Boss?
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2011), rated 8.1/10 by 1,474 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Boss?
Hell Dogs (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Boss?
Yes: Tokyo Drifter (1966), Dead or Alive (1999) and Branded to Kill (1967).
How are movies similar to The Boss chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Boss, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.