Movies like Iwane: Sword of Serenity (2019)
The best movies like Iwane: Sword of Serenity (2019) are Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021), Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956) and Zatoichi's Cane Sword (1967). If Iwane: Sword of Serenity hooked you with its action and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)7.7/10 from 576 votes
- NewestRurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)Released 2021
- In JapaneseRurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)Also in Japanese
Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)
Before he was a protector, Kenshin was a fearsome assassin known as Battosai. But when he meets gentle Tomoe Yukishiro, a beautiful young woman who carries a huge burden in her heart, his life will change forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSamurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956)
A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun, Japan's most powerful clan leader. He's also challenged to fight by the supremely confident and skillful Sasaki Kojiro. Takezo agrees to fight Kojiro in a year's time but rejects Shogun's patronage, choosing instead to live on the edge of a village, raising vegetables. He's followed there by Otsu and later by Akemi, both in love with him. The year ends as Takezo assists the villagers against a band of brigands. He seeks Otsu's forgiveness and accepts her love, then sets off across the water to Ganryu Island for his final contest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZatoichi's Cane Sword (1967)
Zatoichi comes upon the town of Tonda, overrun by gangsters. Using one of his favorite techniques, Zatoichi proceeds to win 8 ryo in a rigged gambling game. Of course, the local gangsters attempt to kill him, and the adventure begins. It turns out a blacksmith named Senzo examines Zatoichi's cane sword, and discovers it to be forged by his old mentor. Senzo discovers the sword is at the end of its usefulness and will break when it is used next.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
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 · both adventure & action
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZatoichi Challenged (1967)
Ichi is staying at an inn when a woman dies. Her dying wish is that Ichi take her son to his father, an artist living in a nearby town. After arriving in the town, Ichi finds out that the father has been forced by a local boss to create illegal pornography to pay off his gambling debts. Ichi makes it his mission to save the man and reunite the family, even though it brings him into conflict with a samurai he sort of befriended on his way to the town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlade of the Immortal (2017)
Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. The mission will change Manji in ways he could never imagine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both action & adventure
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 · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & adventure
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 · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRurouni Kenshin Part III: The Legend Ends (2014)
Shishio sets sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the government. In order to stop him, Kenshin trains with his old master to learn his final technique.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZatoichi the Fugitive (1963)
After arriving in the town of Shimonita, Ichi finds that a price has been put on his head by a local yakuza boss. He's drawn into a trap, but after hearing of the slaying of a former love, Ichi furiously fights his way through the entire clan to face the killer, a hired ronin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSamurai Marathon (2019)
When feudal lord Itakura Katsuakira decides to prepare his samurai troops for the onslaught of modernization by having them compete in a marathon, his independent-minded daughter Yuki secretly joins the race.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
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 · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHana (2006)
In a poor district of Edo lives a young samurai named Soza. He has been sent by his clan to avenge the death of his father. He isn't an accomplished swordsman however, and he prefers sharing the life of the residents, teaching the kids how to write etc. When he finally finds the man he is looking for, he will have to decide whether he follows the way of the samurai or chooses peace and reconciliation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
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 · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKilling (2018)
In mid-19th century Edo period, a masterless rōnin named Mokunoshin Tsuzuki resides in a peaceful village among those he helps. However, as the prevalent peace and tranquility are sure to be replaced by war and conflict across the land, the swordsman feels restlessness creeping upon him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKill! (1968)
A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPokémon: The First Movie (1998)
Determined to prove its superiority, a bio-engineered Pokémon called Mewtwo lures Ash, Pikachu and others into a Pokémon match like none before.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Sword and Nine Rings, Part Two (1961)
Lee Kap-lan, whose parents are slaughtered by the underling of the Qing court, Yan Sheung-kong, is rescued from the carnage by Leopard-faced Magic Nun. Nun imparts martial artistry to Lee, who will kill the old enmity when she grows into womanhood. Yan and his half-brother Luk Sun are assigned to capture the survivor. Fong-ping comes under the attack of an assassin dispatched by Sun when Butterfly comes to his help. Recruited to the Yan den, Ying Tin-lung summons the knights-errant of the martial world to the court. Lee infiltrates the congregation and has her eyes fixed upon Sun and strikes him with the Soul-snatching Tai Chi Dart which has mistakenly wounded Fong-ping. Butterfly puts Lee into a drug-induced coma to obtain the antidote to treat Fong-ping. Ying seizes the chance to capture the women. Fong-ping sustains another injury to rescue the hostages. Nun arrives in time and seizes the Lee family heirloom. Lee avenges her parents' death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
The Next Karate Kid (1994)
Mr. Miyagi decides to take Julie, a troubled teenager, under his wing after he learns that she blames herself for her parents' demise and struggles to adjust with her grandmother and fellow pupils.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisEpitaph (TBA)
An ex-Army marksman's plan to avenge the murder of his parents brings him into business with a murder-for-hire organization and the C.I.A.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Kickboxer (1989)
If your enemy refuses to be humbled... Destroy him. Accompanied by his brother Kurt, American kickboxing champion Eric Sloane, arrives in Thailand to defeat the Eastern warriors at their own sport. His opponent: ruthless fighter and Thai champion, Tong Po. Tong not only defeats Eric, he paralyzes him for life. Crazed with anger, Kurt vows revenge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoby Dick (1956)
In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service aboard the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the great white whale. Ahab lost his leg to that creature and is desperate for revenge. As the crew soon learns, he will stop at nothing to gain satisfaction.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisContract Killer (1998)
Financially troubled, a newbie hitman reluctantly takes the job of finding the plotted killer of a Japanese tycoon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
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: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLionheart (1990)
Lyon Gaultier is a deserter in the Foreign Legion arriving in the USA entirely hard up. He finds his brother between life and death and his sister-in-law without the money needed to heal her husband and to maintain her child. To earn the money needed, Gaultier decides to take part in some very dangerous clandestine fights.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDouble Team (1997)
A CIA agent is interned for failing to kill an international terrorist. Escaping from his island exile, he teams up with a flamboyant arms dealer and sets out to find the terrorist and rescue the agent's family. Together they're a two-man arsenal... with enough voltage to rock the free world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Iwane: Sword of Serenity?
The closest matches to Iwane: Sword of Serenity are Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021), Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956) and Zatoichi's Cane Sword (1967). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Iwane: Sword of Serenity?
Start with Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021), the closest match to Iwane: Sword of Serenity.
What is the highest-rated movie like Iwane: Sword of Serenity?
Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021), rated 7.7/10 by 576 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Iwane: Sword of Serenity?
Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Iwane: Sword of Serenity?
Yes: Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021), Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956) and Zatoichi's Cane Sword (1967).
How are movies similar to Iwane: Sword of Serenity chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Iwane: Sword of Serenity, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.