Movies like Rising Sun (1993)
The best movies like Rising Sun (1993) are Black Rain (1989), Murder at 1600 (1997) and Best Seller (1987). If Rising Sun 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 ratedL.A. Confidential (1997)7.8/10 from 5,860 votes
- NewestThe Ritual Killer (2023)Released 2023
Black Rain (1989)
Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. However, in Japan he manages to escape, and as they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game—the Japanese way.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMurder at 1600 (1997)
A secretary is found dead in a White House bathroom during an international crisis, and Detective Harlan Regis is in charge of the investigation. Despite resistance from the Secret Service, Regis partners with agent Nina Chance. As political tensions rise, they learn that the crime could be part of an elaborate cover-up. Framed as traitors, the pair, plus Regis' partner, break into the White House in order to expose the true culprit.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBest Seller (1987)
Hit man Cleve approaches writer/cop Dennis about a story for his next book: How Cleve made a living, working for one of the most powerful politicians in the country. To get the story right, they travel around the country to gather statements and evidence, while strong forces use any means they can to keep the story untold.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConspiracy Theory (1997)
A man obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of his theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, in order to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Stranger Among Us (1992)
Detective Emily Eden is a tough New York City cop forced to go undercover to solve a puzzling murder. Her search for the truth takes her into a secret world of unwritten law and unspoken power, a world where the only way out is deeper in.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisL.A. Confidential (1997)
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnemy of the State (1998)
When the videotape of the murder of a congressman unknowingly ends up in the hands of labor lawyer and dedicated family man Robert Clayton Dean, he is framed for the murder. With the help of the mysterious Brill, Dean attempts to throw the NSA off his trail and prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fugitive (1993)
Wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to death, Richard Kimble escapes from the law in an attempt to find the real killer and clear his name.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Big Easy (1986)
Remy McSwain is a New Orleans police lieutenant who investigates the murder of a local mobster. His investigation leads him to suspect that fellow members of the police force may be involved.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOut for Justice (1991)
Gino Felino is an NYPD detective from Brooklyn who knows everyone and everything in his neighborhood. Killing his partner was someone's big mistake... because he's now out for justice.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSea of Love (1989)
Seen-it-all New York detective Frank Keller is unsettled - he has done twenty years on the force and could retire, and he hasn't come to terms with his wife leaving him for a colleague. Joining up with an officer from another part of town to investigate a series of murders linked by the lonely hearts columns he finds he is getting seriously and possibly dangerously involved with Helen, one of the main suspects.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLethal Weapon 4 (1998)
With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with a deadly Chinese crime lord trying to get his brother out of prison.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCop Land (1997)
Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbsolute Power (1997)
A master thief coincidentally is robbing a house where a murder—in which the President of the United States is involved—occurs in front of his eyes. He is forced to run, while holding evidence that could convict the President.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisF/X2 (1991)
F/X man Rollie Tyler is now a toymaker. Mike, the ex-husband of his girlfriend Kim, is a cop. He asks Rollie to help catch a killer. The operation goes well until some unknown man kills both the killer and Mike. Mike's boss, Silak says it was the killer who killed Mike but Rollie knows it wasn't. Obviously, Silak is involved with Mike's death, so he calls on Leo McCarthy, the cop from the last movie, who is now a P.I., for help and they discover it's not just Silak they have to worry about.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Boy Scout (1991)
Somewhere in Los Angeles, the city of broken dreams, a stripper is murdered. Now, the private detective she had hired and her ex-footballer boyfriend are going to find her murderer... if they don't kill each other first. But the more they dig, the deeper they become enmeshed in a web of extortion, blackmail and corrupt politics hidden beneath the surface of professional football.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove the Law (1988)
Nico Toscani is an Italian immigrant, American patriot, ex-CIA agent, aikido specialist and unorthodox Chicago policeman. He is as committed to his job as he is to his personalized brand of justice—expert and thorough bone-crushing.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWitness (1985)
While protecting an Amish boy—the sole witness to a brutal murder—and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life comes under threat.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRed Corner (1997)
An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
When his longtime partner on the force is killed, reckless U.S. Secret Service agent Richard Chance vows revenge, setting out to nab dangerous counterfeit artist Eric Masters.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Pelican Brief (1993)
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCity Hunter: Bay City Wars (1990)
Rival private eyes Ryo Saeba and Umibozu must find a way into a high-tech luxury hotel to rescue their friends who are being held hostage and stop a mad South American dictator's plans to use the hotel's supercomputer to unleash a nuclear holocaust. Highly reminiscent of Die Hard, right down to a scene where Ryu bunjee-jumps off of the roof of the hotel skyscraper with a fire hose. Written by Christopher E. Meadows
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Lethal Weapon (1987)
A veteran cop and an unstable detective become partners who must put their differences aside in order to bring down a heroin-smuggling ring run by ex-Special Forces.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLethal Weapon 3 (1992)
Riggs and Murtaugh pursue a former officer who uses his knowledge of police procedure and policies to steal and sell confiscated guns and ammunition to local street gangs.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilent Trigger (1996)
Waxman is a former Special Forces soldier who is now working as a heavily armed assassin for a top secret government agency. When a covert mission goes terribly wrong, Waxman and fellow assassin Clegg become that agency's prime targets.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Hunted (1995)
Paul Racine, a high-powered American business executive in Japan, is catapulted into a maze of danger and intrigue after he and his sexy companion are the targets of assassins hired by the ruthless Kinjo. To survive, Racine must join forces with a powerful samurai and together they will fight the force of evil in an awesome battle rooted in centuries of brutal conflict.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLive Wire (1992)
Danny O'Neill is a bomb disposal expert assigned to a case where terrorists have developed an "invisible" liquid explosive which is activated within the human body.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisMcQ (1974)
Police Lieutenant Lon McQ investigates the killing of his best friend and uncovers corrupt elements of the police department dealing in confiscated drugs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ritual Killer (2023)
Unable to process the death of his daughter, Detective Boyd embarks on a hunt for a serial killer who murders according to a brutal tribal ritual: Muti. The only person who can help Boyd is Professor Mackles, an anthropologist who hides an unspeakable secret. The line between sanity and madness thins as Boyd goes deeper into the killer’s world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisBeyond the Law (1993)
Dan Saxon is an undercover cop who infiltrates a biker gang to nail the scum behind a drug-smuggling operation. In order to maintain the trust of the gang's leader, he must commit ever more dangerous and heinous crimes. Just how far 'beyond the law' will Saxon go?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Rising Sun?
The closest matches to Rising Sun are Black Rain (1989), Murder at 1600 (1997) and Best Seller (1987). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Rising Sun?
People who watched Rising Sun most often go on to Black Rain (1989), Murder at 1600 (1997) and Best Seller (1987).
What is the highest-rated movie like Rising Sun?
L.A. Confidential (1997), rated 7.8/10 by 5,860 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Rising Sun?
The Ritual Killer (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Rising Sun?
Yes: Black Rain (1989), Murder at 1600 (1997) and Best Seller (1987).
How are movies similar to Rising Sun chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Rising Sun, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.