Movies like The Cleanup (1969)
The best movies like The Cleanup (1969) are American Yakuza (1993), Tokyo Drifter (1966) and Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973). If The Cleanup hooked you with its crime and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTokyo Drifter (1966)7.1/10 from 221 votes
- NewestHell Dogs (2022)Released 2022
- In JapaneseTokyo Drifter (1966)Also in Japanese
American 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 & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisTokyo 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 & action
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFemale Yakuza Tale (1973)
Ocho is accidentally captured by a drug trafficking cartel who use Chinese women to smuggle drugs into Japan by hiding it in their vaginas. She is tortured, and manages to escape, fighting both the male yakuzas and a gang of female thieves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGraveyard of Honor (2002)
A barkeeper saves a yakuza boss' life and thus makes his way up in the organization. However, his fear of nothing soon causes problems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981)
A high-school girl inherits a declining yakuza organization, which seeks to repair its fortunes under her leadership.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStreet Mobster (1972)
After serving time, a defiant street thug is incensed to find his town overrun by two yakuza factions. He gathers his crew and takes them on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Return of Sister Street Fighter (1975)
When Koryu's childhood friend Shurei is abducted by gangsters, the desperate young woman recruits a female martial artist and a tough-as-nails stranger to join her for a dangerous rescue mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrying Freeman (1995)
A lethal assassin for a secret Chinese organisation, who sheds tears of regret each time he kills, is seen swiftly and mercilessly executing three Yakuza gangsters by a beautiful artist. She is captivated by the grace of his kill and later falls in love with him. An intense power struggle for the leadership of the Yakuza Clans ensues as they seek vengeance for the death of their leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFudoh: The New Generation (1996)
In order to settle a business dispute, a mob leader murders one of his own teenage sons. The surviving son vows to avenge his brother's death, and organizes his own gang of teenage killers to destroy his father's organization.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSympathy for the Underdog (1971)
A yakuza gang gets driven out of Yokohama by a big gang from Tokyo. They relocate to Okinawa to violently start over.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Caesar (1973)
Raised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisMonday (2000)
A simple funeral turns a man's world Topsy turvy. He wakes up in a posh hotel room, totally clueless about how he got there. Slowly, he recalls what happened a day before.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRainy Dog (1997)
A Japanese assassin stranded in Taiwan must take work from a local crime boss to make ends meet when suddenly a woman from his past delivers a son to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & 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 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 thisYakuza Apocalypse (2015)
When young protege Akira Kageyama is bitten by his dying vampire boss, Genyo Kamiura, he must get used to his new powers before seeking revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBig Shots Die at Dawn (1961)
Grown up son arrives home to learn his father, the newly elected mayor, has been assassinated. So he journeys down a path to find the assassin and gets involved with two opposing yakuza gangs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
An American with a Japanese upbringing, Chris Kenner is a police officer assigned to the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. Kenner is partnered with Johnny Murata, a Japanese-American who isn't in touch with his roots. Despite their differences, both men excel at martial arts, and utilize their formidable skills when they go up against Yoshida, a vicious yakuza drug dealer with ties to Kenner's past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoughneck From Asama (1958)
When Boss Juzo's Shinmachi Yakuza family struck fear into the hearts of his adversaries, Boss Shohei's Okabe Yakuza family with a merciless gang of raiders, Itaro of Asama was missing. With the courage of a lion he had gone off to face the enemy and settle the score all by himself. As a result he had to take the blame in place of Boss Shohei, and went off to adventures on his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Snake of Violence (2013)
In Osaka, three troubled young kids, Kanako, Atsushi and Kenji, are hanging out together all the time. One day Kenji who lives in an orphanage is sold to a yakuza and their friendship has to come to an end. 25 years later, Kanako is married to Atsushi who is an incompetent yakuza. They have 3 daughters. Kenji is a competent unbeatable yakuza. Atsushi, who sucks at everything, for the first time gets a dangerous mission to kill a thug who has attacked the office of his yakuza group. Kenji, who has advanced to the first lieutenant position, by mistake kills a dumb-ass son of the head of Tokyo Yakuza, which triggers a battle between Osaka and Tokyo Yakuzas. Then, Kenji meets Atsushi in 25 years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Ruthless Gambler (1969)
Unlike traditional gangster movies, it is a gangster swashbuckler that mixes romance and humanity with a yakuza lover as the main character. A young man who heard that his former boss was killed is imprisoned by slashing his family's minions, and his lover is tortured by the enemy, but rescued by the imprisoned young man's nemesis.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Game of Chance 3 (1967)
Bungo, fulfilling his duty as a yakuza, kills a man from a rival gang. Since then, he has escaped the clan's vengeance by staying on the road with his son Kenichi. Tired of running, the two settle in a mountain town. Bungo finds work as a lumberjack for the Iwasaki family and Kenichi becomes a student at the local elementary school. Regrettably, their good fortune doesn't last. The yakuza boss, Tomitaka, wants control of the town's lumber and is willing to destroy the Iwasaki to get it. Natsue, Kenichi's estranged no-good mother, returns wanting to take part in the boy's upbringing. And shortly thereafter, a mysterious stranger arrives in town to lay claim on Bungo's life...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
TOKYO G.P. (2001)
One of the club's friends, a woman , is kidnapped. In exchange for her life, HIRφ, ZEEBRA, and their friends are tasked with delivering a teddy bear with a hidden CD-ROM from an abandoned hospital in Shinjuku to the observation deck of Tokyo Tower by dawn. The two friends must deal with yakuza during one long night.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
Party 7 (2000)
Seven characters, introduced at the start of the film, get thrown together into the same hotel room: a thief who's stolen a suitcase of money from the mob, his ex-girlfriend, her obsessive boyfriend, the mob soldier sent to retrieve the briefcase, another mobster sent to kill them, master voyeur Captain Banana and his new apprentice, The Mister Yellow. Who will end up with the money?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Gozu (2003)
Minami mistakenly kills a gangster associate of his named Brother. Almost as soon as the murder takes place, the body of the deceased man is gone, prompting Minami to conduct a search. While looking, he finds a mysterious isolated hotel where he decides to take a rest. Not only are the front desk clerks a bit strange, but even the ambiance feels unusual. Minami soon realizes he may have gotten more than he bargained for.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEighteen Years in Prison (1967)
A former soldier is caught working the black market and sent to prison while his partner escapes and goes on to become a gangster, but their paths cross again as they both fall in love with the same woman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Like The Cleanup and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Cleanup?
The closest matches to The Cleanup are American Yakuza (1993), Tokyo Drifter (1966) and Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Cleanup?
Start with American Yakuza (1993), the closest match to The Cleanup.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Cleanup?
Tokyo Drifter (1966), rated 7.1/10 by 221 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Cleanup?
Hell Dogs (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Cleanup?
Yes: Tokyo Drifter (1966), Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973) and Female Yakuza Tale (1973).
How are movies similar to The Cleanup chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Cleanup, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.