MOVIEPAD
Search icon

Movies Like Heat Wave

If you liked Heat Wave (1991), a drama and crime movie directed by Hideo Gosha, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

  1. 1Outrage

    Outrage (2010)

    ★ 6.9/10Also crime and drama

    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.

  2. 2Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode

    Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode (1974)

    ★ 7.2/10Also drama and crime

    While Hirono is in prison, his rival Takeda turns his own crime organization into a political party, whose two executives stir up new tensions in their thirst for power.

  3. 3Yojimbo

    Yojimbo (1961)

    ★ 8.1/10Also drama

    A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin…

  4. 4Battles Without Honor and Humanity

    Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973)

    ★ 7.3/10Also crime and drama

    In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.

  5. 5Miller's Crossing

    Miller's Crossing (1990)

    ★ 7.4/10Also drama and crime

    Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.

  6. 6The Blood of Wolves

    The Blood of Wolves (2018)

    ★ 7.2/10Also crime and drama

    Set in 1988 in Hiroshima, Japan, prior to the enactment of the anti-organized crime law. A rumor exists that Detective Shogo Ogami has ties with the yakuza. He is partnered with Detective Shuichi Hioka and they…

  7. 7Gate of Flesh

    Gate of Flesh (1964)

    ★ 6.6/10Also drama and crime

    In the shady black markets and bombed-out hovels of post–World War II Tokyo, a tough band of prostitutes eke out a dog-eat-dog existence, maintaining tenuous friendships and a semblance of order in a world of chaos…

  8. 8Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics

    Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics (1974)

    ★ 7/10Also crime and drama

    As Japan gears up for the 1964 Olympic Games, the cops start to crack down on the gangs, under pressure from the public and the press, adding a new dimension in the war for power among the yakuza families of Hiroshima.

  9. 9Beyond Outrage

    Beyond Outrage (2012)

    ★ 7/10Also crime

    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…

  10. 10High and Low

    High and Low (1963)

    ★ 8.4/10Also drama and crime

    A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

  11. 11Vengeance Is Mine

    Vengeance Is Mine (1979)

    ★ 7.5/10Also crime and drama

    A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.

  12. 12Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima

    Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973)

    ★ 7.3/10Also drama and crime

    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…

  13. 13Sword of the Beast

    Sword of the Beast (1965)

    ★ 7.5/10Also drama

    Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Gosha's Sword of the Beast chronicles the flight of the low-level swordsman Gennosuke, who kills one of his ministers as part of a reform plot. His former comrades then turn on him…

  14. 14A Family

    A Family (2021)

    ★ 7.4/10Also crime and drama

    Taken in by the yakuza at a young age, Kenji swears allegiance to his old-school boss, pledging to adhere to the family code amid ever-changing times.

  15. 15The Outsider

    The Outsider (2018)

    ★ 6.1/10Also crime and drama

    A former American G.I. joins a yakuza family after his release from prison in post-World War II Osaka.

  16. 16Hoodlum

    Hoodlum (1997)

    ★ 6.5/10Also crime and drama

    In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running 'the numbers'. When Madam Queen—the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harlem—is arrested, Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson takes over the business and…

  17. 17Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War

    Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War (1973)

    ★ 7/10Also drama and crime

    Shozo Hirono has managed to separate from the Yamamori family and create his own small family, and extend his circle of acquaintances. These new friendships include a powerful underboss of the Muraoka family, Noboru…

  18. 18Fireworks

    Fireworks (1997)

    ★ 7.7/10Also crime and drama

    Beleaguered police detective Nishi takes desperate measures to try and set things right in a world gone wrong. With those close to him suffering their own tribulations, Nishi's methods become increasingly extreme.

  19. 19Gonin

    Gonin (1995)

    ★ 6.6/10Also crime and drama

    Five men plot to steal a large sum of money from the local yakuza, but everything does not go as planned and the men find themselves hunted down by contract killers.

  20. 20Black Rain

    Black Rain (1989)

    ★ 6.6/10Also drama

    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…

← Back to Heat Wave