Movies Like The Notorious Bored Samurai 5

If you liked The Notorious Bored Samurai 5 (1990), a action and drama movie directed by Yuji Makiguchi, 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
Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012)
★ 7.5/10Also action and history
In 1868, after the Bakumatsu war ends, the ex-assassin Kenshin Himura traverses Japan with an inverted sword, to defend the needy without killing.
2
ICHI (2008)
★ 6.8/10Also action and drama
Ichi is a blind entertainer that travels the countryside with her traditional Japanese guitar and walking stick. She’s in search for the kind man that brought her up as a child, but because of her beauty she encounters…
3
Ran (1985)
★ 8/10Also action and drama
Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.
4
Gojoe: Spirit War Chronicle (2001)
★ 6.8/10Also action and history
Benkei, a master fighter and killer, vows never to take another life after his conversion to Buddhism. His faith in pacifism, however, is shaken and ultimately broken by the attacks from a trio of fighters known only…
5
Kamui (2009)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and action
A rebellious ninja in 17th century Japan takes refuge with a fisherman and his family.
6
Taboo (1999)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and history
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a…
7
Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021)
★ 7.7/10Also action and history
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.
8
Buddha 2: The Endless Journey (2014)
★ 7.7/10Also drama and history
2500 years ago, in India, Siddhartha was born as a prince of the Shakya clan, but he gives up his position as a prince to see the world. He meets a strange boy named Assaji, who can predict the future, a monk with only…
9
Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno (2014)
★ 7.6/10Also action and drama
Kenshin has settled into his new life with Kaoru and his other friends when he is approached with a request from the Meiji government. Makoto Shishio, a former assassin like Kenshin, was betrayed, set on fire and left…
10
Samurai Marathon (2019)
★ 6/10Also action and drama
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.
11
Ninja (2009)
★ 6.2/10Also action and drama
A westerner named Casey, studying Ninjutsu in Japan, is asked by the Sensei to return to New York to protect the legendary Yoroi Bitsu, an armored chest that contains the weapons of the last Koga Ninja.
12
Zatoichi on the Road (1963)
★ 6.9/10Also action and drama
Zatoichi is sworn to protect the life of a young girl and without any real allies finds himself in the middle of a bloody turf war.
13
Chûshingura (1962)
★ 7.1/10Also history and drama
After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.
14
Lady Snowblood (1973)
★ 7.5/10Also action and drama
A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.
15
Zatoichi (2003)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and action
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.
16
Medieval (2022)
★ 6.8/10Also action and drama
The story of fifteenth century Czech icon and warlord, Jan Zizka, who defeated armies of the Teutonic Order and the Holy Roman Empire.
17
Buddha: The Great Departure (2011)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and history
Prince Siddhartha is heir to the Shakya kingdom, which is constantly at war with the more powerful Kosala kingdom. His father tries to raise as him as a warrior leader and to shield him from the miseries of the world…
18
Radium Girls (2020)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and history
Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.
19
The Tale of Zatoichi (1962)
★ 7.3/10Also action and drama
The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.
20
Inu-Oh (2022)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and history
A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.