Movies Like Pure Japanese

If you liked Pure Japanese (2022), a action and drama movie directed by Daishi Matsunaga, 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
Beast (2026)
★ 7.5/10Also action and drama
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal…
2
Mexicali (2026)
★ 7.7/10Also action and drama
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
3
Welcome to Sudden Death (2020)
★ 6.1/10Also action and drama
Jesse Freeman is a former special forces officer and explosives expert now working a regular job as a security guard in a state-of-the-art basketball arena. Trouble erupts when a tech-savvy cadre of terrorists kidnap…
4
Only the Strong (1993)
★ 6.9/10Also action and drama
Former Green Beret Louis Stevens returns to his hometown of Miami after completing military service in Brazil, only to learn that his old high school has become a haven for gangs and drug dealers. After Stevens uses…
5
Embattled (2020)
★ 6.7/10Also action and drama
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.
6
Sonatine (1993)
★ 7.5/10Also action
Murakawa, an aging Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life, is sent by his boss to Okinawa along with a few of his henchmen to help end a gang war, supposedly as mediators between two warring clans. He finds that the…
7
Bleach the Movie: Fade to Black (2008)
★ 7.1/10Also action and drama
A strange disturbance in the World of the Living sends Ichigo and Kon to the Soul Society, where the Seireitei has been devastated by an explosion of reishi and Rukia is missing. Stranger still, none of the Soul…
8
Dangerous (2021)
★ 6/10Also action
A reformed sociopath heads to a remote island after the death of his brother. Soon after his arrival, the island falls under siege from a deadly gang of mercenaries, and when he discovers their role in his brother’s…
9
47 Ronin (2013)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and action
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…
10
The Outsider (2018)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
A former American G.I. joins a yakuza family after his release from prison in post-World War II Osaka.
11
Black Rain (1989)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and action
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…
12
Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972)
★ 7/10Also action and drama
After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.
13
Tokyo Fist (1995)
★ 6.8/10Also action and drama
A businessman, Tsuda, runs into a childhood friend, Kojima, on the subway. Kojima is working as a semiprofessional boxer. Tsuda soon begins to suspect that Kojima might be having an affair with his fiancée Hizuru…
14
Tokyo Drifter (1966)
★ 7.1/10Also action
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…
15
Birth of the Dragon (2017)
★ 5.8/10Also action and drama
Set against the backdrop of San Francisco’s Chinatown, this cross-cultural biopic chronicles Bruce Lee’s emergence as a martial-arts superstar after his legendary secret showdown with fellow martial artist Wong Jack Man.
16
WWE WrestleMania 37: Night 1 (2021)
★ 7.9/10Also action and drama
The 37th annual Showcase of the Immortals is back in business at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida as night one will feature Sasha Banks defending her SmackDown Women's Championship against Bianca Belair, Damian…
17
Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge (1991)
★ 7/10Also action
After defeating Frieza, Goku returns to Earth and goes on a camping trip with Gohan and Krillin. Everything is normal until Cooler - Frieza's brother - sends three henchmen after Goku. A long fight ensues between our…
18
Blood on the Sun (1945)
★ 5.9/10Also action and drama
Nick Condon, an American journalist in 20s Tokyo, publishes the Japanese master plan for world domination. Reaction from the understandably upset Japanese provides the action, but this is overshadowed by the propaganda…
19
Fireworks (1997)
★ 7.7/10Also 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.
20
Falcon Rising (2014)
★ 6.3/10Also action
Chapman is an ex-marine in Brazil's slums, battling the yakuza outfit who attacked his sister and left her for dead.