Movies like Harakiri

A feature-film shortlist from the cached Film Atlas engine. The interactive map may include more titles or newer results. These are similarity matches, not a guarantee of age suitability.

1. 

   01

   Three Outlaw Samurai

   Strong story similarity

   1964 · 93 min · Action · Drama

   Read synopsis

   Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard, Sakura and Kikyo. The three outlaws find themselves in a battle to the death.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • strong shared themes: jidaigeki and ronin
   • strong genre and movie-style overlap

   Explore movies like Three Outlaw Samurai
2. 

   02

   Chûshingura

   Strong story similarity

   1962 · 207 min · Action · Drama · History

   Read synopsis

   After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • strong shared themes: japan and jidaigeki
   • strong genre and movie-style overlap

   Explore movies like Chûshingura
3. 

   03

   Taikoki - The Saga of Hideyoshi

   Strong story similarity

   1958 · 102 min · Drama · History

   Read synopsis

   From birth Hideyoshi was a restless, defiant spirit--a child of the poorest of the poor. Cast out of his peasant cottage, he would live by his wits, driven by his burning ambition to become a samurai and to find a warlord worth pledging his sword to. This is the story of his rise, and the thunderous battle he pinned his hopes on. The challenge that had already ruined and bloodied the armies of higher-ranking samurai than Hiyoshi. The battle that brought him rank, fame and fortune and transformed him into Hashiba Hideyoshi, right-hand man to the ruthless Lord Oda Nobunaga, and would drive him on to conquer Japan.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • strong genre and movie-style overlap
   • a closely matched era

   Explore movies like Taikoki - The Saga of Hideyoshi
4. 

   04

   Kwaidan

   Same director

   1965 · 183 min · Drama · Fantasy · Horror

   Read synopsis

   Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • the same director
   • a principal cast member

   Explore movies like Kwaidan
5. 

   05

   Samurai Assassin

   Strong story similarity

   1965 · 122 min · Action · Drama · History

   Read synopsis

   Japan, 1860. The men of the Mito clan, victims of the Ansei purge, anxiously prowl around the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle with the intention of assassinating Naosuke Ii of Hikone, tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate and responsible for their misfortune.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • strong shared themes: bakumatsu and edo period
   • strong genre and movie-style overlap

   Explore movies like Samurai Assassin
6. 

   06

   Goyokin

   Shared cast

   1969 · 124 min · Action · Drama

   Read synopsis

   A guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • several principal cast members
   • strong genre and movie-style overlap

   Explore movies like Goyokin
7. 

   07

   Sword: Flower-Strewn Path of Courage

   Strong story similarity

   1966 · 83 min · Action · Crime · Drama

   Read synopsis

   After serving his sentence, Yakuza family member Toshin-gumi Umebayashi is released from prison. Toshin-gumi was already headed by the boss in the second generation of Shotaro, but Shotaro fell into a trap, he is manipulated by his sworn enemy Kanzaki-gumi. Kanzaki-gumi captures the Toshin-gumi oil fields mined by the first boss. Umebayashi explodes in anger and attacks Kanzaki-gumi, but...

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • substantial genre overlap
   • a closely matched era

   Explore movies like Sword: Flower-Strewn Path of Courage
8. 

   08

   Tenchu!

   Strong story similarity

   1969 · 140 min · Action · Drama · History

   Read synopsis

   A ronin desperately seeks a way out of financial straits; he allies with the Tosa clan under the ruthless leader Takechi, who quickly takes advantage.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • strong shared themes: bakumatsu and edo period
   • strong genre and movie-style overlap

   Explore movies like Tenchu!
9. 

   09

   Incident at Blood Pass

   Strong story similarity

   1970 · 118 min · Action · Drama

   Read synopsis

   In the Edo period, a nameless ronin accepts an assignment to go to a mountain pass and wait. Near the pass he stops at an inn where a collection of characters gather, including a gang set on stealing shogunate gold that's soon to come over the pass. When the Ronin's assignment becomes clear, to help the gang, he's ordered to kill the inn's residents, including a woman he's rescued from an abusive husband. He's reluctant to murder innocent people; then he learns that the gold shipment is a trap and he's part of a double cross. How he sorts through these divided loyalties tests of his samurai honor, and perhaps of his love for a woman.

   Why it connects

   • strong story and style similarity
   • strong shared themes: edo period and jidaigeki
   • strong genre and movie-style overlap

   Explore movies like Incident at Blood Pass
10. 

    10

    Kill!

    Shared cast

    1968 · 114 min · Action · Comedy

    Read synopsis

    A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin.

    Why it connects

    • strong story and style similarity
    • strong shared themes: jidaigeki and ronin
    • a principal cast member

    Explore movies like Kill!