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Movies Like Yakuza: Like a Dragon

If you loved Yakuza: Like a Dragon's Action and Crime storytelling, these films deliver a similar experience — carefully selected for tone, themes, and emotional depth. Each pick includes where to watch it right now.

Top Picks

The Outsider
6.2

The Outsider

2018

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

The Fable
6.7

The Fable

2019

The Fable is a legendary yakuza hitman equal to none—but his boss orders him and his sultry associate to lay low and learn how to live a "normal life" in Osaka.

Showdown in Little Tokyo
6.4

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.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima
7.3

Battles 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.

Tokyo Drifter
7.1

Tokyo 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.

Crying Freeman
6.4

Crying 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.

The City of Lost Souls
6.1

The City of Lost Souls

2000

Brazilian-Japanese gangster Mario rescues his Chinese girlfriend Kei as she's about to be deported from Japan. Desperate to escape, he hides in Tokyo's booming Japanese-Portuguese community and seeks passage from the country from a Russian mobster. To meet his price, they hold up a bigtime drug deal between the Chinese Mafia and the local Yakuza.

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl
6.8

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl

1999

In dreamlike mountain scenery, Toshiko makes a daring escape from her sexually warped Uncle Sonezaki. Fortunately, she met Samehada as she runs for her life, which is also escaping from some slayers. What follows is a wild chase that leads the audience into a comically violent world.

More Movies Like Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Why Don't You Play in Hell?
7.4

Why Don't You Play in Hell?

2013

In Japan, gonzo filmmakers hatch a three-pronged plan to save an actress's career, end a yakuza war and make a hit movie.

Hell Dogs
7.0

Hell 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.

Gantz: Perfect Answer
6.7

Gantz: Perfect Answer

2011

Summoned by the black sphere, Kei and Masaru fight against extraterrestrials until Masaru grows tired of fighting and refuses to continue.

Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Blood Prison
7.3

Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Blood Prison

2011

After his capture for attempted assassination of the Raikage, leader of Kumogakure, as well as killing Jōnin from Kirigakure and Iwagakure, Naruto is imprisoned in Hōzukijou: A criminal containment facility known as the Blood Prison. Mui, the castle master, uses the ultimate imprisonment technique to steal power from the prisoners, which is when Naruto notices his life has been targeted. Thus begins the battle to uncover the truth behind the mysterious murders and prove Naruto's innocence.

Baby Assassins
6.6

Baby Assassins

2021

Two high school girls who are about to graduate also happen to be highly-skilled assassins. When the organization they work for orders them to share a room, their relationship quickly sours. But when they become targets of the yakuza, the girls realize they'll have to work together to survive.

In Full Bloom
6.7

In Full Bloom

2019

Set shortly after the end of World War II, a philosophical boxing drama of two fighters from opposite worlds (USA and Japan) who are pulled together for a questionable fight arranged by their unscrupulous managers and the Yakuza.

Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman
6.8

Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman

1971

Zatoichi is a blind massage therapist and swordsman who finds out that something troubling is taking place on the outskirts of town. After discovering who the guilty parties are -- an accomplished Chinese martial artist named Wang Kang and his youthful attendant -- Zatoichi finds them and discovers that the pair's mixed up with a dangerous bunch of terrorist samurai who murdered the boy's parents. Now, Zatoichi must step in to save the day.

Agitator
6.4

Agitator

2001

When a young Yakuza torments the customers in a rival crime family's nightclub, it is not long before his dead body is found. Soon, inter-family retaliation follows, resulting in the death for a prominent crime boss. Devastated by this turn of events, the temperamental Kenzaki vows to avenge his boss's death and, as bloody violence ensues, the body count reaches excessive proportions.

Black Rain
6.6

Black Rain

1989

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 as they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game—the Japanese way.

Graveyard of Honor
6.6

Graveyard 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.

Defendor
6.4

Defendor

2009

A crooked cop, a mob boss and the young girl they abuse are the denizens of a city's criminal underworld. It's a world that ordinary Arthur Poppington doesn't understand and doesn't belong in, but is committed to fighting when he changes into a vigilante super-hero of his own making, Defendor. With no power other than courage Defendor takes to the streets to protect the city's innocents.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity
7.3

Battles Without Honor and Humanity

1973

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

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2007): Action and Crime themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

See full details for Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2007)

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