NoBadPicks

Movies Like The Prodigal Son

If you loved The Prodigal Son's Action and Comedy 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

Mad Monkey Kung Fu
6.6

Mad Monkey Kung Fu

1979

A disgraced former Kung Fu expert makes a living as a merchant with the help of a hot headed friend. When the men are harassed by gangsters, the merchant decided to teach his friend monkey boxing so they can defend their business.

Fearless Hyena
6.7

Fearless Hyena

1979

Lung is a talented fighter but prefers to spend his time loafing around and picking fights, despite orders from his grandfather not to fight. Unknown to him, a brutal general has been slaughtering all the people from his grandfather’s clan. When the general recognizes Lung’s style of kung fu during one of his street fights, he hunts down Lung’s grandfather and kills him.

Ninja in the Dragon's Den
7.7

Ninja in the Dragon's Den

1982

A Japanese master of ninjutsu and a Chinese expert in kung fu, put their differences aside after their master is killed by a mortal enemy.

Warriors Two
7.3

Warriors Two

1978

In an attempt to save his village from being taken over by brutes, Wah is beaten to a pulp and his mother brutally murdered. Determined to take revenge, Wah learns the art of Wing Chun and enters into a showdown with the nasty villains.

Dragon Lord
6.4

Dragon Lord

1982

Dragon and his madcap pal Cowboy spend their days getting into mischief, frustrating the elders, chasing girls, and competing in the village sport. When Dragon overhears a fiendish plot by smugglers to sell China's national treasures overseas, the pair leap into action. Also, Cowboy's wealthy father is kidnapped by the villainous and lethal Big Boss, and the scene is set for a furious martial arts showdown.

Love on Delivery
7.0

Love on Delivery

1994

Ho Kam-An is a lovestruck dim sum delivery boy who falls for a beautiful judo student. After being humiliated by her boyfriend, Ho Kam-An seeks the services of an aging master who teaches him a half-assed style of kung fu, "Karate Kid"-style.

Gallants
6.5

Gallants

2010

Master Law awakes from a 30-year coma without memories, but his martial arts skills are intact. His renowned kung fu academy is now a teahouse, and greedy developers are trying to steamroll it to make way for condos

Dragon Tiger Gate
6.7

Dragon Tiger Gate

2006

Three young martial arts masters emerge from the back streets of Hong Kong to help the powerless fight injustice.

More Movies Like The Prodigal Son

Legend of the Red Dragon
7.0

Legend of the Red Dragon

1994

A young father and his infant son are beset by forces of evil and corruption. They wander China, upholding their sense of honor and protecting the weak. When they are forced into combat, spectacular and hilarious fast-motion kung fu sequences follow. In the end, they must call on all of their abilities in a battle royale, to attempt to vanquish a supernatural man-monster or die trying.

Birth of the Dragon
5.8

Birth of the Dragon

2017

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.

The Magnificent Butcher
7.1

The Magnificent Butcher

1979

A plump butcher student of Wong Fei Hung, Lam Sai-Wing gets into trouble with a rival kung-fu school known as Five Dragons. He is accused of raping the Head of that school's goddaughter and killing his son. Now Ko, the Head of Five Dragons, wants revenge.

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
7.3

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow

1978

Everyone abuses and humiliates a downtrodden orphan until he befriends an old man, who turns out to be the last master of the snake fist fighting style. Jackie becomes the old man's student and finds himself in battle with the master of the eagle's claw style, who has vowed to destroy the snake fist clan.

Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin
6.6

Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin

1978

Jackie Chan stars as the young warrior Hsu Yiu Fong. Hsu has been entrusted with the book of the "Art of the Snake and Crane," after the mysterious disappearance of the eight Shaolin Masters who had written it. He must fight off numerous clans who are all attempting to steal the book from him, to find out the true reason for the disappearance of the Shaolin Masters.

House of Fury
6.4

House of Fury

2005

Teddy Yu is a former secret agent turned chiropractor who thought he left his past behind. He teaches martial arts to his two kids. However, his past catches up to him as a rogue agent demands to know the whereabouts of an agent known as Dragon. Now, father and children must team up to stop the rogue agent and his goons.

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
6.9

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story

1993

This film is a glimpse into the life, love and the unconquerable spirit of the legendary Bruce Lee. From a childhood of rigorous martial arts training, Lee realizes his dream of opening his own kung-fu school in America. Before long, he is discovered by a Hollywood producer and begins a meteoric rise to fame and an all too short reign as one the most charismatic action heroes in cinema history.

No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers
6.6

No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers

1990

Two feuding brothers (one a policeman, the other a martial arts expert) of different political views, join forces to avenge the death of their father, a retired agent, killed by the mafia.

Bloodsport
7.0

Bloodsport

1988

An American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the Kumite.

Knockabout
7.0

Knockabout

1979

After being cheated out of some money, two small time crooks convince a martial arts expert to take them on as students.

Drunken Master
7.4

Drunken Master

1978

After getting into trouble, a mischievous young man is sent to train under a brutal, but slovenly old beggar, who teaches him the secret of the Drunken Fist.

Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown
6.5

Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown

2011

Four fighters from different backgrounds come together to train under an ex MMA rising star and then ultimately have to fight each other and the traitor in their midst.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with The Prodigal Son (1981): Action and Comedy 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 The Prodigal Son.

See full details for The Prodigal Son (1981)

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