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Movies that feel like Harakiri (1962)

If you loved Harakiri, the closest films we have are Ran (1985), The Virgin Spring (1960) and Throne of Blood (1957). All three share Harakiri's contemplative and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 11 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video and others, checked against today's data.

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

🍅 100% Rotten Tomatoes8.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Masaki Kobayashikineticcontemplativeepicrelentless
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If Harakiri hit the spot, these will too

Ran poster
Ran
1985 · dir. Akira Kurosawa
🍅 96%8.2action · drama · history

Both are working the same pair: revenge, seppuku

The difference: 23 years apart, and the 1980s show

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.

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The Virgin Spring poster
The Virgin Spring
1960 · dir. Ingmar Bergman
🍅 88%8drama · history

Both are built on the same subject: revenge

The difference: None of the momentum Harakiri is built on

Devout Christians Töre and Märeta send their only daughter, the virginal Karin, and their foster daughter, the unrepentant Ingeri, to deliver candles to a distant church. On their way through the woods, the girls encounter a group of savage goat herders who brutally rape and murder Karin as Ingeri remains hidden. When the killers unwittingly seek refuge in the farmhouse of Töre and Märeta, Töre plots a fitting revenge.

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Throne of Blood poster
Throne of Blood
1957 · dir. Akira Kurosawa
🍅 96%8drama · history

Common ground in both: japan and samurai

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

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Shogun Assassin poster
Shogun Assassin
1980 · dir. Robert Houston
🍅 82%7.3action · adventure

Kinetic where it counts, epic underneath

The difference: Leans harder into adventure than Harakiri does

A Shogun who grew paranoid as he became senile sent his ninjas to kill his samurai. They failed but did kill the samurai’s wife. The samurai swore to avenge the death of his wife and roams the countryside with his toddler son in search of vengeance.

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Lady Snowblood poster
Lady Snowblood
1973 · dir. Toshiya Fujita
🍅 100%7.6action · crime · drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: japan

A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.

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13 Assassins poster
13 Assassins
2010 · dir. Takashi Miike
🍅 95%7.5adventure · drama · action

Common ground: suicide

A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.

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47 Ronin poster
47 Ronin
2013 · dir. Carl Rinsch
🍅 16%6.2drama · action · fantasy

The same preoccupation in both: ronin

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

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 warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.

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Fist of Fury poster
Fist of Fury
1972 · dir. Lo Wei
7.2drama · action · thriller

Contemplative and relentless in the same breath

During the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, Chen Zhen, the star pupil of a recently-deceased martial arts teacher battles a Japanese dojo which seeks the demise of his fighting school.

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The Hidden Fortress poster
The Hidden Fortress
1958 · dir. Akira Kurosawa
🍅 96%8drama · action · adventure

One thread runs through both: jidaigeki

In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.

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Rolling Thunder poster
Rolling Thunder
1977 · dir. John Flynn
🍅 82%6.9drama · thriller · action

Both are built on the same subject: flashback

A Vietnam veteran, Charles Rane, returns home after years in a POW camp and is treated as a hero. He has a hard time adjusting, and things go badly. A movie about the walking dead, before that meant just flesh-eating zombies.

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Game of Death poster
Game of Death
1978 · dir. Robert Clouse
🍅 38%5.9drama · action · thriller

Action built on momentum, twice over

A martial arts movie star must fake his death to find the people who are trying to kill him.

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A Better Tomorrow poster
A Better Tomorrow
1986 · dir. John Woo
🍅 95%7.4action · crime · drama

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.

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The best-reviewed films that share Harakiri’s defining feeling.