feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like Ran (1985)

If you loved Ran, the closest films we have are Harakiri (1962), Throne of Blood (1957) and Shogun Assassin (1980). All three share Ran's epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Criterion Channel and Shudder and others, checked against today's data.

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.

🍅 96% Rotten Tomatoes8.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Akira Kurosawakineticcontemplativeepicrelentless

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

See it on the map

When is Ran streaming? →

If Ran hit the spot, these will too

Harakiri poster
Harakiri
1962 · dir. Masaki Kobayashi
🍅 100%8.6action · drama · history

Two things both keep coming back to: revenge and seppuku

The difference: 23 years apart, and the 1960s show

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.

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

Akira Kurosawa working the same nerve twice

The difference: Not nearly as kinetic as Ran

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.

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

One thread runs through both: revenge

The difference: Leans harder into adventure than Ran 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.

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

Contemplative where it counts, epic underneath

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.

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

Kinetic and relentless in the same breath

The difference: Sits closer to crime than Ran does

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

Feels alike?
The Mask of Zorro poster
The Mask of Zorro
1998 · dir. Martin Campbell
🍅 86%6.8action · adventure

Both lean on momentum more than on action

It has been twenty years since Don Diego de la Vega fought Spanish oppression in Alta California as the legendary romantic hero, Zorro. Having escaped from prison he transforms troubled bandit Alejandro into his successor, in order to foil the plans of the tyrannical Don Rafael Montero who robbed him of his freedom, his wife and his precious daughter.

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

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

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

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

Both are Akira Kurosawa's work, and they rhyme

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.

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

History with a pulse of relentlessness, in both cases

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.

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

Kinetic action in both cases

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

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

Feels alike?
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance poster
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
2002 · dir. Park Chan-wook
🍅 53%7.5action · drama · thriller

Drama built on stillness, twice over

A deaf man and his girlfriend resort to desperate measures in order to fund a kidney transplant for his sister. Things go horribly wrong, and the situation spirals rapidly into a cycle of violence and revenge.

Feels alike?
A Bittersweet Life poster
A Bittersweet Life
2005 · dir. Kim Jee-woon
🍅 100%7.5action · drama · crime

Both lean on relentlessness more than on history

Kim Sun-woo is an enforcer and manager for a hotel owned by a cold, calculative crime boss, Kang who assigns Sun-woo to a simple errand while he is away on a business trip; to shadow his young mistress, Hee-soo, for fear that she may be cheating on him with a younger man with the mandate that he must kill them both if he discovers their affair.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more kinetic?

all kinetic movies →

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