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Tokyo Drifter poster

Movies that feel likeTokyo 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.

If you loved Tokyo Drifter, the closest films we have are Branded to Kill (1967), A Colt is My Passport (1967) and Blast of Silence (1961). All three share Tokyo Drifter's gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Pale Flower (1964).

🍅 93% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Seijun Suzukitensegrittykineticatmospheric
5 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Criterion Channel · History Vault

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If Tokyo Drifter hit the spot, these will too

Branded to Kill poster
Branded to Kill
1967 · dir. Seijun Suzuki
🍅 100%★ 7.2thriller · crime · action

The same hand behind both of them: Seijun Suzuki

The difference: Trades the atmosphere of Tokyo Drifter for an angle of its own

After botching his latest assignment, a third-ranked Japanese hit man becomes the target of another assassin.

A Colt is My Passport poster
A Colt is My Passport
1967 · dir. Takashi Nomura
★ 7.4action · crime · drama

Common ground: japanese noir

The difference: Easier on the tension than Tokyo Drifter

A gang lord hires Kamimura, a hit man, to take out a rival boss who's gotten greedy.

Blast of Silence poster
Blast of Silence
1961 · dir. Allen Baron
🍅 83%★ 7.4crime · drama · thriller

Both keep coming back to the same thing: hitman

The difference: Sits closer to drama than Tokyo Drifter does

A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past and a fat gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.

Deep Cover poster
Deep Cover
1992 · dir. Bill Duke
🍅 87%★ 7action · thriller · crime

Tense and gritty in the same breath

The difference: Made in the 1990s, in a different era of the craft

Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.

The Narrow Margin poster
The Narrow Margin
1952 · dir. Richard Fleischer
🍅 100%★ 7.6thriller · crime

Both are built on the same subject: hitman

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Criss Cross poster
Criss Cross
1949 · dir. Robert Siodmak
🍅 86%★ 7.4crime · thriller

Thriller with a pulse of atmosphere, in both cases

An armored-car guard must join a robbery after being caught with his ex-wife by her gangster husband.

The Big Clock poster
The Big Clock
1948 · dir. John Farrow
🍅 100%★ 7.6crime · thriller

Crime built on tension, twice over

George Stroud, a crime magazine's crusading editor, has to postpone a vacation with his wife - again - when a glamorous blonde is murdered and he is assigned by his publishing boss to find the killer. As the investigation proceeds to its conclusion, Stroud must try to disrupt his ordinarily brilliant investigative team as they increasingly build evidence that he is the killer.

Pale Flower poster
Pale Flower
1964 · dir. Masahiro Shinoda
🍅 92%★ 7.7crime · romance

Two things both keep coming back to: yakuza and japanese new wave

A recently released gangster has to cope with the recent shifts of power between gangs, while taking care of a thrill-seeking young woman, who got in bad company while gambling.

High Sierra poster
High Sierra
1941 · dir. Raoul Walsh
🍅 92%★ 7.5crime · drama · action

Kinetic action, and it commits to that

Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.

Le Doulos poster
Le Doulos
1962 · dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
🍅 96%★ 7.7drama · thriller · crime

Both lean on grit more than on thriller

Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?

Night Moves poster
Night Moves
1975 · dir. Arthur Penn
🍅 78%★ 7.1thriller · crime · drama

Atmospheric crime in both cases

Private detective and former football player Harry Moseby gets hired on to what seems a standard missing person case - a former Hollywood actress wants Moseby to find and return her daughter. Harry travels to Florida to find her, but he begins to see a connection between the runaway girl, the world of Hollywood stuntmen, and a suspicious mechanic when an unsolved murder comes to light.

Shoot the Piano Player poster
Shoot the Piano Player
1960 · dir. François Truffaut
🍅 90%★ 7.4drama · thriller · crimeMax

Action with a pulse of tension, in both cases

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.

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