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Movies that feel like Tokyo Drifter (1966)

If you loved Tokyo Drifter, the closest films we have are Branded to Kill (1967), Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) and Police Story 2 (1988). All three share Tokyo Drifter's tense and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 11 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Criterion Channel, Philo and Starz Amazon Channel and others, checked against today's data.

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.

πŸ… 93% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Seijun Suzukitensegrittykineticatmospheric

When is Tokyo Drifter streaming? β†’

If Tokyo Drifter hit the spot, these will too

Branded to Kill poster
Branded to Kill
1967 Β· dir. Seijun Suzuki
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.2thriller Β· crime Β· action

The same hand behind both of them: Seijun Suzuki

The difference: None of the atmosphere that defines Tokyo Drifter

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

Feels alike?
Sicario: Day of the Soldado poster
Sicario: Day of the Soldado
2018 Β· dir. Stefano Sollima
πŸ… 62%β˜… 7.1action Β· crime Β· thriller

Tense and gritty in the same breath

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

Agent Matt Graver teams up with operative Alejandro Gillick to prevent Mexican drug cartels from smuggling terrorists across the United States border.

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Police Story 2 poster
Police Story 2
1988 Β· dir. Jackie Chan
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.1action Β· crime Β· thriller

Thriller built on momentum, twice over

The difference: 22 years apart, and the 1980s show

The Hong Kong super-cop must stop a group of blackmailing bombers at the same time that the villains of the first Police Story are out for revenge.

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Lethal Weapon poster
Lethal Weapon
1987 Β· dir. Richard Donner
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.6action Β· thriller Β· crime

Tense crime, and it commits to that

A veteran cop and an unstable detective become partners who must put their differences aside in order to bring down a heroin-smuggling ring run by ex-Special Forces.

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Point Break poster
Point Break
1991 Β· dir. Kathryn Bigelow
πŸ… 68%β˜… 7.3action Β· thriller Β· crime

Action with a pulse of grit, in both cases

In Los Angeles, a gang of bank robbers who call themselves The Ex-Presidents commit their crimes while wearing masks of Reagan, Carter, Nixon and Johnson. Believing that the members of the gang could be surfers, the F.B.I. sends young agent Johnny Utah to the beach undercover to mix with the surfers and gather information.

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Con Air poster
Con Air
1997 Β· dir. Simon West
πŸ… 59%β˜… 6.9action Β· thriller Β· crime

Both trade on momentum more than on being thriller

Newly-paroled former US Army ranger Cameron Poe is headed back to his wife, but must fly home aboard a prison transport flight dubbed "Jailbird" taking the β€œworst of the worst” prisoners, a group described as β€œpure predators”, to a new super-prison. Poe faces impossible odds when the transport plane is skyjacked mid-flight by the most vicious criminals in the country led by the mastermind β€” genius serial killer Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, and backed by black militant Diamond Dog and psychopath Billy Bedlam.

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Hard Boiled poster
Hard Boiled
1992 Β· dir. John Woo
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.7action Β· thriller Β· crime

Tense crime in both cases

A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.

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Sin City: A Dame to Kill For poster
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
2014 Β· dir. Robert Rodriguez
πŸ… 43%β˜… 6.5action Β· crime Β· thriller

Action with a pulse of atmosphere, in both cases

Some of Sin City's most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.

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Hard Target poster
Hard Target
1993 Β· dir. John Woo
πŸ… 63%β˜… 6.2action Β· thriller Β· crime

Thriller built on grit, twice over

When a woman's father goes missing, she enlists a local to aid in her search. The pair soon discover that her father has died at the hands of a wealthy sportsman who hunts homeless men as a form of recreation.

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John Wick: Chapter 4 poster
John Wick: Chapter 4
2023 Β· dir. Chad Stahelski
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.6action Β· thriller Β· crime

Hitman sits at the heart of each

With the price on his head ever increasing, John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.

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Fast & Furious 6 poster
Fast & Furious 6
2013 Β· dir. Justin Lin
πŸ… 71%β˜… 7action Β· thriller Β· crime

Kinetic crime in both cases

Hobbs has Dominic and Brian reassemble their crew to take down a team of mercenaries; Dominic unexpectedly gets sidetracked with facing his presumed deceased girlfriend, Letty.

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The Transporter poster
The Transporter
2002 Β· dir. Corey Yuen
πŸ… 53%β˜… 6.8action Β· crime Β· thriller

The same thriller instincts

Former Special Forces officer Frank Martin will deliver anything to anyone for the right price, and his no-questions-asked policy puts him in high demand. But when he realizes his latest cargo is alive, it sets in motion a dangerous chain of events. The bound and gagged Lai is being smuggled to France by a shady American businessman, and Frank works to save her as his own illegal activities are uncovered by a French detective.

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