50 Movies Like The Way of the Dragon (1972) You Need to Watch Next
Updated August 2026
View The Way of the Dragon details →If you loved The Way of the Dragon (1972) by Bruce Lee, here are 50 movies that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are Police Story, Unleashed, Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
The Best Movies Similar to The Way of the Dragon
Selected for their real similarity in content, these are the movies that share the most with The Way of the Dragon in terms of theme, narrative tone, and cinematic style. Every recommendation goes beyond genre — we evaluate the type of conflict, pacing, dramatic context, and the experience they create for viewers.
Police Story
1985 · Jackie Chan
Officer Chan Ka Kui manages to put a major Hong Kong drug dealer behind the bars practically alone, after a shooting and an impressive chase inside a slum. Now, he must protect the boss' secretary, Se
In common: Action · Crime
Unleashed
2005 · Louis Leterrier
Raised as a slave, Danny is used to fighting for his survival. In fact, his "master," Bart, thinks of him as a pet and goes as far as leashing him with a collar so they can make money in fight clubs,
In common: Action · Crime
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
2003 · Quentin Tarantino
An assassin is shot by her ruthless employer, Bill, and other members of their assassination circle – but she lives to plot her vengeance.
In common: Action · Crime
The Raid 2
2014 · Gareth Evans
After fighting his way through an apartment building populated by an army of dangerous criminals and escaping with his life, SWAT team member Rama goes undercover, joining a powerful Indonesian crime
In common: Action · Crime
Undisputed
2002 · Walter Hill
Monroe Hutchens is the heavyweight champion of Sweetwater, a maximum security prison. He was convicted to a life sentence due to a passionate crime. Iceman Chambers is the heavyweight champion, who lo
In common: Action · Crime
Kiss of the Dragon
2001 · Chris Nahon
Liu Jian, an elite Chinese police officer, comes to Paris to arrest a Chinese drug lord. When Jian is betrayed by a French officer and framed for murder, he must go into hiding and find new allies.
In common: Action · Crime
Kung Fu Hustle
2004 · Stephen Chow
It's the 1940s, and the notorious Axe Gang terrorizes Shanghai. Small-time criminals Sing and Bone hope to join, but they only manage to make lots of very dangerous enemies. Fortunately for them, kung
In common: Action · Crime
New Police Story
2004 · Benny Chan Muk-Sing
Sent into a drunken tailspin when his entire unit is killed by a gang of thrill-seeking punks, disgraced Hong Kong police inspector Wing needs help from his new rookie partner, with a troubled past of
In common: Action · Crime
Red Heat
1988 · Walter Hill
A tough Russian policeman is forced to partner up with a cocky Chicago police detective when he is sent to Chicago to apprehend a Georgian drug lord who killed his partner and fled the country.
In common: Action · Crime
Master Z: Ip Man Legacy
2018 · Yuen Woo-Ping
Following his defeat by Master Ip, Cheung Tin Chi tries to make a life with his young son in Hong Kong, waiting tables at a bar that caters to expats. But it's not long before the mix of foreigners, m
In common: Action · Crime
Scarface
1983 · Brian De Palma
After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eve
In common: Action · Crime
The Raid
2012 · Gareth Evans
Deep in the heart of Jakarta's slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world's most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the run-down apartment block has been considered untouchable to ev
In common: Action · Crime
The Gentlemen
2020 · Guy Ritchie
American expat Mickey Pearson has built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business forever it triggers plots, schemes, bribery and
In common: Action · Crime
The Equalizer
2014 · Antoine Fuqua
McCall believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri, a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangster
In common: Action · Crime
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
2019 · Chad Stahelski
Super-assassin John Wick returns with a $14 million price tag on his head and an army of bounty-hunting killers on his trail. After killing a member of the shadowy international assassin’s guild, the
In common: Action · Crime
Rush Hour
1998 · Brett Ratner
When Hong Kong Inspector Lee is summoned to Los Angeles to investigate a kidnapping, the FBI doesn't want any outside help and assigns cocky LAPD Detective James Carter to distract Lee from the case.
In common: Action · Crime
Rush Hour 2
2001 · Brett Ratner
It's vacation time for Carter as he finds himself alongside Lee in Hong Kong wishing for more excitement. While Carter wants to party and meet the ladies, Lee is out to track down a Triad gang lord wh
In common: Action · Crime
The Transporter
2002 · Corey Yuen
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 aliv
In common: Action · Crime
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
2004 · Quentin Tarantino
The Bride unwaveringly continues on her roaring rampage of revenge against the band of assassins who had tried to kill her and her unborn child. She visits each of her former associates one-by-one, ch
In common: Action · Crime
Ong-Bak
2003 · Prachya Pinkaew
When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.
In common: Action · Crime
Rush Hour 3
2007 · Brett Ratner
After a botched assassination attempt, the mismatched duo finds themselves in Paris, struggling to retrieve a precious list of names, as the murderous crime syndicate's henchmen try their best to stop
In common: Action · Crime
Transporter 2
2005 · Louis Leterrier
Professional driver, and former Special Forces officer, Frank Martin is living in Miami, where he is temporarily filling in for a friend as the chauffeur for a government narcotics control policy dire
In common: Action · Crime
The Mechanic
2011 · Simon West
Arthur Bishop is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code requiring professional perfection and total detachment. One of an elite group of assassins, Bishop may be the best in the business
In common: Action · Crime
Hard Target
1993 · John Woo
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 r
In common: Action · Crime
The Foreigner
2017 · Martin Campbell
Quan is a humble London businessman whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fueled vendetta when the only person left for him to love – his teenage daughter – dies in an Irish Republican Army car b
In common: Action · Crime
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
2011 · Quentin Tarantino
A former assassin, known simply as The Bride, wakes from a coma four years after her jealous ex-lover Bill attempts to murder her on her wedding day. Fueled by an insatiable desire for revenge, she vo
In common: Action · Crime
The Big Boss
1971 · Lo Wei
Cheng is a young Chinese mainlander who moves in with his expatriate cousins to work at an ice factory in Thailand. He does this with a family promise never to get involved in any fights. However, whe
In common: Action
Parker
2013 · Taylor Hackford
A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hija
In common: Action · Crime
Fist of Legend
1994 · Gordon Chan
Chen returns to his school when he finds out that his martial arts teacher has died. When he learns that his school students are harassed by some hooligans, he gears himself up to save them.
In common: Action
Four Brothers
2005 · John Singleton
Four adopted brothers return to their Detroit hometown when their mother is murdered and vow to exact revenge on the killers.
In common: Action · Crime
Death Wish
1974 · Michael Winner
After his wife is murdered by street punks, a pacifistic New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad, prowling the streets for would-be muggers after dark.
In common: Action · Crime
Transporter 3
2008 · Olivier Megaton
Frank Martin puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukrainian government official, from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea. En route, he has to contend with th
In common: Action · Crime
Smokin' Aces
2006 · Joe Carnahan
When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer bre
In common: Action · Crime
Police Story 2
1988 · Jackie Chan
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.
In common: Action · Crime
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil
2019 · Lee Won-tae
After barely surviving a brutal attack by a sadistic serial killer, crime boss Jang Dong-su is left humiliated. Determined to catch the killer known as K, he forms an uneasy alliance with Jung Tae-seo
In common: Action · Crime
Police Story 3: Super Cop
1992 · Stanley Tong Gwai-Lai
A Hong Kong detective teams up with his female Red Chinese counterpart to stop a Chinese drug czar.
In common: Action · Crime
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing
2006 · Isaac Florentine
Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian jail on trumped-up drug charges. In order to win his freedom he must fight against the jailhouse fighting champ Uri Boyka in a battle to
In common: Action · Crime
Blood and Bone
2009 · Ben Ramsey
In Los Angeles, an ex-con takes the underground fighting world by storm in his quest to fulfill a promise to a dead friend.
In common: Action · Crime
The Protector
2005 · Prachya Pinkaew
A young fighter named Kham must go to Australia to retrieve his stolen elephant. With the help of a Thai-born Australian detective, Kham must take on all comers, including a gang led by an evil woman
In common: Action · Crime
Double Impact
1991 · Sheldon Lettich
Jean Claude Van Damme plays a dual role as Alex and Chad, twins separated at the death of their parents. Chad is raised by a family retainer in Paris, Alex becomes a petty crook in Hong Kong. Seeing a
In common: Action · Crime
Léon: The Professional
1994 · Luc Besson
Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year
In common: Action · Crime
Undisputed III: Redemption
2010 · Isaac Florentine
Russian inmate Boyka, now severely hobbled by the knee injury suffered at the end of Undisputed 2. No longer the feared prison fighter he was, he has declined so far that he is now good only for clean
In common: Action · Crime
Rumble in the Bronx
1995 · Stanley Tong Gwai-Lai
Keong comes from Hong Kong to visit New York for his uncle's wedding. His uncle runs a market in the Bronx and Keong offers to help out while Uncle is on his honeymoon. During his stay in the Bronx, K
In common: Action · Crime
The Man from Nowhere
2010 · Lee Jeong-beom
A reclusive pawnshop owner goes on a brutal rampage to rescue a young girl kidnapped by a criminal organization.
In common: Action · Crime
Batman Begins
2005 · Christopher Nolan
Driven by tragedy, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicates his life to uncovering and defeating the corruption that plagues his home, Gotham City. Unable to work within the system, he instead creates a new
In common: Action · Crime
John Wick: Chapter 4
2023 · Chad Stahelski
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 ac
In common: Action · Crime
John Wick: Chapter 2
2017 · Chad Stahelski
John Wick is forced out of retirement by a former associate looking to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to aid him, Wick travels to Rome and does battle
In common: Action · Crime
The Green Hornet
2011 · Michel Gondry
Britt Reid, the heir to the largest newspaper fortune in Los Angeles, is a spoiled playboy who has been, thus far, happy to lead an aimless life. After his father dies, Britt meets Kato, a resourceful
In common: Action · Crime
The Long Kiss Goodnight
1996 · Renny Harlin
Samantha Caine is a small-town schoolteacher and mom with no memory of her life before washing up on a beach eight years ago. After a car accident and a violent home invasion trigger flashes of her pa
In common: Action · Crime
Boyka: Undisputed IV
2016 · Todor Chapkanov
In the fourth installment of the fighting franchise, Boyka is shooting for the big leagues when an accidental death in the ring makes him question everything he stands for. When he finds out the wife
In common: Action · Crime
Popular series
Breaking Bad
2008 · Michelle MacLaren
Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
2023 · Kazutaka Yamanaka
After the party of heroes defeated the Demon King, they restored peace to the land and returned to lives of solitude. Generations pass, and the elven mage Frieren comes face to face with humanity’s m
Avatar: The Last Airbender
2005 · Michael Dante DiMartino
In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.
