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Gladiator poster

Movies that feel likeGladiator (2000)

After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his devious son takes power and demotes Maximus, one of Rome's most capable generals who Marcus preferred. Eventually, Maximus is forced to become a gladiator and battle to the death against other men for the amusement of paying audiences.

If you loved Gladiator, the closest films we have are Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), The Mask of Zorro (1998) and Ran (1985). All three share Gladiator's kinetic and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Shogun Assassin (1980).

🍅 80% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Ridley Scottkineticcontemplativeepicrelentless
11 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Disney Plus · Paramount Plus Premium

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If Gladiator hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Gladiator II (2024)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon poster
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2000 · dir. Ang Lee
🍅 96%★ 7.8adventure · drama · actionPrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: revenge

Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.

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

A wronged man remade into an avenging legend

The difference: Swashbuckling romance, played for flair

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.

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

An empire rotting from the head while an old order burns

The difference: Stately Shakespearean tragedy — no arena, no crowd to win

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.

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

A wronged warrior turned wandering avenger with nothing left to lose

The difference: Grindhouse gore-spray — pulp thrills, not prestige drama

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.

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

Loss compounding into a vengeance neither side can walk back

The difference: Grim modern cruelty — no honor and no crowd to play to

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.

Man on Fire poster
Man on Fire
2004 · dir. Tony Scott
🍅 39%★ 7.7action · drama · thrillerStarz

A broken man given one purpose and pursuing it to the end

The difference: Modern and ugly — vengeance without honour or an arena

Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.

Never Back Down poster
Never Back Down
2008 · dir. Jeff Wadlow
🍅 21%★ 6.6drama · action

A grieving young man channelling rage into combat and discipline

The difference: High-school MMA gloss — stakes are trophies, not empires

Jake, full of anger after his father's death, is just starting to find a place for himself at his new Orlando high school - until Ryan, head of an underground MMA fight club, picks Jake out as a prime opponent. After being trounced by Ryan in front of the entire school, Jake begins training under the firm, moral guidance of a MMA master, where he learns how to fight... and how to avoid a fight. But it becomes obvious that a rematch will be inevitable if Jake wants to stop Ryan and his bullying, once and for all.

Ong Bak 2 poster
Ong Bak 2
2008 · dir. Tony Jaa
🍅 49%★ 6.2adventure · action · thrillerPrime Video

A murdered noble's son raised to fight his way toward reckoning

The difference: Stunt showcase first — story fills gaps between bone-crunching

Tien, the son of Lord Sihadecho — a murdered nobleman — is taken under the wing of Chernang, a renowned warrior and leader of the Pha Beek Krut.

Killer Elite poster
Killer Elite
2011 · dir. Gary McKendry
🍅 26%★ 6.4action · adventure · thrillerPeacock

Common ground: revenge

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

Based on a shocking true story, Killer Elite pits two of the world’s most elite operatives—Danny, an ex-special ops agent and Hunter, his longtime mentor—against the cunning leader of a secret military society. Covering the globe from Australia to Paris, London and the Middle East, Danny and Hunter are plunged into a highly dangerous game of cat and mouse—where the predators become the prey.

Iron Man 2 poster
Iron Man 2
2010 · dir. Jon Favreau
🍅 72%★ 6.9adventure · action · science fictionDisney+

Arena combat and legacy debts under blockbuster gloss

The difference: Weightless and quippy — a franchise chore, not an epic

With the world now aware of his dual life as the armored superhero Iron Man, billionaire inventor Tony Stark faces pressure from the government, the press and the public to share his technology with the military. Unwilling to let go of his invention, Stark, with Pepper Potts and James 'Rhodey' Rhodes at his side, must forge new alliances – and confront powerful enemies.

American Assassin poster
American Assassin
2017 · dir. Michael Cuesta
🍅 34%★ 6.2action · adventure · thrillerParamount+

Kinetic where it counts, epic underneath

The difference: Trades the stillness of Gladiator for an angle of its own

Following the murder of his fiancée, Mitch Rapp trains under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley. The pair then is enlisted to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on military and civilian targets.

A Bittersweet Life poster
A Bittersweet Life
2005 · dir. Kim Jee-woon
🍅 100%★ 7.4action · drama · crime

A loyal enforcer betrayed by his master and set on payback

The difference: Sleek Korean noir — melancholy cool instead of Roman scale

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.

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