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Hero poster

Movies that feel likeHero (2002)

During China's Warring States period, a district prefect arrives at the palace of Qin Shi Huang, claiming to have killed the three assassins who had made an attempt on the king's life three years ago.

If you loved Hero, the closest films we have are 13 Assassins (2010), Apocalypto (2006) and House of Flying Daggers (2004). All three share Hero's contemplative and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Look of Silence (2014).

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If Hero hit the spot, these will too

13 Assassins poster
13 Assassins
2010 · dir. Takashi Miike
🍅 95%★ 7.5adventure · drama · actionPrime Video

The same mix in both: stillness, then scale

A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.

Apocalypto poster
Apocalypto
2006 · dir. Mel Gibson
🍅 65%★ 7.9action · drama · historyPrime VideoHulu

One thread runs through both: grief

Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

House of Flying Daggers poster
House of Flying Daggers
2004 · dir. Zhang Yimou
🍅 87%★ 7.5adventure · drama · actionPrime Video

Both are Zhang Yimou's work, and they rhyme

The difference: Takes it somewhere less melancholy than Hero does

In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.

The Look of Silence poster
The Look of Silence
2014 · dir. Joshua Oppenheimer
🍅 96%★ 8.2history · documentary

Common ground: grief

The difference: Leans harder into documentary than Hero does

An Indonesian man with a communist background named Ramli was brutally murdered when the "Communist" purge occurred in 1965. His remaining family members lived in fear and silence until the making of this documentary. Adi, a brother of his, decided to revisit the horrific incident and visited the men who were responsible for the killings and one survivor of the purge. These meetings uncovered sadistic details of the murders and exposed raw emotions and reactions of the killers' family members about what happened in the past - much to Adi's disappointment.

I'm Still Here poster
I'm Still Here
2024 · dir. Walter Salles
★ 8.1drama · historyNetflix

Drama with a pulse of melancholy, in both cases

The difference: 22 years apart, and the 2020s show

A woman married to a former politician during the 1971 military dictatorship in Brazil is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family after a violent and arbitrary act.

In the Heart of the Sea poster
In the Heart of the Sea
2015 · dir. Ron Howard
🍅 42%★ 6.9thriller · drama · adventure

Kinetic adventure in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than Hero does

In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex is assaulted by something no one could believe—a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance.

Poseidon poster
Poseidon
2006 · dir. Wolfgang Petersen
🍅 33%★ 5.7adventure · action · thriller

Epic action, and it commits to that

A packed cruise ship traveling the Atlantic is hit and overturned by a massive wave, compelling the passengers to begin a dramatic fight for their lives.

The King's Speech poster
The King's Speech
2010 · dir. Tom Hooper
🍅 94%★ 8drama · historyParamount+

History built on stillness, twice over

The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.

Nobody Knows poster
Nobody Knows
2004 · dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
🍅 92%★ 8drama

Both lean on melancholy more than on drama

In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.

Life of Pi poster
Life of Pi
2012 · dir. Ang Lee
🍅 86%★ 7.9adventure · dramaMax

Contemplative adventure, and it commits to that

The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.

Cell 211 poster
Cell 211
2009 · dir. Daniel Monzón
🍅 98%★ 7.6action · thriller · dramaNetflix

Action with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

The story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.

Three Colors: Blue poster
Three Colors: Blue
1993 · dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski
🍅 98%★ 7.8dramaMax

History with a pulse of melancholy, in both cases

The wife of a famous composer survives a car accident that kills her husband and daughter. Now alone, she shakes off her old identity and explores her newfound freedom but finds that she is unbreakably bound to other humans, including her husband’s mistress, whose existence she never suspected.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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