Best movies like Glass-Hearted Johnny
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Glass-Hearted Johnny Starring Jō Shishido, Izumi Ashikawa, Daizaburo Hirata, Noriko Matsumoto, and more. If you liked Glass-Hearted Johnny then you may also like: Youth of the Beast, The Fat Man, Gate of Flesh, A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era, Fast Companions and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
Joe Shishido is an ambitious bike racetrack tout who becomes inadvertently involved in a triangle with a vulnerable prostitute (Izumi Ashikawa) and her brutal yakuza pimp (George Ai).
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The Fat Man
A innocent dentist is murdered and the only apparent motive seems to be to steal a set of dental x-rays. To the police it looks like an accident, but private eye Brad Runyan thinks there's more to it.
Gate of Flesh
In the shady black markets and bombed-out hovels of post–World War II Tokyo, a tough band of prostitutes eke out a dog-eat-dog existence, maintaining tenuous friendships and a semblance of order in a world of chaos. But when a renegade ex-soldier stumbles into their midst, lusts and loyalties clash, with tragic results. With Gate of Flesh, visionary director Seijun Suzuki delivers a whirlwind of social critique and pulp drama, shot through with brilliant colors and raw emotions.
A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era
Saheji, a man-about-town, gets stuck at a high-class brothel when he can’t pay the bill. He makes the best of his situation by performing various tasks amidst the tumult of the end of the shogunate—but always by making sure to get a “commission” for his troubles.
Ichijo's Wet Lust
Ichijo Sayuri, once the legendary queen of Osaka strippers, has retired to run a sushi shop. She is awaiting her day in court after having been arrested for indecency at her farewell performance. While she was active, she was both the rival and the model for many young strippers. Harumi was one of them. Ichijo Sayuri was the real-life queen of Osaka strippers who was arrested on her final performance.
The Inerasable
A novelist receives a letter from a female university student named Kubo about strange sounds that emanate from a room in her apartment. They begin to investigate incidents involving former residents, and eventually discover the shocking truths lurking inside the building.
Two Dollar Bettor
An honest guy gets trapped into the world of horse racing and his once prosperous life becomes a downward spiral into the underworld.
The Man with a Shotgun
Ryoji, a wanderer, arrives in a remote mountain town, carrying a shotgun and claiming to be a hunter. He quickly becomes embroiled in a web of trouble surrounding the town's mill.
Blackmailer
Dinner party guests become murder suspects when an extortionist they all hated turns up dead.
The Return of October
A wholesome girl believes her new racehorse, October, is the reincarnation of her favorite uncle, Willie.
From Hell to Heaven
The various residents and occupants of a resort hotel await the outcome of a horse race at a nearby track, as it will affect each of their lives in different ways.
The Stormy Man
A remake of the 1957 classic "Man Who Raised a Storm" with Watari Tetsuya in the title role.
Female Yakuza Tale
Ocho is accidentally captured by a drug trafficking cartel who use Chinese women to smuggle drugs into Japan by hiding it in their vaginas. She is tortured, and manages to escape, fighting both the male yakuzas and a gang of female thieves.
Nurse's Sex Journal
Akemi is a laboratory technician who spends her evenings spying on her gangster neighbor as he makes love to his stripper girlfriend. The objects of Akemi's voyeuristic attentions learn of her interests and suggest that she would make a fine prostitute. Not surprisingly Akemi agrees and channels her interests into this more lucrative occupation.
Retaliation
Two years before they collaborated on the immortal Stray Cat Rock series, director Yasuharu Hasebe and soon-to-be-superstar Meiko Kaji teamed up for this potent gangster flick that also stars the great Joe Shishido (Branded to Kill) and Akira Kobayashi, who would shortly thereafter star in Kinji Fukasaku's epic yakuza series Battles Without Honor and Humanity. Emerging from a stint in prison, yakuza lieutenant Sumukawa (Kobayashi) discovers that his gang has disintegrated while he was in the pen. An ambitious type, he quickly hooks up with another gang (led by Shishido) who promise him a prominent position if he helps them deal with a rival family. But bonds are made to be broken, and pledges of loyalty soon give way to competition, betrayal and — naturally — retaliation. Tough, cynical and violent, Retaliation cheerfully overturns romanticized notions of underworld honour, paving the way for Fukusaku's revisionist yakuza pictures of the 1970s.
Danger Pays
Joe, Okita, and Serizawa hear of the armed robbery of a truck carrying one billion eighty million yen's worth of Mint paper. Knowing that the thugs will now need a counterfeiter to make the bogus bills, they each decide to cash in on it by selling them the idea that they need Sakamoto, the best counterfeiter in Japan. A seesaw game unfolds between the three men as each tries to outdo the other two in handing over Sakamoto for one million yen to Hijikata, the big boss, who intends to make counterfeit money with the stolen paper. A little belatedly, they realize it needs their combined forces to outwit Hijikata and they raid his place together. Outnumbered, however, they are thrown into a basement room and the gas is turned on. Certain death stares them in the face, but the three men are not ones to take things lying down....
Living by Karate
Wada Kōji is a chivalrous young man who leads a group of youths that take on a yakuza boss.
Blood For Blood
The Akiba and Shimura crime families run the streets of “K City”. With the construction of new buildings and new factories underway, the city has sprouted into a boomtown and business is good. Two of the most infamous mobs of Tokyo want a piece of the pie. As out-of-town yakuza flood the city overnight, the crime boss of the Akiba family, Tezuka (Joe Shishido), is released from prison after a five year sentence. He does not like the "change" he sees.
Detonation: Violent Riders
Wild-hearted mechanic boy Iwaki falls in love with the innocent but gang tied Michiko.
The Perfect Game
College students come up with a scam to rob a gambling house. When it comes time to collect, the money isn't there, leading the young men into even more serious crime.
The Rough One
A tale of wannabe yakuza youths. When not cooking up scams with his buddies, Zenkichi develops a crush on Taro's disgusted sister, Miki. But soon the young hoods run afoul of their underworld idols when they rob the wrong gang, led by brutal boss Konno. When Zenkichi's pals start to bite the dust, he hooks up with a more traditional yakuza, Tetsugoro, to retaliate.
Code of Ruffians
Because of trickery, the Jinya Group has only seven days to complete a mountain road project or it will forfeit a major dam construction job to the scheming Ojika Group.
Temptation
Shokichi, the owner of the clothing store, lives with his daughter Hideko and plans to open an art gallery. One day, Hideko led a handsome art student, Shohei and a poor painter, Sohei. Sohei’s painting was praised by a great printer at the completion ceremony of the art gallery. Since he became successful as a painter, but he looked quite indifferent. Around the same time, Shohei’s sister brought Sohei’s pictures to the gallery and Shokichi noticed that she was a daughter of his first love.
The Dragon and the Tiger
A young gambler returns from prison to find his gang scattered, and many gone over to his old rival. But their rivalry is not only a matter of gambling. For when he is about to marry the daughter of a police official, the rival again interferes and this time it is a fight to the finish -- the end of his enemy.
Dancing Sisters
It’s been five years since her husband had passed away. Fuyuko lives in the quiet suburbs, in a small but loving home with her three beautiful daughters. Haruko, the eldest, is the lead vocalist in a band. Natsuko is the conscientious type, who spends her days in ballet classes beautifying herself. The youngest of the three, Akiko is a bookworm who found her niche in philosophy. Although the sisters may appear to have nothing in common, there is one thing they all agree on; "Mom needs a new husband".
The Ramblin' Kid
The Ramblin' Kid, a cowboy, falls in love with Carolyn June, a beautiful easterner, and wins her after he triumphs in a rodeo in spite of having been doped by his enemy, Sabota the Greek, a crafty racetrack tout.
Shutsugeki
An original warrior directed by Toshio Takagi, directed by Eisuke Takizawa of “Kiriko's Tango” by Toshio Yasumi, a comedy, cheerful widow. The photo was taken by Minoru Yokoyama from “Asakusa no Toko Odoriko Monogatari”
A Chain of Islands
When a US army sergeant is found drowned in Tokyo Bay, an investigation is launched to determine how and why he lost his life. The investigation uncovers a black market scheme involving counterfeit money, murder, and conspiracy.
The Passionate Spinster
She'd watched them go one by one. Friend after friend. White dress after another. Yet again, Shimako was attending another wedding reception that wasn't hers. She knew the procedure: watch the bride and groom get congratulated, smile to cover up the loneliness. But she didn't want to feel like this forever. In that moment, Shimako decided that the next wedding she'd attend had to be her own.
The Flame of Devotion
The tragic tale of Kiyono, a young woman from the mountain who fell in love with Takuji, a fisherman's son, and her devotion to him during a time of war.
Joe Shishido is an ambitious bike racetrack tout who becomes inadvertently involved in a triangle with a vulnerable prostitute (Izumi Ashikawa) and her brutal yakuza pimp (George Ai).
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Glass-Hearted Johnny Starring Jō Shishido, Izumi Ashikawa, Daizaburo Hirata, Noriko Matsumoto, and more. If you liked Glass-Hearted Johnny then you may also like: Youth of the Beast, The Fat Man, Gate of Flesh, A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era, Fast Companions and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
Youth of the Beast
When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence.