Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures

In "Nobody," Bob Odenkirk plays Hutch, a mild-mannered family man with a regular job. But when his daughter's cat bracelet goes missing during a robbery in his home and he sets out to find it, it turns out that — surprise! — he can kick ass with the best of them.

Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the scene where Hutch singlehandedly takes on five intoxicated guys who are harassing a young lady on a bus. This is one of the best choreographed fights in recent cinema history, and, like "Bullet Train," it takes place in a confined space. Hutch is a guy who, like Brad Pitt's Ladybug, can hold his own when provoked, and he goes about systematically dismantling all five guys.

Of course, the leader of the five men is the younger brother of a Russian crime lord. All of a sudden, all manner of bad guys are coming down on Hutch and his family, leading to him having to invoke his dormant skillset once more. Hutch's everyman looks hide his true nature as a former government assassin, much like Bob Odenkirk's appearance hides the fact that he's a surprisingly great action star.

Miramax

Quentin Tarantino, the director of Volumes 1 and 2 of "Kill Bill," among other films, is one of the creatives "Bullet Train" seems to take its cues from. In "Kill Bill," the Bride, aka Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman), is left for dead when her wedding is attacked by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Four years later, she wakes from her coma and is determined to take her revenge on the assassins who had it out for her. One by one, she goes after each of the members of the Squad, killing them all in inventive and sadistic ways until she finally reaches Bill, the leader of the Squad and her former lover.

"Kill Bill" boasts both violence and dark humor in equal measure, just as "Bullet Train" does. Plus, "Kill Bill" emulates the styles of various Asian action movies, making it a treat for fans of the Japan-based "Bullet Train."

Lionsgate

At first glance, "The Commuter" and "Bullet Train" would appear to have little in common. After all, the deadly seriousness of "The Commuter" and the absurd comedy of "Bullet Train" make them very different movies. But there's one big thing they have in common: the location of their action. Both "Bullet Train" and "The Commuter" primarily take place on a train as each movie's protagonist attempts to figure out who is making life miserable for them.

In "The Commuter," directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Liam Neeson stars as Michael, a family man who was just fired from his job as an insurance salesman when he's approached by a woman on his train who tells him to find someone named "Prynne" in exchange for a lot of cash. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Michael uses his skills as a former policeman to find Prynne and, at the same time, extract himself from the conspiracy. It's less humorous than "Bullet Train" but still delivers high-impact action.

Lionsgate

"Bullet Train" helmer David Leitch had a long history as a stuntman before he transitioned to directing. One of the people he worked with was Keanu Reeves, who gave Leitch and Chad Stahelski their first job as directors on "John Wick." While Leitch wasn't credited as a co-director because of DGA rules, he nonetheless helped direct and produce the picture (and executive produced the next three movies in the "John Wick" series), and you can see how that formative experience impacted his approach to "Bullet Train."

John Wick (Reeves) is a legendary hitman who retired to marry a civilian named Helen (Bridget Moynahan). In "John Wick," he's grieving his wife's recent death from cancer when a puppy shows up at his door, a gift that Helen arranged to have sent to help her husband through his loss. A few days later, after a dispute at a gas station, a group of gangsters breaks into Wick's home, injures him, and kills his puppy. Thus begins Wick's descent into the criminal underworld once more, as he fights anyone and everyone who has anything to do with the attack, killing a lot of people and giving audiences one of the best action films ever made.

Universal Pictures

Directed by Edgar Wright, "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" bombed at the box officebut has since become a cult smash, even spawning a 2023 Netflix animated series. The action centers around Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) fighting off all seven of his new girlfriend's, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), evil exes while attempting to win a battle of the bands with his unsuccessful indie rock group, Sex Bob-Omb. While the people attacking Scott aren't billed as assassins, they might as well be, as they attempt to kill him for deigning to date Ramona, making "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" a lot like "Bullet Train" — but it resembles Leitch's film even more due to its quirky, unconventional tone.

Both films have a humorous way of telling their stories, but "Scott Pilgrim" is even more bonkers. Combining elements of video games and comic books into the movie, "Scott Pilgrim's" tone is eccentric in the extreme, with him winning power-ups and swords that allow him to defeat Ramona's evil exes in ways that he couldn't do in real life. In the end, though, this is the story of a guy who likes a girl and wants to see where a relationship with her could go.

Universal Pictures

Like "Bullet Train," "Smokin' Aces" has a stacked cast. In the case of the latter, the lineup of actors is particularly noteworthy, as Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, Taraji P. Henson, Chris Pine, Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, Alicia Keys, Common, and more have a part in telling the tale written and directed by Joe Carnahan. All of these individuals converge on the Nomad Casino, a luxury hotel in Lake Tahoe, where they all have plans to either kill or protect Buddy "Aces" Israel (Jeremy Piven), a Vegas magician who moonlights as a gangster, and often humorous violence and mayhem ensue.

The film is highly graphic, much like "Bullet Train," and delights in its blood and guts. And while "Smokin' Aces" doesn't have the memorable dialogue of a Tarantino movie — or even of "Bullet Train" — what it does have is a memorable storyline where only some of the famous actors in the ensemble make it out alive.

Twentieth Century Fox

"Bad Times at the El Royale" is certainly darker than "Bullet Train," with little of the humor found in Leitch's film, but it does have a quirky premise. Several strangers find themselves at the same location, much like in "Bullet Train," but in this case, it's a largely empty hotel that straddles the California/Nevada border. Each character has a secret, and as they intersect with and come up against one another, the plot thickens until it all reaches a violent boil.

Written and directed by Drew Goddard, "El Royale" is a noir fantasia that takes place in 1969, with the film's single location, the hotel, functioning as a kind of purgatory for everyone, whether they're good, bad, or (more likely) somewhere in between. Despite Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, and Chris Hemsworth all having major roles in the film, "Bad Times at the El Royale" was criminally overlooked upon its release, but it's definitely worth a watch.

Warner Bros.

"Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" is by far the oldest movie on this list. It came out in 1995 and, as a result, features a host of outdated technology that will make people laugh at the inefficiency, including an especially pesky fax machine uplink. Despite that, this movie shares a lot in common with "Bullet Train," not least of which is the fact that both stories unfold on trains.

In the case of "Under Siege 2," the group of assassins who board the train are brought in by Travis Dane (Eric Bogosian), a genius who takes over a US government satellite after faking his death. He plans to take out the Pentagon with his new toy in exchange for a lot of money from some Middle Eastern terrorists. There's just one problem: former Navy SEAL Casey Ryback, played by Steven Seagal, has the situation well in hand.

Not only does this movie boast a delightfully unhinged performance from Bogosian, it features early turns by Katherine Heigl and Morris Chestnut. "Under Siege 2" isn't as good as its predecessor, "Under Siege," but it is a decent enough diversion with plenty of action to keep you interested.

Reiner Bajo/Netflix

Much like "Bullet Train," "Gunpowder Milkshake" is about a group of assassins, but here, the girls are going up against the boys. The movie is fronted by Sam (Karen Gillan, who plays Nebula in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies and enjoys a Marvel reunion in this film), an assassin who works for an association known as The Firm. Sam is instructed to retrieve some money and kill the man (Samuel Anderson) responsible for the theft, but she learns that his daughter (Chloe Coleman) has been kidnapped, a revelation that changes her plans.

Over the course of the movie, Sam manages to amass a group of powerful female assassins, including her mother, Scarlett (Lena Headey), and three more who work in an armory disguised as a library: Florence (Michelle Yeoh), Madeleine (Carla Gugino), and Anna May (Angela Bassett). They end up taking on a whole bunch of male assassins from an important crime family, making this the perfect movie if you want to see women kicking ass. Plus, it has some innovative fights, none more so than one in which Sam's arms are paralyzed, forcing her to improvise with a gun and knife taped to her hands.

Lionsgate

This is the second movie based on the "Judge Dredd" comics, but unlike 1995's adaptation starring Sylvester Stallone, the 2012 version is actually considered a good film. Directed by Pete Travis from a screenplay by Alex Garland, it centers on law enforcement officer Judge Dredd (Karl Urban), who finds himself confined to a single location, much like Brad Pitt's Ladybug in "Bullet Train." In this case, though, the place is a 200-story apartment high-rise that Dredd is locked in when he tries to take in one of drug lord Ma-Ma's (Lena Headey) henchmen.

"Dredd" takes place in a future that's a post-apocalyptic hellscape, where judges like Dredd function as judge, jury, and executioner for all sorts of crimes. Dredd is evaluating psychic Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thrilby) as a potential recruit when all hell breaks loose in the high-rise. Violent and bloody, the film has great action sequences that highlight the gritty main character's tough-as-nails approach to upholding the law.

Twentieth Century Fox

In "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" — which, years later, spawned a very different spin-off TV show — a pair of assassins who work for separate firms meet, fall in love, and get married. But neither husband nor wife knows about the other's murderous jobs, so when they find out, they're both a little mystified. In fact, it leads to a knock-down, drag-out fight in which one of them would normally kill the other — if it weren't for the fact that they've fallen in love.

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith," directed by Doug Liman, features Brad Pitt as the aforementioned Mr. Smith in one of his few action-heavy roles. For Pitt, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is a clear precursor to "Bullet Train," combining fights with comedy to create a funny but deadly stew. It pairs him with Angelina Jolie as the titular hired killers who fight off wave after wave of assassins sent by their employers as the pair fight for both of their lives. The duo were at the start of their very public real-world relationship while shooting this movie, and it shows, as they have crackling chemistry.

Sony Pictures Classics

In "The Raid" (changed to "The Raid: Redemption" for American audiences), a squad of tactical police officers seeks to raid an apartment building so they can arrest a major drug lord. They go through the building floor by floor, subduing various tenants until, on the sixth floor, one of the apartment building's young lookouts raises the alarm. All of a sudden, things get very difficult, very quickly.

This is, simply, one of the best action movies ever put to film, loaded with all sorts of fight scenes, including one of the best action scenes to take place in a hallway. From gun battles to knife fights to hand-to-hand combat, the movie's body count is incredibly high. Of the 20 cops that go in, only three come out, and as you can guess, the deaths on the other side are even steeper.

"The Raid," directed by Gareth Evans, takes place in a single location, with everyone trapped in an apartment building instead of a train. It's a work of action genius that you should see if you haven't already.

Warner Bros.

Guy Ritchie is another director that "Bullet Train" owes a debt to. Ritchie's movies, especially many of his early, highly stylized films, often feature underworld lowlifes going up against one another in amusing and odd ways, much like they do in "Bullet Train." The same is true of "RocknRolla," which sees a group of mobsters and mobster-adjacent individuals converge when a Russian billionaire, Uri (Karel Roden), tells mob boss Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson) he wants a land deal.

"RocknRolla" doesn't have as much action as most crime movies, but it makes up for it with a wealth of eccentric characters played by a host of famous actors like Gerard Butler, Thandiwe Newton, Mark Strong, and Idris Elba, and a lot of dark comedy. It, along with Ritchie's other London-based gangster thrillers like "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels," is beloved by a certain sector of the moviegoing public, which "Bullet Train" director David Leitch clearly counts himself among.

Jasin Boland/Netflix

This Netflix movie is about an assassin named Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who somehow ingested Polonium-204 and is now dying from radiation poisoning. Even though it's the last day of her life, she decides to go down swinging, launching an all-out attack on all of the heavies in the Kajima crime family who have wronged her. But first, she kidnaps and then decides to protect a girl named Ani (Miku Martineau) when she realizes that Ani's family wants her dead as well.

Though they're both movies with extraordinary action and butt-kicking female leads, "Bullet Train" may owe a deeper debt to "Kate" because they were both produced by 87North, David Leitch's production company, with Leitch credited as an executive producer on "Kate." It makes the influence the Japan-set "Kate" had on "Bullet Train," with its titles — a combination of Japanese and English — and its neon-soaked, cutesy aesthetic set against a gritty story, even more apparent.

The Weinstein Company

"Snowpiercer," adapted from Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette's graphic novel "Le Transperceneige" and directed by Bong Joon Ho, is one of the best post-apocalyptic films out there and ended up on a number of critics' top 10 lists in 2014. Both it and "Bullet Train" take place on a train, but whereas Ladybug and his cronies can leave, the people on Snowpiercer aren't so lucky. In the world of the Chris Evans-helmed movie, there was a failed attempt to stop global warming in 2014, and, 17 years later, the Snowpiercer train is the only thing that keeps the remainder of the world's population alive.

The train travels across the globe, year in and year out, but it's remarkably segregated. The wealthy have all they could ask for towards the front of the train, while the poor are housed in the tail compartments with barely enough food and space to survive. The circumstances are so dire that Curtis (Evans) leads the tail passengers in a rebellion against the elites (much as Daveed Diggs' Andre does in the 2020 show of the same name). As they head to the front of the train, car by car, they continue to come up against guards, leading to bloody battles in confined spaces, a la "Bullet Train." Their ultimate goal? To make it to the engine of the train where the reclusive Wilford (Ed Harris), who built the train, lives, and force him to make the train's hierarchy more equitable for all.