Movies Like Shanghai Surprise (1986)

Shanghai Surprise is a 1986 adventure, comedy, crime, romance film from Jim Goddard with a MovieMagicScore of 4.2/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The White Countess and Shanghai.

Adventure Comedy Crime Romance

The White Countess

2005

In 1930s Shanghai, 'The White Countess' is both Sofia, a fallen member of the exiled Russian aristocracy, and a nightclub created by a blind American diplomat who asks Sofia to be the centerpiece of the world he wants to create.

6.2

MagicScore

Shanghai

2010

An American man returns to a corrupt, Japanese-occupied Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor and discovers his friend has been killed. While he unravels the mysteries of the death, he falls in love and discovers a much larger secret that his own government is hiding.

6.1

MagicScore

Shanghai Express

1932

A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.

6.9

MagicScore

Lust, Caution

2007

During World War II, a secret agent must seduce and assassinate an official who works for the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai.

7.3

MagicScore

The Painted Veil

2006

A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.

7.3

MagicScore

SoulMate

2016

The films spans two decades as the story unfolds in a series of flashbacks that begin when Qiyue and Ansheng were just thirteen. The two became inseparable until they met a boy who ended up tearing their lives apart.

7.1

MagicScore

Corto Maltese: The Secret Court of the Arcane

2002

At the end of 1918 while civil war is raging on in Russia, antagonism is slowly spreading to the East, between the Oral mountains and Shanghai. Stuck between a desire to save what's left of the great Imperial Russia, and starting from a clean slate, old generals, secret organizations, and mercenaries attracted by gold, struggle to take advantage of the events. As Corto Maltese returns to Shanghai, he barely gets time to cross paths with his old friend/nemesis Rasputin, and escape a murder attempt before being contacted by members of a Chinese secret organization called "The Red Lanterns". In the heart of violent Manchurian horizons, Corto and Rasputin launch themselves into a fabulous treasure hunt, following the tracks of the mysterious armor-plated train of Kolchak. A steel monster spiked with canons and machine guns, this trains protects the counter-revolutionaries gold...

6.4

MagicScore

The Bitter Tea of General Yen

1932

An American missionary is gradually seduced by a courtly warlord holding her in Shanghai.

6.2

MagicScore

Manufactured Landscapes

2006

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.

7.2

MagicScore

#10

Desire

1936

Madeleine steals a string of pearls in Paris and uses American engineer Tom, who is driving on his vacation to Spain, to get the pearls out of France. But getting the pearls back from him proves to be difficult without falling in love.

6.9

MagicScore

#11

Monte Carlo

2011

Three young women vacationing in Paris find themselves whisked away to Monte Carlo after one of the girls is mistaken for a British heiress.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

The Gentlemen

2020

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 blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him.

7.7

MagicScore

#13

A Fish Called Wanda

1988

While a diamond advocate attempts to steal a collection of diamonds, troubles arise when he realises he’s not the only one after the collection.

7.2

MagicScore

#14

Letters to Juliet

2010

An American girl on vacation in Italy finds an unanswered "letter to Juliet" -- one of thousands of missives left at the fictional lover's Verona courtyard, which are typically answered by the "secretaries of Juliet" -- and she goes on a quest to find the lovers referenced in the letter.

7.0

MagicScore

#15

The Ramen Girl

2008

An American woman is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a ramen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master.

6.5

MagicScore

#16

Outsourced

2007

After his entire department is outsourced, an American novelty products salesman heads to India to train his replacement.

6.4

MagicScore

#17

The Man Who Knew Too Little

1997

An American gets a ticket for an audience participation game in London, then gets involved in a case of mistaken identity. As an international plot unravels around him, he thinks it's all part of the act.

6.4

MagicScore

#18

Ticket to Paradise

2022

Divorced couple Georgia and David find themselves on a shared mission: they team up and travel to Bali to stop their daughter Lily from making the same mistake they once made 25 years ago.

6.4

MagicScore

#19

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

1949

A bump on the head sends Hank Martin, 1905 auto mechanic, to Arthurian England, 528 A.D., where he is befriended by Sir Sagramore le Desirous and gains power by judicious use of technology. He and Alisande, the King's niece, fall in love at first sight, which draws unwelcome attention from her fiancée Sir Lancelot; but worse trouble befalls when Hank meddles in the kingdom's politics.

6.3

MagicScore

#20

What a Girl Wants

2003

An American girl, Daphne, heads to Europe in search of the father she's never met. But instead of finding a British version of her bohemian mother, she learns the love of her mom's life is an uptight politician. The only problem now is that her long-lost dad is engaged to a fiercely territorial social climber with a daughter who makes Daphne's life miserable.

6.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Shanghai Surprise?

The top films similar to Shanghai Surprise by MovieMagicScore are The White Countess (6.2), Shanghai (6.1), Shanghai Express (6.9). Each shares adventure/comedy/crime/romance themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Shanghai Surprise worth watching?

Shanghai Surprise holds a MovieMagicScore of 4.2/10 from 94 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Shanghai Surprise?

Shanghai Surprise (1986) is a adventure, comedy, crime, romance film directed by Jim Goddard, starring Sean Penn, Madonna, Paul Freeman.

Where can I find more recommendations like Shanghai Surprise?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more adventure recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like The White Countess Movies like Shanghai Movies like Shanghai Express Movies like Lust, Caution Movies like The Painted Veil Movies like SoulMate

About movies like Shanghai Surprise

This ranked list pairs Shanghai Surprise (1986), a adventure and comedy and crime and romance film from Jim Goddard, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Sean Penn take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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