Naruto has been going strong for 20 years now, and the shows have captivated people of all ages since their 2007 debut. It’s been printing money even as recently as 2020, when it was one of the most binged shows in the States. With all that success, of course parent company Viz Media was going to make movies. There are a lot of them, so we’ve compiled this handy list and ranked all of them from worst to first.
The Naruto storyline is fairly straightforward. Protagonist Naruto Uzumaki is a young ninja who wants to eventually become the Hokage (top ninja) of his village.
Some Naruto movies are more compelling than others, and most don’t fit into official canon. The movies also allowed for smaller characters on the show to get fleshed out a bit more. It has a cast of characters that are easy to cheer for, despite their obvious shortcomings. Also, while Naruto may be the main character, he’s by no means the suave hero he wants to be. He’s the ultimate underdog, and that makes him exceptionally relatable.
Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
This Naruto film, released in August of 2006 takes a bit of a left turn in terms of story and chronicles Naruto’s more formative years. The plot involves the protection of a boy prince and his father, and kind of frustratingly gives both Rock Lee and Naruto non-canon new Jutsu. Also, the villain Shabadaba is kind of a snore fest.
Legend of the Stone of Gelel
Another movie with a different version of Team 7 (just like Guardians), but instead of Rock Lee, this time we get Shikamaru Nara to replace Sasuke. We also get another cool special in the Rasengan, which unfortunately is also not canon. Haido, the main baddie, is kind of interesting in how manipulative he is to his own people.
Naruto Shippuden the Movie
Naruto Shippuden the Movie has some heavy scenes in it, like when Rock Lee kills someone after eating a candy infused with alcohol. This one also features a teenage Naruto instead of a young one, which is a nice change. There’s some supernatural stuff and a weird storyline where Naruto, in his ignorance, agrees to father a child. This one came out in August of 2007.
Clash in the Land of Snow
Clash in the Land of Snow serves as a sort of benchmark for the series as a whole. Released in August of 2004, we get Sasuke on Team 7 for once and a plot that reinforces the central theme of the show: bravery and believing in yourself. Doto, the antagonist, is also well fleshed out and deliciously ruthless.
Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds
The release date for Bonds was in the month of (you guessed it) August, year of our lord 2008. It’s an action packed tale that sees the team trying to fend off an attack from the Land of the Sky in addition to Zero-Tails, who appears in an abhorrent leech form. The battle between Naruto and the ninja Shinno is worth the price of admission alone.
Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Lost Tower
The time traveling edition of a Naruto movie, this is actually a really fun one released July of 2010. Naruto and Yamato need to defeat Mukade, who could have a whole section dedicated to him alone. The best part of this one is getting to see Minato and Naruto work together to defeat the bad guy.
Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Will Of Fire
There are a couple standout things in The Will of Fire: for one, Naruto uses a Rasengan that he’s actually used before, instead of something brand new that’s never seen again. It was released in August of 2009 and sees a bunch of people lose Kekkei Genkai abilities. It’s also really funny!
Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison
Blood Prison came out in July of 2011 and features one of the few moments where it feels like Naruto is in actual danger. He’s arrested at the beginning and fitted with a chakra inhibitor, and his battle with Muku is one of the more stand out moments of the all of the Naruto movies. The Fire Release technique is also a good plot device.
The Last: Naruto the Movie
We got The Last in December of 2014 and it fills in some of the stuff that happens between the big fight with Sasuke from Naruto Shippuden and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. It’s also one of the actual canon movies, so there’s that. Standout moment: when Naruto utilizes Six Paths Sage Mode and it’s so strong he almost blows up a moon.
Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie
A weird one released in July of 2012, but also so just a good movie on its own merits. It’s one of those alternate reality plots where Naruto gets to see how different his life would be is his parents didn’t die. It’s also fun to see all of the characters’ alternate versions. For Naruto diehards, it scratched an itch that they didn’t even know they had.
‘Boruto: Naruto The Movie’
What can we say about this canon classic from August of 2015 that hasn’t been said? We get to spend some quality time with Boruto, Naruto’s son, who has to liberate his father from the annoying Otsutsuki clan. It was a huge success and set the table for Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Let’s also not forget just how powerful Momoshiki Otsutsuki was, and how that made him practically impossible to beat.