In addition to manga, two anime series, and a spin off series, Naruto has nearly a dozen movies as part of the franchise as well. Not all of the movies are considered part of the franchise canon, but they do all provide for some interesting team ups and adventures. Some include time travel, others are love stories, and others flesh out the fictional world by spotlighting places unseen in the series.
Through Rotten Tomatoes, and the ability of users to rate movies, we can see just which ones are the best in the eyes of the audience. Most of the films are considered fresh with at least a 60% score by the review site, though most don’t have critics’ reviews. Interestingly, their ratings are markedly different than their Internet Movie Database counterparts, creating a slightly different ranked order.
Updated By Amanda Bruce On June 23, 2020: Though the Naruto franchise includes hundreds of hours of television and numerous volumes of manga, it only features 11 movies (so far). This list has been updated from its original publishing to reflect the Rotten Tomatoes scores of all of the Naruto movies in the franchise.
11 Best: Road To Ninja: Naruto The Movie (78%)
In the grand tradition of alternate universes and multiple timelines, Road To Ninja gives franchise fans a look at a "what if" situation for their favorite Naruto characters. Naruto and Sakura, both unhappy with their lots in life, find themselves in a Konohagakure where their lives are completely different.
Fans got to see what it would have been like if Sakura's father was the Hokage, if Naruto's parents were still alive, and the ripple effects that existed as a result. Some characters, like Hinata, exhibited completely different personalities, giving fans a whole new way to examine the story.
10 Worst: Naruto The Movie: Bonds (77%)
Naruto The Movie: Bonds featured one of the most reprehensible villains in any of the movies. A sensei used his student to achieve his own evil desires, all the while knowing she had a crush on him. For that reason alone, quite a few fans probably didn’t love it. The movie did, however, follow the events of the series very well.
In fact, it sent Sasuke out on a mission for Orochimaru that was touched on in the anime, only for him to end up in the same place as Naruto. A brief reunion meant a brief team up, leaving fans hopeful for his eventual redemption.
9 Best: Naruto The Movie: Legend Of The Stone Of Gelel (79%)
A mission to return a ferret doesn’t seem like it would be all that interesting, but like anything in Naruto’s world, the mission took a strange turn. Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru ended up in the middle of an ancient conflict when all they wanted to do was keep an animal alive.
A caravan of travelers and a group of soldiers were at odds as a result of an ancient civilization and a magical stone. They came to blows along with ninja from Sunagakure before Naruto and his friends could unravel the history of a mysterious man with non memory.
8 Worst: Naruto The Movie: Guardians Of The Crescent Moon Kingdom (76%)
Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom could have been a filler arc for the anime. It would have fit in to the series nicely with Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi taking Rock Lee with them on a mission in the wake of Sasuke’s absence. The group escorted a member of royalty to a kingdom that never showed up again in the franchise, so it’s an easy skip if fans don’t want to watch it, but it’s certainly a fun mission-gone-wrong.
Considering that fan favorite Rock Lee (he got his own spin off anime, after all) is featured, it’s surprising that this one ranks so far down in the list. Chalk it up to the movies that come next being that much more beloved.
7 Best: The Last: Naruto The Movie (81%)
The only Naruto movie to be specifically written as a love story, some fans hated it, but a lot of fans appreciated how much it fleshed out the emotions between Naruto and Hinata. At an 81%, the latter fans clearly outnumber the former.
In the movie, Hinata’s sister is kidnapped, leaving a team made of Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sai, and Shikamaru to save her - and ultimately the world. Along the way, Naruto gets to know Hinata a lot better and understand that he feels the same way for her - something he didn’t appreciate while they were growing up.
6 Worst: Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Blood Prison (59%)
For IMDb users, Blood Prison is actually in the top three Naruto movies. Not the case for those who use Rotten Tomatoes. Instead, it rounds out the bottom three.
The movie is pretty dark, even by Naruto standards. Naruto is framed for a crime, which lands him in the Blood Prison, cut off from anyone who might care about him. As it turns out, Tsunade is aware that he’s innocent, but she needs him to ferret out the real culprit. It’s just a shame she doesn’t actually tell him that. The movie left a bad taste in a lot of fans’ mouths.
5 Best: Naruto Shippuden: The Movie (84%)
This marked the first of the Shippuden era of films, and fans really loved it. That’s likely because it didn’t just feature Naruto and one or two other characters on a mission,
Instead, a larger number of characters got to play a part as other teams formed to give Naruto some back up. The movie even featured some of the Sunagakure ninjas, like Temari, who have proven to be fan favorites. Neji also played a larger role, which is sure to placate fans who still miss him.
4 Worst: Naruto Shippuden: The Lost Tower (55%)
This particular movie is a fun one because it allowed the audience to get to know Minato a little better. Though Naruto didn’t yet know the man was his father, the audience was privy to the information by the time the movie released.
Unfortunately, its low rating is likely because the movie doesn’t actually fit into the franchise timeline. It doesn’t make much sense within the context of the series - even with the addition of anime filler episodes to flesh out the lives of other characters. It featured Naruto and Yamato traveling back in time, and then their experiences erased from the memories of those they encountered, which most fans didn’t love.
3 Best: Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash In The Land Of Snow (85%)
Ninja Clash In The Land Of Snow was the first hint we got of what kind of technology existed in the Naruto universe. For the most part, fans saw ninja using candles instead of lights and writing letters instead of emailing. This showed that technology was more advanced than we thought as Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke actually watched a movie at the start.
The trio also got to escort an actress to the land of her home, where she was once a member of the royal family, but had been ousted as a kid. It’s one of the few movies that took on a more modern concept - and one of the few to prominently feature Sasuke - so it’s no wonder it ranks so high.
2 Worst: Naruto Shippuden: The Will Of Fire (42%)
Naruto Shippuden: The Will Of Fire is one of the few movies in the franchise to feature the entire roster of the Konoha 11. Despite fans wanting to see more characters get more screen time, this one has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score! That score, however, is a bit deceptive. This particular movie has the lowest number of scores to average - only 39 - while many of the other Naruto movies have thousands of them.
In the movie, Kakashi takes on a suicide mission, with only Shikamaru knowing the details. As Naruto and Sakura set out to save their sensei, Shikamaru and the rest of the Konoha 11 are tasked with standing in their way. It’s a great showcase of everyone’s talents.
1 Best: Boruto: Naruto The Movie (93%)
Technically speaking, this could be considered strictly a Boruto movie since The Last was meant to be the end of Naruto’s adventures on the big screen. With such a high percentage on Rotten Tomatoes though, it couldn’t be left out.
This movie is what the first major arc of the Boruto series follows as Boruto and his friends compete in the Chunin Exams and Naruto and Sasuke unite against the Otsutsuki. The anime and the manga both flesh out events a bit more than the movie for those who want as much detail as possible.
To be frank, it is likely that Boruto has that extremely high percentage by virtue of being the most recent feature length Naruto story. Years from now, that percentage could drop, or its sequel (whenever it gets made) could eventually snag the top spot.