Best movies like The World Champion
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Some sporting victories are about more than just claiming a title. Some of them go down in history. The film follows the most dramatic and legendary showdown in the history of chess – the match between Anatoly Karpov, then world champion, and Viktor Korchnoi, a recent emigrant from the USSR. In this battle between two outstanding chess players, a duel of personalities under immense psychological pressure, the stakes are incomprehensibly high.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 632
Genere: Drama, History, Sport
Country: Russia
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, contemplative
Best tv shows and movies like The World Champion (2021):
Similar in 87%
The Startup: Accendi il tuo futuro (2017)
Plot Summary:
A teenager, named Matteo, dreams of becoming a professional swimmer. When his coach prefers to him the son of the team's sponsors, Matteo takes revenge studying at the university Bocconi and inventing a social network.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 271
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, suspenseful, psychological, unusual plot structure, contemplative
Similar in 76%
Dangerous Moves (1984)
Plot Summary:
World Chess Champion Akiva Liebskind (Michel Piccoli) faces his former pupil Pavius Fromm (Alexandre Arbatt), who defected to the West from the Soviet Union five years earlier, for the World Chess Championship in Geneva, Switzerland. The tension and strategies between the players draw parallels to the political conflicts and ideologies between East and West during the Cold War.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Sport, Thriller
Country: France, Liechtenstein, Switzerland
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, psychological, serious, captivating, realistic, intellectual, political, bleak, contemplative
Similar in 83%
Grossmeyster (1973)
Plot Summary:
Chess Grandmaster Sergei Khlebnikov is a highly talented and unusual person, living in the 1970s Soviet Union. His is obsessed with making a beautiful game. But his emotional and irrational way is the reason why he never won a major competition. At last his moment comes and he wins the Tournament of Contenders for the World Championship. Next he has to play against the World Champion.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 180
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 82%
Notorious Nick (2021)
Plot Summary:
Nick Newell, a one-armed MMA fighter gets a rare chance to fight for the lightweight championship. He strives to win for himself and all the other people in the world with physical challenges.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 535
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 78%
The Tournament (2015)
Plot Summary:
Budapest International Chess Tournament. The most likely winner: Cal Fournier (22), French champion, immature genius, socially awkward, compulsive player. But this time, an unusual 9-years-old Hungarian opponent disrupts this smooth-running routine.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 491
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: France
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, sincere, entertaining
Similar in 81%
Hammer (2016)
Plot Summary:
Victor aka Hammer is an MMA champion with the world title fight ahead. After running into the mobster Shark Hammer gets injured but is still determined to win. Victor doesn't know Shark will stick at nothing to make Victor lose.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 925
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: Russia
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Shadowboxing (2005)
Plot Summary:
Artem Kolchin was one of many, but he wanted glory. And he has chosen the way: he became the boxer. Now Artem the applicant for a champion title, fighter, known worldwide as Great White Hope. But the main fight in his life has not gone how he expected.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: Russia
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense, captivating, rough
Similar in 80%
Endgame (2015)
Plot Summary:
Since he was 5 yrs old, Jose's abuelita taught him to play chess like his grandfather who was a champion in Mexico. Now as part of the Brownsville school team, Jose has the chance to use his skills and for once in his life, finds himself in the spotlight, as he tries to help his team make it to the Texas state finals. As their coach, Mr. Alvarado, teaches his students the meaning of perseverance and team effort in the face of adversity, Jose discovers his own strengths and uses them to bring his broken family together.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 373
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing, semi autobiographical
Similar in 78%
Match (2012)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of the "death match" where the Soviet team "Start" scored its second victory over the German team «Flakelf» on August 9, 1942.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 833
Genere: Drama, History, Sport
Country: Russia
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense
Similar in 88%
Back in the Day (2016)
Plot Summary:
A young boxer is taken under the wing of a mob boss after his mother dies and his father is run out of town for being an abusive alcoholic.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 856
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 77%
Run! T High School Basketball Club (2018)
Plot Summary:
Yoichi plays basketball at his junior high and is capable. He is granted a scholarship and attends a high school with a superlative basket team. Instead of welcoming the boy the students there decide to bully and harass the new player leading Yoichi to a new high school and basketball team. Expectedly, the basketball team is not the best. The team will have to soon play against the team from the school Yoichi was in before.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 41
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: tense, unusual plot structure, captivating, suspense, contemplative
Similar in 84%
Wilderness: Part Two (2017)
Plot Summary:
Set in the near future around Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinji got out from a youth detention center. Barikan suffers from stuttering and extreme shyness. These two men meet in a boxing gym. Shinji and Barikan become friends and pursue boxing under a hopeless situation.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 278
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 147 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, tense, unusual plot structure, disturbing, contemplative
Similar in 83%
Shadow Boxing 3. The Final Round (2011)
Plot Summary:
Champion boxer Artyom Kolchin climbed all conceivable heights and became a national hero. He does not enter the boxing ring any more, rather choosing a coaching job and wild high life, including continuous TV appearances, hanging out and love affairs. One morning his daughter and his wife Vika meet him at home. Vika does not see the Artyom she once fell in love with in him any longer... The externally happy life of Kolchin comes to an end when the boxer he trains is almost killed during a match with the famous Kuerte. Artyom suspects that he used some forbidden technique. To obtain the proof, he has to go to Hong Kong where his long-time friend Vagit Valiev waits for him: he knows something about Kuerte which is not known to anyone else. To win, Artyom will have to enter the ring again.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 765
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Sport
Country: Russia
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 80%
Tomorrow's Joe (2011)
Plot Summary:
Set in the 1960's, Joe Yabuki (Tomohisa Yamashita) lives in a run-down low income ara. There, alcholic ex-boxer Danpei Tange (Teruyuki Kagawa) notices Joe Yabuki's talents as a boxer. But then, Joe gets into trouble and is sentenced into the youth detention center. In the youth detention center, Joe gets into a brawl and then is knocked out by Toru Rikiishi (Yusuke Iseya) who is a champion caliber professional boxer. While incarcerated, Joe gets special training from Danpei Tange through letters. Upon Joe's release, he quickly becomes an elite boxer and famous for a devastating cross counter. Meanwhile, Toru Rikiishi is also released from prison and quickly resumes his boxing career. Toru finally gets his shot at the world championship belt, but before that, Toru wants a match with Joe Yabuki. The two men enter the ring.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: Japan
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 82%
The Assassination of Mattarella (2020)
Plot Summary:
January 6, 1980. President of the Sicily Piersanti Mattarella is going to Mass with his family when a young man approaches his car and shoots him in cold blood, killing him. The young Deputy Prosecutor on duty that day is Pietro Grasso, future General Anti-Mafia Prosecutor and President of the Italian Senate. His investigations are continued by Giovanni Falcone, who uncovers dangerous connections between the Mafia, the ruling Christian Democratic Party, neo-fascist terrorists, and secret services.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 111
Genere: Crime, Drama, History
Country: Italy
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, touching, suspense, suspenseful, contemplative
Similar in 88%
Libero (2016)
Plot Summary:
Docu-fiction that tells the story of Libero Grassi, the months in which he broke the silence, the silence in which he found himself isolated, until he became an easy target for a mafia clan.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 68
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, exciting, tense, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful, contemplative
Similar in 89%
Roe v. Wade (2019)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Bernard Nathanson and Dr. Mildred Jefferson square off in a national battle in this untold conspiracy that led to the most famous and controversial court case in history.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, thought provoking, suspense, disturbing, patriotic, independent film, political drama
Similar in 79%
Brothers (2015)
Plot Summary:
Brothers is an upcoming Hindi film, directed by Karan Malhotra and produced by Karan Johar under Dharma Productions along with Lionsgate Films and Endemol India.[6] The film is an official remake of the 2011 Hollywood film Warrior.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: India, USA
Duration: 156 min
Plot tags: psychological, exciting, captivating, tense, suspense, inspirational, remake of american film
Similar in 88%
From Mexico with Love (2009)
Plot Summary:
A washed-up trainer takes a self-destructive young boxer under his wing.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 582
Genere: Action, Drama, Family, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, captivating, exciting, suspense, rough, touching, serious, emotional, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
A Fighting Man (2014)
Plot Summary:
Two men meet in the ring for a fight that will change their lives.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: Canada
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspense, disturbing, exciting, sincere, touching
Similar in 77%
Rocky IV (1985)
Plot Summary:
After iron man Drago, a highly intimidating 6-foot-5, 261-pound Soviet athlete, kills Apollo Creed in an exhibition match, Rocky comes to the heart of Russia for 15 pile-driving boxing rounds of revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 223000
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: inspirational, tense, suspenseful, entertaining, action packed, saga, feel good, patriotic, action adventure, psychological
Similar in 79%
The Chess Players (1977)
Plot Summary:
It is the year 1856. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah is the king of Awadh, one of the last independent kingdoms of India. The British colonialists, intent on controlling this rich land, have sent general Outram on a secret mission to clear the way for an annexation. Pressure is mounting amidst intrigue and political manoeuvres, but the Nawab whiles away his time in pursuit of pleasure and religious practice. The court is of no help either—Court nobles Mir and Mirza, ignoring the situation of their country and all their duties towards their families, spend their days playing endless games of chess. The film is based on Munshi Premchand's short story of the same name.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, History
Country: India
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: art film, insightful, parallel cinema, relaxing, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 90%
The Legend Of Maula Jatt (2022)
Plot Summary:
Maula Jatt 2 is an upcoming Pakistani action drama film directed and written by Bilal Lashari, co-produced by Faisal Rafi and Bilal Lashari under production banner of Crew Motion Pictures. It is a sequel to 1979 cult-classic Maula Jatt. The revealed cast includes Fawad Khan, Hamza Ali Abbasi playing the lead roles along with Mahira Khan, Adnan Jaffar, Shamoon Abbasi and Humaima Malik.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Drama, Fantasy, History, Thriller
Country: Pakistan
Duration: 153 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, unusual plot structure, suspenseful, disturbing, contemplative
Similar in 86%
7:19 (2016)
Plot Summary:
At 7:19 a.m., on September 19th of 1985, the most destructive earthquake hit Mexico's City. Inside what's left of a building, a group of survivors fight for their lives waiting for rescue.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 688
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Mexico
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, hispanic
Similar in 90%
Foxcatcher (2014)
Plot Summary:
The greatest Olympic Wrestling Champion brother team joins Team Foxcatcher led by multimillionaire sponsor John E. du Pont as they train for the 1988 games in Seoul - a union that leads to unlikely circumstances.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 148000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, psychological, thought provoking, bleak, disturbing, stylized, tense, depressing, suspense, rough
Similar in 84%
The Coldest Game (2019)
Plot Summary:
During 1962's Cuban missile crisis, a troubled math genius finds himself drafted to play in a U.S.-Soviet chess match -- and a deadly game of espionage.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: History, Sport, Thriller
Country: Poland, USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: political, suspense, clever, realistic, inspirational, tricky
Similar in 82%
The Luzhin Defence (2000)
Plot Summary:
Based upon the novel by Vladimir Nabokov, a chess grandmaster travels to Italy in the 1920s to play in a tournament and falls in love.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, intellectual, melancholic, bad ending, sincere, touching, serious, independent film, art house, offbeat
Similar in 89%
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
Plot Summary:
A prepubescent chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: inspirational, uplifting, touching, feel good, intelligent, clever, intellectual, psychological, motivational, sentimental
Similar in 84%
Pawn Sacrifice (2014)
Plot Summary:
American chess champion Bobby Fischer prepares for a legendary match-up against Russian Boris Spassky.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 49000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Sport, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: realistic, inspirational, entertaining, factual, captivating, exciting, clever, touching, enigmatic, suspense
Similar in 76%
The Queen's Gambit (2020)
Plot Summary:
In a Kentucky orphanage in the 1950s, a young girl discovers an astonishing talent for chess while struggling with addiction.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 525000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 397 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, period piece, historical drama, suspense, tense, unusual plot structure, visually appealing, inspirational, thought provoking