Best movies like Busted Up
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Prolific actor-stuntman Conrad Palmisano directed this average action-thriller about the owner of an inner-city gym. Earl (Paul Coufos) happens to also be a skilled fighter, and when he is pressured by real-estate developers to close the gym, he fights in order to save it.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 126
Genere: Action, Drama, Music, Sport
Country: Canada
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film
Best tv shows and movies like Busted Up (1986):
Similar in 81%
Bloodfight (1988)
Plot Summary:
Greene plays an up and coming boxer with a powerful right hand and a heart of gold. He works night shifts in a bar and has a girlfriend whose father played by Ernest Borgnine disapproves of the relationship thinking Greene is a no good for nothing loser. To prove himself Greene catches the attention of a local boxing promoter played by Giuliano Gemma who decides to make a champion out of his newfound protégé.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 127
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Thunderground (1989)
Plot Summary:
A con-artist meets a tough fighter and sees him as her ticket to a better life. The two make an agreement and head off to New Orleans to arrange a match with "the man" - the mysterious king of bare-knuckled boxing. There are no rules for this fight...one man wins when the other dies.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 103
Genere: Action, Adventure
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: cult classic, independent film
Similar in 86%
Blonde Fist (1991)
Plot Summary:
A woman attempts to escape her domestic problems by fleeing to New York in search of her father. She finds him, and also new problems, some friendship, a romance, and an unexpected career as pro-boxer, to make ends meet.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 277
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 81%
Last Man Standing (1987)
Plot Summary:
Roo Marcus has just spent 8 years in a mental institution, and takes up bare-knuckle boxing and gets a job fighting in a gym run by Napoleon. Roo is often tormented by memories of shock treatment and inhumane conditions. His friends, Capser and Ratty help him along the way, until he gets brutally beaten up by one of Napoleon's fighters.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 129
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 76%
The Last Fight (1983)
Plot Summary:
Singer-turned-boxer Andy 'Kid' Clave signs a contract with a shady promoter Joaquin Vargas. But Clave turns against Vargas when the promoter's thugs kill Clave's girlfriend when he thinks about backing out of the contract. While seeking a way to get revenge against Vargas, Clave learns that he has a blood clot in his head. But nothing will deter him from getting his revenge and making a shot at the title.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 76
Genere: Drama, Music, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: neo noir, independent film, hispanic
Similar in 84%
Dance of the Wind (1997)
Plot Summary:
The mother of the Indian female singer Pallavi (Kitu Gidwani) is at the end of her life. She was master and teacher for her daughter for the art of Indian singing. But she will not be able to complete her lessons. So Pallavi experiences the lack of the guru of her mother. Finally she finds him in a very young street-girl who is able to sing marvelously. But this girl keeps disappearing again and again.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 144
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: India
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 78%
Street Law (1995)
Plot Summary:
A martial arts-trained lawyer (Jeff Wincott) is forced to fight in illicit matches after he is framed for a crime, is dismissed from his firm, and all his assets are tied up, including his clothing and furniture after he is evicted from his apartment.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 302
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 83%
Fighter (2019)
Plot Summary:
MMA fighter loses everything due to some bad life choices. Now local gangster make him back to the sports. But this time he will fight in the boxing ring.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 230
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: Poland
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 79%
Sparring (2017)
Plot Summary:
Steve Landry, an aging boxer with more losses than wins, accepts to become a sparring partner for an emerging champion in a last-ditch attempt to stay relevant.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 700
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
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 89%
The Boxer and Death (1963)
Plot Summary:
Concentration camp commander Kraft finds out that prisoner Kominek is a former professional boxer. Overnight, the prisoner is made Kraft's exercise partner and unwillingly rises to a privileged position at the camp. His anger over the death of his friend and co-prisoner leads to open revolt. The film brings a new view of human degradation during fascism by a tragic story of one man whose only chance for survival is to accept the rules of an unequal game.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 381
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: Czechoslovakia
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
The Hammer (2017)
Plot Summary:
When prison boxer George "The Hammer" Martin is offered freedom for fighting in the 1984 Olympics, he says no in order to protect the woman he loves, forcing his best friend to learn the true meaning of loyalty.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 191
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
Pacquiao: The Movie (2006)
Plot Summary:
Jericho Rosales portrays Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao as he struggles out of poverty to become a champion and national hero. Yet when the pressures of his sport, his personal life and the high expectations of his countrymen take their toll, he falls from grace. With the help of his wife (Bea Alonzo), will he be able to rise once more to be worthy of being called "the People's Champion"?.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 60
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: Philippines
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: tagalog
Similar in 75%
Saala Khadoos (2016)
Plot Summary:
The story of a former boxer who quits boxing following a fallout with the authorities over the underlying politics but goes on to coach a fisherwoman to fulfill his dream through her. Thisi is a simultaneously shot Hindi version of the Tamil film Irudhi Suttru.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: India
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: feel good, exciting, thought provoking, suspenseful, sentimental, captivating, disturbing, patriotic
Similar in 87%
Chuck (2016)
Plot Summary:
A drama inspired by the life of heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 89%
Sarpatta Parambarai (2021)
Plot Summary:
When Sarpatta Parambarai is challenged to a do-or-die match, Kabilan, a young labourer, must choose whether to put on the gloves himself and lead his clan to victory, or be dissuaded by his disapproving mother and dangerous politics.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: India
Duration: 173 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 78%
Tough Enough (1983)
Plot Summary:
An aspiring country/western singer, whose money is disappearing faster than his career opportunities, enters a "Tough Man" amateur boxing contest to earn some cash to pay his bills. Amazingly enough, he wins it, and is picked to go onto the national finals. He's torn between his first love, music, and the glitz, glamor and money of the "Tough Man" world.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 927
Genere: Action, Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
Split Decisions (1988)
Plot Summary:
When a boxer is killed because he wouldn't take a dive, his brother tries to find a way to avenge him even if only symbolically.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, sincere, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
Gloves of Stone (2009)
Plot Summary:
Abner is trapped in the rough life of Mexico City. His escape? Boxing. Dr. Frank Irwin (Martin Sheen) and his son Jimmy, a pro boxer, come together to teach Abner that the heart fuels the punches we throw in life.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 263
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: Mexico
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sincere, rough, serious, realistic, independent film, bilingual
Similar in 86%
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 79%
The Kid (1997)
Plot Summary:
Jimmy Albright is a young athlete with a passion for boxing. His mentor, Harry Sloan, an aging trainer and former boxer, sees Jimmy's potential, not only as a boxer but as a young man. With Harry's guidance, Jimmy trains and fights his way to the top of his division. All things appear to be on track, except for one small twist: Jimmy's parents, Don and Doreen, don't know he's a boxer.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 192
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, sincere, uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, realistic
Similar in 84%
Jawbone (2017)
Plot Summary:
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, tense, inspirational, powerful
Similar in 82%
Gladiator (1992)
Plot Summary:
A story of two teenagers trapped in the world of illegal underground boxing. One is fighting to save his fathers life and using the money pay off gambling debts accumulated by his father. The second is fighting for the money to get out of the ghettos. While being exploited by a boxing promoter the two teens become friends. An explosive ending puts the two friends in the ring against each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, rough, harsh, hood, motivational, exciting, sentimental, inspirational, touching
Similar in 75%
Creed II (2018)
Plot Summary:
Follows Adonis Creed's life inside and outside of the ring as he deals with new found fame, issues with his family, and his continuing quest to become a champion.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 152000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: inspirational, uplifting, captivating, motivational, melancholic, touching, serious, bloody, hood, cult classic
Similar in 89%
Creed (2015)
Plot Summary:
The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 306000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: inspirational, reflective, brutal, emotional, suspense, sentimental, touching, intense, sincere, serious
Similar in 89%
Girlfight (2000)
Plot Summary:
Diana Guzman begins to train as a boxer and achieves impressive success, blazing new trails for female boxers, all while keeping it a secret from her father.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: uplifting, independent film, captivating, touching, realistic, serious, cult classic, rough, gloomy, sincere
Similar in 90%
The Featherweight (2023)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1965, Pep is living in relative obscurity in his hometown of Hartford. Amidst personal troubles, and with the need to earn, Pep, at the age of 42, makes a stunning return to the ring.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 110
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Boyka: Undisputed IV (2016)
Plot Summary:
In the fourth installment of the fighting franchise, Boyka is shooting for the big leagues when an accidental death in the ring makes him question everything he stands for. When he finds out the wife of the man he accidentally killed is in trouble, Boyka offers to fight in a series of impossible battles to free her from a life of servitude.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: Bulgaria, USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, realistic, suspenseful, serious, disturbing, cult classic
Similar in 79%
Rocky Balboa (2006)
Plot Summary:
When he loses a highly publicized virtual boxing match to ex-champ Rocky Balboa, reigning heavyweight titleholder, Mason Dixon retaliates by challenging Rocky to a nationally televised, 10-round exhibition bout. To the surprise of his son and friends, Rocky agrees to come out of retirement and face an opponent who's faster, stronger and thirty years his junior.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 229000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: inspirational, sincere, touching, melancholic, action packed, realistic, sentimental, motivational, action adventure, entertaining
Similar in 77%
Southpaw (2015)
Plot Summary:
Billy "The Great" Hope, the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, has an impressive career, a loving wife and daughter, and a lavish lifestyle. However, when tragedy strikes, Billy hits rock bottom, losing his family, his house and his manager. He soon finds an unlikely savior in Tick Willis, a former fighter who trains the city's toughest amateur boxers. With his future on the line, Hope fights to reclaim the trust of those he loves the most.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 254000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: Hong Kong, USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, dramatic, sentimental, rough, intense, emotional, serious, exciting, suspense