Best movies like Star Runner
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Preparing for the hand-to-hand battle of his life and the title of Champion Star Runner, a headstrong fighter creates a deadly hybrid mix of Thai kickboxing and Chinese kung fu. Get ready for the ultimate Pan-Asian mixed martial arts competition, where anything goes and lives are bought and sold.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 329
Genere: Action, Drama, Romance
Country: Hong Kong, South Korea
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, exciting
Best tv shows and movies like Star Runner (2003):
Similar in 90%
Shanghai Affairs (1998)
Plot Summary:
A Shanghai doctor named Tangsan, is trying to help the town's poor people. Meanwhile, he has the murderous Axe Gang to deal with as well as his feelings for the gang leader's sister.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 231
Genere: Action, Drama, Romance
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: romantic, scenic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 75%
Game Over (2005)
Plot Summary:
treet fighter Victor Knox (Andre McCoy), just freed from prison, needs money to be re-united with his wife and child. When invited to join an underground fight tournament promising easy cash, he quickly signs up. Under constant surveillance by virtual spectators, the matches becomes increasingly violent; Vic soon finds himself held captive in a game of endless fighting. To free himself, he must confront the game's creator, known only as The Ref (Daz Crawford, UK Gladiators' "Diesel").
IMDB Rating: 2.9
IMDB Votes: 180
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, surprise ending, independent film
Similar in 77%
7 Grandmasters (1977)
Plot Summary:
An aged Kung Fu practitioner travels across China, challenging the best Grandmaster from each province to prove his mastery of martial arts. Meanwhile is a plot developing behind his back.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 977
Genere: Action, Comedy, Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: action adventure, road movie, exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, stylized, independent film, cult film
Similar in 87%
Five Fingers of Death (1972)
Plot Summary:
A young boxer joins a martial arts school to increase his skill so he can enter a martial arts competition. he leaves the school when he hears that a local gangster is terrorizing the town. he comes to the aid of a young singer and brings on the wrath of the local gang. he eventually enters the martial arts competition after learning iron palm technique and takes out all competition.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama, Romance
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, cult classic, serious, realistic, stylized, psychotronic, campy, cult film
Similar in 90%
Forced to Fight (2011)
Plot Summary:
Once a legend in the brutal world of illicit underground fighting, Shane Slavin (Daniels) decides to turn his life around, promising his wife and young son he's fought his last battle. But when his younger brother betrays a ruthless crime boss (Weller), Shane is forced back into the arena to pay his brother's debts and to protect his family.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 817
Genere: Action
Country: Canada
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, realistic, tense, suspense, serious
Similar in 89%
Unrivaled (2010)
Plot Summary:
On these streets everyone is fighting for a way out, but after a lifetime of hard knocks, a down-on-his-luck cage fighter gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is chosen to compete against the MMA world champion during a massive competition. The stakes are high and the reward great...but should he lose, it will cost him his life.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 906
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, uplifting, serious, erotic, realistic
Similar in 84%
To Be the Best (1993)
Plot Summary:
Eric Kulhane, a member of the U.S. Kickboxing Team, lets his quick temper and obsessive love for beautiful Cheryl make him the perfect target for blackmail. In order to stop ruthless gambler from rigging the World Championship and killing Cheryl, Eric and his father, his American teammates and their most feared Chinese opponents join for an explosive climax which rocks the Las Vegas Strip.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 338
Genere: Action
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, fast
Similar in 76%
The Circuit (2002)
Plot Summary:
Years ago, Dirk Longstreet walked away from The Circuit, the merciless underground fight club with no rules, where money changes hands as men are killed. But now gangsters have got his brother, and only one more journey inside the ring will save his life.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 378
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: Canada
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
Never Surrender (2009)
Plot Summary:
From the cage to the big screen, the world's greatest Mixed Martial Arts Champions come together for the first time in a major motion picture. When an MMA world champion is lured into the illegal world of underground cage fighting by an elusive promoter, he quickly realizes that the only way out is to kill or to be killed.
IMDB Rating: 2.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, rough, realistic, exciting, suspenseful
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 78%
Death Warrior (2009)
Plot Summary:
A gritty MMA fighter is forced into a twisted, underground gambling ring in which he must fight to the death with other MMA fighters in order to save his wife from certain death at the hands of a maniacal crime boss. In a desperate race against time, he is forced into a series of increasingly violent life and death matches while simultaneously piecing together the puzzle which leads him to uncover.
IMDB Rating: 2.9
IMDB Votes: 715
Genere: Action, Drama, Horror
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, psychological, rough, realistic
Similar in 77%
Fists of Legend (2013)
Plot Summary:
On a television show billed as “the greatest fight show on Earth,” eager amateurs with lots to prove boldly step into the ring and expect to leave bloody but victorious. The ratings hungry producers seek out “legendary” but largely forgotten streetfighters and mine their desperation for recaptured glory and redemption into ratings gold.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action
Country: South Korea
Duration: 154 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, captivating, rough
Similar in 79%
Ring of Fire (1991)
Plot Summary:
The main character, Johnny Woo, is a Chinese doctor who has given up fighting in the ring. His brother is a teacher in a kick-boxing club. Johnny Woo fall in love with Julie, whose brother is a teacher in a rival kick-boxing club. Tension builds up.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 884
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, cult film
Similar in 84%
American Brawler (2013)
Plot Summary:
A martial arts instructor must enter the world of illegal pit fighting in order to save his family and his dojo.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 352
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
Brawler (2011)
Plot Summary:
Sidelined by an injury incurred while protecting his young brother, underground fighter Charlie Fontaine feels blindsided when he discovers his brother having sex on his couch with his new wife, Kat. Fueled by rage, a determined Charlie makes plans to get back in the ring and take on his brother in a fight to the death.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 368
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, rough, independent film
Similar in 90%
Bloodfight (1989)
Plot Summary:
Master martial artist Masahiro Kai is a shadow of the champion fighter and trainer he once was. After his protégé was slain in a no-holds-barred, underground fight by the incomparable Chang Lee, Kai slips into a numbing alcohol-induced stupor to try to forget the past.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 621
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cult film
Similar in 82%
Challenge of the Masters (1976)
Plot Summary:
The Wong family kung fu school gets smacked around by a rival school. Wong Fei-hong gets fed up with the abuse and goes to learn from his fathers master. After one of the rival schools members kills some of the towns people Wong Fei-hong becomes enraged trains even more comes back and gets his revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 796
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, fast
Similar in 88%
Fight the Fight (2011)
Plot Summary:
Having taken his father's advice, one man decides to return home in pursuit of a fresh start. While training at his father's martial arts school, he learns that his father has given consent to sell the school to a rival martial arts school.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 530
Genere: Action, Comedy, Drama
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018)
Plot Summary:
One year after the events of "Kickboxer: Vengeance", Kurt Sloan has vowed never to return to Thailand. However, while gearing up for a MMA title shot, he finds himself sedated and forced back into Thailand, this time in prison. He is there because the ones responsible want him to face a 6'8" 400 lbs. beast named Mongkut and in return for the fight, Kurt will get two million dollars and his freedom back. Kurt at first refuses, in which a bounty is placed on his head as a way to force him to face Mongkut. Kurt soon learns he will have no other choice and will undergo his most rigorous training yet under some unexpected mentors in order to face Mongkut in hopes to regain his freedom.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: brutal, suspenseful, exciting, inspirational, feel good, bleak, serious, realistic, tense, rough
Similar in 90%
The Brave Archer (1977)
Plot Summary:
Guo Jing and Yang Kang are the sons of two rebels. The rebels are killed by imperial soldiers and the boys are rescued by six pugilists later. The pugilists agree to separate the two boys, tutor them separately in martial arts, and let them meet again when they have grown up, to determine whose abilities are better. Guo becomes the student of the "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan" while Yang Kang becomes the foster son of a Jurchen prince inadvertently.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 492
Genere: Action, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: exciting, epic, serious, realistic, cult film
Similar in 89%
Ip Man: The Final Fight (2013)
Plot Summary:
In postwar Hong Kong, legendary Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man is reluctantly called into action once more, when what begin as simple challenges from rival kung fu styles soon draw him into the dark and dangerous underworld of the Triads. Now, to defend life and honor, he has no choice but to fight one last time.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense, scenic
Similar in 89%
Fatal Contact (2006)
Plot Summary:
A young man learns the fighting techniques of Sanda from a coach. The two become best friends as the young man prepares to enter an underground tournament, competing against some of the top fighters of the world.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 83%
The Scorpion (2007)
Plot Summary:
Featuring a mix of Thai Boxing and Ultimate Fighting, SCORPION has been dubbed The French Fight Club. It stars Jerome Le Banner, who is also known as Hyper Battle Cyborg and The Bulldog of Paris, a true kickboxer, famous for his aggressive style - 43 of his 57 wins have come by knockout.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 792
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: exciting, captivating, psychological, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Confessions of a Pit Fighter (2005)
Plot Summary:
"From the day I was born I had to fight to survive. I fought everyone and everything that came in front of me. On the streets, confessions are made in Blood. They say that when you confess your sins, only then can you be redeemed. This is my redemption. This is my confession." (Eddie Castillo 2005).
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 273
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Kill the Shogun (1975)
Plot Summary:
Action-drama set during the 1904 occupation of Korea (by Japan). An incident is sparked when the Japanese force the Korean soldiers to strip off their uniforms. Two of the Korean soldiers refuse and go on a rampage against the Japanese, forcing them to take their uniforms off.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 47
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
Underground (2007)
Plot Summary:
In the UK suburbs, an underground tournament is set to challenge twelve fighters from different backgrounds to compete for the price of £500,000. They have been handpicked for a no-holds barred competition that will push each fighter to their limit. Each fighter has their own reason for competing, and each will give everything they've got to take the prize...but there can be only one winner.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 590
Genere: Action
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, exciting, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 86%
Circle of Pain (2010)
Plot Summary:
Following a fighting accident, Dalton Hunt retired from the world of MMA at the top. Unable to outrun his guilt, he lost his family, his title, and his way. But when a crooked promoter lures him back into a fight against the current undefeated champ, Dalton must enlist the aid of an enigmatic trainer to turn him bck into a warrior so he can stand tall and do battle once again.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, tense, suspense, rough, realistic
Similar in 82%
Tapped Out (2014)
Plot Summary:
A disgruntled teenager, sent to do community service at a rundown Karate school, enters an MMA tournament to face the man who killed his parents.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sport
Country: Canada
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, realistic, rough
Similar in 89%
Counterpunch (2019)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story. A young boxer, Emilio, from the wrong side of the tracks with big dreams of winning the Golden Gloves boxing championship, finds himself at a cross roads after being locked up. As he fights his way back into the winning circle he gets a second shot at the championship title. As he is toe to toe in the ring with his competitor he'll throw all the punches and be the last man standing.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 793
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, emotional, realistic, tense, independent film
Similar in 75%
A Fighter's Blues (2000)
Plot Summary:
Before he went exclusively style-over-substance, Daniel Lee directed fighting drama A FIGHTER’S BLUES, about an aging boxer (Andy Lau, in a mature and underrated performance) seeking a shot at redemption. Co-starring Japanese drama queen Takako Tokiwa. Billed as Andy Lau’s 100th film. He would go on to make a whole lot more.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 469
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sentimental, rough, touching, serious, realistic