20 best movies like American Kickboxer (1991)

In Beijing, a young martial artist's skill places him in position to experience opportunities and sacrifices.

After being humiliated in the ring by a dirty kickboxer who pulled down his shorts and then hit him, a martial arts master decides to travel to China and enter a monastery where he may learn the Shaolin form of fighting. The film then veers into "Karate Kid" territory where the novice humiliates himself at every turn, is tolerated as a foreigner, and still comes out a champion. The monastery teaches non-violence, but everyone knows that sooner or later the student will catch up with the bad guy.

U.S. agents send a gymnastic martial artist to secure a missile-base site in the savage country of Parmistan.

A former NCAA champion wrestler is paroled after 10 years in prison. Now, to save a friend's life, in a series of cage fights he must agree to do the impossible - lose.

Stacie Randall plays Harley, a Special Forces agent-turned-investigator, who arrives on the scene of an apparent mob hit to help the local police. In actuality, she's hunting down Francis Lydell, her former C.O. and lover, who shot her in the head when she turned down his offer to become part of the freelance assassination squad he was forming. Ignoring the need for surgery to remove the bullet fragment which still causes her to have occasional bouts of disorientation, she continues her quest to bring down Lydell before he has the chance to kill a Mafia informant being held at the police station. Written by Chris Holland

In Los Angeles, an ex-con (White) takes the underground fighting world by storm in his quest to fulfill a promise to a dead friend.

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.

Akira Saito, a Japanese businessman lives in Tokyo with his Japanese-American wife Aiko and their children, Takeshi and Tomoya. When the family has a chance to move to the United States so that Aiko can teach the children about their American heritage, they pack up and head for Houston, Texas and run a restaurant. This is where the trouble begins....

SUPREME CHAMPION is a fun, sexy, stylized and fast paced fight action thriller about honor and courage featuring eight world class mixed martial arts champions.

Action superstar, Jean-Claude Van Damme (Universal Soldier, Street Fighter), is back and at his hard-hitting best as Ben Archer, an ex-mob enforcer seeking revenge against a ruthless Chinese kingpin responsible for his wife's brutal murder. When Archer joins forces with his old underworld friends, an all-out war is waged against the Chinese Triad in this pulse-pounding action thriller.

Danny, a respected cop, is setup after an investigation goes wrong. While laying low in his new jail cell, Danny is forced to get involved in the inmates underground cage fighting circuit. With the help of Irving, a former mixed martial arts champion, Danny devises a scheme to bring justice and innocence to his family's name, if he can get out of the cage alive.

Captured international assassins are locked up inside a high-tech bunker known as the Killing Chamber. To break out of this concrete hell they must duel each other, fight deadly ninjas and battle against gangs of masked maniacs. And... if they survive this, they will have to confront Snakehead: the lethal, deranged top dog who will stop at nothing to kill 'em all!

Jean Claude Van Damme plays a dual role as Alex and Chad, twins separated at the death of their parents. Chad is raised by a family retainer in Paris, Alex becomes a petty crook in Hong Kong. Seeing a picture of Alex, Chad rejoins him and convinces him that his rival in Hong Kong is also the man who killed their parents. Alex is suspicious of Chad, especially when it comes to his girlfriend.

The archetypical renegade Texas Ranger wages war against a drug kingpin with automatic weapons, his wits and martial arts after a gun battle leaves his partner dead. All of this inevitably culminates in a martial arts showdown between the drug lord and the ranger, and involving the woman they both love.

Alain Moreau's investigation into the death of his identical twin brother leads him from the beauty of the south of France to the mean streets of New York City and into the arms of his brother's beautiful girlfriend. Pursued by ruthless Russian mobsters and renegade FBI agents, the duo race against time to solve his brother's murder and expose an international conspiracy.

Seventeen years ago, NASCAR racer Cutter McCullough died in a fiery crash. But death can’t stop a man driven by revenge. He and his car are back from the grave to settle a score with his old girlfriend Tammy and his rival JJ Sawyer. Now JJ, Tammy, and their daughter, Jesse, are hitting the road with the Phantom Racer on their tail.

Escaped convict Sam Gillen single-handedly takes on ruthless developers who are determined to evict a widow with two young children.

Lyon Gaultier is a deserter in the Foreign Legion arriving in the USA entirely hard up. He finds his brother between life and death and his sister-in-law without the money needed to heal her husband and to maintain her child. To earn the money needed, Gaultier decides to take part in some very dangerous clandestine fights.

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.

A man must survive a prison where hardened criminals battle to the death for the warden's entertainment.

Rusty Wittenburg is a Navy SEAL struggling to balance his family life and his job. He fights daily to maintain the line between reality and the nightmares his PTSD conjures up for him. Dedicated to his team and his mission, he is willing to give the ultimate sacrifice for his fellow brothers and teammates.

Eight years after fleeing the Congo following his assassination of that country's minister of mining, former assassin Jim Terrier is back, suffering from PTSD and digging wells to atone for his violent past. After an attempt is made on his life, Terrier flies to London to find out who wants him dead -- and why. Terrier's search leads him to a reunion with Annie, a woman he once loved, who is now married to an oily businessman with dealings in Africa.

Brandon, a respected street fighter, is forced to flee the city after his brother is murdered and the money that was supposed to be paid back to a local gangster is stolen. While lying low at his father's house in a small Southern town, Brandon soon gets involved in the local underground cage-fighting circuit. With the help of Drake Colby, a former MMA champion, Brandon devises a scheme to bring a massive payday, if they are able to survive.

Former Green Beret Louis Stevens returns to his hometown of Miami after completing military service in Brazil, only to learn that his old high school has become a haven for gangs and drug dealers. After Stevens uses his capoeira skills to kick several drug dealers off of the school property, Kerrigan, one of Stevens' old teachers, sees the impact that Stevens has on the students. Kerrigan gives him the task of teaching Capoeira to a handful of the worst at-risk students at the school.

A martial arts instructor working at a police academy gets imprisoned after killing a man by accident. But when a vicious killer starts targeting martial arts masters, the instructor offers to help the police in return for his freedom.

A martial arts expert who runs a dojo for under-privileged kids from a dilapidated warehouse is shaken down by gangsters demanding protection money. Then when one of his students is gunned down in the street by the gang, he swears revenge. Meanwhile the gang leader is setting up a death match between the best fighters and is forcing a former trainer to find a new champion by threatening his granddaughter.

Chapman is an ex-marine in Brazil's slums, battling the yakuza outfit who attacked his sister and left her for dead.

Detective - turned - bodyguard Cynthia McKay (Cynthia Rothrock) is hired by a psychotic icy seductress, Nina Lindell (Lydie Denier), the same woman who killed Mckay's lover months earlier. With vendetta in her heart McKay accompanies the flamboyantly playful womanizer through the glamourous world of the super-rich as his protector. In a unique role reversal, it is the woman protecting the man from another woman, erupting into a deadly triangle of passion, suspense and action.

A group of Russian mobsters have stolen a huge supply of paper for printing U.S. currency, and are now flooding the market with conterfeit bills. When one of the mobsters decides to give herself in and hand over a data CD to the DA, she is shot and killed, but not before handing the disc to an unsuspecting Tommy Lee. Despite working with the police as a martial arts instructor, Lee doesn't go to the cops with the disc, but instead goes on the run, giving the mafia time to kidnap his daughter and hold as a hostage in exchange for return of the disc. Will Tommy ever see his daughter again?

Gino Felino (Steven Seagal) is an NYPD detective from Brooklyn who knows everyone and everything in his neighborhood. Killing his Partner was someone's mistake, because he's now Out For Justice.

A female aerobic instructor is possessed by the soul of a fallen ninja when coming to his aid. The spirit seeks revenge on those who killed him and uses the instructor's body to carry out his mission. The only way the spirit will leave her body is with the help of another ninja.

When an EPA representative is murdered in a small Appalachian community, EPA undercover agent Jack Taggart is sent in—posing as a handyman working with a Christian relief agency—to determine what happened.

Terrorists attempt to disrupt the Atlanta Olympics by kidnapping the U.S. women's swim team. If their demands are not met, the team will be executed. Only janitor Jack Bryant, a former Olympic gymnast champion of Tae Kwon Do felled by injuries and alcoholism knows of their real plans. And only he, with the guidance of former terrorist-fighter Leo, can stop them.

A mysterious woman comes to compete in a quick-draw elimination tournament, in a town taken over by a notorious gunman.

Danny is a young martial arts enthusiast who arrives in Hong Kong to head a school of Choy Lee Fut owned by his wealthy father.

Ip Man's peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family's honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family. In the mean time, Gong Er chooses the path of vengeance after her father was killed by Ma San.

Every ten or seven years in an unsuspecting town, The Tournament takes place. A battle royale between 30 of the world's deadliest assassins. The last man standing receiving the $10,000,000 cash prize and the title of Worlds No 1, which itself carries the legendary million dollar a bullet price tag.

Copper Jack Stone purposefully orchestrates a bank robbery in order to be thrown into prison with the notorious Russian kingpin Balam. Balam is more than just a mob criminal; he's a very cunning and dangerous lord who controls the police force from behind bars. Balam lives in prison as a cover for his real power, which is King of the city. His cell is a lavish private room built specifically for him, inaccessible to most in the depths of the prison structure. Even the warden fears venturing into his area of the prison. However, even surrounded by his loyal henchmen and guards in his sectioned off fortress, Balam doesn't know Jack is coming for him to avenge his family, who Balam murdered in cold blood. Balam is tough... but Jack is tougher.

In a world with no guns, a mysterious drifter, a bartender and a young samurai plot revenge against a ruthless leader and his army of thugs, headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins.

When a man's daughter is suddenly taken during a championship hockey game – with the captors demanding a billion dollars by game's end – he frantically sets a plan in motion to rescue her and abort an impending explosion before the final buzzer.

Picking up after the events of Never Back Down 2, former MMA champion Case Walker is on the comeback trail to become champion once again.

After his family is killed by a Serbian gangster with international interests. NYC detective Nick goes to S.E. Asia and teams up with a Thai detective to get revenge and destroy the syndicates human trafficking network.

Set against the backdrop of San Francisco’s Chinatown, this cross-cultural biopic chronicles Bruce Lee’s emergence as a martial-arts superstar after his legendary secret showdown with fellow martial artist Wong Jack Man.

Jake is a driver for a seedy escort service operating out of 'The Naked Eye strip club', he's a street thug type who falls for a witty high-class escort named Sandy. Except one night Sandy is found murdered, the only clues left behind are cell phone calls made the night she died. To avenge Sandy's death Jake must risk everything and walk a bloody path to find her killer.

A cop turns vigilante after his family is murdered, exacting vengeance on the killers - and then on all criminals who have slipped through the system.

A street smart, 17-year-old named Daniel practices Parkour and is both hero and thief.

An account of karate competitor Choi Yeung-Eui who went to Japan after World War II to become a fighter pilot but found a very different path instead. He changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama and went across the country, defeating martial artists one after another. This film concentrates on the period when he is still young, and developing his famous karate style, Kyokushin.

Betrayed by the Dutch colonial forces, Arana manages to escape along with his nephews Jamar and Suwo, the newborn sons of Hamza, one of the last Indonesian sultans fighting against foreign tyranny. In 1860, after wandering for years on the plains of the American Wild West, Arana and the two brothers return to Indonesia to avenge their dead loved ones and punish the evil man who caused their misfortune.

Two warring gang families (one African-American, the other Chinese) maneuver for bragging rights to the Oakland, California, docks. Hang Sing and Trish O'Day uncover a trail of deceit that leaves most of the warring factions dead … or worse!

Following a deadly viral outbreak, private military soldier Max Gatling leads a handful of survivors and a ragtag band of robots against an army of the infected.