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The Karate Kid poster

Movies that feel likeThe Karate Kid (2010)

12-year-old Dre Parker could've been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother's latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying but the cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre's feelings make him an enemy of the class bully, Cheng. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han, who is a kung fu master. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.

If you loved The Karate Kid, the closest films we have are The Legend Is Born: Ip Man (2010), The Grandmaster (2013) and Ip Man 3 (2015). All three share The Karate Kid's kinetic and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Hidden Fortress (1958).

🍅 67% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Harald Zwartkineticepiccontemplativewarm
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If The Karate Kid hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Karate Kid (1984) · The Karate Kid Part II (1986)

The Legend Is Born: Ip Man poster
The Legend Is Born: Ip Man
2010 · dir. Herman Yau
★ 7drama · action · history

Common ground in both: martial arts and kung fu

The difference: Takes it somewhere less warm than The Karate Kid does

The remarkable true story of the early life of Ip Man, the formidable kung fu genius who would become Bruce Lee's mentor; beginning at the start of his journey from his initial training through to the ultimate battle to become supreme master of the art of Wing Chun.

The Grandmaster poster
The Grandmaster
2013 · dir. Wong Kar-Wai
🍅 78%★ 6.6action · drama · history

Common ground: martial arts

The difference: Leans harder into history than The Karate Kid does

The fall of China's last dynasty, a time of chaos, division and war, is the golden age of Chinese martial arts. Legendary kung fu master Ip Man, who will eventually train Bruce Lee, finds his peaceful life interrupted by vengeance.

Ip Man 3 poster
Ip Man 3
2015 · dir. Wilson Yip
🍅 76%★ 7action · drama · historyPrime VideoHulu

Both are built on the same subject: kung fu

When a band of brutal gangsters led by a crooked property developer make a play to take over the city, Master Ip is forced to take a stand.

The Hidden Fortress poster
The Hidden Fortress
1958 · dir. Akira Kurosawa
🍅 96%★ 8drama · action · adventureMax

The same mix in both: momentum, then scale

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.

House of Flying Daggers poster
House of Flying Daggers
2004 · dir. Zhang Yimou
🍅 87%★ 7.5adventure · drama · actionPrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on action

In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.

Bodyguards and Assassins poster
Bodyguards and Assassins
2009 · dir. Teddy Chan Tak-Sam
🍅 50%★ 6.8drama · action · history

Kinetic drama in both cases

In 1905, revolutionist Sun Yat-sen came to Hong Kong to meet revolutionary comrades. The Qing government sent a group of killers to murder him. Ordinary citizens from all walks of life joined together, blocking the streets and fighting off the assassins to keep Sun Yat-sen safe.

Mulan: Rise of a Warrior poster
Mulan: Rise of a Warrior
2009 · dir. Jingle Ma Choh-Sing
★ 6.6adventure · drama · action

Adventure with a pulse of scale, in both cases

When barbarian hordes threaten her homeland, the brave and cunning Mulan disguises herself as a male soldier to swell the ranks in her aging father's stead. The warrior's remarkable courage drives her through powerful battle scenes and brutal wartime strategy. Mulan loses dear friends to the enemy's blade as she rises to become one of her country's most valuable leaders — but can she win the war before her secret is exposed?

Exodus: Gods and Kings poster
Exodus: Gods and Kings
2014 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 29%★ 6adventure · drama · action

Family built on stillness, twice over

The defiant leader Moses rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, setting 400,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.

Robin Hood poster
Robin Hood
2010 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 43%★ 6.6action · adventure · historyMax

Kinetic action, and it commits to that

When soldier Robin happens upon the dying Robert of Loxley, he promises to return the man's sword to his family in Nottingham. There, he assumes Robert's identity; romances his widow, Marion; and draws the ire of the town's sheriff and King John's henchman, Godfrey.

The Huntsman: Winter's War poster
The Huntsman: Winter's War
2016 · dir. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
🍅 19%★ 6.1action · adventure · dramaNetflix

Epic adventure in both cases

As two evil sisters prepare to conquer the land, two renegades—Eric the Huntsman, who aided Snow White in defeating Ravenna in Snowwhite and the Huntsman, and his forbidden lover, Sara—set out to stop them.

The Spiderwick Chronicles poster
The Spiderwick Chronicles
2008 · dir. Mark Waters
🍅 81%★ 6.5family · adventure · fantasyParamount+Peacock

Warm family, and it commits to that

Upon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory, find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures.

Gladiator II poster
Gladiator II
2024 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 70%★ 6.4action · adventure · dramaPrime VideoParamount+

Contemplative drama in both cases

Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Karate Kid’s defining feeling.