Best movies like The Hustler of Muscle Beach

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Hustler of Muscle Beach Starring Richard Hatch, Kay Lenz, Jeanette Nolan, Joe Santos, and more. If you liked The Hustler of Muscle Beach then you may also like: When We Were Kings, The Outside Man, Arena, McFarland, USA, The Competition and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

A slick promoter in the bodybuilding subculture of Venice Beach, California, finds what he considers a diamond in the rough: a dedicated but somewhat mentally challenged young man who wants to win bodybuilding championships, but needs some help and direction--and the promoter thinks he's just the one to do it.

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Know any good movies to watch like The Hustler of Muscle Beach 1980. With a similar plot or stoyline. Suggest it.

When We Were Kings

It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.

The Outside Man

A French hit man is hired by a crime family to end the life of a rival mobster, but things fall apart when the boss who hired him is killed.

Arena

An intergalactic fighting competition between champions of various worlds has traditionally been won by a species much larger and stronger than humans. Entering the contest, a human finds he has to battle against not just his opponents and his self-doubts, but the corrupt system. Far in the future, on a distant space station, the legendary Arena is where the best fighters from every planet come to vie for the championship. But for over half a century, no Earthling has been good enough to be a contender. Until out of nowhere, comes an underdog: the great human hope, Steve Armstrong... and the best anyone's ever seen. He's been training all his life for a shot at the big time, but now he's up against some mighty big muscle: a ruthless extra-terrestrial crimelord who'll pull no punches to make sure he stops Steve dead. In the mood for hard-hitting sci-fi action? Arena will knock you out!

McFarland, USA

A track coach in a small California town transforms a team of athletes into championship contenders.

The Competition

The movie centers on a piano competition whose winner is assured of success. It is Paul's last chance to compete, but newcomer Heidi may be a better pianist. Can romance be far away? Will she take a dive despite the pressure to win from her teacher, Greta, or will she condemn Paul to obscurity?

The Astrologer

Craig Alexander, a con-man "psychic" on the carnival circuit receives the opportunity to pilfer some legendary rubies in Kenya. His luck holds and he winds up the sole beneficiary of the ill-gotten wealth, which he parlays into an astrological broadcasting empire. But once he reaches the top, there's only one direction he can go...

Crowned and Dangerous

After the murder of a beauty queen, an investigation reveals the suspects to be a former lover, a rival contestant, and a stage mother.

Lords of Dogtown

The radical true story behind three teenage surfers from Venice Beach, California, who took skateboarding to the extreme and changed the world of sports forever. Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva and Jay Adams are the Z-Boys, a bunch of nobodies until they create a new style of skateboarding that becomes a worldwide phenomenon. But when their hobby becomes a business, the success shreds their friendship.

Dogtown and Z-Boys

This award-winning, thrilling story is about a group of discarded kids who revolutionized skateboarding and shaped the attitude and culture of modern day extreme sports. Featuring old skool skating footage, exclusive interviews and a blistering rock soundtrack, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS captures the rise of the Zephyr skateboarding team from Venice's Dogtown, a tough "locals only" beach with a legacy of outlaw surfing.

The Firm

Set in the 1980s, Dom is a teenager who finds himself drawn into the charismatic world of football 'casuals,influenced by the firm's top boy, Bex. Accepted by the gang for his fast mouth and sense of humor, Dom soon becomes one the boys. But as Bex and his gang clash with rival firms across the country and the violence spirals out of control, Dom realizes he wants out - until he learns it's not that easy to simply walk away.

Beach Babes from Beyond

An intergalactic babe borrows her dad's T-bird ship to do a little planet hopping with her two friends, but they run out of fuel unexpectedly, and must land on earth. They land on the California coast and run into some guys, where they have fun and a few close encounters at the beach. One of the guys' Uncle Bud, who just wants to meditate and hang out, is being threatened with condemnation of his beach house unless he puts some money into repairs. The alien babes offer to enter the bikini contest with their way-out designs to try and win the money he needs, but they are hampered by the garment designer who will stop at nothing to win.

Thrashin'

Corey and his band of skater buddies sometimes make mischief, but they're more interested in girls and having fun on their boards than in getting into any real trouble. Notorious enemy crew the Daggers, led by Tommy Hook, get their kicks terrorizing the locals at Venice Beach. When Corey starts dating Tommy's kid sister Chrissy, the Daggers are furious. The boys then take their beef to the "L.A. Massacre," a deadly skate race down a canyon road.

Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off

A wide-ranging, definitive look at Hawk’s life and iconic career, and his relationship with the sport with which he’s been synonymous for decades, featuring unprecedented access, never-before-seen footage, and interviews with Hawk and prominent figures in the sport including Stacy Peralta, Rodney Mullen, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, Neil Blender, Andy MacDonald, Duane Peters, Sean Mortimer, and Christian Hosoi.

Step Sisters

Jamilah has her whole life figured out. She's the president of her black sorority, captain of their champion step dance crew, is student liaison to the college dean, and her next move is on to Harvard Law School. She's got it all, right? But when the hard-partying white girls from Sigma Beta Beta embarrass the school, Jamilah is ordered to come to the rescue. Her mission is to not only teach the rhythmically-challenged girls how to step dance, but to win the Steptacular, the most competitive of dance competitions. With the SBBs reputations and charter on the line, and Jamilah's dream of attending Harvard in jeopardy, these outcast screw-ups and their unlikely teacher stumble through one hilarious misstep after another. Cultures clash, romance blossoms, and sisterhood prevails as everyone steps out of their comfort zones.

Swimming for Gold

Young elite swimmer Claire is sent to Australia to coach a boys swimming team, where she must overcome an old rival and a secret fear to save the swimming camp from closing.

Spellbound

This documentary follows 8 teens and pre-teens as they work their way toward the finals of the Scripps Howard national spelling bee championship in Washington D.C.

eHero

An up-and-coming video gamer faces his greatest challenge yet as he and his team must overcome a fiery gaming superstar, as well as their own battling egos, to win the ultimate video game championship.

Spare Parts

With the help of their high school's newest teacher, four Hispanic students form a robotics club. Although they have no experience, the youths set their sights on a national robotics contest. With $800 and parts scavenged from old cars, they build a robot and compete against reigning champion MIT. Along the way, the students learn not only how to build a robot but something far more important: how to forge bonds that will last a lifetime.

Hot Rod

A freewheeling drag racer enters a local championship meet and finds himself head-to-head with the tyrannical town boss who has already arranged for his own son to win.

Mystery, Alaska

In Mystery, Alaska, life revolves around the legendary Saturday hockey game at the local pond. But everything changes when the hometown team unexpectedly gets booked in an exhibition match against the New York Rangers. When quirky small-towners, slick promoters and millionaire athletes come together.

Ping Pong

Les D'Arcy is a living legend. At 89 years old, he's obviously not received the memo about slowing down, and is going for gold, literally. He's headed to China to compete in the over 80s Table Tennis Championships in Inner Mongolia. A seven time world champion, he still lifts weights to train - something he's been doing for decades, after surviving a sickly childhood. Of course compared to some, Les is a spring chicken. Australian legend Dorothy deLow is 100, and finds herself a mega celebrity in this rarefied world. She'd better watch out though- Texan Lisa Modlich is fifteen years her junior and is determined to do what it takes to win her first gold. Director Hugh Hartford follows eight players from five countries, as they prepare to compete in this extraordinary sporting event that is as much about the tenacity of the human spirit as it is about taking home the title.

Thank God It's Friday

It's Friday and everyone is going to the hot new disco. The Commodores are scheduled to play if Floyd shows up with the instruments and Nicole dreams of becoming a disco star. Other characters are there to win the dance contest, or to put a little excitement into a fifth anniversary.

Alex of Venice

After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.

Price of Glory

An ex-boxer, living with the knowledge that his fight career was cut short by a crooked manager, channels his bitter disappointment in a single-minded quest for boxing championships for his three sons. We see them in pee-wee Silver Glove matches with dad constantly pushing them. Ten years later, they're young men, with dad as both father and manager. A professional promoter, Nick Everson, wants to sign the boys, but dad rejects those offers. Then, in expressions of their varied relationships with their father, each son makes his own decisions. Can dad ever step aside, and can the family hold together?

The Pee Wee 3D: The Winter That Changed My Life

When his wife dies, Carl offers his only son, Janeau, 12, a fresh start. They move to Mont Saint-Hilaire, where Janeau makes friends with Julie, a talented Pee-Wee hockey goalie determined to compete in the annual World Tournament held in Quebec. She convinces Janeau to join the team, but he has a hard time being accepted by the rest of the players, including Joey, the star player who has to endure constant pressure from his father.

The Size of Watermelons

Alex is the definition of loser. He has no, nor has he ever had, friends. His life has no direction and he has a stupid haircut. While attending the Venice Beach Art School, he meets Lizzy, Patrick and Gnome, who become his friends. When Alex figures out he should make a movie, he decides to do an "alternative political documentary in black and white" about Gnomes struggle to free Hawaii. He hires some brain dead film students and meets the girl of his dreams and he's all ready to make his movie. Until the first scheduled shooting date when Gnome, who has the budget, turns up missing.

Final Impact

A former kick-boxing world champion discovers a young fighter, and believes together they can win back the world crown.

Pumping Iron II: The Women

PUMPING IRON II: THE WOMEN, a film that is changing the way the world views the female physique-creating "a new definition of the female form." Join four women as they prepare for the 1983 Caesars Palace World Cup Championship: the sultry and curvaceous Rachel McLish, the current champion; the almost manly, super-muscular Bev Francis, Rachel's toughest competition; and newcomers Lori Bowen and Carla Dunlap.

Cracked Nuts

A young man in a small town wins $5000 in a radio contest. He goes to New York City to propose to his girlfriend, but gets mixed up with a crooked attorney and two con men...

Cagefighter: Worlds Collide

Reiss is the greatest champion to ever fight in a LEGENDS cage. But when promoter Max Black pits him against wrestling superstar Randy Stone, Reiss finds himself in the toughest fight of his life.

Counterpunch

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.

West Is West

Vikram (Ashotosh Gowariker) is an Indian immigrant from Bombay who lands in San Francisco. His happiness over his arrival in the United States is diminished when customs officers unexplainably trim his tourist visa from six months to one. When he arrives at the home of his sponsor, he finds that the building is abandoned, and his application to study at the University of California has been rejected. He later meets Sue (Heidi Carpenter), a punk-rock femme who works at a late-night theater specializing in horror films, and Vikram becomes very fond of the woman, proposing marriage in hopes of starting a new life in the United States.

Venice Underground

Selected by the DEA, a group of police cadets form a Narc unit to bust narcotic dealers along the Venice Beach Boardwalk. When a gang turf war leads to the death of one of the unit members, the team has 48 hours to solve the case or be suspended.

Notorious Nick

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.

Venus of Venice

A slick caper movie about a petty thief falls for a wealthy American artist.

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