Best movies like The True Hero

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The True Hero Starring Simon Yam, Anita Yuen, John Dang, Derek Yee Tung-Sing, and more. If you liked The True Hero then you may also like: Three Fugitives, You Wish!, The Way Way Back, Whiteboyz, One Way Ticket 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.

An ex-con has spent the last ten years of his life in prison for defending the lives of his best friend and his best friend's sister. While in jail he learns to become a teacher's aide. In school he comes across these troubled teens who start hanging around a sleazy low-level triad that runs a video arcade, luring kids by exchanging games for drug running. He eventually befriends the kids pissing off the triad who gets him fired by digging up dirt on his past. But he doesn't care, he proposes to his girlfriend and she says yes but a student is still held under the grasp of the triad. So he goes back into action to try and free the kid and ridding the neighborhood of the sleazy scumbag. Can he reach the kid and change the kid's ways? Will the ex-con and his girl live happily ever after?

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Three Fugitives

On his first day after being released from jail for 14 armed bank robberies, Lucas finds himself caught up in someone else's robbery. Perry has decided to hold up the local bank to raise money so that he can keep his daughter, Meg, and get her the treatment she needs. Dugan, a detective, assumes Lucas helped plan the robbery, and hence Lucas, Perry and Meg become three fugitives.

You Wish!

Alex is a high school student who always feels like he is overshadowed by his little brother Stevie; he can't get the girl of his dreams; he and his two best friends, Abby and James, are outsiders at school; and he is constantly benched on his football team. Then Stevie receives a lucky coin from a strange old man, a coin which he gives to Alex, telling him to make a wish. The next day, Alex gets everything he ever wished for - Stevie is gone (in fact, he is the star of his own TV show, and his family don't even know him); Alex dates the most popular girl at school; he is one of the most popular kids himself; and he is the star of the football team. At first he enjoys his new life, only to later find out that everything that was great in his original life now is gone.

The Way Way Back

Shy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.

Whiteboyz

In a virtually all-white Iowa town, Flip daydreams of being a hip-hop star, hanging with Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre. He practices in front of a mirror and with his two pals, James and Trevor. He talks Black slang, he dresses Black. He's also a wannabe pusher, selling flour as cocaine. And while he talks about "keeping it real," he hardly notices real life around him: his father's been laid off, his mother uses Food Stamps, his girlfriend is pregnant, James may be psychotic, one of his friends (one of the town's few Black kids) is preparing for college, and, on a trip to Chicago to try to buy drugs, the cops shoot real bullets. What will it take for Flip to get real?

One Way Ticket

A convict marries the warder's daughter after his escape and she eventually persuades him to finish his sentence.

Orange County

Shaun Brumder is a local surfer kid from Orange County who dreams of going to Stanford to become a writer and to get away from his dysfunctional family household. Except Shaun runs into one complication after another, starting when his application is rejected after his dim-witted guidance counselor sends in the wrong form.

Racing for Time

Cleveland 'Stack' Stackhouse is a guard with the Texas Correctional Youth Authority who witnesses the cycle of destructive choices and racial tensions among female teen offenders and decides to do something about it. He gathers African-American, Latina and Caucasian teens, and organizes a multi-racial track team behind the bars of the prison. Participation in Stack's track team not only breaks down the racial divides between the girls, but puts them on a path to turn their lives around.

Jamesy Boy

Based on the true story of teenager James Burns who goes from a suburban street gang to a maximum-security prison cell surrounded by hardened criminals. He turns his life around in prison thanks to the unexpected friendship he forms with a convicted murderer who becomes his mentor.

The Karate Kid Part III

Despondent over the closing of his karate school, Cobra Kai teacher John Kreese joins a ruthless businessman and martial artist to get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.

Keep 'Em Slugging

A gang of tough street kids decide to go straight and get jobs in order to free draft-age men for the war effort. However, because of their past tangles with the law, they can't find anybody who'll hire them. Finally one of them gets a job at the department store where his sister works, but runs afoul of a store executive who is in league with a ring of hijackers.

ATL

As four friends prepare for life after high school, different challenges bring about turning points in each of their lives. The dramas unfold and resolve at their local rollerskating rink, Cascade.

Charlie Bartlett

Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.

Cheats

While other kids buy into countless hours of studying just so they can get a mark in some teacher's report book, Handsome Davis sees it as nothing more than a system of control over your mind. That's why Handsome and his three best friends Sammy, Victor and the cribsheet genius Applebee have banded together and found ways to cheat on their tests all through their school years.

Tex

After their mother dies and their father leaves them, teenage brothers Tex and Mason McCormick struggle to make it on their own.

Toy Story

Led by Woody, Andy's toys live happily in his room until Andy's birthday brings Buzz Lightyear onto the scene. Afraid of losing his place in Andy's heart, Woody plots against Buzz. But when circumstances separate Buzz and Woody from their owner, the duo eventually learns to put aside their differences.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe, Fast Times follows a group of high school students growing up in Southern California. Stacy Hamilton and Mark Ratner are looking for a love interest, and are helped along by their older classmates, Linda Barrett and Mike Damone, respectively. At the center of the film is Jeff Spicoli, a perpetually stoned surfer who faces-off with the resolute Mr. Hand—a man convinced that everyone is on dope.

FIT

Takes a look at gay and straight love among the new millennials. Everything from secret crushes to homophobic attitudes are revealed by the rambunctious students taking Drama and Dance from Loris. None of the teens are what they seem at first glance, with gay hearts lurking behind tough exteriors and straight kids expressing themselves in many ways.

Foxfire

The story of five teenage girls who form an unlikely bond after beating up a teacher who has sexually harassed them. They build a solid friendship but their wild ways begin to get out of control.

Father Hood

Deadbeat dad kidnaps his kids from the bus to an abusive foster home and they go on a run. The cops are after them, they bicker constantly and his idea of a way out is grim, yet this dangerous ride might just turn them into a family.

Eddie Macon's Run

Eddie Macon is running from a nightmare... running to a dream... running for his life and his time is running out. He's escaped a Texas prison for the second time (risking life imprisonment if caught) to make it back to his wife and son. Relentlessly pursued by ruthless truant officer, Carl Marzack, who feels he must prove he can still 'get his man' by returning Macon to jail at any cost.

Simon Says

Five college friends choose to spend their vacation debauching at the riverside. They find the perfect place to camp out, but end up crossing paths with twin brothers, Simon and Stanley. The twins then begins to knock off the campers in some extremely creative (and extremely gruesome) ways.

Loser

On a university scholarship, a good natured student from the midwest gets a crash course in city life while dealing with three evil roommates. He befriends a virtually homeless college student whom he falls for, but she's dating a nasty professor.

Digging to China

Precocious young Harriet and her older sister Gwen live at their mother's motel in small-town New Hampshire. Harriet dreams of a life beyond her inattentive family and the stultifying town. A mentally disabled man named Ricky comes to stay at the motel, and Harriet finds him kinder and more interesting than anyone she has ever met. After tragedy strikes, Harriet and Ricky cling to each other ever more tightly.

Maryjane

A teacher trying to break up a local drug ring is framed and arrested for possession of marijuana.

Invincible

The Shadow Men are immortal beings of darkness and destruction. One such Shadow Man, Os (Zane), is confronted by the White Warrior, a being of light, and given the chance to change his ways or die. After the White Warrior bests Os in combat, she opens his heart to the power of love, and charges him to find the warriors who are the representation of the five elements and will save the world.

Unconditional

Samantha Crawford is living a storybook life: she’s happily married, she lives on a ranch where she keeps her beloved horse, and the stories she’s told and illustrated since childhood have become published books. When her husband Billy is killed in a senseless act of violence, Sam loses her faith and her will to live. But a death-defying encounter with two children leads to a reunion with Joe, her oldest friend. As Sam watches “Papa” Joe care for and love the kids in his under-resourced neighborhood, she begins to realize that no matter life’s circumstances, the love of God is always reaching out to us.

Supremacy

The story centers on paroled white supremacist who has just killed a cop, and takes a black family hostage. Within hours of being released from 14 years of solitary confinement in maximum-security Pelican Bay State Prison, Garrett Tully is on the run again. When he finds a house off a dirt road and takes a family hostage, he thinks the Aryan Brotherhood has his back–and his kidnap victims are black. The family’s patriarch, Mr. Walker, is a jaded ex-con who hates cops so much he disavowed his own son for becoming one. Seeing a familiar desperation in Tully, Walker refuses to call the authorities for help, causing familial tensions to escalate, and soon grave missteps are made.

Songs My Brothers Taught Me

This complex portrait of modern-day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation explores the bond between a brother and his younger sister, who find themselves on separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home.

Too Young to Die

An abused 15 year old is charged with a murder that carries the death penalty in this fact-based story.

Spaceship

When his daughter goes missing in an apparent alien abduction, Gabriel's search takes him dangerously close to her strange group of so-called friends. But the further he goes inside their computer game and fantasy-obsessed world, the more he realises that he must confront his own difficult memories if he is to get his daughter back.

The Faculty

When some very creepy things start happening around school, the kids at Herrington High make the chilling discovery that their faculty is being controlled by body-snatching aliens.

Heart of America

Starring Jurgen Prochnow ('The Replacement Killers' 'Air Force One' and Patrick Muldoon 'Stigmata' 'Starship Troopers'), 'Heart of America' is a powerhouse of a contemporary drama and essential viewing for anyone who was captivated by Michael Moore's 'Bowling For Columbine'. It is the last day of high school and the unthinkable is about to happen. Distraught at the constant abuse and bullying they have been subjected to, two students have made a suicide pact. But before they take their own lives, they are determined to cause chaos and murder amongst their fellow students.

Reach

A socially awkward band geek, Steven Turano, is planning on killing himself. However, when Clarence, the new quirky kid in school, befriends him, Steven's plans are sidetracked and he reaches beyond his comfort zone forming stronger relationships with his father, friends and teachers. The boys form an inseparable bond as Clarence finds creative ways to pull Steven out of his depression.

High School U.S.A.

Set in a senior high school class, J.J. pursues the girlfriend of a rival from a higher clique which culminates in a race at the end of the movie between the two rivals in this light comedy.

Alice in Acidland

Cute and perky college student Alice is invited to a "pool party" by Freida, a female teacher who is actually a lesbian and has designs on Alice. At the party Alice gets drunk, takes acid and immediately becomes a lesbian, taking a bath with Freida. Later Alice gets mixed up with LSD-addicted hippies, rape, more lesbians, more LSD, orgies, suicide, and having sex with guys in boxers.

New Kids in Town

Two exceptional kung fu students leave the mainland to work for their uncle in Hong Kong. Before long the students and their cousin, get mixed up in a drug smuggling ring. They decide to take on the gang in an all-out action fest.

Augusta, Gone

Martha is a businesswoman and divorced mother of two children - Augusta and Jack. However, when docile Augusta becomes a teenager, feelings of anger and self-hate cause her personality to undergo a scary transformation, and Martha realizes that this is not just typical teen angst. Augusta begins doing drugs, drinking, and ends up on the streets. Her concerned mother and father reach out to an educational consultant, who advises them to send Augusta to a strict wilderness camp for troubled teens. However, even the institution's experienced and tough administrators find Augusta a difficulty to keep under control. Martha comes to realize that there is no answer to her daughter's behavior.

Dragon in Jail

Andy Lau stars as a juvenile delinquent trying to escape life in the ghetto. After releasing from jail, he is bullied by a local tyrant, Ma Chao-wei, at last his jail mates help him to settle the problem. However, Ma takes revenge on him. His friendship with a rich jail mate (Ho Kar King) is his only way out!

The Wrath of Cain

A former kingpin of the streets, Miles “Cain” Skinner is doing life in prison. He is feared and respected among the inmates. When Cain learns that his sentence will be shortened only by brain cancer, his urgency to change his ways goes into overdrive.

Heroes of Dirt

Passionate BMX dirt jumper, Phin Cooper, wants nothing in life but to attain fame in his sport. After missing a competition when he lands in jail for unpaid citations, he is court-ordered for community service and reluctantly mentors one of the toughest boys, Blue Espinosa. As Phin leads the troubled teen on exciting adventures of riding dirt trails, big jumps and cityscapes, Blue becomes more than an obligation - an unlikely friend whose secret world of drug trafficking threatens Phin's ultimate dream. Featuring some of the best stunts in dirt jumping by legendary pros and hardcore locals, Heroes of Dirt is more than adrenaline rush. It embarks on an unforgettable journey into real significance, and the price it takes to get there.

The Lady Is the Boss

Wong Hsia Yuan is an old-fashioned martial arts master who's so behind the times that he'd rather his school be destroyed than change its ways. He may get his wish, thanks to the young, beautiful, intelligent Chan Mei Ling, who arrives from the states to open a new branch of the school. Armed with an unfamiliar, modern way of thinking, Mei Ling goes about recruiting new students in strange, and sometimes questionably legal ways. Yuan is furious, but when the local triads enter the picture, the two put their differences aside to take back the neighborhood.

The Yakuza Way

After a three-year prison term in Japan, a yakuza heads for LA to buy two kilos of cocaine. He's going to smuggle it back to Japan, and it's to be his last score: he wants to marry Yoko, his long-suffering girlfriend, and get out of the life. But somebody sets him up, Yoko is shot, and he loses the suitcase of dope. He determines to stay in LA, retrieve the coke, and exact revenge: although he's a drug dealer, he still follows the samurai code of the yakuza. Along the way, he learns that his long-lost younger sister is in Los Angeles, and he teams up with an unlikely partner in his quest for justice: a petty thief who's trying to help a young woman get back to Japan.

School for Scumbags

An often-expelled student finds a home at the Gafin School for "misdirected" teens -- an institution run by professional thieves.

420 High Desert Way

With the High Desert drug game getting out of control, the police are forced to use an undercover street-cop to infiltrate the extreme world of drugs and violence. With his new identity, D-Dogg must prove himself by mastering the criminal way of life. However, his cover is about to be blown when the drug lord gets word of the disloyalty in his camp.

In Fast Company

Richard Talmadge as a man who loves to live the fast life which often results in him getting in trouble. Be it throwing wild parties, losing money, getting in the boxing ring and running from gangsters. There's always something.

The Tea House

Chen Kuan-Tai is Big Brother Cheng, a former refugee who runs a local teahouse in Hong Kong. Respected by his peers, Big Brother Cheng runs the teahouse - and unofficially the neighborhood - with a firm righteous hand. However, when the triads come calling, Big Brother Cheng finds out respect and common decency may not be enough. The triads use underage kids to terrorize the teahouse, and since the law won't do anything, Big Brother Cheng may have to step in and take care of it himself!

Green Is Gold

A thirteen-year-old boy is forced to live with his estranged brother after their father is sent to prison. Their relationship is soon tested when the older brother's occupation as a marijuana dealer infringes on his ability not only to raise his kid brother, but even to take care of himself. However, through constant tribulations, they discover the only way to get through the difficulties of life is to work together and try to beat the odds.

Her Little Secret

When Lerrez finally manages to turn her life around, her dark past finds its way back in. How far will she go to keep Her Little Secret?

Notes from Dad

Trumpet player Roy Allen starts anew as a music teacher in a school full of kids with little exposure to music. Roy connects with a talented virtuoso in need of a father figure. Through the journey of launching a school band and learning to reach kids on their own terms, Nate reconnects with his own estranged son, becoming the father he always wanted to be.

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing

Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian jail on trumped-up drug charges. In order to win his freedom he must fight against the jailhouse fighting champ Uri Boyka in a battle to the death. This time he is not fighting for a title, he is fighting for his life!

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