NoBadPicks

Movies Like Hard Times

If you loved Hard Times's Drama and Action storytelling, these films deliver a similar experience — carefully selected for tone, themes, and emotional depth. Each pick includes where to watch it right now.

Top Picks

Hard Target
6.5

Hard Target

1993

When a woman's father goes missing, she enlists a local to aid in her search. The pair soon discover that her father has died at the hands of a wealthy sportsman who hunts homeless men as a form of recreation.

Out of the Furnace
6.6

Out of the Furnace

2013

Two brothers live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, when a cruel twist of fate lands one in prison. His brother is then lured into one of the most violent crime rings in the Northeast.

Beautiful Disaster
6.7

Beautiful Disaster

2023

College freshman Abby tries to distance herself from her dark past while resisting her attraction to bad boy Travis.

Undisputed
6.5

Undisputed

2002

Monroe Hutchens is the heavyweight champion of Sweetwater, a maximum security prison. He was convicted to a life sentence due to a passionate crime. Iceman Chambers is the heavyweight champion, who lost his title due to a rape conviction to ten years in Sweetwater. When these two giants collide in the same prison, they fight against each other disputing who is the real champion.

Mandingo
6.6

Mandingo

1975

Warren Maxwell, the owner of a run-down plantation, pressures his son, Hammond, to marry and produce an heir to inherit the plantation. Hammond settles on his own cousin, Blanche, but purchases a sex slave when he returns from the honeymoon. He also buys his father a new Mandingo slave named Mede to breed and train as a prize-fighter.

The Quest
6.2

The Quest

1996

Ghang-gheng, the ancient winner-take-all competition in which the deadliest fighters from around the world employ the most spectacular feats of martial arts skills ever displayed in order to win the prized Golden Dragon. But fighting prowess alone will not be enough for Chris to triumph over such daunting foes.

Far and Away
6.8

Far and Away

1992

In director Ron Howard’s period epic, a young free-spirited Irish woman from an affluent Protestant family spontaneously befriends a street-smart commoner gypped by her family’s hostile land takeovers before the two escape together to America for a new life during the 19th century Oklahoma land rush.

No Mercy
5.8

No Mercy

1986

An unconventional undercover Chicago cop and his partner are recruited to commit the murder of a New Orleans criminal kingpin.

More Movies Like Hard Times

Fighting
6.0

Fighting

2009

Small-town boy Shawn MacArthur has come to New York City with nothing. Barely earning a living selling counterfeit goods on the streets, his luck changes when scam artist Harvey Boarden sees that he has a natural talent for streetfighting. When Harvey offers Shawn help at making the real cash, the two form an uneasy partnership.

Salvable
6.2

Salvable

2025

When a battered boxer past his prime finds his dreams and his relationships on the ropes, he falls back in with a dangerous crowd and has to take the biggest swing of his life to reclaim his hope and his family.

Snatch
7.8

Snatch

2000

Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookies, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewellers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.

No Retreat, No Surrender
6.3

No Retreat, No Surrender

1986

The mob is trying to strongarm local martial arts schools, forcing young Jason Stillwell and his family to move after his father is injured defending their dojo. With his father now rejecting violence, Jason is forced to train on his own to protect himself and his best friend from the members of a rival karate school.

Never Back Down
6.8

Never Back Down

2008

Jake, full of anger after his father's death, is just starting to find a place for himself at his new Orlando high school - until Ryan, head of an underground MMA fight club, picks Jake out as a prime opponent. After being trounced by Ryan in front of the entire school, Jake begins training under the firm, moral guidance of a MMA master, where he learns how to fight... and how to avoid a fight. But it becomes obvious that a rematch will be inevitable if Jake wants to stop Ryan and his bullying, once and for all.

Unleashed
6.9

Unleashed

2005

Raised as a slave, Danny is used to fighting for his survival. In fact, his "master," Bart, thinks of him as a pet and goes as far as leashing him with a collar so they can make money in fight clubs, where Danny is the main contender. When Bart's crew is in a car accident, Danny escapes and meets a blind, kindhearted piano tuner who takes him in and uses music to free the fighter's long-buried heart.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
6.2

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

2009

Terrence McDonagh is a New Orleans Police sergeant, who receives a medal and a promotion to lieutenant for heroism during Hurricane Katrina. Due to his heroic act, McDonagh injures his back and becomes addicted to prescription pain medication. He then finds himself involved with a drug dealer who is suspected of murdering a family of African immigrants.

Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown
6.5

Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown

2011

Four fighters from different backgrounds come together to train under an ex MMA rising star and then ultimately have to fight each other and the traitor in their midst.

The Big Combo
7.0

The Big Combo

1955

Police Lt. Leonard Diamond vies to bring a clever, well connected, and sadistic gangster to justice all the while obsessing over the gangster's girlfriend.

Rumble Through the Dark
6.3

Rumble Through the Dark

2023

In the dark landscape of the Mississippi Delta, a former bare-knuckle fighter must win one last fight to pay off his debts to the local mob boss and save his childhood home—the stakes nothing less than life or death.

Hoodlum
6.4

Hoodlum

1997

In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running 'the numbers'. When Madam Queen—the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harlem—is arrested, Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson takes over the business and must resist an invasion from a merciless mobster.

Code of Silence
5.8

Code of Silence

1985

A Chicago cop is caught in the middle of a gang war while his own comrades shun him because he wants to take an irresponsible cop down.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Hard Times (1975): Drama and Action themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of Hard Times.

See full details for Hard Times (1975)

People Also Search For