Movies like Breaking Away (1979)
The best movies like Breaking Away (1979) are Big Wednesday (1978), Stay Hungry (1976) and Downhill Racer (1969). If Breaking Away hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRebel Without a Cause (1955)7.5/10 from 1,852 votes
- NewestGame 6 (2006)Released 2006
Big Wednesday (1978)
Three 1960s California surfers fool around, drift apart and reunite years later to ride epic waves.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStay Hungry (1976)
A dishonest businessman asks rich layabout Craig Blake to help him buy a gym, which will be demolished for a development project in Alabama. But after spending time with weightlifter Joe Santo and gym worker Mary Tate Farnsworth, Craig wants out of the deal. The property negotiations turn ugly, causing a brawl at the gym and a spectacle at a big bodybuilding meet, as Craig learns that it's not easy to turn your back on fair-weather friends.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisDownhill Racer (1969)
An ambitious young skier, determined to break all existing records, is contemptuous of the teamwork advocated by the US coach when they go to Europe for the Olympics.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Flyers (1985)
When Dr. Marcus Sommers realizes that he and his troubled, estranged brother David may be prone a fatal brain disease that runs in their family, he decides to make peace with his sibling, and invites him on a trip to the Rockies. There, the brothers bond over their shared enthusiasm for cycling and decide to enter a grueling bike race through the mountains. However, Marcus' health soon begins to fail, and David must compete without his brother at his side.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrefontaine (1997)
It's the true-life story of legendary track star Steve Prefontaine, the exciting and sometimes controversial "James Dean of Track," whose spirit captured the heart of the nation! Cocky, charismatic, and tough, "Pre" was a running rebel who defied rules, pushed limits ... and smashed records ...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOxford Blues (1984)
A young American hustler in Las Vegas spots a rich English Lady. Smitten, he pursues her to England, where his only chance of getting together with her is to enroll in Oxford and join the rowing team.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisTex (1982)
After their mother dies and their father leaves them, teenage brothers Tex and Mason McCormick struggle to make it on their own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last American Hero (1973)
A young hell raiser quits his moonshine business and tries to become the best NASCAR racer the south has ever seen. Loosely based on the true story of NASCAR driver Junior Johnson.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHeart Like a Wheel (1983)
Shirley Muldowney is determined to be a top-fuel drag racer, although no woman has ever raced them before. Despite the high risks of this kind of racing and the burden it places on her family life, she perseveres in her dream.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Boy in Blue (1986)
Ned Hanlan was Canada's most successful sculling champion at the turn of the 20th century. This dramatization of his life begins in his youth, when the wild young man is informally adopted by a gambler who promotes Ned on the sculling circuit, betting on the boy's rowing skills solely to make money off him. Later, a ruthless businessman named Knox takes over Ned's career, but when Ned realizes how dishonest Knox is, he finds another manager. Walter is an inventor and the first honest man Ned has dealt with in his career and, under Walter's guidance, Ned rises to great success in the sculling world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
School Ties (1992)
When David Greene receives a football scholarship to a prestigious prep school in the 1950s, he feels pressure to hide the fact that he is Jewish from his classmates and teachers, fearing that they may be anti-Semitic. He quickly becomes the big man on campus thanks to his football skills, but when his Jewish background is discovered, his worst fears are realized and his friends turn on him with violent threats and public ridicule.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Graffiti (1973)
A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSlap Shot (1977)
To build up attendance at their games, the management of a struggling minor-league hockey team signs up the Hanson Brothers, three hard-charging players whose job is to demolish the opposition.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVision Quest (1985)
A high school wrestler in Spokane, Washington has trouble focusing on his training regimen when a beautiful young drifter takes up temporary residence at his home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWithout Limits (1998)
The life of renowned runner Steve Prefontaine and his relationship with legendary coach Bill Bowerman.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRunning Brave (1983)
The story of Billy Mills the American Indian that came from obscurity, to win the 10,000 meter long distance foot race in the Tokyo Olympics.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Caddyshack (1980)
At an exclusive country club, an ambitious young caddy, Danny Noonan, eagerly pursues a caddy scholarship in hopes of attending college and, in turn, avoiding a job at the lumber yard. In order to succeed, he must first win the favour of the elitist Judge Smails, and then the caddy golf tournament which Smails sponsors.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGame 6 (2006)
Combining real and fictional events, this movie centers around the historic 1986 World Series, and a day in the life of a playwright who skips opening night to watch the momentous game.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisLittle Darlings (1980)
Two 15-year-old girls from different sides of the tracks compete to see who will be first to lose their virginity while at camp.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988)
A recent high school graduate is faced with two options, either go to a business school where his father wants him to go to, or get a full time job. However he decides to defy his father and go to Hawaii. Trouble is he has no money. Along the way he comes to understand his parents and eventually bonds with his father.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisNorth Dallas Forty (1979)
A semi-fictional account of life as a professional football player. Loosely based on the Dallas Cowboys team of the early 1970s.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebel Without a Cause (1955)
After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJohnny Be Good (1988)
It's recruiting time and despite being short and scrawny, Johnny Walker is America's hottest young football prospect. His dilemma: should he take one of the many offers from college talent scouts or should he attend the local state college with his girlfriend and give up his football career?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisPit Stop (1969)
Rick Bowman, a drag racing street punk, comes to the attention of crafty businessman Grant Willard. Willard bails him out of jail and offers him sponsorship as a stock car driver. Bowman accepts and enters the demolition derby-adjacent world of "figure eight" racing. As Bowman moves up in the ranks, his regard for his friends slips-- giving way to outright obsession with becoming the best.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
A League of Their Own (1992)
As America's stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker Walter Harvey. Competitive sisters Dottie Hinson and Kit Keller spar with each other, scout Ernie Capadino and grumpy has-been coach Jimmy Dugan on their way to fame.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYoungblood (1986)
A skilled young hockey prospect hoping to attract the attention of professional scouts is pressured to show that he can fight if challenged during his stay in a Canadian minor hockey town. His on-ice activities are complicated by his relationship with the coach's daughter.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMadison (2005)
In 1971, air-conditioner repairman and boat enthusiast Jim McCormick entertains his desire to 'go down' as a legend in the record books when the Gold Cup hydroplane boat race improbably comes to his small town of Madison, Indiana. Immediately, Jim seizes his opportunity to enter the contest. With a motley crew of fellow mechanics and friends at his side, Jim fixes up his old boat and brings hope to the blighted industrial city. Written by Sujit R. Varma
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Face-Off (1971)
A love story involving a Canadian professional hockey player and a hippie folk singer. Their union is tumultuous, as both try to come to terms with their differences in careers and lifestyles. Several National Hockey League players also appear in the film.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Stroker Ace (1983)
Stroker Ace, a champion NASCAR driver, is standing at the top of his career, but is getting fed up with having to do as he's told. In between rebelling against his sponsor (a fried chicken chain)'s promotion gimmicks (like making him dress up in giant chicken suit) he spends the rest of the movie trying to bed the buxom Pembrook.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisWilma (1977)
The story of American track sprinter Wilma Rudolph, who overcame physical handicaps to win three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Like Breaking Away and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Breaking Away?
The closest matches to Breaking Away are Big Wednesday (1978), Stay Hungry (1976) and Downhill Racer (1969). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Breaking Away?
People who watched Breaking Away most often go on to Big Wednesday (1978), Stay Hungry (1976) and Downhill Racer (1969).
What is the highest-rated movie like Breaking Away?
Rebel Without a Cause (1955), rated 7.5/10 by 1,852 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Breaking Away?
Game 6 (2006) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Breaking Away?
Yes: Big Wednesday (1978), Stay Hungry (1976) and Downhill Racer (1969).
How are movies similar to Breaking Away chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Breaking Away, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.