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Champion

Original title: Chaem-pieon
  • 2018
  • 1h 48m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.7K
YOUR RATING
Champion (2018)
CHAMPION (2018)_Official Main Trailer
Play trailer1:34
2 Videos
24 Photos
DramaSport

A Korean American arm wrestler goes to South Korea for a competition, and finds a sister that he didn't know about.A Korean American arm wrestler goes to South Korea for a competition, and finds a sister that he didn't know about.A Korean American arm wrestler goes to South Korea for a competition, and finds a sister that he didn't know about.

  • Director
    • Kim Yong-wan
  • Writer
    • Kim Yong-wan
  • Stars
    • Ma Dong-seok
    • Kwon Yul
    • Han Ye-ri
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.4/10
    1.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Kim Yong-wan
    • Writer
      • Kim Yong-wan
    • Stars
      • Ma Dong-seok
      • Kwon Yul
      • Han Ye-ri
    • 11User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos2

    CHAMPION (2018)_Official Main Trailer
    Trailer 1:34
    CHAMPION (2018)_Official Main Trailer
    CHAMPION (2018)_Official Teaser Trailer
    Trailer 0:56
    CHAMPION (2018)_Official Teaser Trailer
    CHAMPION (2018)_Official Teaser Trailer
    Trailer 0:56
    CHAMPION (2018)_Official Teaser Trailer

    Photos24

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    + 18
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    Top cast72

    Edit
    Ma Dong-seok
    Ma Dong-seok
    • Mark
    Kwon Yul
    Kwon Yul
    • Jin-gi
    Han Ye-ri
    Han Ye-ri
    • Soo-JIn
    Choi Seung-hoon
    Choi Seung-hoon
    • Joon-Yeong (Juvenile)
    Ok Ye-rin
    • Joon-hee (Juvenile)
    Brutaru Georgel Leontin
    • Alex
    • (as Leo Leotin)
    Tim Rixx
    Tim Rixx
    • Joseph (Alex's Friend)
    Ha-Yoon Ahn
    • Gym Eldest Daughter
    Sin-Joo Bong
    • Prison Punch Opponent
    Choi Cham-sarang
    • Dongdaemun real elder sister
    Oh Chang-kyung
    • Competition Broadcaster
    • (as Chang-kyung Oh)
    Hye-Jin Choi
    • Jason Kim's Gang 4
    Derek Chouinard
    Derek Chouinard
    • Club goer
    Arthur Freeman
    • Tom
    Geum Gwang-san
    Geum Gwang-san
    • Combo Team 2
    Do-Dam Han
    • Gym Female Newbie 1
    Myung-soo Han
    • Yoo Chang-soo's Employee 2
    In-Beom Heo
    • First Birthday Party Dad
    • Director
      • Kim Yong-wan
    • Writer
      • Kim Yong-wan
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews11

    6.41.6K
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    Featured reviews

    6subxerogravity

    So now we have two movies about arm wrestling?

    It's no over the top. It needs a better campier soundtrack to do that.

    Hard to really do an interesting sports movie in arm wrestling. I'm not putting down the sport just pointing out how hard from a cinematic point it is to do.

    That's what it took more than 30' years after Stallone's try to attempted it again.

    A hart warming story that's about Arm wrestling actually reminds me more of Jean Claude Van Damme's lionhart (which is about street fighting)

    Mark is a Korean born American who goes back to his home country to try to regain his success as a Arm Wrestler. Along the way he retraces the family he lost.

    Overall, a hart warming story you should watch as that, cause it's not the best sports movie. I don't feel the inspiration when they do the arm wrestling montage, it just was not working but the story on family is good.
    7undr_taker

    Rare Arm Wrestling Movie

    Always been a fan of Don Lee so gave this movie a try. Quite an enjoyable movie, though it brings nothing new to the genre. Loads of comedic moments with touches of emotional ones. Sadly no cameos from any arm wrestlers I know.
    10vishvishal-92768

    Don lee nailed it

    I love the story it's simple maa dong acting was just aswome champion movie has become one of my fav movie....
    10houdasalama

    Excellent

    This film stands out as one of the best I've ever seen, blending motivational and inspirational themes with deep social and dramatic elements. Its strength lies not just in its compelling narrative and rich character development, but also in its respectful approach to storytelling. Notably, it maintains a high moral standard by completely avoiding any explicit or unethical scenes, setting a commendable example of how powerful cinema can be when it focuses on uplifting and thought-provoking content. This combination makes it a unique and unforgettable experience that resonates on multiple levels.
    7Bad-Good-Great

    Not bad, not bad at all

    Dong-seok is a great actor in Korea, he's very talented and extremely versatile to play any role in any kind of genre movie. His performances so far never disappointed me. This time he played Ma Mark, a nobody bouncer, security guard in US, but later he was fooled by Jin-Ki, played by Kwon Yul (an actor his face looked pathetically reformed by plastic surgeries), who fooled him to return to Korean to compete arm wrestling, but mostly for Jin-Ki's own illegal gambling bets.

    Dong-seok did a great job to play that superior arm wrestling guy. His natural performance was absolutely realistically believable, while Kwon Yul was forced to play a clown-like con-artist. Kwon Yul looked pretty cool when he wore dark sun glasses, but once he took it off, his bloated plastic surgery puffy face was so obviously starting to coming apart. His performance in this movie's early half was extremely overacted, sometimes more like a jerk, but luckily, the later half part changed him into a normal person with a heart.

    Korean movies, even they actually were serious dramas, used to put many clown-like cartoon characters to turned them into what they thought as Comedy, but most of the time, they just turned into disgusting Farce, and ruined everything. It's a very stupid Korean movie-making habitual irresistible syndrome, unnecessarily made lot of characters look like stupid jerks, ridiculous clowns and pathetic morons. They always thought "Farce" is "Comedy", they just couldn't distinguish the differences.

    There're many violent scenes in this movie, but they were neutralized by two cute kids. They both looked pretty normal and likable, I really wish they would not need plastic surgeries like most Koreans when they grow up.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in Moneyball (2011)
    Sport

    Storyline

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    FAQ12

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 18, 2018 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • South Korea
    • Official site
      • Official Site (Japan)
    • Languages
      • Korean
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Chuyện Chàng Cơ Bắp
    • Filming locations
      • Seoul, South Korea
    • Production company
      • Core Corner
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $97,472
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $17,095
      • May 13, 2018
    • Gross worldwide
      • $8,974,547
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 48m(108 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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