Favourite Martial Arts Film

[Second2None]

Growing up was bloodsport, kickboxer, enter the dragon. Then I found out about drunken master and other ones that I can't really remember, but I think the one that got me was IP MAN. That movie had got to be one of the best movie made. Having to know who ip man was and who he trained is inspiring because the person he trained is and was the best kung fu teachers to establish so many techniques to create his own style.

[Master]

Growing up was bloodsport, kickboxer, enter the dragon. Then I found out about drunken master and other ones that I can't really remember, but I think the one that got me was IP MAN. That movie had got to be one of the best movie made. Having to know who ip man was and who he trained is inspiring because the person he trained is and was the best kung fu teachers to establish so many techniques to create his own style.

Agreed, watch Ip Man 2 that is a good film as well.

Snake in the eagles shadow is awesome too, Jackie Chan at his best.

[Second2None]

Growing up was bloodsport, kickboxer, enter the dragon. Then I found out about drunken master and other ones that I can't really remember, but I think the one that got me was IP MAN. That movie had got to be one of the best movie made. Having to know who ip man was and who he trained is inspiring because the person he trained is and was the best kung fu teachers to establish so many techniques to create his own style.

Agreed, watch Ip Man 2 that is a good film as well.

Snake in the eagles shadow is awesome too, Jackie Chan at his best.

Ip man 2 is amazing. Just knowing at the end of the movie it's little bruce wanting to train. SIK!!!
I'll def check out the one you mentioned.

[Stickgrappler]

There's to many to name but
Fist of Legend with Jet Li I can watch over and over.
Lionheart and Bloodsport
The Perfect Weapon

I have not watched that one but have watched Jet Li in Fearless, that was excellent.

Of all the martial art films I've watched - not much though - I think this movie had one of the most realistic choreography, of course, minus the usual theatrics or exaggerations; that is, if the viewers really understand the sport, though...

I love this movie -- been some time since i saw it though... should rewatch... from my bad memory:

the standout part for me was when Jet tried to judo throw the Japanese master and he blocked it by making space between the hips by putting his hand in between

and when they were Muay Thai kneeing each other, one of them blocks (think it was Jet who blocked first) and then when Jet knees the Jap. master, he learned to block just before from Jet and did it... learning and adapting whilst fighting... great stuff!

[Stickgrappler]

Meals on wheels.
Fight scene at end with jackie chan and benny.
Epic

Did you watch Dragons Forever? Jackie, Sammo, and Yuen Biao are in it together. IIRC, that may have been the last film all 3 were together in.

Jackie fights Benny the Jet again.

Yuen Wah (another martial brother of Jackie's, part of the 7 Little Fortunes opera troupe Jackie was in, Sammo was 'Dai Sihing' - big martial brother, not big cos of his size, but he was the senior-most) best known to Western audiences as the Landlord in Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle - had a great fight and steals the movie with his idiosyncratic mannerisms.

[Stickgrappler]

Watched snake and the eagles shadows with my son and he loved it. I had forgotten how brilliant it was. There is funny, comical, and had superb moves. Quality film.

that put Jackie on the map, the 'sequel' Drunken Master aka Drunken Fist aka Drunken Monkey in Tiger's Eye, started to cement Jackie's superstar-dom.

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow may not have been the first kung fu comedy, but Hong Kong's movie industry took notice of its success and loads and loads of kung fu comedies followed that same formula.

[Stickgrappler]

Some oldschool I love (in no order)

1) Five Venoms - 'nuf said... Wing Tsun master Leung Ting did the MA choreography

2) Invincible Shaolin aka Unbeatable Dragon - 5 Venoms gang stars... evil Manchu general, Wang Lung-wei, manipulates Northern Shaolin to Southern Shaolin -- features "Snake" learning the Yung Chun (aka Wing Chun) style and "Toad" learning Southern Praying Mantis - 2 of my fave styles

3) Shaolin vs Ninja aka Heroes of the East - Gordon Liu (Master Killer) marries a Japanese woman... inadvertently his comments to his wife about the Japanese MA is misinterpretted as a diss by her martial brothers and sensei... the sensei sends 7 of his students... all experts in various arts to challenge Liu - judo, single nunchuku & single sai vs butterfly swords; japanese spear vs red-tassled spear; etc

4) Invincible Leg Fighters - Dorian Tan shows why he should be in consideration as one of the best kickers of the oldschool generation (My friend says he was very good in The Hot, The Cold, and the Vicious -- I haven't had a chance to watch)

5) 5 Masters of Death aka 5 Masters of Shaolin - the first kung fu movie I can remember seeing... i was ~10 yrs old; all star cast -- all from director Chang Cheh's stable of actors/godsons -- a who's who of oldschool superstars: David Chiang, Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, etc

6) 36th Chamber of Shaolin aka Master Killer - Gordon Liu -- inispirational training scenes on a par with Rocky training scenes


loads more...


Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan/Jet Li

1) Way of the Dragon aka Return of the Dragon - prefer this over Enter the Dragon - Bruce Lee wrote, directs, stars, and did the MA choreography

2) Enter the Dragon - 'nuf said

3) Armor of God - Jackie plays the Asian Hawk, a Chinese Indiana Jones... loads of action.. one stunt almost killed Jackie and left him with a hole in his head

4) Fist of Legend - Jet Li remakes Bruce Lee's The Chinese Connection aka Fists of Fury

5) Once Upon a Time in China 1-3 - Jet Li plays Wong Fei-hung


Some recent I love in no order

1) Flashpoint - more action movie than pure martial arts movie, but Donnie Yen vs Calvin Chou is the wet-dream of any MMA/BJJ fan

2) Ip Man 1 & 2 - Donnie again... these 2 movies may be a thin veil of the Chinese Nationalism... both movies follow the same structure... Ip Man is challenged by the rest of the MA community, he beats them... foreigner comes in and kills one of the Chinese MA community who was a friend of Ip's... he fights the foreigner and wins ... think it was a little unrealistic for him to take on 10 karatekas -- but overall, love Donnie's acting... he doesn't play his usual cocky self (which is closer to real life for him)... he plays a subdued/reserved man. The tabletop fight vs Sammo is way over-the-top but so enjoyable!

3) Legend of the Fist - Return of Chen Zhen - no surprise, Donnie yet again... may have been a statement to Hollywood casting Taiwanese pop idol Jay Chou as Kato lol... great visuals/sets a la Tim Burton's Batman... the opening fight vs the German soldiers had me so hyped, I couldn't sleep that night! watched it over and over! the adrenaline and testorene overflowed! overall uneven movie for me, but Shu Qi/Hsu Chi's acting as well as Donnie's was good. The fights and visuals helped make this movie for me to be a favorite - it could've been better

4) 14 Blades - ok my last Donnie for now lol - Donnie in a period piece, plays Green Dragon, the best of the Emperor's secret police... takes on a powerful eunuch ... look for Chen Kuan-tai in a cameo fight; plot is a little confusing, but scenery is beautiful and the fights entertaining... love rottie Kate Tsui with her whip/veils style

5) Ong Bak - Tony Jaa - love the thai bareknuckle fights... 1 little krabi krabong fight... Jaa inspirations while growing up was Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan... lots of Chan's 'parkour' stunts by Jaa.

6) Tom Yum Goong aka The Protector - Tony Jaa again. towards the end, probably homage to Bruce Lee's Game of Death, filmed in one long take, he is in a restaurant and fights his way to the upper floors; one of my fave scenes ever, Jaa breaks the arms and legs of 53 goons if memory serves (yes I'm a martial arts movies geek, i sat there and counted! lol at me)

7) Yamada - The Samurai of Ayothaya -- Buakaw has a part in this... based on Historical figure, samurai stranded in Thailand, comes to adopt Thailand as his homeland and helps defend it from attacks -- if you loved the Thai bareknuckle action in Tony Jaa's Ong Bak, check this one out!

The Raid: Redemption - Iko Uwais in an almost pure 90 mins non-stop adrenaline ride! one fave scene is his use of the PR-24 baton paired with a folding knife against ~10 bad guys.

9) The Man From Nowhere aka This Man - in the bonus features of the dvd, the making of part... it's mentioned the powers that be behind this movie wanted to show something different to the Korean audiences and they went with the Filipino martial arts... my fave art... fight scenes were short and ballistic... last fight scene had the star fight off like 10 guys with a gun and later a knife... the knife fights is one of the best in recent memory... when i watched this movie, the testosterone/adrenaline overflowed...couldn't sleep afterwards (i watch these 'violent' movies when the wife and kids are asleep)

10) City of Violence - Korean movie, 2 buddies take on the rest of the Korean mafia that is out to kill them... parts of it is homage to the cult classic The Warriors


loads more...



Will be watching sooner or later:

Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins - period piece
War of the Arrow - period piece

[Stickgrappler]

Jet Li. The Forbidden Kingdom

YouTube - ‪The Forbidden Kingdom, Monkey King‬‏

That film looks brilliant, I have to see that, it is a remake of Monkey that use to come on TV but a lot better.

It has elements of the story of the monkey king but not like a film version of monkey.
How can any film with Jet Li and Jackie Chan in it fail?! I kept replaying the fights scenes. I think what's cool about it is that Jet Li has got such a serious screen personna, getting him to play that role just makes much more fun.

too bad they didn't get to make a movie together when they were both younger... JC is like 56 or so, Jet i forget, but easily 40+

heck i bet even Donnie Yen is 40+

[Stickgrappler]

The Legend of the Condor Heroes-'82 version
Return of the Condor Heroes-'83 version
Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre-'86 Version

Each of the trilogy comes with about 40 1 hour volumes or so. It's kind of obscure to western audiences. Fight scenes are in the style of Crouching Tiger, but it's more of the story that is the best part of the trilogy.

I think you are referring to the TVB series. Felix Wong Yat-wah at the height of his popularity/stardom. They were based on classic Chinese novels written by Louis Cha. Legend of the Condor Heroes is easily in the All-Time Top 5 most beloved TVB series, iirc, Looking Back in Anger is #1. Almost all TV has some sort of 'wire-fu'.

[Second2None]

Some oldschool I love (in no order)

1) Five Venoms - 'nuf said... Wing Tsun master Leung Ting did the MA choreography

2) Invincible Shaolin aka Unbeatable Dragon - 5 Venoms gang stars... evil Manchu general, Wang Lung-wei, manipulates Northern Shaolin to Southern Shaolin -- features "Snake" learning the Yung Chun (aka Wing Chun) style and "Toad" learning Southern Praying Mantis - 2 of my fave styles

3) Shaolin vs Ninja aka Heroes of the East - Gordon Liu (Master Killer) marries a Japanese woman... inadvertently his comments to his wife about the Japanese MA is misinterpretted as a diss by her martial brothers and sensei... the sensei sends 7 of his students... all experts in various arts to challenge Liu - judo, single nunchuku & single sai vs butterfly swords; japanese spear vs red-tassled spear; etc

4) Invincible Leg Fighters - Dorian Tan shows why he should be in consideration as one of the best kickers of the oldschool generation (My friend says he was very good in The Hot, The Cold, and the Vicious -- I haven't had a chance to watch)

5) 5 Masters of Death aka 5 Masters of Shaolin - the first kung fu movie I can remember seeing... i was ~10 yrs old; all star cast -- all from director Chang Cheh's stable of actors/godsons -- a who's who of oldschool superstars: David Chiang, Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, etc

6) 36th Chamber of Shaolin aka Master Killer - Gordon Liu -- inispirational training scenes on a par with Rocky training scenes


loads more...


Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan/Jet Li

1) Way of the Dragon aka Return of the Dragon - prefer this over Enter the Dragon - Bruce Lee wrote, directs, stars, and did the MA choreography

2) Enter the Dragon - 'nuf said

3) Armor of God - Jackie plays the Asian Hawk, a Chinese Indiana Jones... loads of action.. one stunt almost killed Jackie and left him with a hole in his head

4) Fist of Legend - Jet Li remakes Bruce Lee's The Chinese Connection aka Fists of Fury

5) Once Upon a Time in China 1-3 - Jet Li plays Wong Fei-hung


Some recent I love in no order

1) Flashpoint - more action movie than pure martial arts movie, but Donnie Yen vs Calvin Chou is the wet-dream of any MMA/BJJ fan

2) Ip Man 1 & 2 - Donnie again... these 2 movies may be a thin veil of the Chinese Nationalism... both movies follow the same structure... Ip Man is challenged by the rest of the MA community, he beats them... foreigner comes in and kills one of the Chinese MA community who was a friend of Ip's... he fights the foreigner and wins ... think it was a little unrealistic for him to take on 10 karatekas -- but overall, love Donnie's acting... he doesn't play his usual cocky self (which is closer to real life for him)... he plays a subdued/reserved man. The tabletop fight vs Sammo is way over-the-top but so enjoyable!

3) Legend of the Fist - Return of Chen Zhen - no surprise, Donnie yet again... may have been a statement to Hollywood casting Taiwanese pop idol Jay Chou as Kato lol... great visuals/sets a la Tim Burton's Batman... the opening fight vs the German soldiers had me so hyped, I couldn't sleep that night! watched it over and over! the adrenaline and testorene overflowed! overall uneven movie for me, but Shu Qi/Hsu Chi's acting as well as Donnie's was good. The fights and visuals helped make this movie for me to be a favorite - it could've been better

4) 14 Blades - ok my last Donnie for now lol - Donnie in a period piece, plays Green Dragon, the best of the Emperor's secret police... takes on a powerful eunuch ... look for Chen Kuan-tai in a cameo fight; plot is a little confusing, but scenery is beautiful and the fights entertaining... love rottie Kate Tsui with her whip/veils style

5) Ong Bak - Tony Jaa - love the thai bareknuckle fights... 1 little krabi krabong fight... Jaa inspirations while growing up was Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan... lots of Chan's 'parkour' stunts by Jaa.

6) Tom Yum Goong aka The Protector - Tony Jaa again. towards the end, probably homage to Bruce Lee's Game of Death, filmed in one long take, he is in a restaurant and fights his way to the upper floors; one of my fave scenes ever, Jaa breaks the arms and legs of 53 goons if memory serves (yes I'm a martial arts movies geek, i sat there and counted! lol at me)

7) Yamada - The Samurai of Ayothaya -- Buakaw has a part in this... based on Historical figure, samurai stranded in Thailand, comes to adopt Thailand as his homeland and helps defend it from attacks -- if you loved the Thai bareknuckle action in Tony Jaa's Ong Bak, check this one out!

The Raid: Redemption - Iko Uwais in an almost pure 90 mins non-stop adrenaline ride! one fave scene is his use of the PR-24 baton paired with a folding knife against ~10 bad guys.

9) The Man From Nowhere aka This Man - in the bonus features of the dvd, the making of part... it's mentioned the powers that be behind this movie wanted to show something different to the Korean audiences and they went with the Filipino martial arts... my fave art... fight scenes were short and ballistic... last fight scene had the star fight off like 10 guys with a gun and later a knife... the knife fights is one of the best in recent memory... when i watched this movie, the testosterone/adrenaline overflowed...couldn't sleep afterwards (i watch these 'violent' movies when the wife and kids are asleep)

10) City of Violence - Korean movie, 2 buddies take on the rest of the Korean mafia that is out to kill them... parts of it is homage to the cult classic The Warriors


loads more...



Will be watching sooner or later:

Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins - period piece
War of the Arrow - period piece

DAAAAAAAMN.....
That's a great list of movies that i'm definitely gonna be watching. Love these types of films.

[Master]

Just watched Bullet proof monk, very good film for kids.

[Master]

Spy next door - Javkie Chan for the kids.
Flash Point - Donnie Yen (Ip Man) great fight scenes.

[Syntax Error]

The Raid - Glorious entertainment.

[bananajama]

Undisputed 2 and 3. Great cheesy lines and amazing fights, can`t recommend them enough ..

[GOAT]

The War of the Roses. Devastating.