Apr
6
Martial Arts Movies
Filed Under Movies
Over the last few days, I haven’t been feeling the best, had a bit of a head cold among other things. It’s given me a lot of down time, which means a lot of movie time. I’ve been on a huge Marital Arts spree, which has led to the purchase and viewing of several good movies… among the list of the last couple of days has been:
- Enter the Dragon (1973)
- Bloodsport (1988)
- Fist of Legend (1994)
- Romeo Must Die (2000)
- Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
- Ong-Bak – The Thai Warrior (2003)
- The Last Samurai (2003)
- Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
- Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
My list doesn’t feel nearly complete, the last three movies were movies I had owned for a long time, the previous titles in the list are movies that Seth and I have picked up in the last week. It’s been a busy week. 
Some titles that I am keeping my eye out for include the following:
- Samurai Fiction (1999)
- The Twilight Samurai (2002)
- Zatoichi (2003)
If you have anything that you think I should add to my list of “awesome Martial Arts movies,” please let me know. Yes, I do have Enter the Dragon, but I’m not really looking for old 50-70′s movies though. Granted, I give them respect, but they’re still harder for me to get as in to. I’m looking for newer, more visually pleasing movies.
Hero
The One
I forgot a couple additional titles that I’ve watched, these are cartoons so they’re a little different style, but worthy of mention…
Additional movies to add to my list of movies to look out for:
Hero, mentioned by John, was one I wanted to add to my list. The Replacement Killers is a great movie from the late 90′s. It’s not as much Martial Arts as some of the other movies, but still good. The One doesn’t actually make my list, it’s an alright movie, but doesn’t have as much for a supporting story.
Placing a number from 1-5 next to each description to show how much of the movie is fight scenes, consider fist of legend or bloodsport to be your baseline 5 movie with the most martial arts posible. with the last samuri more along a 2 or 3 because so much of the movie doesn’t touch on it. Anything below 3 will be less about fight scenes and have to be judged on plot or story to some extent to be a worthwhile purchase. ((remember the numbers do NOT denote movie quality, only relative amount of martial arts!))
Iron Monkey – make sure you get the american re-release, the subtitles are badly translated on the original. 5
Meltdown (, The)? – Worth a rental, not a purchase. Jet Li import flick, horribly dubbed, but that’s what makes it bearable to watch
4
Black Mask – Jet Li. worth a rental or borrow. 3.5
Big Trouble in Little China – find it in $5 bin and get it. 3
Kung Fu Hustle – mildly amusing, rent or borrow before buying. 3
House of Flying Daggers – It’s a love story with martial arts thrown in. Again, rent or borrow before purchasing. 2
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – I assume I don’t need to explain this one. 4
TMNT 1 & 2 – Comedy + Martial Arts = Crazy Delicious. 3.5
The Martix Reloaded – Live action anime. no plot worth mentioning. 3.5
Electra – crap. 2
Jackie Chan Comedies:
the 2 Shanghi movies 1.5
the 2 rush hours 2
the rest have to rely more on fighting, less on funny, and generally aren’t as good.
Bruce Lee:
Fists of Fury
The Chinese Connection
Return of the Dragon
Game of Death
Reccommend rental before purchas for all of them.
Kung Pow – crap. watch it once just so you’ll know what I’m talking about when i start spouting off about a monkey in a pinata.
The warrior – just got this bundled with crouching tiger, will report back later on it’s worth.
There are a bunch of fist/sword fighting movies i could recommend that don’t fall under asian influences, but it doesn’t sound like that’s what you’re looking for.