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Best martial art movie(s) ever made?

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Bloodsport is a suprisingly prescient movie considering that the very first UFC took place on pretty much the same premise as the movie. It holds a special place in my heart.
 
If we disregard fight scenes and focus on them being good films:

Ip Man
Fearless (even with the "big bad white guy"-trope the story and arc here are beautiful).
Fist of Legend
Crying Fist
Hero
House of Flying Daggers


and most recently: The Grandmaster. Seriously the best looking martial arts film since Hero, and the characters, the zeitgeist, the meta-commentary on kung fu movies and kung fu lineage. It's just fricking amazing. Fights are not as "badass" as Ip Man, but I'd be lying if I said I thought Ip Man was a better film. Also, it's one of the few movies about martial arts (and Wing Chun in particular) that actually discusses the subject of martial arts and rivaling styles from a deeper perspective than "your northern kick of death is no match for my southern fist of doom".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8EVkqgDbQQ
 
Here are 25 genre essentials from a variety of styles and creators off the top of my head (really... ;b) to start people off with.

Drunken Master 2
Fist of Legend
Ip Man
7 Grandmasters
In the Line of Duty IV
The Raid
Five Venoms
Five Element Ninja
36th Chamber of Shaolin
Clan of the White Lotus
Heroes of the East
Dragons Forever
Police Story
Project A
8 Diagram Pole Fighter
Ong-Bak
Tom Yum Goong
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
Enter the Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Once Upon a Time in China 2
Flash Point
Undisputed 3: Redemption
Crippled Avengers
 
FelixOrion said:
Armour-of-god-II-poster.jpg


Armour of God II: Operation Condor is a blast. Kung Fu Indiana Jones.
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dude this was my favorite movie when i was a kid. Watched it like 3 or 4 times in a row when my mother came in and turn off the tv.

i laughed my fuckin' ass off at the hotel scene. when the blonde chick got her hands at the gatling (? or whatever it's called) and destroyed the hotel completely.

also the fight in the wind tunnel (?) was amazing.
 
Enter The Dragon
Iron Monkey
Hero
Drunken Master 2



I have no clue why i havent watched IP Man yet

Worst

Game of death? Apart from the 17 mins that bruce actually filmed, that is on the warriors journey dvd if i remember right, it's atrocious, im sure there are other really bad martial arts films out there, the ones with a million bruce lee impersonators but i chose game of death because its still always labbled as a proper bruce lee film and really it shouldnt be. It should be titled game of death a tribute to bruce lee, feat scenes later in the film actually shot by bruce.
 
CPS2 said:
Yeah it's another "white people are evil" movie, kinda made me feel afraid of my wife when we were watching it.
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Is that why people didn't like it? I didn't like it cause western boxing doesn't lend itself to be as exciting compared to other martial arts.
 
Depends what metric(s) you choose to define best action movie. For story I think the Karate Kid is a truly under appreciated movie with regards to story. When it comes to action, impact and story my top 10 would include:

Drunken Master
36 chambers
The Raid
Police Story 1-3
Project A
Enter the Dragon
Armour of God 1-2

If i could I'd add Jackie Chan adventures. As a Jackie Chan fan i loved the nods and winks to Jackie's movies. I kinda wanna add a Rush Hour movie as well.
 
Limit said:
Very difficult question. There are so many different martial arts movies that are great for their own particular reasons. If I had to put just one down, I will put the following only because this is one martial arts flick I would be willing to watch over and over again the most:



An excellent Stephen Chow movie. Up there with God of Cookery in terms of comedy.

And by the way, Stephen Chow recently released a new martial arts movie called "Journey to the West" written and directed by him. He doesn't have any on screen role but his comedic stylings are sprinkled throughout this movie. Go watch it.
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Have to agree with Kung Fu Hustle.
 
this_guy said:
Have to agree with Kung Fu Hustle.
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Me three. It's cartoony, gruesome, sad and lighthearted. It pokes fun at a lot of the tropes of martial arts movies while providing masterful examples of them. One could say both humour and martial arts rely on perfect timing to succeed and this movie has excellent timing in both. It's a hell of a movie, though the CG is not always up to par and shows it's age sometimes.
It also displays a great culture in cinematography through the different genres it integrates.

Also, Bill Murray said it's one of the best comedies of all time. So there.
 
  • Drunken Master 2
  • Drunken Master 1
  • House of Flying Daggers
  • Once Upon a Time in China (ALL OF THEM)
  • 5 Deadly Venoms
  • Snake in the Monkey's Shadow
  • Ong Bak
  • Jackie Chan Who Am I? (just to see the rooftop fight vs MR. LEGS)
  • Jackie Chan Wheels on Meals (you need to See Jackie Chan vs Bennie The Jet Urquidez in this one. Why? Because VERY little undercrank was used. They were both that fast. candle moment is legendary)
 
The Young Master is my favourite.

Police Story, Drunken Master 2, Fist of Legend, The Raid, and Ong Bak are probably all in my top 10.
IP Man was good, but I don't think it is top tier.
 
UrbanRats said:
Still not worthed though, that movie was so bad. :(
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There are good things to be found even in bad movies. Case in point this moment.

ibdYNh8ZzSPo4N.gif


From the movie Dragons Forever with Jackie chan. It also had a fight vs Jet , but not nearly as fast or close on some of the contact.
 
Measley said:
thumb.jpg


Seriously, you need to see this movie.
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This was a Rocky 4 martial arts equivalent in terms of a 90 minute montage. I approve.

Too many good movies, but 36th Chambers of Shaolin is still way up there for me. As is Bloodsport, Police Story, Drunken Master 2...
 
shaowebb said:
There are good things to be found even in bad movies. Case in point this moment.

ibdYNh8ZzSPo4N.gif


From the movie Dragons Forever with Jackie chan. It also had a fight vs Jet , but not nearly as fast or close on some of the contact.
Click to expand...

Uh, yeah but Dragons Forever is fucking awesome, Chinese Zodiac isn't.
 
Apparently I need to watch Drunken Master 2? Netflix? Amazon Prime?

Pleasantly surprised to see so many Fist of Legend fans here. Probably my favorite Jet Li movie.

Oh, and Best of the Best 1 is probably the only and best movie I've seen specifically about TKD. I definitely need to track down the Blu-Ray (if there is one). The soundtrack is probably the swansong of 80's training music. I should probably put it in my workout routine.
 
Sinatar said:
Keep in mind that over here Drunken Master 2 is called 'Legend of the Drunken Master', had a theatrical release and everything, you've probably seen it.
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No I haven't. Actually I heard somewhere that as of a few yeas ago it was still only on VHS.
 
Master Killer aka 36th Chambers of Shaolin takes my top spot

Agree with lots of other stuff here as well:
IP Man
Hero
Fist of Legend
House of Flying Daggers
 
Fearless Hyena. It's ridiculous. It's like an hour and a half of non stop action and quirky comedy.

Also:
The Raid - No description required. It's just great.
Blood and Bone - It's just about as good as it gets for western martial arts flicks. There's an interesting mix of influences in there. Michael Jai White continues to be outta sight.
 
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