Hi, How can you leave out all of Bruce Lee’s movies? The Chinese Connection should be in that list. Have you seen Blood and Bone with Micheal Jai White? That movie is off the hook. How about Undisputed ll with Micheal Jai White and Scott Adkins? These should be considered before the Matrix series. Keanu Reeves couldn’t fight his way out of a paper sack. Really?

Rezbi Reply:
April 14th, 2012 at 7:33 am

While Bruce Lee may have been a decent martial artist, he was never proven against anyone decent.

Having said that, this is not about the individual fighter. Rather about the best movies.

And, whether or not Keanu Reeves can fight is irrelevant.

The first Matrix movie was decent. Most of Bruce Lee’s movies – after the first watching – were boring.

I agree about Blood and Bone. I haven’t seen the others you mention.

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Michael Jai White – people, this man fought the entire Blood and Bone movie wearing Timberlands. That is right. He is hard core and has earned 7 black belts in seven different styles.

So if you really want authenticity, watch his movies. He would kick virtually every martial artist featured on this page. He weighs 225 lbs and is 6 foot 3 inches. Everyone else listed is less than 200 lbs and most Chinese/Japanese/Thai fighters are below 190 lbs.

Since I am also Black, and heavier than most Asian movie fighters, I am partial to him in terms of who would do the most damage. Fighting with boots is not easy. Try it sometime. I did it many years while in the military.

Now did this:

Check out the final fight scene in BLOOD AND BONE. Flash back to when Bruce Lee was fighting in Enter the Dragon when He and John Saxon were fighting all of the guards, and when Bruce kicks this one guy 5 times, you can see the stunt doubles in the background laughing. Now remember that Bob Wall was in that movie as Han’s bodyguard.

Now fast forward to MJW fighting in the final fight scene in Blood and Bone. NOtice when MJW does a spinnng back kick, he does it again and hits the target, and guess who is in the background laughing in that scene??? Robert Wall as O’Hara, one of McVeigh’s bodyguards. Previously, he played a character also named O’Hara in Enter the Dragon.

Scott Adkins and MJW were both in Undisputed 2 Watch that movie please. Make sure you then get Undisputed 3. I hear that they are coming out with Undisputed 4 when he finishes shooting Expendables 2. Watch both of them. Now only if Tony Jaa learned English……..

I can see that everyone is much younger than myself, but I have definitely seen more movies than anyone here because I was 14 when Bruce passed. So here is my list:

1. Michael Jai White/Scott Adkins – Undisputed 2 & 3 Michael Jai White in Blood and Bone
Anything either of these two are in off the chain. They are the new heirs of martial arts mastery along with
2. Donnie Yen – Ip Man 1 & 2, Legend of the Fist His scene are always realistic
3. Jackie Chan – Rumble in the Bronx, Meals on Wheels, My Lucky Stars, Police Story 2 – that fight scene in the playground and the final fight scene was off the chain. Include the mall fight scene from Police Story 1, and Super Cop
4. Jet Li – The Bodyguard from Beijing -, Black Mask , Fearless, My Father is a Hero
5. Bruce Lee – Return of the Dragon and Tony Jaa in Ong Bak, sorry but The Protector was too unrealistic at the end but the temple fight scene wit hLateif Crowder was good.
6. Sonny Chiba – All of the Street Fighter movies, and all of the Mas Oyama movies he did. Sometimes,l the fight scene were hookey, but when Chiba really wanted to get busy, he did.

No one asked about the best villians so here is my short list:

Wang Jang Lee (youtube him) He kicked Jackie Chan’s tooth out of his mouth and actually killed a man in real life. He was a trainer to the Korean Army. I love him and rooted for him in many movies. He is awesome. See him on youtube especially THE ART OF HIGH IMPACT KICKING instructional videos. You can really learn how to kick from watching all 8 videos.
Yu Rongguang (he is the Iron Monkey) who was a villian in THE KARATE KID (Chan) and MY FATHER IS A HERO

Hey now what about the women???

Yukari Oshima – any of her movies. she is the bomb.
Gina Carano – She is currently featured in HAYWIRE. She has a great future in martial arts films
Sue Shiomi – Sister Street Fighter

I do not like wire work, flying in the air or poor camera editing.

I am sorry, but Van Damme does not make my list because ,most of his fight scenes were too mechanical. I hate when another fighter doesn’t put up a fight. It is phony. People are not punching bags and real fighters DO fight. Most Van Damme fight scenes (except the movie KNOCK OFF and DOUBLE TEAM with Dennis Rodman) are pne sisded – he really needed a Chinese or Japanse fight chroeographer instead of the western fight directors he had (excluding John Woo). He had great potential but blew it once he started using drugs.

Anyway, I can provide a better list, but that should be a good start.

By the way, you said the one film featured Bruce Lee style fighting, i would like to point out that Bruce Lee was trained in the style of Wing Chun, Which was Developed by Ip Man, of whom was Bruce Lee’s Teacher

YES. Good list, fist of legend is #1 for sure and your other choices are good too.

Bruce The big boss, fist of fury
Blood sport1 and 2 ,the quest
few sequences from matrix
Kick boxer movies with sasha Mitchell
krav maga action in Bourne trilogy
the only capoeira movie i know Only the Strong with Mark Dacascos
Rocky

and what about fighting video games Eric?
I would go for Tekken
Virtua fighter
the one of the ufc
MMa from EAsports
The beat them up games from the 80`s like:
Double dragon
Streets of rage
etc etc

-Ong Bak II
-The Protector
-Once Upon A Time In China I
-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
-Ip Man I

Joshua Reply:
September 22nd, 2011 at 9:48 am

your list is the best.
I cant believe no one else put the protector

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1. Jet Li Fist of Legend, 2 Bruce Lee Enter the Dragon, 3 Jet Li Fearless, 4 Bruce Lee Fist of Fury, 5 Jet Li Fearless. My 5 Stars are: 1 Jet Li, 2 Bruce Lee, 3 Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, 4 Chuck Norris, 5 Michelle Yeohe

@Bakwena
Jacki is far FAR more than a stunt man!!
Have you seen how fast he is in his earlier Hong Kong movies??
He also brings a great sense of humour to his movies.
Jacki Chan must have made more great martial arts movies than anyone else going… the guy has been around for years!!

1 Bruce Lee
2 Jacki Chan
3 Sonny Chiba
4 Donnie Yen
5 Tony Jaa

! Enter the Dragon.
2 Kung Fu Hustle
3 The Street Fighter
4 Prodigal Son
5 Hero

HitManHey Reply:
July 28th, 2011 at 4:26 pm

I should have added The Story of Ricky Ho in here somewhere but 5 is such a short list.

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HitManHey Reply:
July 28th, 2011 at 4:33 pm

DAMN!!! I keep coming up with great movies!!
my last choice… Kung Fu Pow!!! Hah hilarious movie. A must for all Old School Martial Arts fans!!!!

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I did not see one person mention Van Damme? Come on now Bloodsport and Kickboxer are amazing martial arts movies, Van Damme is my hero and I’m a little dissapointed nobody mentioned him. Just about every movie he has made(except the newer ones) are good, some great! They are all worth watching

kennethy Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 3:31 am

No one mentioned him because he had poor fight directors. He looked so mechanical and his fight scene were phony except when he was directed by Asian stunt choreographers. Westerners (except the Undisputed movies) do not stage great fight scenes. Cory Yuen is great having directed both Van Damme and Jackie Chan and Jet Li and Donnie Yen in many great martial arts movies.

Don’t get me wrong, even Bloodsport, after looking at it today, is not as good as Michael Jai White – See Universal Soldier 2 where they fight each other. When JCVD did KNOCK OFF and DOUBLE TEAM, he was much better than virtually all of his previous movie fight scenes. See for yourself.

MJW, instead of Denzel Washington, should have been cast in THE BOOK OF ELI. What a waste,

See NEVER BACK DOWN 2 for more on MJW.

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donnie yen (ji dan) is already a master in wing chun he didnt need training months before the movie sorry but most of people lists are just really bad

hard to pick a top 5 but mine is

5 Enter the dragon/5 deadly venoms
4 Ong bak
3 Iron Monkey
2 Fist of legend
1 Ip Man

Bakwena Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 3:48 am

Nice choice Abz.U know your story very well.

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Guys we must remember that Jackie Chan is just a mere stuntman,but the following movies are still the best.

1.Iron Monkey(Donnie Yen)
2.The Fist of Legend(Jet Li)
3.The Protector(Tony Jaa)
4.Fearless(Jet Li)
5.Ongbak 2(Tony Jaa)

I like this site very much so much superb information.

Wonderful choices Eric!
Thank you!

Fist of Legend is an excellent choice.
Here is a list in no specific order:

1. Ong Bak, the Protector-Tony Jaa.
2. Fearless- Jet Li.
3. Enter the Dragon – Bruce Lee.
4. Fist of Iron- (I can’t recall).
5. Death ring- Ti Lung & Chen Kwan Tai

There are so many that I many which I may have forgotten.
Enjoy

I don’t usually like jet Li’s fight scenes – they’re too flowery for my taste. But I quite like this one.

Never seen it before.

He seems to be doing a bit of what Bruce Lee did in one of his movies. Although I can’t remember which one.

Enter the Dragon is by far the best martial arts movie ever produced….no one can compare to the legendary Bruce Lee, a man decades ahead his time…..

1) Hands down, Drunken Master 2 starring Jackie Chan takes the top spot.
2) Enter The Dragon
2) Ali
3) Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
4) Dragon : The Bruce Lee Story
5) Kill Bill

Karate Kid 1, The Seven Samuri, Ninja Turtels 1, Rumble in the Bonx all take honorable mentions.

Top 5 movies for me…

1) Way of the Dragon
2)IpMan 1,2
3)Game of Death
4)Rapid Fire
5)Ong Bak1,2

1)Bruce Lee
2)Bruce Lee
3)4) Jet Li or Jackie Chan
5)Ip man1-2 main Actor (Donnie Yen)

and by the way #1 fist of legend jet li is a jeet kune do martail artist in this movie which bruce Lee created the jeet kune do same as mma bruce didn t wih to name his way of martail art …..

I am really desapionted in u
u didn t put the godfather of mma the one n only bruce lee u better remake ur list of martail arts

1) The Protector
2) Ip Man
3) Fist of Legend
4) Drunken Master
5) Chinese Hercules

I have a few others but you said 5, lol.

5 Deadly Venoms
Death Duel of Kung Fu
Twin Warriors
Fearless

Unleashed with Jet Li, from memory, not a pure martial arts fill but some of the action in it is awesome

Don’t forget Drunken Master 2.

One of the best of all time.

Hi Eric

I have to say i’m huge nut when it comes to hong kong cinema style films in terms of choreography.
Love they way the are so detailed in moves/forms, it almost like a dance but with martial arts instead
These guys spend months on scenes and its no wonder they’re a joy to watch

My list of favorites is huge but for old school hong kong flicks i’d highly recommend the following

1.) 5 Deadly Venoms, some people have mentioned this above, awesome fights
2.) Fearless Hyena (One of Jackie’s earlier films)
3.) Born Invincible (Carter Wong is amazing in this one)
4.) The Prodigal Son (Yuen Biao & Sammo Hung utilizing wing chun)
5.) Warriors 2

You wont go wrong with these classics

HitManHey Reply:
July 28th, 2011 at 4:29 pm

The Prodigal Son is one of my all time favs :0)
It has the best, worst dubbing ever in any movie ever made… love it lol.
Some great fight scense… excellent choice!!

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Not bad. Here are some of my favorite Kung-fu movies:
36 Chamber of Shaolin
5 Element Ninjas
Magic Blade
5 Deadly Venoms
Ip Man 1 & 2
Masked Avengers

Most Of these films are the old-school Shaw Brothers films. If you like Kung fu films check these out.

5) Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story

4) House of Flying Daggers

3) Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

2) Hero

1) Kung Fu Hustle

how come nobody has mentioned forbidden kingdom? yeah its a little cheesy but jet li AND jackie chan… enough said! but also i think it would just be easier to list top 5 martial arts movie actors and heres mine.

5. steven segal
4. jet li
3. jackie chan (i like some humor in my martial arts)
2. chuck norris
1. Bruce Lee

there’s some good ones there but 2 big ones missing.
RedBelt – cool BJJ movie about a guy walking the path of the warrior.
And Valhalla Rising – a really awsome battle saga.

And just for Laughs, what about American Ninja

Oh, I forgot, Awesome film called ‘Iron and Silk’ – Biographical drama about a martial arts nerd who trains with a chinese master- see Imdb

Some awesome films that haven’t been mentioned:

Drive (mark Dacascos), Blood and Bone (Micheal Jai White), Enter the Dragon, Dragon (Jason Scott Lee),
Eye for an Eye (Chuck Norris), Double Impact (JCVD), Under Siege, Lethal Weapon, Rocky 4, China o’Brien (just joking), The Protector (American Jackie Chan buddy cop film from early 80′s – WTF???) and Perfect Weapon (Jeff Speakman)

How about worst martial arts film? Gymkata?

AWSOME VIDEO’S maan , i LOVED IT :D

personally my favourite’s are

1) never back down
2) undisputed 3
3) big stan
4) karate kid

Would have to say

1: Undisputed 3
2: Enter The Dragon
3: Bloodsport
4: Ong Bak
5: Kung Fu Hustle (If you want a laugh)

sorry was ment to say you havent got SHOGUNS ASSASSIN not in your top 5

drunken master
snake in eagles shadow
enter the streetfighter {with sonny chiba
battle creek brawl
and cant believe SHOGUNS ASSASSIN in your to 5

Last of the Mohicans w Dan Day Lewis has some of the best fight scenes ever

No-one’s mentioned Lethal Weapon – the choreography was way ahead of it’s time – one of the Gracies was an advisor, there are also elements of 52 Blocks, Silat and Capoeira in the gritty mix. In a similarly urban vein, both Taken and the Bourne films have some great bone crunching action. While Filippino based, the latter owe much to Segal. Two of my all time favourites: Ghost Dog and The Seven Samurai

Eric, being a van damme fan I would definitely have to say Kickboxer(first one only), No Retreat , No Surrender and then of course lately, MJ White with the Undisputed 2 & 3. I definitely agree with you with Bloodsport.

Really dig the list, and I’m way stoked you put Bloodsport on there. That’s definitely on my list, as is Ong Bak 1. Have yet to see 2 and 3, but one was such an awesome movie!

Well, here’s my list:
1. Enter the Dragon – Bruce Lee
2. Chinese Connection(I think that’s what it’s called, correct me if I’m wrong guys) – Bruce Lee
3. Bloodsport – Van Damme
4. Ong Bak – Tony Jaa
5. Karate Kid(The original) – Don’t remember the guy’s name…

another good one I watched recently is the Live action film for Tekken. The story was horrible, but the fight scenes were pretty well done.

I hope you’ve seen Flashpoint with Donnie Yen. The last 20 odd minutes is an mma inspired fight with Colin Chou. Fantastic stuff. Also for pure 80′s entertainment you can’t beat Mismatched Couples. Donnie again at his breakdancing Kung fu’ing best.
The police story and project a series are some of jackie’s best.
Drive with Mark Dacascos was, until recently, the best American made ma flick.
My absolute favourite though is a tie between Fist Of Legend and Drunken Master 2.
Also, anything with Scott Adkins or Michael Jai White (black dynamite) will do you no harm. They are definitely the future of action.

No Steven Seagal flicks!!!!!????? With all the nut hugging he’s gotten from the MMA community as of late.
I have to make a top 5 list just dedicated to him. Of course all 3 word titles:

1. Marked for Death
2. Out for Justice (seriously impressive stick fighting scene with he and Dan Inosanto)
3. Above the Law (some cool old school traditional aikido)
4. Hard to Kill
5. Under Siege (not 3 words and more action flick but still worthy)

My top five

#5 – Lone Wolf McQuade – Chuck Norris and David Carridine
#4 – The Transporter movies – Jason Statham rocks
#3 – Bloodsport – Only really good movie VanDam ever made.
#2 – Game of Death – Bruce Lee – enough said
# 1 – Enter the Dragon – see comment for # 2

Fearless and Hero, starring Jet Li, are two of my favorites. Of course, I have to throw in some classics like the original Karate Kid movies. (Not the Next Karate Kid. That one was awful.)

Hey Eric.

1. Best of the Best 1 – the other ones are crap.
2. Never Back Down – like the training scenes and music
3. Kickboxer – big Jean Claude Van Damme fan growing up
4. Bloodspoort – Undisputed 2 or 3 – both are great

I see on 9 Sept theres launching a new MMA movie called Warrior – looks good! All the recent movies with famous fighters were crap!

Rgds.

Stian

All very good nominations. I may actually add a few of the above to my *Need to be Seen* list.

Hopefully not repeating… a few that I think need special recognition.

1) Mark Dacoscos – Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte des loups) – Although set in the French 1760′s, Dacoscos brings his martial arts flavor to the Iroquois Indian character he portrays. Highly recommend this foreign film loosely based on the French historical story of the Beast of Gévaudan.

2) Jeff Speakman – Perfect Weapon

Dwight Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:26 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSjvrlDxlaQ&feature=player_detailpage

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Not sure if this one has been mentioned, but don’t forget ‘kung fu panda’. Amazing fight scenes!

Some cool choices above, here’s my top 5 (no particular order)
Ong Bak – Tony Jaa
Hard Boiled – John Woo (martial arts wt guns)
Yojimbo- Akira Kurosawa  ( or else the 7 samurai)
Police story (1 or 2) Jackie Chan
Enter the dragon (uncensored ) -Bruce Lee 

special mention : meals on wheels fight scene between Jackie Chan and Benny the Jet.
Bruce Lee Game of Death
Blood Sport ( Van Dame)

all the above plus others I remember off the top of head
- Iron Monkey
- Tai Chi Boxer
- Blood & Bone
Anything with Jet Li, Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan.

Master of the flying guillotine. Iron fist pillage. Dogeatdog.Hardboiled,any Chow yun-fat.Jackie Chan,fearless heyena,Crime story,Police story.Rutger Hauser,Blind Fury.Jet Li,Once A Upon A Time In China,Black Mask.Michelle Yeoh movies.The Last Dragon,Bruce Leroy lol.Chuck Norris,The Octagon.Bruce Lee,Game of Death,Big Boss.Van Damme.Hard Target,In Hell.Steven Seagal.Marked for Death,The GlimmerMan.Also the art of war

Hi Eric! I just watched “IP Man” and that movie has all the elements guys like and all the elements a significant other would like too! It’s the story of one of the most famous martial arts practioners in the world. He was Bruce Lee’s teacher! I HIGHLY recommend it!

Most martial arts movies are so over-the-top outrageous that I also prefer them with a big dollop of fantasy and/or comedy. Love the Stephen Chow movies (Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer) and all The Matrix movies. (Yes, even the much hated Part III.) The One is another “popcorn” movie that I’ve enjoyed multiple times when I don’t feel like thinking too much.

I don’t think anyone mentioned Big Trouble in Little China. Do you remember that this was one of Jackie Chan’s early movies before he became a star? He was one of Kurt Russell’s gang; very minor, non-speaking role.

Shaolin soccer
Kungfu hustle
Jackie chan the legend of the drunken master (not positive on the name though)
Equilibrium(not martial arts really but there is this one awesome gunfight you have to see.)
Kill bill
Those are my 5 off the top of my head but yeah I’m sure ill think of better ones as soon as i try to go to bed or something.

Ip Man of course, shame on you for not putting Ip Man on the list. And Jet Li’s The Legend. My 2 favorite of all time, both are very inspirational with AMAZING fight choreography.

Great list going on here. The listings want me to make a movie holiday. I saw Enter the Dragon pop up on other people’s list a lot, but I ma going to have to say Return of the Dragon is my #1. Just because of the Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris scene. My #2 being Young Master with Jackie Chan. My #3 would have to be City of Violence (it’s a slow starter, but a lot of awesome fights through out the movie once it gets rolling). #4 is Blood Heat with Kane Kosugi, especially with the sledgehammer fight at the end. My #5 would have to be High Risk with Jet Li. I like the whole martial arts spin on Die Hard they did with that movie.

A lot to choose from, so if you ask me again tomorrow the list might change. I like a lot of the classics too, like 5 Fingers of Death, The 5 Deadly Venoms, Shaoling vs Ninja, Zatoichi, and some of the Hong Kong films like My Schoolmate the Barbarian, Ip Man, OCTB (organized crime and triad bureau), Young and Dangerous 4 and so on.

kennethy Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 3:38 am

High Risk – great choice. Loved it. along with Bodyguard from Beijing, especially the last fight scene where they were both fighting for air, same as the end of Black Mask. When Li fought that White guy at the end of Black Mask and kicks him 5 times with one leg, crossing sides of his leg – just awesome. I always have to rewind that scene just to make sure it was real.

I do not like wire work, but include FEARLESS in the mix. Along with the last fight scene in UNLEASHED especially when they are fighting in the bathroom.

wow.

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great to see a lot of love for Drunken master – that original is prob my all time fave –

also liked ‘Ninja’ from 2009 – with Scot Adkins – some real nice framed shots and camera work – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182921/

never back down
anything with bruce lee
Red Belt ( Chiwetel Ejiofor )
Ip Man
Only the Strong

I would throw in Chuck Norris films and one of my favorites “Billy Jack”, yeah I am sure I will catch hell here, but coming from a retired military special ops type maybe you can cut me some slack…

Eric,

I have to agree with most of the movies listed above. Two movies to consider The Best of the Best, excellent movie and one for you and her to watch Romeo Must Die.

Both worth watching.

enter the dragon, mortal kombat are 2 of my personal favorites…………..i was very surprised enter the dragon wasnt on your list bro……considering bruce lee is a legend and quite possibly the godfather of todays modern martial arts

Old School B-movies
Breathing Fire – Bolo Young
Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) – Dolph Lundgren, Brandon Lee and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
College Kickboxers (1992)
American Samurai (1992)

Gorgeous (1999)

Shootfighter – Bolo Young

Rapid Fire – Brandon Lee

Donnie Yen
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
Chen Zhen

2010 Ip Man 2
Ip Man

2008 Ip Man
Ip Man

2007 Flash Point
Det. Sgt. Ma Jun

2006 Dragon Tiger Gate
Dragon Wong

2005 Kill Zone
Insp. Ma Kwun

2002 Hero
Sky

Tai Chi master – Jet Li

Fist of Legend is the all time best.

kennethy Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 3:43 am

I would have to separate some of your movies – for instance, SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO should be on this list , but the last 20 minutes of FLASHPOINT should.

Rapid Fire should not, you can see how slow Brandon is, even though I wanted that fight scene to be great. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa shouldn’t be in this list. Neither should Amreican Samurai. However, Jackie Chan’s 2 fights with his western stuntman in Gorgeous should be.

I used to like the classical movies but moved on to more realistic fight scenes now.

type WANG JANG LEE in youtube and see everything he did, including 2 with Jackie Chan.
Learn how to really kick to kill someone like he did in real life by typing THE ART OF HIGH IMPACT KICKING in youtube – see all 8 videos. Wang Jang Lee was the best villian of movies ever. He can really fight and trained the Korean Army in martial arts for many years.

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kennethy Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 3:47 am

correction SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO should NOT be on that list.

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Whoops, I see that Keith also mentioned 36th Chamber. Still an awesome movie.

One that no one has mentioned:

Master Killer (aka the 36th Chamber). Come on, a bald Shaolin monk undergoing awesome training sequences? I would have thought that was right up your alley!

Also, like a lot of people, I’m a fan of both Jet Li and Donnie Yen. One movie with both of them is “Once Upon a Time in China II.” The fight scene between them is epic.

Another movie that features a battle between two badasses is “Dragons Forever.” Jackie Chan fights Bennie “The Jet” Urquidez, and you get Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao as a bonus.

Hi Erik
It is hard to choose only 5, but let’s go, here is my list
Undisputed 2 and 3
The Transporter,
Bruce Lee – Enter the dragon,
Best of the best

Good pics Eric but I will echo the sentiments of others in saying that a tip of the hat to Bruce Lee was in order. One of the best martial arts flicks that nobody else seems to have seen was a Mark Dacascos movie called “Only the Strong” that featured some sick capoeira. Another campy b-movie fave was The Perfect Weapon starring kenpo flash in the pan Jeff Speakman. Last but not least, although it was pure camp, I can’t leave off 80s standout “Big Trouble in Little China” with Kurt Russell and Kim Cattrall. Honourable mentions are “Rapid Fire” with Brandon Lee and 70s Sony Chiba classic “Street Fighter” for sheer brutality.

HitManHey Reply:
July 28th, 2011 at 4:19 pm

Great to see Sonny Chiba!! But if you are going to mention Big Trouble (which I agree is a great movie) then you have to mention The Last Dragon also

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kennethy Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 3:46 am

Unfortunately, since I am Black, I found THE LAST DRAGON lame, and yes, I am a real fighter. However, Michael Jai White holds it down finally. Hollywood is racist and you never see any black fighters in movies, ask Taimak the LAST DRAGON as he said in the TV series UNSUNG.

They never knew what to do with him or any physical action star. example: SPAWN and BLADE’s Wesley Snipes. We black can really fight. BLOOD AND BONE and NEVER BACK DOWN 2 along with UNDISPUTED 2. Check them out.

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My vote is for Ip Man also…..Ip Man 2 was ok, a couple of good fight scenes, but sequel is always worse.

Another good Donnie Yen movie is Bodyguards & Assassins.

Jet Li’s Fearless was very good too.

OR…You can kick it old school and find some 70-80′s Shaw movies with amazing and long fight sequences like:
Five Deadly Venoms
Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms (aka Crippled Avengers)
Heroes of the East (aka Challenge of the Ninja)
Invincible Shaolin
36th Chamber

Also the History Channel and Channel both produced a series called Human Weapon and Fight Quest where the two hosts would travel to different countries, learn about the martial art of that country and then try to fight a high level practitioner of that art at the end.

You can find the torrents online.

That should keep you occupied Eric!

ominous Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 12:30 pm

drunken master both versions
best of the best(made my girlfriend cry in high school!)
way of the dradon/return of the dragon (bruce and chuck)
ong bak
I can’t believe nobody has mentioned
kickboxer!
lionheart!
no retreat, no surrender!
great, no I feel old. lol

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Fist of Legend is definitely the best martial arts movie of all time, a remake of Bruce’s Fist of Fury and an ode to his Jeet Kune do philosophy. There are some rare Kung Fu films choreographed by Yuen Wu Ping (of Kill Bill, Matrix, Crouching Tiger choreography fame) that are really fun to watch. Dance of the drunken mantis (mantis AND drunken style together, can you believe it?) and if you liked the monkey guy in bloodsport, there is one called mad monkey kung fu that is good, all monkey style kung fu and also on the animal style tip, Snake in the eagle’s shadow is a good old Jackie Chan one.
I think crouching tiger, hidden dragon would have to get a mention because it is a martial arts film your girlfriend would be ok to watch with you.
The new karate kid rates as well because I really think they gave the plot more depth and Will Smith’s kid is much less annoying than the original guy.
Huo Yuan Jia (I think it was called Unbeatable in the US) is a great Jet Li movie, about the first mixed martial arts events recorded in the world media. Fist of legend (and fist of fury) is a fictional story about a student of Huo Yuan Jia returning when he hears of his master’s death and wants to kick some japanese butt in foreign occupied Shanghai.
Ip Man (Ye Wen in mandarin) 1 and 2 are both kick ass films too. I live in China so there is no shortage of kung fu action to get your hands on here, it’s everywhere…
Also, I thought “the quest” was pretty good for Van Damme, it was a re-up of bloodsport, van damme plays a guy who gets given to a thai boxing camp as a kid…

My best 4 actors:
Jackie Chan: Armour of God 1, 2 (and many others:-))
Mark Dacascos: Drive, Crying Freeman
Tony Jaa: Protector, Ong Bak
Jet Li: Fist of Legend, Tai Chi Master

1. Jackie Chan – Legend of the Drunken Master. The fight scenes are incredible

2. Jackie Chan – Who Am I. The fight scene on top of building is worth it alone

3. Jet Li – Fearless

Karate Kid I and II all time classics. Ninja Assassins is the best new ass kicking movie in a loooonnnggggg time…especially if you’re into the gore stuff. Oh lets not forget The Machine Girl. Not mainstream for sure, but they have at the library. That’s 4, but I’m at work so shouldn’t be on here anyways. But if you haven’t seen the latter 2, highly recommend.

HitManHey Reply:
July 28th, 2011 at 4:22 pm

Machine Girl is more Splatter Punk than Martial arts… perhaps Verses would have been a better choice (a splatter punk movie with lots a great martial arts).

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Watz up coach enter da dragon is# 1 on my list way of da dragon shaolin temple iron monkey kill bill kung fu hustle. The one undisputed 2 all great movies as well

Hi Eric
It’s a good list. I would have to say my top 5 would have to be:-
Jackie Chan – Project A
Jet Li – The One
Chuck Norris – Side Kick
Jet Li – Hero
Jackie Chan – Karate kid

I must say that I also like all the Bruce lee film as well as all the Karate kid and Matrix films. There is also alot more that I like.

Take care

Red Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 11:51 am

Ha I remember SideKicks, that movie was awesome!

I would add -
the Legend of Drunken Master – Jackie Chan being Jackie Chan
Kill Bill Vol. 1 – I know some people hate it but Uma was kicking major ass!
Kung Fu Hustle – It has an axe gang; need I say more?
I also like any martial arts movie that showcases different fighting styles like Bloodsport & the Quest (basically bloodsport 2.0)

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Red Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 11:53 am

I almost forgot Unleashed with Jet Li. Great fight scenes in that one.

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Dude, you should have had atleast one Bruce Lee movie.. He tried to make his moves as close to realism as possible… I don’t care how old those Bruce Lee movies are!

Nick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 12:10 pm

totally agree with Al, at least one Bruce Lee movie should be on here…as well, where are the Shaw Brothers classics? 5 Deadly Venoms and my personal fave Chinese Super Ninja (known by other names) to name a couple.

oh and for good times, Gymkata!

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Eric Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 1:54 pm

Don’t get me wrong – I think Bruce Lee is the MAN. That being said, I’m not really excited at the prospect of watching his movies again. I thought Enter the Dragon was kind of slow. Yes, they were far ahead of their time, but nowadays, if I had to pick between a Bruce Lee flick or Fist of Legend… well, that’s easy.

Never seen anything from the Shaw brothers – will have to check em out!

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Undisputed 2 and 3. Amazing fight scenes, and some pretty amazing wushu stuff. Its about an organzied mafia that puts together a fight tournemant to determine the best prison fighter in the world.

I know it’s probably not a official martial arts movie But the wrestler starring mickey rourke Is amazing.

Eric Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 1:51 pm

I’ll have to check that out for sure… I consider Wrestling a martial art…

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These are great movies… one of my favorite all time is Ip Man with Donnie Yen. Phenomenal fights seens plus a great storyline, directing, acting, choreography… it has it all!

Check out the trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3367437849/

Geoff

Geoff Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 11:38 am

Oh, I forgot to mention it’s inspired by the guy who ended up becoming Bruce Lee’s master.

Fight seens? heh, scenes. I hate my typos.

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Timson Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 11:44 am

Good call coach, i gotta stick with geoff: Ip Man is my favorite movie as well…Donnie Yen started practising wing chun months before shooting the movie to be able to play master Ip Man as good as possible….

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Diego Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 12:08 pm

I love the IP Man movies here my top 5
1) Enter the Dragon- There was Martial arts before Bruce lee
but after him it was never the same
2)Return of the Dragon- Bruce lee vs Chuck Norris one of the best fight scenes ever
3)IP Man series- bout bruce lee’s wing chung instructor evenn better if u even done
Any wing chung
4)Ong bak series- tony jaa athleticism & martial skill is amazing not to mention being in great shape
5)Fist of legend- jet li is tge man
5) Chocolate- bout an autistic girl who winds up roughing her moms
old gangster buddies to help pay for her mom cancer meds so great fight scenes
Its up there with the 1st Ong Bak

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Eric Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 1:50 pm

Actually IP Man is the movie my buddy recommended I watch that I did watch a few weeks ago… To be honest, I was underwhelmed… that’s why it’s not on my list!

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Geoff Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:44 pm

You know, if they could make an ultimate Martials Arts movie a la the ultimate Action movie, The Expendables, with a bunch of the greatest action stars of all time. I think I’d be in Heaven.

It’d have to include at least (of the ones still alive):

1. Jackie Chan
2. Jet Li
3. Donnie Yen
4. Tony Jaa
5. Jason Stathom
6. and Chuck Norris too as the older, wise Master :)

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