My Favorite Martial Arts Films
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - 2000 -Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun Fat, Zhang Ziyi star. In my opinion this has a comprehensible story line that makes sense to westerners. It has not one, but two love stories. It was directed by Ang Lee, and won an Oscar for best foreign language film. The martial arts is excellent. The acting is solid. The filmography is great. It’s artful. The ending... well you can’t have everything. But hey- magic sword!
Hero - 2002-Directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, and Zhang Ziyi. This is a story with the unification of China as the setting. It is artful and intense. It contains one of my favorite fight scenes ever, with Jet Li matching his sword against Donnie Yen’s spear, in a rainy courtyard. The filmography has spectacular use of color. High stakes and a special twist. A bit hard to follow, but worth it.
The Shaolin Temple- 1982 Jet Li’s first film. The martial arts is the best, as it contains solely former professional martial arts team members at the highest level. The story is a basic revenge drama, but well done.
The Seven Samurai- 1954 Akira Kurosawa directs, Toshiro Mifune stars. This is the movie upon which the Magnificent Seven was based. Brilliant film.
Enter the Dragon- 1973 Bruce Lee. My favorite Bruce Lee film, very much of its time. Big martial arts tournament, many characters with their own agendas. Lots of fighting. A bit cheesy, but a classic
Kung Fu Hustle - 2004 Outrageously surreal comedy with musical numbers, gangsters, and hidden super powered characters. Funny and surprisingly different.
Drunken Master- 1978 classic Jackie Chan humor, fighting, and great stunts. A bit cheesy.
Iron Monkey - 1993 film starring Donnie Yen. Great plot, a good love story, intrigue, and a cute kid. It has something for everyone. Directed by Yuen Wo Ping, who did the fight choreography for the matrix.
The Last Dragon -1985 This is a goofy send up of classic martial arts films. Stereotypes are switched up, and the martial arts are so-so, but it has musical numbers. 1980’s cheesy, but fun.
Tai chi Master 1993 Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. Fights, betrayal, and the (very fictional) birth of Taiji. When my good friend brought the movie home to watch it with her husband, he quipped, “Taiji Master?!? What does he do, bore them to death?” Plenty of action in this movie though.