Martial Arts Films

Best Martial Artist Actor!

Re: Best Martial Artist Actor!

Hmmm, best actor is kinda hard, because there are people who's personas I like a lot, like Jet Li, or Jackie Chan, who may not be the best dramatic actors in the world. So, my completely arbitrary and slightly uneducated answer would be Stephen Chow. He may not have the dramatic chops, but he has the comic timing and 'acting' down as much as he has the kung fu.

 Or maybe Sonny Chiba. In the few things of his that weren't strict martial arts, he always come off as a pretty decent actor. Possibly I'm just blinded by his awesomeness, but I suspect he can also actually act.

Re: Best Martial Artist Actor!

Hmm I think I've heard of Sonny Chiba, but what has Stephen Chow been in? I thought of Chow Yun Fat when I saw Chow. Chow Yun Fat is, imo, a pretty respectable actor (or is he a director, or is it both? :)

I think I really respect Fat's acting abilities, and those of Zhang Ziyi (sp?). I really enjoyed their roles in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. That is probably my second favorite film of all time, and the first martial arts film I ever bought on dvd.

Re: Best Martial Artist Actor!

Sonny Chiba is a chinese-japanese actor, he's most famous for the Street FIghter series in the 70s, which were huge inspirations on people like Quentin Tarantino. Really, you should put the series in your netflix que, except for Sister Street Fighter. That movie was basically the same cast, with some footage from the other movies spliced in, but COMPLETELY unrelated. Everyone plays different characters. The first Street Fighter was awesome, though. Be prepared, Chiba isn't a good guy, he's almost as bad as the villians. He's just a guy out to make money.

Chiba was also in Kill Bill as Hattori Hanzo, the swordmaker. And Stephen Chow is the writer/director/star of Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. He may not be as awesome as Sonny Chiba, but he's multitalented to a degree a lot of MA actors simply arent.

 Chow Yun Fat may be the coolest man alive. Hard Boiled and The Killer are two almost perfect films.

Re: Best Martial Artist Actor!

Sonny Chiba is The Street Fighter!!!

Stephen Chow is great acting, writing, and directing in Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer.  He's been making a lot of movies before he got big in the USA though it looks like.  The God of Cookery is definitely on my list of movies to see.