Martial Arts Films

Martial Arts starter kit

This is sort of a selfish thread, but I figured it might be useful to anyone's who trying to get into the genre.

As for me, I have seen Crouching Tiger, House of Flying Daggers, and several Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies on late night cable.  I feel as though that is a pretty good start, but I know that's just the tip of the iceberg.

What are the next steps?  What are the best ones?  What are the most acclaimed ones?  Discuss...

Re:Martial Arts starter kit

Smooth_J:

This is sort of a selfish thread, but I figured it might be useful to anyone's who trying to get into the genre.

As for me, I have seen Crouching Tiger, House of Flying Daggers, and several Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies on late night cable.  I feel as though that is a pretty good start, but I know that's just the tip of the iceberg.

What are the next steps?  What are the best ones?  What are the most acclaimed ones?  Discuss...

If you like those you may want to check out A Touch of Zen.  It was the first big budget Chinese action movie of this style.  It was most definitely an influence on the movies you mentioned.  And those movies might not have even existed if this one wasn't made.  It was really the biggest and most epic Chinese action movie up to that time and the first one to really make an impact outside of China.

Once Upon a Time in China is probably a great one to start out too.  Especially if you like Jet Li.

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I used to live in a small town with one theater, so we went to whatever movie showed up. One day in 1971, Fists of Fury arrived. This is the first kung fu movie I ever aw and at the time, I thought it was totally great. Ultra low budget but one of the basic movie of its type.

Others that I consider indispensable: The Van Damme movies, Bloodsport and Kickboxer, and the humorous Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle.

(sorry i can't link to the movies i've mentioned, using this device)

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I would also recommend any of Jet Li's and Jackie Chan's older films, but most definitely Bruce Lee's films. I feel like Bruce Lee really paved the way for Chinese martial arts films in the United States.

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As far as I'm concerned, Tony Jaa is where it's at right now. The Protector & Ong Bak have some of the best stunts and martial arts I've ever scene.

A Jackie Chan movie that I loved that doesn't get a lot of play is Who Am I? The stunts are awesome and the final fight scene on the roof-top was killer.

I also recommend a French film called District B-13. You know those guys on the commercials that jump off of balconies and over cars with cool flips and stuff. That's apparently called parkour and this movie has a bunch of that stuff. I don't really know much about it, but the movie (produced by Luc Besson) is very entertaining.

Re:Martial Arts starter kit

leeroy711:

I also recommend a French film called District B-13. You know those guys on the commercials that jump off of balconies and over cars with cool flips and stuff. That's apparently called parkour and this movie has a bunch of that stuff. I don't really know much about it, but the movie (produced by Luc Besson) is very entertaining.

Look up Russian Climbing on Youtube, or any other video site.  Those people do some pretty crazy sh*t, it was really only a matter of time before it was put into films.  It's spawned multitudes of imitators, but this is the original video (as far as I know) that brought it mainstream.

Re:Martial Arts starter kit

Smooth_J:

This is sort of a selfish thread, but I figured it might be useful to anyone's who trying to get into the genre.

 

What are the next steps?  What are the best ones?  What are the most acclaimed ones?  Discuss...

So far all of the recommendations have been excellent, and you really can't go wrong with early Jackie Chan(bypass any of his American films) or Jet Li(ditto). Jet Li's Once Upon a Time In China is superb, but you could also check out Fist of Fury, which isn't really early Jet Li but it's still all kinds of awesome. For Jackie Chan check out Young Master, which was really when he started to get the slapstick kung fu style down, or Drunken Master II.

And here's a quick rundown of some other greats:

Master of the Flying Guillotine, which is an old-school tournament film showcasing some pretty cool fights with various styles. Yellow River Fighter sounds dirty, but is actually a totally awesome film featuring drunken sword fighting. Iron Monkey is one of the best 'wire-fu' films out there, and so is Michelle Yeoh's Wing Chun. And for pure silliness, also in the old school vein, check out Buddhist Fist(with work from Yuen Wo Ping, who choreographed the Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), which has a chinese zombie fight scene.

All of the ones listed were bought in the U.S., so you shouldn't have to go to far to find them(although there are some seriously cool imports floating around out there).

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TheWorkingDead:

or Drunken Master II.

I almost mentioned this one too.

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   It just so happens that the 'martial arts' film is easily my second favorite genre after Horror Movies!   There are even a couple movies that dip into both genres!   Does anyone remember the TERRIBLE Chuck Norris movie about an unstoppable killer called  Silent Rage ?   There was also the one with Peter Cushing in   Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires  ...

   But anyone interested in getting into martial arts should start with Bruce Lee and progress from there...   And I am talking about ALL of his movies including:   The Chinese Connection   and  Fists Of Fury ...   up through  Enter The Dragon  and  Return Of The Dragon ...   and even   The Game Of Death   ...   These are some SERIOUS Martial Arts movies!   Next you should look into Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris and Jeff Speakman and Jason Stathom and especially the old films of Sonny Chiba!    ...    Also, since boxing and sword-fighting and fighting in general are considered to be 'martial arts'. I would recomend  The Warriors  and   The 13th Warrior  and  The Ultimate Warrior  ...   as good examples...

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Sorry, Gor, I deleted your entire post even though I'm replying to it, just because I didn't want it to double up on those links on the side.

I cannot believe I forgot any Sonny Chiba or Bruce Lee. I think I kinda assumed anyone into martial arts would have gotten there first. But yes, all of the Lee movies you mention are excellent, and required viewing. After that, head over to Kentucky Fried Movie for the excellent parody of Enter The Dragon. Too awesome.

And, of course, Sonny Chiba. But be careful there, since his filmography is full of some crap-filled landmines. But you can't go wrong with the entire Street Fighter series. Sister Street Fighter, though, is skippable, since it's the same cast from the rest of the series in an unrelated(and inferior) film that reuses a lot of old footage. After that, you should check out The Killing Machine, which is pure insanity.