Top 5 Martial Arts Movies
What are your top 5 martial arts movies? Here's my list in no specific order:
- Drunken Tai Chi
- Tai Chi Master (aka Twin Warriors)
- The Karate Kid
- 5 Masters of Death
- Best of the Best
I have the fondest childhood memories of Drunken Tai Chi. This one stars Donnie Yen and is a comedy to boot! One of my cousins would often turn down the volume and make up his own dialogue in the movie, which was quite funny. I really love the taiji training sequence, even demonstrating the illusive 'bird in hand' technique in which one is so skilled and sensitive that a bird cannot take flight!
Ahh.. Tai Chi Master with Jet Li. This one is awesome how it shows some pretty cool taiji fighting techniques of really using your opponent's force against them. It shows Jet Li doing some of the Yang 24 form in addition to what appears to be a very stylized wushu version of the Chen 56 competition set.
The Karate Kid.. what can I say about this? I've actually written about this movie before. This is one of those movies that I will always watch whenever it's on TV even though my wife really hates it! Fond memories of watching Daniel-San doing the crane and overcoming all challenges! Definitely one of those inspirational films.
5 Masters of Death was one of those movies that was always on 'USA's Kung Fu Theatre" when I was growing up. The basic plot is about a group of 5 students looking for the traitor of shaolin after the temple gets burned down. All the secret hand shakes, tea ceremony sequences and bad-a$$ style call-outs make this a classic. "Ahh.. I see you're doing the tiger style. Well, your tiger style is no match for my dragon style!" This is one of those movies that is often sampled in the Wu-Tang Clan albums if you listen closely :)
Best of the Best just rocks! Sure, it contains the cheesy b-actor, Eric Roberts, but he was the bomb in this movie. This is one of those inspirational dramas that just makes one feel happy. The fight sequences are awesome, the storyline is awesome and definitely a must see!
What are your top 5 Martial Arts movies? Feel free to either comment here or on your own blog with a link back to this original post!
[tags]taiji, random, top5, movies, martialarts[/tags]
17 Comments
You should definitely check them out as they are generally widely available.
1) Fearless (already out on DVD, if you order from Asia)
2) Drunken Master 2
3) Ong-Bak
4) Iron Monkey
5) Hero
a) prodigal son
b) heroes of the east
c) ong bak
d) enter the dragon
e) shaolin mantis
A list without any Jet Li movies? Check out the Swordsmen trilogy, along with the Once Upon a Time in China Series, also standard classics. (2 other pretty good Jet Li oldies: The Kid from Shaolin, and The Shaolin Temple.)
I've seen the samurai movies you mentioned, but for some reason, I"m not too fond of samurai movies. A lot of them tend to move too slow for my liking.
My #2 pick is a Jet Li movie. It's the one where he learns taiji :)
@ZMS:
Thanks for the background on Sammo Hung :) I never followed the series but it's interesting none-the-less. I'm just awaiting for the movie to arrive :)
2, fearless
3, fist of legend
4, enter the dragon
5, blood sport , based on the true story
"Tanaka.. you don't look like Tanaka." :)
"That would make you Frank Ducks!"
Warriors Two http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078517/
The Prodigal Son
These 3 all all old-school must-have for fans of Chinese MA movies.
I also like the Doug Rogers Judo Documentary...LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjwyoA6OAmw
2. Drunken Master 2 (classic Jackie Chan with Ti Lung in it)
3. Once Upon a Time in China 2 (first Jet Li vs. Donnie Yen)
4. A Chinese Odyssey 1 & 2 (Stephen Chow as the Monkey King - awesome!)
5. Anything with Ninjas or Samurais in it (gotta love those cheeky ninjas). Lonewolf and Cub were classic!
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