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Top 20 Best Martial Arts Movies.

by jjohnccurtiss • Created 8 years ago • Modified 7 years ago
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  • 21 titles
  • Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Chang Chen, and Ziyi Zhang in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

    1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

    20002hPG-1394Metascore
    7.9 (288K)
    A young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
    DirectorAng LeeStarsChow Yun-FatMichelle YeohZiyi Zhang
  • Five Elements Ninjas (1982)

    2. Five Elements Ninjas

    19821h 47mR
    7.2 (3.4K)
    A Chinese martial arts school is infiltrated and destroyed by ninjas. Tian Hao survives the massacre and seeks to uncover the trickery of ninjutsu in order to beat the Five Element Ninjas and avenge his family.
    DirectorCheh ChangStarsTien-Chi ChengTien-Hsiang LungMeng Lo
  • Hero (2002)

    3. Hero

    20021h 47mPG-1385Metascore
    7.9 (191K)
    A defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.
    DirectorYimou ZhangStarsJet LiTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie Cheung
  • Return to the 36th Chamber (1980)

    4. Return to the 36th Chamber

    19801h 39mR
    6.9 (4.4K)
    After failing to help his friends at the local dyeing mill who're getting bullied by Manchurians, a lowly street hustler sneaks into the Shaolin Temple, and is willing to do anything to learn kung fu and help his friends.
    DirectorChia-Liang LiuStarsChia-Hui LiuLung-Wei WangHou Hsiao
  • Chen-Chi Lin and Danny Lee in The Battle Wizard (1977)

    5. The Battle Wizard

    19771h 17m
    6.1 (626)
    A bookish young man and his sword-loving sister find themselves battling a trio of villains, one of them a beautiful but masked woman who has promised to either marry or murder the first man to see her unmasked.
    DirectorHsueh-Li PaoStarsDanny LeeNi TienChen-Chi Lin
    Also known as 'The Battle Wizard'
  • Iron Monkey (1993)

    6. Iron Monkey

    19931h 25mPG-1379Metascore
    7.5 (18K)
    A martial artist/doctor steals from the corrupt authorities as a masked thief to give to the poor while another martial artist/doctor is forced to hunt him down. But a major threat unites them as a powerful and traitorous shaolin monk takes over the authorities.
    DirectorYuen Woo-PingStarsRongguang YuDonnie YenJean Wang
  • True Legend (2010)

    7. True Legend

    20101h 55mR62Metascore
    6.4 (9.4K)
    China, 1861: After rescuing the Qing prince from rebels, General Su retires to start a martial arts school. His foster brother betrays him and Su barely survives. Su has a new enemy to defeat.
    DirectorYuen Woo-PingStarsWenzhuo ZhaoXun ZhouAndy On
  • Jackie Chan, Dean Shek, and Siu-Tin Yuen in Drunken Master (1978)

    8. Drunken Master

    19781h 51mPG-1368Metascore
    7.4 (46K)
    Wong Fei-Hung is a mischievous, yet righteous young man, but after a series of incidents, his frustrated father has him disciplined by a master of drunken martial arts.
    DirectorYuen Woo-PingStarsJackie ChanSiu-Tin YuenJeong-lee Hwang
  • Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Joe Pantoliano, and Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix (1999)

    9. The Matrix

    19992h 16mR73Metascore
    8.7 (2.2M)
    When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
    DirectorsLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne Moss
  • Jet Li in Fearless (2006)

    10. Fearless

    20061h 44mPG-1370Metascore
    7.6 (80K)
    A biography of Chinese Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia, who is the founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation.
    DirectorRonny YuStarsJet LiLi SunYong Dong
  • Donnie Yen in Ip Man (2008)

    11. Ip Man

    20081h 46mR59Metascore
    8.0 (239K)
    During the Japanese invasion of China, a wealthy martial artist is forced to leave his home when his city is occupied. With little means of providing for themselves, Ip Man and the remaining members of the city must find a way to survive.
    DirectorWilson YipStarsDonnie YenSimon YamLouis Fan
  • Bruce Lee, Ahna Capri, Jim Kelly, John Saxon, Shih Kien, and Robert Wall in Enter the Dragon (1973)

    12. Enter the Dragon

    19731h 42mR83Metascore
    7.6 (117K)
    A Shaolin martial artist travels to an island fortress to spy on an opium lord - who is also a former monk from his temple - under the guise of attending a fighting tournament.
    DirectorRobert ClouseStarsBruce LeeJohn SaxonJim Kelly
  • Toshirô Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Yoshio Inaba, Daisuke Katô, Isao Kimura, Seiji Miyaguchi, Takashi Shimura, and Keiko Tsushima in Seven Samurai (1954)

    13. Seven Samurai

    19543h 27mNot Rated98Metascore
    8.6 (384K)
    Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, and he gathers six other samurai to join him.
    DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko Tsushima
  • Stephen Chow, Siu-Lung Leung, Qiu Yuen, and Danny Kwok-Kwan Chan in Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

    14. Kung Fu Hustle

    20041h 39mR78Metascore
    7.7 (157K)
    In Shanghai, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious "Axe Gang" while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
    DirectorStephen ChowStarsStephen ChowWah YuenQiu Yuen
  • Uma Thurman in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

    15. Kill Bill: Vol. 1

    20031h 51mR69Metascore
    8.2 (1.3M)
    After waking from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.
    DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsUma ThurmanDavid CarradineDaryl Hannah
  • Jack Black in Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

    16. Kung Fu Panda 2

    20111h 30mPG67Metascore
    7.3 (339K)
    Po and his friends fight to stop a peacock villain from conquering China with a deadly new weapon, but first the Dragon Warrior must come to terms with his past.
    DirectorJennifer Yuh NelsonStarsJack BlackAngelina JolieJackie Chan
  • Tony Jaa in Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003)

    17. Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior

    20031h 45mR69Metascore
    7.1 (80K)
    When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.
    DirectorPrachya PinkaewStarsTony JaaPhetthai VongkumlaoPumwaree Yodkamol
  • Crippled Avengers (1978)

    18. Crippled Avengers

    19781h 44mR
    7.3 (3.2K)
    Three men who have been physically disabled by a vindictive martial arts master and his physically-disabled son ally together and learn kung fu from an elderly martial-artist and his mentally-disabled pupil, so they can avenge themselves.
    DirectorCheh ChangStarsChen Kuan-TaiFeng LuPhillip Chung-Fung Kwok
  • Masked Avengers (1981)

    19. Masked Avengers

    19811h 32mR
    7.0 (847)
    The masked gang have created a menace, killing many people, now it is up to Philp who once worked for the masked gang to destroy them.
    DirectorCheh ChangStarsSheng ChiangKe ChuSiu-Ho Chin
  • Five Deadly Venoms (1978)

    20. Five Deadly Venoms

    19781h 41mR
    7.0 (8.4K)
    The sixth and final disciple of a dying martial arts master is instructed to find the master's five former disciples, each specializing in their own unique kung fu style, and defeat any evil ones amongst them.
    DirectorCheh ChangStarsSheng ChiangChien SunPhillip Chung-Fung Kwok
    Bonus! Just outside the top 20.
  • Taimak and Vanity in The Last Dragon (1985)

    21. The Last Dragon

    19851h 49mPG-1358Metascore
    6.8 (19K)
    In New York City, a young man searches for a Master to obtain the final level of martial arts mastery known as the Glow.
    DirectorMichael SchultzStarsTaimakVanityChristopher Murney

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