Best Martial Arts Films
by greatphoenix | created - 18 Oct 2014 | updated - 22 Oct 2014 | PublicA list of my favorite martial arts films that portray actual martial arts, and not just men on wires or CGI fights.
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1. Ip Man (2008)
R | 106 min | Action, Biography, Drama
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.
Director: Wilson Yip | Stars: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Siu-Wong Fan, Ka-Tung Lam
Votes: 233,675
Obviously the master who trained Bruce Lee's story belongs on this list. Loosely based on true events.
2. Drunken Master (1978)
PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Comedy
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.
Director: Woo-Ping Yuen | Stars: Jackie Chan, Siu-Tin Yuen, Jeong-lee Hwang, Dean Shek
Votes: 43,892
The film that brought drunken fist to the mainstream.
3. Drunken Master II (1994)
R | 102 min | Action, Comedy
A young martial artist is caught between respecting his pacifist father's wishes or stopping a group of disrespectful foreigners from stealing precious artifacts.
Directors: Chia-Liang Liu, Jackie Chan | Stars: Jackie Chan, Ho-Sung Pak, Lung Ti, Anita Mui
Votes: 48,947 | Gross: $11.55M
The final fight in this film is orgasmic, one of the few instances of sequels that exceed the original.
4. The Way of the Dragon (1972)
R | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A man visits his relatives at their restaurant in Italy and has to help them defend against brutal gangsters harassing them.
Director: Bruce Lee | Stars: Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Nora Miao, Ping-Ou Wei
Votes: 41,079 | Gross: $4.06M
Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris. Priceless.
5. Unleashed (2005)
R | 103 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A man enslaved by the mob since childhood and raised into behaving like a human attack dog escapes his captors and attempts to start a new life.
Director: Louis Leterrier | Stars: Jet Li, Bob Hoskins, Morgan Freeman, Kerry Condon
Votes: 108,121 | Gross: $24.52M
I don't like most Jet Li films I've seen just because the martial arts is always over the top. I like battles with realistic physics, and this movie has those.
6. True Legend (2010)
R | 115 min | Action, Drama, History
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.
Director: Woo-Ping Yuen | Stars: Wenzhuo Zhao, Xun Zhou, Andy On, Xiaodong Guo
Votes: 9,225 | Gross: $0.08M
The drunken fist portion seems shoe-horned in, but the fight in the snake pit was pretty tight...something I hadn't really seen before and definitely well executed.
7. Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003)
R | 105 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
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.
Director: Prachya Pinkaew | Stars: Tony Jaa, Phetthai Vongkumlao, Pumwaree Yodkamol, Suchao Pongwilai
Votes: 78,212 | Gross: $4.56M
8. Equilibrium (2002)
R | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In an oppressive future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system and state.
Director: Kurt Wimmer | Stars: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs
Votes: 347,195 | Gross: $1.20M
dystopian sci fi martial arts
9. District B13 (2004)
R | 84 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and an ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.
Director: Pierre Morel | Stars: Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Tony D'Amario, Bibi Naceri
Votes: 73,911 | Gross: $1.20M
parkour + martial arts, crime thriller
10. Blood and Bone (2009)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In Los Angeles, an ex-con takes the underground fighting world by storm in his quest to fulfill a promise to a dead friend.
Director: Ben Ramsey | Stars: Michael Jai White, Julian Sands, Eamonn Walker, Dante Basco
Votes: 35,849
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