I strongly recommend you watch this highly underrated documentary on NetFlix while you can (last chance to watch is Nov 30th, at least in the U. K). It is jam-packed with exciting fight scenes and information about the genre. It talks about the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest studios and stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan but it also mentions many other films that I haven't seen or even heard of but seem brilliant (such as 'Five Fingers of Fury', the first film where a martial artist plucks out an eyeball, later famously appearing in 'Kill Bill', which also samples this film with its siren background in the soundtrack) as well as some cult classics that aren't as famous or appreciated as they should be like such as '36 Chambers of Shaolin' and 'Snake in the Eagle's Shadow'. It's also interesting how Cheng Pei-Pei was a famous female action star in 'Come Drink With Me' in 1966 long before starring in 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', 'La Femme Nikita' in 1990, or the more recent spate of action/spy/assassin films with a female lead, the cream of he current crop being the painfully underrated 'Hanna'. They also point out that wires were used in action films in Hong Kong long before 'The Matrix'.
It's also interesting to see the influence on popular culture more generally, such as on hip hop breakdancing and parkour (they interview the founder of this sport) and the black kung fu stars who based themselves on Bruce Lee and are little known outside the African-American community. I learnt from this doc that Ugandans have started making Kung Fu films, coining the term 'Wakalawood' to describe those made in the slum of Wakala (where an American martial artist plays the lead in the films and in one scene gets covered in faeces from an open sewer!).
I was slightly surprised they didn't say more about Van Damme or mention the film 'Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai' or 'Kill Bill' but an excellent and entertaining programme that deserves a 10.
It's also interesting to see the influence on popular culture more generally, such as on hip hop breakdancing and parkour (they interview the founder of this sport) and the black kung fu stars who based themselves on Bruce Lee and are little known outside the African-American community. I learnt from this doc that Ugandans have started making Kung Fu films, coining the term 'Wakalawood' to describe those made in the slum of Wakala (where an American martial artist plays the lead in the films and in one scene gets covered in faeces from an open sewer!).
I was slightly surprised they didn't say more about Van Damme or mention the film 'Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai' or 'Kill Bill' but an excellent and entertaining programme that deserves a 10.