11 movies a martial artist must see.

Chris Parker

Grandmaster
Joined
Feb 18, 2008
Messages
6,259
Reaction score
1,104
Location
Melbourne, Australia
It's an interesting list... honestly, none of them are anything I'd recommend for anything other than pure escapism and entertainment... in which case, they're all fun movies. Personally, I'd look to Seven Samurai, Kuro Obi, Twilight Samurai, Hara Kiri etc as my "go-to" list... of course, that does betray my more Japanese-influenced background, as opposed to the article's authors Chinese-arts bent. I think that's been an influence on the choices, really... different arts will have different preferences for films... a BJJ guy might go straight to Red Belt (personally, I was rather ambivalent towards that one...), whereas a Wing Chun guy will go straight to Ip Man (or Ip Man 2). I don't really think you can get a list that "Every Martial Artist Must See"... it assumes there's far more common ground than there actually is.
 

Xue Sheng

All weight is underside
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
34,275
Reaction score
9,392
Location
North American Tectonic Plate
Remove #8 and #9 add Enter the Dragon and throw in Lost Bladesman and I would disagree with it less.....but I still would not agree with it completely
 
OP
T

TKDTony2179

Blue Belt
Joined
May 18, 2013
Messages
263
Reaction score
2
I really liked Best of the Best series. Well, maybe bb4 wasn't as good as the other three but they was good. The thing is there are lot of movies that martial artist must see. I personally like Return of the Dragon (Way of the dragon) better than Enter the Dragon. Bruce Lee looks healthier in that movie.
 

jks9199

Administrator
Staff member
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
23,473
Reaction score
3,795
Location
Northern VA
Lot a I don't particularly agree with... Maybe as a list of martial arts or movies that influenced martial arts in movies (The Matrix as a martial arts movie? Not anymore than First Blood or Rocky were...) I personally think Red Belt and the first Best of The Best are very good movies for martial artists.
 

wingchun100

Senior Master
Joined
Sep 2, 2013
Messages
3,300
Reaction score
525
Location
Troy NY
My own list:

*Enter the Dragon
*Way of the Dragon (Bruce wrote, directed and starred, which makes this movie the most personal one he ever made)
*Karate Kid (Sucker for underdog stories)
*Drunken Master
*Yip Man
*The Protector (maybe not "good," but so over the top with broken arm after broken arm)
*Seven Samurai
*Armor of God (love the fight with the Amazon women!)
*Dragons Forever (Jackie vs. Benny the Jet!)
*36 Chambers of Shaolin
*Kill Bill (I'm treating this as one movie here. The second part may not have a restaurant battle full of blood, but it DOES have the Pai Mei training flashback)
 

Transk53

The Dark Often Prevails
Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2013
Messages
4,220
Reaction score
836
Location
England 43 Anno Domini
Not sure if Warrior counts, not purely a martial arts film I guess. Then again not being a MA, I guess I should not post, but..... Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a big fave of mine.
 
Last edited:

Daniel Sullivan

Grandmaster
MT Mentor
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
6,472
Reaction score
271
Location
Olney, Maryland
In no particular order:

Kuro Obi
Shadowless Sword
Showdown in Little Tokyo
Star Wars trilogy (the original, not the prequels)
Seven Samurai
Five Fingers of Death
Taken (treating one and two as one movie, though I understand Taken 3 is being made)
Batman Begins
Musa
The Princess Bride
Sherlock Holmes (the Guy Ritchie film specifically)
 
OP
T

TKDTony2179

Blue Belt
Joined
May 18, 2013
Messages
263
Reaction score
2
In no particular order:

Kuro Obi
Shadowless Sword
Showdown in Little Tokyo
Star Wars trilogy (the original, not the prequels)
Seven Samurai
Five Fingers of Death
Taken (treating one and two as one movie, though I understand Taken 3 is being made)
Batman Begins
Musa
The Princess Bride
Sherlock Holmes (the Guy Ritchie film specifically)

Show down in lil Tokyo! Classic. How about the Last Dragon?
 

billc

Grandmaster
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
9,183
Reaction score
85
Location
somewhere near Lake Michigan
I'll add " The Challenge" with Scott Glen and Toshiro Movine and Jackie chan's " The big Brawl" Two of my favorite martial arts films not mentioned yet...
 

flo

White Belt
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Kuro Obi is nice. Thanks to people who mentioned it. Damn! See how they Japanese slash dash.

My favorite entertainment is watching big blue sky and calm ocean waves. Don't know. Don't like modern technology that much.






 

Buka

Sr. Grandmaster
Staff member
MT Mentor
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
12,952
Reaction score
10,444
Location
Maui
The movie "Budo" is done really well. Makes you just want to run to the dojo and train.
 

Steve

Mostly Harmless
Joined
Jul 9, 2008
Messages
21,920
Reaction score
7,475
Location
Covington, WA
Alright. Here is my top 11, also in no particular order:


  1. Yojimbo - The inspiration for one of the great Spaghetti Westerns (A Fistful of Dollars), and also for Last Man Standing, a decent Bruce Willis movie.
  2. Rashomon - I really didn't want to put two Kurosawa films on here, but this one is so unique, and has been copied so many times over the years, it has to be in anyone's top 11 (IMO).
  3. The Chinese Connection - My favorite Bruce Lee movie. The scene where he beats the crap out of an entire karate dojo is classic.
  4. Chushingura - My personal favorite version of the 47 Ronin, the classic Japanese tale, so far. This one was made in 1962.
  5. Flashpoint - A cliche story, but the climactic fight scene is so cool it's definitely a must see.
  6. Rapid Fire - Brandon Lee's only pure martial arts movie. I just watched this one a few weeks ago and it holds up well.
  7. 13 Assassins - In the spirit of 7 Samurai, this is a terrific modern Samurai movie.
  8. Kung Fu Hustle/Shaolin Soccer - So funny and weird, both are great, but I couldn't decide which one to pick over the other.
  9. GI Joe: Rise of Cobra - For pure, schmaltzy fighting fun, I love these movies.
  10. Twilight Samurai - A terrific, character driven movie that is up there with the best Samurai movies ever.
  11. Dragon - something a little different, it's a strange movie that blends film noir style detective stories with wire fu and decent choreography. I actually stumbled onto the movie because of Donnie Yen, but think that Takeshi Kaneshiro really stole the show.
 

Dinkydoo

Purple Belt
Joined
Sep 27, 2013
Messages
397
Reaction score
106
My 11 - in no particular order:

Prodigal Son
Drunken Master
Ip Man
Enter The Dragon
Ong Bak
The Protector
The Raid
Shaolin (2011)
Way of the Dragon
Hara Kiri
Zatoichi
 

Latest Discussions

Top