Martial Arts Movies to Watch

Martial arts movies are a subgenre of action movies that include various martial arts styles in the fighting between the characters. These fights are normally the main appeal of martial arts movies and are also a technique of storytelling, character expression and growth. Martial arts are regularly included in training scenes and also in various other scenes along with fights. Martial arts movies consist of hand-to-hand fights along with various other types of activities, such as stunts, chases, and gunfights. The subgenres of martial arts movies consist of wuxia movies, karate movies, and also comedy movie , while the relevant categories are jidaigeki with weapons, kung fu and samurai movie.

Oriental movies are known for having more minimalistic technique in movies. Some martial arts movies have only a fringe story and a specific emphasis on action, while others have much more complex and original stories and personalities, and action scenes as well. Martial arts movies of the latter type are generally regarded as more creatively interesting movies, yet many movies of the former type are effective and well-liked by fans of the genre. 

🥋 The New Auteur Fist: Martial Arts Movies

Forget the invisible wires making actors fly and the CGI turning fights into video games. The new wave of martial arts cinema is returning to the roots: physical exertion, real sweat, and choreography as a form of pure storytelling. From the alleys of Tianjin to Indian railways, up to the occupied tenements of Hong Kong, these films recover the genre’s glorious tradition (from Wuxia to Silat), stripping it of myth to restore a tactile and political brutality. Here are 5 recent works where every punch tells a story.

100 Yards (2024)

Tianjin, 1920s. Upon the death of a great martial arts master, two men vie for control of the school: the master’s legitimate son and his best apprentice. Instead of resolving the matter through politics, they decide to settle the dispute through a series of duels moving from training halls to the city’s alleyways. In 100 Yards, director Xu Haofeng (screenwriter of The Grandmaster) rejects special effects to stage “street-level” combat that is realistic, tactical, and grounded in the ancient rules of Northern schools.

This is the quintessential auteur martial arts film of recent years. It is not just an action movie, but an elegant moving chessboard where every strike holds philosophical and hierarchical meaning. The direction is clean and geometric, letting the bodies of the actors (including real martial artist Jacky Heung) tell the story. A work looking back at the Kung Fu genre’s glorious past, stripping it of folklore to restore the dignity of real practice.

Monkey Man (2024)

In a dystopian and corrupt India, an anonymous young man (Dev Patel) scrapes by getting beaten to a pulp in underground fight clubs while wearing a monkey mask. Tormented by the memory of his mother, killed by a corrupt police chief, he decides to infiltrate the city’s criminal elite to exact his revenge. Monkey Man transforms the myth of Hanuman into a contemporary fury of blood, where martial arts become the tool of revolt for the downtrodden against an oppressive caste system.

Dev Patel’s directorial debut is a gut punch blending the aesthetics of The Raid with social cinema. Despite Western influences, the film pulses with a fierce, political Indian identity. The choreography is dirty, desperate, made of bites, broken glass, and improvised weapons, far from the elegant dance of classic cinema and closer to pure survival. An instant cult classic proving action can still be a deeply auteur-driven genre.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024)

1980s Hong Kong. Chan Lok-kwun is a refugee trying to buy a fake identity but ends up cheated by the Triad. While fleeing, he takes refuge in the infamous Kowloon Walled City, a lawless concrete maze ruled by the charismatic Cyclone. In Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, the protagonist discovers that this hellish place is actually a community protected by retired martial arts masters, who must return to fighting to defend their home from an outside invasion.

Directed by Soi Cheang, this film marks the great revival of “old school” Cantonese action cinema. The Walled City sets are oppressive and magnificent, a perfect theater for fights mixing the realism of impacts with a touch of manhua comic mysticism. It is a nostalgic and virile epic, celebrating the spirit of brotherhood and the art of combat as the last bastion of honor in a world about to be demolished by modernity.

Kill (2024)

Amrit, a special forces commando, boards a train to New Delhi to stop the arranged marriage of the woman he loves. When a gang of forty knife-wielding bandits takes the train hostage, what was supposed to be a mission of love turns into a massacre in tight spaces. In Kill, the narrative structure is stripped to the bone to make room for 105 minutes of unstoppable kinetic violence, where every train car becomes a level of increasing difficulty.

Presented at the Toronto Film Festival, it has been hailed as the most violent action movie ever produced in India. Forget Bollywood dance numbers: here, Silat and military close-quarters combat reign supreme. The uniqueness lies in the management of space: the action is forced into narrow corridors and sleeping berths, compelling the choreography to be brutal, direct, and inventive. A claustrophobic exercise in style redefining the limits of graphic violence.

Baby Assassins 2 (2023)

Chisato and Mahiro are two teenage girls sharing an apartment and typical Gen Z problems: paying bills, finding part-time jobs, and managing social anxiety. The detail is that they are also two lethal professional hitmen. In Baby Assassins 2, their routine is interrupted when they are suspended by the assassins’ organization for not paying union dues, becoming targets of two rival brothers who want to take their place.

This little Japanese indie gem is the perfect antidote to overly serious action movies. Written and directed by Yugo Sakamoto, it mixes slice-of-life comedy moments (girls eating sweets and being bored) with explosions of impressive technical violence. It is a fresh, ironic, and technically flawless film, where martial arts lethality hides behind oversized hoodies and youthful apathy.

🥋 Beyond the Dojo: Choose Your Fight

Martial arts cinema is discipline and philosophy, but it is also just one of the many faces of kinetic cinema. If you are looking for strong emotions expressed in other ways, from classics that made history to modern shootouts, here are the essential guides to navigate action cinema.

Action Movies

Martial arts are hand-to-hand combat, but if you are looking for adrenaline on a larger scale—chases, shootouts, and frantic pacing that leaves no room to breathe—this is your next stop. Here action becomes pure spectacle.

👉 GO TO THE LIST: Action Movies

Cult Movies

You cannot understand modern combat cinema (from John Wick to Kill Bill) without knowing the masters who invented it. Here you will find the immortal masterpieces, from Kurosawa’s samurai to Bruce Lee’s fists, that defined the aesthetics of violence in cinema.

👉 GO TO THE LIST: Cult Movies

Independent Action Movies

Often the best choreography isn’t found in million-dollar blockbusters, but in independent Asian or European films that must bet everything on the athletes’ skill and creative direction. Explore our streaming catalog to discover the hidden gems of “physical” cinema.

👉 BROWSE THE CATALOG: Stream Action Movies

👊 The Masters of Martial Arts Movies: The Classics

Before digital effects, there were only muscles, sweat, and millimeter precision. This is the era when legends like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and the Shaw Brothers masters invented the grammar of action cinema. Films where the plot was often just an excuse to stage ballets of unprecedented violence, performed without stunt doubles and without safety nets. Here are the milestones that turned combat into a pure art form.

Sanshiro Sugata (Sugata Sanshirō) (1943)

Japan, 1883. Sanshiro is a willing but naive young man who arrives in the city to learn Jujutsu. However, his life changes when he witnesses the elegance and power of Shogoro Yano, a master of a new discipline called Judo. In Sanshiro Sugata, the boy decides to become Yano’s disciple, embarking on a path that will lead him to challenge masters of rival schools, but above all, to fight against his own arrogance and immaturity.

Akira Kurosawa‘s directorial debut is already a masterpiece of form and substance. Although it was a war propaganda film (intended to exalt the Japanese spirit), Kurosawa transforms it into a novel of spiritual formation. The fight scenes, shot with revolutionary editing and the poetic use of wind and clouds (the famous final scene in the swamp), established the visual standard for all subsequent martial arts cinema. A must-see to understand where it all began.

Rashomon (1950)

In 12th-century Kyoto, a woodcutter, a monk, and a passerby take shelter from the rain under the ruins of the Rashomon gate. There, they discuss a horrible crime that took place in the woods: the murder of a samurai and the rape of his wife at the hands of the bandit Tajomaru. In Rashomon, the same story is told four times from four different perspectives (the bandit, the wife, the spirit of the dead samurai, and the woodcutter), and each version contradicts the others, making it impossible to establish an objective truth.

This is not a classic martial arts movie, but a psychological thriller that changed film history, introducing the concept of the “unreliable narrator.” The sword fights (katana) are deliberately clumsy, chaotic, and terrified, showing the real fear of death, in stark contrast to the stylized elegance of later samurai films. It is a fundamental work on human nature, selfishness, and lies, directed by a Kurosawa in a state of grace.

Yojimbo (1961)

A nameless rōnin (Toshiro Mifune) arrives in a desolate village, divided by a war between two rival criminal bosses vying for control of gambling and silk. Instead of fleeing or taking sides, the samurai decides to sell his services to both sides, manipulating them into destroying each other. In Yojimbo, the cynical and scruffy hero orchestrates a dance of death, using cunning more than his sword to free the town from the scum infesting it.

This is arguably the most influential samurai film ever (Sergio Leone would remake it almost shot-for-shot in A Fistful of Dollars). Mifune creates the archetype of the modern anti-hero: fast, lethal, but possessing a hidden moral code. Kurosawa’s direction is dynamic, with shots emphasizing depth of field and lightning-fast sword choreography that defined the aesthetics of chanbara. A perfect mix of western, noir, and Eastern action.

Sanjuro (Tsubaki Sanjūrō) (1962)

Nine idealistic young samurai want to expose corruption in their clan but are about to fall into a deadly trap. They are saved by a lazy and sarcastic rōnin (Toshiro Mifune), who decides to help them rescue the kidnapped chamberlain. In Sanjuro, a spiritual sequel to Yojimbo, the master must not only fight enemies but also keep the impulsiveness of his young protégés in check, teaching them that “the best sword is the one that stays in the scabbard.”

Less cynical and more ironic than its predecessor, this film is famous for its shock ending: the duel between Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai lasts a fraction of a second and ends with an explosion of blood (a special effect achieved by pressurizing liquid) that shocked audiences at the time. Kurosawa deconstructs the myth of violence just as he stages it, giving us one of the most iconic moments in action cinema history.

The Tale of Zatoichi (1962)

Ichi is a humble blind masseur wandering through Japan, despised by samurai and criminals alike for his disability. In reality, he is a phenomenal swordsman who uses a rapid-draw technique (iaijutsu) hidden in his walking stick. In The Tale of Zatoichi, he gets involved in a war between yakuza gangs and forms an unlikely friendship with Miki Hirate, a samurai suffering from consumption hired by the rival faction. The two kindred spirits know that fate will force them to cross blades.

This film launched one of the longest-running sagas in Japanese cinema (26 films and a TV series). Shintaro Katsu is monumental in the role of Zatoichi: a tragic and marginalized hero who overturns social hierarchies, humiliating the powerful with his sword. The contrast between his apparent weakness and his sudden lethality creates unique tension. It is a deep human drama masquerading as an action movie, where the real struggle is between personal honor and the cruelty of the yakuza world.

Come Drink with Me (Da zui xia) (1966)

Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-pei) is a warrior sent by the governor to save her brother, kidnapped by a band of bandits demanding the release of their leader. Disguised as a man, she faces the criminals in an inn in a memorable scene, but soon discovers she needs the help of a mysterious drunken beggar, Drunken Cat, who hides extraordinary kung fu secrets. In Come Drink with Me, the elegance of dance merges with the brutality of the sword.

Directed by master King Hu, this is the film that invented modern Wuxia. The choreography is fluid, almost operatic, and Cheng Pei-pei becomes the first great female icon of Asian action cinema. Hu uses musical rhythm and editing to create fights that look like deadly ballets. It is a work of visual art that influenced everything from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to Tarantino’s films.

The One-Armed Swordsman (Dubei dao) (1967)

Fang Kang (Jimmy Wang Yu) is a promising student at a sword school who, following an argument with the master’s spoiled daughter and other jealous disciples, loses his right arm. Saved by a peasant woman who gives him a partially burnt kung fu manual for left-handers, Fang Kang must reinvent his fighting style. In The One-Armed Swordsman, the protagonist returns from retirement to save his old master from a new threat, using his impairment as a lethal and unpredictable weapon.

This Shaw Brothers cult classic, directed by Chang Cheh, revolutionized the genre by introducing the archetype of the mutilated and suffering hero (body horror meets action). It is a raw, violent film full of male angst, exalting resilience and sacrifice. The choreography, adapting movements for a single arm, is brilliant and made Jimmy Wang Yu an international superstar.

King Boxer (Five Fingers of Death) (1972)

Chao Chih-Hao (Lo Lieh) is a young student sent to study martial arts under a famous master to win a local tournament and stop a rival criminal gang. However, the enemies break his hands to prevent him from fighting. With an iron will, Chih-Hao undergoes brutal training to learn the legendary “Iron Palm” technique. In King Boxer, the protagonist returns for the showdown, with his fists literally glowing red when he charges up his destructive power.

This is the film that broke into America before Bruce Lee, sparking the global “Kung Fu Craze” (and inspiring the Kill Bill soundtrack). It is a concentration of all the genre’s tropes: the tournament, betrayal, mutilation, and revenge. Despite dated special effects (the “glowing hand”), its raw energy and graphic violence make it an essential cornerstone of grindhouse cinema.

Fist of Fury (Jing wu men) (1972)

Shanghai, early 20th century. Chen Zhen (Bruce Lee) returns to his martial arts school to find that his beloved master Huo Yuanjia has died under suspicious circumstances. When a rival Japanese school humiliates the Chinese with a “No Dogs and Chinese Allowed” sign, Chen Zhen unleashes his rage. In Fist of Fury, he fights not just for personal revenge, but for the dignity of an entire people oppressed by Japanese colonialism.

It is Bruce Lee‘s most important and political film. Here action becomes visceral nationalism: Chen Zhen is a symbol of unbreakable resistance. The dojo scene, where he single-handedly defeats dozens of karatekas using nunchaku for the first time on screen, is pure legend. Lee acts with almost manic intensity, turning every scream and every look into a weapon. It is the definitive manifesto of Kung Fu as a tool of liberation.

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Lee, a Shaolin monk and martial arts expert, is recruited by British intelligence to infiltrate a secret tournament organized by Han, a crime lord living on a private island. There, Lee must gather evidence of Han’s illegal activities and avenge the honor of the Shaolin temple. In Enter the Dragon, the protagonist teams up with Roper and Williams, two American fighters, in a deadly tournament culminating in the famous duel in the hall of mirrors.

This is the film that consecrated Bruce Lee as a posthumous global icon. It is a perfect blend of Eastern aesthetics and Hollywood rhythms (James Bond style). Although less “pure” than his Hong Kong films, it offers a spectacular showcase of Lee’s fighting philosophy (Jeet Kune Do). His stage presence is magnetic, and the final fight is a lesson in cinema and metaphysics (“breaking the opponent’s illusion”).

A Touch of Zen (Xia nü) (1971)

Ku, a shy painter and scholar living with his mother near a ruined fort, meets Yang (Hsu Feng), a mysterious fugitive hunted by imperial guards of the Ming dynasty. Ku gets drawn into the conflict and uses his strategic intelligence to help Yang and the warrior monks defeat the enemy army. In A Touch of Zen, the story evolves from a ghost drama to an epic of spiritual combat, culminating in a transcendental showdown in a bamboo forest.

Winner of the Technical Grand Prize at Cannes, this masterpiece by King Hu is much more than a martial arts movie: it is pure auteur cinema. The photography is pictorial, the storytelling is slow and meditative, and the action defies gravity (literally). The bamboo forest sequence is one of the most beautiful and imitated scenes in film history (see House of Flying Daggers). A mystical experience elevating Wuxia to visual poetry.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)

Imperial China, Qing Dynasty. Liu Yude is a young student who sees his family and classmates massacred by the brutal General Tien Ta for their political activism. Wounded and on the run, he reaches the Shaolin Temple under a false name, where he begins a grueling training path to learn Kung Fu. In The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Yude (renamed San Te) must pass through 35 chambers, each dedicated to strengthening a specific part of the body (eyes, wrists, head, legs), to then create the “36th chamber”: one dedicated to teaching martial arts to common people to defend themselves against oppressors.

This is the film that codified the “training” trope in martial arts cinema (inspiring everything from Wu-Tang Clan to Kill Bill). Directed by Lau Kar-leung, a true Hung Gar master, it shows Kung Fu not as magic, but as the result of sweat, pain, and infinite repetition. Gordon Liu is iconic in the role of the warrior monk. It is not just an action movie; it is an anthem to discipline and the democratization of knowledge as a revolutionary weapon.

Five Deadly Venoms (1978)

The dying master of the powerful “Venom Clan” sends his last student, Yang Tieh, on a dangerous mission: to track down five former disciples, each a master of a style inspired by a poisonous animal (Centipede, Snake, Scorpion, Lizard, Toad), to discover which of them is using martial arts for evil purposes and recover the clan’s treasure. In Five Deadly Venoms, Yang must infiltrate a corrupt city where the “Venoms” are hiding under false identities, turning the story into a martial arts murder mystery where no one is who they say they are.

Directed by Chang Cheh, this cult movie created a subgenre of its own. The idea of giving each villain a unique and bizarre fighting style (the Toad is invulnerable, the Scorpion uses hook kicks, the Centipede is lightning fast) is brilliant and visually unforgettable. It is a perfect mix of wuxia mystery and stylized violence, famous for its masks and its dark, paranoid atmosphere.

Game of Death (1978)

Billy Lo is a famous martial arts movie star who refuses to work for an international crime syndicate. After surviving an assassination attempt on set, he fakes his own death to exact revenge undisturbed. In Game of Death, Billy infiltrates the criminals’ base, a multi-story pagoda where each level is guarded by a master of a different style, leading to the final showdown with a giant (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).

This film is a “Frankenstein” work, completed years after Bruce Lee’s death using stunt doubles and questionable editing. However, the final part (the approximately 15 minutes of original footage shot by Lee in 1972) is pure history. Seeing Lee in the yellow jumpsuit (later paid homage to by Tarantino) fighting using his Jeet Kune Do philosophy (adapting to every style without having a fixed one) against basketball giant Abdul-Jabbar is a surreal and mythical experience that transcends the flaws of the rest of the film.

Drunken Master (Jui Kuen) (1978)

Wong Fei-hung (Jackie Chan) is a reckless youth who disgraces his Kung Fu school with brawls and stunts. To straighten him out, his father entrusts him to Beggar So, an old wandering master and expert in the “Eight Drunken Immortals” style. In Drunken Master, Wong undergoes physical torture disguised as training, until he learns that intoxication (simulated or real) can make movements unpredictable and lethal, the only effective weapon against the professional killer Yim Tiem-sam.

If Bruce Lee was fury, here Jackie Chan becomes the acrobatic clown. This film invented Kung Fu Comedy, proving you can laugh and be jaw-dropped by choreography at the same time. The Drunken style is a marvel of physical coordination: Chan falls, stumbles, and strikes from impossible angles. It is the film that liberated the genre from the grim seriousness of revenge, bringing a breath of joy and physical creativity.

The Magnificent Butcher (Lin Shi Rong) (1979)

Lam Sai-wing, known as “Butcher Wing” (Sammo Hung), is a student of the legendary Wong Fei-hung, but his impulsive nature always gets him into trouble. When the son of a rival master kidnaps a girl and frames Lam for the crime, a war breaks out between schools. In The Magnificent Butcher, Lam is forced to flee and perfect his Kung Fu under the guidance of an eccentric master, to return to clear his name and face the true culprit in a fight to the death.

Sammo Hung, “the fat dragon,” proves here to be one of the most agile and powerful athletes in cinema history. The film is a perfect example of late 70s Hong Kong action: simple plot, slapstick humor, and incredibly long, complex, and painfully real fights. The choreography is a masterpiece of rhythm and precision, and Hung’s performance combines brute power with the grace of a dancer.

The Big Brawl (Battle Creek Brawl) (1980)

Chicago, 1930s. Jerry Kwan (Jackie Chan) is a young immigrant trying to live honestly, but his talent in martial arts attracts the attention of the local mob. The bosses kidnap his brother’s fiancée to force Jerry to participate in a street fighting competition in Texas. In The Big Brawl, Chan must fight his way through huge and dirty fighters, looking for a way to save his family and win the tournament.

This was Jackie Chan’s first attempt to break into Hollywood. Although director Robert Clouse (the same as Enter the Dragon) tries to limit Chan’s acrobatic exuberance to make him more like an American brawler, the film still offers moments of genius. It is interesting to see the Hong Kong style clash with the American gangster setting, creating a curious hybrid that anticipates future hits like Rush Hour.

The Octagon (1980)

Scott James (Chuck Norris) is a martial arts champion retired from competition, haunted by memories of brutal ninja training endured in his youth alongside his half-brother Seikura. When a terrorist organization begins striking globally using ninja techniques, Scott realizes his old companion is behind it. In The Octagon, he must penetrate the terrorists’ secret fortress (the Octagon) to confront his past and stop a lethal threat.

This film marks Chuck Norris’s transition from “villain” or sportsman roles to a full-fledged action hero. It is one of the first Western films to seriously treat the figure of the Ninja, helping to launch the craze of the 80s. The use of voice-over (“whispering thoughts”) became a trademark (and subject of parodies), but the fight scenes choreographed by his brother Aaron Norris are solid and realistic.

The Prodigal Son (Bai ga jai) (1981)

Leung Chang (Yuen Biao) is a rich young man convinced he is a Kung Fu champion, unaware that his father secretly pays all his opponents to lose and protect him. When the truth brutally comes to light after a clash with a real martial artist, a humiliated Leung Chang decides to learn real Wing Chun. In The Prodigal Son, he follows an eccentric and effeminate master (Lam Ching-ying) who teaches him that true power comes from humility and precision, not ego.

Directed by Sammo Hung, this is considered by many purists to be the best Wing Chun film ever made. The training scenes are incredibly detailed, showing the true mechanics of the style (close-quarters combat, centerline). Yuen Biao gives the performance of a lifetime, combining drama and acrobatic action. It is a film that deconstructs the myth of the invincible hero to rebuild it on real foundations.

Enter the Ninja (1981)

Cole (Franco Nero), an army veteran turned Ninjutsu master in Japan, goes to the Philippines to visit an old war friend. He discovers that the friend and his wife are threatened by a wealthy tycoon who wants to steal their oil-rich land. Cole uses his skills to defend them, but the tycoon responds by hiring Hasegawa (Sho Kosugi), a rival ninja and Cole’s old nemesis. In Enter the Ninja, the final showdown is not just between men, but between two opposing martial philosophies.

Produced by Cannon Films, this is the forefather of the 80s ninja madness. Franco Nero (dubbed and with a stunt double for acrobatics) is unlikely but charismatic, while the real star is Sho Kosugi, who steals the show with his technical authenticity and exotic weapons (shuriken, smoke bombs, sai). It is a glorious, excessive, and entertaining B-movie that defined the pop aesthetic of the Western ninja.

Legendary Weapons of China (Shi ba ban wu yi) (1982)

China, late 19th century. Empress Cixi seeks martial arts masters capable of resisting Western bullets through black magic to form the Boxer Army. A group of assassins is sent to track down an old master who disbanded his school, refusing to deceive students with false myths of invulnerability. In Legendary Weapons of China, the master (Lau Kar-leung) must come out of hiding and use all 18 legendary weapons of Kung Fu to defeat his former comrades and prove the superiority of real technique over superstition.

Lau Kar-leung directs and stars in a film that is a declaration of love and criticism of martial arts. He dismantles mysticism (“voodoo doesn’t stop bullets”) to exalt human skill. The final duel is a visual encyclopedia: we see spear, halberd, twin swords, three-section staff, and much more in action, in a sequence of unparalleled technical virtuosity.

Shaolin Temple (Shao Lin Si) (1982)

Medieval China. Jue Yuan’s father is killed by a cruel despot. The wounded young man is saved by the monks of the Shaolin Temple. There, he learns Kung Fu not for revenge, but as discipline, even though his heart still burns with anger. In Shaolin Temple, history intertwines with politics when the monks decide to intervene to save the true emperor, leading to a pitched battle between the spirituality of the temple and the brutality of the army.

This is the film that revealed Jet Li to the world. Filmed at the real Shaolin Monastery (the first since the Cultural Revolution), it has a raw and spectacular realism. The actors are real Wushu athletes, not stuntmen, and it shows: the acrobatics are fast, fluid, and devoid of cinematic tricks. It had a huge cultural impact, revitalizing tourism to Shaolin and interest in traditional Chinese martial arts.

Mr. Vampire (Geung si sin sang) (1985)

Master Kau is a Taoist priest specializing in handling Jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampires). When tasked with reburying a corpse to improve a wealthy family’s feng shui, he discovers the body has turned into a powerful vampire threatening to infect the entire town. In Mr. Vampire, Kau and his two bumbling assistants must use glutinous rice, chicken ink, wooden swords, and paper spells to contain the threat in a mix of horror and slapstick comedy.

This film is an unmissable classic blending martial arts, supernatural folklore, and comedy. Lam Ching-ying’s choreography is elegant and precise, transforming Taoist rituals into combat moves. It created an entire subgenre (Jiangshi fiction), influencing decades of Asian cinema and video games. It is funny, scary, and culturally fascinating.

A Chinese Ghost Story (Sien nui yau wan) (1987)

Ning Tsai-shen (Leslie Cheung) is a shy and unlucky tax collector who, having no money for an inn, spends the night in a haunted temple. There he meets Nie Xiaoqian (Joey Wong), a beautiful girl who turns out to be a ghost forced to serve a thousand-year-old tree demon. In A Chinese Ghost Story, Ning falls in love with the specter and, with the help of a powerful Taoist swordsman (Wu Ma), challenges the forces of hell to save his beloved’s soul.

Produced by Tsui Hark, this film is a visual masterpiece combining Gothic romance, artisanal special effects, and aerial wuxia fights. It is not a pure martial arts film, but the action sequences are visionary: flying swords, giant tongues, and tree-top battles. It is a poetic and poignant dark fairy tale, with an unforgettable soundtrack, that redefined Eastern fantasy.

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)

From leaving Hong Kong with a few dollars in his pocket to arriving in America, where he challenges racism and rigid traditions to teach Kung Fu to Westerners. Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story retraces the rise, the love with Linda, the creation of Jeet Kune Do, and the tragic, premature death of the legend. The film mixes biography and myth, visualizing Lee’s inner demons as a phantom samurai armor haunting his nightmares.

Although it takes many historical liberties, this biopic directed by Rob Cohen is emotionally powerful. Jason Scott Lee (no relation) delivers an extraordinary physical performance: he doesn’t imitate Bruce Lee, but captures his energy, charisma, and anger. The fight scenes are spectacular and celebrate not just the athlete, but the philosopher who forever changed the perception of martial arts in the world.

Mortal Kombat (1995)

The fate of the Earth hangs in the balance: if the forces of Outworld win the tenth consecutive Mortal Kombat tournament, they will be able to invade our realm. The thunder god Raiden (Christopher Lambert) recruits three human warriors: monk Liu Kang, movie star Johnny Cage, and agent Sonya Blade. In Mortal Kombat, they must travel to a hostile dimension and face monsters and sorcerers in fights to the death to save humanity.

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, this film is a 90s miracle: one of the very few video game adaptations that actually works. Despite being campy and featuring aged CGI, it perfectly captures the spirit of the game. The choreography (supervised by Robin Shou/Liu Kang) is solid, the techno soundtrack is iconic, and the atmosphere is pure escapist fun. A generational cult classic that brought fantasy martial arts to the mainstream public.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) (2000)

China, Qing Dynasty. Legendary swordsman Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat) decides to retire and entrust his sword, “Green Destiny,” to his beloved Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh). But the sword is stolen by a mysterious masked thief, Jen (Zhang Ziyi), a noblewoman dreaming of the freedom of the wuxia world. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a chase begins that is also a confrontation between duty and desire, between masters and students, culminating in gravity-defying duels.

Ang Lee achieved the impossible: a martial arts film that is also an Oscar-winning drama. It is a work of shocking visual beauty, where fights are not violence, but extensions of the characters’ emotions. The bamboo forest duel scene is poetry in motion. It brought the Wuxia genre to the West, proving that a flying kick can be as artistic as a Shakespearean monologue.

The Rebel (Dòng Máu Anh Hùng) (2007)

Vietnam, 1922. Under French colonial occupation, Le Van Cuong is an elite Vietnamese agent working for the secret police, hunting down rebels. But the brutality of his superiors and the encounter with the fierce revolutionary Vo Thanh Thuy (Veronica Ngo) crack his loyalty. In The Rebel, Cuong defects and helps Thuy escape, sparking a manhunt across the country where he must use his Vovinam to protect the woman he loves and his people’s freedom.

This film put Vietnam on the action cinema map. Johnny Tri Nguyen and Veronica Ngo are athletically impressive. The film blends historical anti-colonial drama with modern, fast, and hard action. The choreography is raw but elegant, showing a fighting style (Vovinam, with its famous flying neck scissors) rarely seen in cinema.

Clash (Bay Rong) (2009)

Trinh (Veronica Ngo), codenamed “Phoenix,” is a mercenary forced to work for a crime boss who kidnapped her daughter. To free her, she must complete one last impossible mission: steal a laptop containing secret codes. She assembles a team of desperate people, including the mysterious Quan (Johnny Tri Nguyen). In Clash, the mission turns into a game of double-crosses and betrayals, where fists and kicks are the only trusted language.

From the same creators as The Rebel, this film moves the action to a contemporary urban setting. It is a frantic heist movie reminiscent of Hong Kong style but with a unique Vietnamese flavor. The chemistry between the two leads is palpable and the fight scenes are intense, shot with clarity and impact. A great example of quality independent action cinema.

Merantau (2009)

Yuda (Iko Uwais) is a young man from a Sumatra village who must perform “Merantau,” the rite of passage involving leaving one’s home to seek fortune in the city and become a man. Arriving in Jakarta with the dream of teaching Silat, he clashes with the harsh reality of the metropolis and ends up saving a girl from a human trafficking ring. In Merantau, the country boy must transform his elegant martial art into a tool for brutal survival against the European criminals running the racket.

This is the film that introduced the world to Iko Uwais and director Gareth Evans, the duo that would later create The Raid. It is fascinating to see the transition: it starts slow and traditional, almost a documentary on Silat, then explodes into desperate urban action. The final fight in the elevator and on the shipping container is the appetizer for the revolutionary violence that would arrive two years later.

The Raid (Serbuan maut) (2011)

An Indonesian SWAT team gets trapped in a dilapidated 15-story apartment building, headquarters of a drug lord and sanctuary for Jakarta’s worst criminals. With no backup and ammo running out, the only way out is to go up to the top, floor by floor, fighting hand-to-hand. In The Raid, cop Rama (Iko Uwais) must face an army of machete-wielding assassins and the boss’s lethal right-hand man, Mad Dog.

This film rewrote the rules of modern action cinema. The plot is stripped to the bone, tension is unbearable, and the choreography features kinetic violence never seen before. It is survival horror masquerading as a martial arts movie. The final “two against one” fight with Mad Dog has already entered legend as one of the best showdowns in film history. Essential, brutal, perfect.

Insight

The Origins of Martial Arts movies

Akira Kurosawa launched the martial arts movie genre with his 1943 directorial pitch, Sugata Sanshiro. The movie deals with a boy who discovers judo and fights against numerous jujitsu specialists. Kurosawa also led a sequel in 1945 titled Sugata Sanshiro, Part Two. It includes fights with karate fighters and professionals, perhaps the first depiction of martial arts in cinema.

Martial arts movies consist of numerous characters who are martial fighters and these roles are usually played by stars who are true martial arts experts. Otherwise, the actors learn with some prep work for the scenes or the director may rely more on slow-motion action, camera angles, editing and computer-generated imagery and special effects. The minimal design uses short scenes and improvised but explosive fights, as seen in Jackie Chan movies. These methods are also occasionally used by real martial experts. 

A Brief History of Martial Arts Movies

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, one of the most notable English-dubbed martial arts and ninja movies were produced by the Shaw Brothers, Godfrey Ho and various other Hong Kong producers . Included in this list of movies are popular movies like The Big Boss, Drunken Master, and One Armed Boxer.

Martial arts movies were produced worldwide, but the category was controlled by Hong Kong action cinema, peaking from 1971 with the rise of Bruce Lee until the mid-1990s with a substantial decline of the martial arts genre, until it was revived around the 2000s. Various other notable figures in the category include Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Donnie Yen as well.

Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi and also Hiroyuki Sanada starred in countless martial arts and jidaigeki movies from Japan in the 1970s and early 1980s. Hollywood also took part in the fashion with such actors as Chuck Norris, Sho Kosugi, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee’s son, Wesley Snipes, Gary Daniels, Mark Dacascos and Jason Statham. In the 2000s, the Thai movie market became a global force of martial arts movies with the movies of Tony Jaa and the cinema of Vietnam also did the same with The Rebel and Clash. In even more recent years, the Indonesian movie industry has produced interesting martial arts movies.

Women have also played crucial roles in the martial arts genre, including actresses such as Michelle Yeoh, Angela Mao and Cynthia Rothrock. In the Chinese-speaking world, martial arts movies are often divided into two subcategories: wuxia movies, more modern martial arts movies, such as Bruce Lee movies, the Chanbara Samurai genre, and swashbuckling movies set in the Feudal Japan.

Martial arts movies are a substantial category of movies. Like westerns for Americans, they have actually become an identification of Chinese cinema. As one of the most important movies in the context of Chinese cinema, martial arts movies were among the very first Chinese movies produced, and wuxia movies are the first type of Chinese martial arts movies, with the historical appeal of wuxia stories. Jin Yong’s and Gu Long’s wuxia stories determined the frequency of wuxia movies. Martial arts Westerns are generally American movies shot on a low budget in Southwestern United States locations, displacing martial arts in an “old west” setting; for example, Red Sun with Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune.