MARTIAL ARTS MAYHEM
After ‘John Wick: Chapter 4,’ here are top 20 martial arts movies to see
With the cinematic roundhouse kick of “Everything Everywhere All At Once” being showered with Oscars this year, including best picture, and “John Wick: Chapter 4” chopping its way into theaters today, martial arts movies — the best of which delight the senses while defying gravity with a balletic grace — are in the spotlight. So it’s time to take a look back at some of the favorite films from previous years that turn kung fu, karate, kendo, kali, muay thai, silat and other Asian-inspired fighting styles into movies that, at their most visceral and vital, strike like lightning. Here are the 20 martial arts movies that you need to see.
1. ‘Seven Samurai’ (1954)
Akira Kurosawa’s classic, 3+ hours, black-and-white film is a beautifully rendered, Oscarnominated masterwork that not only broke ground for all the martial arts movies that followed in its path, but Westerns as well. The story of a group of swordwielding samurai defending a bandit-tormented village was the inspiration for the gun-slinging “The Magnificent Seven.” Kurosawa would go on to make such classics as “Rashomon,” “Yojimbo,” “The Hidden Fortress” (an influence on “Star Wars”), “Kagemusha” and “Ran,” the latter two perhaps being better, and more contemporary, introductions for those new to Kurosawa. But it all started with “Seven Samurai.”
2. ‘Enter the Dragon’ (1973)
The last film of Bruce Lee’s tragically short career (he died the same year the film was released at the age of 32) was also a breakthrough for martial arts movies, going on to gross more than $400 million globally, an unheard-of amount at the time for a relatively small film. The film featured a mix of white actors like John Saxon and black martial artist Jim Kelly, lending “Enter the Dragon” broad appeal.
But all that would mean little without the caged-tiger ferocity of Lee’s athletic performance as a spy going up against an opium king.
3. ‘Hard Boiled’ (1992)
Director John Woo helped pioneer a trigger-happy brand of Hong Kong crime cinema that became known as “gun fu” (close-quarter gun fighting) whose spirit lives in “The Matrix,” “The Raid” and “John Wick” franchises and many action films from the last three decades. While Woo has made a few classics of the form — “A Better Tomorrow,” “The Killer” among them — “Hard Boiled” is his masterpiece. With its stunning, 40-minute action finale and coolly captivating central performances from stars Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung Chiuwai, “Hard Boiled” is the ultimate bullet-ridden ballet of action choreography.
4. ‘The Raid 2’ (2014)
Trying to decide between the first “Raid” film (“The Raid: Redemption”) and its followup (sometimes known as “The Raid: Berendal”) for a spot on this list is a fool’s errand as both of director Gareth Evans’ stories of the Indonesian underworld violence are breathtakingly acrobatic in their displays of how-did-they-do-that silat combat. But “The Raid 2” gets the edge for not only having the presence of star Iko Uwais, who is in both films, but also the ruthless Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man. When Evans, who had been working on a third movie, announced he was abandoning the project, the world became a slightly sadder place. But “The Raid” two-fer is a sweet, sweet parting gift.
5. ‘Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior’ (2003)
Thailand’s Tony Jaa became an instant star in the world of
martial arts cinema with this film showcasing his muay thai style of fighting. He has made a lot of films since then — including a couple of other “Ong Bak” sequels and such Hollywood action films as “xxx: Return of Xander Cage” and “Furious 7” — but this is him at his head-slamming best playing a young man single-handedly taking on a criminal gang.
6. ‘The Matrix’ (1999)
This is the film that turned Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne into action heroes, gave us “bullet time,” and even had Reeves utter the immortal line, “I know kung fu.” While the pop-culture impact of the Wachowskis’ hyper-kinetic fever dream can’t be underestimated in both positive and negative ways, the fact remains that “The Matrix” is just a cool cinematic experience.
7. ‘Supercop’ (1992)
This list could have been devoted to all of Jackie Chan films so it’s hard to narrow his filmography to just one or two when you have the likes of “Project A,” “Police Story” and “Drunken Master.” But “Supercop” shows him off at his athletic peak and features a Michelle Yeoh stunt that she
says nearly killed her — and, no, it’s not the famous one with the motorcycle on a train. (Quentin Tarantino once said that “Supercop” had “the greatest stunts ever filmed in any movie ever.”)
8. ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (2000)
There’s a sub-genre of Chinese martial arts films called wuxia that is set in ancient times in a land where warriors can soar at will. They are far more poetic and elegant than their smash-and-punch counterparts and Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” starring Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh and the winner of four Oscars, is a sumptuous take on the form.
9. ‘Kill Bill Vol. 1’ (2003)
Director Quentin Tarantino says he considers this film and its sequel, “Kill Bill Vol. 2” (2004), to be one movie released in two parts, but “Vol. 1” may have the slight edge over its second half. Both are entertaining hat tips to the Asian action films that inform the work of Quarantino.
10. ‘The Grandmaster’ (2013)
Master Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai (“In the Mood
for Love,” “Happy Together”) tried his hand at a martial arts film and the result is a rapturously beautiful take on the form. Based on the life of the legendary Ip Man (the man who trained Bruce Lee), it is better and more artful than any of the films in the separate “Ip Man” franchise even though those are all entertaining.
11. ‘Hero’ (2002)
Similarly sumptuous is this epic, Zhang Yimou period piece starring three legends of Chinese cinema: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Maggie Cheung. An absolutely ravishing film.
12. ‘John Wick’ (2014)
The one that started it all. Directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch play to Keanu Reeves’ taciturn strengths in this revenge-action franchise about an ex-hit man hunting down his foes that has now spawned three sequels.
13. ‘Fist of Fury’ (1972)
Before “Enter the Dragon,” there was “Fist of Fury” with Bruce Lee taking on a group of devious Japanese martial artists. Though it sags a bit in the middle, it features some prime Lee fisticuffs.
14. ‘The Transporter’ (2002)
Jason Statham may have been in better films such as “The Bank Job,” “Snatch,” “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and my personal favorite, “Crank,” but it’s in “The Transporter” franchise that you best get to see his rock ‘em, sock ‘em martial arts skills on display.
15. ‘House of Flying Daggers’ (2004)
In addition to having the coolest title of the bunch, this sweeping and lush period action-drama is another feather in the cap of director Zhang Yimou who made this just two years after “Hero.”
16. ‘District B13’ (2004)
Thanks largely to director/ producer Luc Beeson, the French have contributed more than what might be expected to the world of action films with such movies as “La Femme Nikita” and “Leon: The Professional.” Beeson co-wrote and Pierre Morrel (“Taken”) directed this thriller that combined martial arts and parkour, making for some spectacular stunts.
17. ‘Ip Man 3’ (2015)
The “Ip Man” franchise, starring the king of kung-fu beatdowns Donnie Yen (who costars in “John Wick 4”), varies in quality but this entry — featuring Yen and Mike Tyson — yes, that Mike Tyson — with stunt choreography from Yuen Woo-ping (“The Matrix,” “Kill Bill”) — is the best of them.
18. ‘Kickboxer: Retaliation’ (2018)
Speaking of Tyson, he also stars in the equally spine-snapping “Kickboxer: Retaliation,” a film that also features Jeanclaude Van Damme, Icelandic mountain of a man Hafthor Julius Bjornsson from “Game of Thrones” and stuntman turned actor Alain Moussi.
19. ‘13 Assassins’ (2010)
Japanese director Takashi Miike channels his inner Kurosawa in this explosive period piece in which a group of assassins takes on an evil lord. The quote of supposed samurai philosophy used for the film — “war is not about who is right. It is about who is left” — pretty much sums up this whirlwind of swords and savagery.
20. ‘The Night Comes for Us’ (2018)
Timo Tjahjanto makes brutal films that might make even other action directors wince. Iko Uwais (“The Raid” movies) and Joe Taslim (also in “The Raid: Redemption,” “Mortal Kombat” and the “Warrior” TV series) are perfect martial-arts vessels for Tjahjanto’s ruthless violence. Not for the squeamish.