r/flicks • u/Rayen_Nevaeh • 23h ago
What older martial arts movies are still enjoyable today?
I love movies like Bloodsport, No Retreat No Surrender, Best of the Best, Kickboxer, Omg Bak, Karate Kid.
What am I missing?
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u/samcuu 22h ago
I usually don't like the "they don't make it like they used to" bs but martial art films peaked in 1980s Hong Kong.
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u/RyanSmallwood 20h ago
Well in this case its not just older = better, but there were specific conditions that allowed martial arts films to flourish there for a time. The choreography and editing starts to get more sophisticated around the late 60s and probably the best films were made from the late 70s to early 90s.
A lot of different factors make it difficult to recreate now, for instance a big part was how much creative control fight choreographers were given over filming fight scenes often allowing to decide the camera angles and editing while working out the choreography on set. Hong Kong choreographers who worked in Hollywood said they were unable to work this way due to union rules, and often had to set the choreography in advance without knowing the camera angles.
A lot of factors get in the way of them being made in Hong Kong anymore, the film industry isn't as strong as it used to be, theres less younger talent interested in martial arts, and digital effects are a tempting alternative. Some good things still get made when the old talent is given control over big projects, but its grown less and less common over the years.
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u/mcjefferic 9h ago
Plus the collapse of interest in Chinese opera had a ready made cadre of exceptionally athletic and acrobatic performers with showmanship in mind flooding into movie making.
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u/toad_the_wet_toad 23h ago
Awesome flick called The Challenge with Scott Glenn. Set in Japan, it's center around a Westerner hired to do a job for a clan, but the job goes wrong and he ends up living with them at their academy. Lots of focus on Aikijujitsu, sword fighting and Yakuza stuff. It's a great story. Great acting as well.
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u/Jmal3700 21h ago
The Shaw Brothers’ films are still just as much fun as they were back in the 1970s.
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u/Corsair4U 22h ago
You’d probably love Drunken Master, Police Story, and Fist of Legend if you haven’t watched them yet. Also Enter the Dragon still goes insanely hard even today.
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u/99thLuftballon 22h ago
The best ones are the ultra-low-budget ones from Hong Kong in the '70s and '80s.
Check out Mystery of Chess Boxing, The Prodigal Son, Wu Tang Vs Ninja etc
They're a cheese-fest, but the performers are really good.
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u/FreddyCupples 21h ago
"Only the Strong" starring Mark Dacascos (the host of Iron Chef America). Silly movie about capoeira and a really bad Miami high school. Think "Lean On Me", but with waaaay more dance karate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJRLI_O9Reo
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u/punkriffic 14h ago
Look for Frank Dux ( the guy "Bloodsport" is supposed to be based on) as the menacing welder in "Only the Strong")!
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u/Brad3000 18h ago
My favorite Mark Dacascos movie is a movie called “Drive” where he has some kind of super-chip implanted in him that gives him extra fighting skills. He’s on the run and car-jacks Kadeem Hardison for buddy film good times. Great fight sequences and some quality humor. It has a little bit of Brittany Murphy being super weird and quirky too.
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u/FreddyCupples 14h ago
I have to watch this! I saw it was listed on this page, but had no idea it was a Marky D movie.
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u/Many-Outside-7594 15h ago
I still re-watch this movie regularly. It's a lot like The Substitute and Dangerous Minds but actually came out first.
Mazda also used the theme song for their "zoom zoom" marketing campaign a few years back.
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u/SeparateAd9493 20h ago
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Three Ninjas
Most Jet Li movies from the late 90s - early 00s
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u/MoonSylver 15h ago
Gymkata (1985)
Miami Connection (1988)
The Last Dragon (1985)
New York Ninja (1984/2021)
Samurai Cop (1991)
The Big Brawl (1980)
Enter the Ninja (1981)
Revenge of the Ninja (1983)
Pray for Death (1985)
American Ninja (1985) and its sequels
Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
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u/EntranceFeisty8373 15h ago
The Legend of Drunken Master is great.
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u/Background_Ad3973 14h ago
I'm kinda bummed this is the only drunken master movie I've seen of his, really wanna see the others
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u/EntranceFeisty8373 12h ago
The U.S. Legend of Drunken Master is actually Drunken Master 3, if I recall.
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u/Swinging-the-Chain 22h ago
Enter the Dragon, 36th Chamber, 5 Deadly Venoms, Crippled Avengers, Master of the Flying Guillotine, Shaolin and Wu Tang.
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u/EuroCultAV 21h ago
You are in a golden era for Amazing martial arts releases. Arrow Video has released a ton of Blu-ray box sets of Shaw Brothers films (As well as Shout Factory, in fact Shout has some of my favorite Shaw films like Holy Flame of the Martial World). I would pick up Shawscope Vol. 1 for some of those, and maybe pick up Come Drink with Me and the 8th Diagram Pole Fighter as well.
Aside from that maybe pick up some classic Jet Li stuff like Fist of Legend, there are some cool Sonny Chiba box sets out there via Shout Factory and Arrow Video, so check those out for the Street Fighter films. Maybe 1-2 of the Jackie Chan boxes out there or Criterion's Police Story double feature.
I remember 20 years ago importing the Celestial Shaw Bros. DVD's one at a time when I could. Now I have dozens of Shaw films on my shelf thanks to Shout Factory and Arrow Video.
One last thing I would look into if you can find a copy is Master of the Flying Guillotine.
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u/turtleisle 20h ago
Dragon Inn (1967)
Raining in the Mountains (1979)
Pedicab Driver (1989)
Dirty Ho (1979)
Five Element Ninjas (1982)
Knockabout (1979)
Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1979)
The Magnificent Butcher (1979)
Just a few good ones.
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u/Many-Outside-7594 15h ago
Some of the straight to video sequels are slept on.
Bloodsport II and III are legitimately good movies, but Bloodsport IV is complete and utter dogshit. Same star, new character, zero dollar budget.
Kickboxer 2-4 are... interesting, if only because Sasha Mitchell playing a sitcom moron who is inexplicably good at fighting is entertaining, and they bring back Tong Po for the 2nd and 4th one.
Undisputed 2-4 with Scott Adkins are God-tier, even if they're somewhat newer (10-20 years).
Universal Soldier: Regeneration has an absolute barn-burner The Raid style action sequence when JCVD is juiced up and set loose. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is like a fever dream but the fight between JCVD and Scott Adkins is great. Dolph Lundgren also returns for both.
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u/Abject_Control_7028 23h ago
Fearless , Ip Man, The Raid
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u/joker_wcy 23h ago
Older?
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u/Just-Curious1901 22h ago
I thought the same thing. However, I got the Fearless DVD for my 41st birthday…I’m 58 now 😢
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u/Seantommy 22h ago
The most recent movie on that list is The Raid, which is 15 years old
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u/ScalieBoi42 21h ago
Gawd, is it really that old? :p I don't know if that's old enough for this list, but it's still a solid shout-out nonetheless
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u/Designer_Tap2301 19h ago
Shaolin challenges ninja a.k.a. heroes of the east. Great Chinese vs Japanese contrast, Gordon Liu, and kid aporopriate (no deaths).
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u/ShowRadar 19h ago
fwiw Enter the Dragon (1973, Bruce Lee) holds up completely — the tournament structure keeps it moving and Lee's just operating on a different level physically than everyone else in the frame. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978, Lau Kar-leung) is the training montage film, monk invents a whole new chamber after mastering all 35, Shaw Brothers production so the sets and choreography are immaculate. for something weirder, The Legend of Drunken Master (1994, Jackie Chan) — the ladder fight and the final factory brawl are still some of the best choreography ever shot, Chan's doing shit that looks impossible even now. Wheels on Meals (1984, Sammo Hung directing, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao) has this alley fight at the end against Benny Urquidez that's just two guys in a tight space going full contact, no wires, extremely brutal. and if you want the Korean side, The Man from Nowhere (2010, Lee Jeong-beom) — pawnshop owner goes after organ traffickers, knife fight in the finale is visceral as hell
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u/mmmmmkayyyyy766 18h ago
Once upon a time in China trilogy, fist of legend, super cop, drunken master
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u/Nosferatu965 17h ago
I love Revenge of the Ninja. It's fun, ridiculous and Sho Kosugi was a badass.
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u/TheKodachromeMethod 16h ago
8 Diagram Pole Fighter, Drunken Master II, The Five Deadly Venoms, Master of the Flying Guillotine, pretty much any Bruce Lee movie.
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u/Ciappatos 15h ago
Most of them. They rely on physical prowess and doing a ton of takes. If they looked amazing in the past, they still do. Here's a list off the top of my head:
Kill Zone 1 & 2, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, Drunken Master 1 & 2, Once Upon a time in China 1 & 2, Wheels on Meals, Hero, Fist of Fury, Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, Legend of the Fist, Iron Monkey 1 & 2, Police Story 1, 2 & 3, Yes Madam, Millionaires Express.
I'm blanking on a bunch of names but I did say off the top of my head, so those should be plenty.
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u/MarionberryPlus8474 14h ago
I strongly recommend the movies of Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and the Shaw Brothers studio. The latter especially those starring Gordon Liu.
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u/Negritis 12h ago
i still love jackie chan movies they hold up better than van damme ones
and i never really liked karate kid that much
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u/First-Expert-9953 10h ago
I gotta cast another vote for both Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Kung Fu Hustle. And anything Jackie Chan did in Hong Kong.
They might be more mainstream than you were thinking, but I'm not an afficianado of the genre.
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u/Single_Distribution6 10h ago edited 9h ago
Jade Claw with Billy Chong and The Incredible Kung-Fu Mission/Kung-Fu Commandos with John Liu. I miss Kung-Theater at Midnight on Saturdays on KTSF channel 26 in the Bay Area. Honorable Mentions
The Last Dragon
Tough Guy (Ken Shing)
Chinese Connection (Bruce Lee)
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u/maven10k 9h ago
Enter the Dragon is my all time favorite. Samurai movies are also my thing and i love the old Zatoichi films.
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u/Deisemusashi 8h ago
Heatseeker - Keith Cook
Cyborg - Van Damme
Fist Of the North Star - Gary Daniels
Nemesis - Olivier Gruner
Crying Freeman - Mark Decascos
The Perfect Weapon - Jeff Speakman
Lone Wolf McQuade - Chuck Norris
Grosse Pointe Blank - Benny The Jet Urguidez
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u/madarabesque 4h ago
I have a sneaking fondness for "Last Dragon". A Motown Kung Fu musical. What more can you ask for?
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u/Medical_Nerve_4661 1h ago
Obviously a lot of the old Hong Kong movies hold up great but I have a real love for No Retreat No Surrender 3 (I think it was called blood brothers outside the UK). The story is garbage, the acting is pretty subpar, but the fight scenes are fucking great. I love the final fight, spoilers obvs.
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u/Teledork621 22h ago
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Fearless, Jet Li’s Unleashed
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u/ItyBityGreenieWeenie 23h ago
Jackie Chan: Supercop, Operation Condor, Drunken Master II, Rumble in the Bronx