The 100+1 Best Martial Arts Movies of All Time
by Paste Magazine
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- DirectorCheh ChangStarsSheng ChiangChien SunPhillip Chung-Fung KwokThe sixth and final pupil of a dying martial arts teacher is instructed to find the teacher's five former pupils and defeat any evil ones that are among them.
- DirectorChia-Liang LiuStarsChia-Hui LiuLieh LoYue WongA man studies kung fu at the Shaolin Temple to fight back against the oppressive Manchu government.
- DirectorRobert ClouseStarsBruce LeeJohn SaxonJim KellyA Shaolin martial artist travels to an island fortress to spy on an opium lord - who is also a former monk from his temple - under the guise of attending a fighting tournament.
- DirectorHark TsuiStarsJet LiRosamund KwanBiao YuenLegendary martial arts hero Wong Fei-Hung fights against foreign forces' plundering of China. When Aunt Yee arrives back from America, Wong Fei-Hung assumes the role of her protector.
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsKuan Tai ChenFeng LuPhillip Chung-Fung KwokThree men who have been physically disabled by an evil warlord and his physically-disabled son become friends and learn kung fu so that they can seek revenge with help from an elderly martial-arts teacher and his mentally-disabled pupil.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsChow Yun-FatMichelle YeohZiyi ZhangA young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
- DirectorChia-Liang LiuJackie ChanStarsJackie ChanHo-Sung PakLung TiA young martial artist is caught between respecting his pacifist father's wishes or stopping a group of disrespectful foreigners from stealing precious artifacts.
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsTien-Chi ChengTien-Hsiang LungMeng LoA Chinese martial arts school is infiltrated and destroyed by ninjas. Tian Hao survives the massacre and seeks to uncover the trickery of ninjutsu in order to beat the Five Element Ninjas and avenge his family.
- DirectorPrachya PinkaewStarsTony Jaa
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsRongguang YuDonnie YenJean WangA martial artist/doctor steals from the corrupt authorities as a masked thief to give to the poor while another martial artist/doctor is forced to hunt him down. But a major threat unites them as a powerful and traitorous shaolin monk takes over the authorities.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsUma ThurmanDavid CarradineDaryl HannahAfter awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsUma ThurmanDavid CarradineMichael MadsenThe Bride continues her quest of vengeance against her former boss and lover Bill, the reclusive bouncer Budd, and the treacherous, one-eyed Elle.
- DirectorWilson YipStarsDonnie YenSimon YamSiu-Wong FanDuring the Japanese invasion of China, a wealthy martial artist is forced to leave his home when his city is occupied. With little means of providing for themselves, Ip Man and the remaining members of the city must find a way to survive.
- DirectorJimmy Wang YuStarsJimmy Wang YuTien Wu ChuKang ChinAfter his students are killed by the One Armed Boxer, a vengeful and blind Kung Fu expert travels to a village where a martial arts contest is being held and vows to behead every one armed man he comes across.
- DirectorChia-Liang LiuStarsChia-Hui LiuSheng FuLily LiMongols with the help of an insider, ambush the influential Yang Family, defenders of the dynasty. The Mongols must hunt down all Yang survivors so their insidious plot to overthrow the dynasty will not be uncovered.
- DirectorGordon ChanStarsJet LiShinobu NakayamaSiu-Ho ChinIn 1937, a Chinese martial artist returns to Shanghai to find his teacher dead and his school harassed by the Japanese.
- DirectorRobert HoustonKenji MisumiStarsTomisaburô WakayamaKayo MatsuoMinoru ÔkiWhen the wife of the Shogun's Decapitator is murdered and he is ordered to commit suicide by the paranoid Shogun, he and his four-year-old son escape and become assassins for hire, embarking on a journey of blood and violent death.
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsJet LiMichelle YeohSiu-Ho ChinTwo friends, ex Shaolin monks, part ways as they brush with the ongoing rebellion against the government. The ambitious one rises up to be a powerful military commander, while his betrayed friend resorts to learn the calm ways of Tai Chi.
- DirectorJackie ChanChi-Hwa ChenStarsJackie ChanMaggie CheungBrigitte LinA virtuous Hong Kong Police Officer must clear his good name when the drug lord he is after frames him for the murder of a dirty cop.
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsChien SunMeng LoFeng LuDirector Chang Cheh reunites the Five Venoms in his second biggest cult hit in the West. It's Lo Meng's most memorable performances whose showdown with fellow Venom Kuo Chue is artistically violent while being graphically artsy.
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsJimmy Wang YuChiao ChiaoChung-Hsin HuangA noble swordsman, whose arm had been chopped off, returns to his former teacher to defend him from a villainous gang of rival swordsmen.
- DirectorChia-Liang LiuStarsChia-Hui LiuYuka MizunoYasuaki KurataA Chinese man (Liu) marries a Japanese woman through an arranged marriage and manages to insult all of her Japanese martial arts family by issuing a challenge to her that is misinterpreted by the others. He must then prove how good Chinese Kung Fu really is through a series of duels with the seven Japanese martial artists who come to meet the challenge.
- DirectorChia-Liang LiuStarsChia-Hui LiuKara WaiTe-Lo MaiWong Fei-Hong and his once-rival, now friend, find themselves and their martial arts schools pitted against a rival school which uses a Kung Fu expert from the North to do their dirty work.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiZiyi ZhangJin ZhangThe story of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee.