DJ Emir's Top 50 Kung Fu Movies
I am a Master in Shaolin Kung Fu and this is my own personal list of my favorite Kung Fu movies that withstood the test of time as movies one could go back and re-watch whether it be for just a few particular fight scenes or the entire movie. It's hard to really place these in order as a few I would say are tied for first place and it really depends on the mood of the Day which one I would rank number one etc. I'm actually creating this list as a means of also reminding myself which movies to go back and watch if I need some inspiration to get me fired up for Kung Fu. Still working on adding a few more titles.
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- 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.This is the first Western produced Kung Fu Movie featuring Bruce Lee and the match between Bruce Lee and Robert Wall and also the re added in beginning scene with Sammo Hung and the added philosophy at the beginning is worth watching the movie all by itself. The scene with Robert (Bob) Wall shows simple Blue and green belt techniques utilized in a black belt manner with great speed and perfect distance and timing. He later in the fight starts using much more advanced and acrobatic techniques as well as simple yet perfectly timed and executed intercepting kicks. Worth a few rewinds for sure!
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsJackie ChanSiu-Tin YuenJeong-lee HwangWong Fei-Hung is a mischievous yet righteous young man, but after a series of incidents his frustrated father has him disciplined by a master of drunken martial arts.The fight choreography is very entertaining and the training scenes are superb. While these are not the exact forms for each of the drunken immortals (some are way longer than what is depicted in the movie) Jackie's execution of the forms in the movie and execution of the fighting applications within the choreography are superb! It is a very inspiring movie to watch when learning drunken fist. And Jackie really pushed himself on this movie with the authentic training especially those amazing push ups where he flips his wrist in mid air landing palm down then flipped landing on the back of the wrist... OUCH... And the walnut breaking with the fingertips... I actually tried that for a bit... took forever to finally get the walnuts to start breaking between my fingers and then just when you are getting all proud that you can finally do it one of them breaks in the wrong way and produces a super sharp walnut shell edge that cuts my thumb... do not try this at home LOL...
- 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.This is an amazing Kung Fu Movie, very moving story and very fast paced and entertaining fight scenes. The Training on the wooden man is not as intricate as those learned at Shaolin but the Fight choreography and cinematography are superb! This is one of My top favorites for sure. The Part where he takes on 10 Japanese Karate fighters is brutal and very entertaining in a wince away from the bone breaking brutality kind of way. Love this movie start to finish even sad as it gets at times.
- 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.This movie was actually released originally as Drunken master 2 and I had a copy of the VHS when I went to the Movie Theaters to see the United States release under the name Legend of The Drunken Master... I just wanted to see it on the big screen because it was one of my favorite Kung Fu Movie Videos of all time. Unlike the first Movie "Drunken Master" This one does not have the classic training scenes that tend to make for many of my own favorite parts of the classic kung fu movies, but this one is sort of set after he's already mastered Drunken Fist so you will see more just straight fight scenes that feature many of the techniques from the various forms. Jackie Chan does repeat certain techniques almost identically in the middle fight scene and the end fight scene, but then that would make sense as many times in sparring and fighting a Kung Fu fighter would use his favorite techniques that tend to have a 60% or higher probability of success versus in any situation. The fight choreography is awesome in this movie... very inspiring when I want to try out some more drunken fist styles in sparring class at the Chinese Shaolin Center.
- DirectorWilson YipStarsDonnie YenXiaoming HuangSammo Kam-Bo HungCentering on Ip Man's migration to Hong Kong in 1949 as he attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun martial arts.Ip Man 2 is as entertaining as the first one but I have a few parts of this that pissed me off namely mostly about superior skill getting beaten by pure muscle and size but I guess that does sometimes become a factor, and I can't really go into details without huge spoilers so we'll leave it at that. The Fight between Sammo Hung and Donnie Yen is epic and the matches leading up to that fight are also great.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiZiyi ZhangJin ZhangThe story of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee.Another movie about Ip Man (Bruce Lee's Master that Taught Wing Chun Kung Fu) This movie is epic in it's story, fight choreography and cinematography. The scenes are beautifully shot on par with crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon. The different fighting styles of China are well represented in the restaurant fight scenes.
- 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.I know this movie as Shaolin Challenges Ninja aka Challenge of The Ninja and finally as Heroes of The East. This is a highly entertaining movie filled with enlightening Kung Fu Action and philosophies of fighting techniques. Also has some good humor in it. I saw this as a Kid and didn't realize which movie it was until I saw it later as an adult but I have always remembered the way he chose to learn the Drunken Master's Kung Fu techniques by sending in his classmates to fight him and imitating the movements the Drunken master used to easily defeat them. Great Movie with very diverse use of weapons and fighting styles of China and Japan.
- DirectorRonny YuStarsJet LiLi SunYong DongA biography of Chinese Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia, who is the founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation.This is the Story of Famous Martial artist Hou Yung Jia who was the Teacher of Chen Zen (the main character in Fist of Legend and Fist of Fury aka The Chinese Connection) When I first saw this in the Movie Theaters I already knew what was going to happen in the end because I already knew this was the Pr-equal to Jet Li's Fist of Legend and the original Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (well that title got exchanged with the incorrect title of The Chinese Connection when it came out here to the West and was never fixed except for a few copies with the correct names A point which always pisses me off being that one is about "the fist of Fury" and the other is about a gang like Boss you would think they could have kept the titles straight... Hope whoever made that mistake got fired.... but I digress.) This movie is a great movie, I prefer the Theatrical release myself. The extended version starts weird in my opinion and is OK to watch if you already have watched it but I prefer how it started in the original version.
- DirectorWei LoStarsBruce LeeNora MiaoJames TienA young man seeks vengence for the death of his teacher.Not sure how these two titles got crossed when the two movies came to the United States, but this one Should have been titled "Fist of Fury" and vise versa since they even mention "we just can't beat the Chinese Fist of Fury" in the movie itself and the other movie is about a Chinese Gang hence The Chinese connection... But since this is how they are marked on here lets just go with it. It is titled correctly in Jet Li's "Fist of Legend" which is a remake of this movie. And The prequel to this movie is Jet Li's Fearless as it is the story about the Teacher of the main character (major spoiler for Fearless if you already knew this as I did, you knew where fearless was ultimately heading)
- 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.The Remake to the Classic Bruce Lee Fist of Fury (PS Fist of Fury was incorrectly named The Chinese Connection here in The States) The opening Fight scene is worth the price of admission alone as are many of the other fight scenes in this movie. One of the leg breaks was sort of copied in IP Man. Great movie overall with good fight choreography throughout. A worthy remake of a cult classic.
- 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.Only complaint is to help put a little weight to their foot stepping when jumping across roof tops. Great story, epic movie. Only thing about this classic story line about Kung Fu manuals being stolen (done to death... think "Jacki Chan's Snake And Crane arts of Shaolin" 18 Bronze Men Part 2 etc... I know it is hard to master a form and fighting techniques when learning from a Master let alone just stealing a book and trying to learn from it yourself without the guidance of a master. And that is where I always call bogus, It;s one thing to learn a style then have the book remind you when needed another to learn solely from the book. Concepts can be taught through books and often a few books do lead to a revelation that takes your Kung Fu to another level but for deep understanding another master is usually involved in the training.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsZiyi ZhangTakeshi KaneshiroAndy LauA romantic police captain breaks a beautiful member of a rebel group out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.Very beautiful scenery and fight scenes This is just a gorgeous movie to watch with interesting fight scenes and a compelling story.
- DirectorChin-Chung ChanWoo-Ping YuenStarsDonnie YenYuk WongDickson Ga-Sing LeeAction-packed as usual with Donnie Yen kicking his adversaries in the role of "Beggar Su". Basic plot revolves around a young Beggar Su getting addicted to opium and manipulated by a scheming imperial prince to fight against WFH and assassinate a righteous general. As expected, Beggar Su repents and gangs up with WFH against the prince in a climactic battle. Guess who you have helping the prince, the White Lotus sect of course...Great Drunken Fist fight scenes make this a definite addition to this list of top 40 Kung Fu films.
- 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.The Tai Chi Master Later renamed Twin Warriors on it's re-release AKA the Legend of Zhang San Feng (it's original movie title who by the way is the man accredited with the invention of the first 13 postures of Tai Chi) My friend lent me his copy of this movie and I had to immediately order it from overseas (before it was made available in the US) This became one of my all time favorite Kung Fu Movies some of the fight scenes are a little over the top and some are silly but overall I loved watching this movie over and over again. This is also one of the only Kung Fu movies my Step son and roommates really got into... we all loved the fight scene with the bo staffs in the great hall of Shaolin.
- StarsJing WuBilly ChowYik-Man FanYang, a young martial artist who leaves home to learn Tai Chi from Master Chan. But when Chan's daughter is kidnapped by the ruthless Lord Tun, Yang must face off against Tun's and seven kung fu masters.I have the Edited Down English Subtitled DVD Movie version of the Series as well as the TV series itself without subtitles. It is one of the best movies for watching actual Tai Chi and Bagua Techniques and principles being applied in well choreographed fight scenes. This movie also has a ton of great training scenes and lots of mentions of Tai Chi and Bagua Principles which can help any practitioners out there to hep deepen their understanding of the 2 arts. Similar to the book there are no secrets and the book Yang Style family secret transmissions which as both books have great concepts and principles to help improve your abilities. This movie actually has quite a few of the main principles sprinkled throughout. The one main one that really stuck with me is the concept of "light on top... heavy on the bottom" when I heard that said in the movie it really hit home and reminded me to sink my rooting more while still remaining light and yielding.
- DirectorKuan Tai ChenStarsKuan Tai ChenKuan-Chun ChiChia-Lin SunIron is the son of a rebel leader, but prefers to spend his days gambling and getting into fights. When his father's group is arrested and executed, Iron is forced to flee and hide in the woods as a beggar and thief. After being taken in by a Shaolin monastery and trained in the art of Monkey-Style Kung Fu, Iron vows to hunt down his father's killer and avenge his death.This is the IRON MONKEY I knew. I loved this movie because of the great training scenes and of course the vicious Monkey style versus Eagle Claw at the end. I have always wanted to learn Monkey Style Kung fu... and was originally looking for Drunken Monkey This movie is one of 3 that finally got me to join Shaolin to learn kung fu and also influenced my sparring so that I became known at shaolin as The Monkey King and as IRON MONKEY. :) so this film will always hold a place in my heart as one of my favorite kung fu movies.
- StarsDanny Kwok-Kwan ChanTed DuranMichael Jai WhiteThe story of the legendary martial arts icon Bruce Lee following him from Hong Kong to America and back again, leading up to his tragic death at the age of 32.This is a great TV Mini Series on the life of Bruce Lee. It has great fight scenes as you would expect and gives you some insight into the full timeline of Bruce Lee's life. Includes his meeting up with JuJitsu and Judo Guru Gene LeBell, Ed parker and much more. It is hard to figure out what is fact and what is fiction when it comes to Bruce Lee and as I understand this series also gets a few things mixed up but it does show him developing his theories on martial arts and shows his journey of discovery and that is well worth watching the series for. If you are a Bruce Lee Fan or just a Martial arts film buff this is worth watching even with it;s limited budget.
- 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.Awesome series about Wong Fei Hung (Played By Jet Li)
- DirectorHark TsuiStarsJet LiRosamund KwanSiu Chung MokArriving by train in Guangzhou, 1895, the trio fight off White Lotus followers, who want to kill all foreigners and the cute, European dressed 13th Aunt. It's not kung fu master Dr. Wong's (Jet Li) last fight.Has some great fight scenes and the clasic Greatings posture pose of Wong Fei Hung... I can't even do greetings posture anymore without thinking about this movie series and thinking the name WONG FEI HUNG! LOL
- DirectorHark TsuiStarsJet LiRosamund KwanSiu Chung MokMaster Wong and his disciples enroll in the 'Dancing Lion Competition' to stop an assassination plot and to battle an arrogant, deceitful opponent.Another Fine edition to The Once Upon A Time In China Series!
- DirectorSammo Kam-Bo HungStarsJet LiRosamund KwanXin Xin XiongFollowing an ambush in his visit to America, Wong Fei-hung becomes separated from his fellow travelers and suffers memory loss.We follow our Hero Wong Fei Hung (Jet Li) from The Once Upon a Time In China series as he now must travel to America. This is a great Chinese Kung Fu meets American Western movie which focuses on the struggles the Chinese people met when moving out west to America. We also get to see Wong Fei Hung pit his Spear fighting techniques against those of Native Americans which just makes for a great and amazing fight scene. Loved this movie even though it had some seriously silly moments and silly characters.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsJet LiTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie CheungA defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.Epic Kung Fu Movie
- DirectorLieh LoStarsChia-Hui LiuLieh LoLung-Wei WangThe monk Hung Wen-Ting fights against the evil priest White Lotus.I knew this one as Fist of The white Lotus and as death of the White Lotus... either way a great kung fu film depicting pressure point fighting skills. It has it's cheesy moments and cheesy fight scenes but also has some serious moments and fight lessons. But this one has one of the best Cheesy Kung Fu macho talk lines out of any other Kung Fu movies out there. "No one has ever surviced my Hundred step death..." "that's because Out of a hundred steps ... I only walked Ninety NINE!" LOL
- DirectorCorey YuenStarsJet LiJosephine SiaoMichelle ReisMartial artists join Red Lotus Flower Society to overthrow evil emperor. Governor hunts society members. Kung fu practitioner falls for merchant's daughter amid kung fu contest for her hand. Gender role reversal comedy ensues.The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk is an awesome movie. A few fight scene's from this and the second movie have been copied almost exactly... I saw a copy of one of the fight scenes one time in Xena Warrior princess. HA... I was like hey.. they stole that out of Fong Sai Yuk!
- DirectorCorey YuenStarsJet LiJosephine SiaoAdam ChengThe Cantonese hero Fong Sai Yuk becomes involved in the secret brotherhood "The Red Flower", who are trying to overthrow the Manchurian emperor and re-establishing the Ming dynasty. The social upheaval is combined with Sai Yuk's personal moral conflict about how to conform to the rigid regime of the brotherhood and on top of that sort out his difficult love life, saddled with two presumptive wives.The fight where he blindfolds himself is epic and beautiful as the red flower petals fall from trees around him.
- DirectorMichael SchultzStarsTaimakVanityChristopher MurneyIn New York City, a young man searches for a Master to obtain the final level of martial arts mastery known as the Glow."Who's The master? Sho NUFF!" While this has a ton of imitating Bruce Lee and is totally cheesy it is partially meant to be that way since it follows the story of a man that trully idolizes Bruce Lee the way many of us all did in the early 1980's and there actually were many of us that decided to wear chinese sandals and outfits because we saw Bruce Lee wearing them in the movies, Bruce Leeroy just takes that to another level making for a hilarious movie with some great comedy and a few cool fight scenes. This is a cult classic and one that because I saw it when I was young I will always adore and can watch over and over. The classic lines are forever stuck in my head. From "You have just opened up a fortune cookie with no fortune, written by a master who does not exist to answer a question for which you already know the answer" LOL and the one I always think of now since I became a Master in Kung Fu... "I AM NO MASTER!" ... to which the girl replies... "You sure look like a master to me" LOL also this is the movie that inspired a great song by Busta Rhymes... if you listen to the song on this movie Ya sock it to me and I sock it to you... the cadence and wording got changed just a little to become "Baby if you give it to me, I'll give it to you, As long as you want, You know I got it" as soon as I heard that hit I knew Busta Rhymes was a fan of this movie because I could totaly hear the original in my head. LOL PS: Tai Mak as Bruce Leeroy and Julius Carrey as Sho Nuff dis a great job with the comedy and over the top antics as well as the martial arts. Tai Mak still looks to be in great shape by the way... really hasn't changed much from all those years ago... kung fu keeps you young...
- DirectorChia-Liang LiuStarsChia-Hui LiuLieh LoYue WongA man studies kung fu at the Shaolin Temple to fight back against the oppressive Manchu government.
- DirectorChia-Liang LiuStarsChia-Hui LiuLung-Wei WangHou HsiaoWhen thugs prey upon innocent factory workers, a small-time scammer trains for revenge by studying the moves of Shaolin temple monks.
- 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.The begging is cheesy to me and Oh man the teeth getting knocked out just makes me cringe every time. But the awesome pole fighting in the training portion and towards the end make this movie amazing. Gordon Liu always delivers!
- DirectorChia-Hui LiuStarsChia-Hui LiuAdam ChengLi ChingTwo friends from rival schools are turned against one another by a jealous chief who wants to eliminate those whose fighting styles may rival his own.Training scenes at Shaolin and On Wu Dung Mountain are excellent and so are many of the fight scenes. As is the classic line " A game of Chess is like a sword fight, you must think first... before you move"
- DirectorChia-Liang LiuStarsDavid ChiangCecilia WongLily LiShaolin Mantis (Orig. Tang lang) is a 1978 Shaw Brothers film directed by Lau Kar-leung. Starring David Chiang and Liu Chia Hui. Shaolin Mantis tells the story of a man who learns martial arts by observing a praying mantis.This film is good inspiration for mantis fighting system. This is one of the Films that finally got me to join the Chinese Shaolin Center in Denver, The other two were Iron Monkey The original (1973 version not the Donnie yen, though I like that one too) and 18 Bronze men part 2 so I have to have all 3 films on this list because otherwise I wouldn't have as deep of an appreciation of martial arts. I'd still just be a spectator instead of a participant.
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsMichelle YeohDonnie YenKing-Tan YuenWing Chun's village is yet again being plundered by bandits. This time she uses kung fu to defeat them. The fighting doesn't end here.Michele Yeoh and Donnie Yen in the story of Yip Wing Chun the female inventor of the Wing Chun style.
- DirectorSammo Kam-Bo HungStarsBiao YuenChing-Ying LamSammo Kam-Bo HungA young man discovers that his reputation as a fearsome martial artist is manufactured by his rich father, after meeting a real martial arts master, who's also a master thespian, and is determined to apprentice under him to learn kung fu.some good training scenes, concepts and wing chun mixed with comedy and sadness. As a man that always thought he was a great martial artists gets a dose of reality and then seeks to learn from one of the best.
- 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.
- DirectorHsin-Yen ChangWoo-Ping YuenStarsJing WuChristy ChungMark ChengA young Tai Chi master fights Opium smugglers with the aid of his powerful braid while wooing a girl.
- DirectorChi-Hwa ChenStarsJackie ChanNora MiaoCheng-Lan ChinA martial arts book, which Hsu Yin-Fung carries, is being highly sought by various clans and gangs, but he is in pursuit of someone himself.
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsJackie ChanSiu-Tin YuenJeong-lee HwangAn orphan who has been raised at a kung fu school, where he is treated as little more than a dogsbody and practice target for the students, has a life-changing experience after helping an old peripatetic beggar.
- DirectorPeter Ho-Sun ChanStarsDonnie YenTakeshi KaneshiroTang WeiA papermaker gets involved with a murder case concerning two criminals leading to a determined detective suspecting him and the former's vicious father searching for him.
- DirectorPrachya PinkaewStarsTony JaaPhetthai VongkumlaoPumwaree YodkamolWhen the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.
- DirectorTony JaaPanna RittikraiStarsTony JaaSarunyu WongkrachangSorapong ChatreeA young Thai boxer learns the skills and inner meaning of martial arts.
- DirectorIsaac FlorentineStarsMichael Jai WhiteScott AdkinsBen CrossSequel to the 2002 film. This time, Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian Jail on trumped-up drug charges.
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsSammo Kam-Bo HungTak-Hing KwanBiao YuenA hot headed young butcher, who is also a kung fu disciple, gets embroiled in a feud with a rival shaolin temple.