Best Martial Arts Movies

**Teh El Macho** · Posted On: 9/19/2007 7:37am

Originally Posted by JohnnyCache

I second Undisputed 2

Also "best of the best" is a five dollar special and is almost roadhousian in its hubris

Although not "martial arts" per se you had best not fail to watch a movie called Diggstown - Lou Gosset Jr plays boxer "Honey" Roy Palmer, the cash-fighting partner of a con artist (James woods) so slick he made a hundred grand in prison. They work together to con a guy (bruce dern) who may be the world's crookedest boxing promoter.

Oh man, if you like cheesy weird **** you DEFINITELY need to get a DVD called "The Blood of Heroes"

It's this weird post apocalyptic movie with Rutger hauer.

Equilibrium is a damn cool movie, I think, even if the 'martial arts' in it are pretty far out

Oh man, you remind me of a really good movie (good == weird and cheesy). I gotta rent it this weekend.

I always liked JCVD's "Cyborg", don't know why (maybe for the same reasons I liked "Blood Of Heroes".) "Brotherhood of the Wolf" is a very interesting, weird-looking movie worth considering.

Another MA-kinda movie I liked is "In Hell", also with JCVD. Kinda cheesy, but the fight scenes look as real as a real scrap gets. No fucking wushuesque acrobatic reverse flying butterfly kick-slaps or crap like that.

"Ong Bak" is entertaining, and so is "Musa". Somehow chicks who are not into MA movies end up liking "House of Flying Daggers" (they get hooked into the romantic blubber of it.) It's a good movie btw.

[derail-kinda]
You know, people don't consider movies like "Gladiator" and "Kingdom of Heaven" as martial arts movies, yet, the fight scenes IMO resemble far more closely what actual martial encounters would have looked like before the invention of gunpowder.
[/derail-kinda]

**gzk** · Posted On: 9/19/2007 7:45am

Originally Posted by goofus lee

King of the Kickboxers! Lauren Avedon, Billy Blanks, Keith Cook, plot with the integrity of used Kleenex, and holes large enough to drive a Datsun through. I declare it King of Crapfu Cinema! And, if you liked that, check out No Retreat, No Surrender 1-3.

Haha! I love the Corey Yuen movies too. I never knew until I saw KotKB that Thais actually call Muay Thai "Kickboxing", or that you can die from that crazy split-double leg kick to the head that Billy Blanks does. And if you like cheesy quotes, about about: "You have never face a real kickboxing".

NRNS 1 has some great mid-80s motivational music. I'd buy the soundtrack if I found it. Van Damme playing a bad guy, "Kruschensky the Russian", with a huge Belgian accent. The ghost of Bruce Lee "You lead with the shoulder. And when your shoulder move, I see it. You be quick, and direct".

Along with those, I'd also recommend Bloodsport and Kickboxer. "Eh-rick, doan do it! I saw de look in his eyes, dis guy's crezzy, he's fucking crezzy!" "Dis guy was kicking one of deeese with his fucking legs! Until plaster was falling down!"

**catch22** · Posted On: 9/19/2007 8:26am

Originally Posted by Teh El Macho

Oh man, you remind me of a really good movie (good == weird and cheesy). I gotta rent it this weekend.

I always liked JCVD's "Cyborg", don't know why (maybe for the same reasons I liked "Blood Of Heroes".) "Brotherhood of the Wolf" is a very interesting, weird-looking movie worth considering.

Another MA-kinda movie I liked is "In Hell", also with JCVD. Kinda cheesy, but the fight scenes look as real as a real scrap gets. No fucking wushuesque acrobatic reverse flying butterfly kick-slaps or crap like that.

"Ong Bak" is entertaining, and so is "Musa". Somehow chicks who are not into MA movies end up liking "House of Flying Daggers" (they get hooked into the romantic blubber of it.) It's a good movie btw.

[derail-kinda]
You know, people don't consider movies like "Gladiator" and "Kingdom of Heaven" as martial arts movies, yet, the fight scenes IMO resemble far more closely what actual martial encounters would have looked like before the invention of gunpowder.
[/derail-kinda]

I watched at bit of JCVD , the one in the Russian prison that includes JCVD trying to arm bar some big russian bloke? From your discription it sounds like it was "in hell". Is it?

**Soju_King** · Posted On: 9/19/2007 8:36am

Azumi 1 & 2 nice sword choreography and lots of blood an gore with a real pretty chick as the lead star.

Crying Freeman live action movie with mark dacascos

Chok Dee kickboxer - based on a true story bout a french dude who goes to thailand to train in muay thai an becomes a champ

**sempaiman** · Posted On: 9/19/2007 8:44am

"Warrior and Sorceress". Hot dolly topless most of the time.

**sochin101** · Posted On: 9/19/2007 9:04am

American Ninja 1, maybe 2.
Best "worst" MA film EVARRRRR.

Also, anything with Bolo Yeung.

I liked Showdown In Little Tokyo, for sheer cheese-ocity.

**Teh El Macho** · Posted On: 9/19/2007 9:25am

Originally Posted by catch22

I watched at bit of JCVD , the one in the Russian prison that includes JCVD trying to arm bar some big russian bloke? From your discription it sounds like it was "in hell". Is it?

Yep, that's the one :) I think that as he got older, JCVD started moving away from the crazy kick-with-split-in-the-air and oh-look-at-my-ass crap. "In Hell" requires some serious suspense of disbelief, but the fight scenes were pretty cool IMO.

The male raping was a bit disturbing, though. :new_shock

**DaChinkOfSteel** · Posted On: 9/19/2007 9:42am

Originally Posted by sochin101

American Ninja 1, maybe 2.
Best "worst" MA film EVARRRRR.

Yes...and no...b/c you've obviously never seen "American Samurai"...

That said, furthermore...to add to the list of amazing cheesiness:

- Anything with Cynthia Rothrock AND Bolo Yeung...that's magic right there, pure magic...
- Any of the "Shaolin vs." movies are awesome...Shaolin vs. Llama is a personal favorite of mine, largely b/c that's basically the first MA movie any Vietnamese kid sees...sentimental value right there...
- Any movie with JCVD prior to Cyborg/Bloodsport (not sure which came first)...or after Universal Soldier...with the exception being "The Quest"...oh, and Maximum Risk; only b/c it's got the chick from Species in it...and she's hot...

**Blix** · Posted On: 9/19/2007 10:25am

Jesus, that JCVD video back there is hilarious, and just disturbing enough to give kids serious nightmares.

Look for a cheap martial arts DVD set. I've seen a lot like them on amazon. They're like 50 shitty movies for fifteen bucks. I got the MA set at a store down here and it was worth every penny for Sonny Chiba's Street Fighter movies alone. The American Ninja TV show cobbled into a terrible movie is an excellent bonus.