Essential Martial Arts Films
A list of some of the greatest martial arts films of all time
List activity
42 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
22 titles
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorStephen ChowLik-Chi LeeStarsStephen ChowKaren MokVincent KokThe most renowned and feared chef in the world loses his title of God of Cookery because of his pompous attitude. Humbled, he sets out to reclaim his title.
- 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.
- DirectorSammo Kam-Bo HungStarsSammo Kam-Bo HungCharlie ChinStanley Sui-Fan FungMuscles, cop from Hong Kong, is in Japan chasing a bad HK cop. His cop partner gets taken by the ninja gang. Muscles gets his 5 old no-good friends from the orphanage to help find the bad cop. Lots of comedy and kung-fu fighting follows.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorJohnnie ToStarsMichelle YeohAnita MuiMaggie CheungWhile one tough woman with an invisible robe has stolen 18 babies for her powerful master, two other tough women and the cops try to stop her.
- DirectorSammo Kam-Bo HungStarsSammo Kam-Bo HungRichard NgEric Tsang5 HK cops (4 horny males) on vacation in Pattaya, Thailand, are told to contact an informant there but he gets murdered. They return to Hong Kong to contact his girlfriend and protect her. 3 other colleagues are busy fighting criminals.
- DirectorStephen ChowStarsStephen ChowWah YuenQiu YuenIn Shanghai, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious "Axe Gang" while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsDonnie YenCheung-Yan YuenLydia ShumA spoiled young man - on the run from a ruthless killer - hooks up with a puppeteer and his wife who are masters of the art of tai chi; the only style that can defeat the killer.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorStanley TongStarsJackie ChanMichelle YeohMaggie CheungA Hong Kong detective teams up with his female Red Chinese counterpart to stop a Chinese drug czar.
- 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.
- DirectorMichael MakStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMichelle YeohJoey WangDynamo Michelle Yeoh stars as a loyalist who attempts to keep the King's empire from being overthrown by a revolutionary group.
- DirectorJackie ChanSammo Kam-Bo HungStarsJackie ChanSammo Kam-Bo HungBiao YuenFighting against pirates at the turn of the 20th century, the Hong Kong navy are failing miserably. It's up to Sergeant Lung (Jackie Chan) to take matters into his own hands.