SAI's Top 10 Martial Arts Movies

[SAI]

10: Once Upon a Time in China

Like Chow Yun Fat and Jackie Chan Jet Li hasn't been well served by his roles in American films but this classic is the one that brought him to to the notice of the west.
Intricately coreographed by Yuen Woo Ping (with, no doubt, input form Li) it uses wires well and features a strong performance from Li as Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung as well as a nice supporting role from the underrated Yuen Biao.

9: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Ang Lee's film intorduced a lot of westerners (this one included) to wuxia films and began a cycle of 'martial arthouse' films which combine serious drama with martial arts. Crouching Tiger is impeccably cast, with Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh having tough dramatic roles and pulling those scenes off in just as much style as the fights. It was clear to me that impossibly beautiful 21 year old Zhang Ziyi was going to be a star as well; her acting is strong and you'd never believe she's not a trained martial artist (she, like Yeoh, was a dancer). HK action legend Cheng Pei Pei, a veteran of many Shaw Brothers films, also makes an impressive appearence.

8: House of Flying Daggers

The zenith of martial arthouse. Zhang Yimou's second wuxia film beats out his Hero not just on the action but on the acting. Zhang Ziyi spent two months living with a blind girl as research for her role and gives one of the most convincing blind performances ever, even managing never to make eye contact during the most complex of Ching Siu Ting's coreography. Yimou's contribution is equally awesome, I've seldom seen anything as beautiful as the echo game in any genre of cinema.

7: Eastern Condors

I've said a lot about this; Sammo Hung's brilliant, 'Nam set, take on The Dirty Dozen in the SAI's recommendation of the week thread in General.

6: Project A

One of only three films in which all three kung fu brothers; Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao played lead roles.
Project A is one of Chan's finest films as director, as well as some well crafted comedy, much of it at little brother Yuen Biao's expense, he fashions an exciting stoy of pirates sailing hong kong waters. Then of course there's the action. It takes in straightforward fights (the first involving all three brothers, in a bar, with Jackie using just about everything as a prop vies with the final fight with villain for hire Dick Wie for pole position. It is though the stunts, notably a clocktower fall inspired by Howard Lloyd's Safety Last, which impress most.

5: Ong Bak

Dumb and shallow it may be but after Ang Lee and Zhang Yoimou prettied up the genre it was about time that something like Ong Bak... which hits hard, fast and often came along.
Tony Jaa is the latest in a long line of martial arts stars to be compared to Bruce Lee, but he may stand the comparison. His Muay Thai boxing may lack the beauty of many chinese martial arts but it makes up for that in impact. Made without recourse to effects, wires or stunt doubles Ong Bak HURTS. Witness the fights in the illegal boxing club, the astounding chase through the market or the scene where Jaa, both his legs on fire, kicks someone in the head and be amazed.

4: Drunken Master

Another Wong Fei Hung film and the one that really made Jackie Chan the Jackie Chan his fans know and love. Reunited with director Yuen Woo Ping and co-star Yuen Siu Tien (Woo Ping's father) from the previous year's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow he created perhaps the greatest of all kung fu comedies.
The story is simple: Wong Fei Hung learns fighting from a drunken beggar and then decks the main villain (Korean kickboxer Hwang Jang Lee). It is in the style that greatness is found. Chan's movement and technique are graceful and fluid and Woo Ping's coreography is also impressive, as innovative here as he would be later. The slapstick comedy is also fun thanks to game performances from Chan and Yuen Siu Tien.

3: Fist of Fury [aka: The Chinese Connection]

Even if the rest of Fist of Fury were shit I'd probably have put it on this list for the awesome sequence in which Bruce Lee, with a pair of nunchuckau, beats the hell out of an entire school of Japanese martial artists. That scene alone justifys why people still talk about Bruce Lee nearly 35 years after his death.
The rest, however, isn't shit. The story has surprising resonance and while Lee clearly isn't the greatest actor in the world he has charisma to burn which means that even his acting scenes are highly watchable (he's also got a fine supporting cast, including Nora Miao and James Tien).
The martial arts is every bit as spectacular as you'd expect from Lee and this is a much more involving and entertaining film than the dubbed and cut versions that circulated for years would lead you to think.

2: Police Story

Certainly Jackie Chan's most famous film and, for me, his best. Police Story does just what it says on the tin, following Chan's hapless cop through protecting a witness (Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia; incidentally the sister of Chan's real life wife) much to the chagrin of his girlfriend (Maggie Cheung Man Yuk) to being kidnapped and framed for murder. This leads to a confrontation in a shopping mall which in turn led to Chan's stunt team referring to this film as Glass Story.
As ever there's a plentiful helping of comedy (much of it involving Cheung) and Chan pulls this off really well, a notable highlight being when he has to take several phone calls at once and gets himself tangled in the cords.
However it's the action that matters and from Chan hanging out of a bus by the end of an umbrella to the climactic slide down a pole lined with lightbulbs these are among the greatest action and stunt sequences ever put on film (so good that Police Story has had moments lifted wholesale for many a Hollywood movie).

1: The Prodigal Son

Number 50 on my list of the top 100 films of all time (a list which, though I love them, none of the other 9 films make). Everything about The Prodigal Son is high quality. Most notable is Lam Ching Ying's excellent performance as gay opera star and kung fu master Leung Yee Tai. Both as a martial arts player and as a character actor Lam deserves more recognition but sadly his premature death has put paid to that. Also excellent is Yuen Biao. A dazzling acrobat and martial artist, too often left in the shadow of Jackie and Sammo, he grabs the part of Leung Jaan and throws himself into it, coming up with a convincing performance and some stunning movement.
The duel in the middle of the film; between Lam Ching Ying and Frankie Chan is probably the single best I've ever seen. The intricate, close quarters, coreography of the wing chun style is fantastically cinematic and the actors nail every movement.
Add in strong direction, coreography and a fun supporting turn from Sammo Hung and you've a genuine classic.

So, that's my list. Comments? Questions? Your own lists? Post em up

[Shockwave]

...no Iron Monkey?

Overall fucking great list however. Damn right about DRUNKEN MASTER.

[SAI]

I'm still kinda new to the genre and, to my shame, haven't seen Iron Monkey yet, it's on my online rental list though

[Shockwave]

..ahhhh, good stuff then! Your in for a treat.

[ElderPredator]

Where in the fuck is "Enter the Dragon?" The greatest of all the Bruce Lee films.

[SAI]

For me Enter the Dragon is only really average. The story never engaged me the way it did in Fist of Fury and I thought the action in that film was superior as well. Though it's interesting to see Sammo and Bruce Lee face off at the start of ETD

[RealTimeScrub]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhem