11 movies a martial artist must see.

[TKDTony2179]

Tell me if you agree or add your favorite.


http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/m...vies/11-movies-every-martial-artist-must-see/

 

[Chris Parker]

It's an interesting list... honestly, none of them are anything I'd recommend for anything other than pure escapism and entertainment... in which case, they're all fun movies. Personally, I'd look to Seven Samurai, Kuro Obi, Twilight Samurai, Hara Kiri etc as my "go-to" list... of course, that does betray my more Japanese-influenced background, as opposed to the article's authors Chinese-arts bent. I think that's been an influence on the choices, really... different arts will have different preferences for films... a BJJ guy might go straight to Red Belt (personally, I was rather ambivalent towards that one...), whereas a Wing Chun guy will go straight to Ip Man (or Ip Man 2). I don't really think you can get a list that "Every Martial Artist Must See"... it assumes there's far more common ground than there actually is.

 

[cali_tkdbruin]

What about Enter the Dragon??? It wasn't even ranked in this list.

 

[DennisBreene]

What about Enter the Dragon??? It wasn't even ranked in this list.

I agree. Enter the Dragon was one of the best of the 70's.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Remove #8 and #9 add Enter the Dragon and throw in Lost Bladesman and I would disagree with it less.....but I still would not agree with it completely

 

[TKDTony2179]

I really liked Best of the Best series. Well, maybe bb4 wasn't as good as the other three but they was good. The thing is there are lot of movies that martial artist must see. I personally like Return of the Dragon (Way of the dragon) better than Enter the Dragon. Bruce Lee looks healthier in that movie.

 

[jks9199]

Lot a I don't particularly agree with... Maybe as a list of martial arts or movies that influenced martial arts in movies (The Matrix as a martial arts movie? Not anymore than First Blood or Rocky were...) I personally think Red Belt and the first Best of The Best are very good movies for martial artists.

 

[Zero]

I agree. Enter the Dragon was one of the best of the 70's.

Enter the Dragon is one of the best, period.

 

[wingchun100]

My own list:

*Enter the Dragon
*Way of the Dragon (Bruce wrote, directed and starred, which makes this movie the most personal one he ever made)
*Karate Kid (Sucker for underdog stories)
*Drunken Master
*Yip Man
*The Protector (maybe not "good," but so over the top with broken arm after broken arm)
*Seven Samurai
*Armor of God (love the fight with the Amazon women!)
*Dragons Forever (Jackie vs. Benny the Jet!)
*36 Chambers of Shaolin
*Kill Bill (I'm treating this as one movie here. The second part may not have a restaurant battle full of blood, but it DOES have the Pai Mei training flashback)

 

[TKDTony2179]

I really did like kuro obi. Good movie!

 

[Transk53]

Not sure if Warrior counts, not purely a martial arts film I guess. Then again not being a MA, I guess I should not post, but..... Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a big fave of mine.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

In no particular order:

Kuro Obi
Shadowless Sword
Showdown in Little Tokyo
Star Wars trilogy (the original, not the prequels)
Seven Samurai
Five Fingers of Death
Taken (treating one and two as one movie, though I understand Taken 3 is being made)
Batman Begins
Musa
The Princess Bride
Sherlock Holmes (the Guy Ritchie film specifically)

 

[TKDTony2179]

In no particular order:

Kuro Obi
Shadowless Sword
Showdown in Little Tokyo
Star Wars trilogy (the original, not the prequels)
Seven Samurai
Five Fingers of Death
Taken (treating one and two as one movie, though I understand Taken 3 is being made)
Batman Begins
Musa
The Princess Bride
Sherlock Holmes (the Guy Ritchie film specifically)

Show down in lil Tokyo! Classic. How about the Last Dragon?

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Show down in lil Tokyo! Classic. How about the Last Dragon?

I only had eleven, but I'm willing to make it an even twelve and add that one.

 

[billc]

I'll add " The Challenge" with Scott Glen and Toshiro Movine and Jackie chan's " The big Brawl" Two of my favorite martial arts films not mentioned yet...

 

[flo]

Kuro Obi is nice. Thanks to people who mentioned it. Damn! See how they Japanese slash dash.

My favorite entertainment is watching big blue sky and calm ocean waves. Don't know. Don't like modern technology that much.

 

[Buka]

The movie "Budo" is done really well. Makes you just want to run to the dojo and train.

 

[Steve]

Alright. Here is my top 11, also in no particular order:

1. Yojimbo - The inspiration for one of the great Spaghetti Westerns (A Fistful of Dollars), and also for Last Man Standing, a decent Bruce Willis movie.
2. Rashomon - I really didn't want to put two Kurosawa films on here, but this one is so unique, and has been copied so many times over the years, it has to be in anyone's top 11 (IMO).
3. The Chinese Connection - My favorite Bruce Lee movie. The scene where he beats the crap out of an entire karate dojo is classic.
4. Chushingura - My personal favorite version of the 47 Ronin, the classic Japanese tale, so far. This one was made in 1962.
5. Flashpoint - A cliche story, but the climactic fight scene is so cool it's definitely a must see.
6. Rapid Fire - Brandon Lee's only pure martial arts movie. I just watched this one a few weeks ago and it holds up well.
7. 13 Assassins - In the spirit of 7 Samurai, this is a terrific modern Samurai movie.
8. Kung Fu Hustle/Shaolin Soccer - So funny and weird, both are great, but I couldn't decide which one to pick over the other.
9. GI Joe: Rise of Cobra - For pure, schmaltzy fighting fun, I love these movies.
10. Twilight Samurai - A terrific, character driven movie that is up there with the best Samurai movies ever.
11. Dragon - something a little different, it's a strange movie that blends film noir style detective stories with wire fu and decent choreography. I actually stumbled onto the movie because of Donnie Yen, but think that Takeshi Kaneshiro really stole the show.

 

[drop bear]

Rocky

Bloodsport.

 

[Dinkydoo]

My 11 - in no particular order:

Prodigal Son
Drunken Master
Ip Man
Enter The Dragon
Ong Bak
The Protector
The Raid
Shaolin (2011)
Way of the Dragon
Hara Kiri
Zatoichi