apoweyn (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} apoweyn) wrote,@ 2007-07-26 17:41:00 |
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Top ten martial arts movies
I recently came across a Top 10 list of martial arts movies. Personally, I thought it was a pretty good list. I've watched everything on it, I think. And enjoyed the vast majority of them. But it also started me thinking how difficult it is for me to do "top 10" lists. Particularly about movies. So instead of a "top 10 martial arts movies" list, I'm just doing a "martial arts movies you'd probably dig on, if you haven't already" list.
And it goes a-somethin' like this:
1) Ong Bak (Thai; stars Tony Jaa; directed by Panna Rittikrai) -- Does for muay thai what Steven Seagal did (for a time) for aikido. Man, if you don't come out of this flick thinking that flying knees and elbows are the greatest invention since laser toast, get your pulse checked. Tony Jaa is like a Thai Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee wrapped in one. He's got that "fish out of water" vibe that Lee used so well, but the stuntwork of Chan. And a Thai cultural vibe that I can essentially guarantee most viewers won't have seen before.
2) Tom Yum Goong/The Protector (Thai; stars Tony Jaa; directed by Panna Rittikrai) -- Essentially, it's Ong Bak all over again. Where Jaa's character was searching for a Buddha head in Bangkok the last time, this time it's an elephant in Sydney, Australia. Both offer an interesting insight into Thai values. But, as important, both involve ludicrous amounts of ass whuppin' in the Thai style. The setups in this movie are slightly more improbable and slightly more spectacular. I prefer Ong Bak just slightly. But you've got to see the scene where Jaa works his way up a tower, taking out bad guys, without a single cut scene or edit from start to finish. Great flick.
3) Bang Rajan (Thai) -- This is probably a martial arts movie in the same sense that Braveheart is a martial arts movie. Lots of warfare and swordplay, though choreography isn't really the focus. That said, the battle scenes are good, the acting is top notch, and (again) it's a great look at the new wave of Thai cinema. Bang Rajan is a small village that stands between the Siamese capital (Ayodhya?) and the invading Burmese army. Described as "The Thai Braveheart" by Francis Ford Coppola (I think).
4) Chok Dee (Thai/French; starring Dida Diafat) -- Last Thai-themed flick. I promise. Dida stars in a largely autobiographical film about a young Frenchman who resolves to start over again after a stint in prison. He travels to Thailand and gets accepted at a well-known muay thai training camp. It's less over-the-top than most of the movies on this list. Think Karate Kid if Daniel-san was actually, you know, skilled. Good drama, good fights, and plenty of the beloved training montage.
5) Muscle Heat (Japanese; starring Kane Kosugi) -- Yep. Kane Kosugi. Son of famed 80s ninja Sho Kosugi. And all growed up. Sure, the title makes it sound like a porn. But take my word for it. It's good. Kosugi plays Joe, a Japanese American operative with mercifully few lines of dialogue and plenty of enemies. The movie is set in the near future, where the streets are being flooded with a new narcotic called "muscle heat", and where fighters compete in underground matches to the death. Look for Ken Lo (Jackie Chan's former bodyguard and frequent costar) as a muscle heat-augmented gladiator.
6) Banlieu 13/B13/District 13 (French; starring David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli) -- Movies like Casino Royale have recently put the French "parkour" (or free running) on display for a wider audience. But B13 showcases it from start to finish. Belle is apparently one of the founders of parkour. And Raffaelli is a talented martial arts star who can also be found in Jet Li's Kiss of the Dragon (both movies being produced by Luc Besson). Another near future setup. This time it's a city walled off from the rest of society, much like Escape from New York. A nuclear weapon has fallen into the wrong hands. And only people who can somersault off a rooftop can save us.
7) Fist of Legend (HK; starring Jet Li; directed by Yuen Wo Ping) -- This movie illustrates why it's so difficult to narrow down a list like this. Jet Li has made numerous excellent martial arts movies. And Yuen Wo Ping has starred in, directed, or choreographed countless great flicks (including more recent entries, like The Matrix, Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger...) But if I HAD to choose just one, this would be it. A remake of Bruce Lee's Chinese Connection, the choreography in this one is top notch. Watch it and the original for a full evening of kung fu(n)... Yeah, sorry about that.
[Screw it. Just for the challenge, I'm not listing a single Bruce Lee movie. So there.]
8) Best of the Best (US; starring Phillip Rhee and Eric Roberts) -- Yes, there's only one protagonist with a proper martial arts background. And yes, it's awfully derivative of the Rocky series. And yes, watching Sally Kellerman pretend to be a spiritual advisor is excrutiating. But holy crap, the fights in this flick are worth seeing. Particularly when Phillip Rhee squares off with his real-life brother Simon (both high-level taekwondo competitors) for the final fight. As a showcase of taekwondo, this movie is imperative.
9) Rapid Fire (US; starring Brandon Lee) -- I didn't say I wouldn't list movies starring Bruce Lee's son. The Crow is a better movie in most regards. But Rapid Fire is a little more focused on the martial arts. And it's a lot of fun to see how the son resembles AND differs from the father. His loss was a real tragedy. Lee plays Jake Lo, an art student who wanders into the midst of a gang war between the Mafia and the Chinese Triads. Hilarity (read: violence) ensues. Look for the fight between Lee and fellow JKD exponent (and reliable martial arts movie villain) Al Leong.
10) I'm going to cheat on this one and run off a short list of recent movies that aren't really martial arts movies, but do have very good martial arts sequences in them. I think Hollywood has come a long way in terms of fight scenes. In various flavours, at that. We've got the over-the-top fight scenes (e.g., The Matrix and the Blade movies choreographed by Jeff Ward and Donnie Yen), as well as the more "realistic" action of the Bourne movies and Casino Royale.
And just in case people think that last one was a cop out, here's a bonus:
11) Push Hands (Chinese; directed by Ang Lee) -- Before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee made this small movie about an aged taijiquan (aka tai chi ch'uan) teacher who moves in with his Americanized son and American daughter. It's a great study of cultures. Don't look for a lot of martial arts action. The martial arts in this are less spectacle and more analogy. For life. And flowing with change. And overcoming obstacles... Get it? Is this thing on? Bah, why do I bother?!
Okay, that's it. Not a top 10 (or 11), but I hope I hit a few that people haven't heard of yet and might dig. I'm sure I'll do another at some point. God knows I've seen enough movies to drum up another list.
EDIT: How did I forget Iron and Silk? The semi-autobiographical account of Mark Salzman, an American who travels to China to teach English and learn Chinese martial arts (kung fu or, more correctly in the PRC, wushu). Again, the martial arts is more an analogy for the development of the character, and less a spectacle. Don't expect to be wowed by the fight scenes. But it's a good depiction of martial arts as a transformative experience (as is Chok Dee).
I recently came across a Top 10 list of martial arts movies. Personally, I thought it was a pretty good list. I've watched everything on it, I think. And enjoyed the vast majority of them. But it also started me thinking how difficult it is for me to do "top 10" lists. Particularly about movies. So instead of a "top 10 martial arts movies" list, I'm just doing a "martial arts movies you'd probably dig on, if you haven't already" list.
And it goes a-somethin' like this:
1) Ong Bak (Thai; stars Tony Jaa; directed by Panna Rittikrai) -- Does for muay thai what Steven Seagal did (for a time) for aikido. Man, if you don't come out of this flick thinking that flying knees and elbows are the greatest invention since laser toast, get your pulse checked. Tony Jaa is like a Thai Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee wrapped in one. He's got that "fish out of water" vibe that Lee used so well, but the stuntwork of Chan. And a Thai cultural vibe that I can essentially guarantee most viewers won't have seen before.
2) Tom Yum Goong/The Protector (Thai; stars Tony Jaa; directed by Panna Rittikrai) -- Essentially, it's Ong Bak all over again. Where Jaa's character was searching for a Buddha head in Bangkok the last time, this time it's an elephant in Sydney, Australia. Both offer an interesting insight into Thai values. But, as important, both involve ludicrous amounts of ass whuppin' in the Thai style. The setups in this movie are slightly more improbable and slightly more spectacular. I prefer Ong Bak just slightly. But you've got to see the scene where Jaa works his way up a tower, taking out bad guys, without a single cut scene or edit from start to finish. Great flick.
3) Bang Rajan (Thai) -- This is probably a martial arts movie in the same sense that Braveheart is a martial arts movie. Lots of warfare and swordplay, though choreography isn't really the focus. That said, the battle scenes are good, the acting is top notch, and (again) it's a great look at the new wave of Thai cinema. Bang Rajan is a small village that stands between the Siamese capital (Ayodhya?) and the invading Burmese army. Described as "The Thai Braveheart" by Francis Ford Coppola (I think).
4) Chok Dee (Thai/French; starring Dida Diafat) -- Last Thai-themed flick. I promise. Dida stars in a largely autobiographical film about a young Frenchman who resolves to start over again after a stint in prison. He travels to Thailand and gets accepted at a well-known muay thai training camp. It's less over-the-top than most of the movies on this list. Think Karate Kid if Daniel-san was actually, you know, skilled. Good drama, good fights, and plenty of the beloved training montage.
5) Muscle Heat (Japanese; starring Kane Kosugi) -- Yep. Kane Kosugi. Son of famed 80s ninja Sho Kosugi. And all growed up. Sure, the title makes it sound like a porn. But take my word for it. It's good. Kosugi plays Joe, a Japanese American operative with mercifully few lines of dialogue and plenty of enemies. The movie is set in the near future, where the streets are being flooded with a new narcotic called "muscle heat", and where fighters compete in underground matches to the death. Look for Ken Lo (Jackie Chan's former bodyguard and frequent costar) as a muscle heat-augmented gladiator.
6) Banlieu 13/B13/District 13 (French; starring David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli) -- Movies like Casino Royale have recently put the French "parkour" (or free running) on display for a wider audience. But B13 showcases it from start to finish. Belle is apparently one of the founders of parkour. And Raffaelli is a talented martial arts star who can also be found in Jet Li's Kiss of the Dragon (both movies being produced by Luc Besson). Another near future setup. This time it's a city walled off from the rest of society, much like Escape from New York. A nuclear weapon has fallen into the wrong hands. And only people who can somersault off a rooftop can save us.
7) Fist of Legend (HK; starring Jet Li; directed by Yuen Wo Ping) -- This movie illustrates why it's so difficult to narrow down a list like this. Jet Li has made numerous excellent martial arts movies. And Yuen Wo Ping has starred in, directed, or choreographed countless great flicks (including more recent entries, like The Matrix, Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger...) But if I HAD to choose just one, this would be it. A remake of Bruce Lee's Chinese Connection, the choreography in this one is top notch. Watch it and the original for a full evening of kung fu(n)... Yeah, sorry about that.
[Screw it. Just for the challenge, I'm not listing a single Bruce Lee movie. So there.]
8) Best of the Best (US; starring Phillip Rhee and Eric Roberts) -- Yes, there's only one protagonist with a proper martial arts background. And yes, it's awfully derivative of the Rocky series. And yes, watching Sally Kellerman pretend to be a spiritual advisor is excrutiating. But holy crap, the fights in this flick are worth seeing. Particularly when Phillip Rhee squares off with his real-life brother Simon (both high-level taekwondo competitors) for the final fight. As a showcase of taekwondo, this movie is imperative.
9) Rapid Fire (US; starring Brandon Lee) -- I didn't say I wouldn't list movies starring Bruce Lee's son. The Crow is a better movie in most regards. But Rapid Fire is a little more focused on the martial arts. And it's a lot of fun to see how the son resembles AND differs from the father. His loss was a real tragedy. Lee plays Jake Lo, an art student who wanders into the midst of a gang war between the Mafia and the Chinese Triads. Hilarity (read: violence) ensues. Look for the fight between Lee and fellow JKD exponent (and reliable martial arts movie villain) Al Leong.
10) I'm going to cheat on this one and run off a short list of recent movies that aren't really martial arts movies, but do have very good martial arts sequences in them. I think Hollywood has come a long way in terms of fight scenes. In various flavours, at that. We've got the over-the-top fight scenes (e.g., The Matrix and the Blade movies choreographed by Jeff Ward and Donnie Yen), as well as the more "realistic" action of the Bourne movies and Casino Royale.
And just in case people think that last one was a cop out, here's a bonus:
11) Push Hands (Chinese; directed by Ang Lee) -- Before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee made this small movie about an aged taijiquan (aka tai chi ch'uan) teacher who moves in with his Americanized son and American daughter. It's a great study of cultures. Don't look for a lot of martial arts action. The martial arts in this are less spectacle and more analogy. For life. And flowing with change. And overcoming obstacles... Get it? Is this thing on? Bah, why do I bother?!
Okay, that's it. Not a top 10 (or 11), but I hope I hit a few that people haven't heard of yet and might dig. I'm sure I'll do another at some point. God knows I've seen enough movies to drum up another list.
EDIT: How did I forget Iron and Silk? The semi-autobiographical account of Mark Salzman, an American who travels to China to teach English and learn Chinese martial arts (kung fu or, more correctly in the PRC, wushu). Again, the martial arts is more an analogy for the development of the character, and less a spectacle. Don't expect to be wowed by the fight scenes. But it's a good depiction of martial arts as a transformative experience (as is Chok Dee).
