Been in a DVD buying frenzy the last few days. Most of what I bought were martial arts movies, filling in holes I had in my collection, and this led me to think about the martial arts movies I have, and which one I think are the best. First a short listing of the stuff I have in my collection (and I am including general action movies with a martial arts star).
Above the Law
Best of the Best 1 & 2
Bloodsport
Bulletproof monk (if you want to count it)
The Crow
Electra
Enter the Dragon
Fearless Hyena
Good Guys Wear Black
Hard Target
Karate Kid 1 & 2
Lone Wolf MacQuade
Missing in Action 1 & 2
Only the Strong
Ong Bak
The Protector
Return of the Dragon
Rapid Fire
Road House
Rush Hour 1 & 2
Shanghai Noon & Knights
Timecop
Under Siege 1 & 2
The single best Martial Arts movie, in my opinion, is Best of the Best. Most martial arts movies talk of the arts as non violent, but end up using violence to solve the issue - this movie is different. It is non-violence that solves the issue. And it's also a great sports movie, and has some of the best choreographed fights I've ever seen.
Rapid Fire is a fun one, and it shows the seduction of violence. When the main character kills someone out of self defense, he is horrified at the act. As he has to kill more and more in the movie to stay alive, he become less and less horrified of the act. I feel that if Brandon hadn't died in the mishap on the Crow we would have an Oscar contending actor here - he was a phenomenal actor, in addition to being good at martial arts.
Above the Law was a breath of fresh air when it came out, with Aikido and a different kind of character. But as more and more Seagal movies came out, you found out that he wasn't acting, but just playing himself. But that doesn't lessen the joy of watching the martial arts in this film.
Much like the above, Ong Bak was amazing, just for the different approach to martial arts, seeing kinds of things we haven't seen before. And it is so intense. Tony Jaa is a favorite.
Bloodsport The classic Tournament movie.
Enter the Dragon. Legendary, and Bruce's best movie.
Jackie Chan films are uneven. When they are off, they are decent, but when they are on, they are among the best stuff out there. And his comedy is a really nice change of pace.
I love the first two Karate Kid movies. No one was a martial arts person before the movie, but decent cinematography and good choreography makes up for it. And they have very good stories.
Only the Strong, while not as good as others, had the different martial arts thing going for it, and watching Capoiera is really cool.
I don't have a lot of of Hong Kong movie in here, because I generally don't like “Wire fu”.
And Road House. Great great film, taking so many classic martial arts tropes* and working them into a movie about a bouncer/cooler. And it is likely one of the most macho movies ever made. A strong favorite.
I love this stuff, for the beauty of the choreography, the mayhem, and the tropes. And according to my mom, when I was 2 or 3 and would see a Bruce lee movie on TV, I would try and mimic what I saw. So I've been fascinated by this stuff for longer than I can remember.
* Crippled Master, Master and single student, master and school, peaceful village threatened by an unscrupulous businessman, enemy master, the send students to enemy fighter before the master fights him bit, wandering samurai/ronnin helping village. And more.
2 comments:
Never been a big fan of martial arts movies. However, I did enjoy Above the Law. The best part for me is the showdown at the end between Seagal and the main antagonist. The movie had led up to this big showdown between the two and, what would have typically been a long, dramatic fight (ala Lethal Weapon), instead Seagal defeats the main baddie in, like, three seconds. The first time I saw this movie I thought how cool that was. Not a typical Hollywood ending! Yes!
Just saw that today, and yeah you are right. Just playing possum with the injected drugs, shoots some bad guys, and the head bad guy goes after him with a knife, quick disarm, and an elbow shattered. :)
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