Member AlbertV Posted August 2, 2010 Member Share Posted August 2, 2010 Here's a question, more of an opinion for everyone here. We all know the classic kung fu films dominated the 70's to the early 80's for the most part, with all the showings in theaters all over the place. When Bruce Lee made Enter the Dragon, it was the essential start of martial arts action films made in the U.S. (not counting the likes of Blood Under the Sun in the 40's per se with judo). I think from the late 70's to the late 90's could be considered the Golden Age of American Martial Arts Films. During that era, Norris, Seagal, Van Damme, Avedon, Wilson, Daniels, Chong, etc. all made a lot of martial arts action films whether they were released in theaters or straight to video. I'm thinking about it because we're getting the resurgence of that era with the likes of Scott Adkins and Isaac Florentine as well as those recent MMA films. But the Golden Age of AMA films I think were from the late 70's to late 90's. What would you guys say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted August 2, 2010 Member Share Posted August 2, 2010 20 years for a genre push is still quite amazing. Though I think it is important to separate mainstream like Norris, Seagal, Van Damme (not their latest films) from straight to video though if you are dealing with populist trends. There will always be a market for MA, but where do you think the trend of MMA inspired film will go? America has seen two mainstream releases (Fighting, Never Back Down; might be missing some though) and lots of straight to DVD (usually featuring UFC athletes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted February 15, 2018 Moderator Share Posted February 15, 2018 A prodigal son of the COF crew, Mike Retter, recently returned with a feature listing his Top 5 American Martial Arts Movies. See if you agree with his choices here - http://cityonfire.com/top-5-american-martial-arts-movies-ever-made/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 15, 2018 Member Share Posted February 15, 2018 On 02/08/2010 at 10:40 PM, AlbertV said: I think from the late 70's to the late 90's could be considered the Golden Age of American Martial Arts Films. On 02/08/2010 at 10:40 PM, AlbertV said: What would you guys say? Have to agree with this, while the video market for these films had passed its peak by the late 90's. The Matrix(1998) re-vived Martial Arts on the big screen, and the film had a knock on effect on both films and their choreogrpahy. 39 minutes ago, One Armed Boxer said: A prodigal son of the COF crew, Mike Retter, recently returned with a feature listing his Top 5 American Martial Arts Movies. See if you agree with his choices here - No easy feat condensing it down into a top five, with so many films spanning years. That said, there's plenty of dud's that wouldnt be given a second though. Love the No Retreat No Surrender movies, would they be considered full blown American movies, or co-productions?. They had a lot of Hong Kong talent working on them, and the second movie was filmed entirely in Asia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member laagi Posted February 15, 2018 Member Share Posted February 15, 2018 I would agree with 3 of the 5 movies mentioned. Only because I haven't watched the other two (and most likely never will). I think these ratings probably also depend on what you've watched as a Kid and those fond memories connected to it. Therefore I would probably add "American Shaolin" and "The Kickboxer". Also I'm surprised not to see any Seagal movie to be honest. I mean "Out for Justice" is still one hell of a flick! Most American MA movies I remember; I watched over at my cousin's house. Since he was the only one with a VCR and his dad had pay per view The rest was just give or take on TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 15, 2018 Member Share Posted February 15, 2018 2 minutes ago, laagi said: Also I'm surprised not to see any Seagal movie to be honest. I mean "Out for Justice" is still one hell of a flick! I'd put at least one Chuck Norris film in there, but I'd never be able to narrow it down to five titles. 3 minutes ago, laagi said: I think these ratings probably also depend on what you've watched as a Kid and those fond memories connected to it. Agreed, using a non Martial Arts movie as an example, Conan The Destroyer will always be a favorite Arnie film of mine. If I watched it for the first time now, I'm surel I'd hardly rate it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted February 15, 2018 Author Member Share Posted February 15, 2018 I can agree with some, but I would have added a few more. Has anyone read M. Ray Lott's book The American Martial Arts Film? It's not a bad read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 16, 2018 Member Share Posted February 16, 2018 12 hours ago, AlbertV said: Has anyone read M. Ray Lott's book The American Martial Arts Film? It's not a bad read. Never read this one, what time period does it cover @AlbertV?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted June 28, 2018 Member Share Posted June 28, 2018 I know we lost a lot of posts from this thread during the blackout. But now we are coming towards the end of the noughties secound decade, does @AlbertV original question still deserve a simlar answer now?, over eight year's later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted July 23, 2018 Author Member Share Posted July 23, 2018 On 2/16/2018 at 4:32 AM, DragonClaws said: Never read this one, what time period does it cover @AlbertV?. It goes as far back as Blood on the Sun and covers up to the early 2000s. The cover has Patrick Swayze in Road House on the cover and Only the Strong along with Golden Needles. They mention Gary Daniels, Loren Avedon, Mark Dacascos amongst others. The library I work in has the 2003 edition but it got reprinted in 2011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member NoKUNGFUforYU Posted July 23, 2018 Member Share Posted July 23, 2018 Anyone watch Hard Times? I mean, if you are only include movies with American actors of any nationality doing Asian martial arts, but bare knuckle boxing with kicks and throws is about as martial arts as you can get. Bronson delivered the goods, and all the people in my Karate/Tae Kwon Do school were talking about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member NoKUNGFUforYU Posted July 23, 2018 Member Share Posted July 23, 2018 Also, if we include British films, 3 and 4 Musketeers are western martial arts films. There is even a part where the guy tries a fancy move his dad taught him that almost gets him called. The fights are as good as anything in the Shaw's films of the time. Maybe not as gory, and more realistic, but just as clever. Now, this was an exception to most movies with fencing in them, which usually look really stagey, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted July 23, 2018 Member Share Posted July 23, 2018 34 minutes ago, AlbertV said: It goes as far back as Blood on the Sun and covers up to the early 2000s. The cover has Patrick Swayze in Road House on the cover and Only the Strong along with Golden Needles. They mention Gary Daniels, Loren Avedon, Mark Dacascos amongst others. The library I work in has the 2003 edition but it got reprinted in 2011. Thanks for that @AlbertV. 19 minutes ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said: Anyone watch Hard Times? Good call, probably the most watched Bronson movie I own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted November 18, 2019 Member Share Posted November 18, 2019 Anyone have a rough estimate of how many Martial Art's themed flicks. Have come out of America in recent year's?. Would people include The Taken, Jason Bourne, The Mechanic and John Wick films as American Martial Art's movies?. I know some of these don't look like straight up MartialArts productions. Yet they still feature a lot of un-armed combat. That's heavily infuenced by Hong Kong action cinema. Yet any disucssion of these films on the forums, is usuealy in the World Cinema board. If you were to include these titles in the genre, it might just change the answer to @AlbertV question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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