The Top 10 Classic Martial Arts Films of All-Time

[TripMasterMunky]

So I'm going to make a Top 10 list for classic, modern, and eventually combine the two for the best martial arts film of all-time. Seems cliche and whatnot, but this list will be determined by the Kung Fu Cinema community. First comes the classic.

Too many people have their own personal top 10, but let's try to make a universal list we can all mostly agree on. I feel the best way to do this is to first decide what NEEDS to be on this list, rather than what we want to be on the list.

So let's start throwing out names for titles that NEED to be on this list.

---

The Top 10 Classic MA Films So Far:

Drunken Master (1978)

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)

Fist of Fury (1972)

Contenders that have been brought up for discussion

2 Heroes Of The East

2 The Prodigal Son

2 Legend Of A Fighter

1 5 Deadly Venoms

1 King Boxer

1 Way of the Dragon

1 The Buddhist Fist

1 Knockabout

1 Hapkido

1 Shaolin Temple

1 Chinese Boxer

1 Eight Diagram Pole Fighter

1 Magnificent Butcher

1 Odd Couple

1 Disciples of Shaolin

1 Sword Stained With Royal Blood

1 Gangmasters

Contenders that are close to being knocked out

Enter the Dragon

[venomsfreak]

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

No offense but I don't think Enter the Dragon is that great a movie, there's are alot of others that are more deserving.

[ShaOW!linDude]

To me the most classic Bruce Lee films are Way Of The Dragon and Fist Of Fury/Chinese Connection.

I second Drunken Master and The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin.

I would submit:

The Buddhist Fist

The Prodigal Son

Knockabout

Heroes Of The East

Secret Master/Legend Of A Fighter

Hapkido

Shaolin Temple

[Takuma]

My 5 musts:

- Fist of Fury (1972)

- Drunken Master (1978)

- The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)

- Heroes of the East (1978)

- The Prodigal Son (1981)

+ suggestions:

- One from Chang Cheh (I'm more of a fan of his wuxia, but I know people love his kung fu, too)

- King Boxer (Five Fingers of Death) or The Chinese Boxer (for early kung fu)

- 3 Others

We could easily add more Liu Chia Liang (Executioners from Shaolin, 8 Diagram Pole Fighter etc.) but maybe it's better to limit his entries to ensure more variety. I chose 36th Chamber because I consider it his greatest classic, and Heroes because it displays such a variety of different fighting styles.

As for Enter the Dragon, I also don't think it necessarily needs to be on the list. It's great and very famous, but Bruce is already represented via Fist of Fury, and the space on a top 10 list is very limited, so...

[TripMasterMunky]

Alright I put Drunken Master and 36th Chamber on the list for now. I agree with those choices as well. If anyone wants to challenge feel free to do so, but I feel pretty confident in those 2 being "must-haves".

Now I originally said Enter the Dragon and Fist of Fury need to be on this list. Fist of Fury is in my opinion the best Bruce movie. I agree Enter the Dragon is not the best and would be okay letting it go, I just felt that it was a very important film for the kung fu genre as a whole. But perhaps that's not enough to make it on the list?

I would 2nd King Boxer. I think that's an excellent film that still holds up today.

So let's talk it out a bit more. Let's maybe try to get a solid top 5 first, then we can fight out the rest. So Drunken Master, 36th Chamber.....and Fist of Fury? Is everyone okay putting Fist of Fury on our official list? I don't feel it is the most "important" Bruce film, but I do feel it is the best in terms of a captivating story and action scenes. Not to mention Bruce had some more dynamic acting roles in this film than any of his others (repairman).

[thehangman]

Legend of a fighter should be in there somewhere and fist of Legend

[popsjnr]

Personally my favourite movie of ALL time is Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, I think it pisses all over EVERY film on that list!! Where is Magnificent Butcher or Odd Couple??? My two favourite Sammo movies-both are far better than Knockabout??!! Where is Disciples of Shaolin-the ULTIMATE movie in the shaolin cycle by Chang Cheh??? Or Sword Stained With Royal Blood??? Or Gangmasters???

As for Enter the Dragon- the ONLY great thing about that is Bruce....I'd prefer Enter the FAT Dragon instead...much more entertaining.

And so on ad infinitum....

[Mark Pollard]

Take a look at these threads:

Top 10 "Bashers" of all time......

The Greatest Old Skool Kung Fu Movies Of ALL Time!

Top 10 favorite "The Best of the Rest" kungfu film

[kungpowmaster]

I'd include 5 Deadly Venoms in the list.

[instant noodles]

If ignore popularity factor or how important to genre certain movie was, only one movie mentioned here so far would be in my topten. Drunken Master is good not because of jackie(very popular but I do not like his movies that much, few expections exist like island on fire and new police story) but rest of cast, particularly red nose and hwang jang lee. BL movies except GOD are all great but none enjoyable enough to be in my top10.

-Heroes of the east ( this is finest LKL film. 8 diagram would be if they would have edited off fs scenes I do not like parts where he screams and jumps around).

-Dance of the drunken mantis (unofficial sequel to DM and excellent one. Fights are about same quality but I like characters here more)

-Secret Rivals 2 ( part 1 is somehow overrated while part 2 is not often mentioned but hjl, tino wong and john liu are in top form. smashing kungfu action)

-Four infernos to cross (little known/rarely mentioned korean movie with terrific action. People who like bruce lee clones should check this out)

-Iron Monkey ( chen kuan tai)

-Killer Constable ( chen kuan tai again. Martial arts are good here but it`s strong story with surprise ending makes this real gem)

-Masked avengers (ultimate venoms action)

-- 5 shaolin masters(great cast, nice locations, sweet martial arts)

-Bastard Swordsman

-Death Duel

Narrating it down to 10 movies is hard task, there is so much good stuff around.

[Beer Fu]

I'd have to nominate Snake in the eagles shadow, 7 grandmasters, and 5 Shaolin Masters

[Drunken Monk]

Personally my favourite movie of ALL time is Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, I think it pisses all over EVERY film on that list!! Where is Magnificent Butcher or Odd Couple??? My two favourite Sammo movies-both are far better than Knockabout??!! Where is Disciples of Shaolin-the ULTIMATE movie in the shaolin cycle by Chang Cheh??? Or Sword Stained With Royal Blood??? Or Gangmasters???

As for Enter the Dragon- the ONLY great thing about that is Bruce....I'd prefer Enter the FAT Dragon instead...much more entertaining.

And so on ad infinitum....

You're my new best friend.

I'm a firm believer that "Odd Couple" is easily one of the greatest kung fu films of all time, based on just choreography alone. I also love "Eight Diagram Pole Fighter" and don't think Bruce Lee should be anywhere near a top ten list.

[JCLegend86]

Snake In The Eagles Shadow should definately be on that list. Atleast put along with DM as its basically the same thing. Drunken Master/Snake In The Eagles Shadow for one spot at the top 10.

Im a Jackie fan and havent really seen much else when it comes to classic MA movies, but id still like to mention The Young Master and Fearless Hyena aswell. And of course there needs to be a Bruce Lee flick on that list, hard to pick though. Cant wait to see the complete list as I will definately check out the ones I havent seen, this was an awesome idea. Props to the thread maker.

[TripMasterMunky]

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow is a great movie. But does it need to be on there if Drunken Master is?

Like I said, Eagle's Shadow is great, but I feel Drunken Master kinda does everything a little better. If we're making an essential Top 10 list, should we spend 2 of those spots for both of these films? Or leave one for something else? It's a tough call. Personally I feel that if someone has seen Drunken Master, Eagle's Shadow won't necessarily do anything new for them. What do you guys think? That being said I'd be okay letting Eagle's Shadow on there too if you'd guys like since it is a great film.

And for the other films people are mentioning - I've seen a handful of these but I'm no historian. You're going to have to start a debate with others and reason why film A NEEDS to be on the list over film B. If this doesn't happen then I'll need to start a vote +1, vote -1 kind of system eventually.

And to the people who say no Bruce Lee film should be anywhere near a top 10 list - you're crazy. That's all I have to say. I believe Fist of Fury must be on this list. If it was my personal list I'd probably toss all his films on there besides GOD. But it's not. But c'mon - FIST OF MOTHER F-IN FURY!

[instant noodles]

"And to the people who say no Bruce Lee film should be anywhere near a top 10 list - you're crazy. That's all I have to say. I believe Fist of Fury must be on this list."

Yes in your opinion, others may differ....If you get here list which pleases you and most agree it`s certain it contains lot household names like jackie chan, bruce lee, jet li, samo hung, yuen biao. Everybody has seen many of those....

In fact to get better grip what are really good martial arts movies, list should have half dozen subdivisions like best shaws, golden harvests, independent studios, modern day, old skool swordplay, new wave...

[popsjnr]

The ONLY Bruce film that should be there IS Fist of Fury, no matter HOW important Bruce is to ME personally, his films have dated terribly....

Imagine Enter the Dragon WITHOUT Bruce, and you have a movie WORSE, than the TV rip-off movie Men of the Dragon (1974) (which I saw in the mid-80's on TV, and cried with laughter at how BAD it was!!!). Other than Bruce's action, the only other fight which impressed me, is Jim Kelly beating the crap out of two racist cops using some excellent crisp Karate ridgehands. Then Kelly goes to HK and starts doing sub-Bruce noises "woop woop"and fighting in a totally different way (different choreographers??).

Fist of Fury is the only Bruce film I can be bothered to watch these days, just because how awesome HE is in it, but he is still surrounded by people not worthy to be in the same movie.

There are a TOO many HK fliks made in the years after that are far superior to Bruce's films, and with far better fighting in them....so yes I vote for Fist, but the other Bruce's....nooooo!!

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

The ONLY Bruce film that should be there IS Fist of Fury, no matter HOW important Bruce is to ME personally, his films have dated terribly....

Imagine Enter the Dragon WITHOUT Bruce, and you have a movie WORSE, than the TV rip-off movie Men of the Dragon (1974) (which I saw in the mid-80's on TV, and cried with laughter at how BAD it was!!!). Other than Bruce's action, the only other fight which impressed me, is Jim Kelly beating the crap out of two racist cops using some excellent crisp Karate ridgehands. Then Kelly goes to HK and starts doing sub-Bruce noises "woop woop"and fighting in a totally different way (different choreographers??).

Fist of Fury is the only Bruce film I can be bothered to watch these days, just because how awesome HE is in it, but he is still surrounded by people not worthy to be in the same movie.

There are a TOO many HK fliks made in the years after that are far superior to Bruce's films, and with far better fighting in them....so yes I vote for Fist, but the other Bruce's....nooooo!!

The Big Boss was just as good...

[The Dragon]

Do I need to once again defend Li Siu Long?

[razorclam]

Prodigal Son

King Boxer

Drunken Master

Fists of Fury

36th Chamber of Shaolin

---Any list without those 5 is rubbish.

[Apanblod]

Prodigal Son

King Boxer

Drunken Master

Fists of Fury

36th Chamber of Shaolin

---Any list without those 5 is rubbish.

My list doesn't contain any of them, except Prodigal Son just outside the top 10. The others are groundbreaking classics for sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean there aren't better movies. Drunken Master and 36th Chamber are highly overrated IMO and King Boxer, though very good, is too dated fighting-wise. I wouldn't say my list is rubbish because of that though

[razorclam]

Those movies are not at all dated when discussing the Top 10 All Time CLASSIC Martial Arts movies. That's like excluded Casablanca and Citizen Kane from the all time 10 greatest Hollywood classics. I see what your saying. Some of them aren't my personal favorites, but if the list is to have any validity they pretty much have to be there.

[Apanblod]

Those movies are not at all dated when discussing the Top 10 All Time CLASSIC Martial Arts movies. That's like excluded Casablanca and Citizen Kane from the all time 10 greatest Hollywood classics. I see what your saying. Some of them aren't my personal favorites, but if the list is to have any validity they pretty much have to be there.

Yeah I guess It comes down to how you interpret "classic". I instinctively think of it as classic in the sense of old-school. But of course, if thought of as in the traditional sense classic, then they should all be on that list due to their impact on the genre. However, that would exclude a lot of movies that are simply superior.

[popsjnr]

You're never going to get a definitive list because everyone has different tastes...some like bashers....some like shapes....some like swordplay....

The only way is to have a poll/vote and naturally those ten with the highest votes are THE top ten...

PS dont get me wrong about Bruce...I feel his films HAVE dated....but HE HASN'T...Bruce was ALWAYS the BEST thing in his films, and he still is the KING!!!

[66 Mantis]

Always considered Favorites to be more accurate and preferable to Greatest when reading these lists. Who's to say what is Greatest anyway? Is Citizen Kane considered the greatest movie ever? Probably, but I'd rather watch Plan 9 From Outer Space most of the time. Everybody's different and will find certain films that resonate and others that just don't We're not critics, we have no obligation to include a certain film simply because it is a consensus greatest film. That's just crappola and it's far more liberating to go with faves as far as I'm concerned. That said (and after giving this some thought) here's my Top 10 Favorite Classic (pre-Project A) Kung Fu films (for the moment, anyway):

1) King Boxer

2) Legendary Weapons of China

3) The Prodigal Son

4) Fist of Fury

5) Crippled Avengers

6) The One Armed Boxer

7) The Deaf Mute Heroine

8) Heroes of the East

9) Thou Shall Not Kill... But Once

10) Avenging Eagle

[Beer Fu]

Well put Mantis. With that being said here is my list of favorite old school kung fu. (Not Necessarily in order)

1. 8 Diagram pole fighter

2. Heroes of the east

3. Snake in the eagles shadow

4. Magnificent Butcher

5. The Prodigal Son

6. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

7. Mystery of Chessboxing

8. 5 Shaolin Masters

9. 7 Grandmasters

10. Crippled Avengers