Movies with the HIGHEST amounts of fighting?

[SmokingFistOfDoom]

Hello, new member here.  I looked throughout the forums (and even googled it) but I couldn't find any forum or article discussing kung fu movies with either the highest total number or the highest percentage of fights.  So I'm posting here to see what you think.  Doesn't matter if the fights are any good (although that would obviously be a plus!)  Personally, the movie I've seen that seemed to have the most non-stop fighting was probably Master of the Flying Guillotine.  

I have the Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movie of the 1970s by Dr. Craig D. Reid, and it was interesting how he actually said what percentage of the movie had martial arts in it (fighting time + training time).  While training scenes can be tons of fun, I'm specifically looking for fighting in this case.  So anyways, I noted a few of the durations of fighting that were provided.  Some of the top movies were:

 

Enter the Game of Death - 43 minutes out of 85 total (over half the movie) - - 28 fights total

Fists of Vengeance (1973) - 40 min / 86 min - - 23 fights total

Master of the Flying Guillotine (well, what do you know?) - 39 min / 89 min - - 25 fights total

Dragon Force operation  - 38 min /84 min - - 23 fights total

Fearless Hyena - 37 min /  97 min - - 16 fights total

Monkey Kung Fu - 36 min / 90 min - - 24 fights total

...

So it seems like for most of the movies we're looking at, roughly half the duration is fighting, and about 20-25 fights.  But I wanted to know what you guys thought.  No need to calculate....are there any movies that you simply felt were nearly just fighting?  Or that had an endless NUMBER of fights?   They can be from any year, but I'm pretty sure that most movies with the most amount of fighting will be oldschool.

 

For the curious, apparently the longest fight scene (at least in the 70s) was in Beach of the War Gods and lasted 25 min 43s (I would think that 13 Assassins (2010) would have at least matched that duration), and the movie with the highest NUMBER of fights was The Cavalier and Shaolin Rescuers, at 45 (30 min / 91min).  

 

 

Edited June 3, 2017 by SmokingFistOfDoom

[DrNgor]

CLONES OF BRUCE LEE, which I recently watched, has an absurd number of fight scenes after the opening 10 minutes. There are three or four fights in the training portion, another three or for LONG fights during Dragon Lee's mission, another four or five long fights during Bruce Le and Bruce Lai's mission, and the last twenty minutes is one long fight, broken up into six or so individual fights.

SNAKE AND CRANE ARTS OF SHAOLIN had more than 40 minutes of fights:

Opening; vs. Ting brothers (x2); vs. Wu Tang Clan; vs. Tang Pin Erh; vs. Beggar's Leader; vs. Black Dragon Clan (x2); vs. Flying Tiger Clan (x3); vs. Black Dragon Leader (x2); vs. Spearmen

[Writ]

While I don't have specific numbers, I would imagine The Raid: Redemption to be up there. I remember around the time I first watched it, when I recommended it to friends, I'd call it 10 minutes set up and 90 minutes of pure adrenaline. While that isn't completely accurate because there are some moments of quiet in the film, it's essentially set piece after set piece after set piece.

[DragonClaws]

14 hours ago, SmokingFistOfDoom said:

Hello, new member here.  I looked throughout the forums (and even googled it) but I couldn't find any forum or article discussing kung fu movies with either the highest total number or the highest percentage of fights.  So I'm posting here to see what you think.  Doesn't matter if the fights are any good (although that would obviously be a plus!)  Personally, the movie I've seen that seemed to have the most non-stop fighting was probably Master of the Flying Guillotine.  

Intereting post @SmokingFistOfDoom, its something I've never made a record of while watching a Martial Arts movie. I'd imagine that quite a few of Bruce Le/Dragon Lee's movie qualify for the most fights. The first movie I thought of from the 70's was Enter The Game Of Death, which you mentioned.

 

[DrNgor]

As I recall, Stroke of Death (1979) with Ching Siu-Tung had a large number of fight scenes.

[One Armed Boxer]

19 hours ago, SmokingFistOfDoom said:

For the curious, apparently the longest fight scene (at least in the 70s) was in Beach of the War Gods and lasted 25 min 43s (I would think that 13 Assassins (2010) would have at least matched that duration)

I love 'Beach of the War Gods', but I think its inclusion is an indicator that protracted battle sequences are also included as 'fight scenes' then for the purpose of this discussion, as that's essentially what's being referred to by the scene in question.

4 hours ago, DrNgor said:

As I recall, Stroke of Death (1979) with Ching Siu-Tung had a large number of fight scenes.

aka 'Monkey Kung Fu', mentioned in the original post.

Interestingly, when I gave some thought to this, the movies that sprung to mind which have almost non-stop fight scenes were all non-HK.

Contour (aka The Agent) (2006) (USA) - Eric Jacobus makes his first directorial debut on a full length feature, along with most of the Stunt People alumnus of the time, to what equates to 100 minutes of which, only a couple ever seem to pass by before another outstanding fight breaks out.

Broken Path (aka Broken Fist aka Attack of the Yakuza) (2008) (USA) - Give or take 15 minutes, this movie is pretty much Johnny Yong Bosch protecting his house from masked assailants for well over an hour, in a non-stop bombardment of fight scenes.

Bangkok Knockout (2010) (Thailand) - Panna Rittikrai's 2nd to last movie before his untimely passing, much like 'Broken Path', minus the initial 15 minutes, this basically equates to a relentless series of fights incorporating every style imaginable.

[ShawAngela]

From what I remember I had qualified in a review Payment in blood (Shaws) as an almost non-stop action movie.

Wang Yu's The assassin has also a big amount of action in it, and there surely a lot of other ones that I watched and don't come to my mind at this moment...

 

By the way, welcome to the forum, and, as I see, you must be a big fan Lu Feng.

You'll surely have a lot of interesting conversations with another of our member who is Lu Feng's fan : LuFengLover !

[SmokingFistOfDoom]

Thanks for the suggestions so far, everyone, much appreciated!

Quote

CLONES OF BRUCE LEE, which I recently watched, has an absurd number of fight scenes after the opening 10 minutes. There are three or four fights in the training portion, another three or for LONG fights during Dragon Lee's mission, another four or five long fights during Bruce Le and Bruce Lai's mission, and the last twenty minutes is one long fight, broken up into six or so individual fights.

SNAKE AND CRANE ARTS OF SHAOLIN had more than 40 minutes of fights:

Haven't seen either Clones of Bruce Lee or Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin, but they are both on my list!  I checked the book for Snake & Crane (Clones came out in the 80s, so wasn't included), and it said 39 fights (he has a particular way of calculating them...each main character fighting someone counts as a fight, and becomes a new one when one appears or leaves), but it said only 20 minutes total?!?  Weird.

By the way, I read your book and really enjoyed it!  It's the only book I know that really analyses the kung fu style in movies.  I need to go leave a 5-star review on amazon ASAP!

 

Quote

While I don't have specific numbers, I would imagine The Raid: Redemption to be up there. I remember around the time I first watched it, when I recommended it to friends, I'd call it 10 minutes set up and 90 minutes of pure adrenaline. While that isn't completely accurate because there are some moments of quiet in the film, it's essentially set piece after set piece after set piece.

Great movie!  There is indeed quite a lot of action.  The initial part when all hell breaks lose and they use up all their ammo, and then the rest where they all fight with machetes or their bare hands.  And one of the best end fights ever.  Also really enjoyed the sequel, love how the action was increased even further, incredible end fight once again.... although I thought the movie tried to be a little too Departed-ish for its own good (having an actual story is fine but.... for me 2.5 hours is a bit long for what is at its core an action movie).

 

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Intereting post @SmokingFistOfDoom, its something I've never made a record of while watching a Martial Arts movie. I'd imagine that quite a few of Bruce Le/Dragon Lee's movie qualify for the most fights. The first movie I thought of from the 70's was Enter The Game Of Death, which you mentioned.

 

Thanks, I intend to see that one as well, and I'll check out ones by Bruce Le and Dragon Lee.  (I don't mind watching Bruceploitation movies for what they are, even enjoy some of them)

 

Quote

Interestingly, when I gave some thought to this, the movies that sprung to mind which have almost non-stop fight scenes were all non-HK.

Contour (aka The Agent) (2006) (USA) - Eric Jacobus makes his first directorial debut on a full length feature, along with most of the Stunt People alumnus of the time, to what equates to 100 minutes of which, only a couple ever seem to pass by before another outstanding fight breaks out.

Broken Path (aka Broken Fist aka Attack of the Yakuza) (2008) (USA) - Give or take 15 minutes, this movie is pretty much Johnny Yong Bosch protecting his house from masked assailants for well over an hour, in a non-stop bombardment of fight scenes.

Bangkok Knockout (2010) (Thailand) - Panna Rittikrai's 2nd to last movie before his untimely passing, much like 'Broken Path', minus the initial 15 minutes, this basically equates to a relentless series of fights incorporating every style imaginable.

Contour was already on my list, I'll make sure to see the others as well, thanks!

 

Quote

From what I remember I had qualified in a review Payment in blood (Shaws) as an almost non-stop action movie.

Wang Yu's The assassin has also a big amount of action in it, and there surely a lot of other ones that I watched and don't come to my mind at this moment...

By the way, welcome to the forum, and, as I see, you must be a big fan Lu Feng.

 

Thanks!  Yes, I've basically decided he's my favorite Venom.  Still have tons of Venom movies to watch... I've only seen Five Deadly Venoms, Crippled Avengers, Invincible Shaolin, Masked Avengers, Five Element Ninjas, and the Kid With the Golden Arm!  Still have a long way to go!  Will check out Payment in Blood and The Assassin.

 

Edited May 25, 2017 by SmokingFistOfDoom

[ShaOW!linDude]

Another inclusion of Eric Jacobus & the Stunt People would be Immortal which has tons of training sequences and fight scenes.

Old school classics Heroes of the East and 7 Grandmasters have a lot.

Another indie flick with a fair amount would be Z-Team project Die Fighting. 

And Bloodsport 2 has a good bit if you're into tournament fighting movies.

[Drunken Monk]

In the vein of Monkey Kung Fu, Five Superfighters has a pretty high number of fights too.

[DrNgor]

6 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

aka 'Monkey Kung Fu', mentioned in the original post.

Well I'm a dummy-dumb-head.

3 hours ago, SmokingFistOfDoom said:

By the way, I read your book and really enjoyed it!  It's the only book I know that really analyses the kung fu style in movies.  I need to go leave a 5-star review on amazon ASAP!

Thank you for the kind words and support!

[italdesign]

Shanghai 13 is up there.  Just watched it again.  Andy Lau's action is better than I remembered.

Edited June 2, 2017 by italdesign

[ShaOW!linDude]

8 hours ago, italdesign said:

Shanghai 13 is up there.  Just watched it again.  Andy Lau's action is better than I remembered.

Yep. I only watched this for the 1st time last week and was really impressed. I can't think of a bad fight in that movie, and they come along in a steady stream.

[One Armed Boxer]

2 hours ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

Yep. I only watched this for the 1st time last week and was really impressed. I can't think of a bad fight in that movie, and they come along in a steady stream.

Finally changed your mind about Ti Lung & David Chiang @ShaOW!linDude?

[ShaOW!linDude]

1 hour ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Finally changed your mind about Ti Lung & David Chiang @ShaOW!linDude?

Not necessarily. They're both good in their respective fights. I think Chiang's best was Shaolin Mantis. Lung's would probably be Avenging Eagle. I just think everyone's fighting is so good because their roles are limited. Could always go for more Beardy though. Hands down, his is the best fight in the movie to me.

[italdesign]

3 hours ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

Could always go for more Beardy though. Hands down, his is the best fight in the movie to me.

Wow, we think alike!

I wish Chen Kuan Tai had more action time.  But at least he did slightly more than Wang "throw a hat" Yu.  Other favorites include Cheng Tien Chi, Ti Lung, David Chiang, and Lu Feng.

I liked Sonny Yue (small leopard) and Li Zhong Yi (young master) too, but they don't seem to have had much of a movie career.

[DrNgor]

Shaolin Temple Against Lama has about 19 set pieces (although probably more fights by the above criteria) that take up more than 50% of the film's running time.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Warriors two? 

[De Ming Li]

In terms of quantity, surely it's hard to beat the last 25 minutes or so of Beach of the War Gods

[Cognoscente]

Born Invincible.

[DarthKato]

"The Raid: Redemption(2011)", except for the first few minutes, was basically one long action scene, and my God is it glorious. lol