Question about martial arts cinema

[WangYu]

I was wondering behind the reason why 1985 was picked as the year to divide martial arts cinema for classic and modern films. Is there an idea behind it, some seminal film that clearly feels different than classic MA films or is it just a cut off point ad random?

In my mind I always pick either 1984 or 1994 as the end of classic MA films. 84 because it was the year of "8 diagram pole fighter", the last SB classic or 94 because it marks what many see as Martial Arts cinema's greatest achievement namely "legend of drunken master".

So what's the idea behind 85?

[edher_M.A.]

I'm going to take a wild guess that it what killed Kung Fu movies were the action comedies of Sammo Hung (Lucky Stars series started in 1983), the gangsters movies (The Club 1981), the girls with guns movies (Yes Madam 1985) and the nail in the coffin, was the huge success of Jackie Chan's Police Story (1985) after that, nobody wanted to see Kung Fu shapes, they wanted HK kickboxing brawls, triad knife and pipes fights, shootouts, and Jackie Chan stunts.

Pretty much after 1985, the big companies were not producing Kung Fu movies anymore

It wasn't until 1991 with Once upon a Time in China that Kung Fu movies started to raise again with a new style (wire-fu).

 

Edited April 22, 2021 by edher_M.A.