What is the first classic martial arts movie you watched

[ShawAngela]

I don' t think that there is already a thread for this, and if there is one, sorry for creating a new one.

So, what is the first classic martial arts movie you watched ? Was it a wuxia one ? An old school one ? When ? Where ?

I'm not sure which was the very first one among the following titles, since we went to the cinemas every Sunday when I was around 14 years old, but here are the first classic martial arts movies I saw at that time :

Dragon blows : I loved it and became a Chiao Chiao's fan at once 

Filial son : my first introduction to wuxia out of Shaws' movies and I was affiches ti the fighting heroine !

Rage of the Master : a favorite of mine

The righteous fist : If I had enough time, I would watch it in a loop, and same for the above one

Beauty Heroine : I'm still desperately looking for this one...

Ghostly Face : I loved Shan Kuan Ling Feng in this one !

Chivalrous Robber Lee San : I'm still trying to remember the French title of this one (same for Rage of the Master)

Aaahhh...The good old days... And I'm so glad to have had the luck to find most of the beloved movies hidden in a part of my memory on vhs le DVD or vcd releases later !

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by ShawAngela

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

The very first images of any Asian cinema I saw was the last 5 minutes of The Sword on TV when I was like 7. The sight of a flying Tsui Siu Keung being cleaved in two on Adam Cheng's sword stayed in my mind forever.

The first full film was in '85, The Young Master as a video store rental.

Edited June 18, 2021 by TibetanWhiteCrane

[saltysam]

First full film i saw was Game Of Death. First old school exposure was a super 8 digest of The Thunderkick.

[monk]

fist of fury

[DrNgor]

The first of the first: The Big Boss (at the chess club during lunch hour in the 7th grade)

Outside of Bruce Lee: Bruce Lee: The Man, the Myth

First old school Jackie Chan film: New Fist of Fury

First old school film completely separate from Bruce (and his legacy) or Jackie Chan: Ninja vs. Shaolin Guard and Love and Sword/The Samurai (watched both on the same evening)

Edited May 21, 2023 by DrNgor

[Chu Liu Hsiang]

We were gathering at a friend's place, to visit a concert later on. He had PROJECT A running on vhs. When I asked what it was, he said, "A pirate movie from Hong Kong". I said, "cool" and then did not pay any further attention to it, as more people arrived, and we were chatting. Movies in general did not interest me then. The first Asian movie I  REALLY watched, many years later, was A CHINESE GHOST STORY. 

@ShawAngela Are these the French titles? hkmdb is adding lots of advertising materials.

 

[ShawAngela]

I wonder that Les Hommes Volants du Karaté is Chivalrous Robber Lee San, according to what I found of the following link, and to what I had found earlier when looking for this particular French title, it might not be it, but thanks for the pictures !

https://www.encyclocine.com/index.html?menu=72608&film=18711

And none of the "Chinese kung fu" movies with this title match what is shown on this link !! It's so frustrating !!

hkcinemagic mentions Les cinq doigts d'acier as The righteous fist, and I seem to recall that it was under this title that I saw it in the cinema.

Oh, wait a minute, you are right ! I took a look at hkmdb, and your picture is shown on the page of Chivalrous Robber Lee San. So, the above link is absolutely wrong ! They mention Chang Yi in it, but he doesn't play in this movie ! On another hand, I remember that Chiao Chiao's clothes were pink as in this poster, so, I think that it's you who are right ! At last, a French title for this movie !!!

Regarding Les Cinq Doigts d'Acier, I'm more dubious, since this title fits better The righteous Fist than Rage of the Master in my memory, unless I'm mistaking this French title with another one looking like La Main d'Acier or something like that...

When I think that at that time, in my 14's, I had written some notes about these movies that had impressed me so much ! I must still have them somewhere among my many archives, but I don't have enough time to search for them. I remember that I wrote the titles of the movies, the actor's names when we had the luck that they were mentioned, the music notes when I was able to remember them in order to sing the theme of the movies (I never forgot a part of the theme of Dragon Blows even many many years after and when I finally got it, it was exactly like in my memory !) and a short summary of the stories...

As I said, it was the good old days...

[tantao3-son of tantao2]

1. The Sharp Fists In Kung Fu a.k.a. Karate Du Tonnerre...

2. Stranger From Canton

3. Chaochow Guy

 

[starschwar]

 

Cropped to 1.85:1.  English Dub.  Sped-up PAL frame rate.  The me of 2021 would scoff at such a presentation.  But back then - it was pure magical captivation.  I watched it again and again, probably a dozen times in less than a week.  Hooked me for life. 

[Chu Liu Hsiang]

17 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

As I said, it was the good old days...

It makes me a bit melancholic that I missed those times. Alas! Of course, that leaves me more to discover now. But still ... watching these movies in a cinema .... priceless, and irretrievable. 

[Cognoscente]

On 6/18/2021 at 9:47 PM, ShawAngela said:

So, what is the first classic martial arts movie you watched ? Was it a wuxia one ? An old school one ? When ? Where ?

For me, it was Jackie's The Young Master back in 1998. My first wuxia movie was To Kill with Intrigue in 2001. Each viewing experience was an English dubbed VHS.

[DragonClaws]

 

Enter the Dragon & The Best of Martial Arts were my first exposure to the genre, as a child. It wasn't until I was 14 that I got started to seek these movies out. Purchased a copy of Way of The Dragon from a friend at school. Shortly  after this I caught Encounters of A Spooky Kind and Operation Conder 2 on late night T.V and the rest is history.

[CaldoTheKid]

Way of the Dragon

[legendarycurry]

I believe the year was 1995 and I saw Snake in the Eagles Shadow on TV while visiting family in Turkey. It was the German print with he red tint on the flashback. I loved the movie so much. Didn't now what it was called or who Jackie Chan was until  years later. Just remembered it as the movie where a cat fights a snake and the tea switcheroo  

Edited March 24 by legendarycurry

[dionbrother]

DYNAMO in 1982.  I'm not counting SNAKE FIST FIGHTER as "classic."

[Jizzmaster Jerry]

For me it started with Rumble in the Bronx.  Seeing that in the theater was amazing.  I knew I needed to see more of this stuff.  Then I was shopping with me dad and looking at the VHS and he got me a Bruce Lee set with all his movies except for Enter the Dragon, which I had seen before on TV.  But I was too young maybe, and didn’t know it was a martial arts movie.  I watched all those Bruce Lee movies 2 or 3 times.  So I guess Big Boss is the first classic I watched.  Had a run of bad luck then with the movies I chose.  Dynamo, Descendants of Wing Chun, Breakout From Opression, Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave, Kung Fu Punch of Death.  I liked a couple of them here and there, and the bad ones had some glimpses of cool stuff.  But they were all pretty crappy.  So at the time I think my favorite old kung fu movie was Kung Fu Punch of Death.  It didn’t seem like a genre worth exploring anymore.  I think the only other good one I saw in that time was Who Am I.  So I liked Jackie Chan, but didn’t know he made movies before 1995.  
 

Then I got a 3 pack of DVDs.  It came with Green Dragon Inn, Blooded Treasury Fight and Buddha Assassinator.  And Buddha Assassinator is what made me a fan.  The overlong but thrilling final fight was mesmerizing.  And I’ve been a fan ever since.  
 

Oh and I forgot Snake Crane Secret.  I thought this was the pinnacle of martial arts movies.  And I kept trying to convince myself I liked it.  It doesn’t get any better than this.  This final fight is great.  Or maybe not great.  But it’s good.  It’s pretty good.  

Edited June 18, 2023 by Jizzmaster Jerry

[ChillyChong]

Jaws of the dragon. That I remember well because experience was disappointing. After had rented every chuck norris, karate kid, sho kosugi, other ninja movies and james ryan flicks video store had decided to try asian one. Cover sheet in that looked most exciting. Too bad they were from some other movie, did not like much Jaws.

I would however like to see that movie now and see how it feels after decades.

[SDJ]

It was probably Fatal Needles vs. Fatal Fists, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm leaning toward it being that one.

I remember I rented/bought that movie, Eagle's Claw, Master of the Flying Guillotine, Shaolin Wooden Men, and Killer Meteors (lol) basically all at the same time and watched them all basically in the same timeframe. Naturally they all have an unexplainable special place in my heart now. 

[PandaPawPaw]

Mine was Armour of God on Channel 4 in the UK. They had a 3 week JC season with Wheels on Meals and Project A (I think).

[Omni Dragon]

Welcome to the forum, @SDJ.

[MaskedAvenger]

For me it was Revenge Of The Ninja (1983), my love for martial arts films began with Ninja films in the 80's.