The martial arts genre is a sub-genre within the broader category of action movies, and is a great place to see amazing stuntwork, impressive hand-to-hand fights, and creative choreography. When a martial arts movie soars, there’s little else that’s as exciting or entertaining cinematically, and so the rare martial arts film that manages to be essentially perfect all the way through is worth celebrating and seeking out.
That’s just what the following movies ultimately do: they deliver some great fight sequences and are remarkably hard to fault or even nitpick. The following can all count themselves as among the best martial arts movies of all time, and though there are countless other great ones not included below (there are too many honorable mentions to count here), all these films are excellent starting points for anyone who wants to become more immersed in the martial arts genre.
10 ‘Dragon Inn’ (1967)
Director: King Hu
King Hu was indeed a king of the martial arts genre, so far as directors are concerned, making several highly influential and exciting movies – particularly during the late 1960s and early 1970s – that paved the way for the genre to come. Of his films, the most accessible and fast-paced is likely Dragon Inn, with its story of warriors working to protect the pursued children of a general who’s just been killed.
Dragon Inn establishes stakes early on, builds a good deal of tension throughout its first act, and then features a surprising amount of action for a film of its age throughout the final two acts. King Hu might have made more impressive and ambitious movies later in his career (more on one of those in a bit), but Dragon Inn is his purest and perhaps his most fun, and has a certain timeless quality as an all-out action/adventure film.
Watch on Criterion
9 ‘The Raid’ (2011)
Director: Gareth Evans
The martial arts genre was probably at the height of its popularity during the 1970s, but it’s never fully gone away, and into the 21st century, filmmakers are still finding ways to push this brand of action cinema forward. The Raid is one of the best examples of a martial arts movie excelling and impressing in recent memory, being a relentlessly paced – and extremely brutal – movie about a battle for survival inside an apartment complex populated by dangerous criminals.
It had a sequel in 2014 which might be even better, in some ways, or at least had higher highs… but The Raid 2 was also very ambitious and arguably a little bloated in parts, making The Raid feel a little more self-contained, and arguably closer to “perfect” for what it is. The Raid is no-nonsense and not for the faint of heart, but those wanting modern action that’s visceral and nail-biting should look no further.
Watch on Tubi
8 ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ (1978)
Director: Lau Kar-leung
Few movies focus on training quite as much as The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, which can also count itself among the very best Shaw Brothers films ever made (with the studio putting out numerous classic martial arts movies). The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is about a young man training to be a great martial artist for survival and revenge, after narrowly escaping an attack that claims the lives of many of his allies.
The training sequences are long but endlessly entertaining, and seeing the main character slowly get stronger and eventually emerge as an over-powered force of nature by the film’s end is supremely satisfying. It’s well-paced as a film and delivers some great fight sequences by the end, with The 36th Chamber of Shaolin being one of the best martial arts movies of a decade that was an overall great one for martial arts movies.
Watch on Mubi
7 ‘Drunken Master II’ (1994)
Director: Lau Kar-leung
Few individuals can claim to have breathed as much life into the martial arts genre as Jackie Chan did. He got his start during the 1970s, becoming a star by that decade’s end and then pushing himself even further during the 1980s, with arguably his best movie being Police Story (1985), which blended martial arts, comedy, and crime. Of his pure/more old-fashioned martial arts movies, however, 1994’s Drunken Master II might well be the greatest.
It’s a comedic action movie that nevertheless doesn’t skimp on rather brutal fight sequences that build in scale and intensity as the film goes along. Drunken Master II’s narrative – involving family drama and a quest to defend Chinese artifacts from foreigners – is an excuse to have tons of action, and it all delivers, with endlessly amazing stunts, convincing hand-to-hand fights, and a never-more-energetic Jackie Chan absolutely shining at the center of it all.
Rent on Apple TV
6 ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (2000)
Director: Ang Lee
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has had nothing but praise heaped upon it for close to a quarter of a century at this point, but nevertheless deserves all of it, because it’s spectacular and masterful stuff. There’s a richness to the world of the film and the characters who inhabit it, all functioning well within a rather simple narrative that involves various people trying to track down a stolen sword.
Far more than just a martial arts movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon also works as a sweeping romance film, an expansive adventure movie, and even a work of low fantasy. Ang Lee balances it all exceptionally well as a director, and the cast – including superstars like Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun-fat, and Zhang Ziyi – is great, with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon also boasting some of the best action scenes in cinema history.
Watch on Amazon
5 ‘The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter’ (1984)
Director: Lau Kar-leung
A movie that’s well-liked by fans of classic martial arts cinema, but still feels a little underrated, broadly speaking, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter is explosive, savage, and spectacular in all the right ways. Like the aforementioned The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter stars Gordon Liu, and the narratives found in each are kind of similar, as The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter sees an attack on a family with only two survivors: separated brothers who each vow revenge.
Those wanting non-stop action might not find the earlier parts of The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter as satisfying, but the way it concludes will make it worth the wait for anyone interested in frenetic and bloody martial arts action. The final act of the movie just doesn’t slow down, and takes no prisoners, making this one an undisputed classic of its genre through and through.
Watch on Mubi
4 ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (2022)
Directors: Daniel Scheinert, Daniel Kwan
Perhaps a little like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it’s not fair to call Everything Everywhere All at Once “just” a martial arts movie… though both have amazing martial arts sequences, and Michelle Yeoh stars – as well as excels – in both. Everything Everywhere All at Once is also a science fiction movie, a family drama, an adventure film, and an absurdist comedy (not to mention a Best Picture winner), with all its tones and differing genres making the title a fitting one.
It’s a movie about the universe and beyond being in grave danger, leading to one unlikely hero having to tap into different versions of herself throughout the multiverse, growing in strength and hopefully saving everyone as a result. Everything Everywhere All at Once is perfectly smart and perfectly stupid, being all over the place but somehow coming together into something that feels hugely emotional and surprisingly perfect, All at Once.
Watch on Netflix
3 ‘A Touch of Zen’ (1971)
Director: King Hu
For as great as Dragon Inn was, King Hu’s A Touch of Zen is probably the filmmaker’s greatest accomplishment, being a quiet, contemplative, long, eventually exciting, and undoubtedly ambitious martial arts epic. It reaches three hours in length, but earns each one of its many minutes, telling a story about a woman on the run from evil forces that starts small, yet grows impressively in scope as things go on.
A Touch of Zen doesn’t have much action for the first hour or so of its runtime, but when the fights do start, they’re exciting and beautifully shot. It’s a patient action epic in a potentially comparable way to something like Seven Samurai. Both save the action for the second half, but make such an approach work, especially because both films do such a great job at immersing viewers in a world and getting them attached to characters who later get challenged in a series of physical conflicts.
Watch on Criterion
2 ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 1’ (2003)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino clearly loves old martial arts movies, and spared no expense in paying homage to the genre throughout Kill Bill, particularly Vol. 1 of the epic revenge duology. The film sees a woman known as the Bride pulling off an ambitious rampage of vengeance against the titular Bill, and his various associates, all of whom she used to work with before trying to escape the violent lifestyle they led, which they didn’t take kindly to.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 has a good deal of bloodshed and violence before the final act, but it’s the extended swordplay-heavy martial arts sequence toward the end of the film that makes it a legendary action movie. It’s a film that takes what works about classic martial arts/action cinema and revitalizes it for the 21st century, and is about as perfect as homages/cinematic remixes get.
Kill Bill Vol. 1
- Release Date
- October 10, 2003
- Runtime
- 111 minutes
Watch on Netflix
1 ‘Enter the Dragon’ (1973)
Director: Robert Clouse
Bruce Lee’s final completed film was the decade-defining Enter the Dragon, a movie about a martial arts tournament with a dark secret that was released shortly after the superstar tragically passed away at just 32 years old. Even with a short career as a martial artist/actor, Bruce Lee was monumentally successful and influential, and Enter the Dragon is the best showcase of his talents and charisma.
It’s a strange and always exciting movie, surging ahead at a pace much faster than many action movies of the 1970s, and continually finding ways to surprise and entertain. It’s a well-rounded and endlessly compelling piece of martial arts cinema, feeling like a spy thriller, a sports movie, and an all-out action film all rolled into one, with Enter the Dragon miraculously making it all work and feeling perfect from start to finish.
Rent on Apple TV
