I was recently reading wujimon’s Taijiquan blog, and was a little surprised to find Top 5 Martial Arts Movies in his list of most popular posts.
Surely, I thought, such lowbrow pursuits are beneath the true “internal martial artist”? But it seems I was wrong; a fortuitous circumstance, because I know more about kung fu movies than John Hodgman knows about hoboes.
My only problem is that I cannot narrow my favorites list down to 5, or even 10 movies. Therefore, I plan to make a series of short “best of” posts, each addressing a specific aspect of the genre.
More Fighting, Less Flying
I enjoy a good wuxia fantasy flick as much as anyone: floating over rooftops, dueling with magic swords, etc. But sometimes, I prefer something a bit more down-to-earth. Regular punches and kicks are exciting too, when they are executed well.
Here are my top picks featuring (relatively) realistic fight scenes, with a minimum of CGI and wire-work.
Ong-Bak – The Thai Warrior [IMDB]
Starring Tony Jaa
The break-out hit from the star of The Protector, a.k.a. Tom Yum Goong.
Ong Bak movie trailer
Sha Po Lang (a.k.a. Kill Zone) [IMDB]
Starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung and Wu Jing
Alley fight scene from Sha Po Lang
Fist of Legend [IMDB]
Starring Jet Li
Fist of Legend: Jing Wu man vs. Karate dojo
What are your favorite “reality-based” kung fu movies?
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8 responses so far ↓
1
saththiriyan
// May 17, 2007
Really supurb…nice web….At least i have learned the new art dim mak. Good luck
2
Vinod
// Sep 4, 2010
Ong Bak is not a kung fu movie ,nor it depicts kung fu. The martial art shown is Muay Thai.
3
chris
// Sep 4, 2010
Well, if you want to get technical…Ong Bak is still a “kung fu” movie.
4
Adam Williss
// Sep 6, 2010
I’d recommend ‘Ip Man’ as the best fight choreography in a kung fu movie.
5
Vinod
// Sep 7, 2010
I didn’t get what you meant ? Can you explain me ? I have seen teh film many times. There may be similar techniques, but what Tony Ja doing is Muay Thai,and few techniques from Muay Boran.
6
chris
// Sep 7, 2010
Muay Thai is kung fu.
7
Vinod
// Sep 8, 2010
Muay Thai is noy kung fu maan !! Ofcourse ,in actual meaning kung fu means “an epertise in any skill. It is not a name of any martial art” ,in that sense you are correct . But here I guess you listed the chinese martial arts movies .. Muay Thai is a martial form of Thailand ,you may already know that I guess. .. Its completely a different martial art that has nothing to do with kung fu.. ( if you consider teh similarities, many striking martial arts in the world has similarities..)
8
RANJIT
// Mar 18, 2011
Freinds….What Tony Ja shows is a mixture of Kung Fu + Muay thai + arkour + Gymnastics. This is what Tony Jaa all about. Iam saying this because I have done Muay Thai Training. Iam in a practice of Kung fu from 2.5 years. Also iam practicing Parkour stunts.
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