The Best of Kung Fu Cinema: Fight Choreography

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?