After hundreds of movies, thousands of eye-popping fight scenes and millions of punches thrown…which ones are the best? Which ones have I been missing out on my whole life? Which ones must I have in my collection in order to not bring shame upon my family name?

We’ve scoured the internet. Reviews. Forums. Amazon. Postings. Bulletins. And this list is what we’ve come up with as the greatest Kung-Fu movies of all time and why you should watch each one. Pay attention to movies involving Yuen Wo-Ping as either director or action director, there’s a reason why half this list is movies where he was involved!

If you want to watch trailers of these movies, go to: http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/articles/movies.html

(you can also get directly to these movies in http://Amazon.com from this website)

#1 – Way of the Dragon (1979)

This is the only finished film to be written and directed by Bruce Lee. (Game of Death is the other one but is unfinished) We could write a lot about the plot, characters or fight scenes…but all you really care about is watching Bruce Lee fight Chuck Norris in the final battle.

Martial Artists: Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris
Director: Bruce Lee

#2 – Shaolin Temple (1982)

Depicts the amazing history of the Shaolin Temple, the focal point for Chinese Martial Arts. Think of the Shaolin Monks as Jedi Knights (an elite group of fighters) and the rest of China as the messed-up universe that Star Wars takes place in (people who are afraid of the elite fighters and want to take them out of power). Much work to do, you have, young Jet Li. picture Yoda’s accent on that one Define Irony: A movie shot at the site of the Shaolin Temple, telling a story about the fall of the Shaolin Temple, sparks so much public interest that the temple was re-opened shortly after the movie released.

Martial Artist: Jet Li (His debut movie)
Director: Chang Hsin-Yen

#3 – Ong Bak (2003)

Raw action without wires, Tony Jaa brings a new martial arts style to the big screen and does so in style. Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) is stronger and more direct than the Chinese styles you’re used to seeing with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, giving a new look to how a martial arts movie can be done. You’ll be seeing more of him…guaranteed.

Martial Artist: Tony Jaa
Director: Prachya Pinkaew

#4 – Iron Monkey (1993)

Doctor by day, thief by night…Iron Monkey is your classic Robin-hood meets Kung Fu. It’s an action packed flick that can’t go 5 minutes without an excellent fight scene. It all comes down to a battle between Iron Monkey (ie Robin Hood) and an ex Shaolin Monk (remember, these guys are like the Jedi Knights of Chinese martial arts…they’re elite). Remember that guy Yuen Wo-Ping I mentioned? Well he’s the director in this one, so you know it’s good!

Martial Artists: Yu Rong-Guang, Donnie Yen
Director: Yuen Wo-Ping
Action Directors: Yuen Cheung-yan, Yuen Shun-yi

#5 – 5 Deadly Venoms (1978)

No room form “martial arts beauties” in this one, there’s so much blood and action that they only cast male actors. Exit the traditional elaborate costumes and enter the muscular, skin-bearing, bloody martial arts style that would become a trademark for director Chang Cheh. Each cast member is trained in an art resembling one of 5 venemous creatures (Scorpion, Snake, Centipede, Gecko, Toad) with the 6th cast member being trained in all 5. Six main martial arts actors = LOTS O’ ACTION

Martial Artists: 6 Martial Artists (yes, 6 main characters)
Director: Chang Cheh

#6 – The Seven Samurai (1954)

One of the greatest classic kung-fu movies of all time and arguable Kurosawa’s best work. Some Samurai of the time were down on their luck (homeless) and willing to do anything for a meal. A village under attack by bandits recruits a group of seven such Samurai warriors and asks them to help defend their village. The movie is about the Samurai teaching the village how to fight and culminates in a massive battle between a village and almost 50 attacking bandits. The acting is superb, the emotions run high and Kurosawa keeps you hooked from beginning to end.

Martial Artists: 7 Martial Artists (all names you won’t know since this movie is so old)
Director: Akira Kurosawa

#7 – Legend of Drunken Master (1994)

Some will say this is the greatest martial arts movie of all time because of it’s balance between plot-line, comedy, drama and amazing kung fu sequences. Probably Jackie Chan’s best martial arts performance. You’re going to love the final scene where you learn what “Drunken Master” really means. We’re talking box-splitting, fire-spitting craziness!

Martial Artist: Jackie Chan
Director: Lau Kar-leung

#8 – Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)

Based on a Pentalogy (yes, that’s 5 books) written by Wang Dulu, this movie covers mostly the 4th book. Critically acclaimed to cross international borders with it’s amazing character development, intricate plot, martial arts ideals, stunning special effects and quicker-than-the-eye fighting scenes, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon set a new standard for martial arts movies. Telling Zhang Ziyi (the lead female character and an amazing martial artist) to get back in the kitchen would likely cost you 50 punches to the “bags”. Be ready for subtitles, ‘cuz turning on the English track is like watching…uh…like watching a kung fu movie in English.

Main Martial Artist: Chow Yun-fat
Other Martial Artists: Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Chang Chen, Cheng Pei-pei
Director: Ang Lee
Action Director: Yuen Wo-Ping

#9 – Kill Bill vol. 1 (2003)

You’re going to want your home theatre room for this one. It’s tough to beat beautiful women beating the crap out of each other in fast-paced, action-packed, make you cringe, bloody, gory, cut-’em-up (more buzz words go here) movie jam packed with as much martial arts death as possible. Tarantino expertly uses every camera angle and a plethora of special effects to deliver a better-than-real visual experience that gives this blood-and-guts thriller an artistic feel you’ll appreciate at the end. Did I mention is has Uma Thurman in it?

(”Kill bill vol. 2″ brings closure to the set, but hey…we had to choose one movie. Say “Five-Point-Palm Exploding Heart Technique” 5 times fast.)

Actors: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Action Director: Yuen Wo-ping

#10 – Fist of Legend (1994)

A classic story of Chinese vs. Japanese martial arts, Fist of Legend is actually a remake of the original Bruce Lee movie, Fist of Fury. If Bruce Lee is like the original James Bond, Jet Li is the Pierce Brosnan. He’ll never be the original, but the modern film-making and larger budget bring the entertainment value just a hair above the original Fist of Fury. (The ghost of Bruce Lee is probably going to strike me down for writing that) The Yuen Brothers are known for amazing action choreography, and they totally deliver on this one. (Casting Jet Li may have helped them a little too.)

Martial Artist: Jet Li
Director: Gordon Chan
Action Directors: “The Yuen Brothers”

The fun doesn’t stop there.

We tried to stop at only 10…really, we did. But we just couldn’t control ourselves.
“Once it hits your lips, it’s so good!” – Will Ferrell in “Old School”

To see the movies that deserve “Honorable Mention”, go to http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/articles/movies.html

Whether you enjoyed this list or think we snuffed your favorite movie, we’d love to hear what you think. Post your comments at: http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/blog/archives/16

Movies and stories have a very old connection. Throughout the history of films, different movies have come from famous stories, novels and plays all over the world. Hollywood movies are not an exception. There is a reason behind this profound love of Hollywood for good stories. Actually, Hollywood is a kind of industry which always wants to tell stories through their films. They always follow a linear way of story telling. To maintain this linear way, they always search for good stories. In this article, we will talk about those Hollywood movies that are made from existing stories.

Making films from stories has some advantages. This system saves a lot of time in the pre-production stage. In this case, the director does not have to appoint a writer for a new story. As the story already exists, he just need to do the script and screenplay.

A readymade story gives the film an extra popularity. If the film is made from a hit tale, then very naturally people will be eager to watch the film version of it. If we check the history, then we will find out that most of those kinds of films have been big box office hits.

If the film is based on the work of a renowned author, then it will ease the work pressure on the director to some extent. A famous book is obviously good writing. Therefore, the director will not have to change a lot of that.

Hollywood films have come from three different categories of literary works. These three are stories, novels, and plays. First we are going to look at the films made from famous stories. Kafka was a writer whose stories influenced Hollywood a lot. However, it is very tough to make a film version of his stories, but still people have tried and in some cases, they have done a very good job. For instance, The Trial directed by Orson Welles was a masterpiece. It was released in 1963.

Many films have been made from the stories of O Henry, the famous American story writer. Gift of the Magi directed by Scott Mansfield and The Last Leaf directed by David Anspaugh had been instant hits. Roald Dahl was a very famous British writer who wrote several short stories and novels. He also scripted some films. Lamb to the Slaughter directed by Nicole Barnette was based on a very famous story of Dahl.

Some very famous novels have been given film versions. For instance, The Accidental Tourist was based on the writing of Anne Tyler. The film was directed by Lawrence Kasdan and was released in the year 1988. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the film version of the famous Mark Twain novel, filmed by Peter H. Hunt.

Some famous plays have also been transformed into films. For example, Orson Welles filmed Macbeth, the famous play of William Shakespeare, in the year 1950. Franco Zeffirelli filmed Romeo and Juliet in the year 1968.

Many of you probably had experiences with movies like mine when you were growing up. Your parents (if you were lucky enough to have at least one) would use the TV or Movies to keep you occupied (out of their hair). My Dad would give me two dollars every day for entertainment so I spent it mostly on movies. Yes, every day, and keep in mind that this was the early fifty’s when most theaters were 25 cents and the most expensive theater in town was seventy five cents. The same money would be around twenty five dollars today.

At the time most movie houses were showing double features and some had three features with two cartoons and a serial. And because of my love for movies I saw every one of them at least twice and some many times. This went on for years and of course couldn’t have been good for me. However it gave me a focused education in films and stories and perhaps a little confusion about real life.

People in movies don’t have to follow through with work and school and oh yeah, the big one, Love. The music plays and they simply are already a brave policeman or cowboy or engineer or even president. The heros in movies seem to do little or no work to be anything they want. I Expected no less for myself than rocket speed to sucess.

Somehow in my little kid brain I replaced my parents love and parts of real life with western movies and their stars. You can imagine why nice family type movies and westerns were so appealing to me with no brothers and sisters and living with my grandmother. In later years it was shocking to discover my movie heroes didn’t give a crap what I felt or know me from Adam. “Gosh Mr. Rogers, don’t you remember me? I was the kid in the fifth row back?”

“Sorry, I don’t give autographs” he said. “Huh?” I said as he walked away. Now I was a young adult when this true event happened, but still I stood there sort of in a daze until my wife came looking for me. She said, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Roy Rogers just gave me the buzz off,” I said. “He must have known it was me that threw rocks at the screen.”

“Oh, don’t be silly” she said. “He wouldn’t give me an autograph” I said. “Oh is that all, so what?” she said. “Why would that bother you so much?” she said. “I don’t know, it just does that’s all” I said. There was this little pause and she said, “For your information they live like three blocks away from us. You mean you didn’t know!” she said.

“No, I don’t keep track of where people live,” I said. “I see Dale Evans every week at the store or post office. She’s very nice” she said. “Oh great, my childhood hero lives close enough to hear trigger fart and I can’t even get an autograph?” “It’s almost like not being able to talk to your uncle or something because he’s too darn famous.”

“Listen honey,” she said, “Trigger can’t fart anymore and besides you’re taking this way too seriously.” “Yea,” I said. “So what can we do to find out why it affects me so much?” “You saw too many of those westerns I think. Didn’t you do anything else?” She said. “Sure, lots of things,” I said. “But the movies made the stuff I did more dangerous.”

She said “Now that I think about it most of the jobs you do are related in some way to movies and now you’re a screenwriter.” she said. “You seem to be obsessed with not only stars but also in the locations where they were filmed, like Lone Pine for example. We found every rock that Randolph Scott used in his westerns.”

“It feels like I’m looking for my long lost family.” I said. “She said “Remember the actress last year that was kidding you about one of your scripts? She knew you were only kidding and laughed with you about it. Why didn’t she affect you the way Roy did?” “It’s probably because she’s a new star of today’s movies,” I said, “And I didn’t grow up watching her.” “Remember what Jack Palance said to you about movies? He said you were full of crap about them that they were only movies.” “Yeah,” I said, “he said he only made films for the money and could care less and “You should do the same.”.

“OK,” she said, “I have an idea. Why don’t you write about it? You write about everything else so maybe other people have the same problem or worse they let it happen to their kids.” “That’s right,” I said, “it is happening to kids today isn’t it, only in a little different way with music lyrics and the general bad behavior of actors.”

“Yes,” she said, “only its worse now and these kids won’t get over it maybe ever.” “OK, that’s what I’ll do is give my opinion about how movies can be improved and still make the studio money.” “So you’re going to tell them to remove the violence and sex and make lame one hundred and twenty minutes of nothing? I can hear the laughing already.”

“No, of course you need these elements of real life in any story. You must have a good story and a reason for things to happen. Some movies today start out dark and evil and progress to dark and evil and end with dark and evil and that’s no way to tell a story. For a film to be successful the audience must tell friends about it. One big problem is the high cost that scares investors into making something safe.

What they need to make movies safer for investors is a new kind of testing. Why make a film unless you KNOW people will like. I can’t believe investors take such big chances with all that money. It’s possible to make good honest pictures that people will love and still make money for the studio.” “You know that not one person in Hollywood is going to pay attention to you don’t you?” she said.

“I know, but it doesn’t matter about that because Hollywood’s days are numbered anyway. They are so mixed up they can’t even make an original movie or endorse an original screenplay. Can you see them making Rocky 15?

Good actors have little to work with in Hollywood and that’s a shame. That’s why indie films are getting bigger and better every day and sooner or latter with the combination of pissed actors and increased technology a new generation of indie films will put Hollywood to shame.”

The movie is about the Indian description of the hit TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? This movie has attractive background. It is not the first to be made about Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Dev Patel plays Jamal Malik, a former Mumbai street-kid who has a job making tea at a call centre. Jamal fits neatly into the third group. Every answer Jamal got right on the game show, foremost up to the final question, was the result of an important moment from his childhood living on the streets of India. And of course there is Latika, a girl who serves as a through-line for Jamal’s adventures days. She adores of his life, the love he lost. In fact, Jamal only tried out to be on Millionaire with expecting that Latika might see it and that they could be joining up.

Attributing an electrifying achieve by AR Rehman, Boyle presents India as it has never been seen before, from the slums to the Taj Mahal. Vivid visuals combined with this City of God-like tale of a few orphan kids trying to survive in a gang-infested city. Based on the bestselling Vikas Swarup novel Q and A, Slum dog Millionaire was scripted by Simon Beaufoy, who had also written the script for The Full Monty, one of Boyle’s favorite films. My only objection is that the torture progression that begins the film felt unnecessary to the story, and out of place in this film. But it’s only a minor issue.

The theme of the film, though, is the thread of adore and closeness between Jamal and another young orphan, Latika, who’s befriended by Jamal and gruffly tolerated by his older brother. The trio call themselves “The Three Musketeers” — Jamal and his brother having been enraptured by the classic tale when they attended school before their mother died. Luck, life, and adults aggressive on the vulnerable youth of Mumbai’s slums conspire to keep Jamal and Latika apart, but Jamal never sways from his faith that he and Latika are destined to be together.

You get prominent writing on <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(’/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.nrifun.com/mParts.html?mcid=1&movid=4205″>Hindi movies</a>. We have versatile character in the article field and contribute ideas on many topics. What strikes you first about the film is that it’s so bright without being satisfied with itself. Each question is linked to an event in Jamal’s life, and so during the film we are delighted to India’s astonishing landscape, from the brightest skyscrapers to the most horrid slums imaginable. Our tour guides are Jamal and his brother, two immensely charming characters who go through more in eighteen years than most go through in duration, but with Jamal still maintaining a virtue that makes you root for him right through to the tense climax. The script has got a lot of humor, the biggest compliment being that although the dialogue flits between English and subtitled Hindi, you’re so immersed that you swiftly adapt.

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Here are four average movies that do not get any better the second time around:

Anger Management – 2 Stars (Average)

Anger Management brings young Adam Sandler together with old Jack Nicholson in a dippy comedy that borders on a romantic comedy without the dramatic bent.

Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) is a businessman who is wrongly sentenced to an anger-management program following an incident on airline flight, but insult is added to injury when Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson), an aggressive, unorthodox therapist, becomes his live in roommate during rehabilitation.

This film is dominated by Nicholson, has a script that begs for better lines, and becomes annoying after awhile, which is very similar to Nicholson’s character in the movie. I am not altogether sure this movie would not have been better if the roles of Nicholson and Sandler were reversed.

Imagine Nicholson as a problematic, anger-management reprobate (not hard to do) and Sandler as a recent psychiatrist grad about to deal with his first real patient (easy to do). I propose this because I felt very little chemistry between Nicholson and Sandler as they were cast.

Anger Management is not a film I would see twice under any circumstances. Apparently a lot of judges felt the same way as awards were really absent for this effort.

The Emperor’s Club – 2 Stars (Average)

The Emperor’s Club reminds me of the aspirations of people starting out in life and the disappointment that inevitably comes when forcing one’s ideas upon another.

William Hundert (Kevin Kline) is a passionate and principled classics professor who finds his world challenged when a new student, Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch), comes into his class. A battle of wills ensues.

The Emperor’s Club needed a better script and suffered from the lack of a female presence. Who wants to watch a bunch of guys being smart asses? This gets to be about as interesting as watching flour turn brown.

The Emperor’s Club was not unlike the Dead Poet’s Society with Robin Williams as English professor John Keating, except Williams does a better acting job than Kline.

The message of The Emperor’s Club is negative and undermining; the message of Dead Poet’s Society is uplifting and encouraging.

Dead Poet’s Society earned an Oscar for Best Writing by Tom Schulman, and garnered three other Academy nominations: Robin Williams for Best Actor, Peter Weir for Best Director and Best Picture.

The Emperor’s Club was not even noticed at awards time.

The Fast and the Furious – 2 Stars (Average)

The Fast and the Furious is an action flick for guys featuring street car racing, macho wannabe men and mindless activity that sends a terrible message to every mixed up teenager who is out of control and looking for trouble.

Yes, the cars are great, yes, the race scenes are terrific for a fantasy world, and no, this film has no redeeming quality worth talking about. It is, in a word, stupid, and glorifies a stupid activity.

The Fast and the Furious picked up some minor awards for cinematography and music, but lacks substance and gets low marks for bad behavior. Save your money on the sequel.

Five Easy Pieces – 2 Stars (Average)

Five Easy Pieces was made in 1970 and 36 years later has become a cult film in the sense that it engenders a misplaced or excessive admiration because of an actor named Jack Nicholson and a restaurant scene that suggests humor but exhibits rage.

Robert Dupea (Jack Nicholson) is a successful classical pianist from a well-to-do family who becomes a worthless piece of nothing on his way to nowhere about 1,000 miles an hour. Dupea becomes one troubled and sad person who ends up as a trashy oil rigger.

Dupea surrounds himself with enough dysfunctional people to field a basketball team. One of Dupea’s lines in the movie says a lot: “I move around a lot, not because I’m looking for anything really, but ’cause I’m getting away from things that get bad if I stay.” Dupea just needs to grow up and stop feeling sorry for himself; he simply cannot come to terms with life and what it has to offer.

Nicholson does a great job with his role in the film (he gets his second Oscar nomination for Best Actor), but the script, story, ending and everything else about Five Easy Pieces is negative and worthless. The message of the film is just a sad, sorry excuse for living.

Nicholson becomes a major force in acting during Five Easy Pieces. He goes on to earn no less than 2 Best Actor Oscars (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and As Good As It Gets), 1 Best Supporting Actor Oscar (Terms of Endearment) and no less than 9 other Best Actor nominations.

Jack Nicholson is the most nominated actor in Academy Awards history. I was about to say he could win an Oscar nomination in any film, and then I remembered Anger Management with Adam Sandler.

Five Easy Pieces also won Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Karen Black), Best Picture and Best Writing by Bob Rafelson and Carole Eastman. Great scripts do help, but I find the message of this script disturbing.