Are you a movie buff? There are many genres of films available from comedy to horror. However, action films tend to have a big following as it never fails to capture the audiences’ attention. The fast-paced action scenes always keep the audience tethered to their seat wanting more.
While this genre can cover a wide range of action scenes from nerve-racking car chases to huge and loud explosions, some of the most awe-inspiring action movies are often those which feature martial arts.
The hand-to-hand combat, exchange of blows and excellent fight choreography are just legendary. Martial arts films have been around for quite some time now and the popularity of these movies has risen and fallen over the years.
Some of the best martial art movies are popular not only because of the entertaining fight sequences but also because it has a good storyline and character development together with amazing martial arts action. Some are even inspired to learn martial arts after watching these movies and looking for resources to master martial arts.
If you are interested to watch great movies that feature martial arts but you’re not sure which ones are worth watching, don’t worry. We have listed some fun movies that feature a variety of martial arts from Muay Thai to Kung fu to help you get started.
Ip Man
The film starring Donnie Yen starts with Ip Man who is a martial artist who lives comfortably in the city of Foshan. However, his life began to turn around when the Japanese army colonises the city of Foshan.
Ip Man loses everything including his house and his family faces poverty and starvation. Man then uses martial arts to defend not only his family but his people against tyranny.
The role in the Ip Man film series has put Donnie's name in line with the legends of Hong Kong martial arts films. Since it is based on the true story of Wing Chun grandmaster who was Bruce Lee’s mentor, the audience is rooting for him to win the fights in the movie.
Yen’s mannerisms in the movie match the real Ip man who fought with virtue to defend his honour without malice. The awesome fight scenes that use Wing Chun together with an excellent storyline that brings you back in history to life in China in the 1930s make this a great movie.
If you enjoyed Ip Man and are interested in watching the Ip man film series, here is the sequence to follow:
- Ip Man (2008)
- Ip Man 2 (2010)
- Ip Man 3 (2015)
- Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018)
- Ip Man 4 (2019)
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Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
Ong Bak is one of the action films that managed to attract the attention of the world with artistic Muay Thai martial arts. Thanks to Tony Jaa's formidable moves during the fight scenes, you are left admiring his speed, technique and pain threshold.
This film tells about a poor village in Thailand, Ban Nong Pradu which has the most valuable Buddha statue that has been stolen from the temple. A skilled fighter named Ting (Tony Jaa) is on a quest to retrieve the Buddha statue. His journey takes him to Bangkok, where Ting has to fight the statue thief named Don (Wannakit Sirioput) who is a drug dealer.
The combat scenes in this movie are particularly captivating with frequent rewinds of the action scenes in slow motion to show the audience the fight scene in detail. The film has succeeded in elevating Thai cinema to the world stage where it won the Action Asia Award at the Deauville Asian Film Festival and the Orient Express award at the Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival.
If you liked this film and would like to watch the other two films in the series, here is the sequence to follow:
- Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003)
- Ong Bak 2 (2008)
- Ong Bak 3 (2010)
Rocky
Rocky and the best boxing movies are two things that cannot be separated from each other. Not only focusing on the boxing theme, the film directed by John G. Avildsen also focuses on Rocky's struggle from being a nobody to becoming a champion. Thanks to this film, Sylvester Stallone's career immediately rose to become a top actor in Hollywood.
Being the highest-grossing film in the year of its release, Rocky was also a critical success. At the Academy Awards, the film won three of the ten nominations it received, including the Best Picture category. In fact, Rocky was ranked as the second-best sports-themed film by the American Film Institute in 2008.
This film tells the American Dream of Rocky Balboa, an Italian American boxer who comes from the working class and is uneducated but kind. He worked as a debt collector for a loan shark in the slums of Philadelphia. He goes through an incredible journey in the course of the series.
From beating Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago to losing Mickey his trainer to a heart attack, all the movies highlight the high and low points of Rocky’s life. What makes the movie great is that it isn’t about winning but about the underdog proving himself.
If you have not watched Rocky before, here is the sequence to follow:
- Rocky (1976)
- Rocky II (1979)
- Rocky III (1982)
- Rocky IV (1985)
- Rocky V (1990)
- Rocky Balboa (2006)
If you are interested in the spin-offs to get the complete picture, you can then continue with the following:
- Creed (2015)
- Creed II (2018)
- Creed III (2023)
While many movies tend to focus on martial arts from the east, it was refreshing to have boxing featured in the Rocky series. Check out Prominent Martial Arts in Europe, South America & North America to know more!
Matrix
One of the high-flying martial arts action movies of all time that cannot be missed is The Matrix.
"I know kung fu" is one of Neo's most famous quotes from The Matrix. Keanu Reeves plays Thomas A. Anderson who is a hacker known as Neo. Neo became a fugitive after dealing with Morpheus, a rebel declared a terrorist by the government.
Neo wakes up to a world that has been destroyed. Humanity was imprisoned by a race of advanced robots in an artificial reality known as the Matrix. Neo must return to the Matrix to defeat a super-sophisticated computer program that intends to destroy the entire human race.
He uses a mixture of Asian traditional martial arts across the four Matrix movies. The Matrix managed to present a slow-motion fight that impressed all movie lovers in the world. Some of the martial arts used in the film are Kung Fu, Wing Chun, Jujitsu, Aikido, Kenpo and many more.
- The Matrix (1999)
- *Optional: The Animatrix (2003)
- The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
- The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
- The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
*The Animatrix is optional. It contains animated shorts, some of which are prequels to The Matrix.
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Everything Everywhere All at Once
Taking on an unusual genre, the film Everything Everywhere All at Once is a combination of comedy drama, action and absurd science fiction. However, throughout the movie, there was a display of just the right amount of amazing martial arts.
The film starring Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, and Ke Huy Quan features 'madness' from the parallel or multiverse world.
Evelyn Wang, played by Michelle Yeoh is a middle-aged woman that runs a laundry with her husband. Evelyn faces many issues and challenges in her personal life and business. The story then progresses when they are called by the IRS because it was found that there were problems in the tax declaration of their laundry business.
However, everything changes when they are in the IRS building where they were exposed to the world of the multiverse. In that world, Evelyn sees herself in a variety of characters and abilities including drawing on the skills of a version of her who became a world-renowned martial arts film star.
This allows Michelle Yeoh to showcase her combat skills through her character Evelyn and fight back against Deirdre played by Jamie Lee Curtis. Their fight scenes are impressive, with even Curtis showcasing some impressive wrestling moves.
The storyline is not very complex, but you need to focus on the rules of using tools to access the multiverse because many of the jokes depend on your understanding of the concepts and rules of the multiverse. The choreography of the Kung Fu action was also well produced, convincing and fulfilling the needs of the comedic elements quite well.
Boxing, Muay Thai, Kung Fu and other disciplines of martial arts have formed the basis of many movies to win the hearts of viewers worldwide. This has sparked an interest among many to pick up martial arts.
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Superprof tutors are the best choice for you to quash all your worries. Our tutors are highly experienced and qualified. You will get a chance to view their profiles and discuss the best times to have classes. You can even choose to have online or face-to-face classes.
Don’t let anything deter you from pursuing your dreams. Contact a Superprof tutor now and start learning martial arts today!
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