Hey guys, I've been struck with the desire to watch Kung Fu movies after listening to the old podcast where they discussed Ip Man and several other Kung Fu movies. I have both Amazon Prime and I just got Netflix but I can't seem to find some of the movies they also talked about. What are some other good Kung Fu movie recommendations?
Posted May 14, 2020, 9:11 AM UTC
Kung Fu Panda. Unironically.
Garbage, Kung Fu Panda 2 though.
You have been judged, and found wanting. You are not the Dragon Warrior
36th chamber of shaolin, return to the 36th chamber, kung fu hustle, Enter the Dragon, Flying Guillotine, Five Deadly Venoms, Legendary weapons of China (weird but fun), The Night Comes For Us ( Super brutal.), the Prodigal Son, Legend of the Drunken Master (not sure if it's still on Netflix), Rumble in the Bronx.
All of these, especially Five deadly venoms.
Agreed. Not sure if I just wasn't in the right state of mind when watching it, but I wasn't a fan and dipped out half way through.
All others are fantastic. Rumble in the Bronx is a childhood favorite of mine.
That's fair man, I can understand tbh. It's a very different style of plot to a lot of kung fu films. The focus is less on kung fu and more on the mystery of who these fighters are and how they interact with each other. I think that's why I liked it, it kind of stands out of the crowd a bit.
Kung Fury is dumb as hell, but it's super fun and it's officially available on YouTube.
It's a short film though.
All 3 Kung Fu Panda movies are unironically amazing. The second one is one of the best animated movies ever made.
There is a youtube channel called the Wu Tang Collection that uploads bunch of old school Kung Fu movies every day, both dub and sub
ong bak trilogy , undisputed movies,the grandmaster,SPL movies,chocolate(2008) these have great fights but crappy stories XD.
Shut up Chocolate is wholesome story about an autistic daughter fighting mafia mooks to get money for her mom’s surgery.
And her biggest challenger is the boss’s nephew with Tourette’s.
IP man
Police Story and Wheels on Meals are good Jackie Chan movies. Any Bruce Lee movie, except maybe Game of Death because they had to use stand ins. The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2 are some of the best action movies ever but they aren't pure martial arts.
I actually really adore old Jackie Chan fliks
Donnie Yen’s Flash Point is one of the best choreographed movies I’ve ever seen. You should also see Bodyguards and Assassins. Check out Legend of the Wolf, as well. Basically, any time that Donnie Yen gets to mix his martial arts is a very good time for the viewer.
The Raid movies are technically not kung fu, but southeast Asian martial arts don’t get enough love. Speaking of which, watch SPL and it’s spiritual sequel SPL 2: A Time for Consequences. Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung in the first one, Tony Jaa in the second. There’s a third one called Paradox, but I’ve not seen it yet, so I can’t fully endorse it. I don’t think you’ll recognize their names, but Simon Yam and Wu Jing are in all three. I hate Jackie Chan because of how he is, but his work is impeccable. Go watch Wheels in Meals, it’s got Jackie, Sammo and Yuen Biao, the three Peking Opera brothers. One of the best examples of action comedy.
The Ip Man spinoff Master Z is the best Ip Man movie.
Reign of Assassins is on Netflix and underrated as fuck.
Surprisingly YouTube has a good amount of them on their free ad supported area. King Fu Killer with Donnie Yen is on there
Gonna be that guy and just straight up ask what kind of Kung Fu do you like because the genre is varied and been through a lot of trends.
You have the classic stuff like Deadly Venoms or Flying Guilletine, which you would see the style of return in Crouching Tiger.
You have the Bruce Lee flics and post Lee craze of much more brutal and realistic fights.
You have the Jackie Chan super-cop era. Mixture of humor, props, speed, stunts.
Then you have the Wire-Fu era which you saw influence stuff like The Matrix and made Jet Li's career. His HK stuff is comparable to 80's American movies despite being more 90's. You also have the Once Upon a Time in China movies which are sort of proto-Crouching Tiger.
Now the big asterix, A LOT of Kung Fu movies can be Chinese propoganda including Once Upon a Time in China, IP Man, and one Jet Li movie I recall being pro-Chinese military and nationalism. IP Man itself takes on some pro-Communism themes late into the movie.
TBQH stick to the classics(the Kung Pow type stuff), the Bruce Lee era, and Jackie Chan/Michelle Yeoh. I found the 2000's to be a particularly bad period as you had a mixture of wire-fu, bad special effects, and overly ambitious ideas. They had this notion that some movies could be elevated to a Hollywood scale without the budget: see Michelle Yeoh.
After the 2000's you saw an emergence of other martial arts because that's when MMA in general undid what a lot of people thought fighting was. Overnight Tony Jaa became a viral sensation because of one movie and a viral high-lite reel. Now you're seeing a lot more BJJ and MMA in action movies.
I'm the freshest fish in the barrel; I'm up for anything.
Then maybe work your way backwards. Now that may sound weird, but it's kind of starting with "Hype-ass shit" because it's easier to appreciate going in fresh. That's how a lot of people get into them imho. Check out Jet Li's HK stuff which is probably comparable to an insane indie wrestling spot fest. In fact if you're a wrestling fan try to think this way:
Modern martial arts movies - Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles
Jet Li - Dragon Gate or indie spot fests
Jackie Chan - Late 80's old school combination of action, personality, and showmanship by guys who may be the last of that old school. Still has a lasting influence. edit: Also throw in some old British wrestling because of the cleverness and humor.
Bruce Lee - OLD SCHOOL shooters who were champ because they would be the legit champ.
Pre-Lee - Old Lucha Libre. Distinct gimmicks. Unreal physicality and sequences.
Duel to the death...
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Might find some crusty ones on youtube.
Most of my oldschool kung-fu movies are from dollar bin DVDs. No idea where you find them now unless you're looking for a specific title.
Kung Fu Hustle is the shit.
I just watched that 20 minutes ago. Watched it on a whim and had no prior knowledge of it.
That Ring guy was the shit.
Watch Journey to the West and Shaolin Soccer from the same director, my favorite 3 movies from him.
I don’t think I’ve hated a female character more than the female lead in journey to the west.