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kungfu.md

Kung fu / wuxia / martial arts / etc to watch or rewatch

Key:

  • amz - Amazon Prime
  • amz rental - one-off Amazon streaming rental
  • netflix - Netflix streaming. (Many flicks are available on both Amazon streaming and Netflix DVD, so if you've got Netflix DVD...make sure to check there too)
  • torrented - I definitely did not torrent these but they're typically available via DVD or Bluray only channels

The list:

  • https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3560732&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1
  • https://ask.metafilter.com/128663/I-want-to-know-kung-fu-movies
  • Sanshiro Sugata (& Part II) (Kurosawa; judo) ('43, '45) - dvd only
  • Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman: 1: Tale of Zatoichi ('62) - amz rental - yojimbo except the hero is both more and less likable. good film
  • Come Drink With Me ('67) - amz rental - good all around, can clearly see its huge influence
  • One-Armed Swordsman ('67) - amz - not great, not bad
  • Golden Swallow (sequel to Come Drink With Me) ('68) - amz - some of the fights are good but plotting was pretty bad
  • One-Armed Boxer ('71) - amz - I swear Jimmy Wang Yu actually does have two arms some of the time
  • A Touch of Zen ('71) - amz rental - a 2hr film's worth of beautiful cinematography, in 3hrs (the rest is too dark to see shit). the choreography is mixed, some nice, some just blah
  • The Big Boss / Fists of Fury ('71) - torrented - idgi why isn't he making those screaming noises he's famous for
  • Fist of Fury / The Chinese Connection ('72) - torrented - oh hey there they are. now if only he could act. the disguises bit was legit hilarious though!
  • Hapkido, aka Lady Kung Fu ('72) - amz - really enjoyed the choreography here; story is almost decent for a kung fu film; dub was well executed too. super didn't like the female lead's wide-eyed look anytime she fought though, felt unnecessarily like it was making her seem 'weakly feminine' or some shit, even though she kicked major ass
  • Way of the Dragon / Return of the Dragon ('72) - netflix - boy I hope Enter the Dragon is better because this was pretty bad, only about 1/2 of the final fight was any good. and let's not even talk about any of the non fight stuff.
  • Lady Snowblood ('73) - amz rental - well, that's a classic for you. actual martial arts barely there but that's not why this is famous.
  • Enter the Dragon ('73) - amz - pretty good, though not a ton we haven't seen in his earlier films. can definitely see the Hollywood-style production values. plot is garbage as usual._
  • The Street Fighter (Sonny Chiba) ('74) - amz - really liked the choreography but that might be because I've taken Okinawan Goju-ryu karate and was tickled at how authentic much of the action was. could definitely have done without all the attempted rape and better-than-attempted murder tho.
  • Master of the Flying Guillotine ('76) - amz - yup, it basically is a much better version of One-Armed Boxer. Great stuff. Got a bit sick of the Bad Muay Thai Guy's wai kru and the villain's fake-ass eyebrows tho.
  • 36th Chamber of Shaolin ('78) - amz
  • Born Invincible ('78) - amz
  • Drunken Master ('78) - amz rental
  • (The) Five (Deadly) Venoms ('78) - amz
  • Return of the Five Deadly Venoms / Crippled Avengers ('78) - amz, as Crippled Avengers
  • Heroes of the East ('78) (aka Challenge of the Ninja, Shaolin vs Ninja, Shaolin Challenges Ninja) - amz
  • Magnificent Butcher (Sammo Hung) ('79) - amz
  • Knockabout (Sammo Hung) ('79) - amz
  • Mystery of Chessboxing ('79) - amz as Mystery of Chess Boxing
  • The Kid with the Golden Arm ('79) - amz
  • Fists (Clan) of the White Lotus ('80) - amz as Clan OTWL
  • Prodigal Son (Sammo Hung) ('81) - amz
  • Legendary Weapons of China ('82) - amz
  • The Shaolin Temple (Jet Li) ('82) - netflix
  • Five Element(s) Ninjas ('82) - amz
  • The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter ('83) - amz (says '84 tho, shrug)
  • Project A (Jackie Chan; '83) - amz rental
  • Wheels on Meals (Jackie Chan) ('84) - torrented
  • Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin (Jet Li again; maybe only on Youtube) ('84) - netflix)
  • Police Story (Jackie Chan; yes, martial arts) ('85) - amz rental
  • Martial Arts of Shaolin (earlyish Jet Li) ('86) - amz
  • Dragons Forever (Chan, Hung & Biao) ('88) - torrented
  • Once Upon A Time In China (& sequels) ('91-'97) - torrented but also see below
  • Police Story 3 (aka Super Cop; Jackie joined by Michelle Yeoh) ('92) - amz rental
  • Tai-Chi Master / Twin Warriors (Jet Li) ('93) - netflix
  • The Bride with White Hair ('93) - not on streaming or torrents
  • The Legend [of Fong Sai Yuk] (Jet Li) ('93) - netflix
  • The Legend [of Fong Sai Yuk] II (Jet Li) ('93) - netflix
  • Iron Monkey ('93) - amz rental
  • Drunken Master II (aka The Legend of Drunken Master) ('94) - netflix
  • Wing Chun ('94) - maybe available on amz rental in poor quality
  • Fist of Legend ('94) - netflix
  • The Blade ('95) - torrented
  • The God of Cookery (Stephen Chow) ('96) - netflix
  • Emperor and the Assassin ('99) - amz rental
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ('00) - amz rental
  • Kiss of the Dragon ('01) - amz rental
  • Shaolin Soccer ('01) - amz rental
  • Hero (Jet Li) ('02) - netflix
  • Azumi ('03) - torrented
  • Ong Bak ('03) - amz rental
  • Fighter in the Wind ('04) - amz
  • Born to Fight (Thai; '04) - amz
  • House of Flying Daggers ('04) - amz rental
  • Kung Fu Hustle ('04) - amz rental
  • District 13 (French) ('04) - amz rental
  • The Protector / Tom Yum Goong ('05) - amz rental
  • SPL: Sha Po Lang (aka Kill Zone) (not much MA until end but apparently a good film anyway) ('05) - torrented
  • Curse of the Golden Flower ('06) - amz rental
  • Fearless (Jet Li, '06) - amz rental
  • Chocolate [aka Zen, Warrior Within] ('08) - amz rental is an incredibly bad, unsynced dub...so torrented
  • Ip Man (and 2 and 3 possibly) ('08, '10, '15) - netflix, amz rental
  • Red Cliff (2-parter by John Woo; western release should be ~2.5hrs?) ('09) - netflix, amz rental
  • 13 Assassins ('10) - netflix, amz rental
  • 14 Blades ('10) - amz rental
  • Reign of Assassins ('10) - amz rental
  • Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen ('10) - only via some amz subscription thingy
  • Dragon (Donnie Yen) ('11) - netflix, amz rental
  • The Raid: Redemption (apparently what people mean when they just say "The Raid") ('11) - amz rental
  • Haywire (American, mentioned for good fight scenes) ('11) - amz rental
  • Tai Chi Zero (newer, Stephen-Chow-esque) ('12) - amz rental
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