My Martial Arts Movie Collection... In A Nutshell

In these crazy times of unease surrounding the worldwide coronavirus issue, we still need diversions, like entertainment, to take us away from the worry and stress of the everyday, even if it's just for a couple of hours. This is what we humans have done through the ages, at least the ones who got through in one piece. A story, something whimsical or escapist, can ease the pain or the worry for a time.

A Bruce Lee poster from a magazine I owned

when I was a young teen - still got it!

And so today I will continue with my blog, and will take a look at my martial arts movie collection. This genre doesn't hold a large place on my shelves, for I'm not a massive fan of the MA genre, but given my picky tendencies, I feel I've chosen some pretty solid films on home video.

I used to have some early Jackie Chan movies on VHS back in the 90's, but never went beyond that... so no DVDs or Blu-rays of his work now. But I have seen a handful of his later stuff, like his great turn in the Karate (should have read Kung Fu) Kid remake, and the surprisingly good kung fu fantasy The Forbidden Kingdom.

Back in the day, I also had Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story on videotape, but haven't gotten around to upgrading to digital disc yet. Someday... it's a very cool bio-pic from the 90s.

And of course, I've seen loads of other martial arts flicks over the decades (mostly on television, mostly on TBS and their "Movies for Guys Who Like Movies", and some on video rentals way way back), from fighter/actors as varied as Van Damme and Seagal to Speakman and Jet Li to Michelle Yeoh, plus Sonny Chiba, Lundgren, Jim Kelly, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Dan Inosanto, and the list goes on.

If you're interested in reading about my personal experiences growing up with MA movies and training, check it out here.

Anyway, this is about the martial arts films I have on physical media in my home collection, so here goes:


To begin properly, here are my Bruce Lee movies:

The Big Boss - this kicked (and punched) off the Lee franchise
Fist of Fury
Way of the Dragon
Enter the Dragon - the pinnacle of Lee's film career
Game of Death - Lee only appears briefly (he died during filming) & the result is shoddy at best
Game of Death II - doesn't deserve mention really, as this just uses clips from Lee's earlier films. The man had already been gone from this earth for eight years. Give it a miss.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - Oscar-winning stunner of both cinematic artistry and MA action

Dragon Inn - an exciting 60's Chinese classic... from revered director King Hu

Ip Man - Donnie Yen brings humility and fancy footwork to the role of Bruce Lee's future teacher
Ip Man 2 - more Yen action... still a cool story and packed with chop-socky action
Ip Man 3 - the saga continues... and a fourth instalment is out there (I've seen it) but hasn't made it into my home media collection yet

Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior - Tony Jaa revived the genre with his wild Muay Thai kickboxing
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning - an odd but exciting prequel, and I've seen OB 3 but never bought it

Samurai Jack in cosmic battle with the demon Aku

So that's it for the movies, but I do have a couple of made-for-TV martial arts shows to mention:

Kung Fu - the show that generated even more MA-mania beyond ol' Bruce during the 1970s. Star David Carradine is excellent as the Shaolin monk and kung fu disciple who escapes a death sentence in China, and flees to America's Old West, where he wanders the land, evading bounty hunters. I have only the first season, and I feel that's enough... for now.

Samurai Jack - yes,  it's animated, but it's not really aimed at kids... the episodes are very cinematically stylish, both visually and musically. It's fun though often serious and dramatic, following the time-travelling Samurai on his quest to return to his own time and to defeat the shape-shifting demon Aku. The show is often amusing, yet philosphical, often with wacky opponents and allies in battle. I have the complete series (five seasons) on DVD. Jack is one of my top animated shows of all time, in case you haven't figured that out yet.