Recommend me some Samurai/Kung Fu movies.

[ExedExes]

The Five Deadly Venoms

Seconded and all that. I grew up watching badly dubbed Shaw Brothers films like that one on WNEW's "Drive-In Movie"

[TSTR]

I must have missed the "serious" part of the request. Whoops. Carry on.

[Nyukki]

Raiders of Wu Tang

I had this on DVD as a kid, this movie kicks so much ass! Basically, Little Lu has to learn some crazy kung fu from his drunken master guy and two crippled uncles so he can defeat 18 mechanical horses, whilst also fighting corrupt local officials and trying to bed the hot stable girl. So many hilarious one liners and awesome music.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Also, laugh all you want, but I still love the original Mortal Kombat.

No laughing here. It is actually a pretty solid movie if you place by '90s kung fu movie standards.

[Ack]

Ok, so he prefers realistic period pieces that are in color from both genres. Ok...

Before we go down this path, there are a couple of things you should understand about the differences between postwar Japanese and Chinese cinema. In the wake of WWII, Japanese cinema turned reflective but also highly critical, taking often nihilistic viewpoints regarding its history and culture, particularly to such concepts as honor and nationalism. The problem with honor has pervaded Japanese cinema ever since, and over time its films have dipped into exploitation, carnage, and barbarism. That's not to say they're not beautiful masterpieces, but even the most notable director Akira Kurosawa isn't afraid to show men crawling through the dirt as they bleed to death. And that's on the clean end. On the opposite, you're looking at films like Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold.

Chinese cinema went in an entirely different direction. In the postwar years, the Chinese communists expelled Chang Kai-Shek and his western-backed military, asserted itself an equal to Russia in terms of power, military might, and Communist doctrine, and took on a fiercely pro-China stance. As a result, Chinese films are much more willing to show Chinese heroes as lovable, capable figures, and there is a much heavier pro-nationalist slant to their films, growing even higher in the years since Hong Kong(effectively the Chinese Hollywood) was turned over from British governance. Big stars are also openly in favor of the Chinese government, and actors such as Jackie Chan have periodically denigrated opposing nations in interviews, including the United States.

CHANBARA (Samurai films)

The Twilight Samurai/The Hidden Blade/Love and Honor

They're not an actual trilogy, just a set of three chanbara films directed by Yoji Yamada which focus on the role of honor in a samurai's life. All three are excellent character studies but involve some wonderful and brutal fight sequences.

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai

This is a modern update of Masaki Kobayashi's 1962 classic, Harakiri, directed by the legendary(or infamous, depending on your perspective) Takashi Miike. It's more brutal, violent, and gratuitous than the original(it's a Miike film), but I still think it's a solid update(and obviously one by Miike, whose 13 Assassins I also highly recommend).

Ran

This is one of my favorite Akira Kurosawa films, and one of the few samurai epics he did in color. I recommend all Kurosawa films, regardless of genre, but if you want to see armies attacking, warlords plotting, and a king going mad, this is the one to watch. It also happens to be one of Kurosawa's fuedal Japanese takes on Shakespeare, specifically King Lear, as well as the life of daimyō Mōri Motonari.

Lone Wolf and Cub

I love these movies, partly because they and the manga which inspired them went on to further inspire such works as Road to Perdition. While the films progressively get worse over the course of the series, culminating in the ridiculous White Heaven in Hell, these films start solid and are classics of the fusion between Chanbara and exploitation filmmaking. Sword of Vengeance is the first and the best to me, though I also enjoyed the second and third films, Baby Cart at the River Styx and Baby Cart to Hades respectively. After that...well, you can choose to keep watching, though the best is behind you. Also, you may hear about the Shogun Assassin version. Avoid it.

47 Ronin

This is the 1994 film, not the new Keanu Reeves movie! There are numerous film versions of the Chūshingura, but for those who prefer color versions, I'd say watch this one, though keep in mind that the focus is more on the plotting and setup of the attack as opposed to the attack itself. In some ways, this is more a heist movie, just with a bloody conclusion.

WUXIA (Kung Fu films)

Once Upon a Time in China

This is the first of a series originally starring Jet Li(and later Vincent Zhao), and it remains one of the favorites of his work. The story takes place in the late 1800s, with Li in the role of folkhero Wong Fei-hung. There's a great mixture of comedy and action here, and while not always realistic, Li doesn't do too much wirework.

Enter the Dragon

Perhaps Bruce Lee's greatest action film, considering he never got to finish Game of Death(I don't recommend tracking down the 1978 film released using his footage, though I do suggest tracking down Lee's actual footage). Enter the Dragon is a spectacular martial arts and action film, and Lee also wanted to show his love for Chinese culture and keep things accessible for a foreign audience. The film also stars John Saxon and Jim Kelly as the heroes, and Bolo Yeung as a villain, along with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung in bit parts. This is a modern film.

Come Drink with Me

Again, there is some wirework here, but this is considered one of the greatest Wuxia films ever made, and is also one of few on this list staring a female lead, a very young Chang Pei-pei. Considering the film came out in 1966, the choreography is brilliant and is meant to appear similar to traditional Peking opera.

Police Story

This is a modern police film in Hong Kong, but I don't care, I consider it the greatest of all Jackie Chan's filmography. He was at the peak of his game with his stuntwork, and there are moments where I marvel and wonder how he got things so perfect and didn't die along the way. The fight sequences are also top notch and feature Chan's signature humor along with great physical violence.

One Armed Swordsman

This movie launched the career of Jimmy Wang(whose The Chinese Boxer helped bring wuxia movies to an international audience) and launched the trope of a handicapped fighter in martial arts movies, which Wang later portrayed in such films as One Armed Boxer, Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman, and Master of the Flying Guillotine(and the influence can be seen in other, more exploitative films such as Crippled Masters). It's violent and full of bloody revenge, but its also a tale of overcoming adversity and defiance in response to a crippling injury.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

Gordon Liu plays the legendary 18th century Shaolin monk San Te as he first joins the Shaolin monastery and learns the art of Kung Fu but eventually leaves the temple over his desire to teach martial arts to the people so they can overcome the tyrannical Manchu government. After successfully aiding the peasants, San Te returns and establishes the 36th Chamber of Shaolin, enabling laypeople to learn the art. This is considered another of the greatest wuxia movies ever made.

[ninjainspandex]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IuZ7Wp9brp ... uZ7Wp9brpM

Pure classic Jackie Chan

[tintinmayo]

People have already mentioned almost all of what I would recommend, but here's a few more recommendations:

Bodyguards and Assassins

I wouldn't say the fight scenes are completely realistic (Leon Lai/the Beggar dude doesn't look believable as a martial artist, especially with the metal fan) but Donnie Yen vs. Cung Le was brutal. Exactly what you'd expect from the two.

The story's good too. It's supposed to be based on history but yeah - you know the drill. It's still an action-suspense movie first and foremost.

God of Gamblers

It's not a period piece, and Chow Yun Fat is not a real martial artist, but the fight scenes are really good and Dragon 9 in particular starts to border on being Superhuman.

BTW,

When we say realistic, are we talking about realistic in the sense that the fight scenes aren't ridiculously over the top (people don't fly or break rocks with punches?) or just fight scenes that don't look cheesy due to crappy special effects and people who are obviously not martial artists (e.g. wire-fu, the fight scenes in The Last Airbender.)

Oh, and Jackie Chan's Gorgeous.

It's JC trying to do a romantic film, but you can skip past the story and just watch the two fight scenes against Bradley Allan. It's less comedy stuntwork and more boxing. Interestingly, there are people over at youtube who are mistaking some of the parts as being fast-forwarded.

[TSTR]

Also, laugh all you want, but I still love the original Mortal Kombat.

No laughing here. It is actually a pretty solid movie if you place by '90s kung fu movie standards.

I lose my shit every time Johnny Cage and Scorpion fight in the catacombs while Fear Factory is blasting in the background.

[MrEco]

Just a status update for anyone wondering. I've recently watched the films Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Shinobi: Heart Under Blade.

Crouching Tiger was very good in my opinion. The fight scenes near the end got a little on the crazy side, with people more or less gaining the ability to fly. But I liked the plot so much that it made up for it. Also the ending was a little too ambiguous for my tastes, but not bad enough to actually put a dent in the movie for me.


Shinobi was... passable. I'm not sure when the movie came out, but the special effects were a bit distracting considering the things they had those characters doing. The fight scenes, while somewhat entertaining, were entirely filled with unrealistic superhuman feats that really ruined it for me. I might as well have watched an episode of Naruto. The plot was much better but didn't feel fleshed out enough for me and had a couple annoying plot holes that never seemed to get patched up by the end.


As soon as I get the chance Seven Samurai is the next on my list to buy.

[J T]

Epic post Ack!