Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently featured in training scenes and other sequences in addition to fights. Martial arts films commonly include hand-to-hand combat along with other types of action, such as stuntwork, chases, and gunfights. Sub-genres of martial arts films include kung fu films, wuxia, karate films, and martial arts action comedy films, while related genres include gun fu, jidaigeki and samurai films.
Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent and bizarre to dramatic and family-friendly movies. He is a controversial figure in the contemporary Japanese cinema industry, with several of his films being criticised for their extreme graphic violence. Some of his best known films are Audition, Ichi the Killer, Gozu, One Missed Call, the Dead or Alive trilogy, and various remakes: Graveyard of Honor, Hara-kiri and 13 Assassins.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 is a 2003 American martial arts film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Uma Thurman as the Bride, who swears revenge on a team of assassins and their leader, Bill, after they try to kill her. Her journey takes her to Tokyo, where she battles the yakuza.
Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 tankōbon volumes under the Jump Comics imprint. Set on a post-apocalyptic Earth after a nuclear war, the story centers on a warrior named Kenshiro, the successor of a deadly martial art known as Hokuto Shinken, which gives him the ability to kill his opponents by striking their secret vital points, which often results in an exceptionally violent and gory death. Kenshiro dedicates his life to fighting against the various gangs, bandits, and warlords who threaten the lives of the defenseless and innocent, as well as rival martial artists, including his own "brothers" from the same school.
Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin is a 1978 Hong Kong action film directed by Chen Chi Hwa and starring Jackie Chan. It was released by the Lo Wei Motion Picture Company, a subsidiary of Golden Harvest. Along with Tu Wi Ho, Chen was also the film's stunt co-ordinator.
Shaolin Wooden Men is a 1976 Hong Kong action film directed by Chen Chi-Hwa and starring Jackie Chan. It was made at Lo Wei's studio at Golden Harvest, during the post-Bruce Lee era.
Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor, martial artist and television personality. He won numerous karate and kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18. He is known for his roles as Wo Fat in Hawaii Five-0, Louis Stevens in Only the Strong, Mani in Brotherhood of the Wolf, Toby Wong in Drive, Ling in Cradle 2 the Grave, the titular role in Crying Freeman and Zero in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
Brotherhood of the Wolf is a 2001 French period action horror film directed by Christophe Gans, co-written by Gans and Stéphane Cabel, and starring Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Émilie Dequenne, Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel. The story takes place in 18th-century France, where the Chevalier de Fronsac and Mani of the Iroquois tribe are sent to investigate the mysterious slaughter of hundreds by an unknown creature in the province of Gévaudan.
The Street Fighter is a 1974 Japanese martial arts film produced by Toei Company Ltd., originally released in Japan as Gekitotsu! Satsujin ken. It was released in the US by New Line Cinema and became one of the first films to be a commercial success for the distributor. It is notable as the first film to receive an X-rating in the United States solely for violence. In the UK it was originally released as Kung Fu Streetfighter, presumably to avoid confusion with the Charles Bronson movie Hard Times which was initially released as The Streetfighter in the UK.
Versus is a 2000 Japanese zombie action film directed and co-written by Ryuhei Kitamura. The film was an independent co–production between Kitamura's company Napalm Films and Wevco Production in association with KSS and Suplex. In the film, a nameless prisoner, a nameless female and her Yakuza abductors fend off zombies in a forest that resurrects the dead while the Yakuza's mysterious leader attempts to open a supernatural gate hidden within the forest and seize its dark power.
The Hunted is a 1995 American and Japanese martial-arts thriller film written and directed by J. F. Lawton in his mainstream directorial debut, and starring Christopher Lambert, John Lone, Joan Chen, Yoshio Harada and Yoko Shimada. Lambert plays Paul Racine, an American businessman who by accident earns the wrath of a ninja clan led by Lone's character, Kinjo.
Sister Street Fighter is a spin-off of The Street Fighter (1974). The plot revolves around Lǐ Hóng-Lóng, the female martial artist of the title. When her brother Lǐ Wàn-Qīng is kidnapped by drug lords, she seeks revenge. The drug lord's colorful collection of "killers" includes a toga-clad group of Thai Boxers called the "Amazons Seven", along with representatives of almost every martial art. Hóng-Lóng breaks into the drug lord's compound with the help of Seiichi Hibiki and other members of the Shorinji Kempo dojo. After all of his minions are defeated, the drug lord himself battles Hóng-Lóng, wearing a steel claw in imitation of Han, the villain from Enter the Dragon (1973). This was the first in a trilogy of films. It was followed by Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread (1974) and The Return of the Sister Street Fighter (1975), each with Shihomi as star.
Chanbara (チャンバラ), also commonly spelled "chambara", meaning "sword fighting" films, denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. Chanbara is a sub-category of jidaigeki, which equates to period drama. Jidaigeki may refer to a story set in a historical period, though not necessarily dealing with a samurai character or depicting swordplay.
Fong Sai-yuk II is a 1993 Hong Kong martial arts comedy film directed by Corey Yuen, and also produced by and starring Jet Li as Chinese folk hero Fong Sai-yuk. The film is a sequel to Fong Sai-yuk, which was released earlier in the same year. Two former Miss Hong Kong Pageant winners, Michelle Reis and Amy Kwok, portrayed Fong Sai-yuk's wives.
Enter the Fat Dragon is a 1978 Hong Kong martial arts film starring and directed by Sammo Hung. The film is mostly a parody of the Bruce Lee film Way of the Dragon (1972), and a satire of the Bruceploitation phenomenon of the 1970s. The title is a reference to another Bruce Lee film, Enter the Dragon (1973).
Dragon Fist, also known as Dangsang Martial Arts or The Wild Big Boss, is a 1979 Hong Kong martial arts film directed and produced by Lo Wei, starring Jackie Chan, Nora Miao and James Tien. The film was released in Hong Kong on 21 April 1979.
Kenuichio Harada, also known as the original Silver Samurai, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A mutant with the power to charge his own katana, the character first appeared in Daredevil #111, and was created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Bob Brown. The character is depicted usually as a recurring nemesis of Wolverine.
John Corcoran was an American non-fiction book author, magazine editor, screenwriter and martial arts historian.
Mark Schilling is an American film critic, journalist, translator, and author based in Tokyo, Japan. He has written for The Japan Times, Variety, and Screen International.
Blade of the 47 Ronin is a 2022 American action-fantasy film directed by Ron Yuan, from a script co-written by John Swetnam, Aimee Garcia, and AJ Mendez, and is a sequel to the 47 Ronin. Set 300 years after its predecessor, the movie details the fight for survival of the final descendants of the 47 Ronin.
