Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature 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.
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 group of assassins and their leader, Bill, after they try to kill her and her unborn child. Her journey takes her to Tokyo, where she battles the yakuza.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to martial arts:
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. A 4th-degree black belt in Wun Hop Kuen Do, he is known for his roles in action films, including as Louis Stevens in Only the Strong, the title role in Crying Freeman, Mani in Brotherhood of the Wolf, Ling in Cradle 2 the Grave, Sharish in Nomad, and as 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 county of Gévaudan.
The Street Fighter is a 1974 Japanese martial arts film produced by Toei Company, directed by Shigehiro Ozawa, and starring Sonny Chiba. It was released in the United States 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 US solely for violence.
Fist of Legend is a 1994 Hong Kong martial arts film directed and co-written by Gordon Chan, featuring action choreography by Yuen Woo-ping, and produced by Jet Li, who also stars in the lead role of Chen Zhen. It is a remake of the 1972 Bruce Lee film Fist of Fury.
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.
Code Name: The Cleaner is a 2007 American action comedy film directed by Les Mayfield and starring Lucy Liu, Cedric the Entertainer, Callum Keith Rennie, Nicollette Sheridan and Mark Dacascos. The film was released by New Line Cinema on January 5, 2007. Upon its release, the film was met with negative reviews by critics.
Afro Samurai is a Japanese seinendōjinshi manga series written and illustrated by manga artist Takashi Okazaki. It was originally serialized irregularly in the avant-garde dōjinshi manga magazine Nou Nou Hau from November 1998 to September 2002. Inspired by Okazaki's love of soul and hip hop music and American media, it follows the life of Afro Samurai who witnessed his father, Rokutaro killed by a gunslinger man named Justice while he was a child. As an adult, Afro sets off to kill Justice and avenge his father.
Sister Street Fighter, original titled in Japan as On'na Hissatsu-ken, also released in the United Kingdom as Revenge of the Dragon, also released in Germany as Die Karate Tiger 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
Kenuichio Harada appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Bob Brown, the character first appeared in Daredevil #111. Kenuichio Harada belongs to the subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. He is a recurring antagonist of the superhero Wolverine. The character is known under the codename Silver Samurai.
John Corcoran was an American non-fiction book author, magazine editor, screenwriter and martial arts historian.
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. Blade of the 47 Ronin was released as a Netflix Original Film on October 25, 2022.
