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.
Pencak silat is an umbrella term for a class of related Indonesian martial arts. In neighbouring countries, the term usually refers to professional competitive silat. It is a full-body fighting form incorporating strikes, grappling, and throwing, in addition to weaponry. Every part of the body is used and subject to attack. Pencak silat was practiced not only for physical defense but also for psychological ends. There are hundreds of different pencak silat styles and schools which tend to focus either on strikes, joint manipulation, weaponry, or some combination thereof.
Betawi people, Batavi, or Batavians, are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the city of Jakarta and its immediate outskirts, as such often described as the inhabitants of the city. They are the descendants of the people who inhabited Batavia from the 17th century onwards.
Silat is the collective term for a class of martial arts from the Nusantara and surrounding geocultural areas of Southeast Asia. It is traditionally practised in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Southern Philippines and Southern Vietnam. There are hundreds of different styles (aliran) and schools (perguruan) which tend to focus either on strikes, joint manipulation, weaponry, or some combination thereof.
Julie Estelle Gasnier, better known as Julie Estelle, is an Indonesian actress and model. She is best known internationally for her roles in slasher and martial arts films, such as Ladya in Macabre (2009), Hammer Girl in The Raid 2 (2014), and The Operator in The Night Comes for Us (2018). She won Best New Actress at the 2015 Jackie Chan Action Movie Awards.
Merantau, released in some countries as Merantau Warrior, is a 2009 Indonesian martial arts action film written, directed and edited by Gareth Huw Evans, and starring Iko Uwais. The film marked Uwais' debut as an actor and was the first collaboration between director Evans and star Uwais. It also marks the acting debut of Yayan Ruhian, who, along with Uwais, Evans met while shooting for a documentary in Indonesia. It was this documentary which introduced Evans to the martial art of Pencak Silat.
Uwais Qorny, known professionally as Iko Uwais, is an Indonesian actor, stuntman, fight choreographer, and martial artist. He is best known for acting in the action films Merantau (2009), The Raid (2011), The Raid 2 (2014), Headshot (2016), Mile 22 (2018), The Night Comes for Us (2018), Stuber (2019) and the Netflix series Wu Assassins (2019–22).
Tiger from Tjampa is an Indonesian black and white drama film released in 1953, produced by Perfini, written and directed by D. Djajakusuma. It is still highly regarded today in Indonesia as an early portrayal in a fiction film of aspects of a traditional regional culture. Despite the numerous combat scenes as well as scenes of students practicing pencak silat, Indonesia's traditional form of self-defence, based on the movements of animals and although in the film, the lessons are conducted by a famous master, Tiger from Tjampa was never presented as a martial arts film.
The Raid is a 2011 Indonesian action thriller film written and directed by Gareth Evans and produced by Ario Sagantoro. The film stars Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah, Ray Sahetapy and Yayan Ruhian. The film follows an Indonesian National Police tactical squad that is deployed to raid a ruthless drug lord's apartment block in the slums of Jakarta, only to be encircled by the criminals, forcing them to fight their way through the complex.
Johannes Taslim, known professionally as Joe Taslim, is an Indonesian actor, martial artist, and model. He was a member of Indonesia’s national judo team from 1997 to 2009, becoming a three-time medalist at the Southeast Asian Games, and a Gold medalist at the 2008 Pekan Olahraga Nasional.
Donny Alamsyah or Donny Alamsyah Benjamin is an Indonesian actor, best known internationally for his role in action films Merantau (2009) and The Raid (2011). He became well known in Indonesia for his appearance in the 2006 criminal drama film 9 Naga.
The Raid 2, also known as The Raid: Retaliation, is a 2014 Indonesian action thriller film written, directed and edited by the Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans. It is the sequel to the 2011 film The Raid and stars Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara, Tio Pakusadewo, Alex Abbad, Julie Estelle, Ryuhei Matsuda, Kenichi Endō, and Kazuki Kitamura. In the film, Rama is sent undercover to expose the corrupt police officials colluding with the crime families of Jakarta's criminal underworld.
Paula Allodya Item, also known as Audy Item, is an Indonesian singer.
Yayan Ruhian is an Indonesian martial artist and actor. He is known for co-starring in Gareth Evans' films The Raid (2011) as Mad Dog, The Raid 2 (2014) as Prakoso, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) as Tasu Leech, and Beyond Skyline (2017) as the police chief. He reprises this role in Skylines (2020).
Indonesian martial arts includes a variety of fighting systems native to or developed in the archipelago of Indonesia, both the age-old traditional arts, and the more recently developed hybrid combatives. In the Indonesian language the term bela-diri is used to mean martial art, and in essence the Indonesian fighting arts are meant as one's defence against perceived threat and assault. Other than physical training, they often include spiritual aspects to cultivate inner strength, inner peace and higher psychological ends.
Headshot is a 2016 Indonesian action film directed by the Mo Brothers and written by Timo Tjahjanto. The film stars Iko Uwais and Chelsea Islan, alongside Sunny Pang, Julie Estelle, David Hendrawan, Zack Lee, Very Tri Yulisman, Bront Palarae and Yayu Unru. In the film, a man with amnesia, clashes against a crime syndicate to protect the doctor who saved his life.
Wu Assassins is an American supernatural action television series, created by John Wirth and Tony Krantz that premiered on Netflix on August 8, 2019. The series stars Iko Uwais, Byron Mann, Lewis Tan, Lawrence Kao, Celia Au, Li Jun Li, Tommy Flanagan, and Katheryn Winnick. The first season received positive reviews, with critics praising the fight choreography, although there was criticism of the plot.
Timo Tjahjanto is an Indonesian film director, producer, and screenwriter known for his film works mostly on the horror and action genres. Tjahjanto owns the film production company Merah Production.
The Mo Brothers is an Indonesian filmmaking duo consisting of directors, producers, and screenwriters Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel. They have mostly worked on the action, thriller, and horror genres. They first became known for directing the short film Dara in 2007, which became the basis of their 2009 feature film debut Macabre. Together, they have received a Citra Award Best Director nomination in 2016 for directing the action film Headshot, after which Tjahjanto and Stamboel have gone on to make movies individually to further critical and commercial success.
Cecep Arif Rahman is an actor, athlete, and martial artist from Indonesia. Cecep is a martial arts practitioner from the Silat Panglipur school. His career in pencak silat brought him to the Bercy Festival des Arts Martiaux in France from 2005 to 2008. His early acting career began with the movie The Raid 2.
