Enter the Dragon is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse from a story written by Michael Allin. It stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death on 20 July 1973 at the age of 32. An American-Hong Kong co-production, it premiered in Los Angeles on 19 August 1973, one month after Lee's death.
In general, kung fu or kungfu refers to the Chinese martial arts also called wushu and quanfa. In China, it refers to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, energy, and time to complete. In its original meaning, kung fu can refer to any discipline or skill achieved through hard work and practice, not necessarily martial arts. The literal equivalent of "Chinese martial art" in Mandarin would be 中國武術 zhōngguó wǔshù.
Bruce Lee was a Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that is sometimes credited with paving the way for modern mixed martial arts (MMA). Lee is considered by some commentators and martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, who bridged the gap between East and West. He is credited with promoting Hong Kong action cinema and helping to change the way Chinese people were presented in American films.
Shaolin Soccer is a 2001 Hong Kong sports comedy film directed by Stephen Chow, who also stars in the lead role. The film revolves around a former Shaolin monk who reunites his five brothers, years after their master's death, to apply their superhuman martial arts skills to play soccer and bring Shaolin kung fu to the masses.
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.
Cynthia Ann Christine Rothrock is an American martial artist and actress in martial arts films. Rothrock holds black belt rankings in seven styles of martial arts and was a high-level competitor in martial arts before becoming an actress. In 2014, she was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.
The Last Dragon is a 1985 American martial arts comedy film written by Louis Venosta, produced by Rupert Hitzig for Berry Gordy and directed by Michael Schultz. The film stars Taimak, Vanity, Julius Carry, Christopher Murney, Keshia Knight Pulliam, and Faith Prince. Choreography was created by Lester Wilson and Lawrence Leritz.
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong Kong filmmakers combined with elements from Hollywood and Japanese cinema along with new action choreography and filmmaking techniques, to create a culturally distinctive form that went on to have wide transcultural appeal. In turn, Hollywood action films have been heavily influenced by Hong Kong genre conventions, from the 1970s onwards.
William Cheung or Cheung Cheuk-hing is a Hong Kong Wing Chun kung fu practitioner and currently the Grandmaster of his lineage of Wing Chun, entitled Traditional Wing Chun (TWC). He also heads the sanctioning body of TWC, the Global Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu Association (GTWCKFA). He is the recipient of a Masters Award for lifetime achievement in Kung Fu from Martial Arts Australia.
Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 American animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The first installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, it was directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne, from a screenplay and story respectively written by the writing teams of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris. The film stars the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong, Dan Fogler, Michael Clarke Duncan and Jackie Chan. The film, set in a version of ancient China populated by anthropomorphic animals, centers on a bumbling panda bear named Po (Black), a kung-fu enthusiast living in the Valley of Peace. When the savage snow leopard Tai Lung (McShane) is foretold to escape imprisonment and attack the Valley, Po is unwittingly named the "Dragon Warrior", a prophesied hero worthy of reading a scroll that has been intended to grant its reader limitless power.
The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu was an American black-and-white martial arts comics magazine published by Magazine Management, a corporate sibling of Marvel Comics. A total of 33 issues were published from 1974 to 1977, plus one special edition. Additionally, a color Marvel comic titled simply Deadly Hands of Kung Fu was published as a 2014 miniseries.
Ron Van Clief is an American martial artist and an actor in Hollywood and Hong Kong action films. He is best known for starring in 1970s blaxploitation and kung fu films. He is the father of poet Shihan van Clief.
Kung fu film is a subgenre of martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema set in the contemporary period and featuring realistic martial arts. It lacks the fantasy elements seen in wuxia, a related martial arts genre that uses historical settings based on ancient China. Swordplay is also less common in kung-fu films than in wuxia and fighting is done through unarmed combat.
Bruce Liang is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor who has appeared in many Hong Kong martial arts movies. He often appeared billed as "Bruce Leung", "Bruce Liang", "Bruce Leong", or "Bruce Leung Siu-lung", and is thus generally grouped among the Bruce Lee clones that sprang up after Lee's death in the subgenre known as Bruceploitation.
Kung Fu Panda (Music from the Motion Picture) is the score album to the 2008 film Kung Fu Panda. The album features original score composed by Hans Zimmer and John Powell, and a cover of the disco song "Kung Fu Fighting" performed by CeeLo Green and Jack Black (who also plays Po, the lead character). The album consisted of traditional and orchestral score, infused with Chinese music, where Zimmer visited China to study the traditions and culture. As a process, the score was recorded with mostly Chinese traditional instruments, and the China National Symphony Orchestra also performed the score. The 17-track album was released by Interscope Records on June 3, 2008.
Kung Fu Panda is an American media franchise that originally started in 2008 with the release of the animated feature film of the same name, produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping, a giant panda who is improbably chosen as the prophesied Dragon Warrior and becomes a master of kung fu, the franchise is set in a fantasy wuxia genre version of ancient China populated by anthropomorphic animals. Although everyone initially doubts him, including Po himself, he proves himself worthy as he strives to fulfill his destiny.
Shaolin Kenpo Karate is a martial art style that combines the Five Animals of Shaolin Kung Fu (Shaolinquan), the core competency of Kempo, the hard-hitting linear explosiveness of traditional Karate, as well as the power of Western boxing and the felling and grappling arts of Jujutsu, Chin Na, and Mongolian wrestling. This system was founded and developed by Fredrick J. Villari, who devised a hybrid system which integrated the four ways of fighting: striking, kicking, felling, and grappling to eliminate the inherent weakness of martial arts systems that focus on just one or two of fighting techniques.
Kung Fu Panda 3 is a 2016 animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation, China Film Group Corporation, Oriental DreamWorks and Zhong Ming You Ying Film, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the third installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise and the sequel to Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011). The film was directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni and written by the writing team of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.
Eric Anthony Oram is an American Wing Chun Kung Fu practitioner and fight choreographer who introduced a new way of filming fight scenes in the film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows in which the actors fought with real strikes and attacks, which were then featured in slow motion at 500 frames per second in the final movie. He has trained well known actors in Wing Chun such as Christian Bale for Batman Begins, Jake Gyllenhaal, and in particular Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes as his personal on-set consultant in numerous movies. Oram has been credited for training Downey in Kung Fu since 2003 as a way to beat his drug addictions. He wrote a moving letter to judge and California Governor Jerry Brown in support of Downey's pardon.
Kung Fu Panda 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2016 film Kung Fu Panda 3, the third instalment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise and the sequel to Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011). The film score is composed by Hans Zimmer, who scored the previous instalments with John Powell, but the latter did not return for the third instalment, thereby Zimmer being credited as the sole composer for the franchise. The album was released by Sony Classical Records on January 29, 2016, to positive critical response.
