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.
Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert is a French-American actor, producer, and novelist. He started his career playing supporting parts in several French films, and became internationally famous for portraying Tarzan in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). For his performance in the film Subway (1985), he received the César Award for Best Actor. His most famous role is Connor MacLeod in the adventure-fantasy film Highlander (1986) and the subsequent franchise of the same name.
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the age of ten his father enrolled him in martial arts classes, which led to Van Damme participating in several competitions. With the desire of becoming an actor, he moved to the United States in 1982, where he did odd jobs and worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the martial arts film Bloodsport (1988).
Tatchakorn Yeerum, better known internationally as Tony Jaa and in Thailand as Jaa Phanom, is a Thai martial artist, actor, action choreographer, stuntman, director, and traceur. His films include Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003), Tom-Yum-Goong (2005), Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (2008), Furious 7 (2015) and SPL II: A Time for Consequences (2015).
Khalil Kain is an American actor, film producer and best known for his role as Raheem Porter in the 1992 crime thriller film Juice and as the second Darnell Wilkes on the UPN/CW sitcom Girlfriends (2001–2008). He is also known for his role as Patrick Peet in the 2001 horror film Bones.
Keith Vitali is an American Karate master, former number one ranked full-contact fight champion, martial artist, actor, producer, author and child activist, best known for films such as Revenge of the Ninja, Wheels on Meals, No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers, and American Kickboxer.
Matthew Mullins is an American actor and martial artist. At the age of 16, in 2000, he won his first World Kickboxing Association title in Dublin, Ireland. This would be his first of five championships in the next three years.
Olivier Gruner, is a French former naval commando, actor, director, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and pilot. Born in Paris, France, he moved to the United States in 1988. His career in the film industry began in 1987 when he first appeared at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Scott Edward Adkins is a British actor, film producer and martial artist. He is best known for his role as the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the Undisputed franchise. He has played Yuri Boyka in the (2006) film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing and its two sequels, Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017); Casey Bowman in the (2009) film Ninja and its (2013) sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear; French in the (2018) film The Debt Collector and its (2020) sequel Debt Collectors.
Left for Dead is a 2005 British action film directed by Ross Boyask.
Isaac Florentine is an Israeli film director. He is best known for his martial arts and action genre films, namely Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), Undisputed III: Redemption (2010), Ninja (2009), Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013) and Close Range (2015) and for launching the career of British actor Scott Adkins. Florentine completed his degree in Film & Television from Tel Aviv University.
Darren Majian Shahlavi was an English actor, martial artist and stuntman.
Rodney Glunder is a retired Dutch professional kickboxer, mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and boxer, current actor, entrepreneur and bodybuilder. He has fought for M-1 Global, Cage Rage, K-1, PRIDE Fighting Championship, RINGS, Glory, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, It's Showtime, SuperKombat, SLAMM!! Events and Art of War Fighting Championship. Glunder holds notable wins over top contenders Cheick Kongo, Valentijn Overeem, Joe Riggs, Melvin Manhoef, Cyrille Diabaté, Brian Douwes and Gregory Tony.
A. J. Verel is an American kickboxer, martial artist, actor, stuntman and inductee into the Pro Martial Arts/MMA Hall of Fame. Verel is a former Light Heavyweight & Middleweight sport karate and kickboxing Champion. In 1992 he won the World Kickboxing Association's (WKA) Middleweight title. Verel holds black belts in five different martial arts and as co-captain of the U.S. National Martial Arts and N.A.C.K. Demonstration Teams won two gold medals.
Lorraine Ziff is an American actress. She received a Bachelor of Arts double degree in theater and communications from Marymount College, Tarrytown and her master's degree in social work from Fordham. As an actress, she stars alongside Robert Picardo and Gary Busey in the horror film Mansion of Blood. She also appears in the thriller film Treachery with Michael Biehn and co-stars in the supernatural Western film Six Gun Savior with Eric Roberts.
Dimitri Logothetis is a Greek-American actor, director, comedian, and producer.
Kickboxer: Vengeance is a 2016 American martial arts film directed by John Stockwell, and starring Dave Bautista, Alain Moussi, Gina Carano, Georges St-Pierre, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. It is the sixth film in the Kickboxer franchise and also serves as a reboot. The film has a similar premise as the first film in the franchise. The film was released in select theaters and on VOD by RLJ Entertainment on September 2, 2016.
Alain Moussi is a Canadian actor, stuntman, and martial artist trained in jujitsu, kickboxing, and karate. He plays the lead role of Kurt Sloane in the reboot of the Kickboxer series, Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016) and Kickboxer: Retaliation (2018), a role that was originated by Jean-Claude Van Damme, who portrays his mentor in the films. Moussi also played the lead role in the action film Jiu Jitsu (2020), the role of Charlie Nash in the web series Street Fighter: Resurrection (2016), and Batman in the first season of the television series Titans (2018).
The Martial Arts Kid is a 2015 martial arts film directed by Michael Baumgarten and starring Don "The Dragon" Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock as a couple who take in their nephew Jansen Panettiere, and teach him martial arts when he is bullied. Most of the supporting cast of the film are actual martial artists, some of whom appear as themselves in the film.
Loren Avedon Rains is an American martial arts actor best known for his portrayal of Jake Donahue in The King of the Kickboxers and Scott Wylde in No Retreat, No Surrender 2.
