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.
Above the Law, also known as Nico: Above the Law, or simply Nico, is a 1988 American crime action thriller film co-written, co-produced and directed by Andrew Davis. It marked the film debut of Steven Seagal, who also produced the film alongside Davis, and stars Seagal alongside Pam Grier, Sharon Stone, Ron Dean and Henry Silva. Seagal plays Nico Toscani, an ex-CIA agent, an Aikido specialist and a Chicago policeman who discovers a conspiracy upon investigating the mysterious shipment of military explosives seized from a narcotics dealer.
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a 1978 Hong Kong kung fu film directed by Lau Kar-leung and produced by Shaw Brothers, starring Gordon Liu. The film follows a highly fictionalized version of San Te, a legendary Shaolin martial arts disciple who trained under the general Chi Shan.
Five Deadly Venoms, also known as The Five Venoms, is a 1978 Hong Kong martial arts mystery film directed and co-written by Chang Cheh and produced by Runme Shaw for the Shaw Brothers Studio. It stars Chiang Shieng as Yang Tieh, a martial arts pupil who aims to follow his master's dying wish: to find the new identities of the master's five previous pupils, and kill them if they have turned towards evil. While doing so, Yang stumbles onto a web of murders and investigations involving all five pupils. Each of the master's previous pupils practices a unique animal-themed style, with the animals being based on the Five Poisonous Creatures of Chinese folklore.
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 and Jackie Chan. The film, set in a version of ancient China populated by anthropomorphic animals, centers on a bumbling giant panda 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.
"Kung Fu Kapers" is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies. It caused a viewer to die from laughing on the day the episode aired.
TC 2000 is a 1993 science fiction action film written and directed by T. J. Scott and starring Billy Blanks, Jalal Merhi, Bolo Yeung, Bobbie Phillips and Matthias Hues. Its plot takes place in a dystopian future, where an elite cop (Blanks) tries to reconnect with a fallen comrade (Phillips) turned into a cyborg by the government, while trying to protect his underground city from the surface rebels whose leader (Merhi) is responsible for her death. Some aspects of TC 2000 serve as product placement for an eponymous brand of martial arts equipment.
Scanners: The Showdown is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Steve Barnett. It is the sequel to Scanner Cop and the fifth film in the Scanners series. Daniel Quinn returns as a psychic police officer who searches for a serial killer who targets other psychics.
Martial Law is a 1991 American action/martial arts film written by Richard Brandes, produced by Kurt Anderson, directed by Steve Cohen and stars Chad McQueen, Cynthia Rothrock and David Carradine.
Petey Wheatstraw is a 1977 American blaxploitation comedy film written and directed by Cliff Roquemore, and starring comedian Rudy Ray Moore alongside Jimmy Lynch, Leroy Daniels, Ernest Mayhand, Ebony Wright, and Wildman Steve Gallon. It is typical of Moore's other films from the same era, such as Dolemite and The Human Tornado.
Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness is an American animated comedy spin-off television series co-produced by DreamWorks Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Studio based on DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda films. First released in 2011, the show serves as a bridge between the first and second films, showing Po's training to becoming a successful Dragon Warrior, whereas the second film is, according to the series' developer Peter Hastings, "not unlike a very long, super-deluxe 3-D version of one of our episodes."
Don't Answer the Phone! is a 1980 American psychological horror film co-written and directed by Robert Hammer. While not prosecuted for obscenity, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic.
Kung Fu Panda is an American martial arts comedy media franchise that started in 2008 with the release of the animated film Kung Fu Panda 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.
Jennifer Yuh Nelson is an American story artist, character designer, illustrator, and film and television director. She is best known for directing the films Kung Fu Panda 2, Kung Fu Panda 3, and The Darkest Minds. Yuh is the first woman to solely direct and the first Asian American to direct a major American animated film, and has been recognized as a commercially successful Asian American director.
Curucu, Beast of the Amazon is a 1956 American adventure/monster film, directed and written by Curt Siodmak and starring John Bromfield, Beverly Garland and Tom Payne. The title creature is pronounced "Koo-Ruh-SOO". The film was distributed in the United States as a double feature with The Mole People.
Vinegar Syndrome is an American home video distribution company which specializes in "protecting and preserving genre films". The company was founded in 2012 in Bridgeport, Connecticut by Joe Rubin and Ryan Emerson, who created it to restore and distribute old X-rated films that were lost or otherwise unavailable. Their catalog has since expanded to include other types of cult and exploitation films, including horror films and action films.
The Vixens of Kung Fu (A Tale of Yin Yang) is a 1975 American pornographic martial arts exploitation film produced and directed by Bill Milling, under the pseudonym Chiang. It stars Bree Anthony, Tony Richards, Peonies Jong, and C. J. Laing, and follows a prostitute who is gang raped, and who seeks revenge against her rapists after being trained in kung fu with a clan of other women by a martial artist. The film received an X rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.
Dracula Sucks is a 1978 American pornographic horror film directed and co-written by Philip Marshak. The film is based on the 1931 film Dracula, and the 1897 novel of the same name by Bram Stoker. It stars Jamie Gillis as Count Dracula, a vampire who purchases an estate next to a mental institution. The film also stars Annette Haven, John Leslie, Serena, Reggie Nalder, Kay Parker, and John Holmes. An alternate cut of Dracula Sucks, titled Lust at First Bite, has also been released.
The Paper Tigers is a 2020 American martial arts action comedy film written and directed by Bao Tran in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Alain Uy, Ron Yuan and Mykel Shannon Jenkins as three middle-aged former kung fu prodigies who set out to avenge the murder of their master. Yuji Okumoto, an actor on the film The Karate Kid Part II and the series Cobra Kai, served as a producer for the film.
Red Sun Rising is a 1994 American martial arts action film directed by Francis Megahy and starring Don "The Dragon" Wilson, James Lew, Terry Farrell, Mako, Michael Ironside and Edward Albert. Wilson plays a Japanese cop who travels to Los Angeles and teams up with a reluctant American counterpart (Farrell) to track down the gang responsible for the murder of his partner, whose hitman (Lew) is an expert in the ancient art of the death touch. The full title, as it appears on the title card, is Red Sun Rising: Based on the Legend of the Death Touch.
