Friday Favorites: Kung Fu Movies

This is far and away my favorite genre of film, and I’ve watched a loooooooooooooooot of these over the years. Here are my favorites (like Spinal Tap, this list goes to 11):

• One-Armed Swordsman: A Classic Shaw Brothers joint starring Jimmy Wang. My friend John reminded me about this movie the other day, and I had to put it on here, it’s so good.
• Wing Chun: Michelle Yeoh, my Queen! She’s in so many films but only gets top billing in a few. This is one of them, and it’s awesome (bonus Donny Yen).
• Five Deadly Venoms: One of the best of the “martial arts inventory” films, where the point of the plot is basically to display different styles of kung fu.
• Legend of Drunken Master: One of nearly 100 films about the (heavily fictionalized) life of Qing-dynasty physician, martial artist, and folk hero Wong Fei-hung. Jackie Chan wasn’t a trained martial artist (he trained in Peking Opera), but he could’ve fooled me. Plus, the incomparable Anita Mui (RIP).
• Once Upon a Time in China, Part Two: Another entry in the Wong Fei-hung universe (WFHU); also, the first time Jet Li fought Donny Yen on screen. The alley fight alone is worth the price of admission.
• Ip Man: I could put ten Donny Yen films on here, but this is the best acting I’ve seen him do, and his Wing Chun is jaw-dropping.
• 36th Chamber of Shaolin: Gotta get the legendary Gordon Liu on this list. I’m pretty fond of his Legendary Weapons of China as well, another good “inventory” film.
• Master of the Flying Guillotine: Crazypants, in a good way. Mortal Kombat, battle royale, and kung fu “inventory” film all-in-one.
• Enter the Dragon. I’m actually fonder of Return of the Dragon because of the fight between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in the Coliseum. But I don’t know what happens to you if you make a “Top 10 Kung Fu Film” list that doesn’t have ETD on it, and I’m not about to find out.
• Iron Monkey: Another WFHU movie. The fighting is great in this movie, but what I mostly remember is the kung-fu cooking scene. Yu Rongguang isn’t that well known in the States, so I’m glad to get him on here.
• Black Mask: Jet Li, meet the 90s. I love Fist of Legend, too, but Black Mask is just too gonzo not to make the cut.

I don’t just watch kung fu, so I’ll add additional lists of martial arts films in the future, but gotta start with the classics.