Famous martial arts movies


	Game of Death	This film has a smashing finale as Bruce Lee takes on such villains as b-ball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

	Return of the Dragon	Bruce Lee: "Way of the Dragon" is one of several re-issue titles for Lee's "Return of the Dragon". Filmed in Rome and Hong Kong, this exhilarating adventure flick finds Lee battling Chuck Norris, in one of the latter's few unsympathetic roles. The climax pits Lee against Norris in the middle of the Roman Coliseum! Directed by Bruce Lee himself (who exhibits an unsuspected flair for comedy), "Return of the Dragon" was the last "complete" Lee vehicle. The fight between the two of them is the best fight ever captured on film!

	Chinese Connection	One of the best action films ever starring the legendary Bruce Lee, this movie features the martial artist as Chen Chen, who returns to his former school in early 20th century Shanghai when he learns that his beloved instructor has been murdered. While probing the man's death and seeking vengeance, Chen discovers that a drug smuggling operation, a rival school, and simmering racial tensions between Chinese and Japanese locals are factors in the nefarious dealings at his alma mater and in his master's slaying. Chen's got his work cut out for him as he takes on assassins of both races, and even a towering Russian. Variously titled "The Chinese Connection" and "The Iron Hand," "Chinese Connection" features stunt work by a young Jackie Chan (who served as Lee's double). The film was remade two and a half decades later as "Fist of Legend" (1999), with Jet Li in the role of Chen.

	Fists of Fury	Martial arts master Bruce Lee solidifies his standing as one of the great action stars in "Fists of Fury", the story of a Chinese country boy (Lee) sent to live in Thailand with his uncle and cousins. Around his neck is a charm representing his promise to his mother not to fight, a promise which is repeatedly tested when he goes to work in the local icehouse for an abusive overseer and prejudiced natives. When some of his cousins are killed after discovering the icehouse is actually a front for a heroin-smuggling operation, Lee sets out to exact revenge and eventually has a showdown with the Japanese crimelord behind the entire scheme (Han Ying Chieh). Lee's physical gifts are undeniable; the blinding speed of his fists and feet must be seen to be believed. The film was originally released in Asia as "The Big Boss". Bad guys beware when that charm comes off!

	Project A	One of Jackie's greatest movies in the 80's re-mastered here for American audiences. I find that this movie has a lot of action and great stunts you should watch for. In this slapstick martial arts comedy, set in Hong Kong, circa the early 20th century, a marine cadet battles to keep the South China Sea free of pirates. This movie's impressive fighting scenes were directed by Samo Hung .

	Jackie Chan: My Story	Jackie Chan is one of the world's biggest action stars, famed for his wacky sense of humor, remarkable martial arts techniques, and willingness to perform incredible stunts without the use of doubles -- or a net. This video takes a personal look at Jackie Chan as he works on screen projects in Hollywood and Beijing and candidly discusses his life and work

	Police Story	This was internationally famous Jackie Chan's breakthrough action film, the work that got him past the ethnic boundaries of Hong Kong and into competition at the New York Film Festival in 1986. It also got him into the hospital after performing a stunt in which he fell through a glass canopy -- and stopped breathing. In this film Jackie Chan cuts loose and attacks his enemies in a fierce and unstoppable manner. Some incredible stunts in this film include Chan being dragged behind a double-decker bus. One of Jackie Chan's trademarks are hilarious outtakes shown during the end credits, and they are among the best here. "Police Story" picked up Best Picture and Best Action Choreography at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Festival and was nominated for several other awards that year. Sequel after sequel followed.

	Wheels On Meals	Three of Hong Kong's best-loved kung-fu heroes, (Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and director and frequent Chan collaborator Samo Hung), star in this standard action comedy about a pair of fast-food vendors in Barcelona who sell their Chinese fare out of a high-tech van and become attracted to a mysterious woman (Lola Forner). Jackie Chan fights Benny Urquidez in one of the most spectacular fights ever filmed. Yuen Biao fights Keith Vitali.

	Dragons Forever	Director Samo Hung is a longtime collaborator of Jackie Chan. Along with co-star Yuen Biao, they make up a lovable comedy trio on a par with the Three Stooges; all share Chan's brand of slapstick martial arts. In their sixth film together, Chan plays a lawyer assigned to defend a factory charged with polluting the water supply. The trio lands in trouble when his pals discover the owners are using the plant to refine heroin as well. The villain's main henchman is Benny Urquidez, who battled previously with Chan in Wheels on Meals; their fight in this film is just as spectacular.

	Eastern Condors	This action adventure represents Hong Kong's take on The Dirty Dozen. In this version, the US army sends a rag tag group of convicts on a suicide mission to blow up an old ammo dump before the enemy finds it. See Samo Hung and Yuen Biao in explosive and bloody fighting scenes.

	Better Tomorrow	This is not a martial arts movie but it is a must for any Hong Kong cinema fan. In addition to launching the international careers of Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo and action star Chow Yun-Fat, this 1986 film represents the birth of the Hong Kong gangster genre. The influence of this genre and its elements of style would be seen in international cinema for years to come, from American films such as "Reservoir Dogs" (Quentin Tarantino) and "El Mariachi" (Robert Rodriguez) and even the works of French director Luc Besson in "La Femme Nikita". The story, with elements of "The Godfather", is an underworld melodrama that would become the genre standard. "A Better Tomorrow" is a dazzling spectacular full of tear-jerking melodrama and jaw-dropping action sequences -- a cinematic feast.

	Righting Wrongs	This is a Hong Kong action packed film. Yuen Biao stars as Jason Chan, a prosecutor whose frustration with the drug-infested underworld leads him to wage an illegal vigilante war against the mob. American martial-arts film star Cynthia Rothrock plays a tough cop who suspects Chan is behind the violent killings. Peter 'Sugarfoot' Cunningham plays a bad guy.

	Above the Law	Martial arts hero Steven Seagal developed, co-wrote, co-produced, choreographed, and debuted in this thrill ride -- a cop film with more attitude, and more plot, than its star had duties on the set. Seagal is Nico Toscani, an Italian immigrant, American patriot, ex-CIA agent, aikido specialist, and unorthodox Chicago policeman. Steven Seagal is fast and deadly and this film contains his best fighting scenes.

	Hard to Kill	Action star Steven Seagal crosses Rip Van Winkle with Clint Eastwood in this belabored revenge odyssey. Seagal plays L.A. Detective Mason Storm and, over the opening credits, Storm is seen busily eavesdropping on crooked politician Vernon Trent (William Sadler). Once he has the goods on Trent, Storm phones his partner Kevin O'Malley (Frederick Coffin) to report on his progress. Unfortunately, crooked cops in the same room pick up the extension phone and listen in, thereby dooming Storm. Soon killers show up at Storm's home and blow away Storm's wife Felicia (Bonnie Burroughs) and their young son. Storm himself is also assumed dead, but when he is taken to the hospital, he lapses into a coma. O'Malley spirits him away, and everyone else, for all intents and purposes, thinks Storm has died. Seven years later, under the tutelage of incredibly beautiful nurse Andy Stewart (Kelly LeBrock), Storm rises from his coma and plots his revenge. With the able assistance of Andy, Storm heads off on a killing spree, becoming (as one character describes him), "the most unstoppable sonuvabitch I ever met."

	Marked for Death	In "Marked for Death", Steven Seagal is told to "try to find the gentle person inside yourself." But he doesn't spend too much time looking, preferring instead to crack the spines of his victims. Seagal plays John Hatcher, a burned-out narcotics agent who resigns from the Drug Enforcement Administration after his partner is killed. He returns to his hometown and finds the city in the thrall of a vicious Jamaican drug gang, led by the nasty Scarface (Basil Wallace). He meets an old friend, now a high school football coach, who tells John about losing his best player and his 13-year-old nephew to drug overdoses. Soon John's family is threatened and his prize Mustang stolen, so John joins forces with his buddy to take on Scarface and the drug gang themselves.