Films
From Karate, Kungfu, Wrestling, Mixed Fighting Information Source
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"Martial art films" is a kind of movie genre that is inspired from actual practice, stories and legends of the martial arts world. Films are a form of cultural expression that clearly reflects the world view of a society. Sicne this film genre originated from East Asian Cultures, it is proper to conlude that societies from these region extensively culitvated martial arts as their way of life.
Although films are a part of the pop culture, the subject is broad and rich enough to be a separate in the discussion of the totality of the martial arts world.
Martial Art Films ould be classified into different categories, but basically it can be distinguished according to theme and the temporal (time) aspect of the theme.
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Wuxia
Wuxia literally means martial art heroes is a sub-genre of the fantasy genre in literature, books and martial art films. This kind of movies are usually based on stories from ancient China which usually revolves around a swordsman that serves for the emperor or who rebels against the emperor. A combination of xia (chivalry) philosophy and Chinese Martial Arts are commonly the underlying presupposition of these movies.
Some listings of Wuxia films
- One-Armed Swordsman (1967)
- A Touch of Zen (1971)
- Ashes of Time (1994)
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
- Hero (2002)
New School Wuxia
These kind of martial art films have some elements of the traditional wuxia in it, however it focuses more on the "Wu" (kung fu) apsects of the film, rather than on the "xia". It presents a more lavish type of production, and it was less fantastical and became more intense by showing stron acrobatic violence. This type of sub-genre was heavily influenced by Japanese samurai movies and persisited during the 1960's.
Some Listings New School Wuxia movies
- Temple of the Red Lotus (1965)
- Golden Swallow (1968)
- Come Drink with Me (1966)
Kung Fu Films
By 1970's and early 1980's, wuxia films gave way to a more graphic, violent and male oriented type of films. Top stars who emerged from this martial arts genre were trained martial artists like the legendary Bruce Lee. It offered more senseless action, and usually it centered iself from dark themes related to revenge and gaining more power. Former female leads from the wuxia genre was sidetracked at this time, much of them were put into "damsel in distress" roles. The Kung Fu movies of the 1970's heavily influenced the future of Hollywood martial art films.
Examples of Kung Fu films
- Chinese Boxer (1970)
- The Boxer from Shantung (1972)
- Five Deadly Venoms (1978)
- Crippled Avengers (1979)
- The Spiritual Boxer
- Executioners from Shaolin (1977)
- The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
- Legendary Weapons of China (1982)
Kung Fu Comedy
Kung fu comedy is considered a sub-genre of the martial art film industry. It combines theatrical martial art acrobatics and slapstcik humor, however the use of mrtial arts is limited because it focuses more on the setting and the ploy of the movie. One notable actor in this field is Jackie Chan who was trained in the Peking Opera and worked as a stuntman early in his career. He developed a crew of stuntmen in his films to act as a support crew in his slapstick-acrobatics.
This type of sub-genre lengtened the life of Kung Fu films in hollywood who at the time were already using computer technology in filmmaking.
Examples of Kung Fu Comedies
- Project A (1983)
- Accidental Spy (2001)
- Enter the Fat Dragon (1978)
- Kung Pao (2000)
Chinese Triad
Chinese Triad are thematic films about Chinese gangs/criminal organization who deals on drugs, prostitution or anything that is related to the underground economy. Usually, the protagonists of these movies take the role of a cop or a fellow criminal who is on a killing rampage fuelled by revenge. It uses a combination of elaborate and violent gunplay and maelodramatic topics such as revenge, fraternal bonds, and deep feelings of love. Director John Woo, together with his favorite leading man Chow Yun Fat took this sub-genre of martial arts film to its popular status in the early 1990's.
Examples of Chinese Triad Films
- Once a Thief: Brother Against Brother (1996)
- Full Contact (1992)
- City on Fire (1987)
Hollywood
Early in the '90's of the 21st Century, westerners began to set an eye on Hong Kong action films as an alternative culture to recurring hollywood films at that time. Filmmakers started hounding video shops in their respective Chinatowns to look for martial art films which at that time is very limited to the western market. Critics and film scholars also began to study martial art films as field of knowledge, and incorporated key figures of this genre as a part of their canon in the area of world cinema.
From here, martial art films became known in the Western world and stars such as Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat and Jackie Chan started to make movies in Hollywood. Furthermore, directors like Quintin Tarantino (who is known for his gore, violence and memorable dialogues) started borrowing martial art concepts and incorporating them to his films such as Kill Bill. While in other films, known martial artists were hired to choreograph Hollywood fight sequences. Yuen Woo-Ping, renowned for his fight choreography in the Matrix Trilogy, is considerd one of the greatest choreographers and martial artist up to this day.
Examples of Hollywood Martial Art Films
Wire Fu
Wire Fu is the term commonly used to refer to films that feature the use of wire work to execute acrobatic stunts or high flying martial arts. Because of this, films with flying warriors and mid-air fight scenes were now possible. This technique is commonly used in modern Wuxia films and in the recent Hollywood blockbuster The Matrix Trilogy.
Japanese Samurai Films
The history of Japanese films (eiga) span around 100 years, and becuase of its rich tradition of martial arts history it is inevitable that many of its films revolve around this theme. The Jidaigeki, sometimes referred to as chambara movies, is film genre that depicts lives of craftsmen, martial artists and samurai that features hevy sword fights and empty-hand fighting scenes. Another type of martial art eiga is the Yakuza Eiga that is said as the Japanese version of Ameriacn gangster films. Although it contained heavy action sequences that contains martial arts, many of the film's theme revolve around revenge and other personal vendetta.
Examples of Japanese Martial Art Films
List of Martial Art Films
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