{"id":64149,"date":"2014-08-08T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2014-08-08T19:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/?p=64149"},"modified":"2019-01-02T21:22:08","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T05:22:08","slug":"roundtable-martial-arts-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/roundtable-martial-arts-movies\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Roundtable: Favorite Martial Arts Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

A great poet once penned the immortal verse: “Go Ninja, Go Ninja, GO. Go Ninja, Go Ninja, GO.”<\/em> This week’s Roundtable is all about movies that involve martial arts. What are your favorites?<\/p>\n

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Shannon Nutt<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

My pick for this week’s Roundtable will go slightly off the beaten path and arrive at one of my favorite John Carpenter films: ‘Big Trouble in Little China<\/a>‘. It’s really more of a sci-fi movie, but I just loved the way Carpenter takes his passion for martial arts films and mixes in the supernatural. Although star Kurt Russell (in one of his best roles as truck driver Jack Burton) wisely avoids any Eastern moves of his own, he’s surrounded by a number of thugs (led by the evil Lo Pan, played by James Hong) who not only go after Jack with their physical skills, but by conjuring magic as well (usually in the form of electricity, fireballs or another form of energy). Of course, the movie is, at its heart, a comedy, so none of this is to be taken too seriously. It’s just a whole lot of fun.<\/p>\n

Junie Ray<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve always had a sweet spot for Sammo Hung and one movie where he really shines is ‘Pedicab Driver<\/strong>‘. It’s not a perfect movie overall, but the fight scenes are just amazing, with great hand-to-hand choreography based on traditional kung-fu, great athleticism, acrobatics, and a bit of humor. There’s a particular scene in a gambling hall that might just be my favorite fight scene ever. <\/p>\n

Sammo proves that martial artists can be amazingly agile in any shape and size. This isn’t an over-the-top wirework movie (though I love that style too). It’s not particularly well shot, and it has subtitles. Going into these Hong Kong kung-fu\/action movies of the ’80s and ’90s, you have to know that they’re all about the fight scenes and crazy stunts. Just ignore all the other stuff. <\/p>\n

In his youth, Sammo Hung studied at the China Drama Academy with Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. Later, those three made a number of movies together including ‘Dragons Forever’ and ‘Wheels on Meals’. Those are also must-sees if you’re interested in kung-fu style martial arts and slapstick comedy. These guys are magic together.<\/p>\n

Some other Sammo trivia: He was in ‘Enter the Dragon’, where he played the student that Bruce Lee faced at the beginning of the movie. He also later made a movie parody, ‘Enter the Fat Dragon’, where he played Bruce Lee. <\/p>\n

Adam Tyner (DVDTalk<\/a>)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Back when I was in junior high and high school, I lived to dive through VHS and Laserdisc cut-out bins. My dad and I would basically just look for the first movie or two that’d crack us up, and that’s what we’d buy that week. Like a lot of kids, I’d watch kung-fu flicks on one of the local UHF stations along with whatever ‘American Ninja’ sequel my cousins had rented, but it was one of those bargain bins that got me really into martial arts cinema. My all-time favorite chop socky discovery was ‘Mad Monkey Kung Fu<\/strong>‘, a movie whose plot, yes, hinges on avenging a pet monkey. It’s spastic, gloriously insane, and has the most entrancingly bizarre fighting styles I’ve ever laid eyes on.<\/p>\n