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The martial arts subgenre is packed, making it easy for some films to undeservedly be given less love or attention. Often, the films lost in the mix are those that don't have notable stars or a lasting impact behind them. Audiences are likely to prioritize films with the biggest martial artists over films starring lesser-known action movie stars, like One-Armed Boxer or The City of Violence. However, these films have just as thrilling action sequences as the more well-known martial arts movies and are deserving of praise.

Brushed aside sequels and movies led by actors who have yet to be established are just a few examples of overlooked martial arts films over the years. The release of martial arts films spans several decades and regions across the world, meaning there is almost always a new, underrated martial arts film waiting to be appreciated by audiences.

Showdown (1993) Directed by Robert Radler...

Due to the vagaries of rights acquisition, it has taken Arrow Video three volumes of its indispensable Shawscope series to offer the movie that started it all in terms of Shaw Brothers Studio’s ascent to the top of the Hong Kong box office: Chang Cheh’s groundbreaking 1967 wuxia The One-Armed Swordsman. As such, it can be easy to take for granted Chang’s ultraviolence and grim thematic undertones given how many later, more refined efforts from Chang and other filmmakers have already been released.

Nonetheless, The One-Armed Swordsman’s economy of pacing and visceral transmission of its hero’s rage give the film a power undiminished by the host of copycats that flooded the Hong Kong market over the next decade. Jimmy Wang Yu’s maimed warrior, Fang Kang, cuts an instantly iconic profile: hair bound in a fin-like top knot and beard honing his jaw to a point,...

Many film historians speculate that cinema's first martial arts movie was Zhang Shichuan's The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple. Released in 16 parts between 1928 and 1931, The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple ran 27 hours long. Unfortunately, The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple is now a lost film, but there are plenty of incredible martial arts films that now exist to help fill the void.

It was not until the late 1960s that martial arts movies began to appeal to international audiences. Cheng Pei-pei and Jimmy Wang Yu were among the first internationally recognized martial arts movie stars thanks to their performances in films such as Come Drink with Me and The One-Armed Swordsman. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, martial arts movies produced by Shaw Brothers Studio and Golden Harvest turned actors such as Bruce Lee, Alexander Fu Sheng, Gordon Liu, Sammo Hung, and Jackie Chan into cinema's greatest action movie stars.

Kill Bill's action sequences draw inspiration from classic kung fu movies by Shaw Brothers, with nods to their iconic styling techniques. The iconic yellow tracksuit worn by Uma Thurman pays homage to Bruce Lee's costume in Game of Death, with a strong revenge plot connection. Tarantino's Easter eggs in Kill Bill, such as the Deadly Viper assassins and Pai Mei character, reflect his deep appreciation for kung fu film history.

It's no secret that Quentin Tarantino is a huge fan of martial arts films, and references to famous movies abound in Kill Bill, his epic revenge tale split into two movies. Aside from his non-chronological plots and violent action sequences, pop-culture references are one of Tarantino's most famous trademarks. Kill Bill draws its references from a wide net, but most influential are the classic kung fu movies produced by studios like Shaw Brothers.

These kung fu homages...

Fans of John Wick will love The One-Armed Swordsman for its classic wuxia storyline and well-choreographed fight scenes. The lead character, Fang Kang, shares traits with John Wick, including his driven nature, fierce loyalty, and desire to pursue revenge. Both films feature protagonists with high kill counts, with The One-Armed Swordsman showcasing incredible swordplay skills over traditional hand-to-hand combat.

Fans of the John Wick franchise need to check out The One-Armed Swordsman, a 57-year-old kung-fu movie that's still an amazing watch. Directed by Chang Cheh, The One-Armed Swordsman was the first wuxia film an emerging, and now defining, genre in Hong Kong cinema that centers on the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. In addition to making a significant gross at the box office, the classic wuxia film launched the lead actor Jimmy Wang Yu's career to new heights, transforming him into a superstar of Hong Kong cinema.

Shaw Brothers Studio left an indelible mark on the landscape of Kung Fu cinema. Founded in 1925 by the Shaw brothers, Runje, Runme, and Run Run, the studio became synonymous with high-quality martial arts films during the 1960s and 1970s. Their meticulous attention to choreography, intricate fight scenes, and dramatic storytelling revolutionized the genre, setting new standards for action-packed entertainment. Through iconic films like “The One-Armed Swordsman” and “Come Drink with Me,” Shaw Brothers Studio not only popularized Kung Fu cinema globally but also shaped the artistic direction of future martial arts films. Their legacy continues to inspire filmmakers and enthusiasts, underscoring their enduring impact on the world of cinema. In this list, we present 50 of the most iconic titles the company produced, in alphabetical order.

1. Bloody Parrot (1981) by Hua Shan

One of the better elements found here is the fact that the film manages to work in plenty of fun from its two main components.

Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack's classic monster movie "King Kong" was released in 1933, so the monster turns 91 years old in 2024. That means he's definitely too old for this sh*t.

In Adam Wingard's 2021 film "Godzilla vs. Kong," the 70-year-old nuclear gorilla-whale and the 91-year-old mega-ape, both drawn by an ineffable, in-born monstrous instinct, had to fight. Over the course of many decades, Godzilla movies have taught us that if two kaiju ever appear in the same film, they instantly hate one another and have to start wailing on each other. It won't be until a tertiary monster appears — usually an "evil" one — that the primary and secondary monsters put aside their differences and team up to hang a beatin' on the new guy. This is what happened in "Godzilla vs. Kong." At first, the title monsters were enemies. When Mechagodzilla appeared, however, Kong and Godzilla pounded the interloper into the dirt.

Jimmy Wang Yu, once a superstar of multiple Asian martial arts genres, died on Tuesday. He was 79.

News of his death in a Taipei hospital was posted on social media by Wang’s daughter Linda, herself a former Canto-pop star of the 1990s. She wrote that Wang passed away peacefully after a six-year battle with a chronic illness.

Born in Shanghai in 1943, Wang established his film career in Hong Kong, where he became a household name thanks to films including Chang Cheh’s 1967 classic “The One-Armed Swordsman,” which the first to hit the HK1 million benchmark at the Hong Kong box office. Another early hit was opposite martial arts actress Cheng Pei-pei in Chang’s “Golden Swallow” in 1968.

In total, Wang appeared in more than 60 martial arts films, many produced by the Shaw Brothers studio. Several were influential internationally and helped pave the way for the short and incandescent career of Bruce Lee,...

On April 5th, 2022, the martial arts world lost one of its very first cinematic heroes. Jimmy Wang Yu passed away peacefully at the Taipei Zhenxing Hospital at the age of 80 after a six-year battle with declining health. Upon hearing the news, Jackie Chan posted on his blog, “The contributions you’ve made to kung fu movies, and the support and wisdom you’ve given to the younger generations will always be remembered in the industry.”

By younger generations, Jackie was referring to himself. Wang helped Jackie get a foothold in Kung Fu movies. In 1976, Wang faced Chan in one of Chan’s earliest Kung Fu films, Killer Meteors. Wang co-directed the film with Hong Kong movie mogul Lo Wei, and after Chan and Wei clashed, Wang helped young Jackie get things sorted out.

Wang starred in nearly 90 films most of which were Wuxia films, the genre of chivalrous martial arts masters.

Coming from 88 Films USA Label in partnership with Mvd on February 8th is another cult classic from the Shaw Brothers Studio. The Flag of Iron is a quintessential Hong Kong tale of rivals, betrayal and family feuds. When the master of the Iron Flag clan is killed by a mysterious assassin known only as Spearman, it sets off an explosive chain of events which pits two brothers against each other in an action-packed adventure of fist flying fury.

Directed by Chan Cheh, this kinetic and highly influential Kung Fu picture, mixes traditional storytelling with more modern presentation techniques, layering acrobatics, the use exotic weaponry and quick as lightening fight sequences to produce a sure fire entertaining hit, which no serious collector of martial arts movies can be without.Included in the package are a Limited Edition Slipcase with brand-new artwork from R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien, Double-Sided A3 Foldout Poster,...

Martial Arts films started to find their popularity in American in the late '60s with films such as 1966's Come Drink With Me and 1967's The One-Armed Swordsman. American audiences ate up the wild action sequences and relatable plotlines of people banding together to defeat dictator-like villains and the influence of these two films can be felt in the works of directors as varied as John Carpenter and Ang Lee.

Related: Ip Man 4: 10 Great Modern Martial Arts Movie to Watch After "The Finale"

Martial Arts films of the 1970s upped the Eastern influences and solidified America's fascination with the genre, as each film reaped big box office numbers and introduced the barrier-breaking icon, Bruce Lee.

The Action Scene is a column exploring the construction of action set pieces, but it also considers “scene” in the sense of field or area: “action” as a genre and mode that spans different cultures and historical periods. By examining these two levels in tandem—one oriented toward aesthetic expression, the other toward broader contexts and concepts—this series aims to deepen appreciation for and spark discussion about action cinema.In a pivotal scene from Chang Cheh’s The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), hero Fang Kang, having lost his right arm and seemingly all hope of improving his swordsmanship, is thrown a lifeline in the form of a kung-fu training manual, given to him by the kindly country girl who nursed him back to health. Although more than half the booklet was destroyed in a fire, the remains turn out to be conveniently accommodating to his injury: it was solely the right-handed maneuvers that were burned away,...

Terracotta Distribution has got a sale going on this month for 10 of their kung fu titles, simply go to this link. You’ll be able to watch the Terracotta’s Classic Kung Fu Collection as well as the likes of The Masked Avengers, Five Element Ninjas and One-Armed Swordsman at over 40% off.

In addition to this, we’d like to draw attention to their wider catalogue that are available on Amazon Prime. Otherwise, you can always check out the VOD platform to be able to stream any of their back catalogue, click here.

Here’s a quick guide to the Top 5 Kung Fu films released so far in the Terracotta’s Classic Kung Fu Collection:

Hero Of Shaolin

Fearless Shaolin monks battle ninja assassins, vicious gangs, and even the Undead, in their quest to take the Golden Sutra to Tibet.

Stars Alexander Lo Rei, (Wu Tang Vs Ninja), Kim Fan,...

The Flying Guillotine (1975) was the first movie to feature this deadly flying weapon, starring Chen Kuan Tai and directed by Ho Meng Hua. It became quite a sensation and soon sequels were popping up. Fast forward to 2012, Andrew Lau from Infernal Affairs had another go at it, giving us an even more deadly and faster weapon.

In this updated version set in the Qing Dynasty, Leng is the leader of a secret assassination squad known as The Guillotines. He has six, well trained warriors working under him and they kill anyone who’s against their Emperor. Their latest mission is to hunt down Wolf, a rebel leader of The Herders. After a brutal showdown, the guillotine squad manages to capture Wolf, but he soon escapes while taking a female guillotine member as hostage. Accordingly, the stage is set for a bigger showdown. As Leng sets out with his squad,...

In 1967, Shaw Brothers released The One-Armed Swordsman, starring Jimmy Wang Yu and directed by Chang Chen. It became an instant classic wuxia movie overnight and in 1995, we have this updated version, wonderfully directed by Tsui Hark.

The story is pretty much the same, an orphaned handicap young man seeking revenge after he trained himself into a master swordsman. However, in the capable hands of Tsui Hark, the movie has turned into an even more violent, moody tale of revenge masterpiece.

“The Blade” stars Vincent Zhao as Ding On, an orphan who works and lives in a saber making factory, and his best mate is Iron Head, played here by Moses Chan. In fact, the factory owner’s daughter, Ling (plays by Song Lei) has a crash on both of them and she also narrates the whole movie. One day, after Ding On finds out that Fei Lung,...

Over a sixty-year career, Lau Kar-leung wrote, directed, choreographed, and appeared in over 100 movies, including martial-arts classics like The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. The Museum of Modern Art celebrates his work in a 10-movie series, “The Grandmaster: Lau Kar-leung,” running July 5–17. Born in 1937 in Guangdong, Lau entered the movie industry as an extra and stunt man in the 1950s. Trained in martial arts by his father, Lau began choreographing fight scenes, most notably with director Chang Cheh. He was the first action choreographer to be promoted to director at the Shaw Brothers […]...

Over a sixty-year career, Lau Kar-leung wrote, directed, choreographed, and appeared in over 100 movies, including martial-arts classics like The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. The Museum of Modern Art celebrates his work in a 10-movie series, “The Grandmaster: Lau Kar-leung,” running July 5–17. Born in 1937 in Guangdong, Lau entered the movie industry as an extra and stunt man in the 1950s. Trained in martial arts by his father, Lau began choreographing fight scenes, most notably with director Chang Cheh. He was the first action choreographer to be promoted to director at the Shaw Brothers […]...

Continuing a summer of extraordinary Asian cinema programming in New York City, which has seen over the past two months retrospectives on Sylvia Chang and Chang Cheh, the New York Asian Film Festival and the upcoming Japan Cuts, comes a retrospective starting July 5th at the Museum of Modern Art on the films of Lau Kar-leung. A choreographer, actor, and director, Lau was the central figure in the Golden Age of martial arts cinema, a period which began in 1967 with the break-out success of The One-Armed Swordsman, reached its classical perfection with 1978’s The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and came to an end in 1994 with Drunken Master II. That Lau choreographed the former and directed the latter two is no coincidence. It was his commitment to verisimilitude in stunt choreography, in training the actors under his command, from the biggest stars to the most minor extras, in traditional kung fu fighting styles,...

Vengeance Is His: Chang Cheh’s Martial Lore runs May 23 - 29, 2018 at the Quad Cinema in New York.As if the riches of the New York repertory scene weren’t embarrassing enough already, on Wednesday, May 23 the city’s second massive retrospective of a director with the surname Chang in less than a week opens, with the Quad Cinema’s 14-film exploration of the career of martial arts director Chang Cheh.1 An extraordinarily prolific director, credited with 76 films during his 1967-1982 heyday at the Shaw Brothers studio, Chang was the defining director of the era, establishing many of the dominant modes of the wuxia and kung fu genres, as well as launching the careers of dozens of stars, choreographers and directors. The Quad series is but a small sample, yet nonetheless a fine cross-section of his work, touching on all the various phases of his career: his early wuxias, his...

Almost more interesting than the films Quentin Tarantino has chosen to do are the ones he has either been rumored to be behind or has stated himself that he would like to do. In honor of Quentin Tarantino week here on the site, we thought it was time to go back and look over some of these lost projects. Some of them never got past the concept stage. Some might even still be lingering somewhere in the back of Qt’s mind.

Tarantino has stated he believes the Shaw Brothers’ ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin,’ directed by fight choreographer Lau Kar-leung, to be the “3rd greatest kung fu movie of all time.”

For those who do not know much about the film, here is the synopsis: The anti-Ching patriots, under the guidance of Ho Kuang-han, have secretly set up their base in Canton, disguised as school masters. During a brutal Manchu attack,...

HONG KONG -- Celestial Movies has taken its first steps into the Mainland Chinese market with the launch of the Chinese movie channel in select residential compounds and hotels across the country. The sales and distribution of the channel will be undertaken by China International TV Corp. Launched last March, Celestial Movies is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures, owner of the Shaw Brothers film library, which includes such classics as One-Armed Swordsman and 36th Chamber of Shaolin. The group is wholly owned by Malaysian broadcaster Astro All-Asia Networks.

MILAN -- A deal signed Monday at MIFED means Korean audiences will soon be able to see many of the hyperkinetic kung fu classics from Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers Studio. Celestial Pictures, which distributes the Shaw Brothers catalog internationally, said Monday that it has sold a package of titles to Spectrum DVD, one of South Korea's leading video and DVD distributors. The five-year agreement will give Spectrum video and DVD rights in the territory to the Shaw catalog, which includes such titles as Come Drink With Me, One-Armed Swordsman and 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Earlier this year, Celestial Pictures signed a similar deal with Miramax Films for U.S. video rights and DVD rights to 50 Shaw Brothers titles (HR 4/4).