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Martial arts movies create suspense by keeping the outcome of a fight unpredictable, with close battles and surprise endings. Some movies up the ante by demonstrating the strength of the villain and incorporating absurd action sequences. These films feature iconic fights that keep viewers on their toes, with unpredictable tactics, alliances, and outcomes.

The best martial arts movies keep audiences invested in their fight scenes by never making it clear exactly how the battle will unfold, constantly unfolding new surprises over the course of a single bout of hand-to-hand combat. Even the best Kung Fu movie franchises aren't usually willing to buck the trend of the hero emerging victorious at the end of the day, making it sometimes difficult for viewers to stay invested in battles with obviously forgone conclusions. However, many of the truly great martial arts action films will go above and beyond to make the outcome of a given fight uncertain.

by Jack Ford

“Shogun Assassin” is a somewhat notorious title and one frowned upon by some purists. While Japanese in origin, this film is an amalgamation of the first two films in Toho Studios’ “Lone Wolf and Cub” series, assembled by American filmmaker Robert Houston, who also created new English dialogue and a new title for his version. It is not certain why the decision was made to introduce the Lone Wolf and Cub series – themselves adaptations of the manga series of the same name written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima – to western markets this way. There existed an in-built audience for chambara films overseas and others in the genre had been released in the same territories untampered with.

Nevertheless, It turns out that these films were in safe hands. Despite not having much of a good reason to exist, “Shogun Assassin” not only...

After languishing in development for the past five years, it seems Paramount is ready to move forward with the manga adaptation Lone Wolf and Cub. The studio has brought on screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en) to tackle the adaptation, with Justin Lin set to direct. The filmmaker has been attached to this project since 2012, and he is also slated to produce with Marisa McMahon and her Kamala Films company.

Paramount has had the rights to this project since 2003, with director Darren Aronofsky attached to direct at one point. When Justin Lin came aboard back in 2012, the husband and wife writing team of David Webb Peoples and Janet Peoples (12 Monkeys) were tasked with adapting the Japanese manga created by Kazuo Koike, although it doesn't seem that they're attached to this adaptation anymore. It hasn't been confirmed if any elements from their script will remain intact, or if Andrew Kevin Walker will...

Recent hot cinema topics such as the portrayal of the Mandarin character in Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 and speculations about what classic Star Trek villain Benedict Cumberbatch’s character in J.J Abrams’ Star Trek: Into Darkness was modeled after leading up to the film’s release, among others, underline the importance of great villains in genre cinema.

Creating a great cinematic villain is a difficult goal that makes for an incredibly rewarding and memorable viewer experience when it is achieved.

We’ll now take a look at the greatest film villains. Other writing on this subject tends to be a bit unfocused, as “greatest villain” articles tend to mix live-action human villains with animated characters and even animals. Many of these articles also lack a cohesive quality as they attempt to cover too much ground at once by spanning all of film history.

This article focuses on the 1970’s,...

Is there anything cooler than samurai films?

One of the most beloved cult samurai films is set to get a much longed for high definition release thanks to the folks at AnimEigo, who will be releasing a brand new HD version of the famed film, Shogun Assassin. The film was first released on DVD in 2006 through the company, but this marks a new, restored version of the film, that will be released to mark the film’s 30th anniversary, this July, just in time for the San Diego Comic Con.

Pre-order the Shogun Assassin Blu-ray from Amazon

The new release will feature a collection of new features as well. This edition of the film will feature an over 10 minute long interview with the king of badassery himself, Samuel L. Jackson about his love for the film, and the genre as a whole, as well as a brand new commentary featuring producer David Weisman,...