History Main / MartialArtsMovie

* BloodBrothers

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The movies are remembered as kitschy in much of the Western world... but they were huge among urban African-Americans. As discussed [[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/enter-the-36th-chamber here]] by Moviebob and [[Music/WuTangClan The RZA]] (maker of the GenreThrowback ''Film/TheManWithTheIronFists''), a combination of cheap dubs playing in inner-city grindhouse theaters and the themes of many such movies (downtrodden commoners studying secret techniques to fight back against The Man) resonating with lower-class minority youth helped make such films into {{cult classic}}s within black America. Kung-fu and {{blaxploitation}} films had FriendlyFandoms for these reasons, plus the fact that they were the only films non-white people could enjoy that had entirely non-white casts.

This style is strongly based in conventions drawn from traditional Chinese theater, ballet, and acrobatic performances -- particularly the art of [[UsefulNotes/PekingOpera Chinese opera]], and is accepted by the audience for which most of the films were made. During TheSeventies, with the rise of Creator/BruceLee and other the films started to gain traction in various other countries, leading to numerous HongKongFilms (a number with [[HongKongDub questionable dubs]]) being brought over to various parts of the world.

* StuffedInTheBridge

* ''Film/ShanghaiNoon'' and its sequel, ''Shanghai Knights''

* CoolGuns

* ''Film/TheShaolinTemple'' - the entire trilogy uses the same trope page

* ''Film/TheSpiritOfTheSword'

In the 90s, the upcoming handover of Hong Kong back to China in 1997 caused consternation among many martial arts moviemakers and fans--would the communist government allow filmmakers the same freedom? But where some were worried, others saw opportunity... especially other Asian countries. Countries such as South Korea, Japan and Thailand began producing their own martial arts films, hoping to fill the void, and creating some new stars in the process, such as Creator/TonyJaa and Jeeja Yanin.

The boom in popularity throughout the 70s and 80s internationally also lead to numerous films elevating the careers of Asian action stars such as Creator/JackieChan, Creator/JetLi, Creator/MichelleYeoh, and Creator/DonnieYen, but also other action stars from different countries that notably include Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme, Creator/StevenSeagal, Creator/SonnyChiba and Creator/ChuckNorris.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The movies are remembered as kitschy in much of the Western world... but they were huge among urban African-Americans. As discussed [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/10023-Enter-The-36th-Chamber here]] by Moviebob and [[Music/WuTangClan The RZA]] (maker of the GenreThrowback ''Film/TheManWithTheIronFists''), a combination of cheap dubs playing in inner-city grindhouse theaters and the themes of many such movies (downtrodden commoners studying secret techniques to fight back against The Man) resonating with lower-class minority youth helped make such films into {{cult classic}}s within black America. Kung-fu and {{blaxploitation}} films had FriendlyFandoms for these reasons, plus the fact that they were the only films non-white people could enjoy that had entirely non-white casts.

In the 90s, the upcoming handover of Hong Kong back to China in 1997 caused consternation among many martial arts moviemakers and fans--would the communist government allow filmmakers the same freedom? But where some were worried, others saw opportunity... especially other Asian countries. Countries such as South Korea, Japan and Thailand began producing their own martial arts films, hoping to fill the void, and creating some new stars in the process, such as Tony Jaa and Jeeja Yanin.

** ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda''

The boom in popularity throughout the 70s and 80s internationally also lead to numerous films elevating the careers of Asian action stars such as Creator/JackieChan, Creator/JetLi and Creator/DonnieYen, but also other action stars from different countries that notably include Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme, Creator/StevenSeagal, Creator/SonnyChiba and Creator/ChuckNorris.

The martial arts movie is the cinematic genre mainly created in East UsefulNotes/{{Asia}} (especially UsefulNotes/HongKong) often being [[ActionGenre action]] showcases with martial-arts styles. Similar to traditional {{Wuxia}} but where most Wuxia uses more extreme SupernaturalMartialArts and HighFantasy settings, the Martial Arts Movie more often takes a more LowFantasy with the occasional CharlesAtlasSuperpower and UrbanFantasy approach. They usually feature exaggerated and highly-stylized presentations of traditional fighting techniques and [[SwordFight swordplay]] along with other weapons, but the action set pieces and the focus remain on characters using GoodOldFisticuffs, displays of MartialArtsAndCrafts and/or being a ImprobableWeaponUser.

This style is strongly based in conventions drawn from traditional Chinese theater, ballet, and acrobatic performances -- particularly the art of [[UsefulNotes/PekingOpera Chinese opera]], and is accepted by the audience for which most of the films were made. During TheSeventies, with the rise of Creator/BruceLee and other the films started to gain traction in various other countries, leading to numerous HongKongFilms (a number with [[HongKongDub questionable dubs]]) being brought over to various parts of the world.

This style is strongly based in conventions drawn from traditional Chinese theater, ballet, and acrobatic performances -- particularly the art of [[UsefulNotes/PekingOpera Chinese opera]], and is accepted by the audience for which most of the films were made. During TheSeventies, with the rise of Creator/BruceLee and other the films started to gain traction in various other countries, leading to numerous HongKongDub films being brought over to various parts of the world.

This style is strongly based in conventions drawn from traditional Chinese theater, ballet, and acrobatic performances -- particularly the art of [[UsefulNotes/PekingOpera Chinese opera]], and is accepted by the audience for which most of the films were made. During the 1970s, with the rise of Creator/BruceLee and other the films started to gain traction in various other countries, leading to numerous HongKongDub films being brought over to various parts of the world.

The martial arts movie is the cinematic genre mainly created in [[FarEast East]] UsefulNotes/{{Asia}} (especially UsefulNotes/HongKong) often being [[ActionGenre action]] showcases with martial-arts styles. Similar to traditional {{Wuxia}} but where most Wuxia uses more extreme SupernaturalMartialArts and HighFantasy settings, the Martial Arts Movie more often takes a more LowFantasy with the occasional CharlesAtlasSuperpower and UrbanFantasy approach. They usually feature exaggerated and highly-stylized presentations of traditional fighting techniques and [[SwordFight swordplay]] along with other weapons, but the action set pieces and the focus remain on characters using GoodOldFisticuffs, displays of MartialArtsAndCrafts and/or being a ImprobableWeaponUser.

The martial arts movie is the cinematic genre mainly created in East Asia (especially UsefulNotes/HongKong) often being [[ActionGenre action]] showcases with martial-arts styles. Similar to traditional {{Wuxia}} but where most Wuxia uses more extreme SupernaturalMartialArts and HighFantasy settings, the Martial Arts Movie more often takes a more LowFantasy with the occasional CharlesAtlasSuperpower and UrbanFantasy approach. They usually feature exaggerated and highly-stylized presentations of traditional fighting techniques and [[SwordFight swordplay]] along with other weapons, but the action set pieces and the focus remain on characters using GoodOldFisticuffs, displays of MartialArtsAndCrafts and/or being a ImprobableWeaponUser.

* ''Film/OngBak2''

* ''Film/OngBak'' series