Must Watch Martial Arts Fight Scenes That you May Have Never Seen
Posted on November 12th, 2011 by Entertainment Buddha | Filed under Catchall, Celebs, Movies, Previews, Reviews | Comments (6)
I’ve kept track of many action/martial arts movies over the years, even the ones that are pretty obscure to general American audiences. While Hollywood today can more or less get away with just shooting a “fight scene” from as many angles as possible and it somehow comes together in the editing room, there have been and always will be people who actually try to make a fight scene that is intense in its own unique way.
If you’re one of those people who are looking to make action or write your own manga/anime, you better have seen the entire list. Like any list, it’s clearly subjective but here’s the criteria. Since they are subjective, I have also placed them in no particular order.
Criteria that must be met for an action fight scene to be considered excellent:
- It must be unique
- Replay value
- realism (movies are never totally real, but any scene too reliant on CGI & Wires does NOT make it onto this list)
- timeless (must be ridiculously hard to replicate)
- intensity (self explanatory)
- Visibility (if the cuts are too rapid (i.e. Bourne series), that disqualifies the scene from the list)
- One fight scene per movie!
Ong Bak 1: Fight Club
Ong Bak was a not so family friendly reminder to everyone that martial arts didn’t JUST exist somewhere in fantasyland where skill was measured by how well the director could dangle you on a wire. That people who weren’t named Jackie Chan could leap ridiculous distances & angles without the use of wires or CGI. While it was NOTHING unique as you’ll realize when you read down the list it still stood out from the pack. It was released during a time where there were wires or CGI in about every action movie whether it was from Hollywood or Hong Kong.
Then came this guy:
There are plenty of action scenes as crazy as this throughout the movie. However since I could only pick one, I’ll pick this one:
Similar to most scenes in this movie, the first moments will make you cringe and then it gets better (or worse depending on how you see it). Each stunt alone is enough to become its own YouTube viral video but nope, much to the dismay of the stuntmen who work there, the whole movie is filled with them. American Insurance companies would hate to deal with something like this….Thai Insurance companies on the other hand…actually after watching this movie I’m not even sure if they exist.
The star of all this, Tony Jaa was a huge relief. We would all be assured that even when Jackie Chan is long retired, there will always be someone to entertain us the same way Jackie Chan did in his younger years.
O wait…nevermind.
Unfortunately the star of this movie, Tony Jaa, has retired to become a monk after a ridiculously short career of seven years. Don’t even bother with Ong Bak 3 which was his “final movie” (and was probably the worst way to end one’s career. It’s like if Jet Li retired permanently after making Mummy 3). Just recently however, rumor has it that he has “restarted” his career and is busy filming his first movie in 3D, let’s cross our fingers and pray that the 3D in this movie will be more akin to Avatar from James Cameron, than the Avatar by M Night Shaymalan.
Ip Man: Donnie Yen vs 10 Karatekas
Much to the dismay of Japanese people and 10 year olds who thought their black belt meant something, there are PLENTY of scenes where a single Chinese guy wipes out a dojo of Japanese Karatekas. Chinese Connection (Bruce Lee), Fist of Legend (Jet Li), Fist of Fury (Donnie Yen), New Fist of Fury (guess who!) & Ip Man (Donnie Yen.) Nationalism must sell a lot of tickets in the East. Apparently racism is totally cool in China because in America if we had a white guy taking out a horde of black people, people get all riled up over it.
The scene from Ip Man below stands out. Why you may ask? Well there’s no flashy kicks or acrobatics? Any 10 year old who can do a 360 kick/540 kick can impress audiences no matter where you place the camera, no matter how little emotional content there is. On the other hand, Wing Chun is a VERY simplistic style compared to other Kung Fu styles meaning that it takes some skill to make it look awesome on film. Awesome is an understatement for this scene:
Yip Man (2008) Ip Man Vs. 10 Black Belts
Police Story (Mall Brawl)
Jackie Chan has broken every bone imaginable throughout his career of entertaining his fans (Jackie Chan taught me it was actually possible to break your pelvis!) Figuring out how many bones he broke in each movie is nowhere as simple as taking the amount of bones he broke and dividing it by the amount of movies he made because clearly, not all movie injuries are made equal. For example, I would be surprised if he even pulled a hamstring when he filmed The Tuxedo, or that recent movie where he has to babysit who’s name is not even worthy for me to remember.
This means that there are a few movies where he (and his army of anonymous stuntmen) suffered a huge proportion of his injuries throughout his career. So the question is, which movies were they? Those movies must be plenty of fun to watch.
Even for the anonymous stuntman, after it was released in theaters that is!
Here’s one!:
Nobody was spared during this fight scene, not the stuntmen, not Jackie Chan, hell not even the WOMEN. Do not try this at home. By this I mean destroy your entire local shopping mall for the sake of entertainment. In fact, this movie teaches us what NOT to do, such as sliding down a string of Christmas tree lights because Jackie Chan burned ALL the skin off his hands doing so, and not to mention that he broke a few other bones on the way down, but that’s totally not the point!
Wong Fei Hung 2/Once Upon A Time in China: Jet Li vs Donnie Yen
Most of the fight sequences in the WFH/OUATIC series are heavily wire-based because Wong Fei Hung is a folk hero and therefore transcends the rules of real life physics. For kids under 12, that’s pretty awesome (I guess they believe practicing the horse stance for four hours a day gives you the ability to fly). For everyone over that age, it’s hard to buy that this character was ever in any real danger, except for during this scene in particular.
Once Upon a Time in China 2 – Donnie Yen fights Jet Li ( Wong Fei Hung )
I guess next time someone tries to rob you with a wet towel, think twice before you laugh. All joking aside, this scene is timeless in that there is no way in hell that any wire work, or CGI is going to recreate a WET TOWEL destroying everything in its path. There is just no substitute for ridiculous skill and this scene showcases it.
Crying Fist: Choi Min Sik vs Another Korean dude
While it’s unlikely that anyone will ever create the drama/tension of boxing like Hollywood did with Rocky 4 when Stallone & Lundgren faced off, South Korea has been light years ahead when it comes to actual boxing choreography.
While Hollywood needs 3 different shots to cover 3 seconds of action, Korea only needed one take to cover an entire round of lighting fast exchanges. What’s even more insane is that none of these guys are action stars, or even known to practice martial arts!
SPL: Donnie Yen vs Wu Jing
Batman Begins reset the trend for comic book movies to become dark. Bourne Identity set the trend for espionage flicks to be gritty. Ong Bak reset the trend for martial arts movies to become more realistic. Donnie Yen decided to take all of the above when making SPL. While Donnie Yen himself is known in Hong Kong as an action star, SPL is more of a dark crime movie which happens to feature martial arts. The good guys aren’t exactly the good guys, people get killed quite brutally & when I mean people, I mean pretty much everybody. Hell, even a random woman waiting in the car with her kid gets killed because somebody ELSE got killed by being thrown onto their car. Oops I just spoiled the movie!
Much like the setup for the scene in Ip Man, Donnie’s friends get killed off quite brutally before this scene starts. At one moment it looked like they just said **** it and just sparred for real (which was true since one segment of the fight WAS improvised). No wires, no CGI, and oddly enough, no crazy STUNTS either, just straight up laser sharp timing and choreography.
Why wasn’t Sammo Hung vs Donnie Yen selected? Because he made pretty much the same thing again, only better next down on the list.
Flashpoint: Donnie Yen vs Collin Chou
Up until 2005 pretty much all the fight scenes that had “MMA/BJJ” in them sucked. It was a gimmick shitty filmmakers would use to appeal to a certain audience. Watch the trailer/clips for Never Surrender or Never Back Down and you’ll get the point. Almost everyone who actually knew how to shoot a decent fight scene stuck with their usual Wushu/TKD/Karate, or the occasional Kickboxing/Muay Thai. This is probably the best scene featuring the use of MMA which meant as much as being labeled the fastest snail ever.
Flash Point – Donnie Yen VS Collin Chou (End Fight)
All joking aside, Donnie Yen was way ahead of his time and did the unthinkable: depict a style/sport that the uneducated masses perceive as “gay” and “boring” as something awesomely brutal & cinematic. Thought slamming out of a triangle was cool? Try slamming your way out of a triangle only to fall down one entire floor crashing into various debris along the way. The whole movie is average (except for the really decent cinematography/score) because it’s really just an excuse for Donnie Yen to depict the whole MMA encyclopedia in a fight scene, albeit at Collin Chou’s expense. Unfortunately the worse part about this fight isn’t how one of them should’ve already died halfway into the scene, it’s that every modern day “gritty” fight scene just won’t be the same anymore.
Way Of the Dragon: Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris
Bruce Lee Vs Chuck Norris (Way of the Dragon)
It would be a crime not to put Bruce Lee on this list. Many fight fans would also be pretty pissed if I didn’t put Chuck Norris on this list thanks to the Chuck Norris facts. However, without this fight, neither of them would be on this list. Most of Chuck Norris’ career unfortunately consists of working with B-directors clueless on how to properly showcase his skills. Bruce Lee on the other hand always showcases his skill well (aside for the Green Hornet) but in reality, he’s rarely had to fight anyone onscreen, he simply kills them outright. Most of his so called “fight scenes” where he takes down hordes of people are really stylized depictions of mass genocide. I mean even Jackie Chan only lasted two seconds with this guy.
I wasn’t kidding…
So back on topic, Return of the Dragon was pretty much the exception to the rule. Bruce Lee actually has to fight somebody and Chuck Norris actually shows what he’s made of. It’s epic for every reason possible, the choreography, the location, the random cat in the background, the buildup, use of slow motion to emphasize the choreography rather than just to look cool. Even Bruce Lee himself said he wanted it to be in the Coliseum so it could be epic. Although, I have no clue why he didn’t choose to film it INSIDE the arena. That’s like if I were to shoot a fight scene in the UFC for it to be epic, but I decided to shoot it in the aisle where the fighters walk out rather than in the actual cage. All joking aside, it’s a scene that will stick in your head for a really long time long after you watch it, just ask the folks from Capcom.
Similarities? Nope I don’t see any. This stage was a totally an original idea
Dirty Carnival: Korean gang vs Another Korean gang
A Dirty Carnival (2006) Fighting Scene
While “well choreographed” isn’t the best term to describe a gang brawl, the second closest word would be “well directed”. There are no bad angles, everything looks painful, everything is seen clearly, and it’s WAY easier said than done when you have about fifty people all swinging baseball bats & knives at each other.
Much like the other Koreans on the list, none of these guys are action stars making this scene even more amazing. Good luck finding an A-list American actor to take part in this kind of scene. I guess the fear of waking up the next day to only one TV channel (authorized by Kim Jong-Il) will get the wimpiest man into fighting shape.
Dragons Forever: 3 brothers vs everybody
Dragons Forever Final Fight Scene
There’s enough action in this scene to fill 5 American Jackie Chan movies. You can also witness the side of him you haven’t seen in America, you know the one where he fights!
Ever wonder what would happen if you cloned Jackie Chan twice and had him running around a factory full of bad guys (and one of them happened to be fat)? The movie is FILLED with one cringing stunt after another. You thought falling ONTO a ledge was brutal? Too bad, there’s more! Yes it’s similarly themed to Ong Bak except it’s got the lighting quick hand exchanges Jackie Chan is known for. Yes, there is a serious side to Jackie Chan. Not to mention the finale is kind of electrifying!
Chocolate: Apartment/El fight scene
Chocolate – Building Ledge End Fight Scene 7
Jeeja Yanin has the honor of being the only female to be on this list, and clearly not only does she outshine her female counterparts, she outshines her male counterparts. Like Ong Bak & Dragons Forever, this just gets better & better (or worse if you’re a stuntman). This is basically hit-girl without guns and without the wires.
Thai people pride their action movies for not having wires & CGI. They also claim that nobody died during the production of this movie. After watching 4:48 of this clip, I call bullshit.
Legend of the Drunken Master/Jui Kuen 2: Jackie Chan vs Ken Lo
Jackie Chan fight scene from Drunken Master 2
I have no idea how to begin describing this fight, or how to choose the most awesome part of this fight: Jackie Chan continuing to fight even though he was SET ON FIRE and it WASN’T INTENTIONAL, Jackie Chan’s industrial alcohol powered drunken fist ,or Ken Lo’s kicking ability. It takes TWO guys to make a good fight, and Ken Lo (who is Jackie Chan’s bodyguard AND won multiple titles in Muay Thai & Taekwondo) provides a very good match.
Sadly Ken Lo is stuck playing side characters in triad movies these days *yawn* but hey, you can’t blame anyone for being tired of getting the crap beaten out of you by Jackie Chan (and everyone who hits as hard as him that we’ve never heard of) all day.
This post was written by a guest author by the name of Hen Zee, who is also one of the creative forces behind the YouTube channel ProtohTypX. Hen also does martial arts consulting for other Youtube channels in the New York area.
EB Original courtesy of 
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November 12, 2011 at 6:14 pm
A few submissions for your list
Police Story 2: Park Battle
City Hunter: Jackie vs Richard Norton
Legend Of The Wolf: Donnie Yen vs Everybody
Legend Of Fong Sai Yuk 2: Jet Li blind folded against his Red Flower Society Brothers
November 12, 2011 at 6:36 pm
You’re right Police Story 2 SHOULD be in the list.
Legend of the Wolf: It was a hard decision whether to include it but in the end I decided not to because of its HEAVY reliance on editing.
Fong Sai Yuk 2: It’s a good scene, I just realized I haven’t included any sword fights (knife fight doens’t really count lol.) I might ask one of my team members from ProtohTypX to give me suggestions since they understand swords WAY better than I do (for a future article.)
City Hunter: It’s a good scene but it doesn’t really stick in my memory like the other Jackie Chan mentions.
BTW, I have a feeling someone will eventually mention “Wheels on Meals,” I didn’t want to put it on the same list as Dragons Forever, the sake of variety. That being said, who knows, I might write a part 2
November 12, 2011 at 6:20 pm
I forgot.
Tom Yung Goong aka The Protector
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiANsBkgqjU
This one and the single take up the stairs scene were top notch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE7WijeShQM
I know you said only one per film, so the fans will have to decide which one is better.
November 12, 2011 at 6:25 pm
Error: Tom Yum Goong…my mistake
November 19, 2011 at 5:52 am
it’s a great list, i saw all these movies, i can’t say more it’s just awesome.
for some fights to be added, i think:
- The end fightscene from Who am I / master jackie
- The end fightscene from fist of legend/ jet li
February 17, 2012 at 8:47 am
It