WAATAAAH!! My Top 10 Favorite Martial Arts Flix!

91   7.3   7.6 

Now while I agree with most people that (Legend Of The) Drunken Master II was technically a better & more masterful movie, this film is the beginning, & my favorite one featuring Jackie Chan's comedic style of "combat". There are still times when I watch the action scenes of DM & they still seem as energetic, cool & creatively crazy today as back when this first came out.
And also,
I bet I could fight like that too.
If I was drunk.
Really drunk.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

69   7.8   7.6 

Monkey see, Monkey fu.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1188   7.4   8 

The movie that practically introduced the West to the trend of wuxia-style film-making.



A martial arts film that decides that it's not goin to be one.
Many forms of physical combat like to brag of itself as being a form of violent ballet, but Crouching Tiger Hidden dragon is one that just wants to portray it martial arts as an art tool that blends into the majesty of the story's theme of honor, love & wisdom, that this film ends up laying claim to that dance-metaphor that the other fighting films wish they could be truly worthy of.
No character in this film, no matter how small, is colored in the simple black & white colors of good & evil, and all are dutied bound by a personal sense of honor. And both men & women are equally capable in either mastefully full contact engagement or scaling the walls & even the very air in gravity defying leaps that serve more to enhance the fable-like atmosphere of the story.
Intelligent, straightforward & "martially artistic", Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a pure fun action flick merged into a story whose simplicity is hidden behind the human depth of a group of characters who believe their respective situations to be truly epic.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

830   7.2   8 

A martial arts movie with beautifully colored fighting themes, an actual purpose in it's plotline & more arrows than some metaphor that would contain a point about many more arrows that any situaion would ever deem necessary.
An epic kung-fu flick that is way more poetic than this or any description of Hero could ever hope to be.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

191   7.3   7.6 

I had heard of Zatoichi, but never bothered looking up anything about this long-lasting character of the East. I stumbled on this DVD, & found myself enjoying it so much, that the end result was multiple viewings with no diminishment in enjoyment. The movie, just like the series of an earlier time, follows the latest adventure of a mystery traveler commonly referred to as the "blind masseuse", who in actuality is a gentle samurai warrior who's lone wolf journeys could've well been the inspiration of the Italian counter-part, "Man With No Name" of spaghetti western fame. Silent, noble & despite his blindness, the ability to see with more clarity, not just the world around him, but also the will & intentions contained within the hearts of all he encounters.
A great classic character of the Japanese tradition.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

17   7.1   6.5 

At first glance, this looked like a B-style action-flick that was just too goofy for me. But as I watched it, it became more like a movie that seem to sufficiently balance between the lines of well-crafted high-fantasy creditability & a comicbook-like storyline. And also at the same time, between epic wuxia style battle moves & cheesy yet energetically fun kung-fu camp.
And at the center, tying all these almost conflicting themes together are three high-flying colorful female warriors whose chemistry made it impossible for me not to fall in love with each one of them. This trio of hot asian super-heroines who fight crime with such cool moves & kick-ass sultry outfits are so sexy, that it makes my pimp-ass want to do sumthin villainous just for the spanking.
Plus, I defy any one not to "loose their head" over the villianous Kau & his throwing "skull-cage" on a chain.
While I realize that this isn't really considered a maverick of this field,for me, the charisma between these well-rounded & distinct characters was enuff to hook me into this non-guilty guilty pleasure.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

74   5.9   5.5 

Even though Enter The Dragon & Fist Of Fury often interchange with this movie as far as my being my favorite Bruce Lee film, Game Of Death is the one that I find myself watching the most.
Maybe it's cuz, with since it actually remains unfinished (in my eyes, the post-Lee parts don't count... ) it leaves plenty of room for interpretation on what could have been.
After Lee's death, martial arts genre took a real nose dive as far as the kind of quality & especially the kind of integrity that Bruce seemed to be striving for.
And while lately, the genre has taken many strides forward as far as being taken more seriously as a cinematic artform, watching the ideas that Bruce set upon this early "kung fu flick" always make me wonder about the potential that the original Dragon must have dreamed about & hoped for.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

2882   7.6   8.2 

Only two words can be used to describe this movie: Bad @ss.
Not only is this Quentin's homage to martial arts flix, but it also includes homage's to anime & those funky, grainy 70's Bruce Lee's wannabe's that made us laugh with their unsynchronized voice-overs, jagged camera movements & b-level musical sound effects. And yet, he was able to combine all this in a manner that was just plain...
well....
... bad-@ss.
Oh, & by the way,
out of sheer curiosity, I just performed the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart technique on myself, just to see if it works. Now, as I post this, I have just completed taking the 5 steps forward, & am now waiting to see if anything will actually happ

The Mighty Celestial's rating: