Ong-Bak

In this movie a man name Ting lives in a peaceful village in Thailand.  Ting was raised by monks, who taught him Muay Thai, but forbids him to use it in combat.  One day a gang of people stole a sacred Buddha statuette called Ong-Bak and is planning to sell it for exorbitant profits.  Ting is chosen to bring back Ong-Bak from Bangkok.  This movie has great martial arts moves which makes you wonder if you might want to try Muay Thai out because of all the combat that Ting does to defend himself. 

The Karate Kid

Now the Karate Kid I'm going to talk about is the 1984 version with Mr. Miyagi.  The other version of it I didn't like because instead of using the Karate style martial arts they used Kung fu.  The movie is about a young man name Daniel Larusso who moved from New Jersey to California and is trying to start a new life, but it didn't turn out as plan.  Daniel is always being bullied by a couple of guys that train in martial arts, eventually Daniel meets Mr. Miyagi.  Daniel ask Mr. Miyagi if he can train him martial arts so that he can defend himself next time from the bullies.  Things went great, Daniel was confident with himself, but when the bullies martial arts teacher found out what happened and was furious.  Mr. Miyagi made an offer for Daniel to enter a martial arts tournament and if he wins everyone would leave Daniel alone.  In the end Daniel won the tournament and he and Mr. Miyagi felt they had accomplish everything.

Mortal Kombat

Who here hasn't played the game Mortal Kombat? When I heard that there was a movie based on the video game I just had to see it.  The plot is similar to the game where an ancient tournament is being held called Mortal Kombat.  In order to succeed this tournament they would have to have 10 straight wins.  A competitor named Liu Kang entered the tournament to seek revenge for the death of his brother, Sonya Blade a law enforcement officer was lured to the tournament for catching her partners killer and Johnny Cash a movie star who was called fake also entered the tournament to prove to people that they are wrong.

Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda not your typical martial arts movie, but it's close enough.  Even though this movie is a children movie it still has some Chinese martial arts kung fu moves.  Kung Fu Panda is about a Panda named Po who dreams of training with the Furious Five.  Po was picked from the great master to become the Dragon Warrior, his dream came true.  Po was to be trained by Master Shifu and the Furious Five, but as his training starts a vengeful Snow Leopard named Tai Lung returns to his hometown to defeat Po and take his title of Dragon Warrior.  It's up to Po to protect everyone from Tai Lung and also show him that he is worth the title of the Dragon Warrior.

Iron Monkey

Iron Monkey is similar to the story of Robin Hood but with a lot more action.  A martial artist/doctor named Dr. Yang mask himself as the Iron Monkey to help the people from a corrupted government and rob the rich to feed the poor.  The government of Hong Kong were furious that no one can stop the Iron Monkey, so they hired someone that is skilled at martial arts like the Iron Monkey.  The government hired a physician/marital artist named Wong Kei Ying to their city to stop the masked man from robbing the rich and it seemed that the Iron Monkey has meet someone equal to him. 
While Wong was busy looking for Dr. Yang an evil Shaolin Monk arrives to the city to take over the corrupted government.  It is now up to the Iron Monkey and Wong Kei Ying to stop the evil monk in all means possible.  Robin Hood is all swords and arrows but Iron Monkey is all hand to hand combat and many types of weapons they use.  This movie is by far a better version of a Hong Kong Robin Hood.

Forbidden Kingdom

The Forbidden Kingdom is about a kid name Jason who is obsess with Kung Fu movies. He would always go to an old pawn shop to purchase any Kung Fu movies he can find.  When browsing the store he comes upon an ancient staff the owner tells him that a his grandson left it and never came back for it.  When Jason left the pawn store he was ambushed by a gang of punks that wants him to trick the owner of the pawn shop to unlock the door to the store, when he did the gang stormed in and one of the gang member shot the owner of the pawn shop.  The owner told Jason to run away with the staff, Jason ran to the roof with the staff in his hand and the gang punks are following close behind.  Jason is trapped on top of the roof and inching closer to the edge, he soon falls off the roof and wakes up to find out he is transported to ancient China. He soon encounters a drunken immortal who tells him the story of the Monkey King who is the owner of the golden staff he has.  Jason is informed that he now has to return the golden staff to the Monkey King who is imprison by the evil Jade Warlord kingdom.
I love the fact that this movie starred both Jackie Chan and Jet Li together.  The movie is hilarious and it also has some action scene as well.  My all time favorite scene in the movie is when Jackie Chan and Jet Li are fighting and using their martial art skills. So if any of you have time watch this movie.

Chocolate

Okay now I am not sure if anyone has watched this movie but I thought this movie was great.  The story line is very interesting to me and the action in this movie is intense.  Chocolate is about an autistic young girl that learns martial arts her whole entire life.  Now her mother back then was a former girlfriend with the Thai mob leader, but the mother secretly was in love and seeing a Japanese gangster named Masahi.  When the Thai mob leader found out about the affair he threatened Zin the mother to never see Masahi again and banished Masahi back to Japan.  Zin is in debt with the Thai mob so Zin's daughter is now trying to help her mother by seeking the ruthless gang members that owe the family money.
This movie is subtitled but again just like The Grandmaster it is worth the watch.  The autistic girl learns any type of martial arts so fast just by watching a movie or the person that is performing the moves.

The Raid: Redemption

In Indonesia a Lieutenant Wahyu has organized an invasions to a well protected building that is a safe house to well-known and powerful drug lord named Tama.  The SWAT team successfully entered the building but is soon spotted by one of the gang members that is guarding the building and their drug lord, now the SWAT team is trap in a seven floor building filled with hundreds of well armed gang members.  The team learned that the lieutenant had not inform anyone about the invasion of the building and that they're all on their own to survive. 
This movie is pack with a lot of action and suspense, while Lieutenant Wahyu is trying to survive from tons of gang members trying to kill him he uses his martial arts skills to defend himself when guns and knifes aren't in use.  Even though it is English subtitle it's worth the watch.

The Grandmaster 2013

The Grandmaster has to be one of my all time favorite martial arts movie.  Grandmaster is based on a marital arts master who is know as Ip man.  He is also the teacher that had trained Bruce Lee.  Ip man lives a peaceful life in the Southern part of China, but Gong Yutian who is the grandmaster of the Northern China comes to the South to announce that he is retired and has given his student Ma San the heir to the North.  Ip man was chosen by the grandmasters of the South to represent them and challenge Gong Yutian, in the end Ip man won the challenge and parted ways with Gong.  Gong Er the daughter of Gong Yutian didn't accept the defeat and challenge Ip man to regain her families honor.  In the end of the challenge Gong Er won and also gained a friendship with Ip man. 
During the second Sino-Japanese war Ip man's family died in poverty leaving him alone.  He then decides to move to Hong Kong to start a career in martial arts.  He had to challenge numerous martials arts teacher to gain the respect and he did, he defeated all the martial arts teachers and made a reputation.  His school is now popular to all martial arts people and has gained a famous student well know to everyone.  Bruce Lee.

Romeo Must Die

From the title this movie is not based on the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet it is a much different story. Romeo must die is about a ex-cop name Han Sing who is searching for his brothers killer who is also the son of the Chinese gang lord and wants avenge his death.  In his search for his brothers killer he falls for the daughter of the business man that is involved with a money deal that involves his father.  When Han is getting closer and closer to figuring out who the killer is he also has to protect Trish the daughter of the business man that is involved with the gang.  This movie is packed with action and some comedy to go with is.  If you do plan on watching Romeo must Die I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Once Upon A Time In China

The first reason why I watched this movie is because I love Jet Li and his style of Martial Arts.  This movies is obviously filmed in China and is also based on the legendary Martial arts hero Wong Fei-Hung. The American and French were invading China Wong Fei-Hung and his aunt must try and stop the foreign invaders.