The 25 best kung fu movies you have to see... or I'll roundhouse you

15. The Invincible Armour (1977)

The movie: An R-rated actioner with John Liu playing Chow Lung-fu, a man framed for murder by corrupt Ming guard Minister Cheng (Korean martial artist Jang Lee Hwang). On the run, Chow encounters a teenager who’s an expert at the Iron Armour technique, which makes the expert impervious to outside harm. 

Coolest fight: The final showdown between Cheng, Lung-fu, and Shen Yu - ten whole minutes of climactic music and some deadly moves. Even though it's a tad dated you can't deny its over-the-top greatness.

Iconic moment: Two words: groin attack! Yikes. The film's crammed with a ton more - some of which are heavily referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1.

14. Legendary Weapons Of China (1982)

The movie: Mixing martial arts with fantasy, this Lau Kar-leung movie is set in the late Qing Dynasty, when an Empress sends her agents out to uncover supernatural fighters who are vulnerable to the weaponry of modern pugilists.

Coolest fight: In a final confrontation, (real life) brothers Lau Kar-leung and Lau Kar-wing clash for an epic 20 minutes using all the 17 weapons of China. That's a lot of sparring.

Iconic moment: The hand-stuck-in-back moment is sheer ridiculousness in beautiful motion. 

13. Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984)

The movie: Another one from the Shaw Brothers. This time the power producer duo hired Gordon Liu and Alexander Fu Sheng for this ‘based on a true story’ fight-fest. Fu Sheng tragically died in a car crash during filming, which meant the script had to be rewritten to redirect focus onto Liu’s character.

Coolest fight: As a fair chunk of the movie takes place in a monastery - where the murdered son of a general bides his time before exacting his revenge - commonplace weapons are forbidden. So out come the poles along with the menacing glares. Amazing stuff.

Iconic moment: Yeung Dek finally tracks down the man who killed his father and siblings, and we get to see the eight diagram pole fighting technique in action. It's frankly outstanding that he wipes out a whole fleet of assailants, considering he's got a big stick and they have swords.

12. The Victim (1980)

The movie: Chun-yau and his newlywed bride are on the run from his mean step-brother, who blames Chun-yau for losing his eye. Fearing for their lives, the couple hide out in a village where Fatty (Sammo Hung) insists on being Chun-yau's servant. It's a lot more complex than that, but you've got the gist.

Coolest fight: Bryan Leung's (Chung Yao) final fight scene where he wipes the floor with his opponent by throwing him into a support column. That was after several long-winded hand-to-hand battles which exhausted even the intense fighter himself - especially as most of the battle didn’t involve a stunt double.

Iconic moment: Any of Fatty’s numerous attempts at convincing Yao to let him be his slave. They go on and on and on...

11. Come Drink With Me (1966)

The movie: An early classic of the genre Come Drink With Me is often lauded as one of the finest Hong Kong kung fu movies ever made. An action thriller, it revolves around a group of bandits who kidnap the governor’s son in order to use him as a bargaining chip for the release of their master. Yeah, that's going to go well.

Coolest fight: Golden Swallow infiltrates a Buddhist temple and confronts her brother’s kidnapper, leading to one massive scrap. Until she gets a poisoned dart in the neck, she gave it a damn good go.

Iconic moment: There's a mammoth brawl that kicks of at an inn, resulting in copious amounts of blood that'd make Tarantino queasy.

10. Heroes Of The East (1978)

The movie: Blending Japanese martial arts with more typical kung fu, Heroes Of The East stars Gordon Liu as student Ah To. He enters into an arranged marriage with a Japanese woman and, after insulting her martial arts family, enters into a contest to prove how good Chinese kung fu really is.

Coolest fight: When Japanese and Chinese swords collide - like the romantic love plot at its center! Watching Ah To wield the traditional Chinese jien against his Japanese opponent's katana is a sight to behold.

Iconic moment: Yasuaki Kurata uses the Japanese crab fist, which involves a lot of waddling from side to side. Looks a lot cooler than it sounds.

9. The Prodigal Son (1981)

The movie: Also known as Pull No Punches, Prodigal Son is a kung fu comedy that follows the lives of historical figures Leung Jan, Leung Yee-tai, and Wong Wah-bo. Biao Yuen plays Jan, who thinks he’s the best fighter in Canton, unaware that his dad has bribed all of his opponents to let him win.

Coolest fight: Who says restaurants are just for eating in? Not this lot. This battle turns a rather nice eating establishment into a blustering mess of punches, kicks and quite a bit of blood.

Iconic moment: “Masterrrrrrr!” The final fight between Chang and Ngai finds the young upstart beating his opponent into submission before leaping over a wall and striking a tough guy pose. He's earned it. 

8. Ip Man (2008)

The movie: Semi-autobiographical tale revolving around the life of legendary Chinese martial artist Yip Man (also known as Yip Kai-Man), Bruce Lee’s teacher. Though it significantly departs from historical fact in places, it has been celebrated as a classic of the genre featuring some breathtaking fight choreography.

Coolest fight: The fast-paced, bone-cracking, whip-lashing confrontation between Donnie Yen and a circle of deadly assailants.

Iconic moment: It has to be the final fight scene plucked from the history books, a medley of impressive fighting skills between Chinese and Japanese warriors. 

7. Enter The Dragon (1973)

The movie: The first martial arts film to be produced by a Hollywood studio (here, Warner Bros), this was Lee’s last ever film. He plays a martial artist who spies on a reclusive crime lord. Ever the perfectionist, Lee rewrote much of Dragon’s script himself and directed the opening Shaolin Monastery fight.

Coolest fight: Lee breaks into the underground base of Han’s operations, accidentally setting off the alarm. Which, sadly, means he has to kick a lot of booty. Spectacular.

Iconic moment: When Lee is in Han’s underground lair, look out for an early appearance by Jackie Chan, who was a stuntman here before he got his big break. It's the passing of the torch...

6. Clan Of The White Lotus (1980)

The movie: Like many entries on this list, it's a quasi remake/sequel of an earlier film. In this case it's Executioners From Shaolin. The movie revolves around a long-standing feud between a monk (Gordon Liu) and an evil priest named White Lotus (Lo Lieh), who boasts the impressive ability to achieve total weightlessness during fights.

Coolest fight: Wen Ting takes on a clan of yellow-robed mercenaries and beats them all into mulch.

Iconic moment: The bath confrontation between Wen Ting and White Lotus is hard to forget, in its own special way, but really this is another killer performance from Gordon Liu. Two decades later he'd riff on this character in Kill Bill as The Bride's mentor Pai Mei.

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