There are plenty of amazing old-school martial arts movies that would never get made today, making them all the more important as icons of the genre. There are many great martial arts movies still being made today, with better budgets, acting, and more fresh new ideas than ever before. That being said, nothing can compete with the classics in certain respects.

Older martial arts movies, especially those produced by the legendary Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong, but a tremendous amount of emphasis on action choreography above all else. Plenty of older martial arts movies have glaring flaws that age them poorly, but others are superior to anything being produced today for their ageless action scenes and unique appeal.

Drunken Master II

Also billed as The Legend of Drunken Master in the West, Drunken Master II is perhaps the crowning achievement of the beloved Jackie Chan’s staggering filmography. Chan returns as the тιтular folk hero with a heart of gold, this time going up against Britain’s oppressive regime in China as they pilfer priceless cultural artifacts of the nation’s illustrious history.

Drunken Master II‘s oafish and alcoholic protagonist would never fly in a modern film, and the genuinely life-endangering stunts Jackie Chan performs in this film are shocking to see in action. From the hilarious comedy to the political and cultural commentary to the superb choreography that makes the most of Chan’s penchant for slapstick, no modern film can hold a candle to Drunken Master II.

The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin

Perhaps one of the Shaw Brothers’ crowning achievements, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin remains legendary to this day for good reason. Escaping a mᴀssacre led by a corrupt local government, a young rebel flees for safety in a Shaolin monastery, where he hopes to learn the secrets of the monks’ kung fu techniques and apply them to the revolution.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is mostly one big training montage, but its an amazing dissection of kung fu as a tool of liberation, not to be gatekept by pious monks. The actual reveal of what the 36th chamber is ties together the story better than any martial arts movie ending of the modern era, and Gordon Liu is a ferocious fighter to be reckoned with.

Fist Of Fury

Another of Bruce Lee’s canonical five films, Fist of Fury makes it apparent how the actor and inventor of Jeet Kune Do was able to become a legend in both the cinematic and martial arts worlds. As folk hero Chen Zhen, Lee vows revenge after his master is killed by a Japanese dojo, setting out to prove the worth of Chinese kung fu in the face of imperialism in the process.

Other films adapting Fists of Fury have come and gone since, starring the likes of Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan, but none of them can remotely compare to the mastery of the original. A revenge story is a fairly typical plot for a martial arts film, but Fist of Fury truly does its best thanks to Lee’s intense performance and blistering skill.

The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter

Martial arts need not apply to strictly unarmed combat, and films like Eight Diagram Pole Fighter prove why. Starring Gordon Liu of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin fame, The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter bears a similar plot, centering on Liu as the survivor of a family mᴀssacre who becomes a Buddhist monk skilled in fighting with a staff.

Circumstances soon force Liu’s character, who has since come to terms with his desire for revenge and reliance on violence, to embrace his vicious side once again. The fascinating dicH๏τomy between pacifism and activism is examined through one fighter’s incredible gifts, culminating in a brilliant and bizarre action finale that outdoes any modern picture.

Police Story

Not every iconic old-school martial arts movie is a historical epic, and amazing action flicks like Police Story prove how well martial arts can mesh into “modern” settings. Here, Jackie Chan plays a super-cop framed for a violent crime he did not commit, forced to go rogue and deliver the true perpetrators to justice while clearing his own name in the process.

Police Story has some wildly creative visuals that few working moviemakers today could ever dream up, especially the dizzying final string of fights that take place in a busy mall. Rife with some of Jackie Chan’s most dangerous stunts, Police Story calls back to a brief time when martial artists literally put their lives on the line to make incredible films on a regular basis.

Enter The Dragon

Perhaps the most famous of Bruce Lee’s short, but meteoric filmography, Enter the Dragon is a story that has influenced countless creatives today, whether they’re aware of it or not. Lee stars as a talented martial artist contacted by an agency in hopes of infiltrating a mysterious tournament held on the private island of a dangerous criminal mastermind.

In his final complete film, Lee’s performance simply oozes charisma as he takes down bad guys and dismantles entire operations, not to mention his amazing rapport with his fellow compeтιтors. Mᴀssively influential thanks to its tournament format and espionage themes, Enter the Dragon is one of the most definitive films of the ’70s as a cinematic epoch.

The Five ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Venoms

Yet another legendary production by the Shaw Brothers, The Five ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Venoms takes kung fu in an eccentric, wonderfully bizarre direction that mystifies viewers to this day. With his dying wish, a martial arts master asks his last student to check up on his five former pupils, with some having become traitorous villains over time, known collectively as the Five ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Venoms.

Each of the five students represents a different venomous animal with their martial arts styles, resulting in some outlandishly innovative fight sequences that weaponize unique techniques. It’s no wonder the cast of The Five ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Venoms became a rotating troupe of recurring faces with the various “Venom Mob” movies, so-named after their most famous roles.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

First released in 2000, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is now officially old enough to cement its place as one of the most untouchable martial arts movies of all time. It’s all the more impressive that the film was able to capture the hearts and minds of Western critics, considering how bitterly underrated most kung fu movies are in mainstream criticism.

The winding plot oversees multiple character perspectives and persists over the course of years, chronicling the theft and mastery of a legendary magic blade. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon‘s graceful wirework turns combat into an art in the true sense of the word, providing breathtaking visuals unfettered by needless digital effects or over-indulgent editing techniques.

Hero

Another more recent film, 2002’s Hero represents one of the last towering bastions of quality that all future kung fu movies will struggle to live up to. Jet Li takes the spotlight as the nameless protagonist, who regales the Emperor with tales of how he overcame China’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅliest ᴀssᴀssins one at a time as a framing story.

Hero is a stunningly gorgeous film that doesn’t shy away from traditional wuxia wirework, featuring some of the most amazing martial arts sword battles in particular as its combatants fiercely cross blades. Featuring showdowns between Li and other revered martial artists such as Donnie Yen, Hero lives up to its name as an easy pick for a martial arts movie Mount Rushmore.

Lone Wolf And Cub: Baby Cart At The River Styx

For the most part, samurai movies out of Japan tend to focus on drama and atmosphere over action. That can’t be said for the Lone Wolf and Cub series, particularly, the second entry, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx. Here, the legendary executioner Ogami Itto and his young son roam the countryside as ᴀssᴀssins-for-hire.

The entire film is a bizarre odyssey as the pair dispatch a series of increasingly fearsome enemy ᴀssᴀssins with brutal creativity. Dripping in core, creative fight scenes, philosophical musings, and even a visual metaphor to complement its mythological тιтle, the second Lone Wolf and Cub movie is a martial arts masterpiece still not outdone.