I love martial arts and have been a practitioner since I was child. I have also been glued to the wonderful invention that is television ever since I could sit up under my own power.
There have been some iconic martial arts films such as Enter the Dragon and The Karate Kid (1984), but we have also been subjected to some of the biggest cinematic atrocities in film. With the rise of mixed martial arts, we are slowly seeing MMA making it’s way into film—but not in a good way.
Since I have had the privilege of seeing some of these films, I thought what better way to show my appreciation (read: displeasure) to Hollywood than by bringing them to you.
Now there are some rules. In the movies I’ve selected, the main purpose of the film was to showcase either a specific martial art or martial arts in general. So while I could probably fill this list with Steven Seagal movies alone, unfortunately he does not appear on this list.
I’m also ashamed to say that I own some of these, but aren’t some movies so bad they’re actually entertaining? Some of these were also box office successes, but when has that ever meant that a movie was worth watching?
Cough…cough…Avatar…cough.