CAST
PATRICK SWAYZE, KELLY LYNCH, BEN GAZZARA, MARHSALL R. TEAGUE, KEVIN TIGHE, SAM ELLIOTT

DIRECTED BY
ROWDY HERRINGTON

While Dirty Dancing made Patrick Swayze a heartthrob to women of all over the world, Road House turned Swayze into the ultimate, mullet wearing bad ass in his portrayal of martial arts dispensing bouncer Dalton.

Kicking all types of butt and always going home with the girl, Dalton stands tall against a town bully (Ben Gazzara) whose attempt to run Dalton out of town is met with a swift roundhouse to the head, delivered Swayze style.

Plenty of bar fights and a career best Sam Elliot as Dalton’s grizzled mentor feature, not to mention much T&A to go with the kicks and punches.

CAST
TONY JAA, PETCHTAI WONGKAMLAO, PUMWAREE YODKAMOL, CHATTAPONG PANTANA-ANGKUL, SUCHA PONGWILAI, WANNAKIT SIRIPUT

DIRECTED BY
PRACHYA PINKAEW

Many believed that Muay-Thai sensation Tony Jaa would be the next predecessor to Jet Li & Jackie Chan, thanks to his awe inspiring action work in the sensational Ong Bak.

An acclaimed stuntman having worked on the likes of the Mortal Kombat movies, Jaa brought his “no CGI, no wire work” martial arts theatrics to the masses in Ong Bak, starring Jaa as a villager who travels to the big city to reclaim a stolen statue, ploughing through the underground fighting circuit while doing so.

Two prequels followed but neither stand up to the quality of the original Ong Bak. Jaa is now a monk yet still plans on acting in films. Hopefully they will match Ong Bak in quality.

CAST
JET LI, SHINOBU NAKAYAMA, SIU-HOU CHIN, BILLY CHOW, YASUAKI KUTRATA, PAUL CHUN, ADA CHOI

DIRECTED BY
GORDON CHAN

It is fitting that one of Jet Li’s best films was a remake of a Bruce Lee classic, with Fist of Legend a great tribute as well as a standalone classic.

Li stars as Chen Zhen, a Chinese martial artist who returns to Shanghai for the funeral of his master, only to find the occupying Japanese bullying his martial arts school. Cue much fighting between the Chinese kung-fu masters and the Japanese karate kings.

Legendary choreographer Yuen Woo-ping (The Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) created the films bone crunching fight scenes, which Li executes with energy and precision. For some great martial arts action, check out the film’s final showdown between Li and Billy Chow.   

CAST
BRUCE LEE, JOHN SAVAGE, JIM KELLY, AHNA CAPRI, ROBERT WALL, BOLO YEUNG, KIEN SHIH

DIRECTED BY
ROBERT CROUSE

Highly influential in both the martial arts and video game industries (can you imagine Street Fighter without it?), Enter the Dragon marked Bruce Lee’s cinematic breakthrough into the long elusive American market, and still stands as a fun action movie.

Lee starred as a supreme martial artist recruited by an intelligence agency to infiltrate a fight tournament and bring down its sadistic leader Han (Kien Shih). John Saxon and Jim Kelly co-starred, yet this was Lee’s film all the way, kicking and punching his way to becoming a bonafide movie star.

Unfortunately Lee would die 3 weeks before the films premiere, leaving many to ponder just what his career could have been, and amaze at the athleticism and power of his fight sequences. 

CAST
RALPH MACCHIO, PAT MORITA, ELISABETH SHUE, WILLIAM ZABKA, RANDEE HELLER, MARTIN KOVE

DIRECTED BY
JOHN G. AVILDSEN

The film that inspired a whole generation of teens to attend karate class, The Karate Kid might not have the grit and technical savvy of other fight films, but its tale of a bullied teen standing up to his persecutors saw many stand up and cheer at its conclusion.

Ralph Macchio starred as Daniel Larusso, a New Jersey teen who moves to California only to get the crap beaten out of him on a daily basis by a gang of karate students. Salvation comes in the form of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morrita), who teaches Daniel the ways of karate and manhood.

Director John G. Avildsen took what he learnt from Rocky and applied it to The Karate Kid, with the underdog rising up to the challenge with one swift crane kick and a whole lot of “wax on, wax off”. Pat Morrita’s Mr. Miyagi still stands as one of the great movie mentors.    

CAST
JACKIE CHAN, LUNG TI, ANITA MUI, FELIX WONG, CHIA-LIANG LIU, HO-SUNG PAK, KEN LO

DIRECTED BY
CHIA-LIANG LIU, JACKIE CHAN

There are many Jackie Chan movies to choose from, but The Legend of Drunken Master (or Drunken Master II) stands as possibly his best work.

Chan reprises his role as Wong Fei-hung, a master of “drunken boxing” who unwillingly finds himself involved in a battle against the British embassy, often fighting against their best men.

For an example of supreme martial arts choreography, look no further than Chan’s out of this world duel against Ken Lo near the films conclusion, as Chan weaves comedy and kung-fu for a spectacular athletic display.

CAST
DONNIE YEN, SIMON YAM, SIU-WONG FAN, KA TUNG LAM, YU XING, YOU-NAM WONG, CHEN ZHI HUI

DIRECTED BY
WILSON YIP

A biopic based very loosely on the life of Win Chun master and Bruce Lee instructor Ip Man (or Yip Man), the film starred martial arts star Donnie Yen in perhaps his most celebrated performance.

Featuring break neck action choreography to go along with its political commentary on the Second Sino-Japanese War, the film chronicled Ip Man’s struggle during the Japanese occupation of China, which according to screenwriter Edmond Wong and director Wilson Yip included martial arts battles to the death against the occupying Japanese.

On top of the great fight scenes designed by choreographer’s Sammo Hung and Tong Leung Siu-hung, Ip Man also displays heart and emotion, making it a fine action-drama.

CAST
UMA THURMAN, DARYL HANNAH, MICHAEL MADSEN, LUCY LIU, VIVIA A. FOX, SONNY CHIBA, DAVID CARRIDINE

DIRECTED BY
QUENTIN TARANTINO

Quentin Tarantino’s two part “roaring rampage of revenge” is a bloody ode to many an Asian action film, with Uma Thurman’s “The Bride” tracking down and taking out those who betrayed and tried to kill her.

Throughout the two Kill Bill volumes are a series of great fight scenes once again choreographed by the legendary Yuen Woo-ping, with Thurman cutting down an army of Yakuza warriors, taking out Daryl Hanna’s eye ball, and crossing swords with Lucy Liu with extreme prejudice.

Tarantino’s casting of Kung Fu star David Carradine as elusive big boss man Bill was an added bonus, and gave Kill Bill a bit of gravitas amid the bloody carnage.  

CAST
RUSSELL CROWE, JOAQUIN PHOENIX, CONNIE NELSON, OLIVER REED, RICHARD HARRIS, DEREK JACOBI, DJIMON HOUNSOU

DIRECTED BY
RIDLEY SCOTT

The film which brought back swords and sandals to the multiplexes, Gladiator is an action movie which has dramatic weight to go with its bloody fight sequences.

Russell Crowe won an Oscar for his portrayal of Maximus, a Roman general betrayed and left for dead only to find his revenge in the gladiator arena, fighting off sword wielding behemoths and man eating tigers in his quest to kill Roman Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).

Directed by Ridley Scott, the fight scenes in Gladiator not only look good but they are bloody entertaining as well, with the Maximus vs Tigirs battle scene a highlight.

CAST
SYLVESTER STALLONE, TALIA SHIRE, BURT YOUNG, CARL WEATHERS, BURGESS MEREDITH, DOLPH LUNDGREN, MR.T

DIRECTED BY
SYLVESTER STALLONE, JOHN G. AVILDSEN

Instead of peppering this list with Rocky movies, it was best to place them all together as the one entry, and where else but first place should the fighting exploits of Rocky Balboa belong?

Unlike other boxing movies (Raging Bull, The Fighter) the Rocky films step outside of the sports genre and fit comfortably in the action movie fold, thanks to its mammoth fight scenes where more punches hit than miss, and 15 round slug fests are a normal occurrence.

Throughout the series, star/director Sylvester Stallone has his cinematic alter ego trade blows with a number of colour personalities. Who can forget the epic battle royals with flamboyant Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), the slip and jab theatrics against bruiser Clubber Lang (Mr. T), or the knock-down-drag-out street fight against Tommy Gunn (real life boxing champ Tommy Morrison)?

Yet the most famous Rocky fight scene has to be Rocky IV free for all between Balboa and the invincible Russian Ivan Drago, played by towering Swede Dolph Lundgren. Stallone in fact sustained real injuries thanks to his insistence that Lundgren (a former karate champ) take off the kitty gloves, resulting in a collapsed lung for Stallone.

It is a fight scene for the ages, full of the raw emotion and physical prowess which the Rocky films represent. Then again, maybe the final fight in Rocky III is the best? Or, maybe it’s the one from Rocky II? Or, maybe...