Wow! This Is An Awesome Explanation! Thank You So Much. I'm Going To Start Queueing Stuff Up Immediately!

Wow! This is an awesome explanation! Thank you so much. I'm going to start queueing stuff up immediately!

So, I'm totally uncultured swine but I have been looking to try and find some good "transition movies" into the world of martial arts movies. My first one was Hero, but nothing really measures up to that. Any suggestions? Keep in mind I've been raised shallow American my whole life.

I, too, was raised shallow American. It wasn’t until I was introduced to Five Deadly Venoms did my martial arts/kung fu movie horizon really open up. Wu Tang and Shaw Bros are the classics. I highly recommend the above mentioned film, along with Kid with the Golden Arm, Come Drink with Me, Have Sword Will Travel, The Cave of the Silken Web….oh man, theres too many to name. Between the late 60s until the 90s, Shaw Bros produced THE top kung fu movies period. I cannot express how much this company means to me.

But, if ‘classic’ kung fu isnt your thing, and you’re more into the fantasy style (known as wuxia). This genre is harder to define, really, since its very specific to directorial style instead martial arts style. Some films that I like that fit into this genre based off of the basic points are: Come Drink with Me (mentioned above, the actress in this film reprises the character’s personality in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon as Jade Fox), Seven Swords (modern film, staring Donnie Yen - an actor you should really look into. He’s….THE BEST), Bride with White Hair, New Dragon Gate Inn, 14 Blades (Donne Yen, again), The Promise (this movie is GORGEOUS and severely underrated), Jade Warrior, Butterfly and Sword…again, I could go on forever.

If you like the fantasy based martial arts movies, but not particularly in a period setting, I highly recommend Dragon Tiger Gate - actually, ya know what, just watch every Donnie Yen movie ever distributed. You will not be disappointed. On the other hand, Japan has some very lovely fantasy based martial arts movies. May I start by recommending Death Trance, Shinobi: heart under blade, Red Shadow,  Azumi, Goemon, Mushishi (not really martial arts, just a visually stunning film), Casshern….

Dude, I could seriously write a fucking novel on every movie you need to see. Theres so many…so so so so many…always learning new films, learning new old films, and everything in between.