On Jinni, we index fight movies as vengeance, violence spree and/or martial arts. That sounds subtle, but the movie premise usually isn’t: the hero beats people up, using only (well, mostly) his fists and legs. Usually the people he beats up are the bad guys, and most likely they murdered his wife or slaughtered his pet mouse. These movies won’t give you food for discussion with your intellectual friends. That’s okay, though, because 1. if you like this type of movie, you probably don’t have intellectual friends, and 2. all intellectuals live in Europe anyway. What they will give you is 90 minutes of trashy fun.

Before reading this roundup of our favorite fighters, you have to ask yourself: Which do you prefer, 1. a Bergman or Antonioni film where nothing happens but you actually learn a lot about life, death, God, everything and nothing – or 2. a Sonny Chiba movie where he kicks people to a cool soundtrack? If the answer to this question is 2, please read on. If not, please go back to whatever boring intellectual thing you were doing before.

P.S: Bergman and Antonioni are cool too (in their own way…).

10. Wesley Snipes

Undisputed (2002)

In a story that recalls the real-life history of Mike Tyson and Desiree Washington, Undisputed tells the story of a champion boxer (Ving Rhames) who is sent to prison on rape charges. There, he goes up against the top boxer (Wesley Snipes) in an in-prison competition. The fight creates real buzz, and people from all over the world start placing bets…

9. Tony Jaa

The Protector (2005)

In this sequel to Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003), director Prachya Pinkaew returns to tell an action-packed story about a missing elephant that turns up in Australia. But it’s not just any elephant, it’s Tony Jaa’s elephant. Now he’s going to Australia to take back his elephant and make those who stole it regret it. Jaa also choreographed the fights.

8. Clint Eastwood

Every Which Way But Loose (1978)

This unusual combination of bare-knuckle fighting and lighthearted fun was also a crossover for Clint Eastwood - from gunfighting to fistfighting. Eastwood plays trucker Philo Beddoe, a devoted brawler who lives in a shack with his best pal’s feisty, elderly mother (Ruth Gordon) and an orangutan, Clyde, who sips beer and thumbs his nose at authority. Philo is preparing for a fight, against the wishes of his mother and his new love interest (Sondra Locke). As if clashing with the women in his life weren’t enough, he also has to deal with his cocky opponent, gamblers, and a chopper gang who constantly harass him. This bizarre comedy was a surprise hit and spawned a sequel featuring many of the original cast.

7. Jason Statham

The Transporter (2002)

In this very loud thriller, in which he drives fast and beat people up, Statham plays Frank Martin, a former Special Forces operative who is now a high-priced courier, earning a lot of money to deliver packages he would rather know nothing about. His creed: Never change the deal, use no names, and never look in the package. But when he finds out that his latest delivery is a beautiful young woman (Shu Qi), everything changes… and he is off on a wild chase in his custom-made BMW that includes plenty of explosions, bare-knuckle fighting, cool weaponry, and tongue-in-cheek humor.

6. Steven Seagal

Under Siege (1992)

Can you believe that a Steven Seagal movie was nominated for two Academy Awards? Well, this one was, for best effects and best sound. Seagal might consider himself unlucky: if not for Al Pacino’s amazing performance that year in Scent of a Woman he might have won the Oscar for his stellar performance here. When a Navy ship carrying nuclear warheads is hijacked by terrorists, the fate of the world depends on the ship’s cook - who just happens to be a Special Forces martial arts and weapons expert!

5. Jackie Chan

Drunken Master (1978)
This is definitely one of Chan’s best and funniest movies. He plays teenage Wong Fei Hung, the son of a martial arts teacher who would rather clown around than learn kung fu. When one of his pranks injures the son of a powerful man, his father calls in a sadistic uncle to teach him some self-discipline. The uncle specializes in a bizarre form of kung fu known as the “Drunken Boxer,” and after losing a fight with a local assassin who has been hired to kill his father, Fei Hung realizes that it may be worth learning. This martial arts classic was the second collaboration between Chan and director Yuen Woo Ping, fight choreographer for The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

4. Charles Bronson

Hard Times (1975)
What a renaissance man: adept with both handguns and fistfights. But Bronson’s Death Wish (1974) character is a total geek next to his character in Hard Times. It’s the story of a bare-knuckle streetfighter who drifts into Depression-era New Orleans and hooks up with a small-time gambler. The gambler takes over the boxer’s career, arranging illegal fights and involving him in a scheme to cheat some gangsters. Director Walter Hill’s eye for atmosphere combined with Bronson’s best tough-guy role is a winning combination.

3. Jean-Claude Van Damme

Bloodsport (1988)

Jean-Claude Van Damme was never better: This classic of the martial arts genre is based on the true life story of Frank Dux, set in Hong Kong during a secret competition that settles the world championship in mixed martial arts…

2. Sonny Chiba

The Street Fighter (1974)

Most of us know Sonny Chiba as Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill, but he started his career with the Street Fighter films that made him a huge star in 70s Japan. As in most of his movies, Karate master Sonny Chiba skillfully creates a character known as rebel in the crime world of Japan. In The Street Fighter, he plays the role of the cult-classic martial arts legend Terry Tsuguri, taking on opponents with deadly streetfighter tactics. Hired by the Mafia and the Yakuza, Terry is instructed to kidnap the heiress to a large fortune. But when they can’t pay him, he chooses to join the other side. This movie and its sequels are truly great gory martial arts movies.

1. Bruce Lee

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Bruce Lee was immortalized in his films as a martial arts master and first-class entertainer. Enter The Dragon was the first martial arts film encountered by American audiences, and was actually produced in both Hong Kong and Hollywood. Interestingly, Enter The Dragon also set the stage for non-traditional, culturally specific narratives to make their way into Hollywood. Bruce Lee plays a kung fu master (and not a lawyer as you might expect…) recruited by a foreign government to infiltrate the island of a megalomaniac martial artist named Han. Han’s bodyguard is also found to have killed Lee’s sister, giving Lee a personal vendetta to fight for, and a strong script excuse to let Bruce Lee kick a lot of people many times. The Hall of Mirrors sequence towards the end of the film is now famous, as are Lee’s incredibly gymnastic martial arts abilities. This trend-setting film holds up as an entertaining, engaging action movie more than 30 years later.

Now that you’re hooked and obviously want to broaden your interest beyond these classics, try watching the following: The rest of Van-Damme’s masterpieces, all of Steven “They-killed-my-wife/partner/kid/environment-now-I-will-get-revenge” Seagal’s movies, the Karate Kid series for some coming-of-age added value, Green Street Hooligans and Football Factory for the sport themed fights, and the Jet Lee movies (beware of martial arts overdose). And if you manage it all, let us know so we can worship you.

(Disclaimer: this post isn’t, and shouldn’t be considered encouragement or motivation for violent conduct of any kind, or toward any person, no matter which professions were addressed to your mother or regardless of any gender implications referred towards you).

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