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- Wuxia is a film and literature genre that focuses on martial arts heroes, usually in ancient China. It's been around for thousands of years but exploded in popularity as a subgenre of martial arts movies in the late 20th century. Wuxia films tend to feature larger-than-life fight scenes and stunts, often with magical elements.
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- One-armed Swordsman (1967) Director: Chang Cheh. It’s difficult to underestimate the influence Chang Cheh’s classic would have on the Chinese martial arts film.
- Dragon Inn (1967) Director: King Hu. If you’re familiar with the work of the great Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang, you’ll have caught snatches of King Hu’s wuxia masterpiece illuminating the fumbled passes of a picture palace’s dying days in Goodbye Dragon Inn (2003).
- A Touch of Zen (1971) Director: King Hu. Not only one of the great wuxias but one of the great Chinese films, King Hu’s magisterial, three-hour-plus epic A Touch of Zen was the first of its kind to take a prize at Cannes.
- Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1979) Director: John Woo. Guns weren’t always John Woo’s weapon of choice. Before he became the dove-bothering godfather of the new wave of Hong Kong action cinema in the 80s and 90s with the likes of A Better Tomorrow (1986) and The Killer (1989), Woo earned his stripes on the roster of Golden Harvest as one of the studio’s go-to guys, directing over a dozen features for the studio in its heyday.
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi. 199 votes. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an epic martial arts film that takes viewers on a journey through ancient China.
- Hero. Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung. 259 votes. In this visually arresting martial arts epic set in ancient China, an unnamed fighter (Jet Li) is being honored for defeating three of the king's most dangerous enemies.
- House of Flying Daggers. Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi. 212 votes. In the visually stunning martial-arts epic House of Flying Daggers, set in 9th century China, a secret rebel organization, known as the House of Flying Daggers, wages war against the corrupt government.
- A Touch of Zen. Feng Hsu, Chun Shih, Pai Ying. 54 votes. Ku Shen Chai (Chun Shih), an unmotivated artist in his early 30s, still lives with his mother, but he is shaken from his comfortable rut by the arrival of beautiful and mysterious Yang Hui-ching (Feng Hsu), a princess on the run from Gen.
Wuxia (武俠, literally "martial arts and chivalry") is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of historical fantasy literature, its popularity has caused it to be adapted for such diverse art forms as Chinese opera , manhua , television dramas, films ...
- 12 Reign of Assassins
- 11 Intimate Confessions of A Chinese Courtesan
- 10 A Chinese Ghost Story
- 9 Dragon Gate Inn
- 8 Ashes of Time
- 7 Come Drink with Me
- 6 Duel to The Death
- 5 The Assassin
- 4 A Touch of Zen
- 3 House of Flying Daggers
Michelle Yeoh stars in 2010’s Reign of Assassinsas Zeng Jing, a cloth merchant who has a background of being one of the most feared assassins in the land. Looking to bury her past behind her and start life anew after meeting with a monk, it comes back to haunt her after a gang comes looking for the treasure she looted last: the remains of a legenda...
A movie from Hong Kong, Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesanwas created by the biggest production company in the industry when they were active: the Shaw Brothers. Released in 1972, the wuxia stars Lily Ho as a young woman named Ai Nu. She is kidnapped and sold off, but because of her attitude and personality, her buyers find out she is not ...
A Chinese Ghost Story has unique, fantasy-based twists on the classic elements of wuxia, making this 1987 movie an entertaining one for fans of the genre. Based on a Chinese short story from the Qing Dynasty, this movie became a cult classic in China. Leslie Cheung stars in the leading role of Ning Choi-san, who, as a tax collector, finds himself i...
Released in 1967, Dragon Gate Innwas directed by King Hu and released in Taiwan. It has been remade two more times since then. It tells the story of Tsao, the eunuch of an emperor, and how he takes down his political rival: a general in the army. After having the general killed and his family exiled, a martial arts expert interferes with his grand ...
Auteur Wong Kar-wai is best known for his gritty 1990s Hong Kong movies, but in 1994 he came out with a wuxia movie of his own: Ashes of Time. A prequel to the Chinese novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Ashes of Timefocuses specifically on the antagonist from the source material. Named Ouyang Feng, the movie takes place when he is a young man, ...
King Hu and the Shaw Brothers were behind Come Drink With Me, which debuted in Hong Kong in 1966. It stars Cheng Pei-pei, one of the most prominent wuxia actors of the 60s and 70s, alongside Yueh Hua and Chan Hung-lit. After the son of a governor is kidnapped by a bandit, a ransom is demanded unless they want the boy to be killed. The governor’s da...
Released in 1983, Duel to the Deathtakes place during the famed Ming Dynasty of Chinese history. In the 1500s, a Japanese swordsman must face off with a Chinese one every decade to protect their nation’s honor. However, this year, the duel is thrown off by a new variable: outsiders are trying to manipulate the fight’s results for their gain. The mo...
The Assassinis the effort of the prestigious Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien to make a wuxia film. Hou would take home the award for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, showing his prowess across genres. Set in the 7th Century, during the Tang Dynasty, the movie’s setting is Weibo. Nie Yinniang is an assassin who specifically targets corr...
A Touch of Zen is King Hu’s most notable film before his death in 1997. The movie came out in theaters in 1971 and was considered a part of the Hong Kong New Wave that brought wuxia and Chinese martial arts all over the world. Taking place in Ming China, Gu is a scholar and painter living in the mountains. When a stranger arrives with nefarious mot...
Zhang Yimou came out with House of Flying Daggers in 2004 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The movie stars Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi, and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Classified as both a romance and a wuxia movie, chaos is amiss in the Tang Dynasty. Rebels are present throughout the kingdom, and two police officers must track down ...
- Judgment of an Assassin (1977) After the Golden Axe clan sees 21 of its members murdered by an unknown masked assailant, a traveling swordsman is apprehended and brought to trial as a suspect, held captive in a casket lined with huge nails until his court date.
- Last Hurrah For Chivalry (1979) If the sentence, “A martial arts movie directed by John Woo” causes you to start salivating, your anticipation will be pretty well rewarded on a viewing of Last Hurrah For Chivalry, a film starring Damian Lau and Wei Pai that Woo also wrote and produced.
- Duel to the Death (1983) The contrast between Chinese and Japanese martial arts, and the moral codes that they embody, is a common trope brought up in many wuxia and kung fu films.
- The Bride With White Hair (1993) Those with a taste for the grandly operatic and romantic in their swordsman films will find much to enjoy in Ronny Yu’s The Bride With White Hair, a movie that paints with very broad strokes a portrait of forbidden love, betrayal, and regret.
Wuxia films, a genre deeply rooted in Chinese culture, are known for their unique blend of fantasy, philosophy, and martial arts. They bring to life an otherworldly vision of ancient China, where honor and moral codes are centered around martial clans and wandering knights.
Feb 1, 2021 · The cinematic genre has fascinated fans all over the world with its blend of magical realism, action and traditional culture from one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. Here are some of the defining Wuxia films to come out of China in the past 90 years.
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