4. Sha Po Lang (SPL / Killzone)
If I had to pick my favorite Donnie Yen movie, this would be by far it. Donnie mixes it up with less graceful more realistic fighting styles such as grappling and ground fighting. MMA fans should not miss this. Sammo Hung stars as the bad mob boss. His last fight scene with Donnie is amazing, it makes you wonder how someone so old and large can move so fast. Sammo’s right hand man is played by new comer, and former member of the Beijing Wushu Team, Wu Jing.
Donnie Yen vs Wu Jing
3. Shaolin Temple
You can’t call yourself a Jet Li without having seen Shaolin Temple. This was his very first movie fresh out of the Beijing Wushu Team. It introduced the world to the famous Shaolin Temple. In this movie, there’s a really cool montage of Jet training with various weapons.
Jet training montage.
2. Drunken Master 2 (Legend of Drunken Master)
What’s known in the US as the Legend of Drunken Master is actually Drunken Master 2. This movie has some of the best fight scenes you’ll ever see. One of the henchmen is Ho Sung Pak of Mortal Kombat fame (and my master’s kung fu brother).
Jackie vs Ken Lo
1. Fist of Legend
This is a re-envisioning of Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury. It’s about the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during the Second Sino Japanese World War. Basically Jet’s kicks a lot of Japanese butt. This is the movie that sealed my fate as a martial artist. After watching this movie, there was no doubt in my mind I wanted to be just like this guy.
There’s not enough bad guys for Jet.
This is a great list! I just want to reiterate how amazing Tony Jaa is, and I’m glad he made the list twice. While Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and all of the others highlighted in this list, are impressive in many ways, Tony Jaa’s sheer power and control make him stand out as a force to be reckoned with in future martial arts films.