Probably my favorite one is Kickboxer with Jean Claude Van Dame. Saw that so long ago, but I loved it. I eventually ended up owning it. I guess it’s a typical revenge story, in fact if you’ve seen Bloodsport it’s pretty much the same thing.
But Kickboxer was my first, and therefore has left its mark on me. Kickboxing champion gets paralyzed in the ring in Thailand, against one of their best champions. Said paralyzed champion has a little brother, who wants to avenge him. So he learns Muay Thai kickboxing from Xian, an old master. Vigorous training, some humor, a love story, tons of action, it’s got it all. Plus the villain, Tong Po, is one dastardly son of a bitch. He says TWO phrases in the whole movie, but he’s a real arsehole.
Anyways I love this movie haha. and it’s cheesy, but I love the soundtrack
Unfortunately, the sequels, which I believe there are four more of…are completely terrible. The second one is passable…but completely ridiculous. It follows from the first, where Tong Po, enraged at his defeat…kills everyone. He kills the main character, his girlfriend and his brother. Only Xian remains. So Xian travels to America…and for some reason, there’s a THIRD brother we never heard about, who gets trained, and somehow Tong Po is also in America…they didn’t even try. But it’s a fun movie to watch; kind of like how Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II is so damn dumb but still enjoyable. And speaking of which, I fucking love the first Ninja Turtles movie.
But for the Kickboxer series, I stopped at Kickboxer 3…saw part of 4, Tong Po is still around…but egads man, do those suck lol.
But I like old martial art movies like these, where the fighting at least looks plausible. Every time I rent a modern martial art flick, people run upside down in the sky for ten minutes and do things that are completely impossible. Bolo Yeung sneers in their general direction. XD
I also love Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman. That guy’s awesome, it has weird humor, and it takes a traditional story but makes it look original. I really should check out some of the older Zatoichi stuff, to see what they were like. And if nothing else, the sword fighting here is marvelous. Wish I could fight like that lol.
But the best sword fighting goes to Lone Wolf and Cub. I’ve only seen one movie though…but damn was it awesome haha.
On a not so related note; King of the Kickboxers; worse martial art movie in existence lol.
