Who Is Your Favorite Movie Martial Artist?

[Guest Lacey Lynne]

Awesome thread!

How to answer this one, oh, my! Like, I really can't!

1. Bruce Lee !

2. Jean-Claude van Damme !

3. Steven Seagal !

4. Chuck Norris !

5. Michel Qissi (as ... Tong Po! ... Tong Po! ... Tong Po!) !

In real life?

Uuuhhh, ...

FRANK DUX ... AT THE KUMITE!!! (Three Cheers for the Chinese moff-eye-ay!)

- LLB

[Guest Kate Lyn]

Michelle Yeoh (THe Mummy tomb of the dragon Emperor and Chrouching TIger Hidden Dragon)

Jet Li

Jenifer Garner (Alias. Elektra/Daredevil)

are 3 i like most, not to say jackie chan, bruce lee, and van damme are any good cos they are, but steven segal, jason statham chuck norris?? they arent convincing, they dont sell being hurt, and they dont act very well either. i enjoy segal films but the other too, noooooo lol

[Guest KarenLyn]

I'm going to say Cynthia Rothrock, simply because no-one knows who she is

I know who she is but I'd still go with Jackie Chan first, then Bruce Lee.

[Guest Razilee]

Jet Li or Jackie Chan are the ones I like to watch the most. I love to watch the out takes after the movie is over with Jackie Chan. He always does his own stunts and always messes up.

Sarah F

I too like Jackie Chan. We all know that the moves are unrealistic, but the outtakes give an bit of an idea of just how difficult it would be to make them in real, as opposed to reel, life.

[Guest Jo-88]

I was really impressed with JeeJa Yanin in chocolate. She is a fantastically good martial artist. And shes cute!

[Guest princessofdarkness]

Well gee, to give the long answer...

Well, Jackie Chan is indeed the King of All Action Movies, martial arts of otherwise. His stunt work, his unorthodox fighting style, and the sheer number of movies (I've only seen about 25 or so, which is just a fraction of his work (only his Hong Kong films of course), plus the sense of humor he always carries makes him the best to watch. So I'd say him. And I'd say 'Police Story' is my favorite movie of his.

One would be correct in saying that Chan isn't actually the technical level best martial arts, if we're talking tournament style ranking. Donnie Yen or Jet Li would be, and Cynthia Rothrock (glad one of you mentioned her, she's so underrated) would be best of the Western world. But the fun of Jackie Chan movies isn't seeing him take down armies Bruce Lee style, but hop around like a madman and go on the defensive. His film's are always funny to me, which just makes him likable too. So he's also the best actor in kung fu movies.

Bruce Lee is obviously the greatest martial artist of the 20th century, and he was a good actor, but his filmography is too small for me to call him the best MOVIE martial artist. Only 5 martial arts movies, and 'Game of Death' barely counts. That being said, 'Enter the Dragon' is probably my favorite martial arts movie period, and 'Fist of Fury' is a 70's masterpiece, and 'Way of the Dragon' is a martial arts classic. I'm definitely a disciple, I proudly own all of his movie's (Including 'The Big Boss' and 'Game of Death', which I enjoy, though I admit they're not very good) but he was much more than a movie star.

I do have to admit, I love Jean-Claude Van Damme to death, and he might be tied with Jackie just for me. His acting skills are, endearing. That's what they are to me. Some people say he's a bad actor, but hey, there's honesty in his eyes, and he's always likable. He's an extremely talented martial artist, but in his movies his moves are so over the top and ridiculous to some martial arts enthusiasts they reject him. But to me growing up, it was like watching ballet, I loved it. Yes, it's unrealistic, but so what? Watching him gracefully perform his moves always makes me smile. He's an A+ showman.

I've seen all his movies (except his direct to video one's), 'Bloodsport' is my favorite movie of his, and pretty much tied with 'Enter the Dragon' for my favorite martial arts movie. But I also love 'Kickboxer', 'Lionheart', 'Double Impact', 'No Retreat, No Surrender', and there are plenty of other's I really like (Street Fighter (yeah I said that), Timecop, Hard Target, Universal Soldier). I've seen some really bad one's too (Black Eagle//Maximum Risk/Knock Off/Double Team, etc...all horribly boring).

Some would say even the 'good' one's I named are over the top, borderline campy, silly cheese fests. And I would agree. That's why I love them. What's wrong with being campy? Just spells entertainment to me.

Plus, honestly...he was sort of dreamy back in the day...I mean, that French accent. (FANGIRL ALERT!)

And also, after his life went off the rails with drugs, domestic problems, his bipolar disorder, etc. I've been so happy to see him rebuild his life, his family, and his career. Seeing him get back on track just inspires me.

So yeah, there's the long answer. I could say Toshiro Mifune, because he's always playing samurai's, but that seems like cheating. Besides, he's make my list simply because of how amazing an actor he is; he could be the worst martial artist in the world for all I care, he's among history's best thespians. Cynthia Rothrock, whose movie's are always lovably cheesy and even cheaper than Van Damme's, I got to give a shout out to. Us girls got to represent! And Michelle Yeoh, she's great too.

And of course, as someone said above, Frank Dux is the greatest in the world period...That's sarcasm by the way.

Princess

[StephanieVikingGirl]

I like a lot of martial artists, but my favorite is Bruce Lee. When I was a kid my favorite show was the Green Hornet, and Kato was my favorite super hero on T.V., and later on when Bruce made those movies wow. Like many, I had a tough childhood. I was attacked a lot by boys. Inspired by Bruce Lee's combination of philosophy and martial arts ability, I studied martial arts from a fairly young age and was able to mimic his moves to protect myself (once I got big enough). I did not like violence, but I also didn't like being hurt. Unfortunately I also created a macho facade to scare boys away so they would be less inclined to attack me. In any case, decades later, I taught his martial art of Jeet Kune Do to soldiers in the Persian Gulf. Me and a couple of colleages with the Iraq Survey Group set up a dojo/kwoon to teach our favorite martial arts after work. I still occasionally watch his movies just to see him move, and hear his philosophy. What a great man.

Stephanie

[Guest meagan]

Gordon Liu, His fight scene in Fists and Guts where he and the opponent must fight silently to avoid alarming any guards else they get shot was fantastic. The choreography was amazing. He is just as great in his other movies too. Gordon vs. Wang Lung-wei in The Martial Club is also an excellent fight displaying great choreography.

Donnie Yen I also like as his choreography is good. A favourite was his movies Wuxia and The Lost Bladesman.

[Guest Sasseya_Isobel]

#1 - Jet Li - Not only is he a real kick to watch (hah, pun intended) . . holy hell, he actually blends into the roles rather nicely. Fearless, Expendables, and . . the one where he has the collar that makes him docile when it's on (ack, bad memory strikes again!!)

#2 - Jackie Chan - Real nice guy in person and actually would be tied with Jet Li. He's actually more entertaining to watch, but, he doesn't blend into his roles quite as well. THEN AGAIN, I admit to not having seen enough of his movies.

#3 - Bruce Li - You just know somebody's in trouble when he walks on screen. Nothing really complex here, he's a favorite of mine.

The jet li film with the he collar? That would be "Unleashed" brilliant film, also jet li in "the One" is possibly his best film,

in my male persona I was a fight choreographer for stage and screen for 20 years, with limited success I admit, but it did give me the opportunity to meet many of the world's biggest martial artists, and IMHO my favourite is a genuinelyall round nice guy and brilliant fighter, Bolo Young. For those that don't recognise the name he was the bad guy in a lot of JCVD films including Blood Sport

Love and prayers

Sass

[Guest Rei]

while there are the usual names like bruce lee, jackie chan and jet li (yes, they're all wonderful, i grew up watching them), i'm also going to throw donnie yen into the mix. for those who may not be familiar with him, he's uses mma techniques and is a very good actor. some of his known roles have included portraying ip man (widely believed to have been bruce lee's master, though to my understanding, this isn't exactly true) and a hot-tempered hong kong policeman in "flash point".

i can't really say who my favourite is though. this is a really hard question xD

[GamerGirlEmily]

Bruce Lee. Close second is Brandon Lee tied with Chuck Norris