Both East and West have produced long lists of martial arts film franchises, some of which are significantly better than their contemporaries. The popularity of their characters and their style of acting may lead them to continue their multi-film franchise.
To properly qualify as a martial arts film franchise, the series in question must have at least three films, which unfortunately excludes such classics as the Drunken Master and The Raid films. However, many great martial arts films continue in series that extend far beyond the individual three parts, and some even become legendary sagas among martial arts fans.
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat is one of the most famous video game franchises of all time, and despite the failure of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation in 1997, the Mortal Kombat movie franchise has done much of the game’s justice. 1995’s Mortal Kombat brought the spirit of a Hong Kong action movie to what many consider the first great video game movie. The two-season web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy and 2021’s Mortal Kombat also showcased the game’s famous fatalities.
The Karate Kid
1984’s The Karate Kid established the master-disciple relationship in American martial arts films, and the film is rightfully revered as an all-time ’80s classic. The Karate Kid franchise continued its story through three increasingly intense sequels, as well as a 2010 reboot of the same name, which replaced karate with kung fu and Jackie Chan imparted his martial arts wisdom to great effect. The franchise’s biggest weakness was 1994’s The Next Karate Kid.RELATED:
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Bloodsport
Frank Dux’s account of the mysterious tournament known as Kumite may be disputed (to say the least), but 1988’s Bloodsport is nonetheless a timeless cult classic that helped create the template for martial arts tournament films. Bloodsport was also Jean-Claude Van Damme’s breakout film as Frank Dukes, and Daniel Bernhard later took on the role of Alex Cardo in the surprisingly worthy sequels Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite and Bloodsport III. Although Bloodsport IV:
Ong Bak
The 2003 film Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior introduced Tony Jaa as the first new martial arts star of the 21st century, and fight scenes based on Muay Thai became the next big step in the evolution of fight choreography. Two prequel films, Ong Bak 2: The Beginning and Ong Bak 3, took it even further, with Jaa mixing martial arts disciplines with even wilder fight scenes. Overall, the Ong Bak trilogy truly ranks as Thailand’s greatest martial arts series.
Police Story
Jackie Chan’s combination of comedic martial arts and serious stunts can be seen in its purest form in the Police Story franchise. The original Police Story trilogy is full of exciting action and comedic hijinks. Chan’s “Police Story” is classic Hong Kong-style action and fight choreography in which Jackie Chan endures considerable pain and terrifying stunts to get the job done.
Best of the Best
Phillip Rhee’s Tommy Lee is the heart of the “Best of the Best” franchise, competing in a tournament against the South Korean team in the first film before he and Eric Roberts’ Alex Grady engage in an exhilarating underground MMA battle to the death in “Best of the Best 2.” With so many great fight scenes in the films, Best of the Best 3: The Best of the Best movies are the immortal hallmark of martial arts films.RELATED:
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Once Upon A Time In China
After the runaway success of 1991’s Once Upon a Time in China, Jet Li returned for his finest hour as Wong Fei-hung in 1993’s Once Upon a Time in China II, where Wong battled both the foreign occupiers and the White Lotus society. Once Upon a Time in China 2 is one of the best films Wong Feihong has ever made. Jet Li’s charismatic energy and physical agility as Wong Fei-Hung is as effortless as ever, and Donnie Yen embodies a very formidable adversary in Nap-lan Yun-seut.
Undisputed
After the relatively unseen Undisputed in 2002, Isaac Florentine’s sequel Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing swapped boxing for MMA and featured a fresh Scott Adkins as the electrifying fighting machine Yuri Boyka. “Undisputed 3: Redemption and Fight”: “Undisputed” ups the ante on the franchise’s amazing fight scenes, and with Adkins’ co-stars including martial arts standouts Michael Jai White, Marco Zaror and Lateef Crowder dos Santos, the “Undisputed” franchise presents is nothing more than martial arts.
John Wick
The John Wick franchise has practically become the standard for modern action films, and this is due in no small part to the careful attention to the franchise’s fight choreography. Keanu Reeves trained tirelessly to bring John Wick’s fighting and killing skills to life, and his efforts show in every frame of the series. The John Wick franchise has also evolved into an ensemble of martial arts stars such as Mark Dacascos, Scott Adkins, Marco Zaror, Hiroyuki Sanada and Donnie Yen, to name a few.