Good Martial Arts Movies for Non-Martial Artists

How Do Non-Martial Artists Develop Their Perception Of Us?

Recently I had the absolute pleasure of recording a two-part podcast episode with Senseis Jeremy Lesniak of Whistlekick Martial Arts Radio, and Jaredd Wilson of Martial Thoughts. We talked about comments you often hear from non-martial artists when they find out that you study martial arts. You can listen to these episodes here and here. It created an interesting side conversation where we had started to wonder if martial arts movies are part of the problem. In this two-part article on Martial Journal, Sensei Jaredd Wilson and I will be breaking down both bad and good martial arts movies.

After an extremely tense and heated bout of rock, paper, scissors, it was determined that I would write about the kinds of martial arts movies that are good to show to a non-martial artist. Jaredd Wilsons’s article on the bad movies can be found here.

Keeping it a Little Closer to Reality

Pop culture can be a powerful factor in how we develop our perception of various subjects. Martial arts, in general, is not immune to this phenomenon. Therefore it is very valid to question how much of the perception that non-martial artists have of us comes from martial arts movies. I am a big fan of martial arts movies, even the terrible ones!

It is very easy for me to watch a martial arts movie and identify good or bad choreography. Long, unbroken scenes are often a good indicator of good choreography. A great example of this is both of The Raid movies. Lightning-fast camera angle cuts are commonly used to hide bad choreography. This speaks to a lack of training, or capability, of the actors on screen. Hey Resident Evil movies, I’m looking at you!

Let us get away from the choreography and into the story of a martial arts movie. This is where we can find a different kind of good and bad to discuss. Shocking as it may sound, not all martial arts movies have bad stories. Having a good story does not automatically mean that the acting was good though. The opposite can also be true.

I will highlight some of the better martial arts movies/franchises below. These are notable for being much closer to what most of us actually experience in our training and daily lives. They all have good stories, values, and lessons for the characters portrayed within. Some of the loose criteria I used to select these movies were: on-screen dojo time, master/student relationship, lessons to learn, hardships to overcome.

The Star Wars Saga (Honorable Mention)

Before you say anything, hear me out. Some of the basis for the Jedi came from the samurai and martial arts in general. If you can get past the aliens, bad CG (prequels), and tech, you may find I’m not so crazy.

The Jedi code is similar to the Samurai code in that they both value honor, discipline, and morality. Inner peace and harmony with the force, have a lot in common with elements of eastern religions. Master and student relationships are common throughout the series, as well as, lessons to be learned.

These movies get an honorable mention because I know where George Lucas took influences from.

The Ip Man Trilogy

Many of you have seen one, two, or all three of these movies. For those of you who haven’t, I highly recommend all of them. All three Ip Man movies can currently be found on Netflix. While no secret has been made that these movies are not fully historically accurate, don’t let that stop you. Ip Man movies are stylized for drama and entertainment to be sure but revolve around actual events in the life of the late grandmaster. Donnie Yen does an excellent job of embodying the role of the late Grandmaster Ip Man. Additionally, all of the cast bring a high level of choreography throughout the series.

It is the story, however, that we’re concerned about here, though. Thankfully, these stories are the kind that non-martial artists can also appreciate. Throughout the series, there are lessons for Master Ip to learn, as well as other characters. Master Ip is presented as being very skilled and wise. Alternatively, he is also shown learning hard lessons and being overmatched. His humility and desire to avoid conflict are threaded throughout.

Master Ip is forced to constantly balance many of the same facets of life we do; working hard to be a martial artist and a good spouse. Add to that being an involved parent. What about your responsibility to your students? Throw that on the pile too. Got a school and want to keep it open? That’s another chainsaw you can juggle.

All of these things are present in this series of movies. They are presented with weight and nuance, not just as basic plot devices. I know that Donnie Yen and company are working on a fourth installment. I can’t wait to see what they come up with this time!

Man of Tai Chi

This 2013 movie starring Tiger Chen and Keanu Reeves (he also directed) is another good movie for your non-martial artist friends. It has a high choreography value as both Chen and Reeves commit to their scenes. You will also briefly see Iko Uwais in there as well.

The story here is a good one from the lesson-learning standpoint. Tiger Chen plays the student who refuses to learn the lessons the master is trying to teach him the easy way. His anger clouds his ability to understand them. Therefore, he proceeds to go down the much harder path of learning throughout the movie. The lesson being learned has gravity for him by the end of the movie because of how it has cost him personally and those around him. Reeves relishes being the slightly over-the-top villain who enjoys corrupting susceptible fighters into killers.

It is a one-off movie as far as I know with no plans for a sequel. However, it is a good one for non-martial artists who like action.

The Last Dragon

Ok, let me put down a few fair warnings here before diving in. Your non-martial artist friend better really (really!) like 80’s movie cheese. I grew up in the 80’s and even I was taken aback. Training montages, shaky dialogue, over-the-top villain, it has it all! Seriously, the choreography and dialogue are hilariously bad/good. That all being said, if you don’t take it too seriously, it can be a fun watch.

The story here, when you go beyond the surface, is one of personal development for the protagonist, Leroy Green. The master/student relationship presented here is funny and subversive. If I’m being honest, the master seems to enjoy trolling his student a bit too while trying to show him his path. In a nutshell, Leroy must learn not only what he is searching for, but also where to find it.

If you and your non-martial artist friends can enjoy 80’s cheese, then this could also be a fun movie to put on.

The Kung-Fu Panda Series

Before you say anything about the fact that these are animated movies, hear me out, please. Kids need to be exposed to the martial arts as well. I was exposed to the martial arts by movies as a young kid. However, the movies I saw heavily featured Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Segal in the 80’s and early 90’s. To say that they were light on personal development and the master-student relationship would be extremely kind. This also may speak to what’s wrong with me, but that is another discussion.

The Kung Fu Panda movies are much deeper than you might expect. There are lessons being learned and taught, and not in just the traditional master-to-student direction. In these movies, the master learns lessons from the students, just as much as they learn from him. Anybody who has taught, and maintains a small ego, knows that a student can teach you plenty about the material you thought you already knew.

Also, I have to highlight a huge point emphasized in this movie that I do not recall seeing before on film. The character of “Sifu” who is portrayed as the master of Po and the other students, is presented as still being a student of his master. I cannot say enough about how important this is. As an instructor, you can get too used to being the “top of the food chain.” Periodically training with your instructor, as well as others who rank higher than you can help you to keep perspective about yourself and your students.

While the action is fantastical in nature, it is the lessons being presented that resonate even for me as an adult. These are finely crafted movies and would be good to show to any non-martial artist, especially children.

The Karate Kid Series

So here we are. The pinnacle. The top of the mountain, at least in my mind. The Karate Kid movies are the best martial arts movies I can think of to show non-martial artists if you are wanting them to understand what you do and why you do it. For this write-up, I am including all Karate Kid movies( 1, 2, 3, The Next Karate Kid, and The Karate Kid 2010).

Is the martial arts choreography in the original four movies among the best I have ever seen? In a word, no. Is it even decent? No, not really. Pat Morita makes a great effort to be a karate master, but when he is visible on screen during any action, it is pretty obvious he didn’t have much training. Ralph Macchio similarly was not very impressive. Hillary Swank was simply not given much real action to perform in her one appearance. This was mostly the 80’s though and long before actors committed themselves to insane training regimens for months to prepare for an action role (i.e. Keanu Reeves, Christian Bale, Tom Cruise, to name but a few).

The Karate Kid 2010 fares much better in the choreography department. Jackie Chan’s martial arts chops are above reproach. Jaden Smith was also put in a position to succeed as he looked physically prepared for the role. As I previously alluded to, we can chalk most of this increase in on-screen martial arts quality to the difference in how movies are made today versus twenty-five years ago. Yeah, let that sink in for all of you who can remember seeing the original Karate Kid as, you know, a kid.

The Karate Kid Part I

It is the lessons throughout all of these movies that make them stand above the rest. The lessons learned, and taught, are fantastic. The focus is on a bullied kid who is not only introduced to karate, but also an amazing sensei and mentor. Young Daniel-san throughout the movie becomes physically and emotionally stronger. However, Daniel still struggles with self-doubt but is being guided by a teacher who truly cares about him. Daniel is also shown overcoming hardships and learning lessons throughout the movie.

That doesn’t mean Mr. Miyagi was easy on him. Mr. Miyagi playfully trolls him at times during his training but is direct in his approach at other times. He adjusts his approach based on what his student needs from him in the specific moment.

You could watch only this movie and understand perfectly what martial artists enjoy about what we do. However, there are interesting shifts in approach in the sequels that are notable and worth seeing.

The Karate Kid Sequels

The second and third movies are notable in how they actually maintain a consistent tone throughout regardless of specific story choices. I say it is notable because the first three movies all had the same director and similar creative teams. This was not a common thing in the 80’s when sequels were generally seen as a way to make a quick buck while putting out a sub-par product. Hire a hack director who can use the same color palette, gut the creative team, make sure the marketing is on point, and fleece the public into seeing the mail-it-in movie you just slapped together. Amazingly, this did not happen here.

The Karate Kid Part II

The Karate Kid II turns the spotlight away from Daniel to Mr. Miyagi and takes them to his homeland of Okinawa. Mr. Miyagi, the teacher, is returning home for a funeral, but must also face the errors of his youth. Daniel watches and learns from how his sensei owns his mistakes and attempts to make things right. Daniel still learns his own lessons for sure, but this chapter is really about Miyagi. The role reversal they utilized here was really interesting and subtle and should be applauded for it.

The Karate Kid Part III

The Karate Kid III focuses on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi dealing with the fallout of the events of the first movie. Story-wise, it serves as a direct sequel to the first movie. I honestly didn’t mind the third movie at all with a major exception.

The gripe is not with the “big-bad” character of Terry Silver as he makes total sense……. on paper. These people have destroyed the life of his friend who he served combat time with. It makes total sense for him to want to get back at Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Silver purposely attempts to corrupt Daniel and turn him against Mr. Miyagi when he senses a rift. I won’t call it masterful, but it made sense the way they were telling the story.

It is with the ridiculously over-the-top performance that he employed on-screen. I honestly expected him to say something like “No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die! Muhahahahahaha!” at some point. Really, just dial that back a bit and Part III would’ve been just fine.

I challenge any of you who are brave enough to watch the third movie again, but mentally tone down Terry Silver. Let me know what you think!

The Next Karate Kid

This movie is admittedly the weakest entry. For the 80’s/90’s, the fact that it took four movies for them to lose the heart of the series is impressive. Notably, this was the first movie with a different director, but the general feel from the first movies comes across as flat this time. Young teen being bullied, check. Irritating teen bullies being led by a bigger irritating adult bully, check. I could sum this movie up as “How to Make a Karate Kid Movie: By the Numbers.”

The lessons being presented in the movie are still there, but they lack the delivery and punch of the original three. Hillary Swank’s character, like Daniel, grows throughout the movie. However, the character growth does not feel as earned due to the way the story is presented. This is a let down as we have seen since then the acting chops Ms. Swank has. The premise of the villain and his cohorts is ridiculous and campy. This movie has maybe the least karate in it of all of the four originals which makes the “showdown” scene at the end a little hard to swallow. There are, however, very nice moments with Mr. Miyagi and Julie slowly bonding in their teacher/student relationship. This movie did get some of the emotional drama right. All these gripes aside, this is a fairly sweet movie overall and it could’ve been much worse.

The Karate Kid (2010)

I know for some it was blasphemy to remake the original movie. Full disclosure for me personally, this movie should have been called The Kung Fu Kid. The title of this movie bothers my martial arts OCD more than I care to admit. It is lazy and insulting to both Karate and Kung Fu, but what I have come to expect from Hollywood with these kinds of details.

(Exhales). Ok, now that is out of the way, I can get on to how much I actually liked this movie. Jackie Chan does a really good job in the instructor role. He plays the role with respect to Pat Morita but makes it his own. Jaden Smith does a good job in the student and outcast role. This movie is perfect for a younger generation that may have trouble swallowing the cheese of the original movies. The lessons are all there, and they are not delivered cheaply. Unlike The Next Karate Kid, which tried to do it by the numbers, this movie makes a faithful effort to be similar but different. You could do a lot worse than showing a child this movie. Hey, you never know, your child may just want you to sign them up for Kung Fu-Karate classes!

What Do You Think?

Did I just craft the gold standard guide for good martial arts movies for non-martial artists? Do you now wonder if I used to eat paint chips as a kid? Are you planning on starting a slow clap for this article? Have I insulted the very fabric of your formative years? Maybe you are going to want to talk to my manager? One way or another, I challenge you to tell me all about the movies I missed or got totally wrong in the comments section at the bottom. If you want to message me privately, fill out the contact form just below here.

As always, stay positive brothers and sisters!

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Scott Bolon

I am the host of the Way Of The Dad Podcast where I talk about things related to parenting, pop culture, martial arts, and various other topics. I hold the rank of Nidan(2nd Black) in Tracy's Kenpo Karate, 1st Degree Black Tae Kwon Do, and Brown belt in Combat Hapkido. I enjoy almost anything related to martial arts and love to have conversations about it.

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