Martial Arts Movies

Some of the best.

"What I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills that
I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a
nightmare for people like you."  -Liam Neeson in Taken.

Japanese and Samurai Movies

Akira Kurosawa, Director

Sugata Sanshiro (1965/ 1943)
Aka Judo Saga, aka Sanshiro Sugata (USA)

Yojimbo

Sanjuro

The Seven Samurai

Film clip from The Seven Samurai. The swordsman attacking
from the left did not accept his defeat with bokken,
and insisted on this contest with live blades.

Trailer for The Seven Samurai.

Musashi Trilogy 

The Last Samurai 

Twilight Samurai
A very good movie.

Discussion of Twilight Samurai. I guy named Richard
from the Orem Public Library makes an appearance.

Chinese Martial Arts Movies

Iron Monkey

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Hero

Bruce Lee
Fists of Fury (1971)

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Starring Jason Scott Lee

Top 10 Chinese Martial Arts Movies on About.com

Westerns

Bad Day at Black Rock
Spencer Tracy introduces the judo chop.

Star Wars series
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guiness) is George Lucas's version of the Japanese sword master.

The Karate Kid
Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita). 

One of the best portrayals of a teacher in martial arts movie.

Fist Full of Dollars
Spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone; starring Clint Eastwood. Based on Kurosawa's Yojimbo. Not a martial arts movie, but we had to get Clint Eastwood in here somewhere.

The Magnificent Seven
Based on Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai.

Kurosawa himself borrowed source material from the west. Shakespeare's King Lear became Ran, and Macbeth, Kurosawa's Throne of Blood.

Steven Seagal movie list
Steven Seagal video clips

Jason Bourne series, starring Mat Damon
The Bourne Identity (2002)
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Taken (2009)
Starring Liam Neeson. The action is comparable to the Jason Bourne movies. Even more satisfying to watch Liam Neeson's character handle bad guys.

Utah County Movie Resources

BYU International Cinema
Japanese films shown every semester at Brigham Young University in Provo. And they are free.

Orem, Utah Public Library
Excellent collection of international videos and DVD’s, including martial arts movies by Akira Kurosawa and others.

Related pages

Aikido Video Clips

Aikido DVD's

Self Defense DVD's