Martial arts are a timeless fighting style and they have been an important part of film history as well. Classic action movies incorporated martial arts into fight sequences to captivate audiences with high-intensity fighting, that also symbolizes discipline and commitment. The only thing better than watching one fighter in their element is a showdown between two equally skilled fighters. These are the best martial arts movie matchups in history.
1. Uma Thurman VS Lucy Lui in Kill Bill Vol. One
This showdown between The Bride and O-Ren Ishii closes the film. Director Quentin Tarantino drew inspiration from classic 1970s Chinese wuxia films for the fight's choreography
2. Bruce Lee vs. Shih Kien in Enter The Dragon
Bruce Lee's final film contains some of his most memorable fight scenes including this one.
3. Donnie Yen vs. Hiroyuki Ikeuchi in Ip Man
This movie is based on the life of Yip Man, the martial arts master who trained Bruce Lee.
4. Chow Yun-fat vs. Jay Chou in Curse of the Golden Flower
Chow Yun-fat and Jay Chou show off their sword fighting skills in this elaborate fight fitting for the historical epic.
5. Ziyi Zhang vs. Jet Li in Hero
Yimou Zhang, the director behind many modern martial arts classics, directs this intense, yet etheral scene between Ziyi Zhang and Jet Li.
6. Jackie Chan vs. Ken Lo in The Legend of the Drunken Master
Jackie Chan performs almost all of his own stunts in his films. This breathtaking fight scene from The Legend of the Drunken Master shows his unbelievable talent
7. Joe Taslim vs. Yayan Ruhian in The Raid: Redemption
The Raid: Redemption features a style of martial arts known as Pencak Silat, which originates from Indonesia.
8. Yu Wang vs Wing Sheng Wang in Master of the Flying Guillotine
This surreal fight scene is quite possibly the only time I've seen an owl used in martial arts (and that's still not the weirdest thing about this fight).
9. Takeshi Kaneshiro vs Andy Lau in House of Flying Daggers
Director Yimou Zhang conceived this film as a companion to his earlier film, Hero.
10. Jason Statham vs Jean-Marie Petit in The Transporter
Jason Statham is trained in Wing Chun kung fu, kickboxing and karate. He did almost all of his own stunts for The Transporter
11. Linden Ashby vs Chris Casamassa in Mortal Kombat
Chris Casamassa originally auditioned as a stuntman, but producers were so impressed that they cast him in the role of Scorpion in this film based on the classic video game.
12. Yu Wang vs Tien Feng in Return of the One-Armed Swordsman
This movie is directed by Cheh Chang, considered one of the greatest martial arts movie directors. His work has inspired the likes of Quentin Tarantino and John Woo.
13. Scott Adkins vs Kane Kosugi in Ninja: Shadow of a Tear
Scott Adkins is trained in judo, Tae Kwon Do and kickboxing. He is known for doing many of his own stunts in his movies.
14. Keanu Reeves vs Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix
Morpheus and Neo make their fighting look effortless in this scene. Fluid camerawork compliments the flawless fighting to give the match a dream-like feeling
15. Michelle Yeoh vs Ziyi Zhang in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Michelle Yeoh is not a trained martial artist but rather, a dancer. She relies on highly-skilled trainers to teach her so that she can perform her own stunts in films.
16. Tom Hardy vs Joel Edgerton in Warrior
Tom Hardy suffered a broken toe, finger and several broken ribs filming the fight scenes for this mixed-martial arts movie.
17. Tony Jaa vs Chattapong Pantana-Angkul in Ong-bak
Tony Jaa trained for four years in order to perform all of his own fight scenes in this movie.
18. Sze-Man Tsang vs thugs in Iron Monkey
Sze-Man Tsang was only 13 years old when she filmed Iron Monkey, although she had been training in martial arts since she was 8.
19. Nicholas Tse vs Yu Xing and Wu Jing in Shaolin
Nicholas Tse trained under Chung Chi Li, the stunt team lead for Jackie Chan.
20. Boyka vs Dolor . Undisputed.3 Requiem Final Battle
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