From the moment I could work a VCR I engulfed myself into a world of Martial Arts movies. Subtitles, black and white, fantastic or poor special effects, it didn't matter, I had seen it. But what makes such a good Martial Arts film? To me, it wasn't all about the stunts, even though they played a huge part, it was about story and character.

What was the point in having wondrously created, action packed fighting scenes when you were unsure of why two people were fighting in the first place? That was why, for me, the best Martial Arts movies were always one's that had depth and a character you actually wanted to see fight, a character you actually wanted to see win.

I'm going to be the bad guy here and say that Bruce Lee's films have not made it onto my list. Yes, he was the best, there is no denying that and I loved every moment of every film of his I ever had the pleasure of watching. But I can't really remember any that I actually enjoyed so much that I would watch it every day, just to pass the time.

Most of my favourite Martial Arts movies are ones that are completely story driven yet simply have the stunts crafted in throughout the story line, as though slightly out of place but ever so pleasing for the action craving minds watching the screen all to eagerly.

I recently came across a Jackie Chan movie you may have seen, it was called "New Police Story." It had been such a long time since I had seen such a gripping movie. The bad guys were all justified, they had motives and they had skills. The fight scenes are some of the best I have seen in a long time, the fight in the Lego section of the mall being one of the most neatly written, destructive fighting scenes I have ever seen.

Then of course, "Mortal Kombat." No matter how man Martial Arts films I see, I will always come back to this one. Whilst some actors obviously had stunt doubles, it was still a powerful movie with one of the greatest Martial Arts tournaments I've ever seen.

Whilst not a heavily driven Martial Arts movie, "The Crow," will forever be a legendary cinematic master piece in my eyes. Brendon Lee is perhaps my all time favourite and he never disappointed me. This movie was revenge in its finest form and had some great fight scenes with one scary good guy.

From the old schools like "The Karate Kid," right to the newies such as "Fearless," and everything in between, including the slightly abstract like, "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Kill Bill." Every Martial Arts movie has something different to offer and for such a traditional movie genre, the story lines must keep evolving to keep audiences interested enough to keep wanting more.

These are just a few of the favourites, but there are so many more, to list them all without explanation would be no justification to the masterpieces at all.

Learn more about this author, Megan Donnelly.
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