8 Best Martial Arts Movies To Introduce You To The Genre, According To Quentin Tarantino

Published Oct 8, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT Nicholas Raymond is an author and journalist based out of Alabama, where he proudly roots for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. A graduate of the University of Montevallo, he has a degree in mass communication with a concentration in journalism. The Kill Bill movies starring Uma Thurman serve as a collective love letter to the kung fu movie genre from Quentin Tarantino. Although these are the only films in his celebrated career as a director where he's taken this particular direction, it's no secret that the filmmaker is a massive fan of martial arts movies. Tarantino has heaped praise on a long list of kung fu films, ranging from beloved icons of the genre to hidden gems. Curiously, many of the martial arts movies to receive attention from Tarantino lean more toward the latter category. On a kung fu-centric episode of the Pure Cinema Podcast in which he appeared as a guest, the director spoke fondly of the early films of Jackie Chan, which as he noted in the podcast, lack the popularity of his later work. He also had kind words for movies like The Mystery of Chess Boxing, Soul Brothers of Kung Fu, and The Hot, The Cool, and the Vicious. As one can judge by the titles, a large portion of the kung fu movies adored by Quentin Tarantino are a long way from being classified as mainstream martial arts classics. Rather, they're movies known largely to diehard kung fu fans. That said, Tarantino does have some interesting recommendations for people who aren't so well-versed in the innerworkings of the genre. 8 The One-Armed Boxer The One-Armed Boxer and Master of the Flying Guillotine together form one of the most rewarding martial arts movie duologies. The One-Armed Boxer sees Jimmy Wang Yu play a kung fu student who learns a deadly new technique so that he can take revenge on the group of evil assassins responsible for slaughtering his classmates and teacher. Tarantino repeatedly praised the 1972 classic. 7 Master Of The Flying Guillotine The sequel, Master of the Flying Guillotine, turns the tables on its hero, forcing Wang Yu's One-Armed Boxer to go on the defensive when the master of two of the assassins decides to retaliate against him for killing his students. Both The One-Armed Boxer and Master of the Flying Guillotine brilliantly utilize several of the most appealing facets of the genre, and does without hesitating to embrace the same over-the-top action that later made franchises like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter so popular with modern-day audiences. Quentin Tarantino listed both Jimmy Wang Yu vehicles as films worth recommending as entry points to the genre. 6 The One-Armed Swordsman During the podcast, Quentin Tarantino addressed the subject of which film he would use to sell the genre on famed director Peter Bogdanovich. Tarantino immediately picked The One-Armed Swordsman, a Jimmy Wang Yu-led wuxia film that sees its protagonist have to relearn how to fight after losing his swordfighting arm. Similar to what Wang Yu would do three years later with The One-Armed Boxer, the 1967 movie helped establish several of the medium's foundational tropes. While someone like Bogdanovich may not necessarily be interested in martial arts movies, they may be able to appreciate The One-Armed Swordsman, because as Tarantino explains, watching it would help you recognize its "classic place inside cinema" and the fact that "the entire industry sprang from this film." 5 Beach Of The War Gods Quentin Tarantino showed a great deal of favor toward Jimmy Wang Yu with his recommendations. In addition to The One-Armed Boxer, The One-Armed Swordsman, and Master of the Flying Guillotine, Tarantino brought up Beach of the War Gods, a movie that essentially blends wuxia with the plot of Seven Samurai. Tarantino notes that Beach of the War Gods "transcends" the genre with its massive battle scene at the end of the film, likening its scale and intensity to Braveheart. 4 Hapkido Quentin Taratino was quick to recommend Hapkido (also known as Lady Kung Fu), a movie frequently cited as an all-time great turn from Angela Mao, one of the martial arts genre's greatest female stars. Hapkido perfectly exemplifies the reasons Mao deserves that reputation, featuring some great fight scenes from the actress that do well to showcase her fighting talent. And with the legendary Sammo Hung in charge of the martial arts choreography, it's no surprise the action is as entertaining as it is. Released in 1972, the Golden Harvest film sees Angelo Mao and fellow martial arts legend Carter Wong as skilled Hapkido practitioners who earn the wrath of Japanese martial artists when they try to set up their own school. Similar to the case with films like Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury and the aforementioned The One-Armed Boxer, fragile egos and nationalistic rivalries being the driving force of the story is a long-running trend in the genre, and Hapkido is among the best to tackle the theme. 3 Deadly China Doll Quentin Tarantino made it quite clear that he's a big fan of Angelo Mao, in that three of her acting credits came to mind when asked which movies he would recommend to newcomers to the genre. He settled on Hapkido as his top Angela Mao recommendation, but also added both Deadly China Doll and When Taekwondo Strikes to the conversation. Much like Hapkido, Deadly China Doll is a 1972 Golden Harvest old-school kung fu movie where the male and female leads are Carter Wong and Mao respectively. Deadly China Doll tells a story about a mysterious hero (Carter Wong) who teams up with a deadly female fighter (Angelo Mao) in a quest to bring down a powerful drug lord. A lot of martial arts movies that employ a modern-day setting aren't able to create the same magic as the more traditional old-school kung fu classics, but Deadly China Doll can help sell viewers on the concept, as it uses its organized crime focus to set the stage for an appropriately gritty and brutal kung fu showdown. 2 When Taekwondo Strikes The third Angela Mao movie recommended to beginners by Quentin Tarantino, When Taekwondo Strikes is yet another collaboration between the actress and Carter Wong. In the 1973 film, Wong stars as a Korean freedom fighter who teams up with a Chinese martial arts expert (played by Angela Mao) to save a Taekwondo master from the movie's Japanese villains. The fairly straightforward rescue mission plot of When Taekwondo Strikes and the absence of the convoluted plot twists of many of its 1970s contemporaries makes it a very accessible movie for those looking to get into the martial arts genre. And with talented martial arts actors like Sammo Hung, Carter Wong, and Angela Mao onboard, any newcomer to the genre is assured to get a great taste of the action potential it offers. 1 Ninja III: The Domination Tarantino focused mostly on Hong Kong cinema, but for one of his picks, he looked outside the industry to recommend a lesser-known 1984 American martial arts movie titled Ninja 3: The Domination. The third and final installment in a series of Sho Kosugi-led martial arts movies, the film puts a wild, supernatural twist on the ninja subgenre by having the spirit of an evil, deceased ninja possess the body of a young American woman (played by Lucinda Dickey). It's an absurd basis for a plot, but such wackiness is a big part of what makes so many martial arts movies out there fun. Some are right not to take themselves too seriously, and that's fundamentally what makes Ninja III: The Domination work. Quentin Tarantino recalled it as one of his favorite 1980s movies.