It was in the 1970s that the martial arts craze swept the world. The early seventies saw the rise of Blaxploitation in film, but the initial audiences for these films — often Black men from urban centers — felt too limited in terms of profit margins. Enter the kung fu movie. With a young male protagonist that wasn’t white, he stood up to the rich hooligans in charge and used his fists and feet to enact justice. Five Fingers of Death, starring Lo Lieh, started the obsession in North America with everything Kung Fu.

It was the new spectacle for American audiences, something many non-white individuals, particularly in cities, could relate to even if they were not Asian. But at the same time, it helped create a legacy of representation in cinema, one that’s had both good and bad repercussions. Even today, movies like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings built upon this legacy, although it has also trapped Asian Americans into a stereotype.

Regardless, the 1970s martial arts movies were unique, a cultural phenomenon that made men like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan into icons for an entire generation. Here are the best martial arts movies from the seventies.

Updated May 2023: If you are a fan of martial arts movies from the 1970s, you'll be pleased to know this article has been updated with additional content by Patrick Hayes.

11 Heroes of the East

Heroes of the East
Shaw Brothers Studio 

As with many neighboring countries and people, China and Japan share a rivalry that has regularly boiled over leading to conflict, war, and poor relations. In 1978’s Heroes of the East, love and marriage are thrown into the mix, and as such, a Japanese versus Chinese martial arts match-up is born. With an engaged couple from either country and disapproving in-laws, the Chinese husband-to-be, Ho-Tao inadvertently challenges his wive’s Japanese contingent to a series of Kung Fu fights in order to prove the worthiness of Chinese martial arts.

10 The Magnificent Butcher

The Magnificent Butcher
Golden Harvest

This is a film that boasts a fusion of intriguing genres that breathe a new lease of life into the conventional martial arts flick. Comedy gives Woo-Ping Yuen’s 1979 movie, The Magnificent Butcher a new dimension, arming it with a real likable charm. The film’s central character, Lam Sai-Wing, a humble, albeit volatile butcher, is recruited by his estranged brother for an unknown mission.

Related: Modern Superhero Movies Could Learn These Things from Classic Kung-Fu Films

After being accused of raping the head of a notorious Kung Fu school’s daughter, and murdering his son, the hot-headed, Lam Sai-Wing must fight to prove his innocence and clear his name. Full of brilliant stunts, and truly excellently executed choreography, The Magnificent Butcher is a spectacle to behold.

9 King Boxer

Boxer King
Warner Bros. 

King Boxer, better known as Five Fingers of Death, was named by Reservoir Dogs director, Quentin Tarantino as one of his favorite movies of all time, a glowing commendation from a true cinematic icon. The 1972 Hong Kong martial arts flick concerns the tale of two martial arts schools building up to a prestigious tournament. In order to all but confirm his school's victory, one of the school's masters enlists the help of three samurais who look to root out their rival's most talented fighter.

8 A Touch of Zen

A Touch of Zen
Golden Harvest Company

A Touch of Zen is a classic wuxia. During the Ming Dynasty of Chinese history, somewhere in a remote village, an unambitious scholar has a personality change after sleeping with a fugitive. The fugitive (Hsu Feng) is on the run because she plotted against a corrupt eunuch trying to kill her entire family, and the scholar helps her in her attempt at justice.

This movie is a mixture of comedy, drama, and action with a deep philosophical layer due to its motifs and references to Zen Buddhism. It's hindered by its long run time, but the martial arts scenes are elaborate and worth the wait. One fight scene, located inside a bamboo forest, took twenty-five days to film due to characters having to maneuver through bamboo stalks. A Touch of Zen is a lesson in patience, as it takes an hour to get to the first fight, but that’s what makes it an epic worth watching.

7 Master of the Flying Guillotine

Master of the Flying Guillotine
First Films & Cheng Ming Film Co

Master of the Flying Guillotine has a strange premise at first glance, but it’s a fan favorite. It’s a sequel to the movie The One-Armed Boxer, in which the main character plays a role in this movie as well. A blind flying guillotine (a weapon used for decapitation) expert is stalking the One-Armed Boxer to enact his revenge. His students are all murdered, which has led to his thirst for vengeance. Master of the Flying Guillotine is a bizarre movie, which is why it’s so entertaining. Goofy and like a fever dream, Master of the Flying Guillotine is considered a holy grail of Hong Kong martial arts films.

6 Five Deadly Venoms

Five Deadly Venoms
Shaw Brothers Studio

Five Deadly Venoms is one of the biggest cult films in the martial arts genre. Five former pupils of the Poison clan have decided to use their powers for evil, and the dying master entrusts his final pupil with the task of stopping them from stealing his friend’s fortune. Each of the former pupils was trained in a particular style of Kung Fu based on an animal, but the pupil who has to stop them doesn’t know a unique style of his own, thus making him powerless against the others.

The movie begins with a lot of exposition via utilizing voiceovers, but the stunning visuals make up for the slow beginning. While looking back from a contemporary perspective, Five Deadly Venoms may not stand out as much when compared to other kung fu films, but its legacy remains in Quentin Tarantino’s beloved Kill Bill, the Wu-Tang Clan’s music, and even in Power Rangers.

5 Fists of Fury

Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury
Golden Harvest

Fists of Fury was Bruce Lee’s second big film after The Big Boss (1971), but Fists of Fury was his first release in the United States. Fists of Fury is unique because it’s set in Shanghai and touches upon the impact of Japanese colonialism in China; the antagonists are all members of a rival Japanese dojo. The movie itself carries anti-Japanese sentiments, as the Japanese characters are openly racist towards the Chinese ones. Lee's Chen Zhen cycles through grief and rage, fighting the enemy in a noble act of redemption. Fists of Fury was a global hit and drew in over USD 100 million at the box office.

4 The Way of the Dragon

The Way Of The Dragon
Orange Sky Golden Harvest

Written, co-produced, and starring Bruce Lee, The Way of the Dragon was the last film of his life and his directorial debut. Chen Ching-hua and her uncle, Wang, own a restaurant in Rome, but a mob boss wants them out so he can take the property for himself. Enter Bruce Lee as Tang Lung. He seems to be a simple guy from the countryside, but he’s supposedly capable in martial arts. He must protect the restaurant from now on, much to the chagrin of the workers.

The Way of the Dragon has Lee’s stamp all over it: a bit odd, even bizarre at times, but well-paced and full of Lee’s Kung Fu at its finest. Oh, and it has an epic fight between Lee and Chuck Norris in the Colosseum — it’s hard to outdo that.

3 Drunken Master

Cross-eyed man looking at cup before his eyes
Seasonal Film Corporation

Drunken Master is Jackie Chan at his finest — it’s also the film that made him a global superstar. He’s the son of Wong Kei-Ying, one of the greatest martial artists from the Qing Dynasty, but Chan isn’t exactly living up to his father’s expectations. Wong sends Fei-hung (Chan) away to a cruel teacher named Beggar So, and he then tries to run away. Drunken Master mixes slapstick comedy with martial arts, and while the story is rather plain at times, the funny moments make up for it. This movie also popularized the comedic style of ancient Kung Fu that replicates the movement of a drunk person.

Related: Shang-Chi 2 Director Wants Jackie Chan in the Marvel Sequel

2 The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

the 36th chamber of shaolin
Shaw Brothers Studio 

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin has long been considered one of the greatest martial arts films to exist. Liu Yude (Gordon Liu) was once an average student, but after participating in a rebellion, he watches all of his friends, their families, and classmates get murdered by the government. He then decides to go on this epic journey for vengeance and true liberation from the corrupt government and heads out to a temple to learn Kung Fu.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin isn’t just a story about trying to achieve his goals — he’s also going through a spiritual journey at the same time. There are also plenty of political commentaries packed in this film about the Qing Dynasty and foreign occupation.

1 Enter the Dragon

Bruce Lee as seen in Enter The Dragon
Warner Bros.

Bruce Lee stars as Lee, a martial arts teacher asked by British intelligence to infiltrate a crime lord’s private island. The plot thickens when he realizes that the man who had a hand in his sister’s death works on that island. Enter the Dragon is a fascinating film due to how easily it represents globalization: it’s an Asian martial arts film that rehashes concepts borrowed from spy films and the Blaxploitation genre.

Enter the Dragon is said to be one of the best martial arts films, but its legacy is more complicated than that. It offers a glimpse into a tumultuous period of change in Asia and reflects how Bruce Lee managed to be a bridge between cultures in his movies, although he smashed and created new stereotypes for Asians in cinema.