Best Martial Arts Movies | Martial Arts Movie Reviews & Trailers

SBS Movies

SBS Movies presents reviews and trailers of the latest martial arts movies. Includes links to watch movies at SBS On Demand (where available).

The Assassin review: Fleeting battles make way for exquisitely beautiful, lingering shots

Like Hou’s cinema, taking a life of someone you loved is not something to be considered idly.

It’s an indisputable fact that Hou Hsiao-hsien’s first wu xia movie The Assassin is an exquisitely beautiful film. Shot by frequent Hou collaborator, the superb cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bin (who Wong Kar-wai turned to when his relationship...

Tai Chi Hero Review

Fight sequel goes soft on action.

A month ago I reviewed Tai Chi 0, Stephen Fung’s manic post-modern martial arts CGI driven mini-epic and part one of a planned trilogy and what the filmmakers hope, if the hype is to be believed, will be a major franchise....

Tai Chi 0 Review

Hectic fight film one for the true fans.

Tai Chi 0 is manic, high energy martial arts movie making. It’s playful. It wants to be silly, and is. Part homage, part post-modern genre demolition job. It’s like all the boring bits about this school of action cinema have been pulped and the...

The Karate Kid Review

Kung phooey for kids.

It makes sound commercial sense to update the 1984 Hollywood hit The Karate Kid. Directed by John G. Avildsen, who knew a thing or two about the triumph of the underdog from being behind the camera on Rocky, the story of a bullied teen and his...

A martial arts masterpiece.

An epic film of dazzling colour and meticulously choreographed action.

Hero is an epic film of dazzling colour and meticulously choreographed action. The locations, cinematography, music and sound are amazing. But this is not just a cinematic spectacle of vast battle scenes and clever production design – it's a...