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Well I guess it's time that I jump on the bandwagon and start my own 100 essential list.  This time for action/martial arts b movies. 

I guess I will start starting from 100 down to number 1.

100. Bloodsport (1988) - One of the few Jean Claude Van Damme films that I can watch without getting sick.  It's got everything that a martial arts movie should have, corny dialogue, excellent and to some extent over the top fight scenes and good looking women.  Plus it also has Forest Whitaker in it, how can you go wrong with him.

Edit: Hopefully we can get to 100.  If not we will try and get as many as we can.

 

99. MORTAL KOMBAT!  Kung fu, based off video game need I say more.  Oh wait, yes I do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ0fFgU22ls

No.98 - Fearless Hyena - The directorial debut of Jackie Chan proved that the man knew what his strengths were and how best to exploit them: comedy kung-fu and elaborate fight scenes that make heavy use of props and set pieces.

I don't know as many of these as I would like, but I'll try to help.

97. MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE (http://www.badmovies.org/movies/mguillotine/)

96. Kung Fu Hustle

Just ridiculously fun from start to finish.

95. TO KILL WITH INTRIGUE (1977) (AKA: Jian hua yan yu jiang nan):

Stars Jackie Chan, Feng Hsu, Hei Lou Chen, Ching Hsia Chiang. Directed by Wei Lo.

Source: English Dubbed Region-Free DVD from Media. Extras: None. I actually bought this at a Dollar store for a buck Canadian. I feel I got my money’s worth. Sure, the dubbing is atrocious but hilariously so.

Plot: A young master named Cao Lei (Jackie Chan) drives away his pregnant girlfriend, whose name is  “Chin Chin” (believe it or not, the name is Japanese slang for “penis”), from the family castle because he knows it’s about to be raided by a gang of deadly bandits (named the Killer Bee Gang) determined to kill his family. He charges a new friend with her care and protection. Following the attack on his family by the gang lead by a mysterious veiled woman who possesses tremendous, perhaps even mystical, fighting skills, Cao Lei somehow finds himself spared as the veiled woman seems to take a peculiar interest in him and begins following him around like a shadow. Meanwhile the man Cao Lei had entrusted to care for his girlfriend is not quite the honorable fellow Cao Lei had thought. We soon discover his plans do not mirror those of Cao Lei. (plot description I used in my IMDB comments on the film).

Comments: This one is quite strange, truly bizarre. The attack on Cao Lei’s family led by the veiled woman is truly unusual and like something out of a twisted Horror film. It features one sequence where a man demands his severed hand, sent to the Lei clan as a warning of impending attack be returned to him. It is, he puts it back on and screaming maniacally disappears into the night only for a bunch of mask figures to soon thereafter rise up demanding their lives be returned to them obviously a reference to the Killer Bee Gang members Cao Lei’s father had killed in the past (he says he nearly wiped out the Killer Bee Gang in his past and now regrets he didn’t wipe them out entirely). The veiled woman possesses tremendous, perhaps even supernatural, fighting skills and with the help of a lot of rather well-done wire work seriously kicks Jackie Chan’s butt. The  mystery veiled woman played by Feng Hsu completely steals the show whenever she appears on screen. The overall plot proves most confusing, I wonder if it perhaps made a bit more sense in its original Cantonese,  especially as it involves the veiled woman’s interest in Chan’s Cao Lei who all reason dictates should be sworn enemies yet...that said, this one has more than enough to please me. It delivers some fun kung-fu fighting action and even possesses supernatural elements to boot. Sure it may be a bit on the confusing, unbelievable side in terms of plot but I really had a blast watching it unfold. It may not be considered a genre film but I feel it ought to be.

94. Lone Wolf Mcquade (1983)



if you think because you like stuff like the matrix or asian cop movies with chow yun fat you are prepared for Chuck norris, think again. There is no pretense of cleverness here. There's no pretense at all. You get a veritable mountain of cliches. Mcbain from the "simpsons" is Fellini in comparison. But it works. The other actors are fantastic: David carradine and Billy Dee Williams and the beautiful Barbera Carrera. This is better than "Invasion USA". It borrows a bit from bruce lee and from the spaghetti westerns that Bruce lee borrowed alot from and while the action is very good, it doesn't really explode, more just a steady stream of entertaining explosions. it's a prime example of Norris's very straightforward style. I would definately watch this again.

Action/Kung-Fu isn't really my thing, but I'll contribute The Challenge (1982) at #93, an action-packed martial arts flick with Scott Glenn and Toshiro Mifune, directed by John Frankenheimer from a script co-written by John Sayles.

Memorable scene: Scott Glenn swallowing live swimming eels!

#92: FIGHTING OF THE SHAOLIN MONK (1977) (AKA: SHAOLIN MONK/KILLER PRIEST)

Stars Chen Sing, Chuen Yuen, Phillip Ko, Wen Chiang Long and Chia Ling. Directed by Lin Fu Ti.

Plot: A Buddhist monk, Tamo (Chen Sing), has come from India in hope of spreading the word but meets much resistance and little success according to our opening narration. Soon he sets his sights on finding one Chi-Yun (Wen Chiang Long), a young doctor in training who Tamo insists is fated to become his pupil and a monk in the Shaolin temple. The young man’s girlfriend Yen Chi (played with great spirit and gusto by Chia Ling), quite the fighter in her own right, meanwhile protests this idea greatly determined not to lose her man. Soon Tamo, Chi-Yun and a reluctant Yen Chi must join forces to do battle with an evil Taoist priest (Chuen Yuen) who’s managed to take over the town following a murderous game of revenge all thanks to his bizarre, mysterious master and trainer (Phillip Ko).

Comments: This is pretty damn weird. The Buddhist monk Tamo displays extraordinary powers and abilities in this one including powers of levitation, telekinesis, the ability to vanish without a trace and the ability to keep one’s balance on a reed as it floats across a stream. The Taoist trainer played by Phillip Ko also displays unusual abilities having made his fist super strong, powerful enough to strike a blow straight through a tree as well being able to move at faster than usual speeds (personally I’m inclined to think this Kung Fu film is a part of the fantasy genre). It’s their battle at the end that proves this film’s most exciting event, that and the battle between Tamo’s new student Chi-Yun and the evil Taoist priest whose plot caused his father’s disgrace. The rest is surprisingly bland and forgettable aside from the constant protests of Yen Chi against the idea of her man becoming a Shaolin monk and her attempts to ensure it does not happen. Also the evil Taoist priest livens things up with his twisted hijinks, a highlight being his stealing of all the towns’ women.

#91 The Buddhist Fist - This film is absolutely awesome when it comes to martial arts.  The choreography is amazing. I haven't seen it in awhile so I figure I'd let a scene speak for itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE9gsn7xH6I

#90 The Devil's Sword - Still one of the most insane films I've ever reviewed.  Nymphomaniac reptile queens, floating warriors but wait...theres more...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNKH_x7nDVQ

89. Two Crippled Heros... need i say more?

No.88 - Tiger on the Beat - A movie introduced to me here on the forum during a post requesting info about movies featuring chainsaw duels last year. Chow Yun Fat starring and Conan Lee chainsaw fighting! Praise Hong Kong! :teddyr:


Lesson learned? Paper beast rock, Kryptonite beats Superman, and machine gun beats chainsaw. :wink:

Only if it's "The Crippled Masters" Sis.  :wink:

same movie, my copy was released under two crippled heros

There are indeed two different movies Grace, both done with the same actors. Crippled Masters was a 1979 production and Two Crippled Heroes was a 1980 follow-up. For some reason the latter is only listed on IMDB as "Crippled Heroes", but the VHS copy I have adds the "Two". The pair even made their act into a trilogy with a third movie called Fighting Life in 1981. :teddyr:

86?: THE SHAOLIN INVINCIBLES (1977)

Stars Chia Ling, Huang Chia Ta, Tao-liang Tan, Chung-erh Lung and Carter Wong. Directed by Hou Cheng.

Plot: When the King orders the execution of two entire families because of a perceived insult, a Shaolin monk comes to the rescue of two of the girls. Trained in the art of Shaolin, the girls (played by Chia Ling and Chung-erh Lung, two very pretty ladies who happen to be very skilled in the fighting arts as well) grow up and finally reach an age where they wish to seek out vengeance against the king who murdered their families. Sent to help them in their quest are two men who’ve also trained in the art of Shaolin, played by Tao Liang Tan and Carter Wong. However it won’t be easy for our heroes because the king has a formidable guard of kung-fu experts, a castle filled with booby traps designed to snare intruders and two seemingly unstoppable kung-fu fighting “gorillas”, along with their two trainers who weirdly enough seem to possess tongues long enough they use them in combat, to serve and defend him.

Comments: While truly weird, especially the stuff involving the kung fu fighting gorillas (actually guys in the most ridiculous-looking ape costumes you’re ever likely to see) and their long-tongued trainers (the tongues often look ludricrously fake too), this offers up a lot of exciting Kung-Fu fighting featuring our two lovely female leads and their male helpers. The story, aside from what’s mentioned above, is fairly straightforward and easy to follow and the adventure as an whole proves quite enjoyable. That said, personally I couldn’t help but get a kick out of the kung-fu “gorillas” and their trainers, as the scenes featuring them are so bizarre and unusual it’s hard to take one’s eyes away from them despite the utter disbelief one feels while viewing them. These two elements seem to nudge this one slightly into the realm of outright fantasy although thankfully the fighting for the most part seemed grounded in reality.

wierd; this just goes to show that martial art films aren't an area of expertise of mine. But hey, you learn something everyday! damn, now i have to find the other movie...  :twirl:

"The Crippled Masters" is their best effort.  I have yet to see "Fighting Life," but a few years ago Amazon.com mixed the films up in their system, which resulted in me getting some hate mail from people who wanted to buy "The Crippled Masters" and got "Fighting Life" instead.

Those two gents also turn up in Raiders of Wu Tang (http://www.badmovies.org/movies/raiderswutang/)

Ninja 3 - The Domination

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKZ_svjtX_4&feature=related#

The Story Of Ricky:  One of the most brutal and over the top films ever.  The best part is most of the violence is unecessary to the scene but its one of those cases where it makes the movie.  :thumbup:

Yeah, you're telling me. I actually didn't know about Fighting Life until I looked into the actors on IMDB, and even then their filmographies didn't include the movie Andrew pointed out, Raiders of Wu-Tang! But, as the Buddha (or Tony Robbins) said, "the only real knowledge in life is experience". As such, I've got tapes of Fighting Life and Raiders coming to me from Amazon so someday (probably not until next year) I can sit down and do a one week marathon.

Back to the list: to clarify, I didn't actually nominate Crippled Masters b/c Grace already nominated Crippled Heroes so recently, so technically we're at...

No.84 - Chinese Super Ninjas - A typical tale of revenge as a Chinese martial artist must avenge his defeated brothers' deaths at the hands of evil Japanese ninjas. The non-typical part comes from the ninjas' various abilities as each of the 5 groups reflects a different element: fire, earth, wood, water, and gold. The best of which are the gold ninjas whose special ability are shiny gold parasols used to blind their opponents... with elegance! The wood ninjas are funny too, as they disguise themselves in tree costumes... which doesn't give them a lot of evasion power against opponents wielding axes. Unable to combat these ninjas and their fantastic abilities on his own, our hero joins a group of Chinese ninjas specially trained to combat the elementals' skills, forming the Chinese Super Ninjas!  :teddyr:

83.  The Last Dragon (http://www.badmovies.org/movies/lastdragon/). 

82. Incredible Kung Fu Mission/Kung Fu Commandos (1982): Basically a bunch of oddballs are recruited by a Kung Fu master named Master Sher(John Liu) to be trained for a truly deadly, dangerous and somewhat suicidal rescue mission. "Don't push them so hard Master..they'll come to hate you."

"I don't want them to die..that's all." At first these guys are laughably inept and downright embarrassing to their master but after one particular embarrassing defeat at the local brothel they come to realize the value of the knowledge the master possesses and finally become serious about becoming trained fighters and show considerable improvement in attitude as well as skill as the time approaches to undertake the mission. The dubbed version of this is hilarious with one character talking with a cockney accent and another dubbed only via sound effects?!!  :bouncegiggle:

Chinese ghost story 3 (Sien lui yau wan III: Do do do)
Ghosts, kung-fu magic, hot Asian chicks, and an evil MOUNTAIN. Yes, if I remember correctly, they fight with a small mountain.
IMHO, this is the best one in the series.

80.  "Drunken Wu Tang." 

http://www.badmovies.org/movies/dwutang/

The original language version still has all the crazy action, but the dubbed version is insane. 

"Give me the book, or I'll kill you all!"  "Don't threaten us, and get off our roof!"

No list can be complete without the Master....BRUCE LEE!

Not much that can be said about his films that hasn't already been said. Here's a clip from one of my favorites....

79.The CHINESE CONNECTION (in reality FISTS of FURY...but the titles somehow got mismatched in the trip to the Western dubbing rooms...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q9kYKtvYU0

...heh heh...I like how Bruce kicks the bespeckeled shmuck in the a$$ towards the end of the clip!

What?  No love for the dumb teen action flick Iron Eagle?    :wink:

I nominate. .

78. Legend of the 8 Samurai

How about "The Streetfighter" (1974)?

76?.  DRUNKEN MASTER II (THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER).  Jackie Chan.  The climax is one of the best fight scenes ever filmed.

Speaking of Bruce Lee, we need some Bruce Lee phonies on this list:

75. Bruce Lee’s Secret (1976):

(My IMDB comments)

Bruce Li vs. 70s Disco Thugs
   In this film we see Bruce Lee wanna-be Bruce Li tackle an army of thugs(who just happen to look like a bunch of bad rejects from a 70s Disco special) lead by Mr. Grace(who just happens to resemble John Travolta if he were fat and had a scar on his face). The fights are pretty good but seriously lack credibility. In any case, this movie is very humorous to watch but the humor isn't of the intentional type. Good fun if you like this sort of thing.

Okay, here's a couple of real good ones.

Death Duel of Kung Fu: Three different masters of three different styles (and one of them is actually referenced as a Korean fighter who very obviously practices Tae Kwan Do). Plus a busty female half-japanese member of the the royal chinese family adds up to a very enjoyable, if poorly filmed, movie.

Super Infra Man: Come on, it took me to bring this up?

72. Breaker! Breaker! (1977): A Chuck Norris trucker movie. How could anyone resist that? Yes this is pretty bad but it's still awfully entertaining in its fashion. This film has hillbilly truckers with secret vigilante desires, evil hillbilly cops under the control of a corrupt Texas would-be dictactor and Chuck Norris fighting in slow motion while trying to rescue his poor chump of a nephew from this Dukes of Hazzard-esque, or should that be Smokey and the Bandit-esque, scene.

OK, I'll state the obvious.

71.  ENTER THE DRAGON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8voT8m_BzfU&feature=related

"Boards don't hit back."

70. SHAOLIN CHASTITY KUNG FU (1981):

Stars Alexander Lou, Ching Kuo Chung, Hilda Lau and Tak Sang Wong. Directed by Robert Tai.

Plot: After their homes are destroyed and their parents killed by a gang of murderous bandits named the Nine Devils, the village’s remaining children ranging from ages 5 to 18 flee into the woods but with the Nine Devils in pursuit hoping to wipe out the village completely. Fortunately, the children are found by a pair of Shaolin monks, one a master (Alexander Lou), who feel it their duty to protect them. Together they help the children escape but realize that the Nine Devils will not give up and so decide to train the children in the methods of Shaolin Kung Fu so they will be able to defend themselves if need be. However, circumstances eventually prove such that when their training is complete, the children decide to take the fight to the Nine Devils gang themselves hoping to gain a measure of revenge.

Comments: Well, it’s certainly not your usual Kung Fu film and then again, in some ways it is. What’s unusual is the element of having kids involved in brutal and bloody kung fu battles and no, the adults really don’t seem to be holding back in either the training or the fights with the kids which makes their incredible stunts and the physical punishment they took for their roles all the more impressive. These kids are simply amazing to watch. Where it is your usual Kung Fu film is in terms of the basic revenge plot, the one common to almost every Kung Fu film there is. This one may have kids in it and sometimes even has child-like moments of fun and humor, especially at the expense of the sometimes buffoonish Nine Devils gang (all colorful large characters like one might expect on a wrestling show) but it’s definitely not for kids especially given its ending features disturbing scenes of little kids seeking bloody retribution and revenge and no, they don’t hold back. There’s one very powerful, downright intense moment in the end when the children begin to sing, perhaps a response to all the violence and bloodshed all around them, maybe a desire for it to finally end.

I'd like to nominate the movies of Sho Kosugi. Yes, they're ninja movies which automatically summons up images of a whole bunch of cheesy poorly-choreographed martial arts movies. But Kosugi is the real thing (i.e. trained in ninjutsu), and he's just all-around fun to watch on screen. He only made a couple unfortunately. I'll throw out the first two.

69. Enter the Master
68. Revenge of the Ninja

He also showed up a few years later as the final assassin facing blind swordsman Rutger Hauer in "Blind Fury", another film that's a lot of fun. So I'll toss that one out there too.

67. Blind Fury

I like the part where the guy cuts out his own guts and tries to use them to strangle Ricky.  Good stuff :D

66. Policewoman (1974): Lacy Bond (Sondra Currie) kicks butt, even battling perennial bada$$ William Smith?! Arguably ahead of its time having a female butt kicking heroine.

65. THE HEROIC TRIO (DUNG FONG SAAM HAP ~ 1993)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXfNg6NN3C4 
Follow the link, they won't let you view the clip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXfNg6NN3C4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXfNg6NN3C4)

64. THREE THE HARD WAY (1974)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v9fdyE-DXE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v9fdyE-DXE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v9fdyE-DXE)

63. FIVE DEADLY VENOMS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsXsCb8X2B4&feature=related

(JaseSF, congrats on breaking the 1000 post mark!)

62. BLACK BELT JONES(1974)  (for more Jim Kelly  :thumbup:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kI5IeAJJBQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kI5IeAJJBQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kI5IeAJJBQ)

(http://i1.iofferphoto.com/img/item/496/564/96/o_black-belt-jones.jpg)

(http://www.blaxploitation.com/images/poster_gifs/poster_black_belt_jones.gif)

61. Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters

60. GYMKATA (http://www.badmovies.org/movies/gymkata/)!

Stand back from the pommel horse! (http://www.badmovies.org/multimedia/moviesl/gymkata1.mpg)

59. TNT Jackson (1975): while the karate scenes aren't always convincingly pulled off, the view often proves great and this film proves great fun for those who can appreciate its merits (such as star Jeannie Bell  :twirl: and the quirky blaxploitation dialogue).

(http://www.spectranet.no/eye/film/posters/poster_tnt_jackson.gif)

I don't believe any has mentioned The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (http://www.badmovies.org/movies/goldvamps/) yet.   Hammer Films teaming up with the Shaw Brothers was a masterful idea! 

#58.

 :bouncegiggle: And the assistant warden yells out "Oscar you've got alot of guts"

Tamara Dobson just plain kicked a$$ as #57. CLEOPATRA JONES

(http://ca.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/42/MPW-21023)

# 56. The Rock (1996) - Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage attempt to stop American terrorists from releasing skin-melting gas in one of the films that made the infamous Michael Bay famous!

# 55. FISTS OF FURY (1971) (AKA: THE BIG BOSS) More Bruce Lee, more B-goodness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNSdflRva1g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNSdflRva1g (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNSdflRva1g)

Two of the greatest HK action/martial arts movies ever made IMHO:

# 54. Snake in the Eagles Shadow (1978) - starring Jackie Chan. (Great fighting/training!)

# 53. Magnificent Butcher (1979) - starring Sammo Hung.(As above, PLUS a great comedy!)

If you are a fan of Jackie, Sammo Hung, Kwan Tak-Hing(!), Yuen Siu Tien and/or his son Yuen Woo Ping, these films are wholeheartedly recommended! ("Hong Kong Legends" have fine releases of both movies.)

#52 - Ferocious Female Freedom Fighters, a Troma classic!

# 51. BLIND FIST OF BRUCE (1979) starring Bruce Li (who was always my personal fave of the guys who patterned themselves after the legendary Bruce Lee). This one proves a lot of fun even if it falls short in a lot of ways.

(http://images.blockbuster.com/is/amg/dvd/cov150/drt300/t304/t30433g2qyb.jpg)

I hope this hasn't been nominated yet. . .

50. Kekko Kammen

She protect school girls from evil teachers.  It's a bit of silly 'sploitation action that's not for everyone so, if you're offended by nudity, you may want to steer clear because the heroine wears a red mask, red scarf, and red boots. . . and nothing else.  Otherwise good clean fun ninja super hero action.   :teddyr:

Instead of scrolling through the last four pages, I'm just going to assume the next movie hadn't been nominated yet...

No.49 - Kung-Fu Kids Break Away! (http://www.geocities.com/tombofanubis/Anub/KungFuKids.html) - The one and only time a movie starring children hasn't felt like someone kicking me in the brain repeatedly. Characters are actually endearing as a group of martial artist orphans team up with a freedom fighting homeless guy to stop an evil Lord. Awesome.

48. mr. vampire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqFCTofqh1o

how could i forget?!

47. duel to the death
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evPI7LEJAeY

Not sure about Mister Vampire, Toy, but I know that Chinese Super Ninjas was already listed. Is anybody keeping a master list on this topic?  :question:

you're right, chinese super ninjas was already on the list. in fact, you posted it at #84. my bad. :teddyr:

Here's an updated list for this 100 list (hmm I wonder about # 56 The Rock as I might be wrong but I don't recall Martial Arts being a factor there, should this list be expanded to include other action efforts that have no or little Martial Arts?):

100. Bloodsport (1988)
99. Mortal Kombat
98. Fearless Hyena
97. Master of the Flying Guillotine
96. Kung Fu Hustle
95. To Kill With Intrigue (1977)
94. Lone Wolf McQuade
93. The Challenge (1982)
92. Fighting of the Shaolin Monk (Killer Priest) (1977)
91. The Buddhist Fist
90. The Devil’s Sword
89. Two Crippled Heroes
88. Tiger on the Beat
87. The Shaolin Invincibles
86. Ninja 3: The Domination
85. The Story of Ricky
84. Chinese Super Ninjas
83. The Last Dragon
82. Incredible Kung Fu Mission (Kung Fu Commandoes) (1982)
81. Chinese Ghost Story 3
80. Drunken Wu Tang
79. The Chinese Connection
78. Legend of the 8 Samurai
77. The Streetfighter (1974)
76. Drunken Master II (The Legend of the Drunken Master)
75. Bruce Lee’s Secret (1976)
74. Death Duel of Kung Fu
73. Super Infra Man
72. Breaker! Breaker! (1977)
71. Enter the Dragon
70. Shaolin Chastity Kung Fu (1981)
69. Enter the Master
68. Revenge of the Ninja
67. Blind Fury
66. Policewoman (1974)
65. The Heroic Trio (1993)
64. Three the Hard Way (1974)
63. Five Deadly Venoms
62. Black Belt Jones (1974)
61. Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters
60. GYMKATA!
59. TNT Jackson (1975)
58. The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
57. Cleopatra Jones
56. The Rock (1996)
55. Fists of Fury (The Big Boss) (1971)
54. Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978)
53. Magnificent Butcher (1979)
52. Ferocious Female Freedom Fighters
51. Blind Fist of Bruce (1979)
50. Kekko Kammen
49. Kung Fu Kids Break Away!
48. Mr. Vampire
47. Duel to the Death

and to add to it with # 46:

The Drunken Master (1978): One of the funniest early Jackie Chan efforts where he's actually foolish enough to wind up in a fight with his own Auntie! Of Course Jackie ends up being punished by being sent to be trained by an old beggar who proves an hell of a lot tougher than he looks.

(http://www.loveandbullets.com/Pictures/dm/dmcover1.jpg)

I figured the thread meant "action AND/OR martial arts" :P

I have no problem with expanding the list (it would allow much more blaxploitation classics to be put on here, sure RCMerchant would have many of those to add) but it is pretty chop socky heavy as it is right now.

what number are we at? Anyway... my choice is Volcano High

That would be #45

If you're talking essentials you need some Jet Li in there:
46Last Hero in China, Jet Li in a low budget comedy follow up to Once Upon a Time in China. Some of its pretty funny he does some drunken fist, and in one scene dons a chicken suit.

I originally put Fist of Legend, considered to be on of Li's best but its not a B movie.

I think I'd be at #43.  For that, I suggest American Ninja.  It's awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAtrYgNut1E

And at #42...  I'd say it is borderline as a B-movie, but hey. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOWi00Gr-7I

She Shoots Straight.

Godenzi there is Sammo Hung's wife to the present day.  Somehow, her career never went anywhere.  I don't get it either.

41: Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
        aka Pacte des loups, Le  

I loved this film. It was a real surprise given that I never though of french as making good action films.  

This link is a great fight sequence from the film.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efhp4zx4cAU

Ninja the Final Duel
Essential B-Movie watching with a couple WTF moments, pretty good kung fu as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CghTS8yIG_0

39. Last Hurrah for Chivalry, my favorite John Woo Movie. Okay, okay, my favorite movie.

38. Fist of the White Lotus, the Pei Mei at his greatest

37. Shogun Assassin (or your Lone Wolf and Cub equivalent)