Recommended Movies

A lot (well, okay, some) people have asked me asking "What are some good movies to start out with?" I always find this question hard to answer, because one man's trash is another man's treasure. Even mostly loved HK people like John Woo and Jackie Chan have their detractors. I'm not questioning any of that -- one of the wonderful things about movies (and why, I think, so many people enjoy them) is that there's something for almost everyone. HK cinema is no exception. Even though my tastes fall pretty solidly in the crime drama/action (aka heroic bloodshed) genre, there's a whole another world (or rather, worlds) in HK cinema, from comedy to horror to romance. If you don't find this list to your liking, try lurking around the alt.asian-movies newsgroup or chat rooms. People are usually only too happy to share their likes and dislikes with you.


The following is a list of films that have recieved ratings of 8 and above (out of 10) on this site -- clicking on a name will take you to a full review. Please remember that even though I have tried to narrow the films to a single genre, many Hong Kong movies mix up genres and as such are a bit hard to define in that way. I have listed alternate titles (usually dubbed versions) for some of the movies; of course, I would recommend getting the original version.

Old-School Kung Fu / Wu Xia / Heroic Bloodshed / Action / Girls-with-Guns / Martial Arts / Drama / Horror / Comedy / Cat III/Exploitation / Romance


Old-School Kung Fu

The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (aka "Invincible Pole Fighter")
36th Chamber of Shaolin (aka "Shaolin Master Killer")
The Anonymous Heroes
The Blood Brothers
Broken Oath
Come Drink With Me
Crippled Avengers (aka "Return of the Five Deadly Venoms", "Mortal Combat")
Dragon Inn
Dreadnaught
Enter the Dragon
Heroes of the East
The Heroic Ones
King Boxer (aka "Five Fingers of Death")
Knockabout
Legendary Weapons of China
Master of the Flying Guillotine
Return of the One-Armed Swordsman
Return to the 36th Chamber (aka "The Return of Master Killer")
The Five Deadly Venoms
The Magnificent Butcher
The Prodgial Son

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Wu Xia (fantasy swordsplay)

A Touch of Zen
Ashes of Time
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Kung Fu Cult Master (aka "Kung Fu Colt Master", "Lord of the Wu-Tang")
Dragon Inn
Hero (2002 version)
Swordsman II
The Blade
The Bride with White Hair
The East is Red (aka "Swordsman III")
The Storm Riders
Warriors of Heaven and Earth
Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain

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Heroic Bloodshed (cops & robbers action/drama)

A Better Tomorrow
A Better Tomorrow 2
Breaking News
Brotherhood
Bullets Over Summer
Colour of the Truth
Crime Story
Exiled
Face/Off
Full Alert
Full Contact
Hard-Boiled
Infernal Affairs
Infernal Affairs II
Law with Two Phases
Long Arm of the Law
My Heart is That Eternal Rose
Organized Crime & Triad Bureau
Powerful Four
Prison on Fire
School on Fire
The Club
The Departed
The Killer
The Longest Nite
The Mission

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Action

Black Mask
Blade II
Drive
The Dark Knight
Drug Fighters
Eastern Condors
Flash Point
Fulltime Killer
Heroes Shed No Tears
High Risk (aka "Meltdown")
I Love Maria (aka "Roboforce")
Invisible Target
Police Story (aka "Jackie Chan's Police Force")
Police Story 2
The Raid: Redemption
The Raid 2: Berendal
Red Trousers: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen
The Matrix
The Dark Knight
Tiger Cage II
Tiger on the Beat
Tomorrow Never Dies

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Girls-with-Guns (female-oriented action)

Angel (aka "Midnight Angel")
Angel Terminators
Angel Terminators II
Enter the Eagles (aka "And Now You Are Dead")
In the Line of Duty III (aka "Yes! Madam 2", "Force of the Dragon")
Police Story 3: Supercop (aka "Supercop")
Righting Wrongs (aka "Above the Law")
Royal Warriors (aka "In the Line of Duty")
She Shoots Straight
The Heroic Trio

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Martial Arts

13 Assassins
BKO: Bangkok Knockout
Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey
Chocolate
Danny the Dog (aka "Unleashed")
Dragons Forever
Drunken Master II (aka "Legend of Drunken Master")
Fearless
Fist of Legend
Hero (1997 version)
Ip Man
Ip Man 2
Iron Monkey
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Merantau
Once Upon a Time in China
Once Upon a Time in China 2
Once Upon a Time in China III
Ong Bak (aka "The Thai Warrior")
Operation Scorpio
Pedicab Driver
Project A
Project A Part 2
Rumble in the Bronx
Story of Ricky (aka "Riki-Oh")
Tai Chi Master (aka "Twin Warriors")
The Grandmaster
The New Legend of Shaolin (aka "Legend of the Red Dragon")
Wheels on Meals
Wing Chun

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Drama

2046
A Hero Never Dies
A Simple Life
Beast Cops
Bullet in the Head
Challenge of the Gamesters
Dangerous Encounter - 1st Kind
From the Queen to the Chief Executive
God of Gamblers
God of Gamblers Returns
Happy Together
Lifeline
One Nite in Mongkok
Peace Hotel
Peking Opera Blues
People's Hero
Protege
Red Cliff
Red Cliff II
Running on Karma
The Runaway Pistol
Sukiyaki Western Django
Too Many Ways to Be Number One
Young and Dangerous 2
Young and Dangerous: The Prequel

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Horror

A Chinese Ghost Story
Bio-Zombie
Double Vision
Dream Home
Magic Cop
Mr. Vampire
Three... Extremes: Dumplings

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Comedy

Aces Go Places
Fantasia
King of Comedy
Kung Fu Hustle
Love on Delivery
Shaolin Soccer
The God of Cookery

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Cat III/exploitation

Daughter of Darkness
Ebola Syndrome
Her Vengeance
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan
Man Behind the Sun
Naked Killer
Naked Weapon
Run and Kill
Taxi Hunter
The Eternal Evil of Asia
The Untold Story
Underground Banker

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Romance

All About Ah-Long
C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri
Chungking Express

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