While Hong Kong action cinema is not a genre in itself, it is a means of production, a sensibility, and an execution that signifies a national movement. The action film can mean a great many things – especially in the world of CGI-driven spectacles of the MCU – but usually considers violence as a primary mode of communication.
Whether focusing on Triads, ex-pats, or those with nowhere else to turn, HK action cinema is an inherently political body of films that use violence to dissect the notion of national identity. But perhaps above all else, the world of HK action cinema is full of the world's greatest action stunts, never rivaled by any other worldwide market, and for that alone, is worthy of praise.
10 Long Arm Of The Law Is An Early HK Action Classic
Directed by Johnny Mak, 1984's Long Arm of the Law is an early Hong Kong action classic with an angry heart. The film follows a group of men from Mainland China who cross the border into Hong Kong, in order to pull off a heist that will change their lives forever. Things go from bad – one of the men doesn't even make it across the border – to much, much worse.
After the heist goes wrong, a cop is killed, and the hunt for the men leads to an incredible climactic action sequence set inside the Kowloon Walled City. Given the film's ending, it's alright to wonder how three sequels were made.
9 Police Story Propelled Jackie Chan Into Mega-Stardom
Really, the first three films in the Police Story franchise are noteworthy, but it's the first film that's a total game-changer for the HK action film scene. The 1985 classic stars Jackie Chan (who also co-wrote the screenplay). It follows Chan as Kevin, an HK police detective. The film also features Brigitte Lin (Chungking Express) and Maggie Cheung (Irma Vep, In the Mood for Love).
Kevin gets framed for murder and must work to clear his name. The film, while telling a pretty simple story, features incredible action set pieces, and breathtaking stunt work, causing anyone to wonder how Jackie Chan is still alive.
8 Yes, Madam Is A Buddy Cop Flick With Phenomenal Fight Sequences
Yes, Madam! is a 1985 HK action buddy cop film directed by Corey Yuen, starring Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once, among much, much more) and Cynthia Rothrock (Above the Law, aka Righting Wrongs).
The film tells the story of two officers who, despite very different methodologies, must team up to secure microfilm that's fallen into the hands of some thieves named after over-the-counter medicines. Filmmaker Tsui Hark features in the film, playing a Looney Tune-like thief who manages to constantly elude capture.
7 Time And Tide Is Elliptical Action Storytelling At Its Best
Few directorial careers are as explosive and widely varied as Tsui Hark's, whose early film Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind, is a nihilistic portrait of youth gone to seed. For his 2000 film, Time and Tide, all of the early anarchic energy is still on full display, only this time in a chaotic, complex plot involving a debt-owing bodyguard and a mysterious international arms dealer.
The film jumps from style to style with reckless abandon, leaving heads spinning and blood pumping. There's one particularly amazing sequence that involves scaling the sides of a building and hiding on ceilings.
6 Election And Election 2 Are Essential Crime Epics
Johnnie To's perfect distillation of the "heroic bloodshed" genre, A Hero Never Dies (1998), is probably the closest thing that John Woo has to cinematic kin. But it's To's own Election and Election 2 (2005 and 2006, respectively) that elevate what could be a simple action-oriented spectacle into something much more rich with characters, staccato bursts of violence, and deep insight into organized crime.
The Election films are, essentially, The Godfather parts 1 and 2 for Hong Kong action cinema, with the same operatic mantra of family above all else.
5 Eastern Condors Is The Wackiest Man-On-A-Mission Film
The peak of man-on-a-mission cinema might be 1967's The Dirty Dozen, starring Lee Marvin and a bevy of stars who are tasked with a suicide mission into Nazi territory. However, Eastern Condors might just have the best action of the sub-genre, if not necessarily the most exciting plot.
Directed by cinema legend Sammo Hung (who also stars), the film tells the story of POWs who are given a chance of freedom if they destroy a missile silo. The film features some of the most bonkers action, fusing Hung's more kung fu-oriented stylings of earlier with exploitation action. There's even an absurdly magnificent scene involving a leaf. Yes, a leaf.
4 Full Contact Is Bare Bones Heavy Metal Action
If John Woo takes the action movie to dove-addled crescendos of violence with a sense of grace, then Ringo Lam has the vitriolic rage to say, "take it or leave it." Full Contact is a 1992 film starring Chow Yun-fat as a man whose best friend, played by the always great Anthony Wong, gets deep into debt with the wrong guys.
From there, Gou Fei (Yun-fat) gets roped into a heist with a band of devil-may-care criminals with a bunch of kinks and quirks. Things, as expected, don't work out, and Gou Fei must square off against the criminal kingpin, Judge (Simon Yam). What the film lacks in lyrical beauty, it more than makes up for in balls-to-the-wall metal-driven action.
3 Stephen Chow Has Always Shown Aptitude In Action Filmmaking
While traditionally not just classified as an action film, Stephen Chow's 2001 film, Shaolin Soccer is worthy of all the praise it's received over the years. In earlier films like Flirting Scholar and God of Cookery, Chow employed various forays into different genres to comedic effect, knowing the beats of what he was lampooning.
In his film, King of Comedy, Chow even centers the story on a character who plays an extra in a John Woo-like action film, with all of the prerequisite wire stunts. Shaolin Soccer fully embraces these tendencies and shows a CGI spectacle of Dragon Ball Z-like proportions, while grounding the film in rich characterizations.
2 Bullet In The Head Tears Apart The Action Genre
John Woo is no stranger to romanticizing the violence that men do. Even when he's critical of his characters' actions, there's a sense of camaraderie and adherence to unspoken codes of conduct. All of that is gone in his 1990 film, Bullet in the Head.
The film is set in 1967, when three friends from Hong Kong (Tony Leung, Jacky Cheung, and Waise Lee) try their hand at starting a criminal enterprise in Saigon, Vietnam. They land in a POW camp along with U.S. soldiers, and things go from bad to worse. The film eviscerates the romantic glory of the "heroic bloodshed" movement in 136 minutes.
1 Hard Boiled Is The Greatest Action Movie Of All Time
With Last Hurrah for Chivalry, A Better Tomorrow I & II, The Killer, and Bullet in the Head under his belt, few would blame John Woo if he had decided to retire and enjoy an unbeatable legacy. However, he topped himself with the 1992 flat-out masterpiece, Hard Boiled. The film tells the story of HK police inspector Tequila (Chow Yun-fat), who plays saxophone and dual-wields guns.
As usual, the story tells a story of brotherhood and mutual respect along the fuzzy grey area of morality. Chow Yun-fat delivers what is possibly his best performance, and the wire work action set pieces are full of blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments. There's even a scene when Tequila is clutching a baby and still finds a way to be an all-time action hero.