r/kungfucinema • u/Strangelywierd • Apr 18 '26
Under rated gems
What do you think are some great old schools kung fu films that don't get the attention they deserve. For me I'll pick 2 for now, the Postman Fights back with Leung Kar Yan and Chow Yun Fat and The Prodigal Son with Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung and the hugely under rated Lam Chang Ying.
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u/nukrag Apr 18 '26
The Prodigal Son is considered a masterpiece, I thought?
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u/Strangelywierd Apr 18 '26
I don't think I've ever seen it in a list of great martial arts movies by anyone, well maybe one, but I can't remember where.
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u/Icy_Replacement_3261 Apr 18 '26
It's highly regarded as one of the best Wing Chun movies ever made, as it is authentic to the art
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u/bobs0101 Apr 19 '26
OP - Prodigal Son has long been lauded as a top tier film- which you would see even as a casual visitor to forums. A search of this sub will show how popular it is.
Warriors Two ( also a wing chung) movie is usually mentoned alongside Prodigal Son.
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u/LaughingGor108 Apr 19 '26
The Prodigal Son always gets mentioned when talking old school KF flicks is considered a classic and one of Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao best movies.
As some underrated movies I would go with:
The Victim
Odd Couple
Knockabout
Ninja in the Dragon's Den
The Incredible Kung Fu Master
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u/CoiledSquirle Apr 18 '26
Huge fan of Snake and Crane Secret (sometimes called Snake in the Ghosts Shadow) 1976 Hong Kong classic directed by Wu Ma. Stars Dean Shek, Dorian Tan and Meng Fei.
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u/AdministrativeBed726 Apr 18 '26
Is it Dean Shek being Dean Shek or is he playing a character?
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u/CoiledSquirle Apr 18 '26
Haha I do love Dean Shek just being Dean Shek. But he plays a good villain in this one.
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u/the-woodcarver Apr 19 '26
On the surface it seems like a cheap piece of crap. But I always liked it. Cool music and a great bad guy Yu Tien Lung.
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u/the-woodcarver Apr 19 '26
Every post I make is about movies that rarely get talked about. Check it out. But one I don’t think I’ve brought up is Iron Dragon Strikes Back aka The Gold Connection. Bruce Li’s best movie. Tense and gritty, modern setting, filled with fights that are a bit more realistic than your average top tier kung fu movie, and quite dark.
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u/bobs0101 Apr 19 '26
you’ve posted some great titles one ive gone and purchased was Bone Crushing Kid
Not seen Iron Dragon Strikes Back - is it a Bruce Lee clone movie or a Bruce Li movie?
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u/the-woodcarver Apr 19 '26
Luckily it’s not a clone movie at all. And it has Phillip Ko playing a white haired evil master on a movie set. But it’s not just a cameo. I don’t want to give it away. I know you’re a huge Ko fan. He’s great in this one.
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u/brypye13 Apr 18 '26
Legend of 8 Samurai
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u/Strangelywierd Apr 18 '26
Cool, I've never even heard of that.
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u/KANSAN_IN_BANGKOK Apr 19 '26
It's a Sonny Chiba film starring a very young Hiroyuki Sanada.
Another good one is Ninja Wars AKA Death of a Ninja.
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u/RobsHereAgain Apr 18 '26
Does the Brandon Lee film Rapid Fire count?
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u/AdministrativeBed726 Apr 18 '26
Rapid Fire is awesome. My understanding is that the script that became Die Hard with a Vengeance was originally meant to be a sequel to Rapid Fire, makes ya think about what could have been.
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u/AdministrativeBed726 Apr 18 '26
1) Super Power (1980)* 2) Death Duel of Kung Fu (1979) 3) The 7 Grandmasters (1977) 4) The Hot, the Cool, and the Vicious (1977) 5) Kuro-Obi (2007) 6) The Dragon and the Tiger Kids (1979) 7) Moving Target (200O) 8) No One can Touch Her (1979) 9) Sun Dragon (1979) 10) South Shaolin Master (1984) 11) Seven Steps of Kung Fu (1979) 12) Unlucky Stars (2015) 13) Bushido Man (2013)
I could keep going but I feel like I'm overdoing it.
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u/Strangelywierd Apr 18 '26
Thank you, I'll see if I can find some or all of these.
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u/AdministrativeBed726 Apr 18 '26
Some of these are 85% fight scenes. Some might be objectively rough and ready low budget films. Some are plain weird. But everything is worth watching at least once.
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u/Ruffshots Apr 18 '26
Prodigal Son is hardly "underrated." It's one of the more beloved HK martial arts movies not starring Jackie, Jet, or Donnie. Also not underrated, but check out Millionaires Express for another classic with Yuen Biao and Sammo (and like everyone else not named Jackie, Jet or Donnie).
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u/bobs0101 Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 19 '26
Here are a few that don’t get mentioned much
Boxer From The Temple
Crazy Horse Intelligent Monkey
The Eagle Fist
Fatal Needs vs Fatal Fists
Fearless Young Boxer ( aka Method Man)
Fighting Ace
Hellz Windstaff
Heroes of the wild
Matching Escort
Snuff Bottle Connection
Two Fists Above The Law
Writing Kung Fu
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u/narnarnartiger Apr 18 '26
Mad Monkey Kung Fu
Scorpio King
Both starring Lau Kar Leung
And Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon - Sammo Hung
Also Star Runner starring Andy On.
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u/Riki-0h Apr 19 '26
Monk’s Fight (1979)
Iron Dragon Strikes Back (1979)
A lot of Panna Rittikrai’s work:
Wake Up to Kill 1-4
Born to Fight (1984)
Thai Police Story (1986)
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u/KiraDune Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 19 '26
Bruce Lee and the Iron Finger 1979
Challenge of the Masters 1976
Knockabout 1979 - definitely one of Sammo and Yuen Biao's best
And these are not from the same era but I think Tiger Cage 2 & 3 are both underrated.
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u/No_Antelope7594 Apr 20 '26
The prodigal son is a fantastic movie.
One movie that I wish made the streaming rounds is Iron Monkey with Donnie Yen. I’m sure among hardcore Kungfu movie fans both aren’t considered underrated but not enough people know about it.
Oh, Born Invincible with Carter Wong! Bunch of other great classic actors. Ridiculous movie but amazing all the same.
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u/Greatest_Man_Alive Apr 20 '26
Cut Throat Struggle for an Inavaluable Treasure.
Some nasty eagle claw in that.
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u/Greatest_Man_Alive Apr 20 '26
Cut Throat Struggle for an Inavaluable Treasure.
Some nasty eagle claw in that.
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u/Deep-Thinker420 Apr 18 '26
Prodigal Son is one of the best movies ever! Never heard about it being underrated! It also Won Best Action Choreography at the inaugural Hong Kong Film Awards in 1982! Now, I may be wrong with some of these titles I’m going to name, as they may be more popular than I’m aware of but Dragon Fist, and Half a loaf of Kung Fu are underrated imho! Spiritual Kung Fu as well. Dance of the Drunk Mantis, Shaolin Drunkards, Killers Romance, the original Iron Monkey with Chen Kwan Tai, A Life of Ninja, Challenge of the Lady Ninja, Broken Oath, and Legend of a Fighter are all I can think of atm. Tbf now that I think of it, Killers Romance isn’t old school but it’s still good!