The 10 Greatest Fight Movies of All Time

(Just one of the reasons why you should rent “The Story of Ricky” immediately.)

Long before we became obsessed with MMA, martial arts flicks satisfied our thirst for blood. We now pay tribute to the best of the best — and the kickass fight scenes and iconic stars that made these movies so essential. Click the links for video clips, and let us know how you feel in the comments section…

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10. Kickboxer (1989)

Say what you will about Kickboxer, but it delivers what it promises. Jean-Claude Van Damme plays Kurt Sloane, the European-accented brother to an American kickboxing champion (?) who travels to Thailand only to be paralyzed by the vicious Tong Po. It isn’t until Sloane seeks out the wisdom and awesomely unorthodox training of Xian Chow that he is ready to seek revenge in a brutal underground match that features no shortage of broken glass-encrusted fists and long, drawn-out screams.

Best Ass-Kicking: How do you prepare for the fight of your life? By getting drunk and beating up bar patrons while dancing horribly in pleated pants. How else?

Classic Quote: “I tell them you say they no good fighters… and that their mothers have sex with mules.” (Xian Chow)

9. The Legend of Drunken Master aka Drunken Master II (1994)

Widely considered to be Jackie Chan’s masterwork, The Legend of Drunken Master centers on a good-natured devotee of “drunken boxing,” who — like Popeye with his spinach — becomes an unstoppable force whenever he gets some booze in him. It’s a perfect representation of Chan’s trademark mix of slapstick comedy, white-knuckle stunts, and machine gun-paced kung fu, and the climactic eight-minute sequence is possibly the most astounding piece of fight choreography committed to film. If the whole movie was like that, Drunken Master would be much higher on our list. Unfortunately there’s a lot of filler about ginseng roots and Western imperialism that you have to wade through to get to the good stuff.

Best ass-kicking: The aforementioned final fight between Wong Fei-hung (Chan) and the movie’s two villains, which features fire-breathing, an attempted chin-in-eye submission, and some truly diabolical feats of agility.

Classic quote: “What does it mean when there’s a picture of a skull?” “Good Stuff!” (Mrs. Wong and Wong Fei-hung)

8. The Protector (2005)

These days, Tony Jaa is the only action star worth watching. His films are marked by a high-impact ultra-realism, due to the fact that he’s genuinely kicking the s**t out of his unfortunate co-stars. (Like Jackie Chan, Jaa also foregoes the use of wires and body-doubles.) In The Protector, he plays Kham, a man trained in Muay Thai as a guard/caretaker of his family’s sacred elephants. When his father is murdered and their prize elephant is stolen by a smuggling ring, Kham is sent into a kill-crazy rampage for justice. From his vicious arm-breaking spree near the end of the movie to his face-off against a pack of roided-out man-freaks, it’s a thrilling showcase of Jaa’s awe-inspiring abilities.

Best ass-kicking: The monumental tracking shot as Kham makes his way to the hideout of the smugglers. Four minutes of uninterrupted destruction, with no camera cuts — an absolute must-see.

Classic quote: “He came from Thailand; a stranger who lived by a code of honor that we have all but forgotten. His were the old ways, and there were those who mocked him for it. But his was the right path. The just path. And for me, he will always be a hero.” (Mark)

7. The Karate Kid (1984)

It’s hokey and it’s dated, but it’s still the classic that had kids in the eighties signing up for karate lessons and wearing flimsy gi’s as pajamas. I mean, at least I heard some kids did that, the losers. Daniel LaRussa is everyone’s favorite underdog as he stands up to the bullies at the Cobra Kai with Mr. Miagi’s help and romances Elizabeth Shue en route to winning a karate tournament and being declared “all right” by the formidable Johnny Lawrence.

Best Ass-Kicking: Mr. Miagi is Daniel’s savior as he drops in ninja-style to dismantle the skeleton crew from the Cobra Kai dojo.

Classic Quote: “Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?” “No, sensei!” (John Kreese and Cobra Kai)

6. Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)

It might just be the most batshit crazy cult classic of all time — and it’s definitely the grossest. Riki-Oh tells the tale of a young man born with superhuman strength, who is sent to prison after avenging his girlfriend’s sort-of-accidental death. Since it’s the year 2001 (!), all prisons are privately-owned, and this one is run by a corrupt warden and his henchmen in the Gang of Four. Ricky quickly lands on their shitlist, and spends most of the movie fighting for his life. Along the way, heads are crushed, eyeballs are punctured, and Ricky is nearly strangled with an attacker’s intestines. Trust us, it’s absolutely hilarious.

Best ass-kicking: Ricky punches holes through two men in the shower room; an honorable mention goes to his unforgettable demolition of Tarzan (clips from both scenes can be seen here, at the 0:51-1:34 and 2:13-2:37 marks).

Classic quote: “You got a lotta guts, Oscar!” (Assistant Warden)

5. The Street Fighter (1974)

With his intimidating, wolfish demeanor and practicality-over-flash style, Sonny Chiba was never going to be the mainstream star that Bruce Lee was. But his films were undeniably badass, and The Street Fighter was his finest moment. Chiba plays Terry Tsurugi, a stone-cold mercenary who decides to protect a wealthy heiress from the Yakuza after they give him a lowball offer for her kidnapping. IMDB says that The Street Fighter was the first film to get an X-rating for violence; though the flick may seem a bit tame by today’s standards, the testicle-ripping scene still makes us cringe to this day.

Best ass-kicking: Tsurugi beats down an entire karate school (starts at the 1:45 mark), though he has a little trouble with their rotund master.

Classic quote: “Tell that bitch who sent you how sorry I am I can no longer be her friend.” (Terry Tsurugi)

4. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Quentin Tarantino regurgitated everything he loved about kung fu movies

Quentin Tarantino regurgitated everything he loved about kung fu movies and the female-revenge exploitation sub-genre into this, the most frenetic and visually stunning film of his career. Brutalized and left for dead on her wedding day, the Bride (Uma Thurman) emerges from a coma four years later, intent on destroying her former associates/would-be killers in the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, as well as her boss and former lover, Bill. Along the way, she picks up the blade-of-all-blades in Japan, thanks to retired swordsmith Hattori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba in a brilliant cameo), and by the end, two names on the Bride’s death list are satisfyingly crossed out.

Best ass-kicking: The Bride slashes through the entire “Crazy 88″ bodyguard crew, turning the House of Blue Leaves into a gore-soaked killing floor; directly followed by the climactic snow-garden showdown with O-Ren Ishii.

Classic quote: “Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the limbs you’ve lost. They belong to me now.” (The Bride)

3. Bloodsport (1988)

It’s everything that UFC 1 aspired to be. The Kumite, an ultra-secret underground fighting tournament in Hong Kong, draws the best in all disciplines from all over the world. Among them is Frank Dux, an American Army soldier and martial artist with an inexplicable European accent (?!). Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds is there too. Things get serious when Chong Li — with his enormous pecs and complete lack of ethics — takes a little too much pleasure in hurting people. He must be stopped. But by who? Could it be the clean-cut guy who’s banging the hot eighties blond chick? We won’t spoil it for you.

Best Ass-Kicking: You never think you’re going to need that blindfolded training. That is, until Chong Li blinds you — Mr. Fuji style — in your final match and you’re forced to win without aid of your vision. Thanks, Tanaka.

Classic Quote: “Aren’t you a little young for full-contact?” “Aren’t you a little old for videogames?” (Ray Jackson and Frank Dux)

2. Fight Club (1999)

It’s almost dismissive to refer to this as a fighting movie. It’s more a film about angst and modern masculinity with fighting as a vehicle for enlightenment. Or some bulls**t like that. Beyond being extremely well-written and well-acted, not to mention being directed by the gritty, detail-obsessive David Fincher, it captured the zeitgeist of the corporate American consumer culture and threw in some bloody beatings for good measure. Not only did the opening of this movie prompt one CagePotato writer to dump a girlfriend who insisted it was “stupid”, it also still has the ability to immediately transfix 18-34 year-old males when it comes on HBO late at night.

Best Ass-Kicking: Edward Norton destroys something beautiful, and that something is poor Jared Leto.

Classic Quote: “This is your life and it’s ending one minute at a time.” (Narrator)

1. Enter the Dragon (1973)

Perhaps the most perfect martial arts movie ever made. Bruce Lee infiltrates the secret island lair of an evil mastermind by way of entering his martial arts tournament. Not only does this film have all the prerequisite elements — faceless crowds of henchmen, evil dude with deadly hand attachments, philosophical digressions — it also features a cast that’s a who’s who of martial arts movies, including Black Belt Jones himself, Jim Kelly, as well as Bolo Yeung and Jackie Chan (uncredited). If the plot seems cliché, that’s probably because it’s been copied so much since then. Because it works.

Best Ass-Kicking: The penultimate fight scene, during which Bruce Lee takes on every martial arts extra in existence during the 1970’s.

Classic Quote: “Don’t think. Feel. It is like a finger pointing away to the moon. Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.” (Lee)

Here’s the part where you tell us how we left out, like, the sickest fight movie ever. Throw in your $0.02 in the comments section.

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