Action movies throughout the years have employed a variety of strategies to make the experience more exciting and realistic. However, martial arts and kung fu movies have often innovated in ways that affect cinema as a whole. These films have undergone several major changes. Audiences have rolled with these changes and come back wanting more.
While most people may not know about it, one of the first martial arts and kung fu movies appeared during the era of silent films. The Burning of the Red Lotus Monastery portrayed a story from a newspaper serial. The final product is a 27-hour film, if viewed in its entirety. It was very popular when it came out and remains one of the longest films ever made.
Large fight scenes that incorporate many actors, martial artists and extras have become somewhat synonymous with the genre. Of course, filming scenes like this is not easy and directors make use of multiple cameras and dozens of skilled fighters. Now, directors can also use sophisticated computer programs to include more virtual fighters later on, which has made it somewhat easier to create the illusion of a large fight scene.
This type of film, though, really took off in Hong Kong during the 1970s. Bruce Lee and his style of fighting fueled a lot of this passion. He had had some success on television in the United States, but it was in Hong Kong that he made several motion pictures in quick succession. These helped the Hong Kong industry develop more and even spawned a new generation of actors.
These films became famous not only in Asia, but also in North America and Europe. Lee also sometimes starred in films that featured other martial artists, which propelled them to fame as well. Moreover, other Westerners began to train on their own and star in feature martial arts films as well.
Names like Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme came to prominence during this time. They used their skills to put on a show in Hollywood films that reached massive audiences. This breathed new life into the genre and gave it a different flavor. Hollywood used some of the typical elements of the genre and mixed them with new plots in a variety of locations.
One exciting recent development, though, is that much of the momentum is swinging back to Asia. Actors like Jackie Chan remain extremely popular in Asia and the rest of the world. Mainland China is also producing high quality movies now and several actors have risen to the industry’s top there. Even places like Thailand have an industry with a global reach. Tony Jaa is considered by many to be one of the next big stars.
Fashion and aesthetics change over time, which has a lot to do with how popular martial arts and kung fu movies at any given time. But behind the fluctuations in popularity, these films have something inherent in them that always strikes a chord with viewers from many different backgrounds. Whatever this something is, it ensures that fans will not have to worry about finding new motion pictures to watch, year in and year out.
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