Gordon Liu’s 10 Best Kung Fu Movies, Ranked

Summary

• Gordon Liu’s iconic roles in kung fu epics showcase his traditional kung fu styles and choreography.
• The variety of fight scenes in Legendary Weapons of China makes it a standout film for Liu.
• Kill Bill Vol. 2 ties back to Liu’s previous projects, showcasing his kung fu skills on a larger scale.

Gordon Liu has one of the most impressive filmographies of any kung fu movie star, with multiple iconic titles to his name. A Chinese actor and martial artist, Gordon Liu studied real kung fu from a young age, eventually getting his big break in the film industry thanks to a production company owned by the famous Shaw brothers. While Liu doesn’t quite have the same level of acclaim as breakout stars like Jackie Chan or Jet Li, his career spans some standout kung fu epics.

Gordon Liu’s movies tend to be period pieces for the most part, typically showing off the value of the traditional kung fu styles he himself learned in real life. Liu is widely typecast as a hero, but makes the odd appearance as one of martial arts movies’ most famous villains. In either case Liu is a seasoned actor and fighter whose breathtaking choreography and bombastic performances lead him quickly to international recognition and acclaim.

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DID YOU KNOW: Before becoming an actor, Liu worked as a shipping clerk.

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10 Challenge Of The Masters(1976)

Directed By Lau Kar-leung

Challenge of the Masters saw Gordon Liu join the ranks of Jackie Chan as being one of the few to portray the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung. While Chan’s Drunken Master series had Wong mastering the art of drunken boxing, in Challenge of the Masters, Gordon Liu more accurately portrays the style of kung fu Wong is famous for using, known as Hung Ga. Liu himself grew up training in Hung Ga as the first style he ever used, and shows off his skills spectacularly in Challenge of the Masters.

The film centers on a teen Wong Fei-hung that is pressed to use his skills in order to defend the honor of his school while taking down a deadly assassin. Admittedly, this is something of a stock-standard martial arts movie plot that does little to distinguish itself, leaving Challenge of the Masters towards the bottom of Liu’s filmography. Still, the film offers a more accurate depiction of Wong Fei-hung punctuated with a particularly impressive fight scene versus his brother, Lau Kar-wing.

9 Shaolin Mantis(1978)

Directed By Lau Kar-leung

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Another collaboration between Gordon Liu and the legendary Shaw brothers, Shaolin Mantis was released closer to the zenith of Liu’s career. Also known as simply Deadly Mantis, the film stars David Chiang as Wei Fung, a young scholar who happens to be an extremely talented martial artist, as well. With his family held by the emperor under threat of harm, Fung is forced to carry out a dangerous espionage mission against his will, developing his own unique brand of kung fu along the way. Liu appears only briefly as a fighting Shaolin monk.

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Shaolin Mantis is an interesting mix of unbelievable and engaging, with the tall tale of Fung’s development of the famous mantis style by observing one of the actual insects coinciding with an intriguing drama surrounding his circumstances. However, the film is still marred by a glacial romantic sub-plot, historical inaccuracies, and one of the Shaw brothers’ trademark grim endings. The result is a memorable, if flawed experience that represents a modest entry in Liu’s cinematic appearances.

8 Legendary Weapons Of China(1982)

Directed By Lau Kar-leung

The biggest strength of Legendary Weapons of China is its sheer variety of fight scenes, with all 18 of the mythical weapons being used at some point or another. Even better, the fight choreography relies on a sort of rock-paper-scissors dynamic with the weapons, with some beating others while having a designated weapon they’re weaker against. However, the confusing story and meagerly-developed characters leave Legendary Weapons of China with little else to offer besides its admittedly excellent fight scenes.

7 Return To The 36th Chamber (1980)

Directed By Gordon Liu

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The 36th Chamber of Shaolin was a breakout hit for Gordon Liu, propelling his career to new heights. Naturally, a trilogy was fashioned out of the story, and Liu returned to the franchise two years later with Return to the 36th Chamber. Interestingly, Liu doesn’t reprise his role as the pure-hearted Shaolin monk San Te, instead playing a con-man with a heart of gold named Chu Jen-chieh posing as a true Shaolin disciple. Chu is the only character of Liu’s to not start the film knowing kung fu, making for a fascinating arc.

The dramatic irony of Chu Jen-chieh, posing as the famous San Te, meeting the real deal deep within the famed 36th Chamber is delicious fun.

The dramatic irony of Chu Jen-chieh, posing as the famous San Te, meeting the real deal deep within the famed 36th Chamber is delicious fun. However, Chu is something of a Mary Sue compared to San Te, who had to work hard to earn his skills. In the end, the greatest legacy of Return to the 36th Chamber is the cultural impact that its predecessor had.

6 Shaolin And Wu Tang(1983)

Directed By Gordon Liu

A martial arts take on a classic buddy cop movie, Shaolin and Wu Tang is an iconic team-up movie that gives Gordon Liu plenty of room to shine. The film centers on a pair of bitter martial arts rivals, one of whom relies on kung fu and the other on swordsmanship, who are forced to work together to prevent the scheme of a bitter local lord to destroy both their schools. Liu stars as Hung Jun-kit, who eschews wu tang swords in favor of his fists.

Shaolin and Wu Tang would leave a lasting cultural legacy, being cited as a prime inspiration by the famous hip-hop group, Wu-Tang Clan. Outside its name recognition, the film does a great job pairing the kung fu and wu tang masters as a classic odd couple forced to put their differences aside for the greater good. Still, it’s plagued by the same problems as other low-budget martial arts films of the era, such as continuity issues, confusing politics, and death scenes utterly lacking in emotional impact.

5 Fists Of The White Lotus (1980)

Directed By Gordon Liu

Also known as Clan of the White Lotus, Fists of the White Lotus was yet another of the Shaw brothers’ countless martial arts films of the 80s to star Gordon Liu. A straightforward revenge story, the film centers around the evil Priest White Lotus, who seeks vengeance for the murder of his twin brother, Pai Mei, by two Shaolin monk hero brothers, one of which is played by Liu. In turn, Priest White Lotus kills one of the brothers, which then prompts Liu’s Man Ting Hung to continue the cycle of revenge.

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The premise may tease at a morally-gray circumstance of prolonged conflict, but no mistake is made as to the evil of Priest White Lotus, leaving something of a missed opportunity.

Technically a sequel to Executioners from Shaolin, which was released three years prior, Fists of the White Lotus is able to mostly provide enough background to be easy to jump into without any previous knowledge. The premise may tease at a morally-gray circumstance of prolonged conflict, but no mistake is made as to the evil of Priest White Lotus, leaving something of a missed opportunity. That being said, with particularly evocative choreography, music, and performances, the film is one of Liu’s strongest leading roles.

4 The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984)

Directed By Gordon Liu

Releasing in the United States as Invincible Pole Fighter, The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter is a unique kung fu movie epic that showed off Gordon Liu’s skill with a polearm. Liu stars as the 5th son of a famous Song Dynasty general, whose family is known far and wide for their skill with spears. After most of his family is slaughtered in a brutal surprise attack, the surviving son learns the art of eight-diagram pole fighting at a Shaolin monastery, only to leave and break his vows to seek revenge.

An incredibly compelling internal drama exists within Liu’s character, wrestling with both his familial loyalty and newfound appreciation of Buddhist teachings while he converts his spear skills into staff skills. Beyond the palpable drama, the film’s fight scenes were strong enough to earn it a nomination at the 4th Hong Kong film awards for Best Action Choreography, a hotly-contended accolade. Ultimately, the film is held back just a tad by the over-indulgence of its many war cries and weaponry, but is scraping the surface of all-time classic kung fu.

3 Kill Bill Vol. 2(2004)

Directed By Gordon Liu

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Kill Bill Vol. 2 is much more kung fu-centric, with Gordon Liu returning as the ruthless instructor Pai Mei. This ties the film back to Liu’s previous project, Fists of the White Lotus, possibly linking the continuities of both films.

As one of the more famous Quentin Tarantino films, Kill Bill Vol. 2 needs little introduction, continuing Beatrix Kiddo’s quest for revenge alongside a revealing series of flashbacks featuring Gordon Liu’s incredible Pai Mei. Kill Bill Vol. 2 boasts unfair advantages in production value over Liu’s previous work, with all the blemishes and hyper-violence to be expected of a Tarantino picture. With how much he managed to elevate the film, it’s no wonder Gordon Liu’s role in Kill Bill Vol. 2 was so long in the making.

2 Heroes Of The East(1978)

Directed By Gordon Liu

One of the rare Chinese-made films to portray the kung fu of their homeland alongside Japanese martial arts, Heroes of the East is an utterly unique experience worthy of praise. Gordon Liu appears a Ho Tao, a talented kung fu student and heir to his father’s wealthy business empire who finds himself in an arranged marriage with a Japanese woman amid tense cultural relations between China and Japan. He soon finds she is also a martial artist, and what results is a tear-down series of duels between Ho Tao and a litany of Japanese opponents.

Considering the very real implications behind
Heroes of the East
amid East Asian politics, the film is an incredibly daring exploration of Sino-Japanese relations.

Considering the very real implications behind Heroes of the East amid East Asian politics, the film is an incredibly daring exploration of Sino-Japanese relations. That’s not to mention the many elaborate and entertaining fights between utterly alien martial arts styles, with the hilarious comedic stylings of Ho Tao’s servant keeping things lively. Featuring romance, action and comedy while making a bold cultural thesis statement, Heroes of the East is a triumph for Liu.

1 The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin(1978)

Directed By Gordon Liu

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Not only is The 36th Chamber of Shaolin Gordon Liu’s most famous and iconic film, but it remains one of the single greatest kung fu movies of all time. The plot is simple; a young rebel in the Chinese countryside heads to a Shaolin monastery to learn kung fu in order to overthrow a tyrannical local government. But surviving the 35 Shaolin chambers is no easy task, and Gordon Liu’s San Te has to summon all his willpower in order to proceed.

Many kung fu films simply begin with their heroes already experts in martial arts, making San Te’s grueling journey that much more gratifying, a testament to the indomitable will of humanity. His thesis statement on creating the 36th chamber to help protect the common masses is downright inspirational, and with a few eye-popping fight scenes and setpieces along the way, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin becomes a classic for a reason. If there’s one thing Gordon Liu is famous for, it’s spearheading one of the most influential kung fu movies of all time.

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