This is a list of my current top 10 martial arts films from the 80's, 90's and 00's.

1. Kickboxer (1989), starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Alexio and Dennis Chan.  Like Van Damme's previous film, Bloodsport, this showcases Van Damme's unique fighting style, as well as his ability to do the complete splits.  The story follows Kurt Sloan, a cornerman for his brother Eric (Dennis Alexio), an American kickboxing champion.  Kur and Eric travel to Bangkok to take on Tong Po (Michel Qissi), the Thailand champion.  However, Kurt and Eric quickly discover that they are outmatched by Tong Po after the first round.  Eric is too stubborn to give up and returns for round two, despire Kurt's urging not to.  Eric continues to take a vicious beating, prompting Kurt to throw in the towel.  Rather than stop the fight, Tong Po continues and brutally paralyzes Eric in the ring.  Kurt vows to avenge his brother and defeat Tong Po in the ring, and goes to a remot area in Thailand to train with a famous trainer, Xian Chow (Dennis Chan), who helps him master the art of Muay Thai ("Thai boxing").  As he becomes more and more powerful, local Thai mobsters worry that he'll interfere in their work in underground kickboxing and force him into a death match against Tong Po.  In what they call the "ancient way" the contestants wrap their hands in hem rope, coat the rope with resin, and then dip their hands in broken glass to make their hands deadly weapons.  In an epic final battle Tong Po and Kurt face off, and in the end Kurt beats Po, victory and vengeance now his.

2. Gorgeous (1999), starring Jackie Chan, Shu Qi and Brad Allan.  Bu (Shu Qi) is a beautiful young girl from a small Taiwanese fishing village who discovers a romantic message in a bottle.  She heads for Hong Kong to find its writer, only to learn that it was in fact written by Albert (Tony Leung), a lonely gay man.  She, however, meets the wealthy recycling company owner, C.N. (Jackie Chan) who falls in love with her; but the plot is soon thickened by rival businessmen, hired goons, and Bu's confused boyfriend.

3. Drive (1997), starring Mark Dacascos, Kardeem Hardison and Brittany Murphy.  A machine/human hybrid prototype formerly working for the Red Chinese, Toby Wong (Dacascos), forces a down-on-his-luck, extroverted songwriter named Malik Brody (Hardison) to drive him to Los Angeles after their first meeting in a bar.  He is on the run from hitmen - a hillbilly assassin/bounty hunter named Vic Madison and his seemingly half-retarded henchman called "Hedgehog."

4. Fist of Legend (1994), starring Jet Li, Shinobu Nakayama and Siu-hou Chin.  The movie begins with Chen Zhen, played by Jet Li, in a Japanese boarding school.  Chen and other students are busy in class when suddenly the schoolroom is flooded by some racist Japanese martial arts students.  The students accuse Chen, calling him "Chinese scum," and order him to leave.  Chen gets up without talking and complies, before Mitsuko, a female Japanese student, and the class teacher come to his defence, telling the Japanese fighters to leave.  The arrogant Japanese, however, laugh at the old professor and break his glasses, and threaten to hurt Mitsuko.  Chen then defends both himself and Mitsuko by rapidly injuring all of the numerous Japanese fighters, before Mitsuko's uncle, the legendary Funakochi Fumio, played by Yasuaki Kurata, a dojo owner and martial arts master, comes and breaks up the fight.  Fumio, extremely impressed by Chen's skills, engages him in conversation, where Chan learns his master, Huo Yuanjia (a character Jet Li played later in Fearless), has been killed by a Japanese fighter in a contest.  Chen, immediately distraught, leaves on a boat for Shanghai, telling his girlfriend Mitsuko to wait for him.  Chen arrives in a different place than he left it - his old school, Jin Woo, formerly of master Huo Yuanjia's, is now a laughing stock, with the master dead.  His choldhood friend, Hou Ting-An (played by Siu-hou Chin), is the new master, and as Chen enters the training grounds, he witnesss Ting-An defending the school's honour by defeating a rival martial arts master.  Chen is welcomed back with honours, and taken into the school.  The next day, Chen travels to Akutagawa Ryoichi's dojo, played by Jackson Liu, the Japanese master that defeated Huo Yuanjia, who was poisoned before.  Chen demands to see the Japanese master, and when he is laughed at and forced out of the dojo, he defeats and injures each of the numerous martial arts students there.  The fight is brought to an end when Akutagawa enters, and honourably accepts Chen's challenge.  The two have a short fight where Chen realises there is no way Akutagawa could have defeated Yuanjia, as the Japanese martial arts master is simply not that capable.  Disappointed, Chen leaves.  Chen then demands for his master's corpse to be exhumed and for there to be an autopsy, to determine if the master was fighting at full form during the contest, to the protests of the other Jin Woo members.  To everyone's surprise but Chen, it was revealed that Huo Yuanjia was poisoned with a quick-acting lung-based venom, which would've severely limited his respiratory system and prevented him from taking in a full breath.  Over the next few days, Chen becomes not only a star in Jin Woo, but also a celebrity in Shanghai, due to his martial arts skills.  The other students begin to look towards Chen as their teacher and not Ting-An, driving the latter jealous and quick to hide away at his illegitimate prostitute girlfriend's house.  Meanwhile, Akutagawa confronts the occupying Japanese general, General Fujita (played by Billy Chau), demanding to know if Huo Yuanjia was poisoned.  Fujita replies that he did not trust Akutagawa's ability to defeat Yuanjia fairly, so he decided to do it himself.  Furious, Akutagawa attacks Fujita, calling him dishonourable and not worthy of the title of samurai, before Fujita kills Akutagawa by breaking his back.  Fujita then frames Chen Zhen for the killing, which enrages Akutagawa's students and causes them to storm Jin Woo.  Akutagawa's and Jin Woo students have a bloody battle at the school before the Chinese police arrive, arresting Chen for questioning.  The trial is going terribly for Chen, as several fake witnesses are brought up, offering conflicting but false accounts of Akutagawa's killing.  However, Mitsuko then arrives, claiming that Chen is innocent because he had spent the entire night with her, thus exonerating Chen.  For Ting-An and some of the other elder Jin Woo members, this is the last straw, and they demand for Chen to either abandon Mitsuko or leave Jin Woo.  Ting-An, grievously offended and in a jealous rage, challenges Chen to a battle.  Chen is losing at first due to his unwillingness to hurt his childhood friend, but he eventually decides to fight back, and beats Ting-An.  A shamed and defeated Ting-An hands over the mantle of Jin Woo master to Chen, telling the latter that he is now the head of the school.  Chen replies that he will not take the title away from his friend, but neither will he abandon his Japanese girlfriend.  Instead, Chen will leave Jing Woo by his own choice, and live with Mitsuko.  Chen and Mitsuko attempt to get housing, but a quick to be refused due to bad relations between Chinese and Japanese people at the time, and the pair are forced to make a temporary dwelling at a Buddhist shrine.  Meanwhile, the other Jin Woo members confront Ting-An about his alcoholism and relationship with a prostitute.  Mitsuko's uncle, Funakochi Fumio, finally arrives at China, following his niece.  Fumio arrives at Chen's new home an challenges him to a fight, judging his worthiness.  Chen and Fumio then have an honourable battle, where it is revealed that Chen is extremely skilled but Fumio is more experienced.  Fumio then gives his blessings for Chen and Mitsuko's relationship, and warns Chen that the real enemy is not the Japanese, but rather the dangerous General Fujita.  A few days later, Ting-An arrives at Chen's home, apologising to his old friend, and telling him he accepts him and Mitsuko's relationship, and the pair is welcome to stay at Jin Woo if they wish.  He also informs Chen that Fujita has sent a challenge to Jin Woo, and if the school wishes to remain open, they will have to accept Fujita's challenge.  That night, while Chen and Ting-An are reviewing a new Hua style by the light of the campfire, Mitsuko leaves for Japan, leaving behind a letter stating that although she loves Chen, their relationship will never work while there is still so much bad blood between the two races.  The next day Chen and Ting-An arrive at Akutagawa's dojo, where Fujita is waiting.  Fujita exposes a member of Huo Yuanjia's school, who convinced the old cook to poison Yuanjia, and shoots him, stating that he has now officially apologised for the dishonourable killing of the master.  However, he will still close the school, unless Ting-An proves to Fujita his skills.  Ting-An attempts to fight Fujita, but the incredibly strong and resilient Fujita effortlessly beats down Ting-An.  Fujita then attempts to kill Ting-An, but is stopped by Chen.  Chen and Fujita then have an extended fight, where Chen manages to defeat the Japanese general by slicing his neck with a belt.  As Chen and Ting-An are walking away, however, the enraged general comes at them with a katana, and Chen kills him.  Japanese soldiers storm the school, about to kill Chen and Ting-An before the Japanese ambassador orders them to leave, thus ending the Japanese occupation of China.  However, the killing of Fujita cannot go unpunished, and Chen realises what he must do.  The Japanese ambassador then pretends to execute Chen, exonerating China from Fujita's murder, then prepares to leave China.  The alive Chen also leaves, now forced to make a new life for himself wherever he goes.

5. Who Am I? (1998), starring Jackie Chan, Michelle Ferre, Yamamoto Mirai and Ron Smoorenburg.  Chan plays a member of a CIA-sponsored multinational black ops special forces unit on a mission to kidnap several South African scientists working on a highly volatile secret compound, who falls victim to a staged incident, which results in the deaths of his colleagues.  Jackie survives, but is stranded in the African veldt with massive memory loss.  When asked by natives for his name, he replies "Who am I?", which they take for his real name.  Jackie - all the while having flashbacks hinting at his true identity - proceeds to befriend two beautiful women: Christine (Michelle Ferre), a CIA agent disguised as a journalist, and Yuki (Yamamoto Mirai).  As it turns out, renegade ex-US Army officers and black market arms dealers are illegally exporting the secret compound, and Jackie is the only potential threat to their operations.  Thus, agents are sent out to stop Jackie before he can expose their criminal activities.  JAcke defeats numerous bad guys in his own incomparable style, performing the movie's signature stunt on the steeply-pitched glass roof of a modern office building.  Afterwards, he comes to terms with his identity.

6. Iron Monkey (1993), starring Donnie Yen, Rongguang Yu and Jean Wang.  Set during the Qing Dynasty in 19th Century China, widespread government corruption has hit Zeijing Province particularly hard.  Repeated environmental disasters and greedy government officials have starved the ordinary townspeople of their money.  To aid the common people, a hero has arrived: a their along the lines of Robin Hood or Zorro, who steals from the government and gives the money to the poor.  This masked thief, known as Iron Monkey, is regarded as a hero by the townsfolk and a problem by the government.  Officials from the capital are repeatedly fired and replaced for being unable to deal with Iron Monkey.  Despite an elaborate trap set for him at the governer's mansion, Iron Monkey, displaying incredible martial arts prowess as he defeats not only the entire militia but also the four monk bodyguards of the governer, steals a secret hoard of gold.  The townspeople have much faith in their hero - none are worried that new wanted posters for the masked bandit have appeared, and they don't seem to believe that any government official can catch him.  Iron Monkey is actually Dr. Yang, the owner of an herbal medicine clinic called "Pa Cho Tong."  Yang is not only an excellent doctor, but a fair one - he overcharges noblemen for their medicine, but gives the same medicine for free to the elderly who suffer from the environmental disasters.  He also treats the very soldiers for wounds they received when he was fighting them as the masked warrior, which earns him the devotion of the leader of the militia, Chief Fox, who has become obsessed with catching Iron Monkey.  Not knowing his true identity, he sees him everywhere.  Iron Monkey's equal is now introduced: Wong Kei Ying, an itinerant physician who is travelling with his young son, Wong Fei Hung.  They plan only to collect some medicine and stay in town for one night, but after getting mugged, Kei Ying gets into a fight with some street thieves.  Nearby soldiers, upon watching him display his formidable martial arts skills, believe him to be Iron Monkey and arrest him and his son.  Kei Ying now sees the corruption of the local government firsthand; the soldiers have been arresting anyone remotely related to the monkey, including the owner of a performing monkey, a pharmacist who sells medicine related to the Monkey God, and a street performer who wears face paint to resemble a monkey.  They are all fined a huge amount of gold (500 taels), and Kei Ying, upon protesting this injustice, has his son seized.  Wong Fei Hung protests, and the governer orders him to be branded for opposing the court.  But before the boy's cheek is touched with the branding iron, Iron Monkey appears to disrupt the proceedings.  Once again the militia is no match for the thief.  Amidst the chaos, however, Wong Kei Ying escapes his capturers and engages Iron Monkey in combat on the rooftops.  It is revealed that the Iron Monkey and Kei Ying are perfect equals in terms of martial arts ability.  Iron Monkey only narrowly escapes.  Although the real Iron Monkey has appeared, which proves that none of those arrested is he, the governer arrests Wong Fei Hung, and makes a deal with Kei Ying: He must capture the Iron Monkey is seven days.  He also seizes all of Kei Ying's belongings and money to keep him from abandoning the town.  Wong Kei Yong, who is now stranded in the town, tries to buy some food with his remaining money but discovers, much to his surprise, that the entire town now hates him.  Because Wong Kei Ying is attempting to capture Iron Monkey, street vendors refuse to sell their food to him.  Hungry and tired, Kei Ying eventually stumbles upon Pa Cho Tong.  After Wong Kei Ying stoops to eat a bun dropped on the ground, Orchid Ho, who is Dr. Yang / Iron Monkey's assistant, invites him inside for food.  Orchid, Yang, and Wong Kei Ying have dinner together and become good friends.  Upon hearing his plight, Yang goes to the city jail to look after Wong Fei Hung.  Finding the boy gravely ill from a plague caught from the other detainees, Yang convinces Chief Fox to release the boy into his custody.  Wong Kei Ying, meanwhile, is patrolling the rooftops, hoping to catch sight of Iron Monkey.  Instead, he encounters four Shaolin monk bodyguards of the governer who had kidnapped a woman with the intention of raping her.  Kei Ying then meets the female warrior-witch White Eagle - a folloer of the Shaolin rebel Hin-Hung, who is a deal with Qing government officials burned the Shaolin Temple in Fuijan Province.  Hin-Hung is now a powerful government official.  Kei Ying and White Eagle have a brief fight before Eagle escapes.  In a daydream, Orchid's past is revealed.  She was previously a prostitute, and upon failed delivery of a child, Dr. Yang bought her from her previous owner.  She has been living with him ever since.  In the meantime, a fake official has come, claiming to be the governer's replacement after his failed attempts to capture the Iron Monkey.  The fake official is really the Iron Monkey in disguise, there to steal the last of the governer's treasure by tricking him into giving it up as a bribe.  Upon waking up at Pa Cho Tong, Wong Fei Hung steals an urn of medicine - he plans to seel them and buy his father's way out of the village.  However, he soon meets the same street thieves who fought with his dad at the beginning of the movie.  He narrowly defeats them with the help of Orchid and returns to the clinic to be reunited with his father.  The real government official to replace the governer has arrived - the monk, Hin-Hung himself.  The four monk bodyguards, White Eagle, a newcomer, and a disfigured warrior named Twin Swords, are all his subordinates.  That night, White Eagle and Twin Swords set a trap to catch the Iron Monkey.  He defeates them both, only to be ambushed by Hin-Hung and hit with the powerful monk's infamous technique - the "Shaolin King Kong Palm" (also known as the Buddha's Fist), which Hin-Hung used to kill everyone in the Shaolin temple upon his betrayal.  Fatally bruised, Iron Monkey runs for his life.  Wong Kei Ying intercepts Hin-Hung and the two do battle.  Hin-Hung remarks that Wong Kei Ying's style of fighting deviates from the orthodox version Shaolin kung fu, and he is right - Wong Kei Ying's own style incorporates the "No Shadow Kick" technique, which was developed by the Wong family and would later be made famous by his son, Wong Fei Hung.  Kei Ying is no match for Hin-Hung, but his Shaolin-derived techniques successfully anticipate the King Kong Palm strike to his back.  Shaken from deflecting some of the energy from the strike, Kei Ying barely escapes, and travels to Pa Cho Tong.  There he discovers the Iron Monkey's real identity, but instead of turning him in, he uses his medical knowledge to devise a cure for the Shaolin King Kong Palm.  The two recover and decide to try to fight Hin-Hung.  Hin-Hung has now defeated both Kei Ying and the Iron Monkey.  He sets out an order to arrest Wong Kei Ying, branding him a traitor.  Knowing that both Kei Ying and Iron Monkey are suffering from his deadly Palm, he orders all soldiers to search every clinic in the city and arrest all the doctors.  With no choice, Kei Ying orders his son to go back home and reminds him that a man doesn't cry.  Fei Hung listens and tells Dr. Yang to notify him if anything happens to his father, but he soon breaks down into tears.  His father - angry at the fact that his son won't listen to his word - tell him to "man up" and to stop crying, which he does.  However, Kei Ying, worried about his son, quickly turns around and starts to break into tears alos, thus indicating that not even he (a man) can resist crying.  One night, as Dr. Yang and Wong Kei Ying are both away, the four monks arrive at the Pa Cho Tong clinic.  Finding Orchid, they try to rape her, only to find she is also an accomplished master of martial arts.  Narrowly defeating her using Ether powder, they are then defeated by Wong Fei Hung.  However, the boy in turn is defeated by White Eagle, who arrests him and brings him to the castle.  Wong Kei Ying and Iron Monkey now storm the government building.  With the help of Orchid and Chief Fox (who apparently at the very least suspects the truth about Dr. Yang, but is a good man and wants to help), Fei Hung is rescued from being tortured by Hin-Hung.  Hin-Hung, Kei Ying and Iron Monkey now engage in the final confrontation - a fight atop flaming wooden poles.  Hing-Hung, due to his size, is unable to fight properly on the poles.  However, he is still more than a match for both Kei Ying and Iron Monkey.  Only with spectacular teamwork are the two able to narrowly defeat the monk.  Hei-Hung is burned to death and the five refugees escape.  The end of the movie is left ambiguous - another new official arrives soon enough, and they can only hope that he will be a fair one.  Kei Ying now understands the full extent of the corruption in his society, and no longer wishes to hunt down the Iron Monkey.  When leaving, Wong Fei Hung looks back and smiles at the doctor with joy.  His father then offers him his hand, which Fei Hung happily accepts (a reference to the start of the film where Wong Kei Ying refused to hold Fei Hung's hand, stating that he is old enough to walk on his own).  Father and son then leave for Fu-Shan as originally planned, wishing the best of luck to Dr. Yang.

7. Ong Bak (2003), starring Tony Jaa and Petchai Wongkamlao.  The scene opens in Ban Nong Pradu, a peaceful rural village in northeastern Thailand.  A group of villagers, covered in white mud, are standing by an immense Bodhi tree, looking up to the top where a flag flaps in the gentle breeze.  With a great yell, they all run toward the tree and begin to climb, knocking others away.  Men fall to the ground with a thud, bouncing off branches as they go.  One climber comes out on top.  It is Ting, the village's best athlete and fighter.  He grabs the flag, ties it around his neck and decend, deftly avoiding the other climbers.  Ting is established as a reverent, respectful young man, and is annointed as such by the village's monk, in a ceremony at the community's humble little temple that night.  Though extremely skilled in Muay Thai, as he demonstrates for his "Uncle Mao" (literally "Drunk Uncle" in Thai), he has made a vow that he will not use it to harm another person for any material gain.  It is a poor village.  All it has is an ancient Buddha image, named Ong-Bak.  During the night, Ting's drunken Uncle Mao stumbles into the temple to discover something bad is going on, only to be knocked unconscious by the perps.  He awakes the next morning to find the Buddha's head missing.  The villagers despair at the bad luck that will befall them if the head is not returned.  Ting speaks up and says he will recover it at all costs.  The villagers all chip in, giving up treasured baht and hoarded trinkets to pay for Ting's way to Bangkok, where heis to meet his ne'er-do-well cousin Humlae and get help in tracking down the men who stole Ong-Bak's head.  In the city, we find that Humale has dyed his hair blonde and renamed himself George, since his village name, "Humlae", translates as "Dirty Balls."  He and his friend, Muay Lek, are street bike racing hustlers who have fallen in with a bad crowd of yaba dealers.  Humale is at first reluctant to help Ting, but when he sees the small fortune in coins that Ting has collected from his village, Humale takes an imemdiate interest.  And, when Ting is in the bathroom, Humlae grabs the sack and heads for a bar on Khaosan Road, where an illegal boxing match is going on.  Ting tracks down Humlae, but instead of getting his money back, he ends up fighting and being named the new champion after one high knee smash waylays the old champ.  This makes Ting and enemy of Komtuan, a gray-haired, wheelchair-bound crimelord who needs an electrolarynx to speak.  He has been watching the fight from his praviate room, and losing money because Ting keeps beating his fighters.  Meanwhile, back in Ting's village, there is bad luck.  The gound is dusty and full of cracks, and all that is left in the village well is muddy water.  They need the Buddha's head back to end the drought and return good fortune to the village.  George keeps working shady deals, with he and Muay Lek working a scam at a baccarat table in an illegal casino.  Eventually, the scams catch up with him, and the drug dealer shows up to give George a beating.  Ting ignores George's cries for help, but intervenes when the drug dealer starts smacking Muay Lek around.  Then the drug dealer's friends and the cheated casin boss appear, and a footchase through the alleys ensues.  Ting displays his acrobatic skills as he walks over crowds, jumps through a barbed-wire hoop, leaps over a rack of sharp tools, cartwheels through a narrow space between two panes of glass, does a front flip over a wok of hot oil, slides along the ground in a front split underneath a moving car, and jumps up and down scaffolding.  Meanwhile, George is also being chased by several gangsters.  He runs into a dead end where Ting helps him escape in exchange for George's assistant in helping Ting find Don (the man chiefly responsible for stealing the head of Ong-Bak).  That night, there is another fight at the bar.  Ting is egged on by Big Bear, a vulgar Australian fighter.  At first, Big Bear attempts to provoke a fight with Ting by insulting Thai people.  Ting only steps in when Big Bear beats another Thai man and assaults a waitress.  Ting easily beats the hulking giant.  He then fights Toshiro, a very fast and flexible Japanese fighter.  His final opponent is Mad Dog, another foreigner, who favours the use of chairs, tables, electrical wires, and even a refrigerator, to punch and smash his opponents into submission.  The fight takes them up to Komtuan's private booth.  Komtuan hands Mad Dog a knife, but Ting simply kicks Mad Dog out of the viewing booth's glass right back into the fight arena.  An African man steps into the ring to throw a coin at Ting's feet, and at the same time displays a "thumbs up."  The rest of the crowd cheer loudly and repeat this gesture of throwing coins - much to the delight of George and Muay Lek.  Muay Lek, meanwhile, has been struggling to keep her older sister Ngek from using drugs.  Ngek has fallen in with small-time crook Don (the same Don who stole Ong-Bak).  Muay Lek, George and Ting show up at Don's apartment to find Ngek overdosed on cocaine.  George and Ting chase Don in tuk-tuks, with several of Don's friends joining in.  The tuk-tuks take to an elevated expressway, climaxing with many of the vehicles driving off the edge on an unfinished portion on the highway.  Ting follows the bad guys and ends up at the port in the Chao Phraya River, where he discovers a cache of stolen Buddha statues.  This leads back to the gangster Komtuan, who makes Ting fight one of his bodyguards who has been taking high dosages of performance-enhancing drugs.  The following day, George, Ting and Muay Lek are kidnapped by Komtuan's henchmen.  After Komtuan leaves and orders the henchmen to kill the three protagonists, Ting attacks the men with the assistance of George.  As one of the gangsters mounts his motorcycle, Ting lands a textbook flying knee smash, breaking the helmet in two.  Eventually, Ting and George find the gang's hideout in the mountains, where the head of a giant Buddha is being chiselled away.  There is a final showdown with Ting against all of Komtuan's henchmen.  George tries to help, but is badly beaten.  Komtuan's bodyguard injects himself with several shots of adrenaline and attacks Ting.  Ting is being beaten quite badly until he reminds himself of the village and the head of Ong-Bak.  Ting ultimately defeats the bodyguard.  Komtuan attempts to cause the Buddha head to crush George by breaking the scaffolding.  George rolls away before the giant Buddha hits him.  The head of Ong-Bak is restored to the village temple and Ting is ordained as a monk.

8. Bloodsport (1988), starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb and Leah Ayres.  Allegedly based on real-life events which took place between 1975 and 1981, Bloodsport tells the story of an American martial artist named Frank W. Dux, who was trained from his youth in the ways of Ninjutsu by a Japanese master of the art, Senzo Tanaka.  Primarily to honour his mentor out of gratitude and respect for having been allowed the training in place of Senzo Tanaka's deceased and only son, Dux leaves for Hong Kong to participate in the Kumite - an illegal and underground, freestyle, single-elimination and occasionally deadly full-contact martial arts tournament, to which the world's best martial artists are clandestinely invited every five years.  The movie begins with the preparation of the Kumite in Hong Kong.  A number of fighters prepare for the tournament in their own unique way, such as climbing a tree to smash a coconut, breaking ice blocks, boards, etc).  Dux is finally showing kicking a training bag in an Air Force gymnasium.  An officer advises him on how the commanding officer found out about Dux leaving for the Kumite and intends to stop him.  Fux says he would take a shower before seeing the CO - the perfect opportunity to go AWOL.  Dux goes to the Tanaka's house to say goodbye to his mentor and recalls his training days.  Two Air Force law enforcement agents are sent to arrest him.  After arriving in Hong Kong, Dux befriends fellow American contestant Ray Jackson, a Vale Tudo fighter.  Dux also eventually becomes involved with a female American journalist, Janice Kent, who is attempting to investigate the secretive contest.  As the tournament progresses, Dux beats all of his diverse opponents, including a Syrian fighter, a Muay Thai boxer, and a formidable Sumo wrestler.  Dux advances to the third and final day of the tournament to face the defending Kumite champion, Chong Li - a man with the tendency to cripple and sometimes kill his opponents.  Chong Li also hospitalised Ray Jackson on the second day of the Kumite.  When Li finds that Dux is the better fighter, he blinds Dux with a handful of salt.  However, Dux manages to train his senses and emerge victorious.  He becomes the first westerner to be crowned winner of the Kumite.  The film closes with Dux returning to the United States and statistics of the real-life Frank Dux's alleged achievements (such as the fastest KO in history) are shown.

9. Best of the Best 2 (1993) starring Philip Rhee, Eric Robers and Chris Penn.  After returning home from South Korea to great acclaim, three members of the US National Karate Team set up their own martial arts studio in Las Vegas.  When one member of the team turns up dead after taking part in a brutal competition, it is up to the two remaining team members to investigate the murder and exact revenge upon those responsible.  They are assisted by an old rival from Team Korea.

10. Warrior King (2005) starring Tony Jaa, Petchai Wongkamlao and Bankoj Khongmalai.  A young fighter named Kham must travel to Australia to retrieve his stolen elephant.  With the help of a Thai-born Australian detective, Kham must take on all comers, including a gang led by an evil woman and her two deadly bodyguards.