The 10 Greatest Female-Headed Martial Arts Films That Have Ever Been Made
In this post, we will discuss about 10 Best Female-Led Martial Arts Movies. Although men have traditionally played the leading roles in films about martial arts, more and more women have taken the spotlight in recent years. There is one thing that stands out in the huge list of martial arts films that have been shown on both large and small screens, and it’s the thing that most audiences tend to notice. The leading roles are almost always played by men in works of this type.
However, as time has progressed, female characters have increasingly assumed more prominent roles in films of this genre. It took decades for him to transition from supporting roles in martial arts films to leading roles in those films. However, women have portrayed some of the most iconic characters in some of the most iconic butt-kicking films of all time.
From the fast-paced action films of Hong Kong to the exquisitely photographed historical pieces set in ancient China, and all the way up to the genre-bending films of Quentin Tarantino. It looks like women are going to start dominating the world of martial arts flicks, and we couldn’t be more excited about it. These are the very greatest female-led martial arts films that have ever been made.
1. Lady Snowblood (1973)
Lady Snowblood wasn’t the first or last female-led martial arts picture, but it made a huge splash for its time and continues to impress viewers today. The story that motivated Quentin Tarantino to direct the Kill Bill films. This portrayal of a lady who has been dealt a bad hand in life and who intends to exact revenge for the wrongs done to her and her mother is both bleak and stunningly beautiful. Lady Snowblood, based on the manga of the same name and directed by Toshiya Fujita, features imagery that has permeated popular culture without the knowledge of many. Despite Tarantino’s admiration, it was rapper Post Malone who incorporated clips from the film into his music video for “Rockstar.”
It has stood the test of time and is considered a classic. An enthralling picture that takes the samurai subgenre and mixes in elements of noir and even horror. It’s the best female-led martial arts film ever made, and it will hypnotize you.
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee, has a who’s who of martial artists of the time. The film stars Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh as a couple who must track down his stolen sword. Never damaged the film’s chances that it was one of the first American-produced and -distributed films shown in its original Mandarin language. It’s stunning visuals and compelling narrative combined with action sequences unlike anything seen on television before earn widespread acclaim. If this happens, similar films will soon be released in theatres across the United States.
3. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), Best Female-Led Martial Arts Movie
You’re probably hoping it would be higher on the list, given that it just won Best Picture at the Oscars and received many other honors that night. This is fair, but we should wait for Everything Everywhere All at Once to gain traction in the long run before placing it at the top. Having said that, the picture is truly wonderful in the way it fuses so many genres, including martial arts, science fiction, comedy, and drama.
With a multiverse of lunacy now open in the globe, the A24 picture stars Michelle Yeoh as an unlikely hero who must fight off harm in whichever shape it comes in. The fascinating theme examines the effects of trauma on successive generations and encourages optimism in the face of adversity. It’s a beautiful picture that really gets to you and deserves all the awards it won this year.
4. Come Drink With Me (1966)
The story of this Shaw Brothers movie takes place in ancient China during the Ming dynasty, and it is widely considered to be one of the studio’s best and most acclaimed films. Come Drink With Me tells the story of Chang Hsuan-yen, played by Cheng Pei-pei, the daughter of a general who goes on a mission to save her brother after he has been kidnapped. In terms of the presentation of Wuxia cinema, the film Come Drink With Me feels like it ushers in the new while simultaneously discarding the old ways of doing things. The movie has a dazzling vitality throughout its entirety, which stimulates viewers, and there is an unforgettable protagonist for them to root for.
5. Magnificent Warriors (1987)
What do you get when you combine an Indiana Jones adventure with a kung fu movie? You will receive the version of Magnificent Warriors that was released in 1987. You guessed it: Michelle Yeoh plays the role of an adventurer who joins forces with a con man in order to raise a commotion with the Japanese troops in 1930s China in the movie Dynamite Fighters, which also goes by the name Dynamite Fighters. Because there aren’t that many well-known films that are set in this age of China, this one is even more of a hidden treasure. There is no question that this is appealing to audiences in the United States. In one scene, Michelle Yeoh is shown throttling men with a rope, and in the next, she is seen fighting like Rambo with heavy artillery.
6. Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003)
Although Kill Bill Vol. 2 is not included on this list, let’s pretend that it is because its spirit is. But if we’re being completely honest, Kill Bill Vol. 1 features a more impressive display of martial arts than Vol. 2. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about the intricate set pieces, the color palette, the cameo by Sonny Chiba, Uma Thurman beating the snot out of Vivica A. Fox in the opening sequence, or the fight at the end with the character played by Lucy Liu, Vol. 1 is brilliant in every way.
Movies directed by Tarantino always give the impression that they were a lot of fun to make, and when you see one of his films, you get the feeling that you’ve been transported back in time to a double feature theatre presentation with kung fu pictures from the 1970s. Kill Bill Vol. 1 is a movie that was made out of respect for the previous movies that created many generations of fans of this genre. This regard is shown throughout the film, from the set design to the scores composed by Rza and Ennio Morricone, all the way to the homages that are paid to legendary films.
7. Sister Street Fighter (1974)
Etsuko Shihomi, who plays Koryu in Sister Street Fighter, takes up the role of Ryu in the Street Fighter movie that starred Sonny Chiba and hands the reins over to her. A woman goes back to her dojo in order to consult with her sensei as she gets ready to go save her brother from the clutches of a criminal organization that has kidnapped him. Sister Street Fighter is a film that was released during the height of the martial arts fever that occurred in the 1970s, but it is distinct from the films that were produced at the time by the Shaw Brothers. The film would go on to spawn a few sequels, and it is packed with a tonne of violence that would make any fan of this genre cheer.
8. So Close (2002)
So Close is a Hong Kong action crime thriller that incorporates elements of martial arts, and the story centers on a pair of sisters: one of the sisters is an assassin, while the other is a tech-savvy wiz who facilitates everything else. After successfully carrying out a hit on the chief executive officer of a major corporation, the two find themselves in deeper trouble as the criminal underworld attempts to track them down.
Due to the desire for films of this kind from American viewers at the time, a number of films from China, including So Close, were exported to the United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s. So Close is just one of these films. Cory Yuen, who would go on to give us The Transporter, the picture that really drove things into high gear with Jason Statham becoming a star, is the director of this movie. Best Female-Led Martial Arts Movies.
9. Supercop 2 (1993)
I just wanted to give you a heads-up that Michelle Yeoh is going to be included on this list quite a few more times in the near future. At the beginning of the 1990s, she was quickly catching up to Jackie Chan’s level of success. Yeoh was chosen to play the lead role in the sequel to Chan’s film Supercop, despite the fact that the two actors would occasionally appear in each other’s films and came close to working together again recently.
A movie about a Hong Kong police detective who gets involved in a conflict with a criminal organization that is being run by an ex-lover of his. Yeoh engages in combat with opponents who are significantly taller than she is. It was an indication of things to come with her on-screen presence, and it served as confirmation that she could hold her own as a starring woman in a martial arts movie. The film in question is an action movie.
10. House of Flying Daggers (2004)
One could be forgiven for thinking that, in the early 2000s, a contest was developing to determine who could produce the most aesthetically pleasing historical drama that took place in ancient China. The events of House of Flying Daggers take place during the Tang Dynasty, which was a turbulent time in Chinese history since the ruling dynasty was beginning to lose control as a result of rebellion. The House of Flying Daggers is a criminal organization that preys on the wealthy in order to help the less fortunate. Mei, played by Zhang Ziyi, is a dancer who is volunteering her time to assist the organization.
In a film, Ziyi has never given a performance of this calibre. She is styled in a way that is consistent with the look of the entire film, from the costumes to the set design. The notion that this is primarily a man’s world and that women need to learn to negotiate their way through it to advance in their careers is one of the overarching themes of the movie.