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Top 10 Action Packed Donnie Yen Movies

Donnie Yen has so many movies that are just so freakin’ awesome!

When I first started this website, Donnie Yen’s movies were like gold to me, I couldn’t

stop watching them as they were so entertaining with some of the best fight

choroegraphy I’d ever seen in martial arts movies – and that hasn’t changed!

To put it plainly – Donnie Yen is the man.

Have you seen a lot of his movies? If not then you need to start!  Here are the movies you should start with.

To find out which were the true fan favorites, I turned to our Facebook & Twitter

followers, as well as Reddit and asked everyone what movies they liked the best.  I then

tallied up the numbers and came up with this top ten, and also which one movie is the best overall.

I haven’t ranked these in any particular order (until best overall), they are simply his top

most entertaining films with the highest level of intensity and adrenaline mixed into the

action.  These movies will give you that action film rush!

Ip Man 1 & 2

You knew these were coming, and Donnie’s bringing out part 3 in the next few years!

Ip Man is about the late grandmaster of Wing Chun, Ip Man…. or Yip Man – whatever

way you want to say his name.

In the First film, Donnie Yen illustrates the fake life of Ip Man in the city of Foshan as he

stands up to oppression and brings pride to his country.  He fights 10 men, a group of

thugs and a the evil Japanese general himself – being basically an unbeatable kung fu

superman.

It’s close to the truth (?)…  he did live in Foshan, knew Wing Chun and eventually left for Hong Kong.

I’m being sarcastic of course! This movie is almost 100% fantasy apart from

his martial arts style and general location. But it still rocks.

The second film is much the same, “based on a true story”.  Yep, Master Ip lived in

Hong Kong.  Add a little Kung Fu master fight off with Sammo Hungand a crazed

Western Boxing champion (played by the awesome Darren Shahlavi) – you’ve got

yourself a cool ass movie!

Obviously a true story would be incredibly boring, so these action packed and awesome

Kung Fu films are basically fiction – but among the very best in martial arts cinema!

Donnie Yen plays a calm and humble character in this film and portrays Wing Chun in a

way that is both technically excellent and visually exciting.

Hell, these movies have spawned a series of Ip Man movies by other companies that

just, *sign*, don’t measure up.

You really can’t go past these movies.  They have top action and excellent (fictional)

story telling.  You cannot miss these films.

Check out my review of Ip Man 1 or buy it online.  Also, find my review of Ip Man 2 here

or find it online.

In the Line of Duty 4

This is some old-skool Donnie Yen action.

Remember when they sped up action in the 80’s to make it more intense?  Imagine that

with Donnie Yen behind the action! His level of high energy thrown into this 80’s action

film is totally fantastic.

There’s nothing special here storywise, it’s your classic ‘Police go after bad guys’ scenario. Of course, all of the bad guys are big, lethal and know Kung Fu!  Luckily the cops know

Kung fu too

Donnie Yen is one of the leads playing a character named ‘Donny Yan’ – sounds very

similar doesn’t it?

It’s dramatic, full of action and shows a much younger Donnie Yen going all out in his

fight scenes.  If you get the chance – watch it!

Read my review | Find it online!

Flash Point

Flash Point is a much newer ‘cops go after bad guys’ story.  This time Donnie’s Police

buddy goes under cover with a dangerous Vietnamese gang who discover that he’s

really a cop.  They then go after him and his pregnant girlfriend.

Naturally Donnie’s character, who has anger issues and some MMA training, steps in to sort these bastards out!

Donnie Yen then brings to the film some excellent MMA style fights, using a very

stylized stand up game backup by takedowns and some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (which he

holds a Purple Belt in – source).  It’s one of the very best portrayals of ‘entertainment

MMA’  in an action movie.  It’s not realistic, but it’s pretty exciting to watch!

Expect to see top names like Collin Chou and Xing Yu face off against Donnie in this

one.

Read   my   review | Find it Online

Kill Zone (aka SPL)

This movie has my favorite fight scenes of Donnie Yen’s career.

This is another cop vs bad guys action film with a touch of drama and a twist ending to

boot!What really makes this movie is not just the general feel and tone of the whole film,

but the build up to the two finale fight scenes.

Who does Donnie’s character face off against?  Martial Arts movie star Wu Jing and

legend Sammo Hung in some more MMA styled action.Sammo plays a very convincing

and intimidating crime lord whilst Wu Jing plays the scary and ridiculously skilled hit

man that Donnie’s character has to face.

The real gem is the baton to knife fight between Donnie and Wu Jing. This fight is one

of the all time greatest in the industry.

Watch!!

Read   my   review | Find it Online

Tiger Cage 2

This is another slice of old skool Yen!

Sped up action, cheesy acting  and a nice chunky finale to finish it off.  This movie feels

very similar to Line of Duty 4, but is just a touch better in my opinion. It has the same

intensity but is just a bit more entertaining from the very start.

I can’t help but think of Donnie Yen swinging around a large sword when I hear about

this movie, as he fights with in the finale – it’s almost iconic of this film.

The fights are emotionally driven and have a real sense of urgency.  Well worth the

watch!

read my review | Find it Online

Dragon (aka WuXia)

This film has a different strength on top of the sweet action – an interesting plot that has

you guessing throughout the start of the film.

Donnie plays a harmless villager who kills some dangerous thugs during a robbery.  But

questions are raised about his physical prowess and his true identity when a detective

comes to town trying to figure out what really happened.

The result of this is a movie that has you guessing and coming up with theories behind

what’s really going on until it all unfolds.

This film isn’t quite as action packed as the others on this list, but it does have a top

notch fight between Donnie yen and female Kung Fu movie icon Kara Hui, aswell as a

fight between him and the one armed swordsman himself – Jimmy Wang Yu.

There’s also a bit of tribute paid to the one armed swordsman in this film, it’s pretty hard to

miss

Read   my   review | Find it Online

Iron Monkey

Right after fighting Wong Fei Hung in Conce Upon a Time in China 2, Donnie Yen

thought he’d play his father in Iron Monkey.

Iron Monkey is another earlier role for Yen and is packed with some more oldskool

action whilst telling a top story. This is the best of wire work in movies without being

tastelessly overdone – also being combined with Donnie’s style is a total win.

This film has long been a fan favorite and well worth the watch has Donnie’s character

chases down the famous ‘Robin Hood’ style criminal ‘Iron Monkey’. Some great action

and just a fun watch.

Read   my   review | Find it Online

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen

This movie is really cool!

It has a visual style to it and an intense level of action as Donnie Yen pays tribute to his hero –

Bruce Lee.

Chen Zhen from Fist of Fury is back, he’s not dead, and he’s fighting the oppressive

Japanese once again.  He becomes ‘the masked warrior’, dressing up an awful lot like

Kato from the Green Hornet and using a tremendously intense fighting style and and

acrobatic movement.

The action of this film is pure performance, it hits hard, has a lot of energy and you get a

bit of a ‘kung fu superhero’ feel to the character of Chen Zhen.

This is a unique picking form the Donnie Yen shelf, definitely a fun watch with frequent

fights and an interesting plot.

Read   my   review | Find it Online

Dragon Tiger Gate

This movie has got some top notch action! Especially from a bunch of guys with long,

effeminate hair cuts!

This movie is based off  the Manhua ‘Oriental Heroes’, and follows two sons, split at

infancy, who eventually come together to fight a common enemy who tries to destroy

Dragon Tiger Gate – a martial arts center known for creating some of the world’s most

powerful fighters.

This film is carries a distinct visual style and carries that level of action Donnie Yen is

known for.  The movie starts strong and sucks you in with Shawn Yue and Nicholas Tse

backing up Yen offering their own high quality level of martial arts fighting.

Read   my   review | Find it Online

Best Overall?

The most popular movie among the fans on our Social Networks is Ip Man, which is no

surprise!

Ip Man made Donnie Yen even more of an international star because of the terrific story

it told combined with the action and technical martial arts.  While each of the movies

above elevated his status, none had the same effect as Ip Man.

I’m not surprised people voted for this movie more than any other!

The top 5? While Ip Man was first, the second most popular was Killzone (aka SPL),

followed by Flash Point, Ip Man 2 and Iron Monkey.

Honorable Mention – Drunk Tai Chi

Drunken Tai Chi just missed this list but not by much.

The reason it’s an honorable mention is because it was Donnie Yen’s very first film. It

has got some decent action and some old skool comedy elements.

This may be Donnie’s first movie but he still brings his own character to the

performance and manages to still be just that bit more physical in his role the most other

stars of the time.

I find this movie has a strength in it’s comedy though, as Donnie does more visual /

plain silly jokes in the film that he just doesn’t deliver anymore – as he tends a bit more

serious in his roles these days. (One contradiction being him taking a 3 meter long piss

in Iceman – Austin Powers style).

It’s a classic and a good entry into the industry for a guy who is arguably today’s top

martial arts action star.

Find   this movie   online

 What do you think?

I asked many people what they thought of Yen’s movies, but did you get the chance to

have your say?

If you feel a movie is missing or have anything to add, please leave a comment below.

Otherwise, any movies on this lsit yo haven’t seen – get out there and watch them! They

freakin’ rock!

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Top 50 Most Iconic Martial Arts Movie Characters

Dragon Tiger Gate with Donnie Yen

Invisible Target with Jacky Wu Jing

Bodyguards & Assassins with Donnie Yen, Cung Le & Xing Yu

Tagged as: Bruce Lee, Collin Chou, Darren Shahlavi, Donnie Yen, Jacky Wu Jing,

Jimmy Wang Yu, Kara Hui, Nicholas Tse, Sammo Hung, Shawn Yue, Xing Yu

Next post: Tiger Cage II with Donnie Yen

Previous post: The Expendables 3

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