No matter where you are in the world, whether it be a major city or a small village in a third world country, there\’s a good chance that people will know the name, Bruce Lee. This star of martial arts movies is a legend like no other, and his name and films are so popular, that his name is almost as recognized as much as people like Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela or Michael Jackson.

Bruce Lee is largely responsible for the worldwide popularity of the martial arts movies that we have today. Before him, these films were extremely popular in Asia, where they had been made for many years, but it took a cross-over star like Lee to really capture the imagination. And once it did, nothing could stop it becoming the most popular of all types of action films.

Enter The Dragon, one of the Bruce Lee classics, could arguably be called the first major martial arts international blockbuster and it was the first Chinese martial arts movie produced by a big Hollywood company. The movie, made in 1973, also featured a future superstar of the genre in a bit part, the one and only Jackie Chan. Sadly though it was also Bruce Lee\’s final film appearance as he died before it was even released.

But his legacy lived on, and the five films Bruce Lee appeared in, including Game of Death which was released posthumously, remain some of the most popular martial arts movies watched today. They also influenced many others and were very influential in making the genre cross over into the mainstream film world.

27 years later the genre reached new heights when Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was nominated for an Academy Award Best Picture. With dialogue in Mandarin and English subtitles, the movie showed just how much this genre had evolved, and also how much the world had accepted it. For years most of the Asian movies had been dubbed for English-speaking audiences, but soon people began to respect the quality of the stories more and the original soundtracks were kept.

Though many film buffs had been enjoying some of the brilliant films from all over Asia for many years, for most movies like The Seven Samurai, made in 1954 by Japanese legend Akira Kurosawa, remained unknown. It was of course the movie that influenced the hit Western, The Magnificent Seven, and many others. Kurosawa\’s movies have been remade in Hollywood many times, and have influenced directors like Quentin Tarantino amongst others.

Nowadays almost every action movie made has martial arts in it. Asian stars lie Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh and Tony Jaa are global superstars, and many have also starred in top Hollywood productions. They of course have a great deal to thank Bruce Lee for, but so do Hollywood martial artists like Chuck Norris, Jim Kelly, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal.

Once a fringe or cult genre, martial arts movies can now proudly count themselves as one of the most popular types of films worldwide. Not only that but they have influenced many other genres too.

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