Summary
- Martial arts films with ensemble casts feature an array of heroes and villains, resulting in epic fight scenes and diverse characters.
- Films like Shaolin Temple and Five Shaolin Masters showcase the talent of established martial arts actors in the genre.
- John Wick: Chapter 4 boasts an incredible ensemble cast, with Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Marko Zaror ing the franchise, promising a thrilling combination of gun-fu and martial arts.
The martial arts genre is chock full of exciting ensemble movies with large casts of both heroes and villains. In most martial arts films, it's easy to assume there will be one primary protagonist, one major villain, and a handful of ing characters for each side. However, since martial arts films need as many great fighters on their roster as possible, they are uniquely positioned to expand into big ensembles.
Oftentimes, these can even turn out to be the best kinds of martial arts films, presenting a strong and diverse collection of warriors on both the heroic and villainous sides. With more standout characters at their disposal, ensemble martial arts movies also have some of the wildest fight scenes around, often involving two or more heroes teaming up or numerous fighters in a free-for-all in their finales. Not only that, but a number of the films that fit into this category boast casts packed with established martial arts actors.
10 Shaolin Temple (1976)
While the Jet Li 1982 kung fu epic The Shaolin Temple tends to take most of the credit as far as historical significance, Chang Cheh's 1976 martial arts film Shaolin Temple is a classic in its own right. The Shaw Brothers film also boasts its own great ensemble of martial artists, including David Chiang, Chi Kuan Chun, Alexander Fu Sheng, and Ti Lung, who all headlined several of their own films. Shaolin Temple's fantastic kung fu action makes it a timeless Shaw Brothers epic, which also served as a launching pad for several of the actors that would later become known as the Venom Mob.
9 Five Shaolin Masters (1974)
Chang Cheh's 1974 Shaw Brothers classic Five Shaolin Masters is built on the most epic martial arts ensemble of its day, with Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, David Chiang, Chi Kuan Chun, and Meng Fei up against an equally strong quintet of villains. Five Shaolin Masters helped build the Shaw Brothers studio into Hong Kong's legendary epicenter of kung fu storytelling. Thanks to its ensemble cast and a story that sees each of its five heroes square off against their own villain, Five Shaolin Masters hasn't lost any of its kung fu magic nearly five decades later.
8 Accident Man (2018)
Scott Adkins finally realized his long dreamed of ion project in 2018's action black comedy Accident Man, based on the British comic title of the same name about Mike Fallon, an assassin who makes his hits looks like bad twists of fate. Accident Man's ensemble includes Adkins with Michael Jai White, Ray Park, and Amy Johnston as a collection of assassins with a gimmick. 2022's Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday also unites it own ensemble of Sarah Chang, Beau Fowler, and Andy Long Nguyen in an even wackier blend of comedy and action, while the late Ray Stevenson also adds levity as Mike's rough-around-the-edges friend Big Ray.
7 Five Deadly Venoms (1978)
One of the quintessential Shaw Brothers kung fu classics, Chang Cheh's Five Deadly Venoms has stood the test of time thanks to its titular quintet of kung fu masters. Namely, Scorpion (Sun Chien), Lizard (Phillip Kwok), Toad (Lo Mang), Snake (Wai Pak), and Centipede (Lu Feng), who collectively form an outstanding set of martial arts warriors leading the movie. With each Venom clad in a distinctive mask and granted his own training montage and backstory, Five Deadly Venoms is a peak martial arts ensemble.
6 Dragons Forever (1988)
Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and Sammo Hung formed Hong Kong's most beloved action movie trio throughout the '80s, and 1988's Dragons Forever is their finest ensemble kung fu comedy. The three are far from alone in Dragons Forever, with the movie's ensemble of martial artists also including Dick Wei, Yuen Wah, Stanley Fung, Fung Hark-On, and Lo Lieh. Additionally, real life kickboxing legends Billy Chow and Benny "The Jet" Urquidez are also on hand in Dragons Forever, Chow best known for battling Jet Li in Fist of Legend and Urquidez for his earlier epic showdown with Chan in Wheels on Meals.
5 Mortal Kombat (1995)
A huge element in the Mortal Kombat franchise's longevity is its ensemble of engaging, larger-than-life characters fighting for both Earthrealm and Outworld. 1995's Mortal Kombat fully takes advantage of its fantastic character roster, with Liu Kang (Robin Shou), Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby), and Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson Sampras) led by Raiden (Christopher Lambert) and representing Earthrealm against Shang Tsung (Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa) and Outworld's warriors. The web-series Mortal Kombat: Legacy and 2021's Mortal Kombat reboot also boast strong ensembles, which the Mortal Kombat 2 will hopefully follow with an equally strong band of warriors.
4 Triple Threat (2019)
Directed by former stuntman Jesse V. Johnson, 2019's Triple Threat unites Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Tiger Chen, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Jeeja Yanin, and Michael Bisping into an Expendables-style action blast. Jaa and Chen play mercenaries Payu and Long Fei, who forces with Jaka (Uwais) to stop the team led by the vicious Collins (Adkins) from assassinating Chinese philanthropist Xiao Xian (Celina Jade). Triple Threat hits the ground running with non-stop action culminating in an epic martial arts showdown among the six leads, and the combined talents of Jaa, Uwais, and Chen as a trio simply demands a Triple Threat 2.
3 SPL 2: A Time for Consequences (2015)
The spiritual follow-up to Donnie Yen's 2005 Hong Kong MMA action hit Sha Po Lang (a.k.a. Kill Zone), 2015's SPL 2: A Time for Consequences (a.k.a. Kill Zone 2) finally brought Tony Jaa into a Hong Kong action movie, teaming him up with local star Wu Jing. SPL 2 follows Jaa's Chatchai and Wu's Chi Kit as two men on parallel stories forced to work together to bring down corrupt prison warden Ko Chun (Max Zhang). SPL 2 is an electrifying marriage of Hong Kong and Thai martial arts movie making, and even better, Zhang's Ko Chun is the rare martial arts movie villain more skilled than the heroes.
2 John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
The John Wick franchise has grown into one of the greatest action movie sagas of all-time, even outdoing The Expendables as an action movie ensemble. While each John Wick movie has an impressive cast of martial artists, John Wick: Chapter 4 is the grandest of all, with Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Marko Zaror appearing as the Baba Yaga's respecitve allies and enemies. John Wick: Chapter 4's ensemble also includes Rina Sawayama's Akira and Shamier Anderson's Mr. Nobody, and the franchise's combination of gun-fu and martial arts is beyond glorious in John Wick's energetically bombastic fourth movie (which may or may not be his last.)
1 Enter The Dragon (1973)
1973's Enter the Dragon will forever be intrinsically linked to the legacy of Bruce Lee, due to his untimely ing just weeks before the film's release and the posthumous legendary status he achieved from it. However, part of Enter the Dragon's undying popularity is the ensemble cast that Lee leads, beginning with John Saxon and Jim Kelly as Roper and Williams. Shih Kien is also a Bond-worthy villain as the claw-bearing Han, while Angela Mao and Bob Wall each became martial arts movie legends themselves through their portrayals of Lee's sister Su Lin and Han's bodyguard O'Hara.
Bolo Yeung also made his first big impression as Han's fearsome enforcer Bolo, while quite a few of Enter the Dragon's stunt players would go on to become martial arts movie stars themselves. These include not only Lee's stuntman Yuen Biao, but his opponent in Enter the Dragon's opening fight scene, Sammo Hung, and Jackie Chan as a henchman on the receiving end of a neck snap. As an added bonus to Enter the Dragon standing as the definitive martial arts film, it is also the most historic martial arts ensemble movie ever put together.
