The late Bruce Lee's legacy was cemented with "Enter the Dragon." It was financed by an American company and released shortly after Lee's death. He plays a martial arts master who enters a kung fu tournament in order to get close to a powerful gangster.
Oscar-winning director Ang Lee crafted this masterpiece as a homage to the (considerably shoddier) kung fu movies of his youth. It won 4 Oscars, including Best Foreign Language Film--the first kung fu movie ever to do so.
Two years after "Crouching Tiger," Chinese director Zhang Yimou used similar artistry to tell the story of an unnamed warrior who helped secure the unification of China. Though criticized for it's purported pro-Communist sympathies, it became an international hit and was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.
Martial arts star Jackie Chan developed a humorous onscreen persona which mixed martial arts prowess with physical comedy in the spirit of Buster Keaton. "Drunken Master" is widely regarded as his best work, depicting a wild youth who trains in a martial art whose moves are based on alcohol consumption.
The secretive martial arts philosophy of the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, China has long been the fodder for kung fu films. Chief among them is this 1978 effort, loosely based on the foundation of Shaolin's techniques.
Comedian Stephen Chow wrote, directed and starred in an uproarious send-up of the genre , chronicling members of a housing project who use mystical powers to defend their homes from a murderous gang.