Intro
The first genre before kung fu was the wu xia pian (hero films), which originated in the 1920s. In these films, the heroes possessed supernatural martial arts skills. They could control weapons with their minds, fly and shoot "death rays" from their palms. It wasn't until the late 1960s, with the films known as gung-fu pian (kung fu films), that the fighting skills of the main character became more realistic and the fights themselves more believable. In the 1970s, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan pushed kung fu films to its limits. To examine how kung fu has gone from a Hong Kong culture to become a global popular culture through these two international acclaimed kung fu actors that have made an impact on the world with their style and brand of kung fu on action cinema. I will also be looking at how kung fu had influenced the Hollywood film industry.
Bruce Lee
Before Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal, there was Bruce Lee. He was one of the most influential martial artist and actor of the twentieth century. …
