3. The Matrix (1999) Nearly Every Martial Arts Movie Ever Made
The Wachowski siblings struck box office gold with the first instalment of the Matrix trilogy back in 1999. The monster hit featured an exciting blend of Martial Arts, Lewis Carroll and Philip K. Dick, spawning a million copycat movies itself, all desperate to emulate the movies genre defining special effect, known as bullet time. But of course The Matrix itself owed more than a few debts elsewhere: including, arguably, a movie released a mere year before: Dark City. Much has been made of the similarities between the two films, and the fact that the writer/directors of each were friends until The Matrix became a global phenomenon, leaving Dark City to become a more obscure, yet hugely enjoyable, cult movie. The truth of who influenced who, in this case, is a continuing debate amongst fans. Accusations of plagiarism aside, there can be little doubt that the movies the Wachowskis most closely lifted from for their set-pieces are some of the classics of the Martial Arts genre. Thankfully there is a rather nifty montage of the similarities available to watch below, put together by Rob Wilson, entitled: Everything is a Remix: The Matrix, which clearly and convincingly shows how the choreography for various fight sequences in The Matrix were ripped-off almost verbatim from such movies as Fist of Legend (1994), Tai Chi Master (1993), Drunken Master (1978), The Killer (1989) and Iron Monkey (1993).Dodge this.