10 Best CG-Free Martial Arts Movies

8. A Touch Of Zen

If you were to ask a martial arts movie fan where it all began - which classic movie kick-started the genre - then the chances are they'd answer with A Touch of Zen, King Hu's Taiwanese epic which won the praise of critics and fans around the world on its release in 1971. Two years in the making, A Touch of Zen features superbly executed fight scenes which still hold their own to this day - graceful, soaring aerial battles more reminiscent of ballet, employing wire-work in a way which allows the characters to transcend their mortal origins. And indeed, the film is so much more than an action movie - it touches on something far more spiritually profound and is equally notable for its symbolic content and emphasis on Buddhism, while Hu's grandiose compositions draw inevitable - and favourable - comparisons with the Spaghetti Westerns of the same era. Few martial arts movies have deservedly won awards at prestigious events such as the Cannes Film Festival, and A Touch of Zen earned all the accolades it received. Its influence would be felt again decades later, as the wuxia genre made a return to the screens in the 2000s.