The 40 most popular 1970s hong kong movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Enter the Dragon
1973 · 1h 42m
country: Hong Kong
A martial artist agrees to spy on a reclusive crime lord using his invitation to a tournament there as cover.


Drunken Master
1978 · 1h 51m
country: Hong Kong
After getting into trouble, a mischievous young man is sent to train under a brutal, but slovenly old beggar, who teaches him the secret of the Drunken Fist.


Fist of Fury
1972 · 1h 48m
country: Hong Kong
During the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, Chen Zhen, the star pupil of a recently-deceased martial arts teacher battles a Japanese dojo which seeks the demise of his fighting school.


The Way of the Dragon
1972 · 1h 40m
country: Hong Kong
After a Chinese restaurant in Rome is threatened by the mafia, who will stop at nothing to acquire the property, the owner recruits a family friend in Hong Kong, kung fu expert Tang Lung, to help them defend their business.


The Big Boss
1971 · 1h 39m
country: Hong Kong
Cheng is a young Chinese mainlander who moves in with his expatriate cousins to work at an ice factory in Thailand. He does this with a family promise never to get involved in any fights. However, when members of his family begin disappearing after meeting the management of the factory, the resulting mystery and pressures force him to break that vow and take on the villainy of the Big Boss.


Game of Death
1978 · 1h 41m
country: United States
A martial arts movie star must fake his death to find the people who are trying to kill him.


The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
1978 · 1h 56m
country: Hong Kong
During the Qing Dynasty, a fishmonger is killed by the reigning Manchu government for supporting the anti-government movement; his son manages to escape to Shaolin Temple, where he plans to learn its secretive brand of martial arts to seek revenge.


Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
1978 · 1h 38m
country: Hong Kong
Everyone abuses and humiliates a downtrodden orphan until he befriends an old man, who turns out to be the last master of the snake fist fighting style. Jackie becomes the old man's student and finds himself in battle with the master of the eagle's claw style, who has vowed to destroy the snake fist clan.


The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
1974 · 1h 29m
country: Hong Kong
Professor Van Helsing had been asked to help against the tyranny of skeletal creatures that are responsible for terror and death amongst the peasants in rural China. He is the only person qualified to deal with the cause of these phenomena, for the undead are controlled by the most diabolical force of all.... Count Dracula. But he is not alone- to aid him comes a mystical brotherhood of seven martial arts warriors.


New Fist of Fury
1976 · 1h 59m
country: Hong Kong
A brother and sister escape from Japanese-occupied Shanghai to Japanese-occupied Taiwan, to stay with their grandfather who runs a Kung-Fu school there. However, the master of a Japanese Kung- Fu school in Taiwan has plans to bringing all other schools on the island under his domination, and part of his plan involves the murder of the grandfather.


The Golden Lotus
1974 · 1h 51m
country: Hong Kong
Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin Lien, the beautiful wife of one of the townspeople.


The Man from Hong Kong
1975 · 1h 46m
country: Australia
Australian authorities arrest a man believed to be connected to the Sydney criminal underworld and send for Inspector Fang Sing Leng from Hong Kong to question him. After the alleged criminal is assassinated, Inspector Leng and the Sydney police try to hunt down those responsible and hope to solve their case along the way.


Cannonball
1976 · 1h 33m
country: United States
Coy "Cannonball" Buckman and his blazing red Pontiac enter the Trans-America Grand Prix, an underground road race spanning the continent in which there are no rules, no speed limits and no heed for the law. En route, Buckman jockeys with an international ensemble of racers for a $100,000 purse. But there are none more important than Cade Redman, his direct competition for a guaranteed spot on the elite Modern Motors racing team.


Shaolin Wooden Men
1976 · 1h 37m
country: Hong Kong
Little Mute is an orphan traumatized into silence by the death of his father at the hands of a vicious fighting master. Living at the Shaolin monastery, he befriends a dangerous prisoner who teaches him a secret form of deadly kung fu. Seeing his intense determination, other masters share the wisdom of the Gliding Snake and Drunken Master techniques. In one of the most exciting fight scenes ever filmed, Little Mute must run the gauntlet of the famous 108 wooden men in an extreme test of skill and endurance. But if he becomes a master, will he use his unmatched force for redemption or revenge?


Fearless Hyena
1979 · 1h 37m
country: Hong Kong
Lung is a talented fighter but prefers to spend his time loafing around and picking fights, despite orders from his grandfather not to fight. Unknown to him, a brutal general has been slaughtering all the people from his grandfather’s clan. When the general recognizes Lung’s style of kung fu during one of his street fights, he hunts down Lung’s grandfather and kills him.


The Heroine
1973 · 1h 24m
country: Hong Kong
Incriminating evidence against a gang is left in a cab when a gang member dies in it. The gang chases the innocent cab driver, who receives help from the dead gangster's sister - a tough police woman.


A Touch of Zen
1970 · 3h
country: Hong Kong
Yang Hui-zhen, a mysterious princess on the run from corrupt government officials, is joined in her endeavors by skilled Buddhist monks and an unambitious painter named Gu Sheng-zhai.


Spiritual Kung Fu
1978 · 1h 39m
country: Hong Kong
Jackie Chan plays the part of the class clown in a shaolin temple whose deadliest secret is stolen. All is lost until Jackie's character discovers dancing blue ghosts with bright red hair who haunt the library.


Dragon Fist
1979 · 1h 37m
country: Hong Kong
After the death of his master, martial arts student Tong Huo-wan travels with his adoptive family to seek redress from the man responsible but finds himself torn between righteousness and filial piety after becoming entangled in a feud between a local clan and gangsters.


Enter the Fat Dragon
1978 · 1h 43m
country: Hong Kong
Ah Lung is a pig farmer and a devoted Bruce Lee fan who is anxious to follow in Lee's footsteps, but only ridiculed for his attempts. He is sent to the city to earn a living working at his uncle's restaurant, but when he arrives, he finds a gang of thugs causing trouble in the restaurant. He takes the chance to prove himself and attacks the thugs, defeating them and saving the restaurant. Soon, he becomes a waiter, and discovers a plot by the same thugs to kidnap a woman he works with. Eventually, he defeats the thugs once again and saves the day.


Five Shaolin Masters
1974 · 1h 50m
country: Hong Kong
Hu Te et al. escape the burning Shaolin temple after the Qing soldiers destroyed it in Shaolin Temple. The group of 5 decide to develop secret codes to identify fellow patriots, enlist those patriots and eventually meet up again to escape to the south away from the Qings, and also identify the traitor who sold out Shaolin temple. Ma Fu Yi, joins the Qing top fighters to eliminate the rebels but is exposed by Ma Chao-Tsing who gets captured by Ma Fu Yi. Hu meets up with a group of Shaolin men secretly posing as bandits to rescue Ma as their leader is killed in the process, thus the bandits join the rest of the Shaolin patriots.


Five Fingers of Death
1972 · 1h 46m
country: Hong Kong
A young boxer joins a martial arts school to increase his skill so he can enter a martial arts competition. He leaves the school when he hears that a local gangster is terrorizing the town. He comes to the aid of a young singer and brings on the wrath of the local gang. He eventually enters the martial arts competition after learning iron palm technique and takes out all competition.


Dreams Of Eroticism
1977 · 1h 29m
country: Hong Kong
A timeless and titillating tale of the immoral private lives of the royal court's high officials. All the bed and body hopping is not exclusive to the family, either. Their maids and servants get involved as well, leading to flesh, fibs, and suicide, among other things. Taken all together, this is an all-time classic of sumptuous sexuality.


Hand of Death
1976 · 1h 37m
country: Hong Kong
A young monk must face the Extended Iron Claw technique of a powerful warlord seeking to destroy Shaolin.


Bruce Lee: The Man and the Legend
1973 · 1h 26m
country: Hong Kong
This documentary tells the story of Bruce Lee and his unsuccessful efforts to start a acting career in the U.S., he returned to Hong Kong where he became an international star, and his death at age 32.


The Mighty Peking Man
1977 · 1h 30m
country: Hong Kong
Word of a monster ape ten stories tall living in the Himalayas reaches fortune hunters in Hong Kong. They travel to India to capture it, but wild animals and quicksand dissuade all but Johnny, an adventurer with a broken heart. He finds the monster and discovers it's been raising a scantily-clad woman, Samantha, since she survived a plane crash years before that killed her parents. In the idyllic jungle, Johnny and Samantha fall in love. Then Johnny asks her to convince "Utam" to go to Hong Kong. Lu Tien, an unscrupulous promoter, takes over: Utam is in chains for freak show exhibitions. When Lu Tien assaults Samantha, Utam's protective instincts take over: havoc in Hong Kong.


Black Magic
1975 · 1h 35m
country: Hong Kong
A magician makes money by charging people to cast love spells on the objects of their affection. Complications arise when he decides that he wants a customer's bride for himself.


Dance of the Drunk Mantis
1979 · 1h 34m
country: Hong Kong
A year after training young Jackie Chan in the Drunken Fist, Sam the Seed discovers he has a son, Foggy. He tries to train Foggy but to no avail. Foggy is then trained in Drunken Fist from his uncle as he must face his father's rival, Rubber Legs, another Drunken Fist master who combines it with Mantis Fist to create a deadly style.


The Five Venoms
1978 · 1h 41m
country: Hong Kong
A dying master sends his last student to check up on five former pupils, who each know a special style of kung-fu.


The Iron-Fisted Monk
1977 · 1h 33m
country: Hong Kong
Husker is a student of the Shaolin monks, learning kung fu so that he can avenge his uncle who was murdered by the Manchus who control the province. He leaves his training early, desperate to teach the killers a lesson, and teams up with a martial artist monk who is teaching a group of factory workers how to defend themselves. When the Manchus strike again, Husker and his Buddhist pal decide it's time to even the score.


Invincible Shaolin
1978 · 1h 46m
country: Hong Kong
Three North Shaolin teachers are called on by the Manchus to teach their soldiers and are urged to challenge the current South Shaolin teachers. They defeat the South Shaolin teachers and, that night, the head general kills the South Shaolin teachers and blames their death on the North Shaolin teachers. The South Shaolin master sends more of his pupils, who are killed accidentally by the North Shaolin teachers. He finally sends two more of his students to train with old masters and trains one student himself with the goal of finally defeating the North Shaolin experts.


Executioners from Shaolin
1977 · 1h 40m
country: Hong Kong
After the destruction of the Temple, a Shaolin disciple devotes years to mastering the Tiger style in order to defeat the martial arts master who killed his teacher. His wife, a Crane style specialist, has a feeling one style won't be enough.


Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin
1978 · 1h 36m
country: Hong Kong
Jackie Chan stars as the young warrior Hsu Yiu Fong. Hsu has been entrusted with the book of the "Art of the Snake and Crane," after the mysterious disappearance of the eight Shaolin Masters who had written it. He must fight off numerous clans who are all attempting to steal the book from him, to find out the true reason for the disappearance of the Shaolin Masters.


Killer Clans
1976 · 1h 41m
country: Hong Kong
The Longmen and Roc clans kill each other to gain power in their territory. However, things take a turn when a warrior falls for the daughter of the rival clan's leader.


Blood Brothers
1973 · 2h 3m
country: Hong Kong
Set in the waning years of the Ching Dyansty, this dramatic, tragic, romantic, blood-soaked martial arts tale of betrayal and revenge explores one of the most sensational scandals in Chinese history and marked the true ascension of its director and actors to superstar status. In fact, Ti Lung won Taiwan's Golden Horse Award for Outstanding Performance as the challenging role of a jealous provincial governor who kills his friend in order to steal the man's wife.


The Boxer from Shantung
1972 · 2h 14m
country: Hong Kong
Leaving the poverty of his life in Shantung to seek fortune in Shanghai, The Boxer is instead drawn into a world of corruption, gang warfare and evil... Where his only protection is his famed fighting technique.


Half a Loaf of Kung Fu
1978 · 1h 37m
country: Hong Kong
A young daydreamer assumes the identity of a dead martial arts hero and quickly finds himself caught up in a plot by several clans to steal famous martial arts artifacts being transported by an escort company.


The Ghost Story
1979 · 1h 42m
country: Hong Kong
An old man of the village tells kinky ghost stories to a few of it's inhabitants after all the kids have gone to bed. What follows are stories that have horror elements and some soft-core nudity thrown in.


Kid with the Golden Arm
1979 · 1h 26m
country: Hong Kong
Jin bei tong opens with a group of escort guards preparing to move a shipment of gold from the local government to an area stricken by famine... one of the very few Venom films where all six Venom actors are present within a single film.


From Hong Kong with Love
1975 · 1h 37m
country: France
Bons baisers de Hong Kong (From Hong Kong with Love) is a 1975 French film directed by Yvan Chiffre. It is a parody of James Bond movies featuring Les Charlots with scenes shot in Hong Kong. Mickey Rooney featured in the film as well as Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell, stars of the James Bond films who appeared as M and Moneypenny respectively.
The 1970s are widely considered American cinema's strongest decade, when the studio system's collapse handed a generation of young directors unusual freedom. It ended with Jaws and Star Wars inventing the modern blockbuster.
Hong Kong cinema's 1980s and 90s peak produced the most influential action filmmaking of the era — John Woo's gunplay ballets, Jackie Chan's stunt comedy, and the wire-work that Hollywood promptly absorbed. Wong Kar-wai's films run on a completely different and equally exported register.