I've posted about this before, but it bears repeating: if you love martial arts you might love martial arts based entertainment. For many, watching martial arts movies and tv shows, realist or not, can be highly motivational and fun.
I know many experienced martial artists have little to no patience for highly unrealistic martial arts based entertainment - I'm not one of them. I can appreciate a crazy ridiculous movie or cartoon as much as a hyper realistic fight scene (maybe more).
Most of what I watch on TV is not martial arts or action - most of what I personally watch is Bollywood movies (no, I'm not Indian, and no, my South Asian wife is not into Bollywood, I came by this addiction all on my own). I'm not going to go on and on about why I love Bollywood here, but to be honest Bollywood movies rarely have well executed fight scenes, so from a martial arts perspective I wouldn't recommend them, even the action oriented films. (If you are interested in Bollywood, by all means go on Netflix and search for Shah Rukh Khan, the greatest actor who has ever lived, and watch anything of his - start with Happy New Year. If you have Amazon Prime, watch Kal Ho Naa Ho, then Khabi Khushi Khabie Gham, then DM me for more recommendations once you've stopped crying).
I'm going to put in here a few very short reviews about things I've been watching that are martial arts based. Everything I put in is on Netflix in the US (sorry, I'm not sure what Netflix has if you're in another country, and I'm not sure how to check - if anybody feels like adding recommendations from other country's options in the comments please feel free).
Iron Fist (TV show, Marvel universe, 2 seasons)
This was bad in every way. The fight scenes were pretty bad - though season 2 had a couple of well done scenes. See if you can find the Misty Knight/ Colleen Wing fight scenes on Netflix or google their locations in the series. Don't just watch it straight through, unless you're a masochist.
Daredevil (TV show, Marvel universe, 3 seasons)
Seasons 1 and 3 were outstanding and season 2 was very good (ironically, season 2 had more ninjas, yet wasn't as good as the others). Great acting, stellar storylines, and fantastic fight scenes - but these were not action packed. It's not one of those things where there's 5 minutes of fighting, 1 minute of dialogue, then 5 minutes of fighting, so if you're looking for sort of mindless action, this isn't for you (watch the Raid, below).
The Night Comes For Us (Movie, Iko Uwais)
Outstanding in every way. All action, all the way through. I love Iko Uwais movies - He's a great performer, first of all, but I find the films he's in (and this might have nothing to do with him) fun because they're less gut wrenching (usually) then Tony Jaa films. With a Tony Jaa film I feel like I'm always sitting through an hour of an elephant being tortured before the action starts. I'm very sensitive, I hate that stuff. With Iko's movies you're usually invested in the characters right away without having to watch the 'bad' guys do a whole lot of terrible things so you feel better when the revenge happens.
Iko's moves are silat based and look fantastic. He's NOT the main character in this movie, but it's amazing anyway. NOTE: kind of gory, lots of blood and shattered bones. Not good for kids.
The Raid: Redemption (Movie, Iko Uwais)
Amazing. Watch it. Also gory and maybe not for kids. All action all the way through.
The Final Master (Movie, Chinese)
Really, really good film. Great story, actual character development, fantastic fight scenes (all wing chun-ish). Absolutely watch it.
Rise of the Legend (Movie, Chinese)
Really good action film. Watch it.
Beyond Skyline (Movie, sci-fi, costars Iko Uwais)
Meh. Miss it. It's fine for a B level sci fi film, but not actually good, and the fight scenes alone aren't worth the rest of the film.
Baaghi (Movie, Tiger Schroff, Bollywood)
The only Bollywood title on this list. Greatest Indian martial arts movie ever made. Not bad, but not great. Action scenes are reminiscent of Jean Claude Van Dam films - Tiger Schroff is pretty athletic - but not up to 2018 international standards. Of course, it has the best music and dancing of any movie on this list. Another good Tiger Schroff is Heropanti - very, very amusing (and no, it has nothing to do with panties).
Broken Sword Hero (Movie, Buakaw, Thai)
Not terrible, I guess? I have a soft spot for Buakaw, who is an amazing and entertaining kickboxer in real life (not an actor). Above average action, decent story, acting is fine. Watch if you have time.
Sword of Destiny (Movie, Chinese, sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
Not terrible, but it's no Crouching Tiger. It's fine. Miss if you're busy.
The Last Dragon (Movie, American)
I can't objectively evaluate this movie. It's a cult favorite of mine, and as such holds a very, very special place in my soul. Watch it, because even if it's not a great film, it's a cultural milestone.
Mugamoodi (Movie, Tamil)
Weird super hero (but relatively realistic)/romance thing going on. Tamil films are very similar to Bollywood (but not the same) in tone, and this is no exception, so don't be surprised by the dance numbers and casual racism. Still, pretty decent action scenes and storyline (but not good).
Man of Tai Chi (Movie, Keanu Reeves!)
Super talented tai chi student fights in tournaments to prove the efficacy of his art, getting ever more brutal and advanced as he goes, until he's in kill or be killed fights with crazy Keanu Reeves. Absolutely worth watching.
There are more. I'm making my way through Monkey Twins right now, so far... it's fine, but not good.
Osu!
