Are you self isolating? Are you thinking about broadening your cinematic horizons? Perhaps you’d like to learn about a specific genre? I’m here to help. This time, we're moving east from Italy to China and Hong Kong for a look at some of the best martial arts, action, horror, and cult titles available to stream RIGHT NOW. I'm sticking to the '60s through '90s period, simply because I'm not nearly as well-versed in modern Chinese/HK movies. As such, I'm pretty disappointed with the lack of late '80s/'90s HK movies available on any format, other than OOP DVD.
Netflix and Hulu were actually helpful this time, but Amazon Prime still has a healthier selection, along with various free streaming services available via Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast, et cetera. I compared a bunch and, for the sake of simplicity, I found the best in terms of content and video quality to be Tubi, Midnight Pulp (a "+" will be included wherever subscription fees apply), VUDU’s free selections, The Roku Channel, Shout Factory TV (though most of their titles can also be watched via Amazon Prime), Popcorn Flix, and Dark Matter TV (again, a "+" will be included wherever subscription fees apply). And, of course, who can forget smaller, but no less important paid services, namely Criterion Channel, Fandor, and Shudder.
Again, be warned – all of the free apps have ad breaks (I know, it sucks) and the video quality is inconsistent from app to app. Sometimes it's genuine HD, other times, it's sub-VHS. Apologies if I’ve suggested something with particularly grim A/V quality and be aware that the availability is based on the research I did on March 23rd, 2020. Given the nature of streaming media, I imagine very few of these titles will be available in perpetuity. Be aware that, despite my classifications below, complete director filmographies are not currently available free/subscription streaming.
King Hu Movies
Come Drink with Me (1966) – Amazon Prime
Dragon Inn (1967) – Criterion Channel
Touch of Zen (1971) – Criterion Channel
Liu Chia-Liang Movies
The Spiritual Boxer (1975) – Amazon Prime
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) – Amazon Prime
Shaolin Mantis (1978) – Amazon Prime
Dirty Ho (1979) – Amazon Prime
Heroes of the East (1978) – Amazon Prime
Return to the 36th Chamber (1980) – Netflix and Amazon Prime
Legendary Weapons of China (1982) – Netflix and Amazon Prime
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984) – Amazon Prime
Disciples of the 36th Chamber (1985) – Netflix and Amazon Prime
Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986) – Netflix and Amazon Prime
Chang Cheh Movies
The One-Armed Swordsman (1967) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
The Assassin (1967) – Amazon Prime
Golden Swallow (1968) – Amazon Prime
The Duel (1971) – Amazon Prime
The Deadly Duo (1971) – Amazon Prime
The Five Deadly Venoms (aka: The Five Venoms, 1978) – Netflix and Amazon Prime
Kid with the Golden Arm (1979) – Amazon Prime
Masked Avengers (1981) – Amazon Prime
Five Element Ninjas (1982) – Netflix and Amazon Prime
Other Shaw Bros. Classics
There are so many of these available, so I’ve narrowed it down to personal favorites.
The Flying Guillotine (Ho Meng-Hua, 1975) – Netflix and Amazon Prime
Master of the Flying Guillotine (Jimmy Wang Yu, 1976) – Amazon Prime
The Battle Wizard (Pao Hsueh-Li, 1977) – Amazon Prime
Black Magic (Ho Meng-Hua, 1975) – Amazon Prime (horror film)
Human Lanterns (Sun Chung, 1982) – Amazon Prime (horror film)
The One-Armed Boxer (Jimmy Wang Yu, 1972) – Midnight Pulp
Five Fingers of Death (Jeong Chang-hwa, 1972) – Amazon Prime
Jackie Chan Movies (Hong Kong Era)
Fearless Hyena (Jackie Chan and Kenneth Tsang, 1979) – Amazon Prime
The Young Master (Jackie Chan, 1980) – Amazon Prime
Police Story (Jackie Chan, 1985) – Criterion Channel
Police Story 2 (Jackie Chan, 1988) – Criterion Channel
The Protector (James Glickenhaus, 1985) – Tubi
Heart of the Dragon (Sammo Hung, 1985) – Amazon Prime
City Hunter (Wong Jing, 1993) – Amazon Prime
Sammo Hung (directed) Movies
The Iron-Fisted Monk (1977) – Amazon Prime
Magnificent Butcher (co-directed with Yuen Woo-ping, 1979) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
Knockabout (1979) – Midnight Pulp
The Prodigal Son (1981) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
Wheels on Meals (1984) – Amazon Prime
My Lucky Stars (1985) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
Heart of the Dragon (1985) – Amazon Prime
Eastern Condors (1987) – Midnight Pulp
Yuen Woo-ping Movies
The Bloody Fists (Ng See-Yuen director, Yuen choreographer, 1972) – Amazon Prime and Tubi
Born Invincible (Joseph Kuo director, Yuen choreographer) 1978 – Amazon Prime
Magnificent Butcher (co-directed with Sammo Hung, 1979) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
Dreadnaught (1981) – Midnight Pulp
The Grandmaster (Wong Kar-wai director, Yuen choreographer, 2013) – Netflix
The Thousand Faces of Dunjia (2017) – Hulu
Other Horror, Fantasy, and Cult Titles
The Oily Maniac (Ho Meng-Hua, 1976) – Amazon Prime
Last Hurrah for Chivalry (John Woo, 1979) – Criterion Channel
Witch from Nepal (Ching Siu-Tung, 1986) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
The Seventh Curse (Lam Nai-Choi, 1986) – Midnight Pulp
Magnificent Warriors (David Chun, 1987) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (Lam Nai-Choi, 1991) – Tubi
Sex and Zen (Michael Mak, 1991) – Midnight Pulp +
Full Contact (Ringo Lam, 1992) – Fandor
Future Cops (aka: Super School Overlord; Wong Jing, 1993) – Midnight Pulp (MUST SEE action comedy satire of The Terminator featuring superstar actors as Street Fighter characters)
The Bride with the White Hair (Ronny Yu, 1993) – Amazon Prime
Green Snake (Tsui Hark, 1993) – Fandor
The Untold Story (Danny Lee Sau-Yin and Herman Yau, 1993) – Amazon Prime
BONUS: Drive (Steve Wang, 1997) – Amazon Prime and VUDU Free (underseen American/Taiwanese/Japanese co-production)