kwigibo

To be honest, I haven't seen that many, but what i have, i've enjoyed. I know about 'The Killer' and a couple of others, and i've caught some recently on the world movies channel, and other ages ago on SBS. But I don't remember any of the titles, or which ones to avoid and which are must-see. From a purely action standpoint, in your opinion of course, which are the best HK action films?

Monkeybot

Iron Monkey is pretty famous, and I've seen it in top-ten lists for martial arts films. It's got some eye-popping fights, like the one between Yu Rongguang and Donnie Yen. The plot isn't going to win any awards for complexity, but it's reasonable enough, and a good excuse for the fights. There's quite a bit of wirework, but I don't think it's as intrusive as in Crouching Tiger, and I don't think it particularly interferes with the martial arts either.

Whatever you do, do NOT see Iron Monkey 2, which is so godawful I can't even believe it's related to the first one.

Bullet in the Head is supposed to be one of John Woo's best movies. I haven't seen it myself, though, so I can't really vouch... just FYI, it's also supposed to be incredibly violent and disturbing.

Jet Li has made some really good ones too. The Once Upon a Time in China series is pretty famous. To be honest, I only remember Once Upon a Time in China 2, but I can definitely recommend that one in particular. Jet Li is hilarious as he beats the living hell out of this fanatical cult, yelling stuff like "Where is your god now?!" There's also a scene in which Jet Li's sidekick starts beating people up with a giant cross he rips off the altar of some chapel. Other than the blasphemous parts, it's a pretty decent yarn and Jet Li is in fine form martial arts-wise. His final fight in that movie is often ranked as one of the all-time best. Just don't watch it if you're sensitive to epithets about "foreign devils"

Zhang Yimou, who's known more for arty films than action ones, recently made a movie called Hero, which may or may not be your cup of tea. Its principal cast is chock-full of ridiculously famous people like Jet Li and Zhang Ziyi. Set in ancient China, the story is pretty similar to Rashomon in that it's told in flashbacks. Zhang does some interesting things, though; each flashback gets its own color as a theme -- the first one is red, then blue, etc. The fights are highly stylized and depend heavily on wirework. If you didn't like the flying around in Crouching Tiger, you'll probably hate this movie. I have no idea if/when it's available since I saw it on a DVD my friend brought back from China.

kwigibo

preferably not martial arts themed

(i have my reasons)

Ab_Normal

Is 'gun-fu' okay? I highly recommend Hard Boiled, by John Woo, starring Chow Yun Fat. (I love some of the alternate titles, especially "Hot-Handed God of Cops".)

Jutsuka

The best gun-fu (and action flick) ever, "The Killer" by John Woo. It is without a doubt John Woos masterpiece.

Oh, and of course you have to see "A Better Tommorow" wich was the move that made Chow Yun Fat the action star he is today.

On the Kung Fu front you have two extremely funny and cool movies in "The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk" and "The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk II". Both star Jet Li as Fong Sai-Yuk a Kung Fu master who is only surpassed by his mother...

kwigibo

of course