Best movies like Murder Plot

Youthful martial arts master Lung is searching for his missing brother, when he is mistaken for a criminal on the run. He must prove his innocence by solving the case himself, while local lawmen and merciless mercenaries are hot on his trail.

Despite its stand-alone title, this mixture of martial arts and exploitation is a semi-sequel to Shaw Brothers's Flying Guillotine series. This time, the focus is Rong Qui-yan, a kung fu student turned dutiful wife whose life falls apart when her husband is murdered by a squad of government operatives led by the duplicitous Jin Gang-Feng. Qui-yan is forced to go into hiding as she plots her revenge and finds allies in fellow fugitive Ma Seng and ex-lover Wang-jun.

A small town is protected by one of the famous Ten Tigers of Kwangtung. The town is very safe as Ti Lung and his Kung Fu students patrol for criminals. Enter the rival Kung Fu school whom Ti Lung's students have beaten in a lion dance competition and then humiliated in a brawl. The rival school is joined by an opium dealing Kung Fu master who plans to turn the town into a community of addicts!

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.

Our hero Kuo Tsing is winning the hand of fair maiden Huang Yung. However, almost immediately, clan rivalries in the "Martial Art World" lead to Kuo being wounded by Ouyang Feng and Huang being named the new leader of the Beggar Clan. All this is mounted with sparkling energy by three kung-fu choreographers and a star-packed cast.

The Third Master is considered to be the greatest sword master of the day. His displays of skill and strength bring armies of challengers to his door, seeking the title for themselves. Not to be defeated, the Third Master fights evil, saves damsels in distress, and duels rival swordsmen to the death.

There is no place more hallowed in the martial art world than China's Shaolin Temple. This special place deserves a special epic, which is what the martial arts maestro delivers in this battle between a brave brand of Chinese boxers and literally thousands of Qing troops - complete with betrayals, intrigues, and such novel fighting machines as 108 wooden robots. The conflicts grow in complexity, intensity and even suspense as monks struggle to stay alive in the face of overwhelming odds.

Raised to be a righteous martial artist, Yuan kicks off the story proper by finding a cave containing a skeleton, a treasure map, and a manual teaching him the Golden Snake style. Obeying a request hidden in the manual to give a portion of the treasure to the Golden Snake's old girlfriend, Yuan begins to seek the woman out - on the way solving the riddle of the Golden Snake, and how he came to his end.

Zhao Wuji embarks on an very tragic adventure with full of intrigues to avenge his father, who is beheaded by a traitor working for Tang, on the eve of son's marriage.

This mystery-tinged 'Martial Arts World' epic was one of director Chu Yuan and novelist Ku Lung's last together for the Shaw Studios, but it's another action-filled winner. Liu Yung and Sun Chien team to investigate the martial arts murders of a supposedly mortally wounded swordsman, only to find deception, death, double-dealings, imposters, and one deadly duel after another. No less than three choreographers are on hand to handle the multitude of magnificent martial arts.

Based on a popular swordplay novel, this colorful and complex saga (whose Chinese title literally translates into the poetic Meteor, Butterfly, Sword) has enough conspiracies, stratagems, and sword fights to fascinate even novice kung-fu cinema viewers. The cast of Shaw Brothers' leading swordsmen and swordswomen are masterfully staged by Yuen Cheung-yan, the brother of Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. The result is both a great action movie and an exceptional dramatic film.

This internationally popular tale of a brother and sister seeking vengeance for the death of their parents through the mythical yin/yang Holy Flame technique is an eye-filling epic. Kuo Chue (a.k.a. Philip Kwok), famous as the star of Chang Cheh's internationally famous "Venom" film series, both co-stars and choreographs this impressive tale - leading to a vaunted "action director" career with both the 007 thriller Tomorrow Never Dies and the cult classic Brotherhood of the Wolf to his credit.

Wong Fei Hung and his friend are constantly having contests to see who has the better martial arts skill. After getting in trouble with their fathers, Wong Fei Hung settles down and starts to train seriously, while his friend still horses around. After his friend is hurt by a rival school, Wong goes to the school for retribution. Instead his skill is tested through a series of events which climax with him taking on a Northern martial artist. In an excellent battle of skill, he earns the respect of the rival school. Also stars Mai Te Lo and Hui Ying Hung.

While international favorite David Chiang was best known for his roles as a grinning, streetwise, fighter in many Chang Cheh-directed classics, he rarely played a noble warrior monk. But here he portrays the great Chih Shim, the monk who saved the Southern Shaolin Temple. Making this production all the more notable is Lo Lieh, Shaws' first international star, who returns to a role he also made famous - that of Shaolin renegade Pai Mei. This, and even more, makes for a true martial arts epic of the first order.

Yun Fei Yang is the viciously bullied orphan who takes on the unpleasant tasks at a formidable kung-fu school. Constantly mocked by the other students of the school, Yen counts as his only friend the daughter of the resident master. Any internal wrangling between the various members is put to one side when a swordsman from a rival clan reminds the master of the duel he must take part in once a decade. Unfortunately the defending clan chief is well aware that his rival is more powerful than himself. The expected defeat is further complicated when a wandering swordsman arrives on the scene and joins himself to the injured party, immediately adding to Yen's woes.

Huang Fei-Hung, the now famous Chinese boxer, teaches his martial arts at Pao Chih Lin Institute, in Canton. Gordon, a European businessman, who deals in import export is looking for a good security guard for his Jade collection.. So ensues a martial arts tournament to decide who get's the job.

Based on one of China's enduring epic novels, written in the 14th century, "All Men Are Brothers" continues the patriotic story of righteous warriors battling despotic leaders, featuring mythic characters familiar to every Chinese, and with a cast that has achieved an equally celebrated status among Shaw Brothers devotees.

Asian fans of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon recognized that its director Ang Lee was actually inspired by director Chu Yuan and novelist Ku Lung's wonderful tales of a "martial art world" where all wushu warriors try to attain the "Deer Sword" and escape from the insidious maze-like "Toy Land." Master kung-fu choreographer Tang Chia leads the king and queen of Shaw's swordplay, Ti Lung and Lily Li, in a fascinating and entertaining adventure of consummate swordmen and sorceresses.

A fearsome swordswoman known as The Jade Raksha appears in the martial arts world and begins killing people whose surname is Yan. A swordsman figures out who she is, and asks her why - the answer being that a Yan killed her family 18 years ago... but she's not sure exactly which Yan it was. He suggests that killing the innocent is wrong, but she only has vengeance on her mind and is not to be convinced.

To free his girlfriend from her contract with a greedy madam, Shang Li (Don Wong) teams up with a cold-blooded thief called the Sparrow (Chiang-lung Wen) to hijack a large shipment of silver. But when the heist suddenly goes bad, Shang Li finds himself with blood on his hands and a price on his head. Martial arts superstars Angela Mao and Lieh Lo also star in this kung fu classic from writer-director Pao-Shu Kao.

Superstar Carter Wong must protect the Shaolin Temple from a traitor from within the order. The Silver Fox has turned up the heat against Shaolin, but Carter and the Holy Warrior Monks will stand firm -- or die fighting!

Sun Chung had been recognized as an expert comedy and crime thriller director, but he was to gain even greater acclaim for his soulful, powerful, intelligent, and beautifully-made martial arts epics. This stands alongside The Deadly Breaking Sword and The Kung-fu Instructor as one of his very best. It’s not so much the plot – a master swordsman protects a treasure chest on a dangerous journey – that makes this great, but what Sun does with it, inspiring the cast and crew to some of their finest work.

Three martial arts directors united for this unique anthology film. Yueh Feng writes and directs a clever love-and-kung-fu triangle, Cheng Kang both writes and directs kung-fu courtesans battling brigands, and the "godfather of the kung-fu film," Chang Cheh, creates a cliff-hanging, swashbuckling mini-movie with maxi-action.

A recently jailed martial arts master teams up with a wronged woman to take down the man's brother, a coal baron who rules a small town with an iron fist.

Traveling swordsman Shen Sheng-yi (Ti Lung) and his lady friend match wits and swords with the last surviving member of the once great Murung family who is determined to rule the martial world by stealing plans to crafting firearms.

The plot involves patriots during the Sung Dynasty and their attempts to rescue a kidnapped prince from Ching troops who have invaded the north of China. The patriots are led by Ti Lung who recruits a mysterious but seemingly superhuman fighter played by David Chiang to find a way to cross a perilous bridge to enter an impregnable fortress to locate and rescue the imprisoned prince.

The thrills continue in this second part of this cherished adventure, created by the renowned director Chu Yuan and ingenious novelist Chin Yung. Only the union of the title weapons can save the six remaining martial arts sects who are vying for mastery. So just sit back and enjoy the movie event which spawned a legacy that continues even today with a long-running, internationally loved television series, a role-playing game, and even collectible replicas of the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre themselves!

An expert swordsman is suspected of being the thief of a treasure sent to Emperor. The swordsman who has nothing to do with the theft investigates and is led on the trail of the supernatural "Bloody Parrot". This leads to the "Parrot Brothel" and the star prostitute who walks around half naked. Strange things happen including a demonic possession, witches casting poison spells, disgusting autopsies and numerous sword fights. Then a dead constable turns into a vampire! This is all in the first 30 minutes!

Li Xunhuan comes back to his home after three years of wandering. He had decided to have a normal life, but a group of skilled martial arts fighters and leaders are bent on killing him, so they can be ranked top by Bai Xiaosheng in his renowned list of the best warriors in the martial arts world. Li Xunhuan battles them as he searches for his estranged friend A'fei, who is now married and living in seclusion. Li asks A'fei to join forces and fight against a new threat that wants to rule the world: the Money Clan.

Veteran action actor and director Lu Chun-ku set his sights on a tale of Ching Dynasty royal intrigue as an excuse to hire his favorite action stars, gather three choreographers, and film one fight-filled conspiracy after another. Liu Hsueh-hua is the title character caught between battling princes. Then there's award-winning actor Ku Feng, "Bastard Swordsman" Hsu Shao-chiang, "King of Shaw Brothers' Screen Villains" Wang Lung-wei, "Venom" Sun Chien, and even the director shows up to get his kicks in this danger-fraught adventure.

Following "Clans Of Intrigue"'s success, director Chu Yuan, novelist Ku Lung, and superstar Ti Lung re-teamed for another adventure featuring sexy knight Chu Liu-Hsiang. This time, he travels to the mysterious Island Of The Bats, where he encounters treacherous monks, beautiful women, and a strange Prince. The movie is also a significant milestone in the amount of female flesh revealed on screen, proving that Shaw movies can balance the yin of cheesecake with the yang of beefcake.

In The Master Strikes Back, Hong Kong's Steadicam pioneering director Sun Chung brings back legendary Ti Lung to play famous weapons instructor Tung Tieh-cheng, who is invited to teach a Ching official's soldiers, in this unofficial sequel to The Kung-fu Instructor. But after his son is kidnapped and castrated what follows is a chaotic, human whirlwind of slicing and dicing compliments of the highly touted martial arts director and one of Jackie Chan's kung-fu classmates, Yuan Te.

Chuan Yuan is the noble, powerful hero and Shu Pei-pei, one of Shaw’s top swordswoman, is a reluctant bride who comes upon a rebellion plot. They are joined by a large cast of expert fighters and actors all keeping the intrigue and adventure foremost in the film. There’s even a nice surprise ending amidst all the action.

Chiang plays a righteous character who helps an unjustly imprisoned swordsman accused of stealing. Together they break out of prison and serve notice to all the evil men in their lives that a new deadly duo is in town.

Chu Liu-hsiang, the charming, capable, and, yes, sentimental, swordsman is back in action for this extremely well-named third in the hit box-office series. The titanic team of director Chu Yuan and novelist Ku Lung wisely choose to give their hero a whole new, non-stop, cliffhanger-fraught adventure featuring a mystery swordsman, a sensual swordswoman, an imperial assassin, a Ghost Mansion, the Bat Island, a booby-trapped tunnel, double crosses, and secret missions. And there are no fewer than three martial arts choreographers on hand to guide the amazing mayhem.