Best movies like Thunderbolt

A martial-arts student learns the iron fist and death grip techniques to avenge his teacher's death.

A noble swordsman, whose arm had been chopped off, returns to his former teacher to defend him from a villainous gang of rival swordsmen.

In 1868 during the late Qing Dynasty, rampant corruption on the Imperial Court inflicts much suffering in people's lives. For years, the Black Tiger’s fearsome boss Lei Gong has been trying to get rid of the leader of the Northern Sea. One of his latest recruits is Fei, a fearless fighter who takes the Northern Sea leader’s head after a fierce fight. Just as Lei Gong believes he has total control of the port, a new gang called the Orphans rises in power. Led by Fei’s childhood friend Huo, the Orphans are out to eliminate all the criminal power from the port…

Two rival clans have unsuccessfully tried to hire the master of the good clan to teach his clan. Not willing to take no for an answer, they frame the master for a dirty deed that he didn't commit, which forces him to kill a man in battle. The townspeople attempt to kill him and he is forced to flee to the evil clan.

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.

Shaolin practitioners and brothers Wu and Hung kill the merciless Pai Mei. However, Pai Mei's even more merciless brother White Lotus takes revenge; killing most of the Shaolin disciples, including Wu and Hung's girlfriend, leaving only Wu's pregnant wife and Hung as the only remaining practitioners of Shaolin left to avenge the deaths. But Hung's kung-fu will not be powerful enough so he must learn feminine kung-fu techniques to help him try and defeat White Lotus.

Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.

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.

A couple unite - she is fluent in the crane style of kung fu, he in tiger style. They have a son, but the boy's father is killed by the evil eunuch Pai Mei. Disguised as a girl, his mom trains him in crane style while he secretly learns tiger style from his father's training manual.

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.

Fu Sheng and his real-life brother star as friends who are searching for a treasure that a Shaolin priest, a villainous traitor and his sister are also trying to find.

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.

Hsiao Hu has been secretly training in martial arts, as his father (Tien Feng) has forbidden him. Later, some local store owners ask Ah to help protect them from a greedy Chinese extortion ring. Ah discovers that the crime lord behind the extortion had killed his father years before and is determined for revenge.

Yu Ying, Kao and Fan return to China to start a martial arts school but are bullied by the Japanese competitor who runs the Black Bear school. The harassment leads to intense conflicts between them.

Rare was the film in 1973 that incorporated the star's name in the title. One of the few such films was Screaming Ninja, aka Wang Yu, King of Boxing. The story is set in China in the early 1900x. Essentially playing an extension of himself, action-star Wang-Yu spends much of the time defending himself against evil martial-arts masters. He also tries to make sense of a tragic incident in his past.

A spoilt rich kid turns up at a fu school to show off, but he gets clobbered by the boastful Little Tiger, who is later framed for the kid's murder when a gang of blackmailers make an example of him. The police allow Tiger to escape, in order to find the real culprits. Tiger hides at his girlfriend's place, but a model she works with does some whoring on the side for the blackmailer, and so the crooks are onto his trail...

The Emperor's armies have developed a new weapon: a thrown blade that can remove someone's head from long distance. As the paranoid Emperor begins decapitating anyone he fears might be a threat, his guard Mau Tang becomes disillusioned with the excesses of his master. He leaves his post and takes up the quiet life of farming and raising a family. Eventually, though, his past catches up with him, and he must find a way to fight the flying guillotine if he is to save his head.

A band of counterfeiters wants to make Hong Kong their new territory. The disgraced leader of the Special Squad will have to team-up with a group of Hong Kong police officers in an attempt to stop the dirty business of crime lord Han Tin Lung, but Han's problem is not only the interference of the Police force, but his Japanese ally Kimura is not happy with his 'cut' in the counterfeit deal and will try to put Donna (a relative of Han) on his side to make Han's business his own property. Both policemen and criminals are highly trained Martial Arts fighters and they will have the chance to prove who has the best Kung Fu techniques.

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.

Cheng, a beautiful martial arts ace, battles to keep her inheritance from the ruthless Yun Wei, but her efforts are sabotaged by Yu Tao, her wayward and irrepressible great-nephew. Following a frenzy of spectacular comic mishaps, the hapless duo are setup and imprisoned and the deeds to Cheng's estate are stolen. She is held hostage after a doomed attempt to reclaim the papers back from Yu Wei's place, and the stage is set for a savage fight to the death.

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.

A government law officer is dispatched to bring his brother's killers to justice. On his bloody mission, untold assassins are thrown at him, but to no avail. One by one they are done away with in a most militant style.

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.

During China's 1920s Republican Period, warlords carve out personal fiefdoms across the country and impose self-serving laws with the barrel of a gun. Into this anarchy rides a masked feminine Zorro, nom de guerre Violet, to do battle, right wrongs and foment rebellion against the most corrupt and brutal warlord of all, Tung Ta-Chou. Unbeknownst to Tung, however, Violet is his own daughter. Tung orders his psycho enforcer Master Wu to track down and dispose of this pesky rebel queen. Meanwhile, Violet begins a flirtation with an attractive stranger who comes to town with the other half of a treasure map held by Tung. Ultimately, Master Wu betrays the warlord on the lure of the complete treasure map, enabling Violet and the stranger to apprehend Master Wu and beat the warlord at his own game.

Director Chu Yuan was already famous for his many collaborations with respected novelist Ku Lung and for his introduction of detective thriller ingredients into the martial arts movie genre. But this production was made even more special by the rare presence of superstar David Chiang. Here he gives another great performance as kung-fu knight Shen Lang, who stumbles across grave robbers while on the trail of a martial arts mass murderer. There's intrigue, betrayals, and battles galore before the last plot is revealed and the final murderer is defeated.

The bandits of Hulu Valley murder the chief of Mei Clan while searching for a treasure map. In retaliation, the clan’s leading swordsman Feng-chun (Chan Leung) infiltrates the bandit’s fortress hideout in anticipation of a surprise attack by a larger force and unexpectedly finds himself romantically involved with the bandit leader’s feisty daughter (Cheng Pei-Pei).

A man is jailed unfairly for his debts, so his son (rarely used actor Steve Yu) takes up a job as a traveling medicine salesman and street performer to get him out. During his travels, he is killed in a confrontation with the son of a local kingpin. The son's kung fu school colleagues, along with the grieving sister and love interest, come to town as street performers in order to investigate and/or avenge his death. A local ally of the hero pretends to play both sides of the conflict....

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.

Eight demon swordsmen and their gang have spread menace across many sword teaching schools. The students seek the help of Fang who alone can combat them. Will Fang take up the challenge.

The 5 Kao brothers, separated since childhood, are unaware that the master Teng Lung Manor, Lung Chen-feng has killed their father. All five, however, seek to defeat the vicious gangsters at the Manor.

Kung fu fans know well the legends of the 18 Bronze Men and the 108 Wooden Men of Shaolin, and in this fast-paced martial arts adventure, a whole new myth comes to the screen with the completely original tale of the 18 Stone Warriors. After the famous General Stone is stricken down in battle under mysterious circumstances, his talented son Flash Legs (Tan Tao Liang) vows to investigate the strange death and get to the truth of the matter.

The Village of Tigers is known as the home of all evil doers throughout the land, ruled by their leader, Lord Hu Jiao. When the famed swordsman known as the Sword of the Southern Sky, Luo Hong-Xun ends up in said village, he will teach the bandits a lesson.

After the Ming Emperor is overthrown and his infant son put in the care of the Black Dragon Society, a traitorous martial arts clan attacks the society and forces two inexperienced swordsmen to flee with the infant and begin a dangerous journey in search of allies.

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.