There are some martial arts movies that are so good, you can recommend them to pretty much anyone, even those who might not ordinarily like martial arts cinema. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one such film, and is honestly so good that it’s probably a gateway film into the whole martial arts genre. In other words, it’s one that could convert you to the church of martial arts.

It’s a wuxia film, which is a kind of martial arts movie that has something of a fantastical feel, even if things don’t necessarily go all-out into fantasy movie territory. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon might be better described as mystical or heightened, because the characters in this film who are capable fighters possess abilities beyond what trained fighters in real life do. Maybe the only risk in trying to convert someone to the martial arts genre with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would be the possibility of convincing someone that all martial arts movies are at least a little fantastical, but that’s not really the case. And there’s nothing wrong with those that are, but the three movies below that are arguably even better as martial arts films than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are all pretty far from the wuxia sub-genre.