Product Details

• Actors: Samuel L. Jackson, David Carradine, Jackie Chan, Pei-pei Cheng, Raymond Chow
• Directors: Keith R. Clarke
• Writers: Keith R. Clarke
• Producers: Keith R. Clarke, Joni Levin, Mike Leeder
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Taiwanese Chinese
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: December 31, 2002
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00007AJE2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,744 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Art of Action" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Go Behind-the-Scenes of a Worldwide Phenomenon! THE BEST MOMENTS FROM THE GREATEST MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES OF ALL TIME! Take a trip through martial arts history from its beginnings in bloody rebellion to the high-flying action movies of today. Join host Samuel L. Jackson for the most action-packed moments from over 100 movies including rarely-seen vintage films and modern-day favorites! HIGHLIGHTS FROM THESE HIT MOVIES: Charlie's Angels Rush Hour 2 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon...and dozens more! INTERVIEWS AND FOOTAGE OF YOUR FAVORITE STARS AND DIRECTORS: Ang Lee Sammo Hung John Woo and many others!System Requirements:Running Time: 96 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 043396084766 Manufacturer No: 08476

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining history of martial arts on film, May 11, 2003

By 

BD Ashley "vidiot_y2k" (Otago, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of Action (DVD)

Presented by Samuel L. Jackson, THE ART OF ACTION is an enjoyable and entertaining look at the history of matial arts films from its origins in Peking Opera in China, which was performed by men in women's clothing. Strangely, the first kung fu features were made with the WOMEN doing all the fighting as film was then considered a lower medium in China, and it was "dishonorable" for men to stoop to that level!
Of course, no film about martial arts could be made without Bruce Lee, "The James Bond Of Martial Arts". Here viewers are treated to footage from RETURN OF THE DRAGON where Lee beats the bejesus out of a young Chuck Norris, as well as hearing Lee's philosophies on kung fu, which remain intriguing and inspiring no matter how many times you hear them.
THE ART OF ACTION also features appearances from Jackie Chan, recounting his experiences as part of a Peking Opera troupe at age 7, as well as ruminations by John Woo, Ang Lee and Steven Seagal. There's plenty here to educate and entertain viewers, though stranglely Hammer's martial arts/ horror film LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES is overlooked here... but Cynthia Rothrock's cruddy movies get some attention! I just don't get it! That remains my only quibble. Also features clips from more recent films like RUSH HOUR 2 and CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON.
If you like this, you may want to check out the similar documentary CINEMA OF VENGEANCE which is about the history of martial arts and Hong Kong action films, though personally I found THE ART OF ACTION to be more entertaining. Both movies are highly recommended.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Martial Arts Journey, July 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Art of Action (DVD)

This in-depth documentary gives a behind-the-scenes look at the history of the martial arts films. It shows what the early pioneers of martial arts had to do to pass on the skills when the then rulers wanted to forbid the practice. The journey is one of rebellious beginnings to high flying stunts in movies today. It also features the work of Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan,Sammo Hung and others. This is a great documentary to watch if you want to learn more about the world of martial arts in films.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good documentary hosted by samuel l. jackson, April 8, 2006

By 

morgoth "we lamas are traditional enemies of ... (omaha, NE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Action (DVD)

This movie does not show like many great clips but is a pretty good documentary. It starts out talking about the the first shaw movies and lau kar-leung, and also the origins of kung fu(briefly), women in the 20's making these movies, and of course kwan tak-hing. The only thing that I really had a problem with is that they just passed over the jimmy wang yu, lo lieh, chen kwan tai, hwang jang lee, etc. I don;t think it even mentions the venoms!! They show some good clips from one armed swordsman, but even though they show their dramatic scene, they don't even mention jimmy or lie's name. So it goes way to quickly into the new school stuff like crouching tiger but does not capitilize on the golden age of kung fu.