Movies like The Eight Masters (1976)
The best movies like The Eight Masters (1976) are Return to the 36th Chamber (1980), Invincible Shaolin (1978) and Hand of Death (1976). If The Eight Masters hooked you with its action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFist of Legend (1994)7.5/10 from 646 votes
- NewestIp Man: The Awakening (2021)Released 2021
- In ChineseReturn to the 36th Chamber (1980)Also in Chinese
Return to the 36th Chamber (1980)
The workers of a dye factory have their pay cut by 20% when the factory owner brings in some Manchu thugs to try and increase production. Desperate to reclaim their full wages, the workers hire an actor to impersonate a priest and kung-fu expert from the temple of Shaolin. The factory owner proves the actor a fraud, and punishes all those involved. The young actor feels he has let the workers down, and promises to atone. He sets out for Shaolin, determined to be accepted as a kung-fu pupil at the elite temple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInvincible Shaolin (1978)
Three North Shaolin teachers are called on by the Manchus to teach their soldiers and are urged to challenge the current South Shaolin teachers. They defeat the South Shaolin teachers and, that night, the head general kills the South Shaolin teachers and blames their death on the North Shaolin teachers. The South Shaolin master sends more of his pupils, who are killed accidentally by the North Shaolin teachers. He finally sends two more of his students to train with old masters and trains one student himself with the goal of finally defeating the North Shaolin experts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHand of Death (1976)
A young monk must face the Extended Iron Claw technique of a powerful warlord seeking to destroy Shaolin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFist of Legend (1994)
Chen returns to his school when he finds out that his martial arts teacher has died. When he learns that his school students are harassed by some hooligans, he gears himself up to save them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNew Fist of Fury (1976)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClan of the White Lotus (1980)
The Qing emperor releases all detained Shaolin disciples, but the vindictive White Lotus clan decides to exterminate all the disciples. One martial artist survives the onslaught, and constantly trains while in hiding for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShaolin (2011)
China is plunged into strife as feuding warlords try to expand their power by warring over neighboring lands. Fuelled by his success on the battlefield, young and arrogant Hao Jie sneers at Shaolin's masters when he beats one of them in a duel. But the pride comes before a fall. When his own family is wiped out by a rival warlord, Hao is forced to take refuge with the monks. As the civil unrest spreads and the people suffer, Hao and the Shaolin masters are forced to take a fiery stand against the evil warlords. They launch a daring plan or rescue and escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJourney to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017)
Tang Monk brings three disciples on a journey to the West. On the outside, everything seems harmonious. However, tension is present beneath the surface, and their hearts and minds are not in agreement. After a series of demon-capturing events, the monk and his disciples gain mutual understanding of each others' hardships and unease. Finally, they resolve their inner conflict and work together to become an all-conquering, demon-exorcising team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Five Venoms (1978)
A dying master sends his last student to check up on five former pupils, who each know a special style of kung-fu.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
During the Qing Dynasty, a fishmonger is killed by the reigning Manchu government for supporting the anti-government movement; his son manages to escape to Shaolin Temple, where he plans to learn its secretive brand of martial arts to seek revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Shaolin (1991)
After facing brutal humiliation in the ring, a young karateka travels to China in order to study the ancient art of Shaolin Kung Fu, becoming the first American Shaolin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIp Man: Kung Fu Master (2019)
Ip Man’s promising career as a Policeman is ruined after he is framed for murder and targeted by a mob boss’s daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder (1987)
In this sequel, Scott Wylde, an American kickboxer, must go to Cambodia to rescue his Vietnamese girlfriend from Russian and Vietnamese troops.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969)
After the events of The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), a retired Fang Gang is drawn back into the jianghu to protect various young apprentices whose swordsmanship schools have been terrorized by 8 evil swordsmen seeking to rule the jianghu.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSword Master (2016)
Weary of the bloodshed and violence from the martial arts world, a powerful swordsman banishes himself to the humble life a vagrant, wandering the fringes of society. But his violent past refuses to let him go quietly. The master swordsman must regain the ability to wield his sword and fight those disrupting the peace he so desperately craves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1990)
Two feuding brothers of differing political views, one a policeman, the other a martial artist, join forces to avenge the death of their father, a retired agent who was brutally murdered by the mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFatal Contact (2006)
A young man learns the fighting techniques of Sanda from a coach. The two become best friends as the young man prepares to enter an underground tournament, competing against some of the top fighters of the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
Professor Van Helsing had been asked to help against the tyranny of skeletal creatures that are responsible for terror and death amongst the peasants in rural China. He is the only person qualified to deal with the cause of these phenomena, for the undead are controlled by the most diabolical force of all.... Count Dracula. But he is not alone- to aid him comes a mystical brotherhood of seven martial arts warriors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisKid with the Golden Arm (1979)
Jin bei tong opens with a group of escort guards preparing to move a shipment of gold from the local government to an area stricken by famine... one of the very few Venom films where all six Venom actors are present within a single film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIp Man: The Awakening (2021)
When a young Master Ip stops a kidnapping, he ignites a turf war with a ruthless human-trafficking ring. In retaliation, the gang kidnaps one of Ip Man's close friends, forcing him to face the group's brutal boxing champion head-on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Foot Crane (1979)
As a child, Fong Lin I witnesses the murder of her lawman father at the hand of 4 outlaws. She devotes her life to Martial Arts, with the aim of taking revenge years later.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Revengence Superlady (1986)
A woman seeks vengeance against the man who killed her entire family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Drunken Master (1978)
After getting into trouble, a mischievous young man is sent to train under a brutal, but slovenly old beggar, who teaches him the secret of the Drunken Fist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Next Karate Kid (1994)
Mr. Miyagi decides to take Julie, a troubled teenager, under his wing after he learns that she blames herself for her parents' demise and struggles to adjust with her grandmother and fellow pupils.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisDeadly Target (1994)
Two Hong Kong cops on leave to Manila take on a group of arms dealers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Bloodsport (1988)
An American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the Kumite.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStreet Fighter (1994)
Colonel William F. Guile leads an international Allied Nations strike force to free relief workers held hostage by the megalomaniacal dictator General M. Bison in the war-torn region of Shadaloo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisBulletproof Monk (2003)
A mysterious and immortal Tibetan kung fu master, who has spent the last 60 years traveling around the world protecting the ancient Scroll of the Ultimate, mentors a selfish street kid in the ancient intricacies of kung fu.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Young Master (1980)
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.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisImmortal Warriors (1978)
Immortal Warriors is a Taiwanese Martial Arts movie.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Eight Masters?
The closest matches to The Eight Masters are Return to the 36th Chamber (1980), Invincible Shaolin (1978) and Hand of Death (1976). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Eight Masters?
Start with Return to the 36th Chamber (1980), the closest match to The Eight Masters.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Eight Masters?
Fist of Legend (1994), rated 7.5/10 by 646 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Eight Masters?
Ip Man: The Awakening (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The Eight Masters?
Yes: Return to the 36th Chamber (1980), Invincible Shaolin (1978) and Hand of Death (1976).
How are movies similar to The Eight Masters chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Eight Masters, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.