— by Carl Davis So much of what passes for American culture is in fact a hybrid, built from innumerable elements from various sources. For example, the martial arts of Asia are now synonomous with our popular culture turning up in music, books and especially in our movies. With Jet Li's "Unleashed" quite literally about to hit theaters this week, and with sleeper hits like "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior" attracting enthusiastic audiences, now is an ideal time to re-introduce some must-see kung fu films to fans who have been blinded by what passes for martial arts action these days. After all, Keanu may have downloaded his moves in "The Matrix," but it was the legendary Yuen Woo Ping who pulled his wires. So sit back, relax and watch these ass-kickers do what they do best, on DVD. "House of Flying Daggers" (2004) Director Zhang Yimou seamlessly melds martial arts action into a dramatic period piece, as the Tang Dynasty finds itself fighting a rebel group called the Flying Daggers. Two investigators, Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), are sent to a brothel where the group's leaders are rumored to be hiding out. Once there, Jin falls for Mei (Zhang Ziyi), a stunning blind dancer. When Leo arrests her for withholding knowledge about the rebels, Jin helps her to escape and the two of them make their way to safety. A beautiful film, the action here is nevertheless quite brutal, and far different than that seen in the director's previous film, "Hero." "Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2" (2003-2004) God bless the DVD gods for allowing us to have both volumes of Quentin Tarantino's love letter to "grindhouse" cinema at our disposal. When viewed together, one gets a sense of the epic he tried to create, only to have the work split up into what has to be Tarantino's most linear film to date. Still, he effortlessly namedrops almost the entire history of '70s kung fu and exploitation cinema with several notable cameos (Sonny Chiba, Gordon Liu), visual effects (the opening Shaw Bros. logo, "Samurai Executioner") and musical cues ("Master of the Flying Guillotine," "Lady Snowblood"). Uma Thurman stars as the Bride, a deadly assassin, who instead of retiring and settling down, was shot in the head and left for dead on her wedding day. After waking from a four-year coma, she sets out on a roaring rampage of revenge. In Volume 2 she catches up with her former mentor/lover/would-be murderer, the titular Bill, played with understated perfection by genre stalwart, David Carradine. The final 40-minute showdown between these two features some of Tarantino's sharpest writing to date. "The Matrix" (1999) What better way to throw off the shackles of an oppressive race of totalitarian computer programs than with countless martial-arts scenes choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping? At least that's what the Wachowski Brothers apparently had in mind in their science-fiction masterpiece, "The Matrix." Everyman computer hacker Neo (Keanu Reeves) finds out the hard way that life as we know it is nothing more than an elaborate virtual reality simulation and that we are actually just living batteries for an evil empire of machines. Freed from the Matrix by Morpheus (the über-cool Laurence Fishburne), Neo soon jacks himself back in to fight the good fight with his hands, feet and guns — lots of guns. The film introduced us to the concepts of "Bullet Time" and proceeded to make "Wire Fu" a household expression. Two sequels, meanwhile, failed to even approach the first film's cultural impact. "New Legend of the Shaolin" (1994) Prior to Jet Li crossing the Pacific to Hollywood he made numerous exciting martial-arts films, but none quite as weird and inventive as this one. Li plays Hung Hei-kwan, a student of Shaolin who, after the temple's destruction at the hands of the Qing Dynasty, attempts to band together with a group of rebels to restart the spiritual order. Along the way his family is slain, except for his young son, who accompanies him on his journey. Even with forays into comedy, mystery and the supernatural, "New Legend of the Shaolin" focuses on delivering several fantastical fight scenes. What more could you ask for? "Drunken Master II" a.k.a. "The Legend of Drunken Master" (1994) Jackie Chan is renowned the world over for his death-defying stunts, but as he's aged he has coasted in more standard Hollywood fare like "The Medallion" or "The Tuxedo." Along the way, one of his greatest film achievements has gone largely unnoticed. Made 16 years after the first "Drunken Master" (which never received a proper U.S. release, hence the film being renamed "The Legend of Drunken Master"), Chan reprises his role of Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hong, the Drunken Boxer. The typical plot of Chan thwarting Westerners from stealing priceless Chinese artifacts is strictly by-the-numbers, but its Chan's outstanding stunt work (including a harrowing fight on a bed of hot coals — genuine hot coals) that makes this a classic. And as always, Chan's astonishing outtakes are included. "Bloodsport" (1988) Jean-Claude Van Damme — the "Muscles from Brussels," as he was once proudly known — made his American debut in this Saturday afternoon guilty pleasure. The film is loosely based on the true life story of Frank Dux (he also coordinated the film's fights), an American intelligence officer who fought in the "Kumite," a dangerous and illegal underground martial-arts competition. Capturing the action in a no-frills, documentary style, "Bloodsport" showcases several fighters skilled in different martial-arts styles pitted against one another, with the last man standing declared the "Kumite" champion. "The Karate Kid" (1984) For all of its "wax on, wax off" and "Daniel-san" cheesiness, "The Karate Kid" had such a massive impact on American culture that practically every other child that saw it was immediately enrolled in a karate class. After Ralph Macchio's family moves from New Jersey to California, he finds himself preyed upon by the blonde, blue-eyed bullies of the Cobra Kai dojo. He begins to study karate under the tutelage of his apartment building's Okinawan gardener, Pat Morita. This was also one of the first Western films to show that karate isn't just a way to fight, but is also a way to live. "Five Deadly Venoms" (1979) In the late '70s, the Shaw Brothers were synonymous with Hong Kong kung fu films, and "Five Deadly Venoms" remains their cult masterpiece. An ailing martial-arts master asks his final student to seek out five former pupils, each one skilled in a unique and deadly fighting style: the Centipede, the Snake, the Scorpion, the Lizard and the Toad. The student must discover who has used his skills for good, in order to help him combat those who have pursued a life of crime. Featuring the impressive skills of the martial-arts troupe who would forever be known as "The Venoms," this is simply one not to be missed. "Enter the Dragon" (1973) Martial-arts phenom Bruce Lee's first and last English-speaking star vehicle (he died shortly before the film's U.S. premiere) would go on to become one of the most popular kung fu films ever. The formulaic story, featuring Lee as a secret agent who must infiltrate an illegal fighting competition to capture the villain responsible for his sister's death, is just an excuse to present a series of almost non-stop, kick-ass fighting sequences. Lee's onscreen charisma is enormous, and a sad reminder of what surely would have been an amazing, superstar career. Visit Movies on MTV.com for more from Hollywood, including news, interviews, trailers and more. Check out The MTV Shop for these and tons more DVDs.
	Photos: Rogue Pictures/Universal Studios