Essential Asian
by pznaty | created - 18 Nov 2012 | updated - 03 May 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Ip Man (2008)
R | 106 min | Action, Biography, Drama
During the Japanese invasion of China, a wealthy martial artist is forced to leave his home when his city is occupied. With little means of providing for themselves, Ip Man and the remaining members of the city must find a way to survive.
Director: Wilson Yip | Stars: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Siu-Wong Fan, Ka-Tung Lam
Votes: 233,543
2. Ip Man 2 (2010)
R | 108 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Centering on Ip Man's migration to Hong Kong in 1949 as he attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun martial arts.
Director: Wilson Yip | Stars: Donnie Yen, Xiaoming Huang, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Lynn Xiong
Votes: 110,988 | Gross: $0.21M
3. Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003)
R | 105 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.
Director: Prachya Pinkaew | Stars: Tony Jaa, Phetthai Vongkumlao, Pumwaree Yodkamol, Suchao Pongwilai
Votes: 78,162 | Gross: $4.56M
4. A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Not Rated | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't follow his boss's orders.
Directors: Jung Doo Hong, Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-a, Kim Yeong-cheol, Hwang Jung-min
Votes: 42,911
5. Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time (2012)
Not Rated | 134 min | Action, Crime, Drama
On the verge of being fired, a corrupt customs official finds a haul of drugs and teams up with a vicious gangster to become the most powerful crime partnership in Busan.
Director: Yoon Jong-bin | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong, Ma Dong-seok
Votes: 7,296
6. I Saw the Devil (2010)
Not Rated | 144 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Chun Ho-jin
Votes: 146,132 | Gross: $0.13M
7. One Nite in Mongkok (2004)
110 min | Crime, Drama
Hong Kong nihilism. December 22, a street quarrel leads to the death of a gang leader's son. Next day, he seeks revenge on his brother, a rival boss. He calls on Liu, a fixer, to import a ... See full summary »
Director: Tung-Shing Yee | Stars: Daniel Wu, Cecilia Cheung, Alex Fong, Kar Lok Chin
Votes: 2,767
8. Vengeance (2009)
Not Rated | 108 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A French chef swears revenge after a violent attack on his daughter's family in Macau, during which her husband and her two children are murdered. To help him find the killers, he hires three local hit-men working for the mafia.
Director: Johnnie To | Stars: Johnny Hallyday, Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Simon Yam, Suet Lam
Votes: 7,001
9. The Chaser (2008)
Not Rated | 125 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A disgraced ex-policeman who runs a small ring of prostitutes finds himself in a race against time when one of his women goes missing.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Seo Yeong-hie, Kim Yoo-jung
Votes: 72,742
10. Confessions (2010)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, Thriller
A psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima | Stars: Takako Matsu, Yoshino Kimura, Masaki Okada, Yukito Nishii
Votes: 42,048
11. The Raid: Redemption (2011)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A S.W.A.T. team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.
Director: Gareth Evans | Stars: Iko Uwais, Ananda George, Ray Sahetapy, Donny Alamsyah
Votes: 217,007 | Gross: $4.11M
12. Fire of Conscience (2010)
R | 106 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
Facing a corrupt bureau, a police captain tries to prove his partner's innocence by teaming up with a narcotics officer with mysterious motives.
Director: Dante Lam | Stars: Leon Lai, Richie Jen, Baoqiang Wang, Vivian Hsu
Votes: 1,041
13. Beast Stalker (2008)
Not Rated | 109 min | Action, Thriller
A traffic accident changed their lives forever. In capturing wanted criminal Zhang Yidong, Sergeant Tang Fei (Nicholas Tse) was involved in a gunfight and car accident that put the criminal... See full summary »
Director: Dante Lam | Stars: Nicholas Tse, Jingchu Zhang, Nick Cheung, Pu Miao
Votes: 2,381
14. The Stool Pigeon (2010)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Policeman Don Lee often works with informants but numerous too-close calls and failed missions cause him to see the world as one betrayal after another - then he meets Guy, and is given a new chance to change his views.
Director: Dante Lam | Stars: Nick Cheung, Nicholas Tse, Gwei Lun-Mei, Kai-Chi Liu
Votes: 2,181
15. Battle Royale (2000)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama
Votes: 194,388
16. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
PG | 81 min | Documentary
A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his renowned Tokyo restaurant, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.
Director: David Gelb | Stars: Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto, Daisuke Nakazama
Votes: 38,004 | Gross: $2.55M
17. The Yellow Sea (2010)
R | 136 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the attempt to kill a professor goes wrong, a series of violent events are triggered which force a taxi driver to run for his life.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Lee Yoo-mi, Ha Jung-woo, Lee Hee-joon, Kim Yoon-seok
Votes: 22,952
18. The Man from Nowhere (2010)
R | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.
Director: Lee Jeong-beom | Stars: Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Hee-won
Votes: 74,828 | Gross: $0.01M
19. 13 Assassins (2010)
R | 141 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya, Ikki Sawamura
Votes: 68,584 | Gross: $0.80M
20. Dragon (2011)
R | 98 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A papermaker gets involved with a murder case concerning two criminals leading to a determined detective suspecting him and the former's vicious father searching for him.
Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan | Stars: Donnie Yen, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tang Wei, Jia-Min Li
Votes: 15,796 | Gross: $0.01M
21. Hero (2002)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang
Votes: 187,613 | Gross: $53.71M
22. Smuggler (2011)
TV-MA | 114 min | Drama
This live-action film adaptation of Shohei Manabe's Smuggler manga is not to be missed! Ryosuke Kinuta is a failed actor with big time debts. His loan shark scores him a gig smuggling dead ... See full summary »
Director: Katsuhito Ishii | Stars: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Masatoshi Nagase, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Hikari Mitsushima
Votes: 558
23. Ichi the Killer (2001)
R | 129 min | Action, Crime, Drama
As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of achieving.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Tadanobu Asano, Nao Ômori, Shin'ya Tsukamoto, Paulyn Sun
Votes: 60,032 | Gross: $0.02M
24. Audition (1999)
R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura
Votes: 89,199
25. Oldboy (2003)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 635,483 | Gross: $0.71M
26. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Doona, Lim Ji-eun
Votes: 75,120 | Gross: $0.05M
27. Lady Vengeance (2005)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Nam-mi Kang, Jeong-nam Choi, Hye-Sook Go, Bok-hwa Baek
Votes: 86,083 | Gross: $0.21M
28. Exiled (2006)
R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A friendship is formed between an ex-gangster, and two groups of hitmen - those who want to protect him and those who were sent to kill him.
Director: Johnnie To | Stars: Nick Cheung, Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Francis Ng, Simon Yam
Votes: 9,645 | Gross: $0.05M
29. Cold Fish (2010)
Not Rated | 146 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The lives of a bored suburban couple are changed forever when a seemingly nice old man gives their daughter a job at his fish store, and soon his gruesome hobbies are brought to light.
Director: Sion Sono | Stars: Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Denden, Asuka Kurosawa, Megumi Kagurazaka
Votes: 14,514
30. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, Chang Chen
Votes: 281,570 | Gross: $128.08M
31. House of Flying Daggers (2004)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A romantic police captain breaks a beautiful member of a rebel group out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Ziyi Zhang, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Dandan Song
Votes: 116,249 | Gross: $11.05M
32. Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins (2012)
TV-MA | 134 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A former assassin who has resolved to never kill again has his vow sorely tested.
Director: Keishi Otomo | Stars: Takeru Satoh, Emi Takei, Yû Aoi, Munetaka Aoki
Votes: 29,005
33. The Thieves (2012)
Not Rated | 135 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
After a heist in South Korea, a gang of 5+1 fly to Hong Kong to look into a heist, in a Macau casino, of a $30M diamond, planned by someone unreliable. He brings in HK thieves as well. Can anyone be trusted?
Director: Dong-hoon Choi | Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Lee Jung-jae, Kim Hye-su, Jun Ji-hyun
Votes: 11,543 | Gross: $0.69M
34. The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003)
R | 116 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
The blind masseur/swordsman comes to a town in control of warring gangs, and while bunking with a farming family, he meets two women with their own agenda.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano, Yui Natsukawa, Michiyo Yasuda
Votes: 51,523 | Gross: $0.85M
35. Beyond Outrage (2012)
R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Drama
As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Toshiyuki Nishida, Tomokazu Miura, Takeshi Kitano, Ryô Kase
Votes: 7,259
36. Outrage (2010)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The boss of a major crime syndicate orders his lieutenant to bring a rogue gang of drug traffickers in line, a job that gets passed on to his long-suffering subordinate.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Kippei Shîna, Ryô Kase, Fumiyo Kohinata
Votes: 14,658
37. Snowpiercer (2013)
R | 126 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future where a failed climate change experiment has killed all life except for the survivors who boarded the Snowpiercer (a train that travels around the globe), a new class system emerges.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris
Votes: 388,885 | Gross: $4.56M
38. The Raid 2 (2014)
R | 150 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Only a short time after the first raid, Rama goes undercover with the thugs of Jakarta and plans to bring down the syndicate and uncover the corruption within his police force.
Director: Gareth Evans | Stars: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara
Votes: 131,239 | Gross: $2.63M
39. Rise of the Legend (2014)
Not Rated | 131 min | Action, Biography, Drama
An orphan, whose father has been killed by dark power, attempts to bring justice back to the town.
Director: Roy Hin Yeung Chow | Stars: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Eddie Peng, Luodan Wang, Boran Jing
Votes: 4,346
40. Ip Man 3 (2015)
PG-13 | 105 min | Action, Biography, Drama
When a band of brutal gangsters led by a crooked property developer make a play to take over a local school, Master Ip is forced to take a stand.
Director: Wilson Yip | Stars: Donnie Yen, Lynn Xiong, Jin Zhang, Mike Tyson
Votes: 60,169 | Gross: $2.68M
41. The Wailing (2016)
TV-MA | 156 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Soon after a stranger arrives in a little village, a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman, drawn into the incident, is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Jun Kunimura, Hwang Jung-min, Kwak Do-won, Chun Woo-hee
Votes: 81,887
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