Martial Arts Movies… with Kids!
I was a bit obsessive about martial arts as a kid. Not the whole training every day and discipline thing, but I watched enough movies about martial arts that I had to learn something through movie osmosis. Now I’m an old man with a kid of my own and I’m doing the natural thing of showing all my old favorites to my son. Unlike my parents, though, I’m aware that movies like Predator and Aliens might not be the best kind of entertainment for little ones and have made a short list of films that are (almost) suitable for my little one.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
I saw this movie in theaters back in 1990 and it absolutely blew my mind. A recent re-watch brought about a lot of old memories of my friends and I swinging plastic swords around in my backyard and all the times I bought throwing stars from magazines and county fairs. It also reminded me that this movie is much more violent than I remember. Be careful with this one but don’t let that stop you from pointing out that scene where Shredder gets crushed in a trash compactor.
Sidekicks (1992)
This movie was essentially every fantasy I ever had all wrapped up into one convenient movie. Did I have a strong desire to learn martial arts from a mysterious Asian restaurant worker? Yep. Did I have a massive crush on Danica McKellar? Definitely. Would I give my left arm to compete in a martial arts competition with Chuck Norris? Just take it now. Sidekicks is an amazing movie that any and every young martial arts fan needs to watch.
3 Ninjas (1992)
More awesomeness from 1992. Who knew it would be such a great year for children fighting adults? As strange as it sounds, parts of 3 Ninjas also fit into those same fantasies I had of my youth where a bunch of bumbling idiots would try to break into my house only to be met with a bevy of high tech booby traps and roundhouse kicks to the face.
The Karate Kid (1984)
It has been a long time since I’ve watched The Karate Kid. It never did it for me as a kid, to be honest. Even I could tell that Ralph Macchio was a little punk back then. Now they’re back and making more shows based around the characters and maybe it’s time that I re-visit the movie and show with an older, more accepting eye.
Warriors of Virtue (1997)
A young kid gets transported into some magical world will little rat men know kung fu and are fighting against an evil warlord. Someone did a lot of drugs in the late 90’s. I have fond memories of this movie despite not remembering much about it. Does that even makes sense? Either way, the movie had some cool fight scenes and I’ve always enjoyed Angus Macfadyen as a bad guy.
Surf Ninjas (1993)
It was the movie that I never knew I wanted. Ernie Reyes and his son team up with Rob Schneider and a little kid to do battle with Leslie Nielsen. It perfectly blends that California 90’s culture with Ernie Reyes Jr. screaming loudly as he kicks stuntmen in the head for about 40 minutes of the movie. It’s really funny at points and has enough short people in it that was legitimately surprised to learn that Rob Schneider was like 5’6″ in real life.
