By Vlad Zakh · October 6, 2025
Hong Kong Action intensenostalgic
Hong Kong action cinema built the modern gunfight and the modern kung-fu film long before Hollywood caught up, while Wong Kar-wai was doing something wholly different at the same time: slow, neon-lit stories of missed connections. Fallen Angels is his stranger, sadder companion to Chungking Express, and The Grandmaster is a more meditative take on Ip Man than a typical martial-arts biopic. Rumble in the Bronx broke Jackie Chan in American theatres, and Drunken Master shows him young. Police Story, Ip Man, A Better Tomorrow, Infernal Affairs and Hard Boiled round out the list.
01 Wong Kar-wai's neon-drenched companion piece to Chungking Express, stranger and sadder.
Directed by Wong Kar-Wai · 1h 38m · Rated NR
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Rent: Amazon Video · Buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
Stream: MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
02 The film that finally broke Jackie Chan into American cinemas.
Directed by Stanley Tong Gwai-Lai · 1h 46m · Rated R
Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Stream: Now TV Cinema · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Sky Store, YouTube
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, CosmoGo, YouTube, Amazon Video
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video
03 A stylised account of Ip Man's life, more meditative than the usual martial-arts biopic.
Directed by Wong Kar-Wai · 2h 10m · Rated PG-13
Stream: Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel, Howdy Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Rent: BFI Player
Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, CosmoGo, YouTube
Rent: JustWatch TV, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fetch TV · Buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fetch TV
Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Amazon Video · Buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
04 A mischievous young man is forced to master an unconventional and comic style of martial arts.
Directed by Yuen Woo-ping · 1h 51m · Rated PG-13
Stream: Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Sky Store, YouTube
Stream: Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, CosmoGo, YouTube, Amazon Video
Stream: Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Stream: JioHotstar · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
05 Jackie Chan performs his own stunts at a level of danger that's hard to watch as pure entertainment.
Directed by Jackie Chan · 1h 39m · Rated PG-13
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, HBO Max · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Stream: BFI Player, BFI Player Amazon Channel, Now TV Cinema, BFI Player Apple TV Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video
Stream: Criterion Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
Rent: JustWatch TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube · Buy: Google Play Movies, YouTube
06 A revered martial arts master must defend his honour and community during the Japanese occupation of China.
Directed by Wilson Yip · 1h 46m · Rated R
Stream: Hulu, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Screambox Amazon Channel, FlixFling, Hi-YAH · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Sky Store
Stream: FlixFling · Rent: Google Play Movies, YouTube · Buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, FlixFling, YouTube
Rent: JustWatch TV, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube · Buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Hungama Play, EPIC ON, VI movies and tv, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
07 John Woo's gangster drama, the film that more or less invented the modern Hong Kong crime movie.
Directed by John Woo · 1h 35m · Rated R
6 wins & 14 nominations
Stream: fuboTV · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video
Rent or buy: Amazon Video
08 A cop inside a gang and a gangster inside the police each hunt for the other's identity.
Directed by Alan Mak Siu-Fai & Andrew Lau Wai-Keung · 1h 41m · Rated R
24 wins & 26 nominations
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, HBO Max · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Rent: Amazon Video · Buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video
Stream: Criterion Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, YouTube
Stream: Foxtel Now · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Fetch TV
Stream: Netflix
09 John Woo's gunfight choreography reached a peak here that action cinema is still chasing.
Directed by John Woo · 2h 06m · Rated NR
3 wins & 4 nominations
Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, CosmoGo
Rent or buy: Amazon Video
10 Two heartbroken Hong Kong police officers deal with loneliness and unexpected romance in the bustling city.
Directed by Wong Kar-Wai · 1h 42m · Rated PG-13
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Rent: Amazon Video · Buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
Stream: MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.
