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Arnis Needs a Movie

6/20/26

When we think about Martial Arts movies, the first things that usually come to mind are Chinese Kung Fu movies. They had their first global impact in the 60's and 70's, inspiring filmakers all over to emulate what they had, creating a new genre of film altogether. In the history of the genre, there have only been a small handful of movies that feature Arnis front and center, fully about what it is and where it's from, despite Arnis being present in scores of Hollywood films.

Arnis in Hollywood

The two men who first brought Arnis to Hollywood were Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto. Inosanto is perhaps the most famous Filipino martial artist in the world, being among the first to spread Arnis around the US and eventually globally. The two were long time friends who trained together and taught eachother. Bruce saw the value of Arnis not just as a fighting art, but as something that could be spectacular on the silver screen, eventually deciding to use it on film for the first time in one fight sequence in Enter The Dragon (1973). In it he utilizes a pair of baston (Arnis sticks) to stylishly take down a large group of charging henchmen. In Bruce's next and last film Game of Death (1978), Bruce and Dan would face off in a pivotal duel with Dan equipped with baston. Their duel was regarded as the best example of Filipino martial arts in a Hollywood production for decades, though unfortunately it can be said that this was "by default" as there wouldn't be another major Hollywood film to feature Filipino martial arts in this way until 2021.

However, this is not to say that the Filipino martial arts have not been present in Hollywood since Bruce Lee. In fact, there may be several films you've seen that utilize the arts. Here are a few:

  • "Enter the Dragon" (1973)
  • "Game of Death" (1978)
  • "Big Trouble in Little China" (1986)
  • "Out for Justice" (1991)
  • "The Perfect Weapon" (1991)
  • "Under Siege" (1992)
  • "Mission of Justice" (1992)
  • "Martial Law 2" (1992)
  • "Under Siege 2" (1995)
  • "Barb Wire" (1996)
  • "Mortal Kombat Annihilation" (1997)
  • "Blade" (1998)
  • "Pitch Black (The Chronicles of Riddick series)" (2000)
  • "Kiss of the Dragon" (2001)
  • "The Bourne Identity" (2002)
  • "Blade II" (2002)
  • "Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever" (2002)
  • "Equilibrium" (2002)
  • "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003)
  • "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life" (2003)
  • "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004)
  • "Blade: Trinity" (2004)
  • "The Chronicles of Riddick" (2004)
  • "The Prodigy" (2005)
  • "Mission: Impossible III" (2006)
  • "The Sensei" (2006)
  • "300" (2007)
  • "The Bourne Ultimatum" (2007)
  • "Taken" (2008)
  • "Quantum of Solace" (2008)
  • "Big Stan" (2008)
  • "Punisher: War Zone" (2008)
  • "Ninja Assassin" (2009)
  • "Wrong Side of Town" (2010)
  • "Kick-Ass" (2010)
  • "Repo Men" (2010)
  • "The Book of Eli" (2010)
  • "Hanna" (2011)
  • "Unknown" (2011)
  • "The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption" (2012)
  • "The Equalizer" (2014)
  • "Non-Stop" (2014)
  • "I, Frankenstein" (2014)
  • "Spy" (2015)
  • "Furious 7" (2015)
  • "John Wick: Chapter 2" (2017)
  • "The Old Guard" (2020)
  • "Raya and the Last Dragon" (2021)
  • "Dune" (2021)
  • "Dune: Part 2" (2024)

Filipino martial artists have made their mark in Hollywood in the background, primarily as stunt choreographers and performers. Oftentimes when you see a film character who is an expert in knife or sword fighting, that actor was trained by a practitioner in the Filipino martial arts. But what makes it so sought after for movies? The arts have a vast and growing selection of exotic techniques and styles ranging from practical and minimalist to unrealistic yet spectacular, a skillset for any mood of action.

Call It By It's Name

What I find unfortunate about the Filipino martial art's presence in the film industry is that it's rarely given the chance to be named as such within the media it's a part of, unless of course it's a documentary. Even outside of Hollywood, there are only 4 films from the Philippines that are explicitly about Arnis:

  • "The Pacific Connection" (1974)
  • "Arnis: The Sticks of Death" (1984)
  • "Kamagong" (1986)
  • "Mano Mano 3: Arnis the Lost Art" (2004)

As you can tell, these films are quite old. Unlike Kung Fu films, these were not quite able to generate a sustained interest for the perpetuation of Arnis films. The most notable recent boost in publicity for Arnis in film would be it's prevelence in the Dune movie series, where they utilize a visually unmistakable real world style called Balintawak Eskrima for their knife and sword fighting choreography. Just like I noted previously however, the story and setting does not allow for reference to it's culture of origin. It would seem that attempts to keep Arnis "intact" on the silver screen have not panned out, but does it have to be this way? Are Kung Fu movies the only martial arts movies allowed to have the genre?

Following Success

In the progression of the Martial Arts genre over the decades, two Southeast Asian arts have been able to carve their niches and keep putting out movies that are loved the world over: Muay Thai from Thailand and Silat from Indonesia, with their breakout movies "Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior" (2003) and "Merantau" (2009) respectively. Each of these films feature young warriors who are rooted in their arts and cultures going out into the modern world to face down modern injustices. Their arts are presented as exactly where they are from, no obfuscation, not as a background story element, they're front and center. Although the choreography is meant to be spectacular, they do a great job of not only demonstrating what sets them apart from Kung Fu and the "typical" martial arts film, but also demonstrate that many of their techniques may be practical as well. Since the global successes of these films, there's been a growing and dedicated audience that's hungry for more and more of their movies.

Besides financial I see no good reason why the Filipino martial arts can't break out of Hollywood's shadow and make great films too. This could even be a chance for the Filipino movie industry to carve their own niche into the world stage, movies made by Filipinos to put the arts on full display. Practitioners already have a foothold in Hollywood, teachers perpetuate the practice of the art on every continent, and Filipinos yearn to see Filipino heroes be loved worldwide.

Perhaps the most likely reason we do not have such movies is because big investors do not believe in the idea. I do not believe it is for lack of writing, as I'm sure there have been plenty of writers who have struggled to get these ideas off the ground. Ong Bak and Merantau were low budget gambles that paid off tremendously in terms of cultural and film industry impact, but were still gambles. So in waiting for the day that dreamers and gamblers can get together again to shake the martial arts genre, I'll be coming up with my own stories to fill that niche for myself, and maybe someday I'll go on to make something cool with em!

Some of my ideas!