Recently martial arts flicks have taken the world outside Asia by storm in a big way. It’s helped to spread the popularity of the art form to the extent that one can find practitioners and fans all over the world today. Karate movies as one of the genres continue to pull audiences to cinemas. The following seven reasons consider why this happens to be the case.
Karate cinema is typically high in entertainment value. The at times predictable story lines notwithstanding, the fans like lots of nail-biting action from the word go. And it’s thrilling to cheer as the heroes give the bad guys what the latter deserve by means of unbelievable fighting stunts and extraordinary martial skills. The somewhat later addition of stunningly beautiful female stars flowing through the actions make for riveting cinema indeed.
Asian-produced martial arts motion pictures have steadily made inroads into western cinemas, and have paved the way for the genre’s current fame. Through these flicks western onlookers have always been intrigued by the cultural novelties on screen. So another drawing point of karate moving-picture shows have been as a means of sharing cultural information.
Today karate flicks are big box office favorites, and film makers keep producing to lure crowds. When these films started filtering into mainstream cinematic theater, its fame quickly soured like eagles. There is little doubt that crowd-pulling contemporary karate picture shows featuring big-name Western film stars owe its success to the ample use of martial arts.
Another motive for its popularity happen to be the fact that the heroes on the celluloid screen have become iconic role models for many youngsters flocking to the big screens. The availability of DVD and video formats today have certainly helped to make these movies and its stars more accessible. By mimicking the latter, many have opted to start practicing karate as sport, and have come to be inspired by what the heroes achieve on film, hoping to repeat these feats in the fan’s own life.
Reason number five has to do with the positive effects the films have on karate disciples especially. Those who take part in the sport because of what gets portrayed on film find there are ample good motivations to continue with it. Besides making new friends and having something to do after school or work, it also touches other aspects of one’s life. It’s a major health booster, instills discipline and shapes constructive character and mental sharpness.
Apart from the exciting and stylized fighting scenes, the often simple story lines appeal to many a viewer’s own life circumstances and fantasies of significance. In other words, many flock to see the flicks not just to be entertained or see the hero in action, but to be inspired by tales of ordinary folk that reach great heights because of the specific skills.
The seventh explanation concerning the rise in popularity of these flicks is because it showcases not only superb fighting talent, but deals with themes familiar to human beings. These include tales of sadness and death, revenge, the comedic and heroic, among others. These explanations hopefully offered some idea as to why karate movies continue to grow in its cult-movie status.