When it comes to Wing Chun, there are two movies that really come to mind: The Prodigal Son, and Warriors Two. These two movies were Sammo Hung’s directorial tributes to the art of Wing Chun. (Yes, there’s also Wing Chun, but I think of these two first.)

If you’re a martial arts movie buff, then you have to see both of these movies. Stop, go out to the video store, and get these. Now. I’ll wait. Okay, got them? Good.

While certainly not as polished as more recent offerings, they do highlight the Wing Chun style, while presenting the more gritty side of martial arts movies. They also feature some of the (at times apocryphal) history of Wing Chun itself.

The Prodigal Son stars Yuen Bao as the legendary Leung Jan, a well known character in Wing Chun history. Centering on the time of Jan’s apprenticeship with the Red Junk Opera, the story begins with Jan in the village of Foshan, where his father pays people around time to lose fights to Jan, to protect his son. An encounter with another famous Wing Chun figure, Leung Yee Tai, demonstrates how incredibly poor his skills are, and he follows Yee Tai around, hoping to learn from him. His training eventually includes tutelage under Wong Wah Bo, played rather amusingly by Sammo himself.

The plot of this movie, sadly enough, leaves something to be desired. Much as I’d like to appreciate a historical look into this period of time, the plot doesn’t really come together in any cohesive way — it comes across as just a bunch of stuff that happens, which is a bit unsatisfying. The traditional you-killed-my-master-so-I-will-defeat-you theme is there, but not as any overarching conflict to drive the movie. This movie is more of a historical hypothesis, though one wonders how much is real, and how much is fantasy. It’s true that Leung Jan worked on the Red Junk Opera, and received training under Leung Yee Tai and Wong Wah Bo. How much beyond that is true is left to speculation.

Of course, the real reason to see this movie is the fighting and training. Like any good martial arts trainer flick, the hero begins as an uneducated beginner, trains through the movie, leading up to a final battle. From the Wing Chun perspective, this movie has a lot to offer. When Wong Wah Bo trains with his daughter, I see a nice fook sao-jut sao-punch drill that seems quite familiar. Play this scene in slow motion, and you’ll see that Wong Wah Bo’s moves are just a little more practiced and speedy than his daughter’s. The fight coreography in this movie is quite good, and really showcases a lot of moves from Wing Chun.

Overall, if you’re a fan of Wing Chun (or even just well coreographed fight scenes), this is a must see movie. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for flowery plots and character development, you’re going to be disappointed. It doesn’t have the broadband appeal of more popular martial arts flicks, but is well worth a look.