Sammo Hung’s best movies: martial arts legend’s top 10 films ranked, from The Prodigal Son to Ip Man 2

Sammo Hung entered the film industry in the late 1960s as a stuntman and extra, and has since appeared in nearly 200 movies, as well as directing 32

The illustrious career of the actor known as Big Big Brother has encompassed a wide range of styles and genres. We rank his 10 best films, from good to great

Reading Time:6 minutes

Sammo Hung in a scene from The Prodigal Son (1981). Hung is one of the hardest-working filmmakers in the history of Hong Kong cinema.

Published: 5:15am, 27 Sep 2020Updated: 5:24pm, 28 Sep 2020

Sammo Hung Kam-bo is one of the hardest-working filmmakers in the history of Hong Kong cinema.

Known as “Big Big Brother” (so as not to be confused with “Big Brother” Jackie Chan), Hung trained in Peking Opera at the China Martial Arts Academy alongside Chan, where he was sometimes hired out to movie productions as a child actor. He entered the film industry around 1967 as a stuntman and extra, and worked his way up to martial arts choreographer at Shaw Brothers before signing with Golden Harvest in 1970.

Over the next two decades, Hung was in demand as a choreographer and actor, and was successful as a director and producer. To date, he has appeared in some 189 films, directed 32, choreographed 50, directed the action in 28, and produced 47. Although he is known for his irreverent and cheeky comedic characters, he has worked in a wide range of styles and genres.

Below we rank Big Big Brother’s 10 best films, from good to great.

10. Encounter of the Spooky Kind (directed by Sammo Hung, 1980)

A big Christmas hit when it was released in 1980, Encounter of the Spooky Kind launched a slew of kung fu horror comedies, and set the tone for the popular Mr Vampire series that Hung was to produce later in the mid-1980s.