Top 10 Best Donnie Yen Fight Scenes

As if we needed a whole Top 10 list to convince you he’s a badass. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down the Top 10 Donnie Yen Fight Scenes.


For this list, we’re compiling individual fights from Yen’s filmography that stand out in terms of their fight choreography and general intensity. Oh, and spoiler alert for the fights in question.

“Bodyguards and Assassins” (2009)
The only film on this list that features Yen in a reduced role, “Bodyguards and Assassins” makes up for his sparse appearance in the third act when he finally springs into action. Being chased by the vicious Le, Yen shows off his parkour skills when he tries to escape through a crowded street. Of course, because fighters gotta fight, Le catches up with him, and the two duke it out in front of a crowd. Le lands a number of hits - including a wicked-long jump-kick - but Yen manages to fend him off and send them both flying into a storefront. Upon recovering from debris, Le looks to end it with a fishhook, but Yen proves too quick with a broken piece of pottery to the throat.

“Dragon” (2011)
There’s a time to hide and a time to fight, and for Yen’s Liu Jinxi, the time for hiding is over. When his old gang finally tracks him down, willing to kill innocents and lay waste to the village lest he reveal his true identity, Yen springs into action. Upon killing one of the goons, he absconds across rooftops in an effort to draw the relentless Kara Huiaway from civilians. The two crash down in a buffalo shed and give us one for the ages. Yen holds strong against the dual-bladed Hui, whose intensity and ruthlessness is ultimately her undoing. Desperate, Hui causes a stampede that leads her to be trampled and swept away over a waterfall, but not before breaking Yen’s spirit.

“Special ID” (2013)
As pulse-pounding as Donnie’s car chase with On is at the end of the film, his earlier bout with On’s goons showcases his physical versatility when it comes to adapting to a relatively unfamiliar characterization. Known for playing stoic, self-assured martial artists, Yen gets to shine as the eccentric, braggadocious Dragon Chan. Whilst beating scores of black-clad goons to a proverbial pulp with various kitchen utensils, Yen breaks the tension by using the shoulders of subdued enemies as stools and flipping them off when separated via glass partition. Then to solidify his exit, he tosses a thug out a window then uses him as a landing pad. Way to objectify in the funniest possible way.

“Iron Monkey” (1993)
Despite there being kung fu fights all over this list, there’s not a lot of wire fu going on, except in this glorious entry. Acting as a late-night sentry to capture the outlawed Iron Monkey, Donnie Yen’s Wong Kei-ying instead intercepts a band of mischievous Shaolin monks working for the evil Hin-hung. Hardly breaking a sweat, Yen moves light as a feather as he flings about his adversaries with ease. And fortunately for the viewer, the fight takes place at an archaic construction site, rife with wooden scaffoldings for Yen and company to crash into. They just don’t make fights like they used to.

“Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen” (2010)
Donnie Yen is one of the few big-screen martial artists that can go up against virtually a hundred foes and still look like the favorite. In this rousing finale, the titular Chen Zhen accepts Colonel Chikaraishi Takeshi’s challenge, looking for retribution for the scores of those murdered in his wake. First squaring off against his goons, Yen dispatches all those who challenge him, to the point that those remaining fear him, at which time the nunchucks become mere showboating. Next in the boss battle, Chikaraishi puts him down for the count, but he manages to harness his inner Bruce Lee by going shirtless and buckling down. Once Chikaraishi is beaten to a pulp, Yen flips him a thematic coin to add insult to injury.

“Ip Man 2” (2010)
Even with plenty on the line for him, Donnie Yen’s Ip Man never fails to remain respectful of his adversaries when he can. Upon relocating to Hong Kong, he’s tasked with proving himself against the city’s most prominent kung fu masters if he wants to open up a school. The first two bouts are quick and fun, but it’s the third one against Sammo Hung that really gets our blood pumping. Set on a rickety tabletop, the two fight for purchase and space whilst trying to keep their balance. Seeing as the fight is so evenly matched, all that can happen is for the table to literally split in two, making for as close to a draw as you can get.

“The Lost Bladesman” (2011)
If you’re going up against Donnie Yen, you’ve gotta know when you’re beat. While attempting to locate his sworn brother and figure out who wants him dead, Yen’s Guan Yu kills a lot of generals trying to oppose him before encounting Wang Zhi. The official of Xingyang, Wang successfully cleared out the town prior to Guan’s arrival but looks to impede him anyway. What results is a hair-raising sword vs. spear showdown that sees Wang fight through exhaustion, even when Guan tries to spare his life. Rather than give up the information Guan seeks, however, Wang ultimately accepts defeat and ends his own life by letting the spear fall on his neck. We don’t see it, but we feel it, and it is heavy stuff.

“Kill Zone” (2005)
Improvised movie moments are one thing, but an improvised fight? That’s something else entirely. Yet that’s largely what Donnie Yen and Wu Jing do in the lead-up to the finale in “Kill Zone.” Before Yen can take on the big-bad of the film, he’s got to go through Wu in one of the most savage fights you’ll ever see. Going up against Wu’s knife with a baton, Yen finds himself getting cut up early. However, the length of the baton gives him the reach he needs to beat Wu to the punch. Upon bloodying Wu up, Yen is able to seize his knife and drive it home. Not stopping there, he makes sure to completely eviscerate him before ripping it out and walking away. Harsh.

“Flash Point” (2007)
You gotta know that when Donnie Yen smears a nosebleed, he means business. Of course, he meant business earlier in the film when he took down an assassin that tried to use a little girl as a human shield, but it’s this climactic showdown that emphasizes the sheer ferocity he can bring to a role. Indeed, you see him employ alternate fighting styles in this one, particularly wrestling, as he pins Chou multiple times during the fight and ends it with one hell of a headlock. Everything else is simply the kind of rough-and-tumble, winner-take-all kind of brawl that emphasizes just how fiercely Yen will fight to earn the victory.

Before we get to our top fight, here are some honorable mentions:

Donnie Yen vs. Katana
“Tiger Cage 2” (1990)

Donnie Yen vs. Jet Li
“Once Upon a Time in China II” (1992)

Donnie Yen vs. Jet Li
“Hero” (2002)

Donnie Yen vs. Michael Woods
“In the Line of Duty 4” (1989)

Donnie Yen vs. Wang Baoqiang
“Kung Fu Jungle” (2014)

“Ip Man” (2008)
At this point in the first “Ip Man” film, Yen’s title character showed nothing but restraint and respect for his adversaries for the love of Wing Chun. Which is why it came as such a brutal shock to see him waltz into General Miura’s dojo and express his indignance for his friend’s murder on not one, not two, but ten black belts simultaneously. The unrelenting nature with which Ip fights - breaking arms and legs like they were bendy straws - is impressive and astonishing in equal measure. Sufficient to say, he gains the general’s attention, but what he really gains is our utmost admiration for his skill.