Many reasons.

First of all, the decline of genre films is often cyclical, and the same is true for martial arts films. When a genre becomes too successful, audiences gradually begin to lose interest in the genre. Some genres will still make a comeback after a period of silence. I think the same goes for martial arts films, even if martial arts is less popular these days.

The decline of martial arts movies is also inseparable from the decline of Hong Kong movies. From the early "Dragon Inn" and "The Sword of the Third Young Master" to the later "The Swordsman", "Ashes of Time", "New Dragon Inn" and "Once Upon a Time" series, they are all produced in Hong Kong. But many of the backbones of Hong Kong films come from outside. In 1949, a group of Hong Kong martial arts founders such as Hu Jinshuan and Jin Yong came to Hong Kong from the mainland. When the market in Hong Kong was insufficient and production was limited, many of them turned elsewhere. For example, Wong Kar-wai and John Woo went to Hollywood, and more people returned to the mainland.

Good movies in Hong Kong are forced to come out. In a small place where business is the most important thing, a box office failure may lead to rapid elimination. This has forced many film creators to develop the ability to produce high-quality films that audiences like in a short time, low cost, and simple environment.

However, after the decline of Hong Kong movies in the 21st century, many Hong Kong filmmakers went north to enter the mainland, catching up with the mainland business led by a number of commercial films such as "Hero", "The Promise", and "Golden Armor" The beginning of the movie. This was also the period when mainland GDP began to rise rapidly. A large amount of investment and a growing group of moviegoers have reduced the pressure on Hong Kong filmmakers in this "not short of money" environment, increased their freedom, and diverted talents with capital. Films like "New Dragon Inn" that can gather a group of big names in front of and behind the scenes have become rare. In many films we can see that it does a good job in photography or sound or in persuading the Tao, but there are always some other shortcomings, precisely for this reason.

And it has become the norm that high prices do not bring high quality, and many masters have also begun to travel.

Of course, the low quality of the film itself has something to do with their unwillingness to bother too much. But some people have lost their original intention, which makes martial arts lose their souls. This is also a very important reason. After all, the most important thing about martial arts is not martial arts, but Xia. What we see in martial arts films are often not just characters and stories, but also chivalry, history and era. How many people filming martial arts today can be as sophisticated about weapons and as proficient in Ming history as Hu Jinshuan?

The cost of martial arts films is usually not too low due to the costumes and action scenes, so investors usually choose a safer approach. Therefore, in order to be able to be released, there will be certain restrictions on content.

Many martial arts films are adapted from literary works, and in the past, martial arts was originally popular literature. As a high-cost costume action film, the fan base is also one of the key considerations for investors. However, with the rise of online literature, many cool articles have replaced martial arts, and high-quality martial arts literature has decreased. And this also affected martial arts movies. The number of fans has decreased, and Wuxia, which has lost its IP advantage, is no longer valued by investors.

But I believe this state will not last long. After the downturn, martial arts films should see another batch of high-quality works, although they may be transformed to suit the times like "A Better Tomorrow." But chivalry will never change.

The decline of Chinese martial arts movies has always been like this, and I think it is true. The most intuitive confirmation is that the martial arts movies currently released in theaters are basically not good at the box office, let alone the reputation. Take the summer release of Tsui Hark's "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings". In terms of plot, special effects, and even director Tsui Hark's prestige, directing ability, and unbridled imagination, this movie is better than There are many "The Richest Man in Xihong City", but in terms of box office, "Four Kings" barely exceeded 600 million in one month, while "The Richest Man in Tomato" had a box office of over 200 million. Of course, box office is not the only criterion. Time will prove that from the perspective of the development of the film industry, we will be more grateful to "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings" for improving the Chinese film industry. However, judging from the audience's love, Everyone prefers family-friendly dramas and martial arts movies about fighting and killing, which indeed have a general audience.

If the failure of "The Four Heavenly Kings" in theaters is still an isolated phenomenon, it would be fine. Going forward in time, "The Sword of the Third Young Master" co-produced by Tsui Hark and Er Dongsheng suffered a failure. Sha, there was no box office at all. Of course, the production of that movie was indeed very problematic and it was undoubtedly a bad movie; Wong Kar-wai's "The Grandmaster" is indeed a good martial arts movie. With Zhang Ziyi, Tony Leung, and Chang Chen joining the cast, it was a masterpiece of the times. "Breath" is a classic, but its box office is not high; "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2: The Sword of the Dark", although directed by Yuan Woo-Ping and joined by Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen, cannot escape the bad luck at the box office; looking further ahead, produced by John Woo, "Sword Rain" directed by Su Zhaobin, this martial arts movie is indeed a high-quality work with excellent quality, but it still cannot escape the bad luck at the box office. If we go further, we can only mention Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", this movie is in It’s a classic that made a splash at the Oscars, but it still barely made a dent in the domestic box office.

From these points of view, the decline of Chinese martial arts movies is a fait accompli.

But why is this so? China's martial arts movies were once the most popular movie genre. China's film industry is immature, and many types of movies are still unformed. However, only martial arts movies are unrivaled in the world. From the time they were produced by Shaw Brothers, they must be high-quality products. Numerous martial arts movies have been produced, and the martial arts craze started in mainland China with "Shaolin Temple". Then in the 1980s, Tsui Hark's "Once Upon a Time" series, "The Swordsman" series, and Jackie Chan's "Drunken Master" series, all of which have gained great reputations. and the martial arts classic series that were a slam dunk at the box office, but after the new century, most people have lost interest in such martial arts films that fly around. In martial arts, martial arts is just a means, and chivalry is the goal. Without the constraints of chivalry, martial arts can only fly around without touching the ground, which really makes people feel that they have lost their foundation. The new martial arts movies Xu Haofeng has filmed in recent years, such as "Hidden on the Back of the Knife", "Master" and "Kneading Hands with Knife", can be regarded as overcorrecting for martial arts movies, bringing martial arts back to the ground, and also received a lot of praise. But the decline of martial arts movies is an indisputable fact.

In the past ten years, more and more martial arts movies have relied too much on dazzling movie stunts, and the touching martial arts feelings are gradually declining. The future of martial arts movies is really worrying!

"The Invincible East"

Ten years ago, the martial arts genre was the only way for famous directors to reach blockbusters. However, with the over-reliance on special effects, the quality of martial arts movies has deteriorated. The number of martial arts movies has become increasingly unsatisfactory, and the number of martial arts movies has been decreasing year by year, and the box office has become weaker and weaker. In recent years, although martial arts movies have occasionally boasted special effects scenes, they now also have the flavor of a hero's end!

In 2015, Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Assassin", Chen Kaige's "The Taoist Comes Down the Mountain", Er Dongsheng's "The Sword of the Third Young Master", Yuan Heping's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2", big-name directors and action movie stars , the combination of popular niches couldn't withstand the reputation brought by the failure of martial arts special effects!

"The Taoist Comes Down the Mountain"

"New Dragon Gate Inn", "The Swordsman of the East", "A Chinese Ghost Story" and "A Chinese Ghost Story". . . These classic martial arts actually illustrate the fact that martial arts is divided into two parts: "martial arts" and "xia". However, today's so-called martial arts movies overemphasize "martial arts" and ignore "xia". "Martial arts" are special effects. , is what catches the eye, "xia" is the feeling, and is the heart!

"Ashes of Time"

For movies, there are also cycles. Maybe martial arts movies have reached a peak period, and if there are no new ideas, they have to start A transformation, to become a new martial arts, a new stunt film.

Of course, in addition to the reasons for genre recycling, creative reasons are the main reasons, including excessive exploration of the same theme, excessive cost and funds spent on the creation of visual effects, stars Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, but don’t ignore the power of the script itself. A good script is equivalent to a good soup. Only with good soup can you cook good dishes. If the soup is not good, no matter how much chicken essence is added, it will have no taste. !

"New Dragon Inn"

As the most Chinese film type, martial arts films still have great prospects, and this chivalrous spirit can only thrive in the fertile soil of China. Above, I hope that future martial arts films will focus more on the creation of the word "xia" instead of just focusing on gorgeous images. This would really be like picking up sesame seeds and losing the watermelon!

Today’s martial arts films have declined, mainly due to changes in the social environment. In the past, actors in martial arts films have basically practiced and have certain martial arts skills. Nowadays, many actors cannot endure hardship in this aspect. They prefer to just stand there and do a few random moves, and leave the rest to the special effects. , is the film shot in this way a martial arts film? Apparently not.

I remember the famous movie star Nicholas Tse said that when he was filming a martial arts film, he had to practice every day. He had a lot of weapons at home and he would practice whenever he had time. Whether a person has kung fu depends directly on whether he can use weapons.

Movie star Yu Rongguang also said that the martial arts actors at that time were all real kung fu. On the other hand, nowadays, the most important thing for actors is their personal image. When filming movies and TV series, they always do close-ups and slow motion. This way they won’t get hurt, they don’t have to work hard to practice, and the benefits are high, so why not do it?

In the past, injuries were commonplace for martial arts actors. Today, many actors feel like the sky is falling when they only get a little skin on their hands. With such an attitude, it is impossible to make a martial arts film.

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The above answer is very comprehensive. I would like to add another point of view. The previous post also discussed the comparison between current martial arts films and the martial arts films of the 1990s. Interested viewers can read the previous post. The son is.

Why did martial arts movies decline?

In addition to the reasons mentioned in other answers, there is another important reason.

Hong Kong martial arts films in the 1990s followed an elegant and unrestrained style of action design. Since Hong Kong films were at their peak, it was difficult to break through. Now for action aesthetics, return to the realistic competitive fighting mode.

The elegant action design of Hong Kong martial arts movies in the 1990s no longer conforms to the current audience's aesthetic view of action movies. To put it harshly, the elegant action design of early Hong Kong martial arts movies is outdated.

It is a fact that Chinese martial arts films gradually declined in 2000. Now it can only be said that they have been inherited. Compared with Hong Kong martial arts films in the 1980s and 1990s, there is a long way to go in their heyday. Tsui Hark's "Detective Detective Series" is a fantasy movie. Martial arts is just a genre, not a pure martial arts movie.

There are only two other directors worth mentioning. One is Xu Haofeng’s martial arts works. In terms of action design, you can use the work "Master" to compare it with "Dangerous City", which was produced by Hong Kong director Chen Musheng at the same time and assembled a Hong Kong all-star cast.

The only actors in "The Master" are Liao Fan and Song Jia, and neither Liao Fan nor Song Yang are practitioners. And "Dangerous City" has Wu Jing, Liu Qingyun, Louis Koo and Peng Yuyan. The lineup is too strong, but the result is that "Master" wins in terms of reputation and action design.

The other one is the "Embroidered Spring Knife Series" directed by mainland young man Lu Yang!

This film is more like a traditional martial arts movie. It also learns from and inherits Hollywood's new era genre films. It is very excellent. The main thing to learn about inheritance is the same as action design. In the past, Hong Kong martial arts films were hard-hitting and hard-horsed in the early stages, but in the mid-term, Tsui Hark-style films were flying around, spiritual and elegant.

The action style of "Xiu Chun Knife", which is as realistic as possible, with slashing and stabbing fighting and rapid camera switching, is already close to the design of current Hollywood action movies.

The quantity of "Xiu Chun Dao Series" is too small, and the feedback in the market is pretty good, but it cannot be said to be very good. Compared with "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Operation Red Sea" with a box office of 200 million to 300 million, it cannot even reach the top.

Even compared to films such as "The Ex 3" and "Shameful Iron Fist", the gap is too far. There is no follow-up on whether "Xiu Chun Dao 3" can be filmed again. There is no future for other similar ancient costume martial arts films.

Judging from the current feedback from audiences in the Chinese film market, the quality of "Spring Knife" is not too far behind that of "Di Renjie", but the box office feedback is vastly different. It will definitely not be "Spring Knife" The leading actor Zhang Chen is not as handsome as the leading actor Zhao Youting in "Detective Dee".

The character creation skills of "Xiu Chun Dao" are much stronger than those of the two "Detective Dee" films. Senior brother Gao Ji in "Spring Knife 1" is played by Zhou Yiwei, Pei Lun played by Lei Jiayin in "Spring Knife 2", and Ding Baiying played by Xin Zhilei.

The reason is that in the Chinese film market, industrial blockbusters and fantasy films are much more popular than martial arts films, and the audience in the market is more accepting of this model, as well as "Wolf Warrior 2" "Operation Red Sea" a contemporary military action film.

So, the decline of martial arts films is certain. Now whether it is Xu Haofeng or Lu Yang, in addition to the return to realism in action design, in terms of genre themes, it is also more in line with the big era and the realistic state of small characters. In the past, elegant martial arts films , the decline has become a fact and it is difficult to reverse.

There don’t seem to be many new martial arts films in recent years, and most of them are remakes of previous martial arts novels. But there are very few truly new martial arts films. What seems to be rising next are fantasy TV series and fairy tale TV series with another theme, such as "A Thousand Bones of Flowers", "Qingyun Zhi", "Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossom" and so on.

Many people say that this is an era of "the decline of martial arts." Indeed, the emergence of endless fantasy novels and the decline of martial arts films is an indisputable fact. So why did martial arts movies decline?

There are no good martial arts themes and works

This is very fatal. Everyone knows that making TV requires a script. There don’t seem to be many martial arts themes in recent years.

Many directors are still keen to shoot the works of Jin Yong, Gu Long and others. Indeed, their works are very excellent and can be said to be the pinnacle works in the martial arts genre. But after so many years of remakes and modifications, these works are no longer enough to catch the audience's attention.

Because no matter how many remakes of classics there are, they will no longer attract audiences. Most of those masters have stopped writing, and other authors do not have good themes for their works, so the audience can only turn their attention to more attractive fantasy and fairy-themed works.

Audiences like other film and television dramas and have diversified interests and hobbies

This is a change in concept. Martial arts could be said to be popular all over the country more than ten or twenty years ago. But the new generation does not seem to have a deep understanding of this concept. On the contrary, they have been exposed to fantasy novels and fairy tale novels since they were young. I seem to have little interest in traditional martial arts novels.

Filmed movies and TV series are not very attractive to them, and not only novels, but also corresponding games have impacted the concepts of this new generation. Their awareness of games, etc. is definitely far higher. Based on traditional martial arts content.

The investment in martial arts films is relatively small

Apart from remakes of martial arts films produced in recent years, one thing is that the characters are not very suitable. Nowadays, the traffic is on Xiaoxianrou, so their worth has doubled, and some even make hundreds of millions of dollars for a movie. Moreover, martial arts movies are difficult to shoot, so many young actors are unwilling to shoot them.

This also leads to the selection of protagonists, who are either old actors and not of the right age; or they cannot afford to hire them; or they spend a lot of money and their acting skills are too poor. This has also led to a bad reputation for many works.

Little Fresh Meats Actors cannot endure hardship. No matter how much the producer invests, they may not be able to make money because the cost of actors is too high.

Then the producer cannot make money, so naturally he is not willing to invest a lot of money to do it seriously, and he will not be able to produce good works.

Martial arts novels are fairy tales for adults. Martial arts films were very popular in the past, but now they have been remade again and again. There is nothing new, and they are too outrageous and inconsistent with the original works. The audience generally feels that the remakes of martial arts films are not as good as the original works. It's good to read, and after reading a few editions I already know the general meaning, but there's not much to see.

Nowadays, the new version of martial arts novels is facing the end of the era, and there are few successors. The martial arts novels are still works from the Liang, Jin, and Gulong eras. They are always turned over and over, and the audience becomes numb.

Nowadays, the fairy tale and fantasy genres are on the rise, and the most exciting and popular military-themed movies are very popular among young audiences. , starting from "Bright Sword", to "I am a special soldier. Knives Out", "I am a special soldier. Fire Phoenix", Wu Jing's "Wolf Warrior 1", "Wolf Warrior 2", to "Operation Red Sea", military-themed movies The show is soaring, making great progress, and is unstoppable!

Pursue novelty, inspire fighting spirit, and arouse excitement. Whoever grasps the pulse of the times will win the market!

Personally, I don’t think it’s in decline, but now that technology has developed, martial arts movies are always being remade in various ways. Let’s just remake them. The special effects are really eye-catching!

There is also the issue of actor’s cultivation. Nowadays, most of the actors are just amateurs, and some of them don’t fit the character positioning of martial arts novels so they become starring roles! All I can say is that everyone who makes TV shows wants to get ratings, and whoever is popular will use them!

There is also the involvement of those magical martial arts TV series! It’s okay to read the e-book! I can’t stand the TV series anymore!

There are no good martial arts novels anymore. Apart from remakes, they are just magic. Let’s let the classics stay in our era!

The martial arts film has declined...

Once upon a time, it was the golden age of Hong Kong film development! Hong Kong martial arts movies can be said to have the status of "goddess" in men's minds! It’s exciting to watch! In the play, there are as many masters as clouds, as light as swallows, and all of them possess unique skills! Makes us envious!

But today’s martial arts movies have lost their former glory! Most of them are urban comedies or science and technology action movies! The reason why today's martial arts films have lost their competitiveness is, I personally think, largely due to people's understanding and ideas!

For example, the development of technology to what it is today! Machines gradually replace manual work! Automation in Chengdu is getting higher and higher! There used to be swords, now there are guns! Compared with the latter, the two are more direct, more exciting and can capture the hearts of the audience! Furthermore, both the special effects and film production are now very realistic! Pay more attention to the audience’s visual enjoyment! Science fiction movies are a great example!

Why are urban comedies so popular? Because people’s lives are very stressful nowadays! In their spare time, people want to spend their time happily in relaxation and comfort! So there’s nothing better than going to the cinema and choosing a comedy to relax yourself with! You don’t have to think about anything, just prepare your “laughter”! This is the reason why the halo of martial arts movies is gradually dimming nowadays!

Martial arts?

Whether it is a movie, TV series or a novel, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is an adult fairy tale

Since I was a child, I have been most exposed to martial arts. At that time, martial arts were based on the novels of Jin Yong and Gu Long. Representative

When watching martial arts movies and TV shows, we often imagine that we are a certain character in it, a knight who can wield swords in the arena, walk and jump off cliffs

However, fantasy is just fantasy , film and television dramas are film and television dramas, after thinking about it, you have to return to reality, and you have to do what you need to do

Okay, let’s get to the point

Why did martial arts decline? My understanding is roughly as follows

1 point

It is outdated and cannot keep up with the changes of the times

2 points , there is no better writer to write it Produce better words and works, even if they are written, few people will read them. Most readers will only read them if they have martial arts plots

In addition to Jin Yong, Gu Long, Liang Yusheng, and Huang Yiwen, Ruian Xiaoyi, the martial arts writers we have seen Wesley Ni Kuang and other well-known writers

3 points, there is no progress, but falling behind (that is, the decline you said)

I remember a writer on the Qidian Chinese website said this : Martial arts is about saving and being saved

This sentence is not wrong at all

All the martial arts works we see are about saving and being saved. Even Jin Yong’s famous saying: Even those who serve the country and the people have not escaped the vicious circle of "rescue"

Except for one person, it was he who pioneered the "Fantasy" and "Xiaxia" series that broke the "rescue"-based trap. Strange circle, this person is Huang Yi

Someone once said this: If Huang Yi's "Fantasy" hadn't come out, we would still be watching Jin Lao's "The Great Hero, Serves the Country and the People"

4 points, quality of words and articles

Today’s writers (not to mention writers) ignore the content and articles in order to write more words and make more money. quality. In fact, there is no way to do this, it is all forced by the website.

When a writer writes something new and is lucky enough to get signed with a website, you have to hurry up and code with your hands and keyboard.

Conclusion: In fact, martial arts has not disappeared and cannot disappear. It just exists in another way.

"Yi Xia", yes, it has evolved into a carrier related to "fantasy" and "Xi Xia"