If you like that kind of movie you're probably familiar with Ivanhoe... this is a 1997 BBC miniseries based on the book/movie
IMO it is excellent... the fight scenes are very good, realism and grittiness prevails, no CGI whatsoever...and the women are beautiful... just as in the original Ivanhoe, it would have been my choice to a become a Messianic Jew and married Rebecca...I always go for the dark haired complex ones, not the blonde barbie dolls. Not trying to make young people avoid reading, but I read the book, and if you base your book report on this movie you probably will get a decent grade.
Only downside, is that it's broken into 15 minute vids, so every 15 minutes you have to click on the next part. This series is well, well worth the wear and tear on your index finger.
Pour yourself a leather jack of mead, and enjoy ...Ivanhoe, the miniseries
This movie is also a beautiful movie, in a much more simpler and realistic way... beautiful like a Zen garden, very realistic, no CGI, no wires, no fakery.
And I have to say, if there's another MA movie that has as hard hitting, realistic fight scenes as this one does, I don't know what it is. Some martial arts movies, you watch, and you say to yourself, well that's fake, or well that's interesting, or hey that was badass. This movie will be having you say, Damn. Geez. Holy crap.
It's about a karate master in Japan, training in the mountains with 3 students, planning to pass on his black belt to the one who will become the new master of his style. Japan has invaded China, but is not yet at war with America. And I won't say more than that, except that I love this movie for the beauty and it's realism, for this hard hitting action, but also with the way it focuses on the value of restraint and the higher goals of the martial life.
If you are a watcher of martial arts movies, this will be put on your top shelf, might make you rethink what you're looking for in a martial arts movie. It sets a standard.
Focus your energy into your hara, pour yourself a cup of green tea, and enjoy ...Kuro-Obi (Black Belt)