The Gambling Martial Arts Film Genre – Have You Heard of It?

Film genres are easy to identify at a glance – comedy, romance, action, horror, drama – there are the bedrock examples which you can likely sort every movie into with only minor difficulties. However, you might find that these broad assessments don’t do much to properly identify the tone of any given film, meaning that there is room to get much more specific.

So specific, in fact, that you can end up with genres you’ve never even heard of before – like the gambling martial arts genre. What defines this? Which films fall into it? How many films have to be a part of a genre for it to be considered one?

Examples and Definition

So, which films actually fall under this category? A difficult question to answer – Enter the Dragon is a famous martial arts film that features a gambling addict as one of its most prominent characters, bringing that topic closer into the fold of its plot. Equally, while not martial arts films, several entries in the 007 franchise feature both brawls and visits to lavish casinos, emphasizing both at the same time in movies like Casino Royale. Lesser known candidates like the God of Gamblers series might better suit this description, though the balance might again be considered off by both gambling and comedy being the prime intention here rather than martial arts.

A Viewer Integrated Experience

You could also think of this as being more of a multi-media experience than other genres due to how it could be created through your involvement. If visiting online casinos is something that people find enjoyable while watching movies, there might be a question of which movies are most fun to do this with – martial arts films might rank highly due to their straightforward narratives and emphasis on action, which can make the genre less about the gambling in the film and more about the experience of watching it. Accessing online roulette at Spin Casino might be more fun when it’s not the sole focus of your engagement, and it might also help to alleviate the downtime in the film. Of course, the film can also provide a distraction when you’re waiting for other players’ turns to pass in video poker or perhaps when taking breaks that are suggested to you by the responsible gambling outlines available through the same platform.

What Makes a Genre?

With a scarcity of direct entries into this genre, it’s easy to ask the question of what even constitutes a genre. Is something a genre if there’s even just one film that (arguably) falls under this category? Well, if a genre is simply a tool that helps audiences define what a film includes, its tone or intention, then there’s no reason why it couldn’t. However, as an umbrella term, it might have little use if it only includes one example. Instead, it might be easier to think of that example as simply being a part of the broader genre – in this case, martial arts films.