.....Samurai films are totally not martial arts films. Western films are not action films.
If you want Samurai films Seven Samurai is an awesome place to start as it's easily one of the best films of all time, however it's also over or almost 3 hours long, i'd recommend Yojimbo and Sanjuro, all three of those films (Seven Samurai included) are directed by Akira Kurosawa. You could also watch Samurai Rebellion, Samurai Fiction, and Sword of Doom...all are excellent Samurai films.
But Samurai films are NOT martial arts films. The swordfighting in them is a form of martial arts but martial arts films are about the fighting and the action and all the choreography. Samurai films are never about the fighting, they happen to have fighting in them.
Similarly Western films focus on many, many other things than just the action. A movie isn't an action film because there's a shooting scene or two.
And back to the topic:
Watch Chocolate. It's an INCREDIBLE martial arts film that also came out of Thailand. The main girl is autistic and learned Mauy Thai by watching Tony Jaa, it is insanely cool and a total joy to watch. Just note that the movie doesn't actually start for the first 20 or 30 minutes.
Killzone is a great martial arts film out of China. It stars Sammo Hung who is really, really cool. The dude is so incredible at martial arts especially considering that he's pretty fat. And old.
Anything from early in Jackie Chans career is really good. Both of the Drunken Master ones are amazing, especially the first. The first is awesome because he just bumps into an asshole on the street and is all like "I'm going to fight you now." the movie is an hour and a half long and has 14 fight scenes in it. Awesome. Legend of Drunken Master has a more cohesive story, better stunts, better fighting....better everything actually. But I really like the first one.
For JVCD Watch Bloodsport. It's pretty good, way better than Kickboxer.