Joy Sales Legendary Collection - "Hate" Recommendations!

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Sworn Brothers is a decent triad flick with some real gritty violence!

Wrote this short review on HKflix a while ago....

SWORN BROTHERS 1987

Another triad tale with two brothers on opposite sides of the law, complete with gritty violence, a romantic subplot and its fair share of a shirtless Andy Lau. Yes folks, we’ve seen it all before. But that doesn’t necessarily make this a bad movie. Actually, Sworn Brothers is a solid 80’s triad flick, that delivers everything you’d expect from such an effort. And it does so with a convincing sense of style, pathos and emotion.

Now, this is an 80’s HK movie, so it is of course very broad and melodramatic, but I love that. One of the great things about HK actors, is that they are not afraid of going all out. And this was particularly true back in the day. Sure, sometimes they go overboard, but even that is, for the most part, pretty entertaining in its own way.

Andy Lau gives one of the better of his early performances here, as another down on his luck- triad, who is basically good at heart. While Cheung Kwok Keung as the righteous cop, and Hsiao Hung Mei as the love interest, doesn’t come across quite as strong. Special mention goes to Peter Yang as a truly despicable villain. The kind you only find in HK triad movies.

The film is not shy about borrowing stuff from other sources. Such as an entire sequence lifted directly from Scarface, but used to great effect. And once again, you can compare all of these triad flicks to A Better Tomorrow, till you’re blue in the face, but that’s not always fair. They operate within a world of similar themes and characters, and while the majority of them, may stick a little too close to the same set of genre conventions, I think a lot of them are very much their own movies, and has gotten a bum wrap as rip-off flicks, because it is an easy label.

Sworn Brothers certainly has enough to offer, if you’re willing to give it a chance. It’s not the most original, but it gets the job done.

[One Armed Boxer]

TibetanWhiteCrane....so you are the Jay Lee of hkflix! Thanks for the link...I remember I always enjoy your reviews over there, and thanks for your opinions on `Road Warriors` as well, it helped confirm that I won`t be parting with my cash for that one!

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

That would be me, and you're welcome!

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I watched Naughty Boys recently after seeing it mentioned in this thread. The story and characters are pretty bad, but the amount of stunts and fights is enormous. It's going to be awhile before this leaves my DVD player.

[blue_skies]

any updates to this thread guys?

[One Armed Boxer]

Hey blue_skies.....my advice would remain the same, if you haven't seen 'Naughty Boys', 'Angry Ranger', and 'Hong Kong Godfather' (ok admittedly this one isn't part of the Joy Sales collection) yet....move them to the top of your priority list!

[blue_skies]

Hey blue_skies.....my advice would remain the same, if you haven't seen 'Naughty Boys', 'Angry Ranger', and 'Hong Kong Godfather' (ok admittedly this one isn't part of the Joy Sales collection) yet....move them to the top of your priority list!

OAB, I have finally taken your advice and gone with 'Naughty Boys' & 'Angry Ranger'. I couldn't find the Hong Kong Godfather but I really didn't have that much cash to spend any way.

[One Armed Boxer]

OAB, I have finally taken your advice and gone with 'Naughty Boys' & 'Angry Ranger'. I couldn't find the Hong Kong Godfather but I really didn't have that much cash to spend any way.

Great! Look forward to hearing your opinions on them! I certainly hope I haven't hyped them up too much, they're not going to win any awards....but both of them have that balls to the wall feel that I love so much about 80's HK movies, with plenty of fights and stunts along the way...yes there's the usual dose of Canto comedy, particularly in 'Naughty Boys', but it's not overbearing and can definitely be enjoyed for what it is.

If you ever decide to go for 'Hong Kong Godfather', this is the copy that you want -

[Flashlegstan2009]

Hong Kong Godfather is a Must !

I cannot recommend that film to anyone else that is up there with one of my alltime classics violence in the last 30 minutes is great

Other than that i can only recommend Angry Ranger, Nightlife Hero , Her Vengeance

[blue_skies]

Great! Look forward to hearing your opinions on them! I certainly hope I haven't hyped them up too much, they're not going to win any awards....but both of them have that balls to the wall feel that I love so much about 80's HK movies, with plenty of fights and stunts along the way...yes there's the usual dose of Canto comedy, particularly in 'Naughty Boys', but it's not overbearing and can definitely be enjoyed for what it is.

If you ever decide to go for 'Hong Kong Godfather', this is the copy that you want -

I'll try to keep my expectations from being too high then I'll hopefully enjoy them more. Are they anamorphic widescreen by the way?

Is Hong Kong Godfather a region one DVD?

[One Armed Boxer]

I'll try to keep my expectations from being too high then I'll hopefully enjoy them more. Are they anamorphic widescreen by the way?

Thanks to not having a TV, I only watch movies on my laptop computer...so unfortunately I have absolutely no idea, sorry!

Is Hong Kong Godfather a region one DVD?

It certainly is.

[The Amazing Psycho Per]

I don't know, I'd keep my expectation low on Hong Kong Father. Appart from the last 10 minutes wich are most definately excellent and brutal, the rest of the movie is pretty stale crime drama with very little going on.

If you absolutely need someting that's avalaible on DVD, and that is also anamorphic and Region one, there is not much more availble I'm affraid, at least that I can think of.

[Tigerstyles]

[One Armed Boxer]

Hong Kong Godfather is a Must !

I cannot recommend that film to anyone else that is up there with one of my alltime classics violence in the last 30 minutes is great

Seconded!

I don't know, I'd keep my expectation low on Hong Kong Father. Appart from the last 10 minutes wich are most definately excellent and brutal, the rest of the movie is pretty stale crime drama with very little going on.

It all comes down to personal taste, but you could make this statement about countless 80's kickboxing / crime movies....from 'Angry Ranger' to 'Killers Nocturne'...personally I feel there is enought action and story in 'Hong Kong Godfather' to keep it moving along at an enjoyable pace, and seeing Beardy in a modern day environment is always good.

Oh man....how could you post the finale of the movie for someone that's never seen it!? blue_skies, stay away from this clip! If you ever purchase the movie and don't enjoy it, I'll reimburse you myself! I know there's a tendency since the age of youtube to simply watch the final fight of a movie, or in this case, 10 minutes of blood soaked knife swinging action....but without the rest of the movie, that's all it is, 10 minutes of guys running around with knives. If you watch the rest of the movie, you have a lot more invested in this scene because you know what's at stake and know who the characters are.

[blue_skies]

Seconded!

It all comes down to personal taste, but you could make this statement about countless 80's kickboxing / crime movies....from 'Angry Ranger' to 'Killers Nocturne'...personally I feel there is enought action and story in 'Hong Kong Godfather' to keep it moving along at an enjoyable pace, and seeing Beardy in a modern day environment is always good.

that is something I was thinking about the other day, wondering what good modern-day set films Beardy has appeared in?

Oh man....how could you post the finale of the movie for someone that's never seen it!? blue_skies, stay away from this clip! If you ever purchase the movie and don't enjoy it, I'll reimburse you myself! I know there's a tendency since the age of youtube to simply watch the final fight of a movie, or in this case, 10 minutes of blood soaked knife swinging action....but without the rest of the movie, that's all it is, 10 minutes of guys running around with knives. If you watch the rest of the movie, you have a lot more invested in this scene because you know what's at stake and know who the characters are

I took the plunge yesterday with the Hong Kong Godfather after finding it not too expensive:bigsmile:

... so I might take you up on that offer.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Oh man....how could you post the finale of the movie for someone that's never seen it!?

I've never seen this and I watched the clip. Wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Glad I did. No harm, no foul for me.

I was cracking up. That has got to be the pinkest blood I've ever seen. Are all these gangsters anemic?

Love Beardy, man, truly do. I will pass on this one though. The action just seems more 'basher' style to me and that's really not my thing. But I can understand the love folks have for it.

(Did Beardy do any modern set MA films? Seems like every one I catch him in is just typical action or he's only a supporting character.)

[Tigerstyles]

[ShaOW!linDude]

That was pretty cool. What film is that from? If it's "Hong Kong Godfather" I may have to rethink my previous statement.

(I see where Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson got his famous 'Corporate Elbow' wrestling maneuver at the 1:37 mark.)

[blue_skies]

That was pretty cool. What film is that from? If it's "Hong Kong Godfather" I may have to rethink my previous statement.

Too right that was pretty cool! If that isn't from "Hong Kong Godfather" what was it from? That's going on my wish-list!

[Tigerstyles]

Too right that was pretty cool! If that isn't from "Hong Kong Godfather" what was it from? That's going on my wish-list!

Profile In Anger

[ShaOW!linDude]

Profile In Anger

Is that more of a modern setting MA film with Beardy throughout?

Never mind. Found the thread.

[blue_skies]

Profile In Anger

Cheers TS. trailer looks awesome for this. I wish I could just buy it now!

YVk1Oq8ayYE

[One Armed Boxer]

Is that more of a modern setting MA film with Beardy throughout?

Yeah, 'Hong Kong Godfather' & 'Profile in Anger' are probably the only 2 modern day movies that feature Beardy as the main character.

I actually watched 'Profile in Anger' straight after watching 'Hong Kong Godfather', you can check out my comments in the thread I made -

http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13176

Cheers TS. trailer looks awesome for this.

That's a fan made trailer from the guys at FLK, and is the perfect example of showing too much, whoever made it really needs to learn that less is more. For a start they've made it look like a relentless action movie, which is completely mis-representative, and secondly they have literally, apart from the final pull of the trigger, shown every action highlight from the movie, including the ending, which I think is worth pointing out contains zero martial arts action.

[ShaOW!linDude]

That's a fan made trailer from the guys at FLK, and is the perfect example of showing too much, whoever made it really needs to learn that less is more. For a start they've made it look like a relentless action movie, which is completely mis-representative, and secondly they have literally, apart from the final pull of the trigger, shown every action highlight from the movie, including the ending, which I think is worth pointing out contains zero martial arts action.

Aw, man! I was sort of getting psyched for that. Well, better to learn now than through a disappointing viewing experience. Thanks for the heads up.

[blue_skies]

Aw, man! I was sort of getting psyched for that. Well, better to learn now than through a disappointing viewing experience. Thanks for the heads up.

I know how you feel I was really excited to see this film as well. I think I might still try to get it sometime in the future when I can afford it.

By the way OAB how was Killers Nocturne?