My Many MiniReviews

[DragonClaws]

16 hours ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

MISSION OF JUSTICE   (1992)     Run time: 91 mins.
Stars: Jeff Wincott, Brigitte Nielsen, Luca Bercovici, Matthias Hues, Karen Sheperd, Billy Sly Williams, Christopher Kriesa, Cyndi Pass, Tom Wood, James Lew, Jeff Pruitt, Adrian Ricard, Tony Burton 

 

Great review dude, picked this up on a budget label release many years ago, only its full screen DVD sadly.

[ShaOW!linDude]

FINALLY THE DAY HAS ARRIVED!!!

 

TRIPLE THREAT       (2018)     Running time: 96 mins.
Stars: Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Tiger Chen, Celina Jade, Michael Bisping, Michael Jai White, Jeeja Yanin, Jennifer Yang, Michael Wong, Monica Mok, and Scott Adkins

Fight choreographer: Tim Man
Dir: Jesse V. Johnson 

Shout-out to @Mike Leeder for the excellent job casting this.

***WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!***

Synopsis
In a Southeast Asian jungle, two mercenary trackers, Payu (TJ) and Long Fei (TC), guide a team to a village that is also a prison camp. The team is led by Devereaux (MJW), who the right-hand man of a terrorist/assassin named Collins (SA). Reunited with his kill squad, Collins destroys the village, leaving the two trackers for dead. However, both manage to survive, as well as Jaka (IU), a camp guard who now wants revenge against Collins & his team. Free to continue taking contracts, Collins & team are conscripted to assassinate a billionaire heiress (CJ) who is on a personal crusade to rid the city of criminal organizations. Jaka, Payu, & Long Fei join forces to protect her and exact their revenge on Collins and his merciless mercenary hit team. 

Fight #1 --- Village raid

The mercenary team hits a Southeast Asian village to rescue their leader Collins (SA). The team is comprised of TJ, TC, MJW, MB, JY, and others. They essentially all get a moment to strut their stuff with a little martial arts. Jaka (IU) is one of the village guards. He and Payu (TJ) have a very, very brief mix-up. There are some nice kicks here with good impact. A taste of what’s in store? 

Fight #2 --- Payu vs Big Thai Guy
Underground fight ring. It’s classic Jaa – knees and elbows. The choreography comes across a little slow, but the impacts are good. It’s a fair little fight. 

Fight #3 --- Long Fei vs Jaka
Underground fight ring again. Best fight #1! Oh, there are some really nice exchanges here. Good speed, flow, and impact. Seems a little one-sided initially, but then the tide turns. Both TC & IU sell the fight, and there are a couple of rewatchable moments. Has a great finishing combo. (A fight like this is what I was wanting and expecting in Tiger Chen’s Man of Tai Chi.)

Fight #4 --- Payu vs Steiner (Ron Smoorenburg)
Police station. It’s a hard-hitting fight. The impacts are good, but there’s really nothing spectacular to the choreography. I’ve always liked RS. He’s a good screen fighter, and pitting him against Jaa should have had a bit more snap to it. Pretty brutal finishing move though. 

Fight #5 --- Jaka vs Mook (JY)
Police station. This is short, but it has its moments. Decent impacts. Iko pulls off a sweet upward roundhouse kick as he falls to the floor. The finish is…a bit excessive, let’s say. 

Fight #6 --- Long Fei vs Joey (MB)
Police station. Another hard-hitting fight. The choreography seems a tad slow, but again there’s good impact. There are some wire-assisted stunts here, too. Overall, it’s okay. 

Fight #7 --- Jaka vs Devereaux (MJW) / Long Fei vs Joey
Best fight #2!! Whoa! A lot going on here. Each fight has some good exchanges and really good impacts. The Iko/MJW bout is pretty good, though there’s not a lot of bootwork to be had. White shines with fast hands and power. Iko gets some licks in, but kind of takes a beating here. Bisping handles his end well though his style is more brutish than MA. Surprisingly to me, it is Tiger Chen who shines the most. He displays some great speed, flow, and technique. Really the fault I have with this is that the movie cuts back and forth between the two fights, and due to the setting, it sometimes takes a moment to realize you’re now watching different combatants.  

Fight #8 --- Jaka & Payu vs Collins
Best fight #3!!! This is worth the price of the movie! I’m talking knees, elbows, punches, bootwork, air, impacts…it’s all here! The fight has a great flow, starting with Jaa & Adkins squaring off. Iko joins in a little later, and the 2-on-1 segment has Adkins really cutting loose. The interplay is solid. (Tim Man did a fantastic job choreographing this.) But the highlights are really the moments it’s just Adkins & Jaa. It’s full of dynamic speed, flow, and a number of rewatchable moments. (I will say I was expecting a little more to the finishing move, but I still liked it.) This fight was, for me, a taste of the Ong Bak franchise meets the Undisputed franchise. Dat’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout! 

Okay, as we all know, this movie isn’t really about plot or acting. Oh, it has one. But who cares? Could it have been better? Sure; but who cares? Could the performances been a little meatier? Maybe; but who cares? 

One thing it does have is action out the yin/yang. Director Johnson is good about pacing the action, so the film is loaded with not only plenty of MA, but gunfights and chase sequences, too. 

(On a quick side note, it’s kind of nice to see Michael Wong pop up for a cameo. Just what eternal elixir is that guy drinking? He don’t age!) 

For MA genre fans, like me, this cast of screen fighters is like a sports fan’s Fantasy Football team. Would I have rather had someone like Marko Zaror in there instead of Michael Bisping? Absolutely. And while many might disparage Tiger Chen’s being part of the cast, I’ve always liked him, and wanted to see him in more stuff with those who could actually challenge him onscreen.  

Not gonna lie here: I haven’t been all that impressed with most of Jaa’s current endeavors, which haven’t been all that many. It’s like he’s been phoning it in since The Protector 2…which sucked. (I did really enjoy Skin Trade which saw him taking on both Dolph Lundgren and MJW in that, and thought the film showcased his skills very well.) His opening fight with Iko was good, but nowhere near what it should have been. His following fights were good, but still not up to snuff for me. But Jaa taking on Adkins in the finale was movie magic! This was the old Jaa who delivered his choreography with snap and vigor.  

In 2 of his 3 screen fights, Tiger Chen is just boss! People just are not utilizing him like he ought to be. This guy should have a small string of starring films under his belt by now. Maybe this will set things in motion for him. I hope so.  

Probably the most disappoint thing about the movie was the fact that MJW and Iko were severely underused.  

White is good as his character Devereaux. He has some good lines, and gets to chew the scenery a little bit. But he never gets a chance to cut loose until his showdown with Iko, who has 3 fight scenes. And really, Iko’s fight with Chen is the only one that stands out to me. Jeeja Yanin is underused, too, and their fight together could have been way better. But it is the fact that the finale between these 2 martial art movie idols turned out to be something that was just “good” rather than “epic” that bugs me. Instead of “Yeah, that was pretty cool,” this should have been “Dude!”  

And Adkins! Man, I love this guy. When you get the Blu-ray/DVD of this, be sure to watch the cast interview. All of them were excited and eager about doing this film, but this guy is a true fan of the genre. He is absolutely giddy to do this stuff. And it has been a dream of his to fight Jaa onscreen for years. That’s just too cool. He enjoys playing the villain, and gets to ham it up. Sadly, he doesn’t get any fight scenes until the finale, but when he finally gets to have a go at Jaa, it is by far the best fight of the film.  

When this project was first announced, this was a dream come true for genre fans. But we all know how these things often tend to play out, and the production gets canned just before shooting starts. Thankfully, this was not the case here. It actually came to be, and I, for one, am grateful for the dedication of all those involved. 

There’s been some mixed reactions to this since it came out, and I honestly don’t get why. For the most part, it delivered just what I hoped it would. I encourage everybody to support it and GET THIS!!!!

[DrNgor]

15 hours ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

TRIPLE THREAT       (2018)     Running time: 96 mins.
Stars: Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Tiger Chen, Celina Jade, Michael Bisping, Michael Jai White, Jeeja Yanin, Jennifer Yang, Michael Wong, Monica Mok, and Scott Adkins

Fight choreographer: Tim Man
Dir: Jesse V. Johnson 

You sold me on this, @ShaOW!linDude. I really want to see it, now. That is one powerhouse cast right there, I must say.

I don't think I've been truly impressed with Tony Jaa since ONK BAK 2. PARADOX and SPL 2 had their moments. I don't recall him doing anything interesting in xXx (3). Still haven't seen TOM YUNG GOONG 2 yet.

I liked Tiger Chen in MAN OF TAI CHI and hope he gets more showcases down the road.

This is Jaa's second film with Celina Jade and Michael Jai White together. Huh. They should team up together in real life to fight crime.

It's funny how many people dismiss Michael Wong as an awful actor--the only Chinese man in China who doesn't speak Chinese--and then you go to the LoveHKFilm Group on Facebook (and even the site, while it was still going), and discover the man has an extremely strong cult following.

[ShaOW!linDude]

19 minutes ago, DrNgor said:

I don't think I've been truly impressed with Tony Jaa since ONK BAK 2. PARADOX and SPL 2 had their moments. I don't recall him doing anything interesting in xXx (3). Still haven't seen TOM YUNG GOONG 2 yet.

I personally think Ong Bak 3 is better than folks give it credit for, and I can never just watch the 2nd one without watching the 3rd.

Don't waste your time on The Protector 2 aka Tom Yum Goong 2. It'll just piss you off. It starts out pretty good but then just gets stupid with all the wirework and attempted 3D crap. Or watch it so you can join the "This Movie Sux" club.

23 minutes ago, DrNgor said:

It's funny how many people dismiss Michael Wong as an awful actor--the only Chinese man in China who doesn't speak Chinese--and then you go to the LoveHKFilm Group on Facebook (and even the site, while it was still going), and discover the man has an extremely strong cult following.

Never was a big fan of Wong. He's an okay actor. Just hadn't seen him pop up in anything in years.

[ShaOW!linDude]

NIGHTSHOOTERS   (2018) Run time: 100 mins.
Stars: Jean-Paul Ly, Rosanna Hoult, Nicky Evans, Doug Allen, Adam McNab, Kaitlyn Riordan, Richard Sandling, Daisy Aitkins, Nicholas Aaron 

Fight Choreographer: Jean-Paul Ly
Dir.: Marc Price 

Synopsis
A director and his crew are trying to finish up work on a zombie film. He only needs one more night of shooting to be done, and the set is one of a pair of building already rigged with explosives for demolition come the morning. Unfortunately, the owner of the buildings is Tarker (RS), a crime lord, who at the same moment is handling some very nasty business in the opposite building. When they are discovered, it’s a frantic chase and a deadly game of “hide and seek” from the gangsters. But when a stuntman named Donnie (J-PL) proves to be more than the gangsters can handle, Tarker calls in his own team of specialists to handle him and the rest of the film crew. 

Fight #1 --- Donnie (J-PL) vs “zombies”
J-PL just wades through zombies extras with a machete and a pistol. It’s short, fun, and very energetic. The best part is when he hacks off a zombie’s forearm and beats other zombies with it. 

Fight #2 --- Donnie vs gangsters
Good fight! There are some really nice combos strung together here. Some techniques get a little repetitive, but Ly throws in other stuff to break it up. It’s fast, and the flow is great. Ly makes good inventive use of a pistol in close combat. It’s not John Wick level, but I enjoyed that. There’s not a lot of bootwork here, but there is one particularly sweet spinning back sweep. 

Fight #3 --- Donnie vs Louis (Marcus Shakesheef) & Axel (Hung Dante Dong)
Good fight! The interplay here is intense, and there are quite a few rewatchable moments. Good flow to the choreography with great impacts. Everyone gets to showcase their skill set. There are some hard falls and some really nice kicks. It’s a very solid 2-on-1 fight. 

Fight #4 --- Donnie vs Axel
Best fight!!! These guys go full tilt boogie! It’s high energy. The combos are fast. A knife is in play and used quite well in the interplay. There’s some real sweet bootwork from both screen fighters, and J-PL unloads a flying side kick. The finishing move is absolutely stellar! Great fight for multiple viewings! 

Fight #5 --- Donnie vs Chilemba (Karanja Yorke)
Good fight! This is a hard hitter. Some good bootwork here. Both J-PL & KY are very versatile kickers. Good flow, good combos, good impacts. Almost as good as the previous fight. Chilemba gets his in the end. It’s an understandable demise for the story, but not the fight finish I would’ve liked.  

I have to say that I really enjoyed the movie overall. It has a good plot. The acting, especially those playing the gangsters, gets a little over the top, but it works. The movie actually does a fantastic job of escalating the tension. It starts off setting up the situation of the indie film crew being discovered by the Cockney gangsters. There are moments of levity there, and some comical exchanges between the gangsters in particular. (And get ready for a plethora of profanity that peppers the F-bomb into almost literally every third word or so at times.) But the further the movie goes along, it actually drives home the point that this is meant to be a tension-filled action movie. And it is. Really, I think the only thing that would make it better would be if about 10 minutes was trimmed off the run time. 

The cast playing the guerilla film crew do a fairly good job as their characters. The acting is pretty good. The crime lord Tarker is large and in charge, Sandling being a rather huge and burly man. And he is absolutely cold-blooded.  

Regarding the action, there’s a fair amount and the pacing is pretty good. Regarding the lean amount of fight scenes, I certainly wish there were more. However, 80% of them are just flat out good. Ly did a great job with the choreography, obviously knowing his and the other screen fighters’ skill sets. And he tapped into each scenario: 1 vs group, 2 vs 1, and 2 very good 1-on-1 skirmishes. None of the fights are dazzling aerial displays of flashy kicks, though a handful are sprinkled in there. These are all solid, grounded MA set pieces that have great flow and rhythm, furious combos, and nice impacts and falls. 

I just rewatched Ly’s Jailbreak last week. That movie is a fight fest, and shows Ly is a talented choreographer cutting his teeth getting his style on camera. This movie shows a steady progression. While some might feel his aforementioned film was an oversaturation of fight scenes (I personally like), this one does a good job of spacing them out so that when they happen, you’re eager for them. Once they are over, I was left feeling like, “Yeah, I want some more of that.” And I can’t get over how good the 4^th fight is.  

I believe this is an effort worth of genre fans’ support. I say GET THIS!!! To me, the fights alone are the price.

[saltysam]

got the blu ray of this. great effort.what's the best release of Jailbreak?

Edited June 9, 2019 by saltysam

[ShaOW!linDude]

3 hours ago, saltysam said:

what's the best release of Jailbreak?

I don't know. That's a good question. I've watched it twice through Netflix because it's billed as one of their original movies.

There's a Blu-ray available on Amazon for $43.99. 

Maybe another forum member can help us out. 

[saltysam]

I believe the blu ray is German and not english-friendly. Apparently the Australian dvd ,the English subs stay on even when English is being spoken,so no sub file on there for non English spoken only.

[ShaOW!linDude]

(Um, didn't this thread used to be pinned? What happened?)

I wrote this back at the beginning of the year for a project @DrNgor was contemplating. However, he has decided to put that on hiatus to focus his creative efforts elsewhere, which is fine with me. I know I don't post the mini-reviews as often as I did in the past. My free time is directed at my fiction writing, and honestly, I like being able to just watch an MA film without having to analyze it. Anyway, I though I'd just pop this in here since I've not posted any sort of review in quite a while. 

It's less of a review, and more of an essay. Just so you know.

 

“Challenge of the Ninja”
(No, wait. I mean “Heroes of the East”)

by Scott Blasingame

 

A drive-in theater called The Pines was a haunt of mine during my high school years in the early 1980’s. I took in a lot of movies there on the weekends because I was a bit of loner and, hey, you really can’t find a better deal than a double or triple feature for $5. This was the site of my first real exposure to Bruce Lee’s films, where I saw Fists of Fury (aka The Big Boss), The Chinese Connection (aka Fists of Fury), and Return of the Dragon (aka Way of the Dragon). All in one night on a massive outdoor screen. That was certainly a watershed moment that solidified me as a fan of the martial arts movie genre. But it wasn’t the only one.

The Pines was on its last legs, as most drive-in theaters were. It was a lot surrounded by (you guessed it) tall spindly pine trees. The ground was flat and covered in well packed gravel, with the ever present patches of un-killable weeds. Posts holding clunky metal speakers, that you lifted to hang on the inside of your car window, were your source of glorious mono-sound. (I was always afraid I was doing to shatter the glass. Heaven forbid you forget it was there, and open or shut your door.) In the summertime, you could leave the windows down in the stifling heat, and feed the mosquitoes with your arms, legs, and face. In the wintertime, you could sit hunkered over your steering wheel for the little bit of heat that blew out on your feet while your windshield fogged up from your own breath, and your car contributed to the loss of ozone with all the other vehicle exhaust rumbling out to create a massive plume of carbon monoxide that hung in the air above the lot. Oh, what great fun to try to watch a movie in a torrential downpour through the rapid swiping of windshield wipers, catching that one moment of clarity before the image was awash again. (Pun! Sorry.) At least the concession stand was indoors along with the projector room in a building situated in the center of the lot. And who can forget the raucous pleasure of hearing fifty or more different cars all lay on their horns when the film reel melted or broke, or the projector bulb blew, or the movie began dragging and skipping right at the good part. Ah! Good times. (Couldn’t pay me to go to a drive-in these days, when they come back in vogue a few years ago. This is why I have a house, people.)

I can’t even recall all the movies I saw at The Pines. I do remember the first time I went was with a group of friends from high school for a triple comedy feature of Caddyshack, Airplane, and Up In Smoke. I want to say I caught a couple of Chuck Norris flicks there, too, like A Force of One (which was awesome) and Slaughter In San Francisco (which was highly disappointing as he’s really in a minor role). I probably can’t recall most of the others because I had taken a chance going to see them, and they had turned out to be pretty lame. Still, it’s hard to beat seeing the aforementioned Bruce Lee showing on a screen that’s about one hundred feet long and close to fifty feet tall, constructed out of numerous wooden joists and sheets of whitewashed plywood.

The early 80’s was when ninja mania was getting into full swing all across the U.S.A. thanks to a good old 1-2 punching combination (or more properly, a good old 1-2 kicking combination). That came about in 1980 in the form of a best-selling novel by Eric Van Lustbader titled The Ninja and a movie starring Chuck Norris titled The Octagon. I honestly can’t remember which I delved into first, though I want to say it was Lustbader’s book, which had come out in April of that year. My cousin and I took in a screening of The Octagon that summer, which makes sense because he had read The Ninja also. We were both enamored with ninjas, me especially. The following year, in 1981, there came a movie titled Enter the Ninja starring Sho Kosugi. This gave the ninja craze a little more speed, and when his following film Revenge of the Ninja came out in 1983, it was full tilt boogie from there. Genre fans got a slew of ninja movies starring Kosugi throughout the decade, as well as American Ninja (1985) starring Michael Dudikoff, which spawned its own franchise.

I can’t remember the exact time, but it was probably somewhere in 1982 that I happened to be driving past the marquee for The Pines and spotted the double feature showing for the upcoming weekend: Challenge of the Ninja and…something else. I can’t remember. Who cares? Not me. There was a movie with the word ‘ninja’ in the title. I was going.

I arrived that Friday night, and found me a nice secluded spot to park. I had missed the first few minutes of the first film, not that it mattered. It was fairly lame. The fighting choreography in it was what many fans refer to as “basher”, in which there is none of the classical postures or shapes synonymous with styles of kung fu (the fighting choreography fans refer to as “shapes”). The choreography of a “basher” film is rather sloppy looking, as it has the screen fighters flailing at one another. I personally never cared for it. So, I sat patiently, waiting for that bore-fest to be over and done with. To this day, I remember nothing about it. I’ve probably been bored by it again at some point over the years, and never realized it was the same movie. (I watch a lot of kung fu flicks, in case you didn’t know.)

Finally, Challenge of the Ninja began, the viewing of which would mark another watershed moment for me as a genre fan. The film was released in 1978 under the original title of Heroes of the East. However, it also went under the names of Shaolin Challenges Ninja, Drunk Shaolin Challenges Ninja, and Shaolin Vs Ninja. When VHS movie rental stores became a thing in the mid 80’s throughout the 90’s, I was forever searching for this film, and never finding it as I was unaware of all its different titles.

The film is a Shaw Brothers production, and stars Gordon Liu aka Liu Chia-Fai. He also starred in the cult genre classic 36^th Chamber of Shaolin (1978). The film is directed and choreographed by Liu Chia-Liang (or Lau Kar-Leung in Cantonese), affectionately referred to as “Pops” by genre fans. He is Gordon’s brother, and he is a descendant of the legendary Wong Fei Hung via his kung fu lineage. (Pops had a phenomenal career in China’s film industry, and is responsible for a wealth of classic martial arts films that are enjoyed and unmatched to this day.)

The plot is a simple one. It is set during the Japanese occupation of China. Gordon, as the protagonist Ho Tao, has just married the daughter of his father’s Japanese business partner, a young woman named Kung Zi (Mizuno Yuko). The household soon turns into a culture clash as Kung Zi practices Japanese martial arts, much to the disdain of her new husband. The newlyweds engage in a number of skirmishes, each striving to show the superiority of their culture’s fighting styles. When Kung Zi resorts to using ninjitsu, a style used by assassins, Ho Tao is offended and soundly derides her. Insulted, she returns to Japan. Her ninja teacher and unrequited lover, Takeno (played by Yasuaki Kurata), reads a letter written to her by Ho Tao, and views it as a challenge. He vows to seek out Kung Zi’s husband and defeat him, and six other Japanese masters join along with him. Kung Zi learns of this and returns to warn Ho Tao, but it is too late. What follows is a very interesting and entertaining film that does not stick to the typical movie tropes of the kung fu film genre. It is not a story of revenge or bloodshed. This is a film that contrasts both Oriental cultures and martial art styles through a series of duels.

The duels consist of a variety of weapons and empty hand contests, in which Ho Tao is granted a day’s rest in between each. The first such is Ho Tao using the classic Chinese sword, a jian (the Chinese dual edged straight sword), against a kendo master (Harada Riki) using a Japanese katana, the classic sword of the samurai. To me, this is one of the best sword fights ever put to film. This is followed by Ho Tao facing a master of karate (Sumi Tetsu). In preparation for this, Ho Tao and his friends seek out Master So (played by Pops himself), a beggar who uses a style called Drunken Guard. This is one of the best parts of the film, as Ho Tao’s friends attack So while he stands back and mimics the beggar’s fighting moves in order to learn the style. The duel between Sumi and Ho Tao is quite good, though the Japanese masters initially worry that Ho Tao has shown up drunk to a fight. Sumi’s defeat by the use of the drunken style of boxing is both upsetting and impressive to the Japanese.

In the third duel, Ho Tao faces a man using both a set of nunchakus and a tonfa (as utilized by Shirai Manabu). For this, he resorts to using a three sectional staff. This film was the first time I ever saw this weapon used, and I was blown away. So much so, I eventually created my own. (Never got the hang of it, sad to say.) It is a fantastic duel, and one of my favorites of the film. The fourth duel has Ho Tao using a classical Chinese spear against the Japanese spear (as wielded by Yana Nobuo). In the fifth duel, Ho Tao uses a set of Chinese Butterfly swords against a pair of Japanese sai (wielded by Nakazaki Yasutaka). It is a contest that adds a little humor as the Japanese sai master also suffers from a complex of being short. The sixth duel pits Ho Tao against a Japanese judo master (Omae Hitoshi, who had a supporting role in the Shaw Bros. film Five Tough Guys ). For me, this is the duel that is most lacking. It’s fine in and of itself, but I find that it lacks a lot of the dynamism that had appeared in the choreography up to this point. Not to worry, however.

The final duel sees Ho Tao facing Takeno in a full scale battle pitting Chinese martial arts against the various deadly techniques of Japanese ninjitsu. The duel begins late at night and then picks up the following day. It escalates in stages, during which the viewer is treated to a barrage of different Chinese and Japanese fighting styles and weaponry, such as the Chinese sword, the dao (single edged and curved like a saber), and the Japanese sword, the ninjato (a shorter, straighter version of the katana); the Japanese kusarigama (a sickle attached to a length of weighted chain); the Chinese rope dart (a throwing knife attached to a long length of rope); and Chinese White Crane style and Japanese Crab style, among others. This was the first time I had ever seen Kurata in action onscreen. To say that he is impressive as a screen fighter is an understatement. I cannot imagine the planning and logistics that Pops had to entertain in coordinating and orchestrating the choreography of the finale, and the execution of Kurata and Liu is terrific. It never fails to thrill me when I watch it, and the movie is over 40 years old now.

The movie ends on an upbeat note, in that there develops a mutual respect and admiration among the two martial cultures at a time in which there is antagonism between the two cultures as a whole during the time period setting. The film concludes as a morality tale that promotes the fact that the martial spirit is one that is meant to be unbiased and inclusive. Among the majority of martial art film fans, the movie is a bastion and a benchmark by which fight choreography is judged, though it does have its detractors. There is a wealth of fighting as opposed to story, since the plot is so simplistic, and for some the action becomes overwhelming, hence boring. But it is not without its touches of emotional grounding, which is portrayed by Ho Tao and Kung Zi gradually realizing their own cultural narrow-mindedness, and her growing filial support of her husband.

I remember leaving the drive-in being absolutely astounded at what I had seen. The dynamics of the choreography, not just in the finale but throughout the movie, and its plethora of fighting styles and weapons, were a banquet, a buffet, a smorgasbord if you will, to this budding genre fan. I was absolutely glutted, and I wanted more of the same. I had spent, and continued to spend, a lot of Saturday and Sunday afternoons watching "Kung Fu Master Theater" and "Black Belt Theater", but never had I seen another movie with this level of choreography. It is a tribute to its director and cast. As I said previously, I searched for the movie for years afterward, but due to its various titles, never could find it. And I joined numerous video rental places throughout my town for the sole purpose of hopefully stumbling across it. No one I spoke to had ever seen it or heard of it either. Finally, over 20 years later, I discovered it by its original title, via a martial arts movie forum, and immediately ran it down.

I was elated that the film hadn’t scrimped on the ‘ninja’ aspect. Due to the popularity of all things ninja related at the time, there were a lot of movies marketed with the word ‘ninja’ in the title that had nothing whatsoever to do with the subject. I got burned a lot, as I know others did, too, into watching lackluster martial art movies with a severe lack of ninjas in them. (I mean, like, none.) The movie became the standard by which I judged any film that showcased ninjitsu, of which only Revenge of the Ninja ever relatively met. As a martial arts film fan, it was my first ‘holy grail’. There have been others, but it was the first.

Maybe it should have been titled Challenge of the Ninja Heroes of the East. Nah. That would have probably taken up the entire drive-in marqee.

I’d still have watched it.

 

[ShaOW!linDude]

Shaolin Drunk Monkey (1981) aka Shaolin Chief Cook

Run time: 88 minutes 

Stars: Elton Chong, Eagle Han Ying, Mike Wong Lung, Kim Myeong-Ah

Directors: Kim Jung-Yong, Godfrey Ho

 

Well, this was an ordeal to sit through.  

Typical martial arts movie plot of a goofy guy named Mo (EC) who wants to learn kung fu (but oddly enough never asks to) to avenge the murder of his father; Chu (KM-A), the daughter of a murdered master seeking revenge, an unusually sadistic kung fu master/ beggar (MWL) of some unnamed style, and a silver haired villain named Silver Eagle (EHY); and let’s not forget the plethora of unnamed, obnoxious henchmen. 

The comedy aspects of the film fall flat as often as the protagonist does whenever he gets his head handed to him, which is 90% of the movie. The training sequences make no sense because the film lacks any moments where the applications are shown or the benefits of them are revealed. And while the “beggar” masters typical of these movies are often endearing in some sort of way, that is not so much the case here. MWL plays the beggar as a snippy and cruel man, who offers no praise, no real training, and more often than not simply beats the hero. Really the only moment that I found to be unique during the training sequences is a fight between EC and MWL around a table and a couple of benches. In the first instance, the beggar/master dominates. Later on, the exact same choreographed sequence is performed with the roles reversed, so that it EC who dominates. That was kind of interesting.

As a whole, a lot of the fight action is par for the course. There’s some nice bootwork here and there, but it’s nothing you’ve never seen before. And I’d say a little less than a third of the fights are done with poor lighting, making it difficult to see what was happening in those instances. 

None of the characters ever reference a style of kung fu. Ever. Unless I just missed it, which I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Usually the beggar is a master of some rare style that is known only to him, and is the only style capable of defeating the villain. Not here. No mention of anything like that whatsoever. I found that superbly strange, as such is usually the crux of these type of films. It was equally odd that the villain is dubbed Silver Eagle, but doesn’t use any form of Eagle Claw style, which is also a typical attribute of these films. I guess it’s just a cool name for a bad guy. 

Eagle Han Ying, who plays the villain, was also one of the fight choreographers. His few fights, mainly at the beginning, and the finale are by far the best in the film.  He’s a kicker and shows some pretty nice dexterity. I probably remember him best from Fearless Hyena and South Shaolin vs North Shaolin. (Two films I need to revisit.) 

Elton Chong is a poor man’s Casanova Wong. EC looks like his younger brother, and in the finale, he pulls off some nice kicking himself, though it’s got nothing on Wong’s talent.  

This is also one of those kung fu films that has been dubiously misnamed. Shaolin is referenced a handful of times, but there is no Drunk style or Monkey style in evidence, and certainly no Drunk Monkey style anywhere to be found. Bogus. 

Glad I didn’t shuck out any bucks for this one. I would’ve been pretty miffed.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Please bring this back!!

[Cognoscente]

On 1/8/2011 at 7:53 PM, ShaOW!linDude said:

TAI CHI WARRIORS (2004) Running time: 94 mins.

Stars: John Chiang, Benny Chen, Jaquelin Anne Lee, Yan Bing Zhang, Joey Covington, Jay Sefton, David Majuri, Laura Niles, Eagle White

Kung Fu Dir.: Ken Ng Dir.: Tuen-Ping Yang

Kung Fu Corghator: (anyone know what this is?) Hongbo Zhen

 

First off, the sound is atrocious. It constantly fades in and out and made me turn the volume up and down.

 

Starts with 2 masters dueling at night --- 1 in black, Master Tiger, and 1 in white, Master Dragon. The fight is fast and furious with intricate choreography and some wirework. Doubles are obviously used. M. Dragon wins and a young boy, Gu I, rushes in begging that M. Tiger be spared. The pair have been fighting for money so M. Dragon dissolves the relationship.

 

Cut to years later in a parking deck in China. Henry (a white guy) and his buds are boosting a car. The owner known as Egg Head shows up and catches them. There's a decent fight with Henry getting beaten up.

 

Cut to the US. Bruce (a black guy) is Henry's best friend and an actor. He blows his big break when he breaks another actor's nose. Henry calls Bruce and invites him to China.

 

M. Dragon's beautiful daughter, Fay, arrives home. His school is failing. She's a doctor and her best friend, Lin Lin, is a physical therapist. They decide to start a business with her dad's knowledge of MA and call it Extreme Tai Chi.

 

Henry is sick (from getting beat up all the time, I guess) and he convinces Bruce to enroll with him. M. Dragon immediately views him as being a bad element. But very quickly the boys hook up (no, not that kind) with Fay and Lin Lin and go bowling. This devolves very quickly into a MA exhibition with the girls using Tai Chi Bowling style.

 

Cut to M. Tiger whose student, Gu I, trains in both Muay Thai and Tai Chi. He's gone into business with M. Yuri, a Russian fighter. There is then contrasting footage of M. Dragon and M. Tiger training their students. It's all kind of lame.

 

Then while out on a bicycle ride the boys and the girls are attacked by a gang of M. Yuri's students. Some of the fighting here isn't too bad. Lin Lin is, without a doubt, the best fighter.

 

It's then revealed that M. Dragon has a tumor. He can't afford the medical bills for the surgery/treatment. M. Tiger and Yuri send a TV crew to issue a challenge. (Seems like a very traditional approach in China........NOT!) M. Dragon accepts.

 

Gu I sees Yuri making out with M. Tiger's fiance, Marisa, a fighter herself. He tells M. Tiger who is blinded by the fortune he is making with Yuri and throws Gu I out. He goes to M. Dragon and is accepted back by him.

 

M.Dragon goes into the hospital while Gu I takes over the training of the school. Bruce, Henry, and Lin Lin volunteer for the challenge against Yuri's students. (But they do no training for it. Um........okay.) This will take place the same day as M. Dragon's surgery. (Of course.)

 

Bruce fights first. It's not to bad in places but the choreography is sloppy. He gets disqualified (of course) when he goes all Bruce Lee and does a flying kick out of the ring.

 

Henry goes next and faces Egg Head who is one of Yuri's students and the same guy who trounced him in the parking deck. This isn't too bad of a fight but a little unrealistic as Henry is obviously outmatched. But he wins. (Of course.)

 

Last is Lin Lin who fights Marisa. Theirs is the best fight by far. Both of these girls are accomplished martial artists and unlike the others in the film, they don't need doubles. But this fight ends in a tie. (Of course.)

 

Sooooo, Gu I and Yuri must fight the tie-breaker. M. Tiger reveals he's a good guy after all and that he knew of Yuri's deception all along. Oh, and Gu I wins. (Of course) The fight's meh.

 

M. Dragon wakes from a successful surgery to find M. Tiger in his room. The feud ends and the friendship resumes. (Of course.)

 

I don't know. I kind of liked it, I guess. The title is deceptive in that Tai Chi is spoken of occasionally but never demonstrated practically and the students never receive any real instruction in it. Oh, they get some philosophical lessons. Then they just seem to know it or some form of MA anyhow. Even though it's a 2004 release, it has an '80's feel to it. Jacquelin Lee is the girl who plays Lin Lin. She's very pretty and a very good martial artist. Her acting's not too bad either. (This is actually an English speaking film.) I think I'll hang onto this one for a while though I'll probably trade it off eventually. Depending on your taste, you may want to watch this. Or not. I leave it up to you. Better this that SIX STRING SAMURAI but that ain't saying much.

 

Tai Chi Warriors looks like what if Seasonal had made one more English language movie in the '90s.
 

 

[DrNgor]

On 1/16/2015 at 3:46 PM, ShaOW!linDude said:

EXTREME CHALLENGE (2001) Running time: 89 mins.

Stars: Ken Chang, Patricia Ja Lee, Jacqueline Li, Yeung Chuen Li (aka Jun Ngai Yeung), Paul Rapouski

 

Action Choreographers: Jack Wong Wai Leung, Christopher Chan Sai Tang, Antonio Caprio

Dir.: Stephen Tung Wai

Reviewed it myself here: https://abeautifulfilm.blogspot.com/2023/08/extreme-challenge-2001.html

Not a great film, or even a good film, but it delivers on the fighting in a way that HK can't seem to do anymore.

[DrNgor]

My dear friend @ShaOW!linDude has transcended the Kung Fu Movie Review art form, despite my many attempts to convince him to get him back in the game. But I did get his permission to post this consolidation of all the films he reviewed:

 

TEEN BOXER --- Avoid!

KARATE BULLFIGHTER --- Get it!

TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER --- Your Call

SUPERMAN/BATMAN: APOCALYPSE --- Get it!

MAXIMUM CAGE FIGHTING --- Avoid!

SHAOLIN WOODEN MEN --- Get it!

CHAI LAI ANGELS --- Avoid!

MILLENNIUM DRAGON --- Avoid!

KEBAB CONNECTION --- Rent

SNAKE & CRANE ARTS OF SHAOLIN --- Get it!

KUNG FU MASTER --- Rent/Get

BALLISTIC KISS --- Completionist

HOUSE OF TRAPS --- Get!

BANGKOK ADRENALINE --- Get!

AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS --- Avoid!

DRAGON FIST --- Get!

THE 5 DEADLY VENOMS --- Your Call

FEARLESS HYENA --- Get!

DRAGON FROM RUSSIA --- Your Call

MERANTAU --- Get!

ONG BAK 2 --- Get!

ONG BAK 3 --- Get!

THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY TAO --- Your Call

IP MAN --- Get!

IP MAN 2 --- Get!

BOUND BY BLOOD --- Get! (used)

BLOOD HEAT (MUSCLE HEAT) --- Get!

SIX STRING SAMURAI --- Avoid!

TAI CHI WARRIORS --- Your Call

CIRCUS KIDS --- Get! Completionist

HIGH VOLTAGE --- Get! Completionist

THE REBEL --- Get!

SNAKE-EATER --- Avoid!

RED BELT --- Get!

CODE OF SILENCE --- Get cheap/used

EXTREME HEIST --- Get!

CONTOUR --- Get!

ENTER THE NINJA --- Worth a look

ULTIMATE FORCE --- Avoid!

KIBAKICHI --- Worth a look

UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: REGENERATION --- Get it.

HARD REVENGE MILLY/HARD REVENGE MILLY: BLOODY BATTLE --- Get it!

THE RESTLESS --- Avoid!

DOGS OF CHINATOWN --- Get this!!!!!

IMMORTAL --- Get this!!!!

UNDERCUT --- Get this!!!!

DETECTIVE STORY --- Get this!!!!

CIRCLE OF IRON --- Rent/dvr it.

HUNT TO KILL --- Rent/dvr it.

LEGEND OF THE FIST: THE RETURN OF CHEN ZHEN --- Get it!

TEKKEN --- Get!

THE BLACK NINJA --- Avoid!!!!!!!!!!

THE ELIMINATOR --- Avoid!!!

CLASH --- Get it!!!!!!

DOUBLE TEAM --- Your call.

SUPREME CHAMPION --- Avoid!!!!!

MERCURY MAN --- Avoid!

AMERICAN SAMURAI --- Get it!

CLASH OF EMPIRES --- Avoid!!!!

NEVER BACK DOWN 2: THE BEATDOWN --- Get it!!!

BANGKOK KNOCKOUT --- Get it!!!!

THE LAST KUNG FU MONK --- Your call.

GAME OF DEATH (the Wesley Snipes film) --- Your call.

DEATH TRANCE --- Your call but worth a watch.

BUNRAKU --- Get it!!!

FREERUNNER --- Avoid!!!!!!!!!

TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE (animated) --- Your call.

MIRACLES --- Get it!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARMOR OF GOD (Operation Condor 2) --- Get it!!!!!!!!

EXTREME CHALLENGE --- Get it!

EL GRINGO --- Get it!

21 RED LIST --- Get it!!!!

FALCON RISING --- Get it!!!!

MISFIRE --- AVOID!!!!!

FISTFUL OF TALONS --- Get it!!!

KWOON --- AVOID!!!!

KING SWINDLER --- It's your call.

BOUNTY TRACKER --- GET THIS!!!!!

DRAGON FIRE --- Get This!

SWORN TO JUSTICE --- It's your call.

KUNG FU ZOMBIE --- AVOID THIS!!!

THE PURIFIERS --- It's your call.

THE BLONDE FURY --- GET THIS!!!!!!

MIRAGE --- GET THIS!!!!!!!

BLOOD AND BONE --- GET IT!!!!

LEGEND OF THE WOLF --- It’s your call.

REVANCHIST --- It’s your call.

CLOSE RANGE -- GET THIS!!!!!!!

TIME RUSH --- It’s your call.

NEVER BACK DOWN: NO SURRENDER --- GET THIS!!!!!

SUPER POWER --- GET THIS!!!!!!

THE DEATH GAMES --- GET THIS!!!!

BOYKA: UNDISPUTED --- GET THIS!!!!!

ACCIDENT MAN --- GET THIS!!!

The Last Eve --- It’s your call.

The Debt Collector --- It’s your call.

Red Canvas --- It’s your call.

ONE MILLION K(L)ICKS --- GET THIS!!!!

EXTRACTION --- It’s your call.

TERMINATOR WOMAN --- It’s your call.

KILL OR BE KILLED --- It’s your call.

ULTERIOR MOTIVES --- It’s your call.

MISSION OF JUSTICE --- GET THIS!!!!

TRIPLE THREAT --- GET THIS!!!!

NIGHTSHOOTERS --- GET THIS!!!

[DrNgor]

On 12/10/2016 at 9:03 PM, ShaOW!linDude said:

TIME RUSH (2016)             Running time: 85 mins.

Stars: Dean Alexandrou, Selina Lo, Ron Smoorenburg, Byron Gibson, Kecha Khamphakdee

Dir.: Daniel Zirilli

Fight Choreography: Kecha Khamphakdee, Jaika Stunts, Ron Smoorenburg, Dean Alexandrou, Charlie Ruedpokanon

I just watched and reviewed this myself: https://abeautifulfilm.blogspot.com/2024/04/time-rush-2016.html

[ShaOW!linDude]

On 4/6/2024 at 1:34 AM, DrNgor said:

I just watched and reviewed this myself: https://abeautifulfilm.blogspot.com/2024/04/time-rush-2016.html

Commented.