My Many MiniReviews

[ShaOW!linDude]

I'll be the first to admit I've been really anticipating reading your review of this movie, & it's no small statement but I pretty much consider your reviews on par with Mark Pollard's lengthy entries of kungfucinema's yesteryear, great to hear your opinions on 'Death Grip'.

It's funny because I actually anticipated you making this comment! Yes the choreography was more intricate in the couple of deleted fight scenes, but as you mentioned the movie was deliberately shifting it's focus from that type of choreography. Very brave move, and one which I mentioned myself in my own review, post 12 here - http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18294&page=2

..........

Ha ha, yeah, & if you look just a few lines up, 3 precisely after the 'Shot on location in Oakland, California' credit, you'll see my name! Finally, I made it into a movie credit roll!

@ OAB:

Wow, that's a very gracious comparison to make. Thanks, dude.

Eric emailed me that while folks are liking the movie, it's the genre fans who aren't real impressed with the fight sequences and "that's a bummer" (a direct quote). But he's not ticked about it; he understands. He's a fan of MA films; we're fans of it; and we're his target audience. And he's already looking to up the ante. Here's another direct quote from him: "And next project it'll be voices like yours pushing me to do better."

Alright, now I'll have to search out your name in the credits. I take it you were a contributor. Man, I wanted to chip in on that so bad, but being jobless still.....

I'm dying to know what your top 5 films of the year are ShaOW!linDude...

Well, referring the last 4 words of my post to OAB, I've not been able to really check many new releases. I've mainly been digging through my stash and reviewing films that I've not watched in a while or read any other forum member's reviews of. Skimming through the ones I've done this year to date....

New Releases

Mandrill ---- pg 15

King of Triads (aka Bad Blood) ---- pg 15

The Raid ---- pg 20

Death Grip ---- pg 20

Others

Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon ---- pg 14

Carry On Pickpocket ---- pg 15

Iron-Fisted Monk ---- pg 15

Brotherhood of the Wolf ---- pg 18

Millionaire's Express ---- pg 19

[ShaOW!linDude]

THUNDERBOLT (1995) Running time: 110(?)

Stars: Jackie Chan, Anita Yuen, Michael Wong, Thorsten Nickel, Kayama Yuzo, Eguro Mari (Marie Eguro), Sawada Kenya, Low Houi Kang (Ken Lo), Chor Yun, Wu Oi Yan Daisy, Man Chung Han

Dir.: Gordon Chan (Dante Lam was an assistant director on this according to IMDb)

Car Stunt Director: Frankie Chan

Stunt Director: Sammo Hung

Stunt Co-Directors: Jackie Chan Stuntmen Association, Sammo Hung Stuntmen Association

JC is a mechanic named....um, Jackie, who sometimes assists police in stopping illegal street racers. He crosses paths with Cougar (TN), an international criminal and avid racer. Cougar kidnaps his sisters and forces Jackie to follow him to Japan to race in order to save the girls.

Fight #1 --- Jackie vs a couple of perverts

When 2 guys sexually harass his little sister, JC puts the smack down on 'em. It's short but there's a couple of nice kicks: a roundhouse that segues into a jump-spinning roundhouse. It's not the best edited or framed fight but it has its moments.

Fight #2 --- Jackie vs thugs

This is at his garage/impound yard. Good fight; very fast flow! This is full of good kicks and includes an especially sweet back-spinning leg sweep. It has some elements of JC's typical 'run-n-gun' fight style, but not too much. It ends nicely by him corralling the thugs into the auto-paint chamber and activating the sprayers. (The editing is a little too quick and choppy in places, and some segments are shot entirely too close up.)

Later there is an awesome stunt sequence as Cougar uses a crane to destroy Jackie's home and business which is apparently constructed of metal cargo freight trailers. It's pretty wild!

Fight #3 --- Jackie vs Kong (KL) & the Yakuza

This occurs in Japan at a pachinko parlor. Best fight! There is a ton of action here! Chan pulls off some great kicks including some impressive triple kicks. Ken Lo is always good to see (though I think underused here) and takes a particularly hard fall at one point. What's unique is that when the tattooed Yakuza members come running in, everything goes into blurry slo-mo and that's generally not typical in JC's films. There's also lots of wire-assisted falls and leaps, again not usually typical. The choreography is good but again the editing is choppy at times. Still, Chan doesn't fail to impress.

There is no end fight. The film culminates in a big race showdown with Jackie and Cougar. It does end in a pretty crazy car stunt/crash though.

There's been a lot of recent discussion about this film on the forum. You'll find the thread here: http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18824

JC wasn't keen on having this released outside China for various reasons and because it doesn't represent his best work. And I confess....it doesn't. But to me, for a long time this movie was a Holy Grail of sorts, and I managed to score a dvd of it about 3 yrs before it finally got a US release.

It's flaws? Well, some of the car chases/racing is horribly under-cranked, not much but enough. The beginning doesn't really jibe with the rest of the film. The action peaks way too early and the race at the end is drawn out way too long.

So what's so intriguing about it? There are none of the usual physical comedy bits here that Chan typically interjects either in the story or the fights. (Actually there's no comedy or funny bits whatsoever.) And it is a rare treat in that JC battles in "hate" mode; he is angry and aggressive. I don't think he's "acted" that way except in one of his earlier classical MA films of the 70's. (Can't think what it could possibly be though off the top of my head. Maybe someone can.)

Still, for all its imperfections, this is a good Jackie Chan film with better action than many of his 21st Century releases. It's well worth your time to check this out. Get this!!!

[One Armed Boxer]

Great review ShaOW!linDude, have to agree on all of the points brought up.

Regarding the editing and framing of the fight scenes, as was mentioned in the thread you referenced, Chan still hadn't recovered from the broken ankle he suffered while filming 'Rumble in the Bronx' when 'Thunderbolt' began filming, but he was under contract to release it by a certain date.

This lead to most of the fight scenes actually being a double (most probably Chin Kar Lok) instead of Chan himself, hence the sometimes choppy editing and framing which rarely shows Chan's head or face.

This didn't detract too much for me though, and I was actually really impressed at the level of skill it must have took to shoot the scenes without revealing them to not be Chan. It's a credit to Sammo Hung the way he for the most part successfully covered it up, & is probably also what gives the scenes that little bit of a more hard hitting flavor than most Chan skirmishes.

And it is a rare treat in that JC battles in "hate" mode; he is angry and aggressive. I don't think he's "acted" that way except in one of his earlier classical MA films of the 70's. (Can't think what it could possibly be though off the top of my head. Maybe someone can.)

I think it might be 'Dragon Fist', although my memory is hazy as well. 'Island of Fire' and 'Crime Story' see him playing it pretty straight and angry also, both worth a watch.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Ah, I was unaware of some of that. Very interesting information, OAB.

Chan still hadn't recovered from the broken ankle he suffered while filming 'Rumble in the Bronx' when 'Thunderbolt' began filming, but he was under contract to release it by a certain date.

Could this be why the signature physical comedy of Chan is missing:ooh: and he's always so fighting mad throughout the film?

I recognized some of the areas he was doubled, especially on some of the kicks as they just didn't seem to be his normal 'fighting' style, but there are places he's obviously not and if he was still recovering from a broken ankle, he's doing some amazing stuff.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Nice review bro.

As far as "mad" fighting goes- don't forget HEART OF DRAGON. "Where is my brother?!"

[ShaOW!linDude]

Thank you, sir. Ah, I completely forgot about that. Good call, KFB.

[AlbertV]

Thank you, sir. Ah, I completely forgot about that. Good call, KFB.

The Japanese guy who fought alongside Ken Lo is martial artist and actor Kenya Sawada, who made his Hollywood debut just before shooting this film as Capt. Sawada in the 1994 STREET FIGHTER movie with Van Damme. That pachinko fight scene is one of my favorites despite Chan being doubled because of his ankle injury.

[ShaOW!linDude]

ROYAL WARRIORS (1986) Running time: 96 mins.

Stars: Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki (Henry) Sanada, Michael Wong, Kwok Kuen Chan, Ying Bai, Wai Man Chan, Hing Yin Kam

Stunt Coordinator: Ko Shou Liang

MA Instructor: Man Hoi

Dir.: David Chung (Chung Chi Man)

Michelle Yip (MY) is a HK police detective, Michael Wong (MW) is an air marshall, and Peter Yamamoto (HS) is a Japanese police detective. The three are aboard a plane when a hijacker attempts to release a prisoner being guarded for extradition. They prevent the criminals from succeeding and kill them in the process. The hijacker and prisoner are members of a former squad of soldiers who in war time swore their loyalty to one another to the death. Now the other two are after Michelle, Michael, and Yamamoto to avenge the deaths of their comrades.

Fight #1 --- Michelle vs 2 thugs with knives

Not a bad 1st fight. Yeoh shows her dexterity as a kicker and even makes use of a shinai (bamboo practice sword used in kendo) to showcase some Chinese sword play. There's some acrobatic bits for which she's obviously doubled, but it doesn't detract from the fight sequences. She does perform a cool scissor leg lock on 1 dude's knife hand.

Fight #2 --- Michelle & Yamamoto vs hijacker (HYK) and prisoner (WMC)

Takes place on an airplane. Good fights! MY and HS tag-team WMC. There's some really good kicks here, especially from Sanada. Actually, there are good exchanges all around. MY fights HYK on her own and makes good use of a fire extinguisher against his knife. She takes some pretty hard falls, too. These are some good hard-hitting fights.

Fight #3 --- Michelle & Yamamoto vs the hitman (KKC)

Yamamoto's wife and daughter are killed in a car bombing meant for him. A chase ensues. Sanada and KKC have a good go in an alley but it's short. Later, on a construction site as Yamamoto is buried under a pile of dirt, MY and KKC have at each other in the cab of a front-end loader but again the fight is short. Still, though the bouts are brief, they have good exchanges in them.

Fight #4 --- Yamamoto vs 5 gangsters

Occurs at a shipyard. Again Sanada demonstrates what a great kicker he is. One axe kick in particular was pretty sweet. It's a hard-hitting fight with a good flow, but it's short.

Fight #5 --- Michelle & Yamamoto vs the hitman (KKC) again

Happens at a club. Great fight! There's a big shootout that turns into a 2-on-1. Sanada will not be denied with more good kicks. Yeoh gets her licks in, too, and executes a flying scissor leg takedown that flips KKC into a wall.

Fight #6 --- Michelle vs former squad leader (YB)

Takes place at a quarry. Brutal end fight! It's not much of a scrap really. YB utilizes a chainsaw and MY takes a few rough falls. But she ends it by unloading a few sweet kicks on the guy.

I love Michelle Yeoh and this is a good B-actioner. (The clothing styles will make you smile.) She has her moments but very few of her fight sequences have any really standout moves.

I'm most impressed with Hiroyuki Sanada in this. His fights are the best but they are short, and he doesn't even get in on the end fight. Shame. He really should've had one of his own. (I need to find more of his films. Some of his others that I've seen don't really have him performing much action in them. Actually, this is the only film he's ever really impressed me in.)

Michael Wong is useless in this. He performs no MA in this whatsoever. (He's not a martial artist anyway. Just as well.) His character is annoying and he's wimpy. He's just eye candy for the ladies, I guess.

The plot is interesting but it's not really fleshed out. Shoot, some of the characters don't even have names. The fights are good and flow very well. The acting is hammy from everyone except MY and HS. They definitely had on-screen chemistry. Wish they would've followed this with another film together.

I'd encourage you to check this out. It's a good modern actioner and you'll enjoy Yeoh and Sanada in this. Get it!

[blue_skies]

Totally agree really enjoyed Royal Warriors, great review!

[DarthKato]

I love Michelle Yeoh, so I will definitely be checking Royal Warriors out.

[ShaOW!linDude]

MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS (1987) Running time: 91 mins.

Stars: Michelle Yeoh (billed here as Michelle Kheng), Richard Ng, Yee Tung Shing, Lowell Lo, Chindy Lau, Tetsuya Matsui, Hwang Jang Lee

Action Choreographers: Tung Wai, Kwong Tao Hoi, Funghak On

Dir.: David Chung

Set in 1938, Ming Ming Foo (MY) is a female aviator who makes black market runs. She is sent to meet with a spy, Agent Sky 1/Lily Wang (YTS) in the Mongolian village of Kaal. The Japanese have designs on the area to build a toxic gas plant. She meets up with the agent and teams up with the young Mongolian lord Youda (LL) and Chin Chin (CL), daughter of a collaborator to thwart the Japanese army.

Fight #1 --- Ming Ming vs villagers

This is an arms deal gone bad. Not the best opening fight but MY throws a few kicks which are cool. Mainly she uses a bullwhip like nobody's business. She ought to give Indiana Jones some lessons.

Fight #2 --- Ming Ming vs 2 Chinese army officers

Great fight!!! Starts off hand-to-hand in a 2-on-1. Good choreography that only gets better when MY uses a rope dart against on fellow with a sword. It's fantastic choreography that ends with a killer fall.

Fight #3 --- Chin Chin vs Mongolian thug

Not a bad fight. There's a little wire-work but she shows talent. The choreography is fast and smooth and she's very agile.

Fight #4 --- Ming Ming vs 2 Mongolian thugs

It's very short but My throws some good kicks.

Fight #5 --- Ming Ming and Sky 1 vs 2 Japanese agents

Good fight!!! MY throws 2 jump-spinning roundhouse kicks that are so sweet! 1 Japanese agent is played by Billy Chow who is wicked bad with a katana. There's good exchanges and hard falls. Great choreography!

Fight #6 --- Ming Ming vs Chin Chin's dad

Short fight but good. Lots of kicks; MY makes use of her bag as a weapon against his knife. With this would've played out longer.

Fight #7 --- Sky 1 vs 2 Mongol lords

Decent fight. Good falls and smooth choreography. MY shows up to deliver a couple of kicks and aid in escape.

Fight #8 --- Ming Ming vs Mongolian & Japanese soldiers

Great fight!!! This is full of some really good choreography! MY fights on the run, segueing from hand-to-hand to Chinese spear at times. There's some really cool kicks on display here and some great falls.

Fight #9 --- End Fight

Village of Kaal vs Japanese army invasion. It's a ton of action with great fights throughout! MY and CL team up to take on Japanese elite guards. Great choreography and kicks from MY. The best fight is against HJL who plays a Mongolian collaborator. It's so good but, man, it could've been so much more. Hey, I'll take what I can get.

It's a fun period piece romp. There's plenty of action so you won't get easily bored. The acting is very hammy at times, especially the meet cute between Ming Ming and Sky 1. The comedic elements don't really work for me, especially the slapstick bits. The plot isn't too bad. I actually think this could only be improved if the film as a whole had a more dramatic tone to it. Yeoh's character is a sort of female "Asian Hawk". Wish she'd been fleshed out a little more.

But this is an action-driven movie and you get plenty of it. Michelle Yeoh is fantastic here. I would've loved for there to have been a serious 1-on1 throwdown between her and Hwang Jang Lee. I bet it would've been a classic.

If you don't have this or have never seen, track it down and GET IT!!!!!!!

[Drunken Monk]

I've had this film for a long time and it's one I'd never watched. Hell, I didn't even known Hwang Jang Lee was in it! This might be one that the girlfriend likes, so I might have to put it in the DVD player this week.

Your breakdowns are awesome ShaOW!lin Dude. Keep it up!

[Bus]

nice review bruh. it's a pretty decent film

[ShaOW!linDude]

SILVER HAWK (2004) Running time: 99 mins.

Stars: Michelle Yeoh, Richie Jen Hsien Chi, Luke Goss, Brandon Chang, Li Bing Bing, Michael Jai White

Action Dir.: Allen Sit

Dir.: Jingle Ma

Silver Hawk is the resident hero of Polaris City, but the vigilante is really Lulu Wong (MY), heiress of a billion dollar fortune. Her former classmate, Rich Man (RJHC), is now a cop put in charge of ending her vigilante ways. But when Alexander Wolfe (LG) kidnaps the professor of a new AI technology with the intent to use it to control the masses, Silver Hawk and Det. Man join forces to stop his nefarious scheme.

Fight #1 --- Silver Hawk vs group of hijackers

Opening fight. It's not too bad though MY has done better. There are numerous wire-assisted moves and also more slo-mo than is really needed. The choreography's not too bad. She fires off plenty of kicks and it has a slightly comical ending.

Fight #2 --- Young Lou vs bully

This is a flashback scene to the wushu school both Lulu and Man attended growing up. Good fight! Wu Sai Kit is the girl playing a young Lulu and she displays some good MA talent.

Fight #3 --- Silver Hawk fight montage

This has some bits of neat choreography as MY takes on various thugs and crooks. Again there's some slo-mo action but she looks good (though I think obviously doubled in some spots).

Fight #4 --- Silver Hawk vs Det. Man

This is a better fight though set to some cheesy music. This is all MY and she performs some great jump-spinning kicks here as well as some good fist work.

Fight #5 --- Silver Hawk vs Morris (MJW) & Jane (LBB)

Morris sports metal gauntlets and Jane wears pointy steel-toed boots. They get to demonstrate their skills while kidnapping the professor. Then they square off against MY in the street. It's an okay little skirmish, really a tease, but there's some nice bootwork.

Fight #6 --- Lulu vs Morris & Jane

Another brief skirmish much as the first.

Fight #7 --- Silver Hawk vs 4 bungee fighters

This is a cool fight! 4 dudes on bungee tethers swing and bounce about as they attack MY. Mainly she evades them but gets a few licks in. Then she pulls out a couple of collapsible metal batons and starts whaling on them.

Fight #8 --- Silver Hawk vs Morris, Jane, & Alexander Wolfe (LG)

Good fight! MY attaches her batons together to create a staff. Good choreography here, especially between MJW and MY. The LG gets in the mix and she's outgunned. This has some good exchanges and MJW gets to strut his stuff a bit.

Fight #9 --- Silver Hawk & Det. Man vs street hockey thugs

This starts the end fight. It's good and a bit whimsical but full of action. RJHC gets to show his skill a bit and I was impressed. But it's MY's show and she lays into everybody.

Fight #10 --- Silver Hawk & Det. Man vs Morris & Jane

Good fight! Good exchanges! MY pulls off a tornado kick over a motorcycle (it's wire-assisted but still sweet). The choreography here is fast with a good flow.

Fight #11 --- Silver Hawk vs Alexander Wolfe

This fight starts off good but ultimately fails to deliver. It has some good moments but isn't as good as I remember it. MY does use a CGI version of a rope dart that is sort of cool...but not. She and RJ do pull a smooth high/low finishing move on LG though.

I love superhero films and to combine one with martial arts is right up my alley. I guess this was supposed to be a lighter female version of Jet Li's Black Mask but it fails to really deliver action on the same level. I liked the premise, and the semi-futuristic sets were really cool. Yeoh's character was interesting but the back story was fleshed out in some areas and not in others. The Silver Hawk costumes were varied and had a nice flair to them.

The problem with this for me is on a couple of levels. First, it has too much of a rom-com and "battle of the sexes" feel to it. I think that works against it. Second, the fight choreography just never really shows anything spectacular. While it builds up to a good finale, the end fight between Silver Hawk and Wolfe is anticlimactic. I mean, it's a major letdown. Third, LG's skills as a martial artist are grossly underused. MJW is fun to watch but he has no speaking lines and never gets to have a serious 1-on-1 confrontation.

Still, it's Michelle Yeoh and she is so much fun to watch. And she genuinely seems to be enjoying herself in this. I kind of wish she had done a 2nd film of this character with a little bit of a darker overtone and more emphasis on solid fight choreography. But this is all we get and if a sequel had been in the same vein.....well, I certainly wouldn't have wanted more of that. The verdict? It's your call. I mean, it's a fun watch in some respects but it needed more oomph. But hey, then there's the fact that it's Michelle Yeoh as a super-heroine. So, yeah....it's your call.

[ShaOW!linDude]

This has been a long time coming and I must express my gratitude to a couple of our forum members:

Karlos --- for supplying me with the means (component) with which to watch this

Drunken Monk --- providing me with the film itself

Thank you tons, guys! I've wanted to see this for years and at long last....

BROKEN PATH (2007) Running time: 91 mins

Stars: Johnny Yong Bosch, Pamela Walworth, Daniel Southworth, Motoko Nagino, Anthony Nanakornpanom, Tadahiro Nakamura, Sonny Sison

Dir.: Koichi Sakamoto

Stunt Choreographer: Tadahiro Nakamura

Fight Choreographer: Daniel Southworth

All stunts and fight sequences designed by Alpha Stunts.

JYB --- Jack Ellis

DS --- Yoshi

MN --- Sakura

AN --- Hadu

TN --- Yukio

SS --- Jiro

Jack (JYB) and Lisa (PW) have relocated once again with their daughter, Maddy. They have a new house to renovate which is 3 miles from their nearest neighbor. With Maddy going off to camp, they’ll be able to get some work done as well as have some much needed time alone together. But Jack’s past comes back to haunt him when they are attacked by a group of garish assassins. They feel that Jack’s leaving their team is an act of betrayal and want him dead. One of them, Yoshi (DS), refuses to to kill his former partner. Now Jack must suffer the consequences for his actions and use all the skills at his command to save the lives of his family.

Fight #1 --- Jack vs Yukio and Jiro w/knives

Occurs in the bedroom. This is wildly manic. It’s very fast paced in a relatively confined setting. Some moves and pauses are a bit exaggerated but the hits and falls make up for it. There’s no real standout/rewind moments here but it sets the tempo for the film’s fight scenes.

Fight #2 --- Jack vs Hadu, Yukio, and Jiro

In the living room. This is primarily between Jack and Hadu while the others terrorize Lisa. JYB and AN have some really good, brutal exchanges. JYB performs a jumping roundhouse off the sofa that’s sweet! Then it turns into 3-on-1 against Jack after his wife escapes the house.

Fight #3 --- Jack vs Sakura, Hadu, Yukio, and Jiro

Front yard. It’s a melee! Some good kicks here: JYB throws a hook kick to the back of AN’s head; later AN performs a jump-spinning reverse crescent kick and segues into a jumping roundhouse…flawless! Then Sakura gets in it. MN and JYB have at it a bit and she’s no slouch; she sells her fights.

Fight #4 --- Jack vs Hadu, Yukio, and Jiro

Backyard. This is a shorter fight but it’s set on a small piece of scaffolding which is pretty inventive in places. There’s some good falls here.

Fight #5 --- Jack & Yoshi vs Sakura, Hadu, Yukio, and Jiro

Toolshed. Great fights! DS executes a back flip into a low back sweep. AN performs a jump-spinning back kick into a cartwheeling double kick. JYB barrel-rolls through the air into a reverse leg sweep. DS side-flips into a side kick. This is full of fantastic choreography!

Fight #6 --- Jack vs Jiro

Short brutal fight! JYB throws some nice kicks in this. Then it gets bloody…

Fight #7 --- Jack vs Sakura & Yukio/Yoshi vs Hadu

In the house. There is so much cool choreography here, it is insane! The sequences between DS and AN are especially killer! JYB’s exchanges w/TN and MN are absolutely grueling. The fights are manic in places. Then Yukio loses his head…

Fight #8 --- Jack vs Hadu

In the yard. Another short fight but loaded with cool kicks and culminates in a grossly brutal end! Ew!

Fight #9 --- Jack vs Sakura

Front yard. Yet another short brutal fight! Good exchanges! Lots of hate! I loved the simple but inventive way MN’s death is portrayed.

Fight #10 --- Jack vs Yoshi

At the stables. Oh….My….Word!!!! This is one of the best boss endfights ever!!!! I cannot even begin to recount all the fantastic techniques o display here! I’m sorry if that seems like a cop-out considering some of the ones I’ve described, but there is just so much that it has to be seen to be fully appreciated.

Look...the plot is serviceable and the acting is meh. It all works to get you to the real crux of the film: the fight choreography!

There were very few places where I thought the editing was a little quick, though there are some. The angles are good and the crew knew when to go for close-ups and when to hang back. The pace overall is great. There are moments where some under-cranking reaches Donnie Yen level (you know what I mean) but the majority is spot on.

But the fight sequences are what it's all about! And honestly, it was hard to parse the fights. They go right from one into another. There's generally just enough of a breather to let you register what you saw and then...BAM! This is 6 martial artists who just go full tilt boogie for essentially 60 mins of the film. Granted, it's wholly unrealistic that six people would fight for so long and so often, but the choreography is such that it's enjoyable to just suspend your imagination and watch some killer combat sequences. There's a lot of hate and a lot of blood. (Not cgi either. The good ol' fashioned packets and capsules.) These fights are in the vein of the '80's Modern actioners from Hong Kong.

The talents of Bosch, Southworth, and Nanakornpanom are on full display. Check IMDb and you'll see they all have extended resumes. Unfortunately, rarely do they ever include other work of this caliber. These guys are being passed over by an industry that should've been putting them in front of the camera to have their way as they did in this movie.

I cannot stress enough just how great an end fight this movie has!

If you need dramatic delivery and depth of story, you're not going to really enjoy this. If you want some eye-bugging, jaw-dropping, and sometimes face-cringing martial arts action.....Dude, GET THIS!!!!!!

[massa_yoda]

BROKEN PATH (2007)

Dude, GET THIS!!!!!!

Thanks for this review. I've been a little curious about this one, but I wasn't sure how good it really was (aka really worth tracking down). Your review makes me want to see it today!

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

See, im in the other camp..... I thought Broken Path was a valiant effort, for sure. But to me, the fights felt and looked like people doing choreography, which it is, but the flow and sense of effortlessness that you get from most HK choreo of the same style, was missing.

It's still entertaining, but to me, the action was just a bit off.

[ShaOW!linDude]

See, im in the other camp..... I thought Broken Path was a valiant effort, for sure. But to me, the fights felt and looked like people doing choreography, which it is, but the flow and sense of effortlessness that you get from most HK choreo of the same style, was missing.

It's still entertaining, but to me, the action was just a bit off.

And I absolutely agree with you that sometimes that is the case during the course of the fights, TWC. Especially in the very 1st one. But to me, I think they progress....but that's me.

I guess I'm being more lenient because it's such a bold effort and 6 people doing it all. Like with every MA film, some choreographed pieces stood out better than others. Still, I think as fans we're hard-pressed to find this caliber of choreography (or even an attempt at it) very often nowadays.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Most certainly, and I give them all the props in the world.

[blue_skies]

I cannot stress enough just how great an end fight this movie has!

If you need dramatic delivery and depth of story, you're not going to really enjoy this. If you want some eye-bugging, jaw-dropping, and sometimes face-cringing martial arts action.....Dude, GET THIS!!!!!!

I thought you'd love this film, can't believe it took you soooo long to see it though:tongue:

Great Review btw!

[Drunken Monk]

I thought you'd love this film, can't believe it took you soooo long to see it though:tongue:

Great Review btw!

I'll take the blame for that as it took me a long time to get it to him. Technical issues mostly but some of it procrastination too.

[ShaOW!linDude]

BODYGUARDS & ASSASSINS (2009) Running time: 139 mins.

Stars: Donnie Yen, Wnag Xue-Qi, Tony Leung, Nicholas Tse, Hu Jun, Yuchun Li, Mengke Bateer, Leon Lai, Eric Tsang, Fan Bing-Bing, Zhou Yun Wang Bo-Chieh, Simon Yam, Cung Le, Jacky Cheung

Dir.: Teddy Chan

Action Directors: Stephen Tung Wai, Lee Tat-Chiu, (Donnie Yen uncredited)

Sun Yat-sen is returning to Hong Kong in 1906 to unite various groups to overthrow the Qing dynasty. Those supporting his return create an entourage to keep him safe during the brief time he will be there, knowing there will be an attempt to assassinate him and end his influence.

Fight #1 --- Troupe vs Assassins

Theater troupe of former soldiers led by Gen. Fang Tian (Simon Yam) are attacked by Qing assassins. SY has a bit of a face off against 3 of them at the end. It's okay overall but nothing really worth mentioning happens here.

Fight #2 --- Shen (DY) vs Qing thug

This is very short but very brutal as DY just unloads some hate on this guy. Not really any kung fu here; more of a beatdown, but it's cool.

Fight #3 --- Ambush of Sun Yat-sen's entourage

This is pretty wild with crossbow quarrels flying everywhere from snipers in windows and on rooftops. DY shows up to beat the daylights out of one dude and finishes him off with 2-3 axe kicks. Love that!

Fight #4 --- Ms. Fang (YL) vs Qing thugs

Starts off fighting a single Qing assassin in an alley and moves into a building where she fights 3 of them. She uses a whip-chain with a knife attached. This isn't too bad but it really didn't display as much as I'd have liked. Starts off better than it ends actually.

Fight #5 --- Shen (DY) vs Sa (CL)

CL is bad as he runs through the crowd just smacking folks all over the place. The fight is almost entirely wire-assisted and full of power hits. While brutal, I was really disappointed with this. Very little real kung fu is used here (though you get a couple of Yen's trademark kicks) and it's a shame, too. CL's character is bad to the bone. This could've been a boss fight.

Fight #6 --- Beggar Liu (LL) vs Qing assassins

More wire fu. It's okay. Liu uses an iron war fan which is pretty cool. It has some good hits but gets ridiculous in places. This could've been awesome.

Well, I'm definitely late to the dance on this one.

I have to say that I loved the movie's casting, acting, pacing, and story. They were all superb and I was completely sucked in. But the action for the most part is unrealistic and as it all takes place in the last 30-40 minutes, the film suffers because it just kind of deflated for me. It's my belief that grounded fight choreography would've served this movie so much better. Ah, well.

There's a lot more action than what I detailed and some good "final" scenes. As I said, I was enthralled with the story and connected with many of the characters. I'm glad I finally got to see it but it's not one I'd ever watch again simply because I found the fight action to be sub-par to the film. Definitely worth a rental or dvr it like I did.

[Drunken Monk]

Great review! This is another one I haven't gotten around to see it. Now that I have "14 Blades" out of the way, I thought I would give this a go but I'm still unsure about it as your remarks on the action are not exactly what I'm looking for from a film.

However, perhaps I can view it as a straight up drama and treat the fights as bonuses!

[massa_yoda]

I really like B&A, but just as a movie, not as a Kung fu film. It's epic, got good characters, and I like how it builds. On rewatch the action is even less impressive, but I always love seeing Donnie throwdown. Also: man vs horse. Where else ya gonna see that?

[One Armed Boxer]

Spot-on review of 'Bodyguards & Assassins', this movie was really marketed in completely the wrong way...all we heard before its release was "1 hour of non-stop action!". Actually if anything it's the action that drags the movie down from being a classic, it sets up a great story, great tension, and great characters....then throws it all away with what amounts to about 40 minutes of fairly sub-par action.

Why Leon Lai continues to get acting roles is beyond me, a piece of wood is more expressive, and the Donnie Yen vs the horse confrontation actually made me laugh out loud for all the wrong reasons. As ShaOW!linDude said, they should have just kept the action grounded and realistic, which I'm sure would have made it of a much higher quality, rather than going for the flashy and spectacular, which just resulted in an average climax to a decent story.