Member DrNgor Posted January 5, 2020 Member Share Posted January 5, 2020 54 minutes ago, Killer Meteor said: Did you notice the Ghostbusters music in it? Yeah, the first time I saw it, I heard that song and thought it sounded familiar. The more I thought about it, the clearer it became: it's Elmer Bernstein's theme from The Ghostbusters! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted January 6, 2020 Member Share Posted January 6, 2020 It really makes SSvNS even more tedious, because you start wanting to watch Ghostbusters instead! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted January 7, 2020 Member Share Posted January 7, 2020 On 1/6/2020 at 3:25 AM, Killer Meteor said: It really makes SSvNS even more tedious, because you start wanting to watch Ghostbusters instead! My problem with it was that there was very little actual fighting between the two Shaolin Temples. Bad B-movie title, folks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted January 7, 2020 Member Share Posted January 7, 2020 Dragon, the Young Master (South Korea, 1981: Kim Si-Hyeon) - aka Dragoneer 8 - The Unbeatable - I'm not sure what to make of this movie. A guy is ambushed and killed by evil people, led by Kim Ki-Ju. But someone shows up out of the bushes and kills the injured guy, unbeknownst to the other killers. Some time later, the evil people (who are led by Martin Chui, who also doubles as the fight choreographer) are being ambushed by a mysterious man in a white ski mask and a rice hat named The Silver Ninja. At about the same time, a mysterious stranger (Dragon Lee) shows up in town and starts kicking butt, while befriending a kung fu babe (Yuen Qiu) and her father, who I can only describe as being a cross between Zatoichi and Davey Crockett. It turns out the stranger is indeed the Silver Ninja and his father was the guy killed at the beginning. Stuff. I liked this more than Dragon's Snake Fist, which had a more coherent and standard story. This one is all over the place, but the high-energy fights are better (or at least more imaginative) and Yuen Qiu gets a lot more onscreen action. The choreography feels rushed, and Dragon Lee's fighting style here feels like "Bruce Lee parody artist decides to try his hand at parodying Jackie Chan." Hell, he even looks like Chan's character from Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin for most of the film. There's a fight on a frozen lake with the fighters sliding across the ice. The kicks and punches aren't very strong-looking, and Dragon Lee's signature move here is a jumping-look-like-I'm-walking-on-them kick, feels ineffective. Yuen Qiu is probably the best-looking member of the bunch, skill-wise, although she has had better showcases, as we'll see. So yeah, strange, but entertaining. Dragon's Claws (Hong Kong, 1979: Joseph Kuo) - Most reviewers point out that this film had the potential to become one of the classics, especially during the first act when it tries to subvert kung fu movie conventions: we learn that the hero's dad only married his wife (Yuen Qiu, in one of her best early roles) because he raped and impregnated her, and thus the villain, played by Legendary Superkicker Hwang Jang Lee, may not be so bad after all. However, once daddy dies, the film becomes a conventional late 70s kung fu potboiler, with Lau Kar-Yung (Pops' nephew in real life) training for revenge while Hwang sends his cronies to kill the remnant of his brother-in-law's students so he can be the supreme Dragon Claw master. Joseph Kuo should've had the conviction to develop this premise into something more disturbing, probing the underbelly of the kung fu world. We get hints, but the spectre of Drunken Master's success ruins it all. The action is provided by Max Lee, best known for playing Jackie Chan's best friend in The Drunken Master. It's pretty solid by late 70s standards. I like how Legendary Superkicker Hwang Jang Lee was versatile enough as a martial artist to imitate other, frequently hand-based, styles convincingly (as opposed to John Liu or Dorian Tan). I like HJL's dragon claw's style, although I wish he had done some more powerful kicking. Yuen Qiu looks better under a HK choreographer's direction than she did in her South Korean films. Lau Kar-Yung does some good hung gar, although since he spends much of the movie either being a douche or training, I wanted more fighting from him. There's enough good fighting on display to recommend for a single viewing, though. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted January 19, 2020 Member Share Posted January 19, 2020 Duel Of The Ultimate Weapons Hwang Jang Lee as the evil Don Wong lifts this rather standard tale of a young student training for revenge. The Vengeance video print is watchable but very dark. Shaolin And Tai Chi Again a pretty average movie lifted by the great Eagle Han in a familiar bad ass role. One of Vengeance Videos better releases, fully wide,original audio but burnt in subs. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chu Liu Hsiang Posted January 24, 2020 Member Share Posted January 24, 2020 TWELVE GATES OF HELL - I have not seen that many Dragon Lee movies yet but this was the first where I enjoyed the overall movie experience and not just the fights. It has a lot of those, a more or less reasonable plot, weird ideas (early horror clowns who turn out to be fighter girls, guy who breathes fire, not to mention DL gets a sometimes called iron, sometimes called steel, leg). DL even gets the chance to display some emotions. In a beautiful short scene we see the silhouette of his future wife praying for his and her father's safe return. Pity that Eagle Han played henchman, not main villain. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted January 24, 2020 Member Share Posted January 24, 2020 12 minutes ago, Chu Liu Hsiang said: TWELVE GATES OF HELL - I have not seen that many Dragon Lee movies yet but this was the first where I enjoyed the overall movie experience and not just the fights. It has a lot of those, a more or less reasonable plot, weird ideas (early horror clowns who turn out to be fighter girls, guy who breathes fire, not to mention DL gets a sometimes called iron, sometimes called steel, leg). DL even gets the chance to display some emotions. In a beautiful short scene we see the silhouette of his future wife praying for his and her father's safe return. Pity that Eagle Han played henchman, not main villain. Did you watched a Korean language version by any chance? The dubbing on the english version, CHAMP VS CHAMP, is hysterical! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chu Liu Hsiang Posted January 27, 2020 Member Share Posted January 27, 2020 On 1/24/2020 at 4:06 PM, Killer Meteor said: Did you watched a Korean language version by any chance? The dubbing on the english version, CHAMP VS CHAMP, is hysterical! dub version 🤪 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted February 2, 2020 Member Share Posted February 2, 2020 Invincible Obsessed Fighter Elton Chong starrer makes no sense at all and is pretty crap but i kept watching. Nice widescreen print on youtube. Shaolin Chastity Kung Fu I almost lost the will to live watching this terrible Robert Tai movie. Unusually it features some sympathetic japanese characters. Again a nice widescreen print on youtube. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted February 5, 2020 Member Share Posted February 5, 2020 Dragon,The Young Master Dragon Lee/Godfrey Ho effort is typical of their output- doesn't make a lick of sense yet strangely watchable. Dragon Lee wanders round in his sheepskin coat fighting bad guys.There's also a silver ninja or two here for added value. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chu Liu Hsiang Posted February 26, 2020 Member Share Posted February 26, 2020 (edited) DUEL OF ULTIMATE WEAPONS - Any scene without Hwang Jang Lee verges on a waste of time. Annoying non-funny subplot with a wagonload of women used for scam. Remarkable was the hero's statement that he rather wants to go to work than practice his Kung Fu - scandalizing!!! Equally unheard of is the scene where Hwang Jang Lee gets mourned after he got killed. I was not able to understand the dub very well, obviously the guy/ master with the wagon was not only the hero's father but also Hwang Jang Lee's father and/ or master. Edited February 26, 2020 by Chu Liu Hsiang 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted February 26, 2020 Member Share Posted February 26, 2020 19 minutes ago, Chu Liu Hsiang said: that he rather wants to go to work than practice his Kung Fu - scandalizing!!! Damnit movie hero, think of all the guys who work and would rather be doing Kung Fu. Or maybe it's a Fu film set in Bizarro world ? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted April 11, 2020 Member Share Posted April 11, 2020 Black dragon river I didn't like Casanova Wong's character at all, nor did I like his girlfriend character as well. They both seemed to be like stone, without any expression on their faces, and the way Casanova Wong treated her as well as the way she treated Hwang Jang Lee didn't please me. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted April 12, 2020 Member Share Posted April 12, 2020 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted May 4, 2020 Member Share Posted May 4, 2020 Eagle vs Silver Fox - An abysmal trudge through a humdrum plot punctuated with acceptable but uninspired fight scenes. Pretty shocking that it was made in 1980 as it feels like a 1974 movie. Joyless and boring. Hwang Jang Lee is the only bright spot in this one. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted May 4, 2020 Member Share Posted May 4, 2020 3 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said: Eagle vs Silver Fox - An abysmal trudge through a humdrum plot punctuated with acceptable but uninspired fight scenes. Pretty shocking that it was made in 1980 as it feels like a 1974 movie. Joyless and boring. Hwang Jang Lee is the only bright spot in this one. Just wait until you get to Angry Young Man. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted May 6, 2020 Member Share Posted May 6, 2020 (edited) great to see this thread pinned in the classic Kung Fu forum again. Edited May 6, 2020 by DragonClaws 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted May 29, 2020 Member Share Posted May 29, 2020 South Shaolin vs North Shaolin - I'm not saying this film is bad, per se. But, Christ, it's boring. Hmm....maybe not boring, but "bland." It just did nothing for me. The characters are dull, the fights would be great but the undercranking makes them jittery and odd (and I'm a guy that loved Shaolin Temple Against Lama, for fuck's sake!). The first hour is drawn out and the last half and hour is rushed making the pace feel all off. Also...lady vampires!? The choreography is crisp. I'll give it that. It could just benefit from being slowed down a bit. We don't Benny Hill chase style fight scenes. I don't know why the speed was so egregious to me in this one. All in all, I was pretty disappointed with this one. It had its moments and some of the fight work is both complex and original. But it all felt so tiresome. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted May 29, 2020 Member Share Posted May 29, 2020 4 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said: South Shaolin vs North Shaolin It lost me when it became clear that the whole title ultimately referred to a throw-away subplot and not the actual plot of the film. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted June 3, 2020 Member Share Posted June 3, 2020 This morning I watched Black Dragon River aka Martial Mates. I really enjoyed this one a lot. It’s a great role reversal movie with Casanova Wong playing the “bad” guy and Hwang Jang Lee playing the hero. Basically, Casanova Wong joins the Japanese in the hope of being a martial arts champion. The Japanese get him to do some dirty deeds and so HJL goes after him. Oh yeah, there’s a bit of a love story in there too. Unfortunately, the version on Amazon is definitely cut. It’s only 75 minutes long and, at one point, seems like it cuts out an entire HJL fight scene. I found that to be pretty annoying. There’s a lot of drama in this movie. It’s not your standard martial arts movie. I feel like it needed an extra action scene here or there. But it was still very good and the choreography for a 1976 film is actually great. Lots of great kicking. The final fight is a bit brisk but I found myself liking this one a lot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted June 3, 2020 Member Share Posted June 3, 2020 18 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said: This morning I watched Black Dragon River aka Martial Mates. The Legendary Superkicker vs. the Human Tornado? I need to see this yesterday! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted June 3, 2020 Member Share Posted June 3, 2020 28 minutes ago, DrNgor said: The Legendary Superkicker vs. the Human Tornado? I need to see this yesterday! It's an interesting one Very melodramatic. I'd like to see an uncut version at some point. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted June 3, 2020 Member Share Posted June 3, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Drunken Monk said: This morning I watched Black Dragon River aka Martial Mates. I really enjoyed this one a lot. It’s a great role reversal movie with Casanova Wong playing the “bad” guy and Hwang Jang Lee playing the hero. Basically, Casanova Wong joins the Japanese in the hope of being a martial arts champion. The Japanese get him to do some dirty deeds and so HJL goes after him. Oh yeah, there’s a bit of a love story in there too. Unfortunately, the version on Amazon is definitely cut. It’s only 75 minutes long and, at one point, seems like it cuts out an entire HJL fight scene. I found that to be pretty annoying. There’s a lot of drama in this movie. It’s not your standard martial arts movie. I feel like it needed an extra action scene here or there. But it was still very good and the choreography for a 1976 film is actually great. Lots of great kicking. The final fight is a bit brisk but I found myself liking this one a lot. I didn't enjoy this one as much as you, I just found it so-so and I didn't like Casanova Wong's character, nor the way his fiancée used Hwang Jang Lee just in order to regain her lover... Edited June 3, 2020 by ShawAngela 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted June 3, 2020 Member Share Posted June 3, 2020 47 minutes ago, ShawAngela said: I didn't enjoy this one as much as you, I just found it so-so and I didn't like Casanova Wong's character, nor the way his fiancée used Hwang Jang Lee just in order to regain her lover... I thought it was very unusual; very non-traditional, if you will. Casanove Wong was an angry drunk looking for honor, Hwang Jang Lee was honrable but acted awful to the woman that loved him. I liked how different it was. It just needed a few more fights. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted June 10, 2020 Member Share Posted June 10, 2020 Shaolin Blood Mission Cheapie movie but an entertaining one. The Shaolin fighting is real good. But the acting isn't the best and dubbing is really bad in spots. But this movie had everything from Human Slave Chess, Drinking live chicken blood, Perverted monk boys, People throwing dynamite, and music from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Hwang Jang-lee is always entertaining. What the movie needed was a main hero. It was pretty much the whole Shaolin Temple working together. The one person who i think was suppose to be the hero just felt like a side character. Spoiler So the main Abbot died when they extracted the book from his back, but didn't die when they sowed it in in the first place? Okay Sure. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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