Member DragonClaws Posted March 31, 2015 Member Share Posted March 31, 2015 Secret Ninja, Roaring Tiger (1982) - I've been on a bit of an old-school Korean kung-fu movie marathon lately, haivng also checked out 'Champ Against Champ' (reviewed in post #966 back on page 97) and 'Strike of Thunderkick Tiger' in recent months. The one thing that all of these movies have in common is that it's sadly impossible to see them in their original language and soundtrack, with almost all of them being purchased for international distribution by Godfrey Ho and his Asso Asia Productions, then re-dubbed into whatever he saw fit and sold off for cheap to the international market. 'Secret Ninja, Roaring Tiger' is certainly no different, originally entitled 'Injamun Salsu', it's been suggested that the movie was originally filmed in 1980, which would put it 2 years ahead of 'Ninja in the Dragons Den', a production which it clearly has a lot in common with. Most likely this information is incorrect though, and it makes much more sense that NITDD was made prior to this, with SNRT being a cash-in for the local Korean audience. (It's worth noting 'Ninja in the Dragons Den' was also re-cut and had new scenes filmed for Korea, which was re-titled 'Black Dragon's Last Warning') So instead of Conan Lee and Hiroyuki Sanada, here we get Dragon Lee and Jack Lam. What does remain the same is the presence of Hwang Jang Lee as the villain. To describe the plot of 'Secret Ninja, Roaring Tiger' would be a fruitless excercise. Something about 2 sisters and one of them doesn't know she has a sister and she's stuck in Tiger Castle under the control of Hwang Jang Lee and his band of ninjas. Basically, Dragon Lee, Jack Lam, and the other sister decide to rescue her. The dubbing is hilarious, the fight scenes range from sloppy, to absurd (one tournament scene has a fighter trying to defeat the other by tickling him, all accompanied by truly irritating sound effects), to actually pretty damn good. When Lee and Lam unleash their kicks, a certain energy is brought to proceedings, and the way every fighter strikes a pose before charging into combat somehow never gets old. Hwang Jang Lee, as in so many of his movies, doesn't get much to do fight wise until the end, however after revealing that his weakness is the naked female body, at one point he's randomly given a sex scene. Not only is it bizarre that Hwang Jang Lee is in a sex scene, but there's also the fact that in the context of the story he shouldn't even be able to get near a woman! Making sense is not the order of the day here, and in place of cohesive storytelling we have Dragon Lee fighting cross-dressers, bulked up muscle-men, and of course, Hwang Jang Lee himself. In all fairness Jack Lam gets in on a lot of the action as well, with many of the fights being double teams with himself and Lee (just like Conan and Sanada in NITDD!). By the end, having watched Hwang meeting his bewildering demise (a mix of topless breast flashing, nonsensical cartwheeling all over a courtyard, and what looks like a yoga move gone wrong), I realised I'd actually been pretty entertained. It may not be what it was intended to be, but as it is, you can do a lot worse than 'Secret Ninja, Roaring Tiger'. I picked this up pretty cheap on DVD and while it is flawed I did find it entertaining. It goes a bit nuts in the last ten minutes like you mentioned with the cart wheeling etc. These Korean films can feature some really bad choreography and humor mixed in with some very impressive moves/fights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted March 31, 2015 Member Share Posted March 31, 2015 I picked this up pretty cheap on DVD and while it is flawed I did find it entertaining. It goes a bit nuts in the last ten minutes like you mentioned with the cart wheeling etc. These Korean films can feature some really bad choreography and humor mixed in with some very impressive moves/fights. My favorite bit is when Dragon Lee is getting whooped, so he switches from whatever style he's been using to his Bruce Lee imitation. It's presented in a way that makes you think, "Okay, this will be the turning point." Instead, he continues to get beaten down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted March 31, 2015 Moderator Share Posted March 31, 2015 I picked this up pretty cheap on DVD and while it is flawed I did find it entertaining. It goes a bit nuts in the last ten minutes like you mentioned with the cart wheeling etc. These Korean films can feature some really bad choreography and humor mixed in with some very impressive moves/fights. That sums them up pretty well, almost all of the cast of these movies usually have the moves, they just didn't seem to have the choreographers to really make that perfect fight scene. Still, that doesn't prevent them from being enjoyable. We might actually have the same DVD, I picked up the Hollywood DVD double-bill of this & 'Revenge of the Drunken Master' for £2 brand new off amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted March 31, 2015 Member Share Posted March 31, 2015 That sums them up pretty well, almost all of the cast of these movies usually have the moves, they just didn't seem to have the choreographers to really make that perfect fight scene. Still, that doesn't prevent them from being enjoyable. We might actually have the same DVD, I picked up the Hollywood DVD double-bill of this & 'Revenge of the Drunken Master' for £2 brand new off amazon. I just got single disc Hollywood DVD of Secret Ninja Roaring Tiger some years ago. I bought Martial Monks Of Shaolin Temple around the same time which pretty much has the exact same cast. Cant recall what label that DVD was released on in the U.K?. There's a lot of films people here are reviewing Id love to re-watch but 90% of my collection is back at my parents house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted March 31, 2015 Member Share Posted March 31, 2015 My favorite bit is when Dragon Lee is getting whooped, so he switches from whatever style he's been using to his Bruce Lee imitation. It's presented in a way that makes you think, "Okay, this will be the turning point." Instead, he continues to get beaten down. It does look like Hwang Jang Lee might just be too much for the duo of Jack Lam and Dragon Lee. But he clearly couldn't deal with the cartwheeling technique and other randomness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Morgoth Bauglir Posted April 1, 2015 Member Share Posted April 1, 2015 Martial Monks is bad. So bad that it's watchable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chia Ling AKA Judy Lee Posted April 2, 2015 Member Share Posted April 2, 2015 Martial Monks is bad. So bad that it's watchable. Sorry to disagree with you Morgoth... Martial Monks was the first kung fu film I saw and I still regard it as a classic. The film makers were clearly having fun with it but they still ended up making an engaging and worthwhile film! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted April 2, 2015 Member Share Posted April 2, 2015 Sorry to disagree with you Morgoth... Martial Monks was the first kung fu film I saw and I still regard it as a classic. The film makers were clearly having fun with it but they still ended up making an engaging and worthwhile film! From what I remember of the film its about the same standard as Secret Ninja Roaring Tiger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ThunderScore Posted April 3, 2015 Member Share Posted April 3, 2015 Martial Monks is bad. So bad that it's watchable. After DRAGON ON FIRE (THE DRAGON, THE HERO), MARTIAL MONKS was the next title I saw and remember with fondness - Love the trailer with the music from WRATH OF KHAN and the usual over-the-top V.O. - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted April 7, 2015 Member Share Posted April 7, 2015 Recently watched Golden Dragon, Silver Snake over the weekend. My Girlfriend lasted about 40-mins and gave up on it lol. I'm going to re-watch this one befor writing more about it. It's probably the first time Ive seen Dragon Lee in a more contemporary setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted April 7, 2015 Member Share Posted April 7, 2015 Recently watched Golden Dragon, Silver Snake over the weekend. My Girlfriend lasted about 40-mins and gave up on it lol. I'm going to re-watch this one befor writing more about it. It's probably the first time Ive seen Dragon Lee in a more contemporary setting. The sound FX in the last fight irritated the heck out of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted April 7, 2015 Member Share Posted April 7, 2015 The sound FX in the last fight irritated the heck out of me. I find some of the FX sounds in Godfrey Ho films either funny or just plain annoying. Someones usually gets there nose twisted/tweaked with a dodgy sound FX accompanying the action. The finale isn't bad in terms of action. There's also some really funny dubbing in the film too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted April 18, 2015 Moderator Share Posted April 18, 2015 Revenge of the Drunken Master (1984) - More Korean confusion thanks to the guys at Asso Asia Productions (aka Godfrey Ho!). For a start this is touted as an apparant sequel to 'Drunken Master', despite the fact that 'Drunken Master' was made 6 years prior, in 1978. Also, Johnny Chan, a Jackie Chan clone, is clearly sporting a look which is made to imitate Jackie's appearance in 'The Young Master', which was made 4 years earlier in 1980, which begs the question if this is in fact a 1984 production at all. I've been on an old-school Korean kung-fu movie kick lately, and despite their poor reputation (which had kept me away from watching them for so long), I've actually been finding them quite enjoyable. 'Revenge of the Drunken Master' however, is the first one in my recent viewings which makes me understand why they have the reputation that they do. Apart from the most obvious stuff, such as when a character opens a temple door and there's a truck cruisng along the road in the distance for all to see, it also contains a story which makes hardly a lick of sense. Johnny Chan, who has a missing tooth for the duration of the runtime, has found a way to use acupuncture that makes people laugh uncontrollably. Somewhere along the way it's explained that he used the technique on a corrupt official, so a cop played by Eagle Han is on his tail. But wait, the ninja group also want to get rid of the drunken boxers! The head of the ninja group is played by Chang Il-shik, who has a sub-serviant slave that follows him around on all fours, and whom he pets whenever he's sat on his throne. What's the connection between the Johnny Chan / Eagle Han plot and the Ninja / Drunken Boxers plot? The answer is very little, however far from being a copy & paste movie, it looks to genuinely be an actual production, but one which has either been incompetently put together, or Ho has chopped up to the point of complete incoherence. Somewhere in the middle of the plot Johnny Chan falls over the sleeping Drunken Master, who proceeds to explain that he's a leper, and then train Chan in the art of 'Space Fist' (wait...isn't it supposed to be drunken boxing!?) for the accumulative time of less than 10 seconds. The end result is a final fight that see's Chan & Eagle Han teaming up to take on Chang Il-shik. The last fight does a little bit to redeem proceedings, although it's mostly due to its bizarreness. Eagle Han is suitably intense as always, and really should have had more of a career, and Il-shik sports a crazy weapon. In one of the nice cultural references to a weapon you'd only find in a Korean movie, he uses a pair of cymbals, each attached to the ends of a long piece of brightly colored material, which he proceeds to equally play (yes, play like a musical insturment), and throw as a kind of flying guillotine. When he first throws the weapon at Chan it's absurd, then the scenes goes on for so long it becomes boring, then at some point when it's still going it crosses back into the absurd again. As the fight progresses things get more and more weird....Eagle Han keeps attemping to stick his fingers into Chan's belly button, which somehow gives him special powers, and the finishing move is one of the most dumbfounding scenes I've witnessed. I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but it was hilarious. All in all, it's safe to say that 'Revenge of the Drunken Master' is one of the lesser entries in the Korean kung-fu genre cannnon. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted April 18, 2015 Member Share Posted April 18, 2015 Haven't got to see a lot of Chansploitation stuff, guess I'll be checking this one out if I find it. Sounds fun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted April 18, 2015 Moderator Share Posted April 18, 2015 Haven't got to see a lot of Chansploitation stuff, guess I'll be checking this one out if I find it. Sounds fun. Hey GHW, it's definitely worth a watch to satisfy your curiosity! I wish we had more information about these Korean kung-fu flicks. For Hong Kong we had people like Bey Logan and Mike Leeder there for when a lot of the classics were actually being made, for Taiwan we have Toby Russell, but for Korea information is so murky and unknown, it's like a black hole. I'd love to know when 'Revenge of the Drunken Master' was actually made. It seems difficult to believe it was a quick cash-in, because the amount of time passed between when 'Drunken Master' and 'The Young Master' were made, and when it was released, would mean it was anything but "quick". On an unrelated sidenote, I've been meaning to ask you - have you ever seen 'Dragon Force'? I watched it last year and always thought it would be a type of movie that you'd love. Bruce Baron and Bruce Li working for a secret organization to uncover a cult trying to brainwash a virgin princess. It's a fun flick from start to finish and well worth picking up. Here's a clip - bMhpsNtrBW0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted April 18, 2015 Member Share Posted April 18, 2015 Hey GHW, it's definitely worth a watch to satisfy your curiosity! I wish we had more information about these Korean kung-fu flicks. For Hong Kong we had people like Bey Logan and Mike Leeder there for when a lot of the classics were actually being made, for Taiwan we have Toby Russell, but for Korea information is so murky and unknown, it's like a black hole. I'd love to know when 'Revenge of the Drunken Master' was actually made. It seems difficult to believe it was a quick cash-in, because the amount of time passed between when 'Drunken Master' and 'The Young Master' were made, and when it was released, would mean it was anything but "quick". What's even harder to tell is whether Godfrey Ho ACTUALLY directed those Korean flicks he's credited for, or if he just slapped his name on someone else's work that Asso Asia or Filmark purchased for international distribution (Hwang Jang Lee and Korean bashers seemed to be their big thing before the Ninja stuff). On an unrelated sidenote, I've been meaning to ask you - have you ever seen 'Dragon Force'? I watched it last year and always thought it would be a type of movie that you'd love. Bruce Baron and Bruce Li working for a secret organization to uncover a cult trying to brainwash a virgin princess. It's a fun flick from start to finish and well worth picking up. Here's a clip - bMhpsNtrBW0 That sounds nuts, but still quite - shall we say - interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ThunderScore Posted April 18, 2015 Member Share Posted April 18, 2015 REVENGE OF DRUNKEN MASTER is a favorite of mine. It was my first exposure to Eagle Han and despite all of the Jackie Chan baggage I still enjoy it. The U.S. poster is pretty incredible... ...And DRAGON FORCE or POWER FORCE as it was released in the U.S. is also a favorite... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted April 18, 2015 Member Share Posted April 18, 2015 That ROTDM poster is indeed very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted April 20, 2015 Moderator Share Posted April 20, 2015 What's even harder to tell is whether Godfrey Ho ACTUALLY directed those Korean flicks he's credited for, or if he just slapped his name on someone else's work that Asso Asia or Filmark purchased for international distribution (Hwang Jang Lee and Korean bashers seemed to be their big thing before the Ninja stuff). I'm pretty sure 99% (if not 100%) of them are movies that Asso Asia or Filmark purchased the rights to and re-dubbed. To me it makes no sense that Godfrey Ho was the original director. Most of the movies are completely Korean productions - they're shot in Korea, all of the actors are Korean, and a lot of them contain Korean-culture specific elements (the weapon at the end of 'Revenge of the Drunken Master' for example), so it's safe to say they originally had a Korean director. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Morgoth Bauglir Posted April 20, 2015 Member Share Posted April 20, 2015 I think the only oldschool kf movie that Godfrey Ho directed was The Dragon The Hero. Although even that movie I remember Linn wasn't 100% sure that he directed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted April 20, 2015 Member Share Posted April 20, 2015 I'm pretty sure 99% (if not 100%) of them are movies that Asso Asia or Filmark purchased the rights to and re-dubbed. To me it makes no sense that Godfrey Ho was the original director. Most of the movies are completely Korean productions - they're shot in Korea, all of the actors are Korean, and a lot of them contain Korean-culture specific elements (the weapon at the end of 'Revenge of the Drunken Master' for example), so it's safe to say they originally had a Korean director. It's said Ho worked in Korea at a point (explaining how he made those Korean flicks), though I'd doubt it - Five Patter Dragon Claws is set in Korea and all (so a really Korean movie), but watching it you'd feel like it's a Chinese picture... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Morgoth Bauglir Posted April 21, 2015 Member Share Posted April 21, 2015 The Mighty Four- a Korean Casanova Wong vehicle. It's ok, nothing special. I did enjoy some of the action. In a fight early in the movie Casa grabs a guy by the nuts and lifts him into the air, and when he lets go the guy floats away like a balloon. There are a few scenes with this weird wirework which feel a bit like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the fizzy drink floating scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted April 21, 2015 Member Share Posted April 21, 2015 The Mighty Four- a Korean Casanova Wong vehicle. It's ok, nothing special. I did enjoy some of the action. In a fight early in the movie Casa grabs a guy by the nuts and lifts him into the air, and when he lets go the guy floats away like a balloon. There are a few scenes with this weird wirework which feel a bit like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the fizzy drink floating scene. I watched this a few years back and still have it on DVD. Love the scene where Casanova kicks the guys into the floor using his leg like a hammer. I was bit disappointed with the film as a whole. I bought it purely for Casanova Wong's skills. Its included in the Mill Creek box set too I think?. Nice mention on Writing Kung Fu. I think the last time it was brought up here was Bey Logan's top 10 kf movies. thankyouforfu noted how the other 9 movies on Bey's list were the normal ones that get mentioned a lot like DM2 and Fist of Legend. We also talked about how the widescreen version is cut by about 7 minutes. I have read about some versions been cut. The version I watched was the Vengeance Video release. Don't know any details about the cut scenes to comment on the which version Ive watched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted April 21, 2015 Member Share Posted April 21, 2015 I watched this a few years back and still have it on DVD. Love the scene where Casanova kicks the guys into the floor using his leg like a hammer. I was bit disappointed with the film as a whole. I bought it purely for Casanova Wong's skills. Its included in the Mill Creek box set too I think?. It's on the Way Of The 5 Finger Death Strike 12-movie pack, as well as the Iron Fist Frenzy 50-movie pack and thus also on the 100 Greatest Martial Arts Collection 100-movie pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted April 21, 2015 Member Share Posted April 21, 2015 It's on the Way Of The 5 Finger Death Strike 12-movie pack, as well as the Iron Fist Frenzy 50-movie pack and thus also on the 100 Greatest Martial Arts Collection 100-movie pack. Which means I have my Saturday morning kung fu viewing this weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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