Member waywardsage Posted October 31, 2011 Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 I was lucky enough to find a copy of Bey Logan's awesome book, "Hong Kong Cinema" at a used bookstore! It's really a great read, it was published in 1995, so there are some funny inconsistencies, like declaring Bolo the most well known Asian martial artist in the West next to Bruce.... Overall I'm enjoying it. It has a wealth of great info on Bruce, Shaws, Golden Harvest, etc. Has anyone else read it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted October 31, 2011 Member Share Posted October 31, 2011 Yeah its a fun read and yeah there is a few errors (like all HK books ; especially with the 1990s books). I need to reread since I have learned quite a bit since the first reading. It would really be nice if Logan would do a updated version to it (like Bordwell's Planet Hong 2.0; it would also be nice if Stephen Teo updated his Hong Kong Cinema; if you don't have those two I highly recommended them). The Shaw Brothers would get a lot more love in a newer version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member northern b Posted November 3, 2011 Member Share Posted November 3, 2011 Good read and a wealth of info in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ToryK Posted November 3, 2011 Member Share Posted November 3, 2011 Yeah, it's a fun read. Most of us to know a lot of this stuff already, but I think there's enough in there for even the most hardcore fan. I think it's even better for newcomers. Got it used on eBay and I definitely didn't regret it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted November 3, 2011 Member Share Posted November 3, 2011 Yep, it's a great book that gives a solid foundation as far as the major history, the stars, the subgenres and a lot of top ten lists. It doesn't go into much depth as far as more obscure movies, but of course it wasn't meant to. As I said in another thread, I think this book makes a perfect companion piece to Dr. Reid's The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies of the Seventies, as that book is equally good, but covers different ground and has a lot more info on lesser-known movies, especially Shaw Brothers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted November 7, 2011 Member Share Posted November 7, 2011 I was lucky enough to find a copy of Bey Logan's awesome book, "Hong Kong Cinema" at a used bookstore! It's really a great read, it was published in 1995, so there are some funny inconsistencies, like declaring Bolo the most well known Asian martial artist in the West next to Bruce.... Overall I'm enjoying it. It has a wealth of great info on Bruce, Shaws, Golden Harvest, etc. Has anyone else read it? Bey Logan wrote: " Bolo Yeung has been the first Hong Kong action star since Bruce Lee to succeed on the international market " I might be wrong but what I gathered from this statement was that the global success of Enter The Dragon gave Bolo worldwide recognition before the likes of Jackie and co giving the crossover opportunity for Yang Sze with regards to roles in American productions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thelastweaponmaster Posted November 7, 2011 Member Share Posted November 7, 2011 Yeah, I have Bey's very informative book on Hong Kong Action cinema. I first came across the book in a local comic shop a number of years ago and I credit the book with reigniting my interest in the martial arts film genre. I am dating myself here but I was watching the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest films in the local chinese theaters during the initial HK action craze in North America during the late '70's and early to mid '80's. Bey's book was great in that it was very informative in providing names, background info on the various stars, various sub-genres and the HK movie industry in general. And all this from a "gwailo" (no racial slam intended). I was initially very excited in Dr. Reid's book but after looking through it, found some major faults with it. First, it was missing many major Golden Harvest movies (i.e. many with Mao Ying). Second, though it was a treasure trove of information in terms of movie credits (especially in regards to Shaw Brother films), it didn't offer any opinion or ranking system so as to help readers determine the relative merit of each film listed. My opinion anyways. I know many of us wish that Bey would release an update to his book. I know he was working on a book discussing his favorite or top 25 m.a. films. However I think with his time focused on actually directing/making films, any future book release might still be a number of years away. Anyone with more current information, please correct me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Karlos Posted November 7, 2011 Moderator Share Posted November 7, 2011 It's a great book, and helped a lot of fans (including me!) back when it was first published to track down a ton of classic HK flicks. In 1995 there simply weren't any books around that catered to this market in the UK. We had Impact and the occasional article in Combat and that was it. I remember continuously going back to it again and again as I searched for bootlegs! Happy days! Regarding his new book, according to several websites: "Bey is writing his third book, entitled My Life In 36 Chambers, featuring a personal top 36 Hong Kong films, mingled with some autobiographical material." (From 2010). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member FrankBolte Posted November 10, 2011 Member Share Posted November 10, 2011 i just won it on ebay, I have met Bey plenty of times,he once gave me a whole box of video tapes with wong fei hung movies with Kwan Tak Hing..probably about 30 or more and other films... i was having in dinner at his house and later we watched plenty of film snippets and i had my live audio commentry with Bey.... great guy no doubt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jiangtou Posted December 4, 2011 Member Share Posted December 4, 2011 I always suggest this book for folks just realizing how cool Hong Kong films are. A perfect primer for those getting into it. I've gotten to know Bey over the years and have had the pleasure of having drinks with him in Hong Kong when visiting. He is extremely generous with his time and he'd point out various film locations as we'd pass them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Yi-Long Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 It's a great book indeed. Excellent introduction to Hong Kong cinema for newcomers and fans. Ofcourse, it's now 16 years old or something, plus we now also have easier and better access to information on the internet, but back then the book was very useful and fun to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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