Gordon Chan's 'The Four' Trilogy (2012/2013/2014)

[Drunken Monk]

...it ranks in my top five MA movies.

Of all time!? I haven't seen the film but that's certainly a bold claim.

By the way, the link you posted was to the trailer only and not the full film.

[Drunken Monk]

Here's the link to the full film...

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[kingofkungfu2002]

I've just ordered the Bluray

http://www.yesasia.com/global/the-four-2012-blu-ray-hong-kong-version/1031343283-0-0-0-en/info.html

[Cesare]

Thanks for the links.

Well, well, well... Surprise, surprise... Not half as bad as I thought it would be.

It still IS pretty bad, but also bloody entertaining and I think I am looking forward to the sequel. I guess I could do without the constables' specific powers and strengths so grossly blown out of proportions (poor Leng Xue), but on the other hand - it adds to the movie's comic-bookish charm.

Still consider female Wu Qing a lame idea and Liu Yifei a boring actress.

And the whole Wu Qing&Leng Xue chemistry would be a lot more interesting if they kept things strictly ... homosocial.

I'd still prefer a more down-to-Earth, *better written* and perhaps slightly more old-school movie adaptation - but this was entertaining enough.

And Wu Xiubo was awesome. :-]

[xianzai]

Looking forward to seeing this.

Just watched the TV series http://wiki.d-addicts.com/The_Four and it was really good, except for the lack of decent fights. Still, it earned its wuxia black belt with conspiracies, zombies, flying guillotines, and an "Invincible" weapon ten times sillier than the FG and a hundred times deadlier.

[rdenn]

the original seris with bruce liang and chang yi is so much better than all of this.

[lillippa328]

found a copy in China town in Las Vegas....this was.....a little dissapointing but still not terrible....the powers at times felt a little gimmicky, the story was decent....but over all it was enjoyable...

6/10

[xianzai]

Wanted to like it, but couldn't in the end. Recommend watching the TV series to see the books done in a more entertaining fashion.

[daisho2004]

OK I just finished watching it on YouTube, and it wasn't all that as everyone said. It didn't explain the powers that they all had, so for that alone I felt like I was missing something. There is hardly any action in the movie until really the end. And I don't understand the name The Four because there was more than 4 People in it. So again a miss leading title. Overall I would say give it a watch on You Tube for free but don't spend your money on it.

[Cesare]

And I don't understand the name The Four because there was more than 4 People in it. So again a miss leading title. Overall I would say give it a watch on You Tube for free but don't spend your money on it.

The Four like Wu Qing, Tie Shou, Zhui Ming and Leng Xue, obviously...:-))

[jmungus]

The Four like Wu Qing, Tie Shou, Zhui Ming and Leng Xue, obviously...:-))

Obviously not obvious for everyone

On topic, i join the choir singing the song of an okay movie thats really nothing to write home about.

Nothing in it that sucks, nothing awe inspiring. Solid craftsmanship, decent budget that shows, could definitely do with more action, underdeveloped characters, mediocre plot.

The way of mishmashing genre elements and plot devices reminded me of stuff like Butcher/Chef/Swordsman, Let the Bullets Fly, the Sherlocks or Man called Hero.

Except for LTBF (cuz it had more substance, good writing and was simply more clever than those other ones) these flicks, incl. The Four, left me rather cold but still entertained.

Could and should have been much more if u ask me.

[Cesare]

The Four is nowhere near as good as Butcher/Chef/Swordsman. Y'know... Bhavacakra, samsara, trivisa and all that... It's funky, occasionally silly and pretty straightforward, but it's waaay more intelligent and considerably richer in substance than The Four - which really is nothing but a badly written adaptation of a source material that has potential for so much more...:-)

(Still looking forward to the sequel, though...:-))

[Gwai LO]

I was not a big fan of the first one.. but this one looks like it could be much better. i believe it comes out in December

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[kami]

I like the first one, so I'm especially looking forward to the sequel. Trailer looks promising. What a great wuxia december, with THE FOUR 2 and Jacob Cheung's BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR-remake. And, not to forget, Tsui Hark's YOUNG DETECTIVE DEE is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 12.12.

[BaronK]

Incredible production values. This thing looks amazing. This is not your typical big picture done these days with the cgi towns, kingdoms, etc.(Detective Dee and the like) This thing has BIG sets, BIG locations and is shot BIG. I mean the camera takes in visuals showing things on a massive scale. Wonderful. Lots of color and sheer size. Felt like a modern day Shaw picture. I loved seeing sets as everyone foregos that for cgi creations, instead of building it and seeing that its real. That said, many of the shots are well blended cgi sets and green screen shots.

The action is much like the first. Some of it is spfx that is very well done. Lot of wires that fit the air of the picture and are fine. There was more actual chor in this than the first but there is not a lot of action.

The first one felt like a superhero type movie. An Xmen type picture. I thought they did a good job with that there. Not done like that at all this time. This is not actually about The Four. So many other characters get the screen time where Chou and Cheng are really after thoughts. They are the Jija's of this picture. I guess it's supposed to be a mystery picture but it's played out kind of weird. Starts off it seems as one thing for a few minutes. Then it just transitions into being about something else for most of the picture. Then the small end section, ends up being it's own little story. It's certainly not bad. Big, enjoyable.

[Gwai LO]

Glad to hear such a positive review. A little disappointed in a lack of action, i was hoping they would amp up the action in this one like the trailer made it look.. seems like a lot of false advertising in trailers lately. i will still give this a try when it hits dvd

[kami]

I was pleasantly surprised by the movie which surpasses not only its predecessor but also Tsui Hark's DETECTIVE DEE-prequel. The story is much more gripping and emotional, the sets are huge, the CGI are mostly well done, the cinematography is more impressive and the action is nicely balanced between fx-fireworks and surprisingly grounded (well, for the genre and compared to YOUNG DETECTIVE DEE) fight action. There are some really cool moves from Ngai Sing. Big recommendation for wuxia fans and blockbuster fans alike.

[TheGrimReaper]

Just finished it - overall is way better in all departments by the first movie.

Production values, sets, decors, storywise, character developments even in the martial arts section - seldom I see sequel which can be better than the original film in any series, but here I was just hooked by everything happening on screen.

I tried to find who was responsible for the very well-looking action choreography, but nevertheless I would like to congratulate all members of the stunt team which brought some really nice scenes together with all the main characters.

Very solid, very different (I do not find most of the wuxia pien titles extremely interesting, but this one truly deserves my admirations), very well made, and well played.

There were some flying from time to time, but it was compensated by the plot, the heroes, the action and the actual pace of the movie. I've heard that it was supposed to be trilogy - well I'm looking forward to it.

My personal subjective rating:

8/10

[BaronK]

http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=1685

[TheGrimReaper]

http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=1685

Thaks for the info, mate This guy has some impressive stunt/action choreography work - well done once more for bringing a solid performance in The Four 2!

[One Armed Boxer]

Kozo over at lovehkfilm recently weighed in on this, you can check out his review below -

http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/four_2.html

[xianzai]

I found it much better than the first one. It has some good wuxia elements, but overall I think it was a little weak, perhaps because they were holding the ultimate resolution of the story back for the third episode.

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

Never seen the Four movies.

How were the first two?

The Trailer: The Four 3.

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GD Y-Y

[Drunken Monk]

I honestly thought the first one was drab. Didn't enjoy it at all really. And because of that, I didn't watch the sequel.

[MonkeyFu]

I also watched the first one and was not impressed. It brought absolutely nothing to the table that hasn't been done a million times before.