Member BlackLamaFaction Posted May 4, 2012 Member Share Posted May 4, 2012 Has anyone actually ever watched any of these Zatoichi clone films from Taiwan? I heard that there were actually 4 or 5 other films like this, and that the stand in did a pretty decent imitation of Katsu. Does anyone know of any of the other titles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member odioustrident Posted May 4, 2012 Member Share Posted May 4, 2012 Trust and Brotherhood is really a basher, albeit a creative one, with a "Zatoichi" cameo. I remember thinking his performance was pretty convincing in this one. Blind Hero Fighting Evil Wolf and Blind Swordsman's Revenge are a lot of fun, with Sing Lung in starring roles this time. The Hunchback doesn't feature much of Sing Lung until the end of the film, but I can't really remember. It feels more like an understated chanbara... there is a solid end fight with Yee Yuen that captures the empty hand choreography of the true Zatoichi films pretty well. Ironic Hero is a basher set in the modern era. Decent film but nothing too standout? Not sure. Never seen Devil's Owl... but I feel like it has debatable semi-cult status as a crazy film. Apparently it has some of kind of eco-save-the-animals message? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BlackLamaFaction Posted May 5, 2012 Author Member Share Posted May 5, 2012 Great stuff, man you know all of them!! Thanks for all the info. So I'm guessing from your reply that these films incorporate fast paced Taiwanese/Hong Kong style choreography? That sounds a hell of a lot more fun to watch than the Taiwanese attempting to directly recreate Chanbera or what Daiei was doing in the 60's. The Taiwanese made some of my favorite Kung Fu films of the 70's and 80's. Action and choreography were their strengths. I'm interested to see the result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted May 5, 2012 Member Share Posted May 5, 2012 @odioustrident: I never heard of any of these films before where can I pick them up at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member odioustrident Posted May 5, 2012 Member Share Posted May 5, 2012 Jamal has a custom version of Blind Swordsman's Revenge. The rest are available via trading circuits and/or the members who sell on this forum. A lot of these are prob available from sites like fareastflix and flk as well. These are all early 70's films, besides Devil Owl, so the action might not be up to everyone's standard. There are definitely a lot of good ideas though. kiiti1p26j8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BlackLamaFaction Posted May 5, 2012 Author Member Share Posted May 5, 2012 Wow was that Lung Fei? This guy really looks like Katsu, he even had the Ichi shuffle down. His laijutsu skills are not on par with Katsu, but these look like they would still be a blast to watch. I imagine the Zatoichi films must have been very popular in Taiwan back then to warrant this kind of imitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member odioustrident Posted May 6, 2012 Member Share Posted May 6, 2012 I had read online that Sing Lung was a bartender who won a Shintaro Katsu lookalike contest in Taiwan. There must have been some demand there. I can't seem to find this info via google but I'm sure it's around on the net. I LOVE that they recreated the desperate footwork of the Zatoichi films. It's a choice that goes against the grain of fluid Taiwan choreography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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