Member ironfistedmonk Posted May 21, 2012 Member Share Posted May 21, 2012 I hadn’t watched a martial arts movie for quite a while until last night when, in my Sunday boredom my eyes wandered over to the shelf with this movie on it which just jumped out at me. I’d only watched it once before during the height of my kung fu movie obsession and it was long overdue a re-watch, so here is my review of a little slice of action movie history. Shaw Brothers studios made some of my favourite martials arts movies of all time, they had actors exclusively under contract and the majority of movies were filmed on their own studio lot giving them a unique feel. Some of the greatest names in martial arts movie direction worked for Shaw Brothers, Chang Cheh, Liu Chia Liang, Chu Yuan, Lo Mar to name just four but one of the most interesting of all the directors was Sun Chung. He had a flair for camera work and stamped his unique style on his work which stood out from the other movies being produced at the studio, turning even the weakest plot into something special, one such example would be Rendezvous With Death, filmed in 1980. This film straddles the divide between the 2 main sub genre of martial arts movies made around this time, the straight up kung fu movie and the Wuxia swordplay film. The plot is pretty bog standard, a young fighter played by Wong Yue is looking to make a name for himself in Jiang Hu (the martial world), he takes on a risky job for a nobleman transporting a box across the country. Along the way he meets various odd characters all out to steal the box and its mystery contents, and others with less straight forward intentions. Amongst the various players in the martial world we have one of my favourite kung fu actors Chen Kuan Tai playing the aloof kung fu master, and the original five fingers of death Lo Lieh playing a beggar who tags along with our hero. As in most of these type of films there are a lot of minor characters who only pop up in a scene or two and it can get a bit confusing plot wise but Sun Chung manages to keep this one moving without too many head scratching moments. The lead actor is one who can be a little annoying as kung fu films of this period all tend to have a bit of a comedic element to them but fortunately this is kept to a minimum this time. Wong Yue doesn’t have the gravitas of a leading man IMO and a more stoic kind of hero would have been more suited for this character, one which Wong Yue would struggle to play. Chen Kuan Tai is the stand out actor IMO, he plays the arrogant martial artist really well and has the skills to boot. This is the stand out fight scene for me, Chen shows his skills with some great pole work choreographed by Action Director Tang Chia who worked on most of Sun Chungs movies, I like the low angle used in part of this scene. The quality of the clip isn't that great, its a bit jerky but you can see the interesting use of camera angles, the tracking shots and framing are excellent and I especially like the pull out to end the fight scene. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pedYJa2_ouc Plot wise this is nothing special but the mystery surrounding the box and its contents and the various characters intentions are handled well and you are pretty much kept in the dark until the maguffin is revealed, a stronger final fight scene and this one would have been up there amongst the best but unfortunately it is a bit anti climactic and so falls short of some of Sun Chungs other work such as Deadly Breaking Sword and his masterpiece Avenging Eagle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron Boat Posted May 21, 2012 Member Share Posted May 21, 2012 Wong Yu and Lo Lieh have 0 chemistry onscreen. Ti Lung and Fu Sheng plus Chen Kuan Tai would of made this a winner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member peringaten Posted May 21, 2012 Member Share Posted May 21, 2012 Wong Yue works for me because I don't think the lead as tasked was supposed to be stoic, just a young manipulable upstart trying to prove himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BaronK Posted May 21, 2012 Member Share Posted May 21, 2012 Sun Chung could be rather Leone and Hitchcock in how he played out his movies. You'll get the answer in the end. I loved that about him. Watching as a whole, the movie plays straight and secretive at the same time. When it comes to the 3rd act, you get why things were done as they were, by Ku Feng and CKT's characters. Understand that Sun Chung made HIS movies HIS way. He didn't do heroes and villians. Black and white. Most of his films had lead characters that either were not likeable or were extremely Gray. Wong Yu was a gray character. No hero in the slightest, so how he played it fits what the 2 characters in KF and CKT wanted from him. Cocky, lofty, not a thinker, inexperienced. He has a task, has no friends but isn't fearful of others. Sun Chung always did a great job of having many characters in his films. He did wu xia great and makes everyone have purpose in how things play out. I won't even get into the visual and action aspect of this picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member the moose Posted June 10, 2015 Member Share Posted June 10, 2015 Sun Chung could be rather Leone and Hitchcock in how he played out his movies. You'll get the answer in the end. I loved that about him. Watching as a whole, the movie plays straight and secretive at the same time. When it comes to the 3rd act, you get why things were done as they were, by Ku Feng and CKT's characters. Understand that Sun Chung made HIS movies HIS way. He didn't do heroes and villians. Black and white. Most of his films had lead characters that either were not likeable or were extremely Gray. Wong Yu was a gray character. No hero in the slightest, so how he played it fits what the 2 characters in KF and CKT wanted from him. Cocky, lofty, not a thinker, inexperienced. He has a task, has no friends but isn't fearful of others. Sun Chung always did a great job of having many characters in his films. He did wu xia great and makes everyone have purpose in how things play out. I won't even get into the visual and action aspect of this picture. (OK Sorry, I know and 3 years too late to this thread) My sentiments exactley BaronK. And no movie of his has characters as morally murky as in his masterpiece 'Deadly Breaking Sword' (Though most would say Avenging Eagle was his masterpiece) In that movie Fu Sheng seems blinded by his lust for money (culminating in throwing a lady down a well) Ti Lung seems blinded by Glory, ego and reputation. These are the characters we expect to root for. Yet Ku Feng the guy we are supposed to view as a villain has loyal followers that he treat with honour and respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted June 10, 2015 Member Share Posted June 10, 2015 Spot on, great post moose. Seeing that scene with Fu Sheng is really shocking first go around. That movie bounces between incredibly dark and comedy constantly and I love it! I'd call it a black comedy! Lol. To be honest I hate ranking this, Avenging Eagle, and Deadly Breaking Sword. I love all of them. Call me crazy, but even The Proud Youth isn't far behind imo!(although it is indeed decidedly "behind"!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Skeleton Claw Posted June 11, 2015 Member Share Posted June 11, 2015 You could always tell that Sun Chung put a little extra time and care into making his films. Perhaps that's why he made so few compared to some of his contemporaries. I agree that the final fight in Rendezvous was lacking. Other than that, great fun. Need to revisit Proud Youth soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted June 11, 2015 Member Share Posted June 11, 2015 I really wish that he would have gotten more respect. There really is no mention of him on the Celestial site. At least the fans still care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted June 11, 2015 Member Share Posted June 11, 2015 Proud youth is superb, you won't regret to watch it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted June 11, 2015 Member Share Posted June 11, 2015 Proud youth is superb, you won't regret to watch it... Agreed. It's a great movie and should be discussed more often when Sun Chung is brought up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG Posted June 11, 2015 Member Share Posted June 11, 2015 One of my favorite Wong Yu outings. And one of Sun Chung's greats. Seen it at least 4 times over the years. This was a good find! This IS NOT my review, Xinshuan (Wong Yu) is a very talented swordsman, who wants to prove himself eagerly to get a great fame and fortune he desires. After he heard that the Prince has a very important delivery mission, he eventually eliminates and kills four professional killers appointed by the prince to escort a chest reportedly to contain valuables to Hsi An, and then he gets the job. The Prince (Ku Feng) tells him that if he delivers the chest in safe, then he will gave him a very big prize money. But also he specifies that he mustn’t open the chest no matter what, otherwise he would be punished instead of awarded. Our hero, who is in dreams of great fame and fortune, accepts this very dangerous task without questioning deeply, and takes the road. But thousands dangers await him along the way, because there are some highly crooked rumors about this chest in the world of martial arts. Many bandits and martial artists suppose there is a very great treasure in the chest, so want to steal it. In addition, a mysterious old man (Tang Ching) and his daughter (Lam Sau-Kwan) desperately want the chest in some reason. But luckily our hero is not completely alone. A mysterious beggar on the road (Lo Lieh) helps him as willing to take a little share from the big prize in return. Moreover quite famous but also too arrogant swordsman Gu Feitian (Chen Kuan-Tai) help him, too, for some mysterious reason. In the end, Xinshuan delivers the chest in its place, but the Prince would tell him some very striking facts before giving promised awards to him….. Quite entertaining Wuxia and Martial Art films by director Sun Chung. Have Fun ! GD Y-Y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron_Leopard Posted June 16, 2020 Member Share Posted June 16, 2020 Sun Chung could have rivaled Chang Cheh if he put out more movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chu Liu Hsiang Posted June 17, 2020 Member Share Posted June 17, 2020 RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH is one of the movies I have high hopes Koch Media will release as bluray (not based on any rumours, it's just pure Hope). There was a german VHS under the title TODESTEMPEL DER SHAOLIN. It's a great wuxia movie based on Jin Yong's "Smiling Proud Wanderer", and from what I read about the novel, Wang Yu's Performance corresponds to the main character very well. The supporting roles have great cast too, so what's not to love! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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