What was the last classic martial-arts film you watched?

[ShawAngela]

The fate of Lee Khan, Eureka blu ray version.

Each time I watch this movie, I enjoy it. The quality print is very good (and I watched it on a small portable blu rays player).

Did any of you noticed that at the end of the credits, it's mentioned that the Eureka Masters of Cinema Classics are only available for sale in UK and Ireland ?!! I'm very lucky to have bought them from another site than theirs, if not, I wouldn't have been able to get this version of the movie !

 

I wonder if there is a chance that we get a blu ray version of The valiant ones one day...

[saltysam]

i'm pretty sure despite Eureka saying that they actually ship worldwide. (unless it's changed recently)

 

Fighting Fist Of Shanghai Joe

Wow, a new uncut HD print of this italian spaghetti/kung fu hybrid has surfaced, i converted it to blu ray and it looks awesome!  Chen Lee plays the title character seemingly loosely based on the Caine character from the Kung Fu series. He arrives in America hoping to make his fortune but encounters constant racism and countless thugs wanting to cause trouble. Of course Joe is lethal with his hands and feet. I like this one,very entertaining,even Klaus Kinski shows up and it was nice to see it in it's full 98 minute version (it's quite violent now). Seems a mystery what happened to Chen Lee, he didn't seem to do much else.

Edited March 28, 2020 by saltysam

[ShawAngela]

45 minutes ago, saltysam said:

Fighting Fist Of Shanghai Joe

Wow, a new uncut HD print of this italian spaghetti/kung fu hybrid has surfaced, i converted it to blu ray and it looks awesome!  Chen Lee plays the title character seemingly loosely based on the Caine character from the Kung Fu series. He arrives in America hoping to make his fortune but encounters constant racism and countless thugs wanting to cause trouble. Of course Joe is lethal with his hands and feet. I like this one,very entertaining,even Klaus Kinski shows up and it was nice to see it in it's full 98 minute version (it's quite violent now). Seems a mystery what happened to Chen Lee, he didn't seem to do much else.

Does it mean that the previous dvd releases of this movie are cut ?

I have the French dvd version, and it says that it's a complete version...

I'm off topic, here, but I have a question regarding the Shaws' German blu rays : what does it mean when it's mentioned "ungerkutze fassung ", please ?

[saltysam]

According to dvd compare

CUTS:

• R0 Spaghetti Westerns 20 Movies America- Mill Creek Home Entertainment - Yes - unconfirmed cuts (86:13 NTSC).
• R0 The Best of Spaghetti Westerns America- Timeless Media Group - Yes - unconfirmed cuts (86:13 NTSC).
• R2 France- Seven 7 - Yes (87:58 PAL). The scene where Klaus Kinski is taking the scalp from the doctor has been cut. Also some small bits following that scene are gone
• R2 Japan- Imagica - No cuts

Edited March 28, 2020 by saltysam

[ShawAngela]

9 minutes ago, saltysam said:

According to dvd compare

CUTS:

• R0 Spaghetti Westerns 20 Movies America- Mill Creek Home Entertainment - Yes - unconfirmed cuts (86:13 NTSC).
• R0 The Best of Spaghetti Westerns America- Timeless Media Group - Yes - unconfirmed cuts (86:13 NTSC).
• R2 France- Seven 7 - Yes (87:58 PAL). The scene where Klaus Kinski is taking the scalp from the doctor has been cut. Also some small bits following that scene are gone
• R2 Japan- Imagica - No cuts

Thank you very much !!

[DrNgor]

3 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

Don't tell me that you haven't watch Queen Boxer, or Ming Patriots, or Female chivalry, or Assassin, or Lady constables ??!!

She is one of the best female fighters together with Angela Mao (they were both in the same training school) and Shan Kuan Ling Fung..

@paimeifist - What does the Bible say about from the mouths of two or three witnesses?

I also recommend The Crane Fighters for classic Chia Ling action. Lady Constables is a lot of fun and has her teaming up with Angela Mao.

[paimeifist]

Thanks @DrNgor and @ShawAngela.

 

Ill see what’s on Prime and add them to my list!
 

I’ve actually seen “Ming Patriots”, I remember thinking it was decent, featuring Ho Chung Tao and Chang Yi. That’s the only one I’ve seen out of the movies you two named though.

[Chu Liu Hsiang]

19 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

ungerkutze fassung

Unabridged version.

ROVING HEROES - Great action but I did not like the characters and story much. Apart from Chi Kuan Chun and Li Yi Ming sharing the same guest room, and being after the same bandits, there did not seem to be friendship or sympathy between them which is understandable as LYM's character behaved like an unlikable idiot most of the time. The ending would have rather fit to another level of relation. The story was 0815 which does not have to be a bad thing but what I did not like at all 

Spoiler

was LYM slaying the monk-bandit-monk who did not try to defend himself. I like violent fights but they have to be mutual. 

 

[ShawAngela]

7 minutes ago, Chu Liu Hsiang said:

19 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

ungerkutze fassung

Unabridged version.

ROVING HEROES - Great action but I did not like the characters and story much. Apart from Chi Kuan Chun and Li Yi Ming sharing the same guest room, and being after the same bandits, there did not seem to be friendship or sympathy between them which is understandable as LYM's character behaved like an unlikable idiot most of the time. The ending would have rather fit to another level of relation. The story was 0815 which does not have to be a bad thing but what I did not like at all 

Thanks !

What do you mean by the action was 0815 ?

[Chu Liu Hsiang]

 

@ShawAngela

Sorry, I had forgotten that 0815 is a German term.  It means "nothing special". 

Edited March 29, 2020 by Chu Liu Hsiang

[Chu Liu Hsiang]

SUPERIOR YOUNGSTER - lots and lots of action! Nick Cheung loses everyone, but gets all bad boys in the end. Even when Bolo was the main villain, Fong Yau and San Kuai's characters were extraordinarily atrocious and sleazy, I hated their guts.

Notable Bolo moments: He's running away from the hero. I'm not sure I ever saw him running, either to or from an enemy. As impressive as frighenting: Bolo attacking with an anchor, Buddha help us!

In fact, at first sight I nearly had not recognized him with this fancy hairdo and stache. 

[ShawAngela]

On 3/29/2020 at 8:25 PM, Chu Liu Hsiang said:

 

@ShawAngela

Sorry, I had forgotten that 0815 is a German term.  It means "nothing special". 

Ah, thanks for the explanation ! At least, I  have learnt something new...

[ShawAngela]

8 minutes ago, Chu Liu Hsiang said:

SUPERIOR YOUNGSTER - lots and lots of action! Nick Cheung loses everyone, but gets all bad boys in the end. Even when Bolo was the main villain, Fong Yau and San Kuai's characters were extraordinarily atrocious and sleazy, I hated their guts.

Notable Bolo moments: He's running away from the hero. I'm not sure I ever saw him running, either to or from an enemy. As impressive as frighenting: Bolo attacking with an anchor, Buddha help us!

In fact, at first sight I nearly had not recognized him with this fancy hairdo and stache. 

Yes, I enjoyed this one a lot. And I wonder if I had recognized Bolo or not...

Yes, I hated Fong Yau and San Kuai in this movie (it's in this one that this latter uses a hat as weapon, right ?) too, but they are fit for these roles, don't you agree ? Just by looking at them you know that they will be the bad guys of the movie, and I wonder if they ever played a good guy in their career...

[Chu Liu Hsiang]

21 minutes ago, ShawAngela said:

 Just by looking at them you know that they will be the bad guys of the movie, and I wonder if they ever played a good guy in their career...

Yes! Like Chiang Tao, they have a perfect villain visage.

[DrNgor]

Ol' Dirty and the Bastard (Hong Kong, 1981: Gwan Jing-Leung) - aka An Old Kung Fu Master - Grade-Z post-Drunken Master comedy and one of Simon Yuen Siu-Tin's very last films. I'm assuming it was released some time after his death. Charles Heung plays a guy who's studying under an old kung fu master (ha!), the latter of whom goes into hiding to recover from a fight he had some time before. He leaves Heung in charge of his niece (or nephew? the subtitles were wonky) and Heung takes the kid across the countryside to his home. At the same time, an old kung fu master (ha!) played Simon Yuen is leaving the house of the rich guy whose son (Yuen Lung-Kui, a lesser-known son of Yuen who was in Story of the Drunken Master) he'd been teaching, because he doesn't want to marry the kid's aunt (played by an man in drag with a head so big you'd think he was a bobble head). Meanwhile, the evil Lo Har (Thompson Kao) sends his men to Heung's house to kill his parents and kidnap his sisters (one of whom is Cecelia Wong) because he wants to marry one of them. They are rescued by the two Yuens, who eventually meet up with Heung and the kid. Simon Yuen teaches Heung a secret style and they all team up to defeat Lo Har.

Unless you're the staunchest of Simon Yuen completists (that must be a very small fraction of an already niche group), there's no real reason to watch this. The plot doesn't make sense. The characters barely register as one dimensional. The villain has no personality, nor does he have character, motives, or backstory. The action is generally uninspired until the final reel, in which it barely reaches "decent" levels. Charles Heung looks good  in his fights--he shows some crisp techniques--but is let down by the choreographers, which included Simon Yuen and Chow Siu-Lui, who hadn't a choreographed a film since 1960 when he did this. Simon Yuen does a bit more fighting without doubles than usual, at least until the finale, when his character starts doing more acrobatics. But yeah, just not very interesting or worth watching.

[saltysam]

Return Of Shanghai Joe

Terrible sequel with Joe now played by someone called Cheen Lee who seems to be more an acrobat than a martial artist. Lame, nearly plotless story of Joe rescuing then teaming up with a wannabe Bud Spencer character who go up against Klaus Kinski's corrupt landowner. The theme tune that plays every time Joe has a fight in the early part of the movie has to be heard to be disbelieved,it's like something you'd hear in a 70's british sex comedy. It's bizarre that of all the asian kung fu stars out there that for the two Joe movies they cast two complete unknowns (i read Chen Lee from the first one worked in a laundry)

[ShawAngela]

I watched the eureka blu ray of Project A.

I had forgotten most of the plot ! What a laugh !! And superb fights and stunts !

Hats off to Sammo, Jackie and Yuen Biao !!

[ShawAngela]

3 hours ago, saltysam said:

Return Of Shanghai Joe

I didn't know that there was a sequel...is there an official dvd release ?

[CT KID]

I didn't know there was a sequel to Shanghai Joe either, thanks to saltysam's post l know not to seek it out. I have the original movie on dvd from the German label XRated, it was ok and Chen Lee looked quite amusing fighting in what looked like Levi jeans. He was actually Japanese but played a Chinese character in the movie.

[Killer Meteor]

It's getting a UK Blu-ray release later this year!

[saltysam]

17 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

I didn't know that there was a sequel...is there an official dvd release ?

 

14 hours ago, CT KID said:

I didn't know there was a sequel to Shanghai Joe either, thanks to saltysam's post l know not to seek it out. I have the original movie on dvd from the German label XRated, it was ok and Chen Lee looked quite amusing fighting in what looked like Levi jeans. He was actually Japanese but played a Chinese character in the movie.

It got an italian DVD release at one point- it's worth watching for the jaw dropping tune that plays when Joe gets into fights - i've attached a couple of shots of Cheen Lee from the print i watched

[ShawAngela]

Ways of kung 1978

It was very unusual to see Chi Kuan Chun as an always bullied student at Shaolin, but when he finally decides to learn kung fu, it's something to see !

Superb fights, and a lot of famiiliar faces : Wu Ma in a short role, Beardy, Tsung Hua, Meng Fei and an almost not recognizeable Yu Tien Long as a master of drunken kung fu...who doesn't even have a fight during the movie, unless there are cut scenes !!

Several interesting fights from the two actresses too.

[DrNgor]

Iron Bridge Kung Fu (Hong Kong, 1979: Wong Fung) - aka Mean Drunken Master - Another Z-grade Drunken Master, this time focusing on another one of Wong Fei-Hung's contemporaries, Iron Bridge Sam. A bunch of evil fighters led by Dragon Head (Miao Tian) are gathered and sent to recover a jade watermelon, which a foreign collector is offering a handsome price for. The object is tracked to a town where Lung San (Wong Goo-Hung, of Swift Shaolin Boxer and The Lady Constables) works as a kung fu master's assistant. The evil kung fu fighters think that the watermelon is with the master's currest guest and a series of fights break out. Lung San is taught the Iron Bridge technique by a beggar (Simon Yuen) and fights the bad guys.

One problem with this film is a severe lack of focus. The movie can't decide who the main character is: Iron Bridge Sam or his female comic foil, 13 Points (Ape Girl's Gam Fung-Ling). Iron Bridge Sam has practically nothing to do during the first half hour, and even once the training sequences start halfway through, the film sort of forgets about him and Simon Yuen's beggar character, focusing on 13 Points' training with a female beggar, who turns out to be her mother. After almost 20 minutes ofscreen, Iron Bridge Sam finally returns to search for justice. It probably doesn't help that Wong Goo Hung, who's been better in other movies, is completely devoid of personality in this film. I guess this sort of role was better suited for a Jackie Chan type, as he's too serious and gets steamrolled into the background by Gam Fung-Ling's sassy personality.

Problems in the script and acting are further compounded by Wang Tai-Lung's lackluster action direction. I shouldn't expect much from the guy whose career highlight was Hsu Feng's Chase Step by Step, but man. The fights are stingy in both quantity, duration and just overall execution. Simon Yuen doesn't do any fighting, not even with a stunt double. Everyone else is just kind of bland. It all culminates in an extremely underwhelming final fight where the villains are defeated in a surprisingly easy manner. So yeah, there's no real reason to watch this turkey.

[Chu Liu Hsiang]

After watching a lot of bashers which I did enjoy I was nevertheless longing for something completely different and watched CHUANG TZU TESTS HIS WIFE (1969). It is based on a folk tale, and had already been adapted as early as 1913 and 1939. Lots of  "antique" atmosphere, stagy but excellent acting and the story itself add up to a not-easy-to-forget movie experience, provided one was not aiming at an action fest. 

[sym8]

Drunken Dragon-1985

Directed by Chu Chung-Hing

Starring Ko Fei,Leung Kar Yan,Suen Kwok-Ming

The director has worked as assistant action director on The Miracle Fighters and Dreadnought and it shows in this bizarre film which has an even more bizarre story.Magic,weird costumes,some kind of camera used as some kind of weapon and Ko Fei with some kind of metal/hammer fist claw on a spring(I shit you not).Leung Kar Yans fighting skills are no where to be seen here but the saving grace if there is one are the hits,falls and wire pulls that the stuntmen put themselves through.Ko Fei is his usual great bad guy and along with the star pull off some great shapes but that doesn’t really save this bizarre mess.