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

[ShawAngela]

Angela's feast this evening with Broken Oath and Lady Whirlwind.

As I guessed, Broken Oath is far better than Lady Snowblood 1, with more variety in the fights with the killers, more suspense and more twists, with the introduction of the government spies.

I almost didn't recognize Sammo and Chen Hui Min with their long hair, moustaches and beards ! And I hadn't recognized Ha Yu, who I discovered in TVB series, in which he seems to have been more prolific than in movies.

 

Lady Whirlwind is as excellent as I remembered from my first viewing. And the additional musics from James Bond, I think also from a Shaws' movie too, and even from Hitchcock's Marnie were great !

[Killer Meteor]

8 hours ago, saltysam said:

The Greatest Thai Boxing

Here's an unusual one, a clean shaven Fang Yeh in a good guy role. Fang's thai boxing brother refuses to take a dive in a fight and ends up murdered by by fixer Shan Kwai. On his death bed he wishes that Fang doesn't take up fighting professionally ,unfortunately their mother needs an operation and the only way to raise the money is for Fang to enter the ring. Not bad, we get to see Bolo (billed in the credits as Yang Szu) as a japanese boxer who fights Fang a couple of times. Chin Ti from WOTD is also here. Unfortunately the wide copy i watched had barely legible burnt in white subtitles and most of the actors seem to wear white in the movie!

Mysterious Footworks Of Kung Fu

Charles Heung plays 3 eyed Liu, who goes up against Chan Wai Man and his two henchmen, aided by Beggar Su. Passable but largely forgettable, Betty Ting Pei has a few scenes in this one.

I think Charles Heung and Betty Ting Pei were married at one point.

[ShawAngela]

15 minutes ago, One Armed Boxer said:

I don't think you can really compare a Japanese Chambara movie with Chinese kung-fu or Korean taekwondo flicks, even if they're remakes of each other.  The aesthetic of Japanese cinema is very different, so going into a Chambara movie expecting fast and furious action, is a bit like going into a John Woo heroic bloodshed flick expecting a Yasujiro Ozu styled drama.  'The Magnificent Seven' is a very different movie to 'The Seven Samurai', and 'Star Wars' is a very different movie to 'The Hidden Fortress', but they all come with their own merits and genre traits, making it impossible to say that one is better than the other.

Fortunately, I don't despise Japanese movies ; as I said, I have a small collection of these, like Oryu (I only know the French title: La pivoine rouge, if I'm not mistaken, it's the samurai gambling woman who takes revenge), 47 ronin, Ran and some other classics, and some that I still have to watch. Japanese movies are aesthetically beautiful, that's right and maybe one day I'll dive more carefully in this kind of movies without looking to compare them to Chinese movies...

[paimeifist]

99 Cycling Swords (Lung Wei Village)

 

The Four Dragons are a group of bounty hunters trying to hunt down a masked (or rice-hatted) Ching assassin. They soon realize one of their own is working with the assassin, and must also find who that is. After settling in an inn, a couple other martial artists join them, as well as the inn keeper and his sister. Together, they are on the hunt for the Ching Assassin, who seems to know their every move.

 

The story here starts off a bit as a kung fu Clue, and mixes in some weird romantic angle involving Polly Kuans character who everyone thinks is a man for most of the movie.. At the very end, some kind of magical or supernatural elements are also thrown into the mix. Honestly, none of it is very good. The kung fu Clue bit worked pretty well for the first half of the movie, carrying it in between the fights. Once they moved past that plot focus, the fights also seemed to slow down, to the movies detriment.

99 Cycling Swords does feature some great fights, particularly in the first half of the movie. Polly Kuan gets to strut her stuff, looking more powerful than most kung fu women, and showing some nice kicking skills. Yueh Hua gives one of his better fighting performances, and even shows himself to be a competent kicker. The standout was probably Lung Tien Hsiang who I am not familiar with. He played the antagonist and showed some pretty dazzling all around skill. Really though, everyone involved looks pretty good in this one. There was a fight between to kind of out of shape older guys, and they even kicked ass, and did a couple of front handsprings I think! There were some entertaining and humorous effects, particularly in the opening action scene. The antagonist uses his whip to flip a guy into the sky, then flips a rug up that wraps around him. He also uses it to fling wagon wheels, bowls, and whatever else he could find at people. 

 

I also want to make note of one scene that was pretty unique, and awesome. At one point Polly Kuan and Yueh Hua's characters rope another character up and drag him across a dirt road for quite a while, ramming him into different props. I wanted to mention this primarily because, man, they put the actor through hell! It wasn't a dummy, as you can see him moving a grabbing on to things. With that said, it was also just a pretty cool scene, using a person rather than a dummy probably added to it.... 

 

99 Cycling Swords is a pretty good Taiwanese indie. The first half features some great fights, and the plot is just good enough to carry it to the action scenes. Sadly, the movie kind of goes down hill in the second half, getting really weird with some nonsensical and supernatural stuff at the end, involving doppelgangers, magnets, and giant compasses. I also have to say that the big finale featuring Polly Kuan, Lo Lieh, Yueh Hua, and Lung Tien Hsiang doesn't make up for it, the fights earlier in the movie are superior.

[saltysam]

Bruce Lee In G.O.D.

Artport japanese version of the Bruce footage. A 90 minute movie, probably you could divide into 3 sections. First 40 minutes is a sort of docudrama featuring a Bruce a like working on finishing G.O.D. using script notes etc, the timeline mentioned suggests two months after Way Of The Dragon finished filming. We see Bruce discussing going back to USA with Linda, playing football with little Brandon, it's also got some interviews with Yuen Wah, Chaplin Chang and Dan Inosanto. Only Inosanto's is in english though. Then we come to the 39 minutes of Bruce footage and obviously that's the real gold here, featuring plenty of James Tien, Chieh Yuan footage. Ji Han Jae makes a far tougher opponent here than in the 78' release,as that had to edit around Tien & Yuan. I also really like the music in this section. The last ten minutes are outtakes then credits. Have to say for a near 20 year old Single layer DVD the quality holds up well, G.O.D. footage is anamorphic and looks great. A decent effort , strangely unreleased in the west.

[HyperDrive]

Phantom Kung Fu (1978) - This one was different than most kung fu movies. I must say that the plan to defeat the villain was a roundabout one.

[ShawAngela]

2 hours ago, saltysam said:

Then we come to the 39 minutes of Bruce footage and obviously that's the real gold here, featuring plenty of James Tien, Chieh Yuan footage.

Ah, so, there are only 39mn of this.

So, I haven't missed anything in the Hong Kong Legends double dvd platinum  I got with this footage and a lot of interviews, maybe the same you mention in your post, I haven't watched all the features as yet, I was mainly focused on the section showing the real Game of Death as it should had been...

[ShawAngela]

I watched Shaolin invincibles this evening.

Great action movie, with Chen Hung Lieh portraying an evil Emperor Yong Zheng, and Chia Ling and Doris Lung playing two revenging sisters, helped by Carter Wong and Tan Tao Liang.

I wonder if there are cuts in the Tai Seng release I got, because during the dialogue between a guard and the evil eunuch Yi Yuen, it's said that Carter Wong and Tan Tao Liang are helping the girls and that the guard saw them, but it has never been shown at this moment of the movie, and later, when the sisters and Carter Wong meet, the girls ask for Tan Tao Liang as if they knew him since a long time though he has never appeared in the movie and he appears very late in the plot.

Also, at the end, we never see if Carter Wong is really dead, and we see Tan Tao Liang putting out the darts he received on his torso, and he disappears from the movie !!

And the most incredible thing are the two guys fighting with their maybe 30cm long tongue, and who die just because their tongues have been cut by Carter Wong, and...the two gorillas knowing kung fu!! I wonder who got this idea !!

But I enjoyed the movie. Chia Ling and Doris Lung fought well and the plot was good.

Also, there is something strange : before the credits, it's said that one girl is the daughter of Master Lu and the other his grand-daughter, but they call each other sisters and at the beginning of the movie, there is only one girl who is saved by the monk, so, maybe that here again, there are cut scenes...

Edited April 18, 2020 by ShawAngela

[saltysam]

Cantonen Iron Kung Fu

Beardy is Iron Bridge Kun, who vows revenge when his friend is killed at a kung fu match. Pretty good, and available in excellent quality (english dubbed)

The Chinese Mechanic

Barry Chan and his brawling style suits this modern day set 70's basher, keep your eye on the cool fashions of the period.

 

[ShawAngela]

Thanks to @NoKUNGFUforYU, I discovered the movie Dancing Warrior this evening.

What a tragic fate for both the character of Daniel and Ricky Cheng's character !

At the beginning, I thought that I wouldn't enjoy this movie, but when the first fights came onto the screen, I began to be more interested in it.

Am I the only one here to think that strangely in this movie, Ricky Cheng made me think a lot of Chiang Sheng ?

[ShawAngela]

Still thanks to @NoKUNGFUforYU, I also discovered Chinese Dragon for the first time.

The fights are great, and there are many familiar faces here : Suen Yuet (still playing a despicable guy), Yi Yuen as the evil Japanese guy, O Yau Man also playing an evil villain, and, for once, Lei Ming playing a good guy.

The two actresses Meng TIng and Li Hui (who played in the Shaws' The champion) have a fight, and it's too bad that the plot didn't involved any of them as " real " fighters during the movie.

The rest of my opinions in the reviews section...soon, I hope, before I forget the movie !!

Edited April 24, 2020 by ShawAngela

[DrNgor]

Eight Escorts (Taiwan, 1979: Pao Hsueh-Li)

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by DrNgor

[saltysam]

Zu:Warriors From The Magic Mountain

After not liking this movie when i caught it years ago but wanting to both give it another chance and support these Eureka releases into the bargain, well unfortunately this film is just not for me. A hodge podge of wild fantasy elements, confusing storyline, dated effects, it just left me cold. Even Yuen Biao & Sammo couldn't save it for me. I did like good old Norman Chu though.

[Graeme Of Death]

17 hours ago, saltysam said:

Zu:Warriors From The Magic Mountain

After not liking this movie when i caught it years ago but wanting to both give it another chance and support these Eureka releases into the bargain, well unfortunately this film is just not for me. A hodge podge of wild fantasy elements, confusing storyline, dated effects, it just left me cold. Even Yuen Biao & Sammo couldn't save it for me. I did like good old Norman Chu though.

 

Same, I always disliked this film, was never into the fantasy stuff with the cheap effects, plus there's some shite comedy thrown in as well. Definitely not be buying this one. Will keep my old HKL DVD that I'll never watch again

[Ah_Tao]

The 36th Chamber trilogy- Love watching each of these. I still can't get over the fact that Gordon isn't San Te in Return to the 36th Chamber, but that last fight scene and training scene makes up for it

[JackieRome]

I saw the movie Thundering Mantis on Youtube, it's among the craziest things I've ever seen. For once I also liked Bryan Leung who I usually find woody in martial arts (since he was never a real practitioner but just a good actor who repeated the moves of the instructor on set). The ending is hallucinating, with no discounts to anyone. Cannibalism, torture, a dead child and the style of martial art that completely owns him.

Quote

Zu:Warriors From The Magic Mountain

After not liking this movie when i caught it years ago but wanting to both give it another chance and support these Eureka releases into the bargain, well unfortunately this film is just not for me. A hodge podge of wild fantasy elements, confusing storyline, dated effects, it just left me cold. Even Yuen Biao & Sammo couldn't save it for me. I did like good old Norman Chu though.

I haven't seen it for years, I'm waiting for the bluray reissue but even for me it's not the kind I'm looking for. I just love Tsui's pioneering work that brought the Star Wars special effects technicians directly from America to work on this film.

Talking about Tsui all the time... I tried to show Seven Sword to my Russian wife and she said: "this director doesn't know where to put the camera" she was referring to the first fight sequence with Lau Kar Leung that was always filmed from behind and the speed of the frames changed and broke the fluidity; but even in the first fight of the group there is the same approach. Imagine if I showed him The Blade (a masterpiece in so many ways, but it's not a film for just any viewer).

Edited April 23, 2020 by JackieRome

[teako170]

The Two Cavaliers 雙龍出海 (1973). Griffin Yueh Feng's last (released) film featuring Jimmy Wang Yu, Chan Sing, and Bruce Leung Siu-Lung. 

Some solid straight-forward basher action. Chan is a machine! Only wish his character was a little more fleshed out than just being a man consumed with revenge. Jimmy's ending lines and departure were quite poignant. Definitely worth a re-watch someday.   

Edited April 24, 2020 by teako170

[Shaolivevil]

On 4/20/2020 at 5:28 PM, ShawAngela said:

Thanks to @NoKUNGFUforYU, I discovered the movie Dancing Warrior this evening.

What a tragic fate for both the character of Daniel and Ricky Cheng's character !

At the beginning, I thought that I wouldn't enjoy this movie, but when the first fights came onto the screen, I began to be more interested in it.

Am I the only one here to think that strangely in this movie, Ricky Cheng made me think a lot of Chiang Sheng ?

You aren't the only one who thinks that, ShawAngela ! 

I thought the same thing seeing Ricky Cheng in SHANGHAI 13, which also had Chiang Sheng. They are both very skilled martial artists with Chinese Opera training and they were very acrobatic and nimble. If I remember correctly, they were good friends. I've been meaning to get a copy of DANCING WARRIOR for ages. I've only seen a couple of clips of this film on Youtube, particularly the ending and Ricky Cheng's fight with real life Kung Fu Master Dennis Brown, founder of the Dennis Brown Shaolin Wushu Training Center. It's too bad this was Dennis Brown's only film. I would love to hear from him his experience on it as the only African-American martial artist in a Chang Cheh film.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Shaolivevil

[DragonClaws]

5 hours ago, teako170 said:

The Two Cavaliers 雙龍出海 (1973). Griffin Yueh Feng's last (released) film featuring Jimmy Wang Yu, Chan Sing, and Bruce Leung Siu-Lung. 

 

Now I want see this one even more.

[Killer Meteor]

On 4/17/2020 at 10:55 PM, saltysam said:

The Greatest Thai Boxing

Here's an unusual one, a clean shaven Fang Yeh in a good guy role. Fang's thai boxing brother refuses to take a dive in a fight and ends up murdered by by fixer Shan Kwai. On his death bed he wishes that Fang doesn't take up fighting professionally ,unfortunately their mother needs an operation and the only way to raise the money is for Fang to enter the ring. Not bad, we get to see Bolo (billed in the credits as Yang Szu) as a japanese boxer who fights Fang a couple of times. Chin Ti from WOTD is also here. Unfortunately the wide copy i watched had barely legible burnt in white subtitles and most of the actors seem to wear white in the movie!

Mysterious Footworks Of Kung Fu

Charles Heung plays 3 eyed Liu, who goes up against Chan Wai Man and his two henchmen, aided by Beggar Su. Passable but largely forgettable, Betty Ting Pei has a few scenes in this one.

Betty Ting Pei also produced the film.

[ukrevrend]

Kung Fu Zombie 1981 F/S Eng Dub

Starring: Billy Chong, Kwan Yung-Moon & Chiang Tao

Haven't watched this in about 20 years! It's number 30 in one of my kung fu DVD flight cases and i'm up to 2031 in box 3! From the same director that brought us Billy Chong in Sun Dragon & Crystal Fist, expectation was high and I had no memory of this film.

Typical slapstick comedy fu from the 80's, but with a few zombies thrown into the mix. I won't get into the story, that's not the reason why I watch Kung Fu movies, it's all about the Fu for me! What really disappointed me was the use of undercranking for the fights throughout the movie and believe me this is extra fast, to the point of being ridiculous! Lot's of cheap special effects, which was consistent with 80's Kung Fu, left me utterly unimpressed and now I realise why this movie was forgettable.

Move on, nothing to see here! 

2/5 (For Billy Chong)

Bless

 

[sym8]

4 hours ago, ukrevrend said:

What really disappointed me was the use of undercranking for the fights throughout the movie and believe me this is extra fast,

I think it’s more noticeable when the stars are fast without it as is the case with this movie.

[paimeifist]

30 minutes ago, sym8 said:

I think it’s more noticeable when the stars are fast without it as is the case with this movie.

I don’t think so, Kung Fu Zombie is comically undercranked and it greatly hinders the movie. This was one of the most memorable things about it to me, unfortunately.

Edited April 25, 2020 by paimeifist

[ShawAngela]

I watched one of my French language old school movie this evening, with the French title Combat Sanglant.

I was absolutely convinced that it was the French title for Bloody fists, but it was actually Bloody fight.

It seems to me that I enjoyed it less than the first time I watched it years ago, maybe because I now pay more attention to the colors, and all these things you experts discuss here about 4:3 or 16:9 images, and I noticed that the movie obviously isn't remastered, with sometimes too red, or too yellow or too blue colors, or even mixing colors, and fighters who disappear from the image on the sides...

[ShawAngela]

I also watched the Japanese version of Dragons forever.

I had totally forgotten the plot, I only remembered that there was a story of lawyers and that's all. It was like watching it for the first time.

I enjoyed it a lot, with some laughs from time to time.

The fights are great !