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

[JackieRome]

Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin: Continuing my rediscovery of old Lo Wei movies with Jackie that I had snubbed all along. Clearly I see those who have a greater reputation for quality and after Dragon Fist (very nice), I rediscover this too. It's very enjoyable and the story with the mystery behind the book is much more interesting than any hundred kung fu movies. Jackie's character also has a few more than average characterizations. The choice to unfold the plot slowly, thanks to the mystery behind the book and Jackie's character plan, ensures that attention is drawn throughout the film. The choreography is excellent: the other characters are clearly wooden logs, but when Jackie is there, the others are better too. It's as amazing as Dragon Fist, see how Jackie tried to set her own acrobatic, clownish style without betraying the director's choice too much. He's fast, he's snappy, he's a talent ready to explode years later. The winter setting is also beautiful, with snow, ice, smoke breath and warm clothes. I thought it was a minor film but it's much better than other Shaw Brothers films that look like a carnival parade. 

Five Fingers of Death: A classic. I always knew pieces, but I'd never seen it complete. I understand perfectly the fame it enjoys (thanks also to Tarantino). It's a concentrate of all the (good) stereotypes of the genre. The choreographies are accompanied by those sounds that were used in the early movies, where every punch feels like a blow of wood in the face. Those were the days when there was more concentration in the characters than in the choreographies, not very acrobatic and rigid; but still very enjoyable. Curious as having seen the film after Snake and Craine there's always the same actor Lin Tung (I look for names on the internet, I only remember the faces) who makes a different character but always uses anti-stress steel balls; it will be a habit of the actor and probably he will use them in other films too. Lo Lieh was not objectively a great athlete, but he had an extraordinary face that punctures the screen in every frame. An Italian stuntman who worked with him said that Lo Lieh made 5 films a day. He'd end up on a set, change his clothes and go to another set. Exploited by the Shaw he lived in a few square meters with his family

[JackieRome]

5 hours ago, Ah_Tao said:

Where did you see sped up fights? The central plot was they were going after Lei Kung. 

 

The Killing Machine - Movie is just as perfect as I first watched it. I love how they put the English dub on the blu-ray version but not the DVD version. It's good watching Doshin So going after those evil gangsters.

I think they're "slightly" accelerated. I think all of Leung's films are there, I don't know how you can quantify them in a precise term. If it's the speed at which you run a movie, I think it's a 1.5X. I'd hope the opposite, but I think so, also because that speed often remains in the dialogues and it's quite noticeable. I don't like stories with 300 names you can't remember, magic tricks (fireworks, ninja stars, fire and smoke etc), flashy fake weapons (as always in Shaw movies) instead of fighting with your bare hands. But above all, I don't like to wait an hour to see the first fight. I'm always disappointed by this film. It's a personal opinion, I know that many people like it.

[ShawAngela]

I watched the 88 blu ray releases of Snake and crane arts of shaolin and To kill with intrigue yesterday.

From what I remember from my old French language VHS version of Snake and Crane arts of shaolin, it seems to me that during a fight, Jackie Chan was holding Gam Chi Lan in his arms, using her legs and turning around himself as a weapon against their opponents, but I didn't see this in the blu ray. Am I mistaken this with another movie or is it a missing scene ?

Also, I noticed some jumps or freezing in these releases, and sometimes, the sound was weak in some scenes, or to the contrary, too loud during the fights.

Am I the only one to have noticed these problems ?

[DrNgor]

2 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

From what I remember from my old French language VHS version of Snake and Crane arts of shaolin, it seems to me that during a fight, Jackie Chan was holding Gam Chi Lan in his arms, using her legs and turning around himself as a weapon against their opponents, but I didn't see this in the blu ray. Am I mistaken this with another movie or is it a missing scene ?

Isn't it Half a Loaf of Kung Fu where he uses her as a weapon?

[ShawAngela]

1 hour ago, DrNgor said:

Isn't it Half a Loaf of Kung Fu where he uses her as a weapon?

AH, you must be right on this, I had forgotten that they played in the same movie twice, thank you very much.

I don't think that this one has had a blu ray release ?

[Killer Meteor]

It's Half A Loaf and Doris Lung.

[Drunken Monk]

Return of the Deadly Blade - A load of old waffle punctuation but frenetic-but-fun fight scenes. Sadly, none of them are better than the fight in the opening credits.

Great cast but not altogether great. Middle of the road, I suppose.

[One Armed Boxer]

I got through watching 1978's 'Kung Fu Master Named Drunk Cat', a contemporary (well, for '78) actioner starring John Chang, Sharon Yeung Pan-Pan, and Beggar So himself, Simon Yuen.  Full review over at COF -

https://cityonfire.com/kung-fu-master-named-drunk-cat-aka-fox-and-hounds-1978-review-simon-yuen-sharon-yeung-pan-pan/

[ShawAngela]

These last three days, I watched :

When Taekwondo strikes

A queen's ransom : I remember that I had been a little bit disappointed the first time because Angela Mao didn't have very much to do, but I found it more interesting this time, with a lot of twists and...Dean Shek with modern haircut and playing a serious role !

The association : here again, not very much to do for Angela and a very abrupt ending

The big boss of Shanghai (on the same French subbed dvd release) : I only remembered of the fight scene at Chen Sing's house at the end of the movie from my first watching. Lung Fong began being a sympathetic guy and ended being hatable in this movie, and poor Chen Hong Yip and Chen Kuan Tai !

[ShawAngela]

I just finished to watch a French language version of the movie Chinese superior kung fu.

A lot of unknown faces here. The only actors I recognized are Dean Shek as a bald bad guy who fights, Cheng Lei and Kwan Chung.

The hero has great fights, and what a so sad fate !

[Graeme Of Death]

What's When Taekwondo Strikes like? I was going to buy it off ebay soon.

[DrNgor]

5 minutes ago, Graeme Of Death said:

What's When Taekwondo Strikes like? I was going to buy it off ebay soon.

It's an enjoyable early 70s fight film. Despite Jhoon Rhee being the main guy, Angela Mao easily steals the show out from under him with her ruthless face-kicking. It's generally considered "basher" action, although both Angela Mao and fight choreographer Sammo Hung had evolved in their game by 1973, so you don't have the low, weak kicks and weak slapping handwork that a lot of films from 1973 had.

[sym8]

The Iron fisted Monk-1977

Directed by Sammo Hung

Starring Sammo Hung,Chen Sing,Fung Hak On,James Tien.

Entertaining movie with good fight scenes and great cast.Sammos directorial debut and its a great start to his directing career,choreography courtesy of himself and Fung Hark On is on point and for me Chen Sing steals the show.Pros-fight scenes,cons-rape scenes(not sure they were needed).Still worth checking out though.👍👍👍

[ShawAngela]

Movies of the day :

The stud and the nympho : begins for around 10mn like an erotic movie, but finally becomes a more suspensful one

The killer snakes : I didn't like this movie at all. Yes, it happens that I don't like a Shaws' movie !! The story isn't so bad, but I don't like the actor (a regular in TVB series) and I was very surprised to discover David Chiang's wife playing naked...

Back Alley Princess : It saved my day. very good fights, a little bit of comedy, and an ending that furiously reminded me of the one of Big Boss, with the same kick on Han Ying Chieh's head in a similar park. I had totally forgotten that the movie lasted for 2 hours !!

[ShawAngela]

David Chiang's double feature today.

The lost kung fu secrets : Jamal's release. I enjoyed it (second watching) but still was unable to catch some of the subtitles because they were too small and written in white on white...Hu Chun has a brief fight with David Chiang, and there are five other female fighters using a kind of flying guillotines.

 

The night of the assassins for the first time. When I saw the first images, it reminded me of one of the parts of the series The Assassins with Adam Cheng, because of the costumes. And I was right, since this movie tells the story of the assassin Zhuan Zhu during the Warrig States, if I'm not mistaken. From what I remember, the story differs a little bit from Adam Cheng's version, but...having watched this movie will give me the opportunity to watch again the series in order to be sure...!!

[ShawAngela]

I began my today's movie session with a Japanese movie : Viva Chiba, The Bodyguard (title mentioned on the credits).

Well...I felt a little bit bored during the movie and I have a question to those who have seen it.

Both Judy Lee and Etsuko Shihomi are mentioned in the cast.

Unless there are two Judy Lee (the only one I know is Chia Ling (it's tor this reason that I bought the dvd years ago), I didn't see her in the movie nor did I recognized her in the women that appeared on screen. I saw on hkmdb that there is an actress also called Judy Lee, but I didn't recognized her either.

And I never saw Etsuko Shihomi in it, though wikipedia also mentions her in the cast...

 

Fortunately, I went on with Angela Mao's The Himalayan, that I hadn't watched since 11 years ! It was far more entertaining, though the training sequence uphill-downhill was too long for my taste.

And Tan Tao Liang should have ended in Angela's arms !!

[thekfc]

1 hour ago, ShawAngela said:

I began my today's movie session with a Japanese movie : Viva Chiba, The Bodyguard (title mentioned on the credits).

Well...I felt a little bit bored during the movie and I have a question to those who have seen it.

Both Judy Lee and Etsuko Shihomi are mentioned in the cast.

Unless there are two Judy Lee (the only one I know is Chia Ling (it's tor this reason that I bought the dvd years ago), I didn't see her in the movie nor did I recognized her in the women that appeared on screen. I saw on hkmdb that there is an actress also called Judy Lee, but I didn't recognized her either.

And I never saw Etsuko Shihomi in it, though wikipedia also mentions her in the cast...

 

Fortunately, I went on with Angela Mao's The Himalayan, that I hadn't watched since 11 years ! It was far more entertaining, though the training sequence uphill-downhill was too long for my taste.

And Tan Tao Liang should have ended in Angela's arms !!

I have to give this one a re-watch soon. 

I think the confusion have to do with what version of the movie you watch.

There is a re-cut US version with additional scenes, but I can't remember/don't exactly remember what role she played, could have been part of the NYC scenes. 

Don't quote me on this, but I think she may have been a member of slain New York mob boss party.

It Japanese version, Mari Atsumi played the slain mob boss lady who approached Chiba.

Also, Etsuko Shihomi was the double for Yayoi Wanatabe.

 

[Yihetuan]

China Armed Escort [1976] - Dir. Chen Ming-hua

Wuxia starring Pearl Chang Ling as the adopted daughter of the head of an escort service. When her father and uncle are killed, she takes over as the successor at the behest of her late father and faces various villains determined to eradicate the escort service. It's weird how the father didn't want to teach Pearl Chang Ling any martial arts but somehow she appears to have mastered the sword and has obtained very special sword at that! None of this explained but hey, let's just go with it. She of course is the best part of this movie and I did enjoy some of the effects used such as step printing technique (similar to that used in Nemuro Kyoshiro aka Sleepy Eyes of Death) every time she unsheathes her sword. Quite a bit of trampoline used in conjunction with the step printing to show multiple images of Pearl Chang Ling flying through the air and such. The dvd transfer I watched is a Kuenfist custom and much superior to the Jamal/ThugLife versions. It does have print damage and it shows up at random points but I have to say it's quite clear in other parts and it's in the OAR with Mandarin audio & burnt in subtitles.

 

 

[ShawAngela]

13 hours ago, thekfc said:

I have to give this one a re-watch soon. 

I think the confusion have to do with what version of the movie you watch.

There is a re-cut US version with additional scenes, but I can't remember/don't exactly remember what role she played, could have been part of the NYC scenes. 

Don't quote me on this, but I think she may have been a member of slain New York mob boss party.

It Japanese version, Mari Atsumi played the slain mob boss lady who approached Chiba.

Also, Etsuko Shihomi was the double for Yayoi Wanatabe.

I have the one with the cover I show below.

The only girl who fights in the movie is the one playing Chiba's sister, and I hardly recognize Yayoi Wanatabe in the two added pictures below.

The last picture shows Mari Atsumi, and it's really her who played the woman asking for Chiba's protection in the movie I watched.

So, no Chia Ling in sight...If she is a guest of the boss who is killed in New York, well..I didn't see her, and the scene was way too short to recognize anybody : some people on the stairs of the church, and then, everybody is shot down and full of blood on the ground and that's all !! And I'm not even sure to have seen women in this scene, or maybe just one with a little boy at the very beginning of the movie. Could it be her ?

If so, I wonder why she is mentioned as " introducing Judy Lee " in the credits if she had only a few seconds of screen presence...!

[thekfc]

6 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

The only girl who fights in the movie is the one playing Chiba's sister, and I hardly recognize Yayoi Wanatabe in the two added pictures below.

Yayoi Wanatabe played Chiba's sister. 

[ShawAngela]

54 minutes ago, thekfc said:

Yayoi Wanatabe played Chiba's sister. 

Thank you very much for confirming.

[Yihetuan]

Scorching Sun, Fierce Winds, and Wild Fire [1977] - Dir. Sun Sheng-huan

This one has a pretty impressive cast including leads Angela Mao & Tien Peng supplemented by Lo Lieh & Dorian Tan who are doing their best The Defiant Ones impersonation. Unfortunately, the whole doesn't add up to the sum of the parts. The action is just okay and the plot loses focus on the initial story about Angela Mao secretly rebelling against her warlord father and meanders from securing a secret treasure map to staging a rebellion. Dorian Tan gets to show off his impressive legs but Lo Lieh is totally wasted here as he is a buffoonish character with mediocre martial arts skills. The same unfortunately for Angela Mao too as she is sparingly seen during the build up to the rebellion and it really isn't until the finale that her fighting prowess is fully on display. There is also a hilarious anachronism during the prison breakout scene when a 1970's US make sedan is shown with a general stepping out of it - this film was obviously set in the 1920s or earlier, so that was a real awkward scene. One of the main villains is portrayed by Chang Yu as the Warlord's chief enforcer and he uses special blades that are tipped in poison and the after effect is graphically shown a couple times. It was a gory time elapsed effect where the poor victim's flesh literally melts as if doused with acid and left a bloody skeletal mess. That was the coolest scene in the movie for me.

 

[ShawAngela]

I just finished to rewatch The blade spares none.

After so many years, it was like a discovery, I had forgotten how good this movie was !

[JackieRome]

The Dead and the Deadly: I'd never seen him and I didn't know how lucky I could be. I read that it was inferior to that wonderful thing called Encounters of the Spooky Kind, but I didn't think it was inferior that much. The change of direction with Wu Ma is making itself felt. Too much silly comedy, not much Kung Fu (actually nothing). Uncool and delusional with almost nothing to make up for lost time. I'm waiting to see Mr.Vampire for the first time when he's released in bluray and I hope I won't be so disappointed. 

 

[Killer Meteor]

On 5/10/2020 at 1:07 AM, thekfc said:

I have to give this one a re-watch soon. 

I think the confusion have to do with what version of the movie you watch.

There is a re-cut US version with additional scenes, but I can't remember/don't exactly remember what role she played, could have been part of the NYC scenes. 

Don't quote me on this, but I think she may have been a member of slain New York mob boss party.

It Japanese version, Mari Atsumi played the slain mob boss lady who approached Chiba.

Also, Etsuko Shihomi was the double for Yayoi Wanatabe.

 

 

Judy Lee was the name Aquarius gave to Chia Ling for Queen Boxer, as they were marketing her as Bruce Lee's sister. They then recycled the name when they distributed The Bodyguard.

 

Chia Ling has otherwise never, to the best of my knowledge, been credited as Judy Lee.