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

[Drunken Monk]

This afternoon I watched Two Great Cavaliers to see if I could get watch great Angela Mao movies in row. I'm going to say something odd: I need more movie like this and I need less movies like this. By that, I means the pros and cons of this movie are very much equal.
The cons (or should I say con, singular?) is the bloody plot. Twisty, turny, boring, convoluted, nonsensical etc. Every time this movie focused on story line I was bored to tears. I simply could NOT get into it. If it weren't for a very positive pro, I would have given up on this one easily.
And that pro? The fights! This film is frothing over with fights. And they are spectacular. I typically hate John Liu and see him as a one trick pony but here, dare I say I enjoyed him? Also, I'm quickly becoming Angela Mao's biggest fan (sorry @ShawAngela!). I want to see more and more of her more obscure stuff. The action here was some of my favourite as of late. As soon as Chan Sing popped up with green palms, I knew I was in for a ride.

But you really do have to wade through a bullshit plot to get to the good stuff...in my opinion. Beardy appears for five minutes and then disappears until the last five minutes of the film. It feels like one of those movies that could be trimmed by twenty minutes and no one would really give a shit.

I can't say it was a joy to watch, all in all. I adored the action but the plot felt too big for its boots. Sadly, I'll revisit the fights on YouTube but that's about it. Oh and the Wu Tang Collection's version of the film gets waaaaaay out of sync halfway through.

[DrNgor]

13 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

I want to see more and more of her more obscure stuff. The action here was some of my favourite as of late.

The choreography of Swift Shaolin Boxer is pretty good, even great, in places. And Chia Ling/Judy Lee has a cameo, too. Try checking it out.

[Drunken Monk]

18 minutes ago, DrNgor said:

The choreography of Swift Shaolin Boxer is pretty good, even great, in places. And Chia Ling/Judy Lee has a cameo, too. Try checking it out.

Thank you, sir. Might give it a go tomorrow.

[ShawAngela]

Magnificent kick : I don't remember if I had already watched it ; I don't think so. The fights are very good, but there is a nonsensical thing that shocked me : Cheung Lik is here, trying to avenge his father's death together with his two sisters, and suddenly, he disappears from the movie, there is another brother who appears, but he isn't even in the ending fight with the sisters !!

Black and white swordsmen : I watched it many years ago, and I enjoyed it again. Who can ask for more when Kong Ban, Chen Hung Lieh, Essie Lin Chia and two or three other familiar faces are in the same movies with good fights ?!

My only complain with these two movies is that they were awfully dubbed in English, and in Maginificent kick, for almost each fight, there is a 70's jazz music that would fit better in movies like Shaft than in a Wong Fei Hung's movie !!

[Drunken Monk]

Swift Shaolin Boxer - Didn’t enjoy this one. There was just too much going on without any urgency. It felt slow and boring. Sad really as it has pretty good action sequences including a few unusual “challenges” early on. A bridge of swords is a particularly interesting concept found in this one.

It was fine I suppose but it makes me yearn for the simpler plots of “I just revenge my master!” I don’t mind complexity if the complexity is gripping. It wasn’t here.

[DrNgor]

1 hour ago, Drunken Monk said:

It was fine I suppose but it makes me yearn for the simpler plots of “I just revenge my master!” I don’t mind complexity if the complexity is gripping. It wasn’t here.

What did you think of Angela's fighting?

And check out this site, too:

http://www.angelfire.com/az/ying/ 

Edited June 2, 2020 by DrNgor

[Drunken Monk]

19 minutes ago, DrNgor said:

What did you think of Angela's fighting?

And check out this site, too:

http://www.angelfire.com/az/ying/ 

I think I love Angela Mao in almost anything. There are a good number of praised movies on that list that I haven't seen. I don't even think I've seen Lady Whirlwind Maybe I'll line that one up next. Currently watching Instant Kung Fu Man.

[Drunken Monk]

Instant Kung Fu Man - I'm going to be honest, this movie is a living nightmare up until its 59th minute. It all shitty comedy. The whole thing. Even the fights, up until that glorious 59th minute, are infused with cringe inducing comedy. You couldn't pay me to sit through this again. Ten minutes of this film is about how bad a girl smells. Yep, it's THAT bad.
Then, at minute 59, Hwang Jang Lee comes and saves the day. He fights Yuen Yat-Chor and then moves onto John Liu. It's fantastic stuff; especially the two boot masters going kick for kick. HJL's kicks look like they'd take your head of.

It all climaxes with a HJL versus Yeh Fei Yang fight and that's not as god as the John Liu fight. In fact, I never want to see Yeh Fei Yang in another film.

[DrNgor]

43 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

It all climaxes with a HJL versus Yeh Fei Yang fight and that's not as god as the John Liu fight. In fact, I never want to see Yeh Fei Yang in another film.

He's less obnoxious in Snuff Bottle Connection.

[Drunken Monk]

Just what have I been doing with my life? This afternoon I watched Duel of the 7 Tigers. What a movie! I loved every minute of this one. I imagine some people might feel as though it goes a little slow since the the middle forty minutes are just people gathering fighters to take on Phillip Ko Fei. But I thought it was a great journey, introducing a variety of characters and short little fights here and there. It wasn't overly goofy either. Just a fun little trip through a variety of styles.

Then at twenty minutes in, Phillip Ko Fei beats the SHIT out of EVERYONE for twenty minutes. And that's not even the final fight! It's awesome. After that we get ten minutes of Cliff Lok training before the final showdown. It's all wonderfully paced. The final fight is great too. I've never been in love with Cliff Lok but he's perfect here.

Fantastic opening credits too. I highly recommend this one for those that haven't seen it.

[ShawAngela]

DrNgor took the words out of my mouth!

You should really watch Snuff bottle connection : Yeh Fei Yang is GREAT in it, and he even has been added to my favorite actors' list after watching this movie !

[sym8]

The Big Brawl-1980

Starring Jackie Chan,Mako,Jose Ferrer

Directed by Robert Clouse

A guilty pleasure for me,seen it many times and still find it an enjoyable romp.Not your normal Jackie film in terms of choreography,in terms of martial arts I think it’s only Jackie with any skills but it’s still great to see him bust some moves.Dont know if he had much of a hand in the choreography but it would have been interesting to see what we would of got had he.He Reshot some scenes for The Protector and it’s a pity he didn’t do the same for this because he could of added so much more.👍

[Drunken Monk]

Shaolin Chastity Kung Fu - An unenjoyable case of Robert Tai throwing everything at us and hoping it sticks. Shaolin? Yep. Japanese? Yep. Training scenes? Yep. Gimmicky weapons? Yep. Strong Men? Yep. Kids? Yep. LOADS OF KIDS? Yep. Gore? Yep. Extreme zoom ins on Alexander Lo Rei’s biceps? You bet.

This just felt like a waste of time. Even the last fight was a bore. I don’t get what kind of audience would enjoy this movie. Not a fan.

[DrNgor]

3 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

This just felt like a waste of time. Even the last fight was a bore. I don’t get what kind of audience would enjoy this movie. Not a fan.

I warned you...I WARNED YOU!!! I think Robert Tai and Lo Rei did better (outside of the ninja films) with Secret Rivals 3.

[Drunken Monk]

Little Superman - Another one that tore me. I'll start off on a positive note: I absolutely LOVED the fight scenes in this one. I'm really beginning to love mid-70's fight choreography. I'll always be a shapes man at heart but I've really discovered something I've never paid attention to before now and I'm enjoying every minute of it. It sounds silly but I have a lot to thank Bruceploitation for.
Everything was so powerful here. Every hit looked genuinely bone crunching. Fantastic stuff. Bruce Liang looked like he could fight off an army although I did think they relied on his legs a little too often. I wanted more hand stuff. Not to says his kicks aren't amazing. They are.

However, this film felt about seven hours long. The "Where are the plans?" plot really dragged on and on and on. Then you have the annoying humor that's scattered throughout. As well as a...giant slingshot!?

I don't know, the whole thing just left me a bit bored other than when there was fighting on screen. But the fighting was phenomenal. I can't want to see more mid-70's classics, Bruce Liang or otherwise.
 

[Drunken Monk]

Godfather Squad - This one is enjoyable but it suffers from the same thing a number of Bruceploitation films suffer from: Bruce Liang fights too many non-martial artists. The whit guys in this movie are just shitty. They take two kicks to the face and it's over. And that's the majority of the action, sadly. When it comes to true kung fu fight scenes, there's only one and that's when Bruce fights Yasuaki Kurata at the end. It's a great fight that goes from the city of Rome to...a snowy mountain? I'm not even sure what that was all about. Unfortunately, even that final fight devolves into sloppy haymakers that don't really have much flare.
Godfather Squad feels very much like a Bruceploitation movie (actor being murdered on set) but it isn't one. Sadly, it doesn't quite match the energy of a (good) Bruce Li movie. It's fine but I certainly wouldn't say it's great.
I love this era, I love the fight style of these films but this one just doesn't deliver on the action front. It feels more like European cinema than Hong Kong cinema. Also, I was definitely expecting boobs and I was sorely let down.

[ShawAngela]

33 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

Godfather Squad - This one is enjoyable but it suffers from the same thing a number of Bruceploitation films suffer from: Bruce Liang fights too many non-martial artists. The whit guys in this movie are just shitty. They take two kicks to the face and it's over. And that's the majority of the action, sadly. When it comes to true kung fu fight scenes, there's only one and that's when Bruce fights Yasuaki Kurata at the end. It's a great fight that goes from the city of Rome to...a snowy mountain? I'm not even sure what that was all about. Unfortunately, even that final fight devolves into sloppy haymakers that don't really have much flare.
Godfather Squad feels very much like a Bruceploitation movie (actor being murdered on set) but it isn't one. Sadly, it doesn't quite match the energy of a (good) Bruce Li movie. It's fine but I certainly wouldn't say it's great.
I love this era, I love the fight style of these films but this one just doesn't deliver on the action front. It feels more like European cinema than Hong Kong cinema. Also, I was definitely expecting boobs and I was sorely let down.

Isn't it in this one that there is a kind of Mafia Boss who reminded me of Dean Jagger in Tower of Death, and in which there is also Mang Hoi ?

[DrNgor]

44 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

Also, I was definitely expecting boobs and I was sorely let down.

Apparently there is a cut with boobs, although I wouldn't know where it is. If you read the old Kung Fu Cinema review, the reviewer (Rudolph Praetorius, I think) mentioned the presence of nudity in it.

My thoughts (the KFC review is in the following post):

 

[Drunken Monk]

47 minutes ago, ShawAngela said:

Isn't it in this one that there is a kind of Mafia Boss who reminded me of Dean Jagger in Tower of Death, and in which there is also Mang Hoi ?

That's the one! I was shocked to see a kid Mang Hoi in both Little Superman and Godfather Squad.

[DrNgor]

1 minute ago, Drunken Monk said:

That's the one! I was shocked to see a kid Mang Hoi in both Little Superman and Godfather Squad.

He gets to bust out the nunchaku in Kidnap in Rome and the acrobatics in Call Me Dragon.

[Drunken Monk]

I decided to treat myself to some classic shapes this afternoon with The Buddhist Fist. There's no arguing that this is a classic but if I had one gripe it's that 90% of the fight scenes are comedic. There's very few dangerous fights. The whole thing is very goofy up util the end.
If you're someone like me, you'll be okay with that but I can understand why those that like their kung fu more vengeful might not rate this one as highly as I might.

But that's my only semi-issue. It really is a classic with a very simple story, strong comedy and excellent action.

[Drunken Monk]

Ever since my teenage years, I've not liked The Secret Rivals. It just hasn't been my type of movie. Well, I watched this this afternoon and, not only did I love it, but I'm pretty sure I've never actually seen it!
It's a Don Wong Tao/John Liu/Hwang Jang Lee fight fest so there's a lot to like about this one. It's a shame HJL doesn't appear until about an hour in but he more than makes up for it with style and action. As I've said before, I'm not exactly John Liu's number one fan but I'm definitely warming up to him! When he's not just doing spin kicks eighteen times in a row, he's actually quite enjoyable to watch. Is it time for me to revisit Invincible Armour?

I liked Nam Chun-Il in this one. He came across as super menacing. 

It's crazy but I'm genuinely looking forward to the Bruce Lee Criterion set. All these years I haven't really had a fondness for Bruce save for Enter the Dragon but since I've been watching these early-to-mid-70's movies, I've really begun to admire than style of choreography. Dare I say I might actually see Bruce Lee's movies in a new light? I genuinely hope I find a new appreciation.

Tomorrow morning, it's The Secret Rivals 2 time!

[Duel to the Death]

The Magnificent Butcher and Spooky Encounters Both are excellent films i have seen before. Magnificent Butcher does a good job of making Ko Tai-Hoi the most hated villain you want to see die. Man he is irritating lol. And you feel real bad when they kill Lam Sai-kwong. So much bad happens to him in this. He gets beat up, they steal his wife and then they decide to kill him off. Big John dying in Knockabout was kind of emotional but this felt worse. 

Spooky Encounters is a trip as well. Loved finding out Yuen Biao was the Vampire. 

On a side note Yuen Biao may be my favorite Kung Fu star. I never realized he doubled for Bruce in Enter the Dragon and played Billy Lo in Game of Death. That makes him even more amazing. He's at least my favorite hero. There are so many actors that play the best villains. 

Edited June 4, 2020 by Duel to the Death

[ShawAngela]

Today's movies :

The fierce boxer : very entertaining, very good fights and trainings and some Indonesian good fighters that I discovered. The only Indonesian actor I knew of was Barry Prima, and I didn't like the only movie I saw him in, so, watching this movie today was a real enjoyable surprise, and Larry Lee plays both his character's father and his own character.

The Godfather of Hong Kong : What a GREAT movie ! I bought it many years ago from FarEastFlix and I only watched it today. I'm really fond of the actor Kim Jin Pal. I saw on hkmdb that he played in only six movies, and I have them all except Black Guide. I don't remember how he was in Evidence and Kung Fu of Tae Kwon Do, but the two movies I recently saw him in Tiger and The godfather of Hong Kong made me happy for the day !!

The jade fox : Bought in the same batch as the previous one, and only watched today too. Great movie, with good fights, many twists, double crossers and the little boy Huang I Lung is very good. I just realized that I had already saw him in Snuff Bottle Connection and that I had found him great in this movie too.

[Drunken Monk]

The Secret Rivals 2 - Turns out, I've never seen this one all the way through either. It seems 2020 is my year of newfound gems and sub genres. I'm loving it. The Secret Rivals 2 is an improvement on the first and that's saying a lot since the first is excellent. Simpler story, more fight scenes, more classic kung fu actors (including a blank and you'll miss him Yuen Wah) and an epic soundtrack. Oh and let's not forget that Yuen Woo Ping's on board as the fight coordinator.

I don't have many negative things to say about this film at all. There's a reason it's a genre classic. The only slight issue I have if that while the fight choreography is more complex, it actually look less powerful than the first film. The hits just aren't as ferocious. I also think this is down to sound effects as the blocks sound very muted in this one. It's certainly not enough to spoil the film. It's just that if I had to say something negative, that's the one thing I'd say. Also, I think I prefer Don Wong Tao to Tino Wong. In these two films, at least.

But hey, who cares about my tiny issues? This really is a fantastic movie. From Corey Yuen's spear work to Hwang Jang Lee's spinny rods of death. It deserves all the love that's poured on it.

If the first is 3 1/2 stars out of 5, this one's a 4. Maybe even 4 1/2.