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

[ukrevrend]

44 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

Snuff Bottle Connection (1977) - The formula is nothing new but the action in this one is incredible. There’s plenty of it too. Hwang Jang Lee is mostly saved for being the “big bad” at the end but everyone else gets their chance to shine throughout. 2020 has actually seen me warm up to John Liu a little. He’s actually really entertaining in this one. Thanks to Yuen Woo Ping, I’m sure.

Definitely one of my favourites! Yuen Woo Ping at his best! 

[Drunken Monk]

1 hour ago, DrNgor said:

Ah ha!!! I knew that the worldwide MA Movie Crisis would eventually lead to a re-evaluation of John Liu as one of the great kickers.

I must be having a nervous breakdown. 

[ShawAngela]

I just watched The thunderkick 1973.

What a superb non stop action movie. And I love Larry Lee more and more !!

This guy is very powerful and the last 15 mn are a real fight feast, with him using katanas as if they were nunchakus...

Highly recommended ! I frankly can't understand the bas review on hkmdb. For me, but I'm not an expert, the fights are very well directed.

I got the Filmart dvd release ina three movies dvd box. My only complain is that there are several changes of frames during the movie, and at the end, they are so near one to the other that it becomes annoying, but at least, I added another Larry Lee's movie to my collection...There are only three missing titles in order that it's complete...

[HeavenSword]

Two Assassins Of The Darkness (1977)-  A dark and mysterious movie  . Your not sure who’s the bad guy until the end, so it’s interesting throughout . The action is above average with Chang Yi and Don Wong playing two assassins that fight and throw a lot of daggers at people’s heads throughout the movie. There’s a few twist towards the end that leads to a cool finale where Don and Chang go against a group that has long ropes with iron claws at the end of them .  So although the plot is pretty basic , the darkness and mystery of the characters keeps it interesting, with some above average fighting. 

Anyone else think Chang Yi looks like Norman Chu ? 

Edited October 30, 2020 by HeavenSword

[saltysam]

18 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

I just watched The thunderkick 1973.

What a superb non stop action movie. And I love Larry Lee more and more !!

This guy is very powerful and the last 15 mn are a real fight feast, with him using katanas as if they were nunchakus...

Highly recommended ! I frankly can't understand the bas review on hkmdb. For me, but I'm not an expert, the fights are very well directed.

I got the Filmart dvd release ina three movies dvd box. My only complain is that there are several changes of frames during the movie, and at the end, they are so near one to the other that it becomes annoying, but at least, I added another Larry Lee's movie to my collection...There are only three missing titles in order that it's complete...

I love the Thunderkick! As a teenager i had the super 8 version and watched it endlessly. I have the filmart DVD on it's own, i may get that 3 disc set to save space.

[DragonClaws]

On 10/29/2020 at 2:34 PM, ShawAngela said:

I just watched The thunderkick 1973.

What a superb non stop action movie. And I love Larry Lee more and more !!

 

I watched this one earlier in the year, got some extensive notes written down for it. Overall I really enjoyed it, but the print was full screen and in pretty bad shape.

[ShawAngela]

42 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

 

I watched this one earlier in the year, got some extensive notes written down for it. Overall I really enjoyed it, but the print was full screen and in pretty bad shape.

The Filmart release looked good for me and it was nice to see Bolo wearing a hat and doing some kicks work.

[DragonClaws]

7 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

The Filmart release looked good for me and it was nice to see Bolo wearing a hat and doing some kicks work.

 

Yes, Bolo was by no means Yuen Biao when it came to kicking, but he's a better kicker than most people think. A lot of the choreography he performed in movies, was based on his powerful upper-body shots. Or as Scott Adkins reffered to it in one of his Art of Action videos, the Bolo punch.

[ShawAngela]

3 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

Yes, Bolo was by no means Yuen Biao when it came to kicking, but he's a better kicker than most people think. A lot of the choreography he performed in movies, was based on his powerful upper-body shots. Or as Scott Adkins reffered to it in one of his Art of Action videos, the Bolo punch.

I remember that someone complained that he always died in a lot of  the movies in which he appeared...At least, in this one, he doesn't die at all...😁

[Secret Executioner]

3 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

Yes, Bolo was by no means Yuen Biao when it came to kicking, but he's a better kicker than most people think. A lot of the choreography he performed in movies, was based on his powerful upper-body shots. Or as Scott Adkins reffered to it in one of his Art of Action videos, the Bolo punch.

I don't even remember seeing him kick...

[DragonClaws]

7 hours ago, Secret Executioner said:

I don't even remember seeing him kick...

 

I cant list all the examples, but his ring fight in The Greatest Thai Boxing(1974) features examples of him kicking.

 

8 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

I remember that someone complained that he always died in a lot of  the movies in which he appeared...At least, in this one, he doesn't die at all...😁

 

All part of being the screen villian, more often than not you end up losing a fight, losing your life, or both.

[sym8]

51 minutes ago, Secret Executioner said:

I don't even remember seeing him kick...

 I remember seeing him throw the odd kick now and again and thinking he was quite flexible,but as dragonclaws mentioned they seemed to have concentrated on his upper body because of his bulk.

[saltysam]

The iconic moment of The Thunderkick for me is when Larry Lee gets his tonfu weapons out. Very rarely seen at the time in these type of bashers.

[Yihetuan]

Anyone interested in purchasing The Thunderkick would be wise to pick up the German triple pack that features The Thunderkick along with Mars Villa and Fists of the Double K. All are English friendly and at a great price too.

Edited October 31, 2020 by Yihetuan

[ShawAngela]

41 minutes ago, Yihetuan said:

Anyone interested in purchasing The Thunderkick would be wise to pick up the German triple pack that features The Thunderkick along with Mars Villa and Fists of the Double K. All are English friendly and at a great price too.

That's  what I got...😁

[ShawAngela]

3 hours ago, saltysam said:

The iconic moment of The Thunderkick for me is when Larry Lee gets his tonfu weapons out. Very rarely seen at the time in these type of bashers.

Did You watch his Indonesian movies? I think that I posted the links in the thread dedicated to him in the actors' section.

[saltysam]

I've got all three seperately. Tempted to get the three disc but i love Thunderkick and Double K so much i think that short of Criterion Collection remastered blu rays coming out i need to keep the lovely hartboxes these two come in.

[DragonClaws]

On 10/31/2020 at 8:33 AM, sym8 said:

but as dragonclaws mentioned they seemed to have concentrated on his upper body because of his bulk.

 

Look how Bruce Lee presented him in Enter the Dragon, nothing too flashy but basic powerful moves.

[Anthony]

Warriors Two with Sammo Hung and Casonova Wong. 

[sym8]

19 hours ago, Anthony said:

Warriors Two with Sammo Hung and Casonova Wong. 

In my humble opinion it’s the best classic Kung fu movie👍👍👍

[Drunken Monk]

Mysterious Footworks of Kung Fu (1978) - "Blah" is the easiest word to use for this one. Charles Heung plays a character who's referred to as what is essentially retarded for the entire movie. But...he knows kung fu. He gets himself mixed up in an attempt to out the local opium dealers and well...very little ensues. Characters are lame, the fight scenes are, for the most part, a snooze fest and the most interesting thing about the movie is Michael Chan Wai Man playing a gay assassin with an assortment of bonkers weapons.

I don't know why I was expecting more from this movie. I thought it might be a semi-classic that fell under my radar. It's not even close.
I've learned recently that Gam Ming is not a fight choreographer whose work I enjoy. He's competent but very bland. 

We may pour out our malt liquor for today's kung fu cinema but I'd take something like Shocking Kung Fu of Huo's over this.

[Drunken Monk]

The Iron Monkey (1977) - This was an incredibly eye opening watch for me. Mainly because I've owned the film on both VHS and DVD and somehow had never actually watched it. And now I ask, why isn't this film talked about more? No one lists this as a classic and it is absolutely wonderful. Simple, straight forward and jam packed with amazing fight scenes. In my opinion, this is one of Chen Kuan Tai's best.

The final thirty minutes of this film is one of the best final thirty minutes in kung fu cinema history in my eyes. Fight after fight featuring Wilson Tong, Beardy, monkey fist, eagle claw, three section staffs, guandaos, spears, swords etc. It's incredible!

And I love the choreography in this film. It's so crisp and good looking. Can anyone recommend me any other films choreographed by Chen Mu-Chuan? I'd love to check out more of his stuff. I think the only other one I've seen is Ninja Wolves.

The Iron Monkey is up there as a classic in my eyes. It's a perfectly paced, action-packed joy. I'd love to see it remastered one day.
I'm assuming the not-really-a-sequel Iron Monkey Strikes Back isn't quite as good.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

1 hour ago, Drunken Monk said:

The Iron Monkey (1977) - This was an incredibly eye opening watch for me. Mainly because I've owned the film on both VHS and DVD and somehow had never actually watched it. And now I ask, why isn't this film talked about more? No one lists this as a classic and it is absolutely wonderful. Simple, straight forward and jam packed with amazing fight scenes. In my opinion, this is one of Chen Kuan Tai's best.

The final thirty minutes of this film is one of the best final thirty minutes in kung fu cinema history in my eyes. Fight after fight featuring Wilson Tong, Beardy, monkey fist, eagle claw, three section staffs, guandaos, spears, swords etc. It's incredible!

And I love the choreography in this film. It's so crisp and good looking. Can anyone recommend me any other films choreographed by Chen Mu-Chuan? I'd love to check out more of his stuff. I think the only other one I've seen is Ninja Wolves.

The Iron Monkey is up there as a classic in my eyes. It's a perfectly paced, action-packed joy. I'd love to see it remastered one day.
I'm assuming the not-really-a-sequel Iron Monkey Strikes Back isn't quite as good.

I have always championed this movie and often referred to it as the "real" Iron Monkey since the 90's one is pretty shit and this is awesome. I think Chrn Mu Chuan also had a hand in th action for another highly underratd Chen Kuan Tai joint, Big Boss of Shanghai. So if you haven't seen that, check it out.

Btw, what version did you watch? The German DVD is the best option.

[Drunken Monk]

2 minutes ago, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

I have always championed this movie and often referred to it as the "real" Iron Monkey since the 90's one is pretty shit and this is awesome. I think Chrn Mu Chuan also had a hand in th action for another highly underratd Chen Kuan Tai joint, Big Boss of Shanghai. So if you haven't seen that, check it out.

Btw, what version did you watch? The German DVD is the best option.

I watched the Vengeance Video version. It’s perfectly watchable but I’d love to see a cleaner version of the movie.

Big Boss of Shanghai is going on the list. Thanks, @TibetanWhiteCrane

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

The German DVD is WS and a vast improvement over the VV release. Consider getting it if you really like the film.