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

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Watched HALF A LOAF OF KUNG FU with my 7-year old last night..she loves Jackie Chan and she thought this was a funny kung fu film.

I liked it (though I notice wherever I have posted my positive review on it I have gotten a few "Not Helpfuls.")

mini-review:

“Here Comes the Unbreakable China Doll Who Gives You the Licking of Your Life!”

Hapkido (1972: Huang Feng: Hong Kong) aka Lady Kung Fu

Originally I wanted to see this movie years ago because Jackie Chan has some background stunt scenes where he gets beat up in at least one of them by “big brother” Sammo Hung. But after years of watching Hong Kong films I wanted/needed to see more early films from both Golden Harvest and Angela Mao.

The plot is derivative of Fist of Fury (this takes place in 1934) and it will do nothing to further positive relationships with Japan – seriously every Japanese character is an evil slobbering caricature with a few sporting a Hitler I mean Jordan I mean Chaplin mustache. But the action is quite good. While I do not see much karate style from the Japanese antagonists, there is plenty of “basher” (free-fighting) moments mixed with hapkido and kung fu fighting styles from athletic and capable Angela Mao, Sammo Hung, Carter Wong (in his first film), hapkido experts Whang In-shik (his first big role) and Ji Han-jae (also his first role though he did only a few films.)

How fun is it to see both Whang In-shik and Ji Han-jae (check out a high kick arm trap he does early in the film) in action. Superb martial artists who get to showcase the art of hapkido. Angela Mao is also fun to watch as she is quick, flexible and a solid fighter. Though since she has shorter limbs it is always important for who she fights with to “sell” her movements (you can find a similar analogy in determining a quality match in professional wrestling) and the choreography is done well here with Sammo Hung as the action director (try to see how many films director Wong Fun has done without either Hung or Mao.) Sammo is impressive himself though I think his best fighting work was done in the late 70s when his girth seemed to be done at its lowest point (plus the experience of choreography over that decade has helped as well.)

I was a little disappointed with the final fight scene because Black Bear boss (Yamane Teruo) just did not seem as good as everyone else. But overall I think this is a solid film for martial art fans with plenty of quality action and early appearances from many pertinent martial art stars.

I am glad this came out on a nice R1 release from Shout Factory coupled with Lady Whirlwind. The print looks good except for a few outside scenes, though that may be the fault of the source. It comes with a Mandarin and English dub and the English subtitles come out well.

[Secret Executioner]

Tai Chi Shadow Boxing (HK, 1980), from the Flying Fists Of Kung Fu 12-movie set

Posted my thoughts in the dedicated thread from the Reviews forum.

[fatcat]

Just picked up a few, 10Tigers From Kwangtung, 7 Steps Of Kung Fu, Shaolin V Ninja, I hope Shaolin v Ninja has some good Karate, I expect decent fu!! :/ I haven't seen any of them.

[Riwy]

The prodigal son. Original eng dub. Iv always wondered what the guy with the red face paint says to Biao who gets bitch slapped by his master for repeating it to him. Does anyone know?

[the moose]

The prodigal son. Original eng dub. Iv always wondered what the guy with the red face paint says to Biao who gets bitch slapped by his master for repeating it to him. Does anyone know?

Yeh, he says wat wat wat waaaahht

[the moose]

Just picked up a few, 10Tigers From Kwangtung, 7 Steps Of Kung Fu, Shaolin V Ninja, I hope Shaolin v Ninja has some good Karate, I expect decent fu!! :/ I haven't seen any of them.

Shaolin Vs Ninja is a good choice. It's a Taiwanese movie directed by Robert Tai and starring Alexander Lo Rei - The Jap antagonist boss is played by Hong Kong reliable old skool ace Alan Hsu (the bad guy Jet Li fights at the end of Last Hero in China). And as it's a Robert Tai movie you can expect top notch fight choreography.

[Riwy]

Yeh, he says wat wat wat waaaahht

Hahaha I've been saying that for years

[fatcat]

Shaolin Vs Ninja is a good choice. It's a Taiwanese movie directed by Robert Tai and starring Alexander Lo Rei - The Jap antagonist boss is played by Hong Kong reliable old skool ace Alan Hsu (the bad guy Jet Li fights at the end of Last Hero in China). And as it's a Robert Tai movie you can expect top notch fight choreography.

Thanks moose! I saw it last night and LOVED it, Ill even go as far as saying it's my favorite Kung Fu vs Karate movie! Monks vs Ninjas!?! It did not disappoint!!

[Killer Meteor]

The prodigal son. Original eng dub. Iv always wondered what the guy with the red face paint says to Biao who gets bitch slapped by his master for repeating it to him. Does anyone know?

One thing I notice in the dub is that they change the voice of Peter Chan Lung's character after the first scene.

And when Lam Chin-Ying's dubber tries to sing...yeesh!

[Coliseum1972]

Magnificent Chivalry , 3/6.....couldn't really get into it.

Fatal flying guillotine 4.5/6....this however was much more fun

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Four Real Friends from FLK. Say what you will, this was a nice DVD and the quality of the print made the movie look like a Shaw Production for the most part. It is a kickass flick, and Wang Yu's best basher. Of course, he has Chang YI, Chen Sing and Kam Kong helping him against Lung Fei, Shan Mao and Lu Chien, with Tommy Lee directing the fights, so how can he go wrong?

Ni Kuang is at the script, so a certain amount of "bromance" is going on here, though, unlike Chang Cheh, Sing gets his mojo back from getting a hot girlfriend, and it is even mentioned as the reason. Lots of great fights, good soundtrack, well directed and filmed. I hadn't seen it in 35 years, but it holds up! I would say it's a worthy addition to any collection.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

In a way this film made me appreciate When Taekwondo Strikes more. It really is a modern, but it does fit the 1920-1985.

The Tournament (1974: Huang Feng: Hong Kong):

Lau Siu-fung (Angela Mao Ying) is the daughter of a disgraced martial arts instructor who had just committed suicide. He had brought two students to fight in Thai boxing matches that had lost quite badly (one dying) and was subsequently ostracized. She needs to bring honor back to her father and Chinese Kung Fu as well by beating the Thai at their own game all while accepting that there is some weakness to their currently practiced style. The “tournament” Muay Thai fighting scenes are unfortunately undercranked too much. It does not help that putting professional Thai fighters also makes their opponents really look out-of-place especially with Carter Wong – though he looks fine outside of the ring. The fight scenes outside of the ring are solid with Sammo Hung and Chan Chuen once again choreographing a Wong Fung (Hapkido) directed film. The confrontation between Mao Ying and Whang In-shik (always a plus) is a highlight along with the other non-tournament fight scenes in an otherwise lackluster and sometimes inane plot.

Shout! Factory’s The Angela Mao Ying Collection: It looks that this print might suffer from some pal-to-ntsc conversion issue (can anyone verify this) as the fight scenes have a too much blur. It comes with both the Mandarin and English dub (sounds original.) The back of the case lists these both as 2.0. The English subtitles are not dubtitles. It also comes with a trailer (3:44).

Some notes (which will find themselves in a review if I write one)

I love when the crowds are just gathering around to watch a movie being made.

Hmmm, there is no tournament in this film.

There is some on location footage in Thailand most notably the Ayutthaya temple.

Is that Yuen Biao in drag? Of course it is. Check how many times you can spot him (he seems to get around to different countries as well.)

Just like with When Taekwondo Strikes there is an almost out-of-place nude scene. It almost feels like the director had to have one (not uncommon, I believe Martin Scorsese had to have nudity in Mean Streets.) This leads to a funny continuity error when the ripped shirt miraculously appears in its pristine condition later on.

While seeing women versus men in martial art films does not strike me as abnormal, it feels a bit weird to me seeing it in a “ring setting.” It reminded me of a similar scene in Muay Thai Giant (aka Somtum) though that girl was quite young.

Hilarious to hear the sound cue from Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra (most famous for its use in 2001: A Space Odyssey; the sound cue is from that film.)

Mao Ying has some great kicks especially when she combines crescent kicks with a spinning heel kick (though seriously when Whang In-shik incorporates it in his repertoire it is a thing of beauty.)

George Yirikian: You get to see a rare case of a karate expert actually performing karate.

No idea who the Thai champions are (I have their names from the trailer which is the same on HKMDB, but still no idea.)

IMDB has ELO's In Old England Town as a sound cue. Currently have not been able to match up. But since I have now heard the song several times I think I might be figure if it is in there or not (unless somewhere here knows.)

[Tex Killer]

Warriors

Two..excellent fights but unfortunately dean shek drags overall

impression down, so can think this only as good flick...i did not hate

him when i 1st saw him in jc movies but today i do..3,5/5

[Tacitus Jones]

Crane Fighter

Watched it from the 'Flying Fists of Kung Fu' collection I got at Wal-Mart. Nice balance of comedy and fights. Really need a wide-screen version to appreciate it, but it was worth the five dollar admission price I paid.

[AlbertV]

THE TOURNAMENT starring Angela Mao and Carter Wong

Part of the upcoming Angela Mao Ying Collection that comes out in 6 days!!! Got my copy yesterday!!!

Review on the main site.

[Coliseum1972]

Any good Lo Lieh films ?

(seen KB , Spirits of BL , Chinese Boxer , Le's Deadly Fingers)

[Secret Executioner]

Mafia vs Ninja (Taiwan, 1984)

Didn't feel very invested in the film. You just seem to have to sit through the non-action parts, waiting for the action to drop by. But when you get action, it's pretty entertaining. The Ninjas (who are bad guys) are okay, but the best villains have to be the 4 killers hired by the Japanese boss. Alexander Lo offers some funny bad acting and his sidekick is funny at times. Not too bad, but you'd better get into this with low-expectations.

I heard there was a much longer cut under the title Mafia Kids - available on 3 Taiwanese VHS. Perhaps it could be interesting to see.

[the moose]

Lo lieh isn't the most charismatic of kung fu movie stars. Here are some good titles with him in: Clan of the white lotus, Buddhas palm, Golden swallow, one armed swordsmEn (unofficial spin off with wang yu - not to be confused with one armed swordsmAn), five kung fu daredevil heroes, my blade my life, 36th chamber of shaolin, executioners from shaolin, mad monkey kung fu, dirty ho, kung fu from beyond the grave.

Most of his later old skool films he was type cast as the villain.

These are just the decent ones I've seen. I've seen some with him that aren't so good and there are also plenty of his I haven't seen at all.

Happy hunting.

[the moose]

Mafia vs Ninja (Taiwan, 1984)

Didn't feel very invested in the film. You just seem to have to sit through the non-action parts, waiting for the action to drop by. But when you get action, it's pretty entertaining. The Ninjas (who are bad guys) are okay, but the best villains have to be the 4 killers hired by the Japanese boss. Alexander Lo offers some funny bad acting and his sidekick is funny at times. Not too bad, but you'd better get into this with low-expectations.

I heard there was a much longer cut under the title Mafia Kids - available on 3 Taiwanese VHS. Perhaps it could be interesting to see.

I like Alexander Lo Rei's 80's Ninja movies, but I haven't yet seen this one. Maybe I will skip it. Have you seen 'Ninja Kids' with Lo Rei? - directed by Joseph Kuo

[Secret Executioner]

I like Alexander Lo Rei's 80's Ninja movies, but I haven't yet seen this one. Maybe I will skip it. Have you seen 'Ninja Kids' with Lo Rei? - directed by Joseph Kuo

Heard of it, but I've never seen it (though I do own a French VHS of that one). I've seen a trailer though and it looks insane.

[kevenz]

Crane Fighter

Watched it from the 'Flying Fists of Kung Fu' collection I got at Wal-Mart. Nice balance of comedy and fights. Really need a wide-screen version to appreciate it, but it was worth the five dollar admission price I paid.

I've only seen the trailer for Crane Fighter and it looks pretty good, does a widescreen version actually exist? all the dvds appear to be fullscreen.

[Mugen]

Knockabout 1979 Really enjoying film,i was glad to see yuen biao and beardy as the stars.

[Coliseum1972]

Dragon Squad 3/6 , very disappointing......so many big names and this is all they can deliver.

"Shame on you , double shame !" (Full House)

[The Dragon]

Buddhist Shaolin Avengers aka The Awakening Punch, with Henry Yu Yung...

Good Basher from the same crew that did flicks like Kung Fu: Punch of Death.

Funny moments and lots of crazy sound effects. Early 70's Chop Socky.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Dragon Squad 3/6 , very disappointing......so many big names and this is all they can deliver.

"Shame on you , double shame !" (Full House)

I just rewatched this and I gotta say I love this movie. I have to get a poster of that slow mo shot where Lung Fei and the man in white are walking down the street with their gang. The one huge problem I have with this movie is the final fight. It gets really boring.