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

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Ninja in the Dragon’s Den (1982: Corey Yuen): It is also a shame that this martial art extravaganza does not have a proper North American release. This is the debut of both director Corey Yuen and buff martial artist Conan Lee (who only had a small career unfortunately) in this period martial art film. The choreography, which included a fight on stilts, lots of ninja traps, Hwang Jang-lee with his awesome kicking prowess and much more. Surprisingly the film’s cinematography looks exquisite. The lighting and composition are sometimes surprisingly charismatic and have been thought out well. This also portrays several good Japanese characters which is quite rare in Hong Kong cinema including the lone ninja Sanada Hiroyuki (who I have seen recently in 2013 films 47 Ronin and The Wolverine and his performance in The Twilight Samurai is one of my favorites.) If I had a martial arts label, I would put this film out.

I am a little surprised by the good, but not great reviews I read on HKMDB. I know Conan Lee character is probably a bit too cocky without ever really getting his ego busted (a big difference from the Jackie Chan films at that time) and he is sometimes overly violent without necessarily needing to be (even with his friends, a joke he pulls on Tai Bo is quite close to actually killing him), but still I had so much fun with the action scenes, the ninja scenes (I tend to love houses like that, reminds me I should probably turn off some of my traps in the basement) and how professional the cinematography looked that this is going on my top 100 Hong Kong films.

Now why did it take so long for Conan Lee to appear in his next film Tiger on Beat (another film I like quite a bit)?

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Sounds like you liked it. Top 100 HK films? Wow you really liked it. I put it in the top tier of kung fu movies because of it's creativity, great characters and comedic performances. You have to give the English dub a listen. It's goofy, it fits the tone of the movie perfectly and has some of the best and funniest lines you will ever hear.

I'm surprised you haven't heard about the story of Conan Lee. It's been discussed here at least a few times. I think the next movie he did was Gymkata. The special features explain it all.

All this bloody ear talk reminds me of a movie I just watched, Django. This may have the wildest ear scene of them all.

[paimeifist]

You have to give the English dub a listen. It's goofy, it fits the tone of the movie perfectly and has some of the best and funniest lines you will ever hear.

Seconded! Great hilarious dub. The voices seem to fit the characters decently as well. One of my favorite kung fu movies of all time, I'd say top 15. I always felt a little underwhelmed by the finale considering the talent involved, but as a whole, it doesn't hurt the movie.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

The rumor is Conan Lee has a big ego and hard to work with. Chow Yung Fat said as much in an interview regarding Tiger on Beat. Also, I seem to recall Cynthia Rothrock, or some other actress saying he was a load. If you're a pain in the ass, there are plenty of other, ripped, good looking young martial artists dying to take your place.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Seems to be a couple of factors. I had not watched the interviews that came with the HKL release before yesterday, so I had to look at them today. I bolded the appropriate conversation on this, kept the rest for those who are interested.

Ninja in the Dragon’s Den HKL R2/PAL

Ng See-yuen & Roy Horan Interviews (24:21m; English):

NSY first.

Theme of film is facing difficulty, every movie he wants to send this message.

[Drunken Master clip]

Knows nothing of Kung Fu; but how it should look on film.

[snake in Eagle’s Shadow clip; couple clips]

Talk on why more he does more producing than directing.

[Ninja In the Dragon’s Den clip; clips throughout segment]

Shot in Taiwan [good to know]

Find him (Conan Lee) in Los Angeles; half Chinese and half Korean. He does not even have Chinese name.

RH: met Lloyd Hutchinson. States he has potential, probably needs to go to acting school. Ng came up with name in Chinese (which he stated he wanted to name his son) and RH came up with Conan because of Arnold movie.

NSY again: invited Sonny Chiba’s student Hiroyuki Sanada.

success in Japan; used Japanese stuntmen.

Talk on Hwang Jang-lee: he’s a real fighter. He finds him in Korea when shooting Secret Rivals Part I.

Korean line producer caused issues with Korean staff (I believe on Secret Rivals); Hwang still worked regardless. Brings him to HK because of it.

[Game of Death II clip]

Talks about an almost fight with Hwang.

Conan Lee becomes proud after success. Ng talks about having many teach him different martial art skills.

RH: also goes over this. Explains reason for three picture deal (normal contract). Conan came back for renegotiation. Ng’s feelings were hurt. Decision was to let him go instead of legal action.

NSY: got hurt by seven or eight when he did not lend Lee out in Taiwan (six months bedridden.) Hates triads. Interesting enough he states that this is one of the reasons why Conan Lee did not get work for several years. Forgave Lee.

[The Dragon]

Seems to be a couple of factors. I had not watched the interviews that came with the HKL release yet. I bolded the appropriate conversation on this, kept the rest for those who are interested...

Ng See-yuen:

NSY: got hurt by seven or eight when he did not lend Lee out in Taiwan (six months bedridden.) Hates triads. Interesting enough he states that this is one of the reasons why Lee did not get work for several years. Forgave Lee.

And people still don't want to believe Triads did not/could not have/had something to do with Bruce Lee's demise??

How naive.

[Killer Meteor]

Sounds like you liked it. Top 100 HK films? Wow you really liked it. I put it in the top tier of kung fu movies because of it's creativity, great characters and comedic performances. You have to give the English dub a listen. It's goofy, it fits the tone of the movie perfectly and has some of the best and funniest lines you will ever hear.

l.

I think the dub is American - it's certainly different from the usual HK dubs. Heck, I'd swear that was Jim Cummings dubbing Tai Bao!

[stills]

Shogun assassin 2: lightning swords of death

[the moose]

The Bravest Fist.

A 1974 basher starring Chan Wai Man. I quite liked it, look out for early support roles from Kenneth Chang (ABetter Tomorrow, The Killer, Police Story 3, Peking Opera Blues) John Chang (Snake in the monkey's shadow, Project 'A') and Dean Shek (Drunken Master, snake in the eagle shadow, warriors two)

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Phantom Killer

One of the pre "new wave" films that Golden Harvest tried. Like Naked Comes the Huntress, it's a noir film with some martial arts, not a martial arts film with some film noir thrown in. Definitely inspired by House of Wax, Wei Pak, the incredible disappearing kung fu star leads the flick with Eddy Ko as the police chief. He stars as Siu, and the bitches love him, maybe a little too much. When the kung fu fights start, they're pretty good, but it was a little draggy in parts, and I feel asleep. I will re-watch the finale tonight. I was beat last night, so not entirely the movies fault. Still, I can kind of understand why Pak was not successful. But not getting any film work?? Either doing another job must have paid just as well (entirely possible in 80's Hong Kong) or there is a story there. I can't believe he would just vanish completely.

[Killer Meteor]

Phantom Killer

One of the pre "new wave" films that Golden Harvest tried. Like Naked Comes the Huntress, it's a noir film with some martial arts, not a martial arts film with some film noir thrown in. Definitely inspired by House of Wax, Wei Pak, the incredible disappearing kung fu star leads the flick with Eddy Ko as the police chief. He stars as Siu, and the bitches love him, maybe a little too much. When the kung fu fights start, they're pretty good, but it was a little draggy in parts, and I feel asleep. I will re-watch the finale tonight. I was beat last night, so not entirely the movies fault. Still, I can kind of understand why Pak was not successful. But not getting any film work?? Either doing another job must have paid just as well (entirely possible in 80's Hong Kong) or there is a story there. I can't believe he would just vanish completely.

I was surprised that both Shaws and Golden Harvest kept trying to push him as a leading man.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Still, no small roles even? I mean he had some decent kung fu. He couldn't be a lead, though. I couldn't stand the Cheeky Chap, so, maybe people felt the same.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

The one movie I really like him in is Golden Arm. He plays that asshole swordsman character perfectly. He's good in Last Hurrah but Damian Lau is more memorable. I have Phantom Killer and Cheeky Chap. I don't remember much about Phantom Killer. But Cheeky Chap is ok at times and has a good final fight.

[Killer Meteor]

I like him best in The Young Master - 10min is plenty.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

I like him best in The Young Master - 10min is plenty.

LOL! He was a rapist, basically. Very unsympathetic character. I remember all my training buddies went to see it with me and one said "why is he(Jackie Chan) sticking his neck out for that loser?" I remember being so impressed with the speed of Chan and especially Whang In Sik, then realized years later it was all under-cranking. Live and learn.

[DrNgor]

Shogun assassin 2: lightning swords of death

Is that the one that was released on video at some point as Lupine Wolf?

[stills]

I've never heard of that.

Maybe a more learned member will chim in.

[Killer Meteor]

LOL! He was a rapist, basically. Very unsympathetic character. I remember all my training buddies went to see it with me and one said "why is he(Jackie Chan) sticking his neck out for that loser?" I remember being so impressed with the speed of Chan and especially Whang In Sik, then realized years later it was all under-cranking. Live and learn.

He had a prostitute, he didn't rape anybody. And by liking him, I meant he didn't irritate the holy heck out of me.

I love the fights, undercranking and all!

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

I'll have to watch it again. I remember his character was in trouble for some sleazy stuff. I liked the fights as well, still do, but I just remembered at the time thinking "wow, this dude must have been practicing!" LOL!

[Tex Killer]

Hot, cool & vicious. I think someone here said this is better than secret rivals 1&2. I don`t agree to that but it`s still good flick.

Tommy Lee is BAD villain ( in a good way of course) but did not get enough screen time. Tan Tao Liang is great as usually.

Definitely worth seeing if you have not already.

[Killer Meteor]

I'll have to watch it again. I remember his character was in trouble for some sleazy stuff. I liked the fights as well, still do, but I just remembered at the time thinking "wow, this dude must have been practicing!" LOL!

I think the undercranking is less obvious in the HK version, as the cutting and music (Holst) is better. The English edit, with its cheezy synths and bad editing, exposes the tricks more.

[stills]

Secret life of the ninja aka a life of ninja

[Killer Meteor]

An old favourite...

18 Bronzemen (1976)

Very entertaining kung fu film, with a good cast - Carter Wong is at his best here - plot and atmosphere aided by classical Chinese music as opposed to more Western stock music. The Bronzemen are hokey but charmingly so, especially those in grimancing masks. The idea that the ample-bosomed Polly Shang Kuan could pass for male though...

Oh, and despite being prominently billed, Chang Yi has less screentime then the average Hitchcock cameo!

8/10

[masterofoneinchpunch]

this technically fits here:

Hocus Pocus (1984: Chin Yuet-sang: Hong Kong)

I have been so slow to get to horror influenced watching which normally dominates my October viewings. For a variety of reasons I just have not been in the mood and have watched other genres. What better way to start (well technically restart since I saw The Brood at the beginning of the month) then a Hong Kong ghost/comedy film with some kung fu.

Since this is pre-Mr. Vampire, Lam Ching-ying is not yet in Taoist sifu mode (I realize this statement will make no sense to people who have not seen a lot of Hong Kong films.) But he is a venerable leader of a Peking Opera troupe full of prima donnas (specifically Chia played by Law Ho-kai who has one very unfortunate scene with a baby, I hope he got extra pay for that), newbies and solid martial artists. They are soon visited by an impish but ultimately good ghost, in one of the uglier ghost outfits, played by the director Chin Yuet-sang.* But he is not the only ghost they will have to contend with.

This definitely needed more kung fu and/or a script especially given that this is a Sammo Hung production. It starts off with a fantastical Peking Opera scene that had me hoping this was an underrated film in the vein of Zu: The Warriors from the Magic Mountain which came out the year before. I also saw way too much under-cranking which I could not figure out if it was supposed to be there or there was a speed-up with the DVD. It meanders during the mediocre middle of the movie which has its moments of hilarity but also many moments of repetition as the Opera members mainly play practical jokes on each other. However, that ending was entertaining. I do not see too many films that have such a promising start, a weak middle yet has a satisfactory ending.

John Charles in his book Hong Kong Filmography (he rates this a 6/10) states that some of the score is lifted from Suspira. That is about what I would rate it. This is the type of movie to watch after you have seen the better horror/comedy/kung fu hybrids like Mr. Vampire and Spooky Encounters, but definitely not before. Unless you like turtles, then you might also want to skip this (completely ignoring how much dog blood was used in this.)

My Mr. Vampire review.

* I noticed a sleepy warrior scene during the operatic prologue. Chin had did one of the earlier examples of this in Last Hurrah for Chivalry in 1979.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Superior Darter 1969

An earlier Joseph Kuo effort, with the reliable Chiang Nan as a loyal guard and Cheung Ching Ching as the woman who loves him. No darts to speak of in this movie, at least not many. The plot centers on Chiang going the extra mile to defend his benefactors and winds up getting blinded. He later meets with his sifu who tells him to train and in 3 years he will be invincible. We never really see the training, and I guess this is before Chang Cheh and Wang Yu brought in the training scene motif, so should we have expected it? Cheung really loves Nan, but he has low self esteem big time. I mean Cheung Ching Ching digs you? Hang up the sword and make babies! Anyway, it's worth seeing, Jamal has a decent copy (it would be nice to see in wide screen) as well as Big Rogie on Ioffer.