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

[Secret Executioner]

I'm close to loving it but im not all the way there. I should do a full review but I'm lazy. I will say that Robert Tai pushes John Liu hard and gets Liu to perform some of his most complex choreography in his fight against Tai.

If you are looking for a kung fu mission movie you must see 5 Fighters From Shaolin. It's Incredible Kung Fu Mission on crack. And I'm talking a major overdose of crack.

A full review would be interesting, but I can understand why you may or may not enjoy some of the film's aspects.

I don't have 5 Fighters From Shaolin, but seeing what you're saying about it and considering the cast mentionned by paimeifist, I guess it's really some kind of must-see.

[paimeifist]

Well I assumed I would have one of those films, or another indie Morgoth pointed me toward (Leg Fighters) in one of these compilation boxes I have, BUT I do not.. So I will watch Wu Tang Magic Kick GHW. I believe we have discussed this before, probably in this thread, but yeah, I love those Mill Creek sets, haha. GHW, if you only have one of the 12 movie sets, I would recommend getting the two 50 packs that I got, they're cheap as dirt.. (If you have multiple smaller sets though it probably isn't worth it).

My head is spinning from all these emotional character driven Samurai flicks I've been watching, some indie chop socky is in order.

[Secret Executioner]

Well I assumed I would have one of those films, or another indie Morgoth pointed me toward (Leg Fighters) in one of these compilation boxes I have, BUT I do not.. So I will watch Wu Tang Magic Kick GHW. I believe we have discussed this before, probably in this thread, but yeah, I love those Mill Creek sets, haha. GHW, if you only have one of the 12 movie sets, I would recommend getting the two 50 packs that I got, they're cheap as dirt.. (If you have multiple smaller sets though it probably isn't worth it).

My head is spinning from all these emotional character driven Samurai flicks I've been watching, some indie chop socky is in order.

That 100 Greatest Martial Arts Classics collection sounds nice indeed. Yeah, I only have the Flying Fists set as far as these Mill Creek collections go - still hesitating whether I'll get other sets.

[paimeifist]

Wu Tang Magic kick was a decent indie. My favorite aspect of it is similar to that of many indie old school flicks, and that is the locations. This movie had some seriously gorgeous locations.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Magic Kick is really good, but there's a few things that really bug me about it. Tung Wei vs Liu should have been much better. My main problem is that Phillip Ko seems to be going half speed so that they can emphasize power. Big mistake. You don't slow Phillip Ko down.

I don't think 5 Fighters is in any packs. The Xenon DVD is full screen but it's more than watchable. There's no Sun Jung Chi I don't think but there's plenty of great fighters including Alan Hsu and Wong Chi Sang. 5 Fighters reminds me of a super hero movie. There's no super heroes but there's definitely a few super villains. Jack Long is one powerful evil dude in this.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

A full review would be interesting, but I can understand why you may or may not enjoy some of the film's aspects.

:

I want to do a review of Bolo's Writing Kung Fu but I've just been sitting on my ass thinking about it for the last 2 months. So an IKFM review isn't going to happen. Although now that I think about it IKFM would be easier to write about. Like you I have too many movies to watch. I'm complaining but it's a great problem to have.

[paimeifist]

5 Fighters from Shaolin.

The movie opens with Jack Long as some sort of cultist doing some crazy voodoo shit with some chicken blood and candles. Then it flashs to some ninja guys infiltrating a Monastery attempting to steal some books, who are pummeled and clowned by a loony senior monk (Mark Long). The monk leaves the monastery and after a few fights/encounters in various locations gathers...FIVE DISCIPLES (Yau Ming Yin, Chen Shan, Chiang Sheng, William Yen, and Ching Kuo Chung, who each naturally took part in said encounters before becoming disciples.) Oh yeah, somewhere along the way he also picked some broad up that tags along as well, but she is just a bad plot device. Anyway, Looney senior Monk trains them all in a different style, each with their own training scene(s). Eventually they set out to learn who/why someone attempted to steal the books, and our obligatory final showdown takes place.

So, for an indie from Taiwan, the plot was actually pretty damn good.. It actually didn't seem like just filler in between a bunch of fight scenes (as many classic indies do). No it wasn't great and there wasn't a surprise twist ending, but it carries itself well in between the action. There is even some development between the disciples as they grow from strangers to brothers. The comedy was also decent(intentional and some unintentional), I found myself snickering instead of rolling my eyes at most of it. Again, all things considered, that's impressive. Mark Long, William Yen, and Chiang Sheng were particularly humorous.

Now for the best part of the film..of course, the fights. The fights were high in quantity and quality, and no one really disappointed me. Clearly some of the cast are better than others, but its to be expected. (William Yen, and Ma Cheung are only going to look so good next to the Longs, Chen Shan, and Chieng Shang...). Alan Hsu and Wong Chi Sang were among the baddies. With this cast, you get what you expect, some absolutely fantastic shapes. Chiang Shang gets to shows off his weapon skills too. They do a good job at implementing each disciples training into the finale. I really can't say anyone stole the show here, the action was solid all around. Jack Longs character is a straight badass, and the movie takes a turn towards zany "Taoism Drunkard" and "Shaolin Prince" style antics when he shows up.. He is seemingly invincible, has a wicked mustache and eyebrows, and blows things up. Hell yes.

The few "cons" to the movie (in my mind) had to do with the plot, and they were minor, so I'll avoid spoilers? Not that there is a whole hell of a lot to figure out, lol.

Overall it has an above average plot for what it is with top class fighting and cast. There is some zany stuff and comedy which may put some people off, but I felt that it worked in the movies favor.. I may consider this among my favorite classic indies....

Note: I could have sworn I heard Frosty the Snowman music on 2-3 occasions.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Yeah! Great review. I find myself agreeing with you a lot. Once again I agree 100%. I know I've said this to you about 5 times before but I rarely fully agree with people!

SPOILERS AHEAD- When I first saw this movie I liked it but I wasn't completely sold on it. I thought it was cheap with no depth, and stupid. But I liked it. I think maybe it was just a bit too weird for me. But I didn't have many DVDs at that time and I was tired of watching my VHSs, so I kept rewatching it. Luckily it's a movie that gets better almost every time I see it. Definitely one of my favorites and most likely is in my top 100. It's not a masterpiece but damn it's fun. I think the thing that helps to propel this movie into "classic" status is the insanity of it, and Mark Long.

Also I remember being put off at first because Chang Shan isn't the toughest guy in the movie. And when he dies in such a devastating way I was in shock. But looking back at this movie Chang Shan gives a good fighting performance and a great acting performance. Dammit I wish he had more hero roles like this. To think I actually used to complain about his role in 5 Fighters:cry:

These actors and their names can be a real bitch to learn. Here's some info on the actors. The acrobatic guy is Yau Ming Yin I'm pretty sure, not Alan Hsu (Chui). I don't know anything about him except he is a badass weirdo and a glutton for punishment. He fights Alan Hsu on the rings in the final battle. Sun Jung Chi is not in the movie. Sun Jung Chi is in Leg Fighters:xd:

Just an FYI check out Ninja Hunter in the Tai Seng NInja 6 pack. 5 Fighters From Shaolin is aka NInja Hunter 2. Jack Long is the bad guy in Ninja Hunter, Chang Shan has a role as a good guy, Mark Long has a role as a teacher, and it is a crazy movie. It has probably the best zombie fu fight scene ever filmed.

BTW did you see 5 Fighters wide or full screen?

[paimeifist]

Ah, I was trying to match faces going by hkcinemagic, haha. (Outside of the very familiar/obvious actors, of course)

I checked hkmdb, and it seems you are right. I believe I was mistaking Wong Chi-Sang for Sung Jun Chi. I don't think I have seen Yau Ming Yin before, and if I have I didn't make note of it, so that was definitely just a face matching guess, lol. I'll attempt to fix the original post now, thanks for the input man.

Chang Shan was a badass as usual, they just seemed to utilize him more early on rather than later I think. Even if he wasn't the toughest, his movement's were probably the most powerful. He kind of reminds of Chen Kuan Tai in the way that he can make shapes look painful. As fantastic as Jack Long and Chiang Shang are, powerful movements are not their strong suit!

Yah I have noticed we agree often, which is why I seek things out when you recommend them, because I generally enjoy them if you do. Especially when it comes to indies, you have put me on to some bad ass indies. Most other times I just put movies somewhere on my ever growing list of shit to watch.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Ive never noticed Yau Ming Yin in anything else. I wondered for years who he was. Then I think that hkmdb.com updated their info on 5 Fighters, and now I know who Yau Ming Yin is.

Yeah Chang Shan is a badass no doubt. I think I was expecting him to be as tough as he is in Shaolin vs Lama. But that's impossible. But I've come full circle since then and I think 5 Fighters is one of his best roles.

[paimeifist]

I watched a widescreen dubbed version (with burnt in subs.) The mandarin track was included...but I don't watch indies in anything but dubbed, lol. Very fun movie, I will watch it again I am sure.

I need to go to sleep so I can wake up at a half decent time and watch Seven Samurai. Damn you for recommending me awesome movies and inspiring me to write a review!

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Damn you for

Damn YOU! I can't believe you saw Five Fighters wide. Drool is coming out of my dam mouth damn you! I'm gonna have to get a copy of it some day. Dammit.

And go to sleep already. I'm going to watch movies now.

[Secret Executioner]

Somehow, that plot involving 5 students each learning a different style sounds sorta like Chang Cheh's 5 Deadly Venoms... But the film looks quite different and rather enjoyable. Will try and track this one down.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

5 Venoms is an interesting movie and an enjoyable one. Most people will think I'm talking crazy but I like 5 Fighters way more than 5 Venoms. 5 Fighters is like a massive explosion of energy, creativity and weirdness and you are given the task of keeping up with it all. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. 5 Venoms has a snake style. 5 Fighters has a snake weapon.

[paimeifist]

They're really not much alike at all. While I'm not sure if I would say I like 5 Fighters more, I would say it is probably more rewatchable than 5 Deadly Venoms.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Do yourself a favor, go out and find a copy somehow of Kingfisher The Killer (1980) I'm not sure if it's Thai/Filipino/Cambodian/Indonesian movie but it might be one of the most amazing experiences of movie watching you'll ever see, trust me. The movie is call, Kingfisher The Killer, seen it?

[paimeifist]

It is one of those mill creek sets I have....SCORE! Will watch it today, but only after I finally watch Seven Samurai.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

It is one of those mill creek sets I have....SCORE! Will watch it today, but only after I finally watch Seven Samurai.

Hahhaha, Seven Samurai a must. I was lucky enough to catch it on the big screen, it was awesome!

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

I too loved this movie.

A lot of fun.

GD Y-Y

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Damn I passed on the multipack with Kingfisher. I'll have to pick it up. 5 more dollars, gone. And I work hard for that money at times. Actually no I don't. I spend my work day here and at hkmdb.

I'm in full agreement with the packs. I love them! I wish they had all these great packs when I started collecting. But I am getting to experience that right now getting into the spaghetti western genre. I'm doing my research but I'm still blindly running into classics left and right.

[Secret Executioner]

Just checked and Kingfisher The Killer is indeed on a couple Mill Creek sets - the Iron Frenzy 50-movie one, the Way Of The 5 Finger Death Strike 12-movie one and the 100 Martial Arts Classics one (which is essentially the Iron Frenzy and the earlier Martial Arts 50 Movie Pack sets repackaged together in one same box).

[paimeifist]

Just checked and Kingfisher The Killer is indeed on a couple Mill Creek sets - the Iron Frenzy 50-movie one, the Way Of The 5 Finger Death Strike 12-movie one and the 100 Martial Arts Classics one (which is essentially the Iron Frenzy and the earlier Martial Arts 50 Movie Pack sets repackaged together in one same box).

That is exactly what the 100 is, what you see on amazon is simply a piece of cardboard that slides over the two sets, I threw it away.

I didn't get to Kingfisher yesterday, but will watch it at some point today.

[Secret Executioner]

That is exactly what the 100 is, what you see on amazon is simply a piece of cardboard that slides over the two sets, I threw it away.

I didn't get to Kingfisher yesterday, but will watch it at some point today.

How cheap of a packaging. But it wouldn't be fair to complain too much as you still get 100 films, for cryin' out loud.

[paimeifist]

Yeah it was a great value, it was gifted to me, but I believe my brother said he saw it at cosco for like 20 or 30.

[QueMuchita]

I was thinking of purchasing that 100 movie set recently but I was too lazy to go through the list and see how many I already have.