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

[paimeifist]

About anything with shaolin kingboxers's cast has to be watchable.

I enjoyed it. I've got the ground zero/wutang version

Yeah that is the same version I have. I got a few of those Wu Tang discs for a very cheap price, and (like you I am sure) had to get this one when I saw the cast!

Supreme Sword sounds awesome. From your description, I have to see it, even if only for Simon Yuen's character that you described!

[paimeifist]

Rebellious Reign

Fantastic independent movie. Very epic and grand in scale, with a solid story, some good acting performances, and some fantastic shapes. Jimmy Lee is the lead, who pulls some crisp shapes and turns in a solid acting performance as well. I only recognized him from one other film, Wily Match; Which he had some great fighting in, but that was over all a bad movie.. Other stand outs were Kwan Yeong Moon(a favorite of mine), who played a savage bad ass, Norman Chu who showed good acting chops, and Alan Chui who put his acrobatic skills on display.(as well as directing the action.) A strong theme of the price of ambition complimented the story and epic feel of the movie. The story, while it isn't going to shock you, is solid and never bores you between the squabbles!(Thanks to good acting.) Fantastic bloody, epic finale, with an ending that actually breaks the typical Kung Fu mold a little bit.

My only gripe about the movie is that the plot moved way too fast. I didn't think I would ever say this about an independent Fu movie, but this could have stood to be an hour longer. There were a couple instant, jarring time skips. With the scale of this movie, it's to be expected, but there could have been a better transition; like a time stamp at least. Haha.

Anyway, great grade A stuff, I will watch it again. I don't like putting number ratings on this stuff, so that's all I'll say. (The samurai thread is an exception!)

I would like to see more of Jimmy Lee, this guy is a shapes machine! He is actually a good kicker too, albeit he didn't look quite as good when locking up with KYM(which is to be expected).

Thanks for another solid rec Morgoth.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Unfortunately for you the next best performance for Jimmy Lee is probably Wily Match. After the old school movies stopped being made he didn't do a lot of fights scenes. You'll see him pop up in a lot of movies from the 80's and 90's where he looks like a Chinese Joe Pesci.

Agreed on Rebellious Reign. More time spent on the story and maybe a bigger budget and this could have been a real epic. But, it's still one of the best kf movies ever made.

[Killer Meteor]

Rebellious Reign

Fantastic independent movie. Very epic and grand in scale, with a solid story, some good acting performances, and some fantastic shapes. Jimmy Lee is the lead, who pulls some crisp shapes and turns in a solid acting performance as well. I only recognized him from one other film, Wily Match; Which he had some great fighting in, but that was over all a bad movie.. Other stand outs were Kwan Yeong Moon(a favorite of mine), who played a savage bad ass, Norman Chu who showed good acting chops, and Alan Chui who put his acrobatic skills on display.(as well as directing the action.) A strong theme of the price of ambition complimented the story and epic feel of the movie. The story, while it isn't going to shock you, is solid and never bores you between the squabbles!(Thanks to good acting.) Fantastic bloody, epic finale, with an ending that actually breaks the typical Kung Fu mold a little bit.

My only gripe about the movie is that the plot moved way too fast. I didn't think I would ever say this about an independent Fu movie, but this could have stood to be an hour longer. There were a couple instant, jarring time skips. With the scale of this movie, it's to be expected, but there could have been a better transition; like a time stamp at least. Haha.

Anyway, great grade A stuff, I will watch it again. I don't like putting number ratings on this stuff, so that's all I'll say. (The samurai thread is an exception!)

I would like to see more of Jimmy Lee, this guy is a shapes machine! He is actually a good kicker too, albeit he didn't look quite as good when locking up with KYM(which is to be expected).

Thanks for another solid rec Morgoth.

One thing that always puzzled me about this film is why one of the rebels has an almighty lump on his forehead - he's not a comic character. Maybe it was a real one.

[stills]

Return of the fat dragon

[Morgoth Bauglir]

One thing that always puzzled me about this film is why one of the rebels has an almighty lump on his forehead - he's not a comic character. Maybe it was a real one.

They put it on. He's a badass dude. Maybe the lump gives him power? Or it's just a big brain?

[paimeifist]

Crazy Guy with Super Kung Fu

A bad kung fu-comedy starring Lee I Min, Sun Jung Chi, Cheng Fu Hung, and Peng Kang. The comedy mostly fails, although there are a few moments during the fights that are pretty funny. Also included is the far too oft-seen quasi-homosexual kung fu guy. The story is about what you would expect from a movie like this.. The fighting is the only thing that makes this movie worth watching, with some decent shapes action that is not near the potential of the crew. (Mentioned above, and Peng Kang also serves as action director.) The fight's are decent and often, so the poor comedy and story aren't too terrible to sit through. The finale was okay with Lee I Min, Sun Jung Chi, and Peng Kang showing off their acrobatic/shapes skills as expected, and Cheng Fu Hung has some funny moments.

Overall the movie was bad enough that I can't see watching it again, but not so bad that I regret spending the time to watch it. Having a couple fairly talented screen fighters and a couple sort of funny moments save it from being complete crap. Cool seeing the reliable Sun Chung Chi as a good guy, but he was underused.

Seeing this made me appreciate a movie I viewed earlier this year (Wily Match) much more than I did. Actually, now I want to give that one another go.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Score one for Wily Match! I enjoy Crazy Guy but yeah it's nothing special.

[paimeifist]

Five Fingers of Steel

Decent movie with great fights. It's strange, the movie is very dark with terrible things happening (rape, torture) but I basically didn't care due to a combination of sub-par acting and dubbing(although the girl was half convincing). Still, the story was interesting enough that it didn't bore me between the many good fights. The fighting was consistently awesome from start to finish, with Hwang Jang Lee as action director(and starring, as one of the good guys!). The three main stars are all good screen fighters, with Yen Shi Kwan as the lead. Kwan Yeong Moon is probably the top performer here as he gets a few more opportunities to show his skills than HJL. The finale is between our two super-kickers and I have to say while it isn't bad, it's underwhelming. Overall it is a decent movie worth watching for fans of the genre due to great fights.

[Killer Meteor]

Score one for Wily Match! I enjoy Crazy Guy but yeah it's nothing special.

Crazy Guy is appallingly bad.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

True it is pretty bad, but there's far worse.

[paimeifist]

Appalling may be a little harsh, this isn't among the worst I've seen, and the worst of this genre is pretty damn bad!

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Joseph Kuo's Dragon's Claws- good story and excellent fights. Everything about this movie was above average. Even the children's urine scene was kind of funny

[the moose]

Joseph Kuo's Dragon's Claws- good story and excellent fights. Everything about this movie was above average. Even the children's urine scene was kind of funny

Most of the opinion of this movie I've read/heard before is pretty low. But I'm with you, I quite like it. Probably people unfairly compare this to other Joseph Kuo efforts such as Born Invincible, Mystery of Chess Boxing and 7 Grandmasters - therefor it falls short.

[paimeifist]

Most of the opinion of this movie I've read/heard before is pretty low. But I'm with you, I quite like it. Probably people unfairly compare this to other Joseph Kuo efforts such as Born Invincible, Mystery of Chess Boxing and 7 Grandmasters - therefor it falls short.

To be fair, you guys said it has a decent story, so it already has a 1 up on those films in one category! Lol, with that said, those flicks are about as good as it gets when it comes to shapes action.

Possible SPOILERS ahead.

Ninja Terminator

Not much to say about this one, lol. Has to be on of the best BAD movies ever. The talking messenger robot, Jaguar Wong, the hilarious dub, Blondie Hwang, Richard Harrison with eye liner, hokey story.... Really it is all great. This is actually the only Godfrey Ho cut/splice I have seen, and it was entertaining. I fell out laughing everytime I heard "NINJER" or "JAG-YOU-ARE". From what I have read, this is about the only Godfrey Ho ninja movie worth watching. Is this true? Also, what are the films this was made of, were they ever completed and released?

Master and the Kid

A kung fu version of baby cart - sort of, starring Yueh Hua. (NOTE: I have not seen Lone Wolf and Cub, only Shoguns Assassin.) I say sort of because Shoguns Assassin seems to nail the relationship of the kid and his father much better, and is overall a better movie.. But this film has one thing that its inspiration does not, kung fu!

Anyway, the story was OK, very simple and gave way for some great fighting. The lone ranger style is something I always enjoy, and the music selection along with some great locations (ranging from the ocean to the forest) complimented it well. The fights were plentiful and great as you would expect from Yueh Hua, Phillip Ko, Beardy, and Chen Sing.

Phillip Ko is cool as a bad ass assassin! Chen Sing is our white browed villian (surprise, surprise), and Beardy only gets one fight, but it is a good one. This movie has a dark tone, but the acting isn't great, and the story isnt fleshed out enough for it to matter. The way the villain is killed at the end is awesome though, with a powerful shot of him dangling from a tree!

I actually feel this film could have been great if more attention were given to the plot and acting. The baby cart/kid aspect of it basically just felt like a gimmick in the second half of the movie. During the first half there were some sweet moments between Yueh Hua and the kid, but they amounted to nothing and went to waste. It also would have been nice to see the kid do some badass Daigoro style stuff. There was plenty of acting talent, shit, Yueh Hua is one of the best actors Shaw ever had! Anyway, it felt like a missed opportunity, but many of these films do.

Anyway, I am sure this was a rush job, and it was still a pretty good movie. A decent plot that sort of melts as the movie progresses, great locations and setting, and great fighting. Nice to see Yueh Hua as the lead, he did great. He put on a great fighting performance here as well. Solid kung fu movie with the feeling of a samurai movie.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Dragon's Claws- big time agree with you moose. It's not as good as 7 Grandmasters, but it's not that far off either. Right up there with Chess Boxing and Born Invincible. It might even be better than those 2 movies because of the superior story, and Hwang Jang Lee. BTW I got Dragon's Claws in the Iron Fist Bluray. Picture quality is good. Almost DVD quality!

Ninja Terminator- hkmdb says the footage used is from the Korean movie The Uninvited Guest. I'd love to get this one. You can take a look on adc, but I don't know if anyone's seen it. For more Godfrey Ho you have to see Undefeatable. It's not as good as Ninja Terminator, but what is?

Master and the Kid- glad you got to see this one paimeifist! It is definitely an odd entry in the kf genre. I agree there's a lot of things that could be better about it. Not a great movie or anything, but it's so damn cool!

Iron Monkey Strikes Back aka Duel at Tiger Village- watched this Chen Kuan Tai vehicle in the Iron Fist Bluray. Picture quality at first looked like it would be an issue, but the pixelation wasn't as bad as I thought it would be when I first previewed it. It has terrible picture quality, but it's watchable.

The movie is average. A good cast featuring Judy Lee and Chen Sing, and a small role for Sun Jung Chi. It has a few fights that are worth watching, and an awesome brutal ending.

BTW paimeifist I try not to say this on all of your posts lol, but I 100% agree on you past few reviews. I really had to dig deep for something to be able to disagree with you. You say the fights in Five Fingers of Steel are awesome. I remember them being really good, but not awesome. So ha! (now I go to rewatch Five Fingers)

[paimeifist]

The Uninvited Guest was not on ADC. Thunder Ninja Kids in the Golden Adventure sounds like pure gold just by the name, lol. I'll look into that and Eagle vs Silver Fox.

Yeah I agree with you on Master and the Kid, it is a fun movie if not great. Easily worth a watch.

Dragon's Claws- big time agree with you moose. It's not as good as 7 Grandmasters, but it's not that far off either. Right up there with Chess Boxing and Born Invincible. It might even be better than those 2 movies because of the superior story, and Hwang Jang Lee. BTW I got Dragon's Claws in the Iron Fist Bluray. Picture quality is good. Almost DVD quality!

Ninja Terminator- hkmdb says the footage used is from the Korean movie The Uninvited Guest. I'd love to get this one. You can take a look on adc, but I don't know if anyone's seen it. For more Godfrey Ho you have to see Undefeatable. It's not as good as Ninja Terminator, but what is?

Master and the Kid- glad you got to see this one paimeifist! It is definitely an odd entry in the kf genre. I agree there's a lot of things that could be better about it. Not a great movie or anything, but it's so damn cool!

Iron Monkey Strikes Back aka Duel at Tiger Village- watched this Chen Kuan Tai vehicle in the Iron Fist Bluray. Picture quality at first looked like it would be an issue, but the pixelation wasn't as bad as I thought it would be when I first previewed it. It has terrible picture quality, but it's watchable.

The movie is average. A good cast featuring Judy Lee and Chen Sing, and a small role for Sun Jung Chi. It has a few fights that are worth watching, and an awesome brutal ending.

[Secret Executioner]

Ninja Terminator is really the best of those cut-and-splice Ninja flicks. There are other good ones (The Ninja Squad, Ninja Dragon), but most are average or boring - though you usually get some funny stuff here and there from the Ninja parts.

[paimeifist]

Yeah on second thought I am not sure if they are really something I will actively seek out, but I am sure I will run in to more of em, lol.

Awaken Punch

Solid basher with action done by YWP. Henry Yu Yung (who I am unfamiliar with) is the lead, and actually seems to be a decent actor/screen fighter(for basher-style). Tien Feng is the main baddie, and his henchman are played by Fong Yau, and San Kuai, who play their typical scum bag characters. They are known as "Black and White Fan", which makes you think there will be some cool fan fighting...but there isn't.

The plot is decent revenge-fu. Henry Yu Yungs character is a bully beater, his Dad (while on his deathbed) makes him promise to quit fighting and take care of his farm, and family. When he arrives, a landshark tries to bribe him for his families land, and he isn't having it. So the baddies begin harrassing his family. He endures some pretty shitty things happening to his family out of respect for the oath, until the baddies eventually and inevitably cross the line.. It is a pretty dark movie. Anyway, from there on out it is just bad ass basher fighting.

I was pretty surprised by this movie, it may not be great, but I really enjoyed it.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I agree on Awaken Punch, but for me it was just ok. It didn't help that the quality in the essentials pack is pretty rough.

And don't you dare think about skipping out on the Godfrey Ho, Joseph Lai and Tomas Tang movies. You have to watch all of them. If you find that your teeth are hurting because of grinding them too much, then you are allowed a short break. If you can watch 2 in a row, then you can cross one off the list and you don't have to watch it. This is all clearly stated in the forum rules.

[ThunderScore]

[stills]

Awaken punch/ awaken fist has the van Morrison bicycle chase scene

[paimeifist]

Awaken punch/ awaken fist has the van Morrison bicycle chase scene

Hahaha, yes! I can't believe I failed to mention this, I actually meant to ask "what was the music playing in the overly long chase scene where a man on a bicycle can't escape a man on foot?".

Yeah, It isn't that I think the movie was very good, I just enjoyed it more than I expected. With these movies I haven't heard of, I always go in with low expectations.

I must have missed that when I "read" the forum rules.

[stills]

Son of the swordsman

[paimeifist]

My Life's on a Line

Good movie with some great kung. Started out feeling like another plotless independent movie, but actually develops a fairly decent plot with a couple good twists. Unfortunately the plot and emotional moments are hindered by mostly bad acting. Luckily, the action more than makes up for that.

Extremely simple synopsis:

Man Lee Pang stars as Minute Fong, a righteous bounty hunter who ends up questioning his line of duty after learning more about his latest target, as well as his boss and the powers that be.

I don't recall seeing Man Lee Pang before this, but he seriously kills it, fighting himself as the awesome Minute Fong, and directing the action. There is some great arm-locking shapes, kicks, and a little acrobatics as well. For most of the duration I was thinking I'd have wished for more Beardy, but the epic finale made up for his lack of screen time. This may be the best fighting performance I have seen from Beardy up to this point. The reliable, if not great supporting cast of people like Lung Fei, Wong Shi Chang, Chen Ping and Wong Wing gave Man Lee Pang just enough talent to make himself look great while pummeling them.

Minute Fong is a great bad ass character, but I wish they would have made more out of his awesome gimmick. Man Lee Pang is an awesome screen fighter and action director and I look forward to seeing more of him. My only gripes are pretty typical for the genre, bad acting, and..Dean Shek. Everything else was pretty good, including the plot. Fantastic action, with a classic finale that I will definitely be revisiting.