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

[Morgoth Bauglir]

They should have made a sequel with Minute Fong. Just to have more of this great choreography. And, they could have explained the ending. I have a nicer Italian version and the end is even more unclear. But the finale is awesome. My favorite fight is the first meeting between action director Chim Lung (villain in red) and Minute Fong. Chim Lung brought the heat in that fight.

[paimeifist]

They should have made a sequel with Minute Fong. Just to have more of this great choreography. And, they could have explained the ending. I have a nicer Italian version and the end is even more unclear. But the finale is awesome. My favorite fight is the first meeting between action director Chim Lung (villain in red) and Minute Fong. Chim Lung brought the heat in that fight.

Yeah I forgot about that in my first post. In the version I saw, Minute Fong and Beardy both jump kick each other then it freeze frames and blood runs down the screen...the end.

Anyway, fantastic movie. I may have to go back and revisit some f the fights, they were all so damn good. The finale definitely seemed to stand out most to me. I agree, as sequel would be wonderful.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Horse Boxing Killer- I had a Lung Fei craving and I had to pop this in tonight. It's better than I remember. Top notch choreography and great performances from the main players Phillip So, Hilda Hui and Wong Goon Hung. Wang Tai Lang shines in his small role as a teacher and Lung Fei gives one of his finest performances as the villain. There's also lots of top talent playing bit roles like Ma Chin Ku, Mau Ging Shun, Lee Siu Ming and Simon Yuen and his double The story isn't very good, but the fights more than make up for it. I think the movie would be improved if I saw an uncut version. The Videoasia DVD is clearly missing a couple of scenes during the first 30 minutes.

Amsterdam Connection- I had a craving for this one too, and I'm glad I got it out of my system. Bolo does some of his best and fanciest fighting at the end, but the other 80 minutes are a chore to sit through.

[paimeifist]

Horse Boxing Killsr sounds like one of those movies that isn't great, but is still a must see.. Even if just for Lung Feis performance. I'll have this one on my radar.

18 Swirling Riders

Weak movie from director Lin Fu-Ti(Master and the Kid) starring Don Wong and Chen Sing. The plot seemed interesting but quickly became convoluted and hard to follow. The action was sparse for the first hour, and when there was some, it was weak and so dark you couldn't tell what was going on. The last half an hour had more and better action, but by that time any investment you ha on the story or characters is mostly lost. Master and the Kid is a much better movie.(and it isn't "great" either, but very good)

I also revisited Invincbile Armor today. Great film and it is my favorite performance from John Liu. Overall great movie, good performances from all involved, decent deep story for an independant fu flick, and fantastic action from a fantastic cast. I don't think there's any point in me speaking much on this one. It isn't one of my top favorite movies, but it is great.

[andy338]

Wu Tang vs Ninja - Top quality crazy action from start to finish. This and Shaolin vs Lama are two of my all time favourite old skool flicks.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Wild Panther- Chang Shan in a starring role. Barely any budget, incompetent film making, and the result is some good action and a lot of wtf moments. Not a ton of fighting but it's a nice showcase for Chang Shan. The best parts are the wtf moments. My favorite is a comedy scene where bad guy Ching Kuo Chung has to kill his friend at the hospital:ooh:

[DragonClaws]

Caught Tiger Love (1977) recently and it left me thinking WTF. The film is packed with random head scratching moments. A waste of the talents involved including the presence of Lo Lieh who drew me to this title. The film appears in the 100-Movie Millcreek boxset. Even a widescreen subtitled release wouldn't improve this film.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Champion of Boxers- Tien Peng, Cheung Ching Ching and Chen Hung Lieh. Basically, late 60's early 70's Wu Xia stars trying to jump on the basher band wagon with mixed results. You would be better off catch Tien in Tough Duel or ChaoChow Guy, both available from Big Rogie or Jamal, to be honest. Cheung has done better stuff- see the Evil Karate or any of her other Wu Xia, for the most part. Chen is actually the star of the picture, and his character is the most memorable one. A Japanese thug looking for his long lost childhood sweetheart, literally ripped from his arms and sold into prostitution. He is a product of abuse. Yes, he's a prick, but at least you see where he is coming from. Peng basically is a card board character in this. Worth watching as a time killer, or when doing chores, or something to throw on with a few cold ones, but nothing that deserves 100% of your focus.

[paimeifist]

Wild Panther- Chang Shan in a starring role. Barely any budget, incompetent film making, and the result is some good action and a lot of wtf moments. Not a ton of fighting but it's a nice showcase for Chang Shan. The best parts are the wtf moments. My favorite is a comedy scene where bad guy Ching Kuo Chung has to kill his friend at the hospital:ooh:

IMO what is in bold makes it worth a watch for any fan of the genre.

DragonClaws, what exaclty is Tiger Love about? The name alone leaves me scratching my head. Lol

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I second the thoughts on Tiger Love. Stay far far away. Just watch the cinema snob's review. Much better than the actually movie.

jFblqOqK78

[paimeifist]

The Tiger Love video above is hilarious, the scene with the tiger and child is pretty crazy and a little unsettling. It actually makes me interested in the movie, but I'll heed the advice given from you guys, haha.

I am still kind of shocked from that scene. You could see the look of absolute horror(what else, really?) on te kids face as he falls.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

That's just another reason why we need good releases with special features and behind the scenes footage for all these movies. I'm not a big fan of Along Comes a Tiger, but I've watched the DVD many times for the commentary. Same with the special features on the Ron Van Clief collection. It shows Ron Van Clief in an actual fight with one of the actors. It's pretty awesome. Then again maybe that's why we don't get lots of special features. There's so much stuff that people wouldn't want to talk about, like the stolen music, animal fights, children peeing all over the place and old guys drinking it, and children possibly being killed by tigers. And that's just scratching the surface.

[The Dragon]

That's just another reason why we need good releases with special features and behind the scenes footage for all these movies. I'm not a big fan of Along Comes a Tiger, but I've watched the DVD many times for the commentary. Same with the special features on the Ron Van Clief collection. It shows Ron Van Clief in an actual fight with one of the actors. It's pretty awesome. Then again maybe that's why we don't get lots of special features. There's so much stuff that people wouldn't want to talk about, like the stolen music, animal fights, children peeing all over the place and old guys drinking it, and children possibly being killed by tigers. And that's just scratching the surface.

@#$!!! Now you got ME interested!

[paimeifist]

@#$!!! Now you got ME interested!

Did you watch the video?

I never thought about it, but you're right Morg, I'm sure there is some shady stuff that went on behind the scenes of some of the flicks. What is this about Children peeing? Reminds of the scene in Taoism Drunkard when he looks at..well, you know...

I'm not sure id even want to know what happened to that boy after that scene in Tiger Love.

[DragonClaws]

I second the thoughts on Tiger Love. Stay far far away. Just watch the cinema snob's review. Much better than the actually movie.

jFblqOqK78

Thanks Morgorth Bauglir, a truly odd Kung Fu flick and I'm not new to the independent genre. A talking tiger who even gets his own monologue in the film. When the woman first see's the tiger she pee's on it from a tree branch:squigglemouth:. Lo Lieth must have been desperate to pay the rent/bills the day he made that one.

There's not even much action to save the film. The scene with the child and the tiger is insane. There was no health and safety back then for animals or human performers alike.

[paimeifist]

Fist and Guts

Kung-fu comedy from the Lau family (Directed by L.K.Leung, starring Gordon and L.K.Wing) along with who seem to be Lau family favorite's in Lee Hoi San and Lo Lieh.

Gordon Liu plays a guy who is on the hunt for a stolen treasure, he bribes two goofy con-men (L.K.Wing and Lee Hoi San) to help him track down the thief and retrieve it. There isn't much action in this movie. There are only a handful of fight scenes, but the few fight scenes were quality as expected from this crew. I found myself laughing often and enjoying the comedy aspects of the movie.. For the most part, the laughs were intentional. Lau Kar Wing and Lee Hoi San in particular had me cracking up. There was a pretty strange scene with some kind of kung fu leper cult, but I found some humor in that too.

The few fights were pretty damn good, while maybe not the best given the cast involved. Lee Hoi San and Lau Kar Wing were wasted unfortunately, they didn't get many chances to fight. (Maybe literally one in the whole movie.). Gordon Liu has a couple great fights though, one where he is using two daggers against a guy with a staff; another where he and his opponent are trying to be silent while fighting. The finale was a fantastic, energetic fight between the reliable screen fighting duo of Lo Lieh and Gordon Liu.. When these two throw down under LKL's direction, it always seems to bring the best out of them.

Overall, the film isn't great, it could have used more action, and the story was nothing special. Wasting the screen fighting ability of one top tier screen fighter and one very good screen fighter was also disappointing. There is a twist that seem's kind of cool and decent on the surface, but really it just comes out of no where.. With that said, I wasn't bored at any point and found the humor to work for the most part. The little bit of action there was seemed to be at a high level to me, particularly the end fight. Yeah it may not have been Gordon Liu/LKLs best, but it's hard for this team to disappoint when it comes to the squabbles!

Above-average, entertaining movie from a crew capable of far greater work. Worth a watch, just don't go in expecting a ton of action.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Yeah Fist and Guts is worth seeing. If they just would have had added Wang Lung Wei to the cast, then surely It would be a classic.

[flashkicks]

edit wrong thread moved to shaws forum.

[paimeifist]

Yeah Fist and Guts is worth seeing. If they just would have had added Wang Lung Wei to the cast, then surely It would be a classic.

Unless he also did not fight! Haha.

Yeah I was surprised to see the main page here gave it a pretty negative review.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

If WLW played a comedic sidekick it would be interesting. I've never seen that before. But if it was like his role in 5 Venoms where I kept expecting him to fight, and he doesn't, I'd be mad.

[paimeifist]

If WLW played a comedic sidekick it would be interesting. I've never seen that before. But if it was like his role in 5 Venoms where I kept expecting him to fight, and he doesn't, I'd be mad.

That would be interesting for sure. It would be weird to see him be anything but a complete hard ass, haha.

Shadow Ninja

First of all, there are no ninjas in this film, and the alternate title is more fitting: Killer in White

Buddy cop period kung fu comedy starring Stephen Tung as the young tough rookie, and Roy Chiao as the wise vet. The first half of the film focuses on the interaction between the two, and is mostly comedy. It starts out as the vet being annoyed by the youngin', and they grow to be friends. The comedy isn't the annoying/weird comedy many of these films have, but it wasn't particularly funny either. A few scenes made me chuckle though, and the few fights in the first half were fantastic. I had to look up the stars, although I recognized Stephen Tung. I'd say this is the best performance I've seen of him, because he didn't stand out much to me in other films I have seen. Here he pulls some top notch slapstick shapes, and definitely steals the show as far as fighting goes.

The tone changes pretty jarringly and suddenly about halfway through the movie. It become very dark while our heroes try to find a serial killer on the run. The story is nothing special, and there is basically no mystery to solve. With that said, the movie did get better in the second half. There is more action, and it goes from slapstick to pretty serious and bloody. The finale was very good and brutal with some painful looking shapes action.

All of the fights were good, but their were two stand outs to me: Stephen Tung fights a guy with a knife, and the knife guy is passing his knife from one hand to the other while seamlessly fighting, it was impressive. The other being the finale.

Overall, it is a good indie that I will probably revisit. Decent story, but I feel it could have been great if it built to the events in the second half, and put more mystery around them. The first half while not boring, felt pretty run of the mill outside of a few (too few) good fights. If the whole film was on par with the second half, it'd probably stand among the best independent films for me...but it wasn't.

[Secret Executioner]

Phantom Kung Fu (Taiwan, 1979), from the Flying Fists Of Kung Fu 12-movie set

It was a second watch, and it holds up fairly well. I think I enjoyed it even more than when I first watched it - considering I liked it alot already, I guess now it could be my favorite film off this set.

Some characters (Chang Yi, the Dragon Clan guy, the Mantis and Monkey brothers) are still as enjoyable (if not more) as I remembered them and some scenes were actually pretty nice to revisit as I didn't recall them, like the tavern fight between Chang Yi and the "Double dragon" guys or the creepy - yet pretty cool - finale in the graveyard. Oh, and I still think that opening theme is damn cool and that it MUST have been taken from some swashbuckler movie.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Godfrey Ho Worshipper- no complaints about the finale in Phantom Kung Fu? It seems like most people are disappointed. But I'm with you. Good ending to a good movie. It's a different kind of kf movie, but there's plenty of fierce fights to satisfy any fan. And I like that goofy dubbing, and double dragons. And Chang Yi at his very best, how can you go wrong?

[Secret Executioner]

Godfrey Ho Worshipper- no complaints about the finale in Phantom Kung Fu? It seems like most people are disappointed. But I'm with you. Good ending to a good movie. It's a different kind of kf movie, but there's plenty of fierce fights to satisfy any fan. And I like that goofy dubbing, and double dragons. And Chang Yi at his very best, how can you go wrong?

I guess people could be disappointed because of the amount of people from the rebel group that got killed just to get rid of Chang Yi or because of the weak twist concerning the "magic kung fu" that leads to a character "dying" several times.

But personally, I like the action (lots of great enjoyable fights), the soundtrack (that opening theme), the goofy dub (though you have the usual voice-types, they work pretty well and it gives the film a nice mood), the "Double Dragons" (formerly known as the "Five Dragons", until three of them died - and the leader is a riot, that guy sure likes to brag a lot), the two brothers (Drunken Monkey is hilarious and their poses during their fight with Chang Yi are pretty cool) and of course Chang Yi (with his voice that sounds like a Monty Python character, his peculiar wardrobe and his smoking technique)... So yeah, nothing really wrong with that movie.

And yeah, it's quite different than your usual kung fu movie. The supernatural/mystery element (with the ghosts and the "magic kung fu" that makes one impossible to kill) is a nice touch.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Yeah Chang Yi has it all in this movie! Extremely memorable. I like the mystery part too, which makes for the good ending. Sure it's not going to get your heart racing like most of the good kf finales, but it's still a good reveal/finale. I always like to see something different in this genre.