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

[paimeifist]

Sword of Justice

Cheap Taiwanese Wuxia flick, that also feels a lot like a samurai movie.. READ ON

A man (Lung San Long, The Star Sword) hunts down the members of a notorious group of assassins (The Hai Teng Killers) one by one. The plot sounds simple, and really it is. But the way it plays out is well done and has a twist or two. (I felt one was predictable, and one was pretty surprising )

The movie kicks off with a fantastic fight scene in the dark rain, setting the tone for the rest of the movie perfectly. From here on out it moves at a breakneck pace. The main character is your typical righteous lone-swordsman character, except he's a little more of a smart ass than most. (Which makes him more bad ass to me). Most of the assassins are all awesome, ironically the one I remember most(outside of the main baddie) was pretty minor in the grand scheme.. The man with a fan in the gazebo. He actually was pretty damn frightening and crazy, and there was a great chilling distance shot of him and his target in the Gazebo. The main villain completely loses it at the end and it is awesome.

It feels like a cross between an HK Wuxia flick and a Japanese "Chambara" samurai movie. This description fits both the setting, characters, and fighting of the movie.. Especially the fighting, some scenes have multiple moves per cut and some flashy swordplay(like a wuxia flick); While others feature more anticipation and tension followed by a swift kill.(like a chambara flick!). Many great (and again, chilling) death scenes as well.. People go down in a realistic, fast manner(mostly). Two that stand out are one guy falls into a well, and the camera stays on the well as the rope descends. Another aman quickly crashes down into a fence. On paper these things sound minor, especially given that it's an extremely low budget Tawanese movie.. But they really are execute great, making them memorable scenes, and addi to that fantastic overall feel of the movie. The choreography is good but nothing special. The best fights again, are mainly made by the dark vibe rather than the action itself. The final fight is pretty flashy and even has some acrobatics thrown in.

The atmosphere and vibe of this movie is what I like most about it. It is very lonely, dark and gritty, and there isn't a single light hearted moment. There are no extras, anyone seen plays a part in either the story or the fighting, adding to the great atmosphere. The low budget worked in it's favor in this aspect Im sure. Bland sets, locations, a fitting soundtrack, and the use of fog and rain create a constant eerie feeling.. Top that off with some downright psychotic characters! The dub is fantastic, and has some of the best one-liners ever. "I don't like friends that are living, only enemies that are dead!"

The PQ was terrible on the release I saw.. Strangely, again, due to how damn gritty and dark the movie is, the gritty and dark PQ made it even better to me! Anyway, I love this movie. I try to include some negatives, but there really aren't any here for me. Yeah the usual genre stuff (less than stellar story, and acting) but A. I can easily overlook that in favor of it's strengths, and B. Even those things are pretty solid for a cheap independant film from a bunch of people I've never heard of.

Any fan of dark wuxia flicks needs to see this.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Nice review! No joking around in this movie:xd:

[DragonClaws]

Shaolin Temple: starring Fu Sheng, Lam Kwang Jung, Chia Ling. (1976)

Put this one on late last night after a few beers. To be honest my memory of the films details are a little bit hazy. A lot of the cast members are pretty new to me also.

This film comes as part of the 100-movie MillCreek Martial Arts boxset. The plot synopsis they give you is not completely true to the film itself. Most of the action is swordplay based with some Kung Fu action thrown in. The last 30-mins or so is pretty much one long action sequence.

A young mans family is killed and he flees his palace. Only he gets hit by a poison dart and must seek the cure at the shaolin temple. He's too weak to do this and one of the female fighters he joins up with goes to the temple instead.

One of them arrives at the temple which appears to be just a pogoda. She must fight her way up the pogoda game of death style to retrieve the antidote. It appears to be the same pogoda used in Goodbye Bruce Lee His Last Game Of Death. Each level is guarded by a shaolin monk with there own unique skills/strengths. They could have called this one The Shaolin Game Of Death.

By no means a classic of the genre its worth watching once if you get the chance. The full screen print did not help this either so I cant be too critical of the choreography which looked average. Id like to see the film a second time and sober before making my final judgments on this one.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Shaolin Red Master- I revisited this after hearing Chi Kuan Chun say it's his favorite movie that he was in. My feelings are still the same. OK movie with a few great fight scenes, ruined by the full screen presentation.

[paimeifist]

I haven't yet seen why Chi Kuan Chun is highly regarded...the guy is completely mediocre to me.

The Cavalier

Decent Joseph Kuo flick, but not one of his best. A granddad wants his granddaughter(Doris Lung) to get married, so they have a contest to find the husband. Whoever can beat her in a fight, will become her husband. Among the "contestants" were a fat guy(Cheng Fu Hung, isn't it always?), and a midget..so it was kind of a funny scene. Anyway, the "winner" is a Ming rebel who fights her on accident due to being tricked by his brother. The two rebels are on the run, from both the Qings, as well as the girl and her grandfather.(who just want him to marry her).

So there's the story, it's decent but not great. The girl chasing them is the main focus of the story, so it's a little weird when they finally go to assassinate the Qing official(Lo Lieh)they're after, as it becomes all epic. Tons of people, slow motion, etc.

Overall It's kind of funny, and the fighting is solid but nothing special throughout. The finale between the two leads, Doris Lung, her grandfather and Lo Lieh (who goes kinda psycho) is pretty cool. There's also a hilarious camp moment where Lo Lieh bites a mans thumb off and spits it out into his neck, killing him. I'm not familiar with many in this movie, outside of Lo Lieh and Doris Lung. I recognized David Tong (one of the leads) face, but am not sure from where.

Above-average indie, worth a watch, the review on the main page is a little harsh imo.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I'm not a big fan of CKC in the Shaw movies but I think he excels in indies like Roving Heroes and Cottonmill. Both very good-great flicks.

[DragonClaws]

Shaolin Red Master- I revisited this after hearing Chi Kuan Chun say it's his favorite movie that he was in. My feelings are still the same. OK movie with a few great fight scenes, ruined by the full screen presentation.

Its some years since I watched this one. I own the old Eastern Heroes DVD and cant recall the aspect ratio but remember enjoying the movie.

[paimeifist]

Well Shaws are about all I have seen of CKC, and usually alongside another actor who I generally am not high on in Fu Sheng.. With that said, I am no Fu Sheng hater, I like him in some movies (Avenging Eagle, Marco Polo).

I'll have to check out some of the indies CKC is in. I believe he is in some of the movies in the mill creek sets I have.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I like Chi Kuan Chun in Shaw movies, but he's not on the level of great fighters like Chen Kuan Tai. But if you look at all their fights in indies, I think CKC may have surpassed CKT.

[paimeifist]

It isn't that I don't like him in Shaws, as much as he doesn't leave an impression to me.

Shaolin Invincible Guys

This movie is much better than it's goofy generic name would indicate. Indie starring (and directed by) Raymond Lui and Chi Kuan Chun. The story, plot, and acting are all really good for an independant kung fu movie(and something a little different). There isn't much action in the middle of it, but you care enough about the characters to where that doesn't matter. Unfortunately, the ending is pretty weak in typical kung fu fashion, as good as the plot leading up to it is.

The fights in this movie are very good, and Chi Kuan Chun stands out. Very good shapes (but not the fancy kind), the skirmishes between CKC and Raymond Lui in particular were great. I don't recognize Raymond Lui, but he seems to be a solid screen fighter with decent kicking ability. There is a great scrap between CKC and the main baddie at the end as well. (Man Kong Lung?)

I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. Good plot, good fighting, can't ask for too much more.

This is the first indie with CKC I've seen, and I am already liking him more. This doesn't even seem to be one of the highly regarded ones, so I am definitely interested in exploring this part of his career more. I'll have to pay more attention to him in the Shaws as well, maybe he was just outshined by the other stars? (As most of what I've seen him in is in ensemble casts)

This was the last film on disc 1(I have bounced around a bit) of a 50 movie set. Just for fun, I'll rank the movies on that disc. (Going only by which I enjoyed most on one viewing.)

1. Shaolin Dynamite Heros (two of my favorite actors...)

2. Shaolin Invincible Guys (probably truly the "best" of the bunch)

3. The Cavalier

4. 18 Swirling Riders (the only dud)

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Taking a look at hkmdb it looks like the villain is Shut Chung Tin, but I don't remember too much about this movie even though I watched it within the last year. I need to revisit it. I don't remember it being bad, but not all that good either. At the moment I have no opinion on it:tongue:

Man Kong Lung is the fire bomb guy who loses some digits in Master and the Kid. And in 18 Riders he has that great scene at the end where the kid is holding up his dead body to scare Chen Sing.

Edit- yeah, I don't remember this movie too well. But it's coming back to me a little bit now that I realize Man Kong Lung is the villain. I remember him fighting now and being a little disappointed that they didn't have one of genres top villains like Phillip Ko or HJL. But it's just a minor gripe. I like Man Kong Lung. Hkmdb threw me off when I posted earlier. I am always checking things real quick when I'm at work, and hkmdb now lists him under the name Wen Chiang Long.

[paimeifist]

Yeah, I agree they could've used a stronger villain although he wasn't bad. That's why when CKC and Raymond Lui fought it was the highlight, they seem to be more talented fighters than everyone else here.

It isn't a great movie, but it does everything pretty good, while having a pretty nice story.

A great scene in 18 Riders? Maybe I need to give that another chance, haha.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

18 Riders is a tough one to sit through. But I do love that dead Man Kong Lung scene. And the final fight is exciting.

[Secret Executioner]

On CKC in indies: I just realized I've had Roving Heroes for some time now, remember it as a rather disappoiting movie (saw it a couple of years ago). Perhaps I should revisit this one. ²

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Roving Heroes is one of the better kf comedies, with killer choreography. Extremely shape heavy.

I remember once I stated that I saw Robert Tai in one of the fight scenes. But after seeing it so many times I can confirm it's not him. This movie was a bit much for me to take it all in the first time I saw it:tongue:

[DrNgor]

Stranger and the Gunfighter - Early 70s blend of chopsockey and Spaghetti Western directed by Anthony Dawson and starring Lee Van Cleef and Lo Lieh (the star of Five Fingers of Death, which started the kung fu craze in the USA). A kung fu expert teams up with a crook to find a treasure whose map has been tattooed on the bottoms of various lovely women (as Keith Allison put it: "To find the booty, you must find the booty."). The kung fu is limited to some fights early on and then a stand-off with a large Indian feller at the end. The rest of the film makes up for it with its quirky characters, including a psychotic preacher villain who carries an entire church around on a wagon.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Yeah that one is a lot of fun. Not great or anything, like you say, but it's the best kf/western I've seen.

[DrNgor]

You like it more than Sun Dragon, Shanghai Joe and OUATICAA?

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I had to think a bit about Sun Dragon, but yeah, I'd say it's better those 3. I've recently got into spaghetti westerns, even joined the spaghetti western forum, and I think it's a good entry into the genre. Even back when I saw it years ago and I hated westerns, I thought it was very odd, but fun. It's a movie about women's asses after all.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Rewatched Roving Heroes. This movie is shape heaven. Too bad the villain Suen Shun Pao didn't get a lot of big roles. He can match shapes with anybody. Better known as the big axe guy from Golden Arm, he also has a fight in Butterfly 18 where he shows his supreme skill.

[Killer Meteor]

Am currently watching Revenge of the Dragon, which is the Chen Sing basher Tough Guy. Spent ages trying to find the tape of this, little realizing it was on DVD under a different title. So confusing!

[Morgoth Bauglir]

And just to confuse people even more the DVD of Revenge of the Dragon I have has a picture of My 12 Kung Fu Kicks on the cover.

[DragonClaws]

Revenge Of The Dragon/Tough Guy was released in the U.K as Kung Fu The Headcrusher in cinemas. I had this on VHS, it came free with the old Eastern Heroes video magazine vol.1. Volume 2 came with Police Woman, the one were Jackie Chan is seen sporting a huge hairy mole on his face.

Kung Fu The Headcrusher final fight a.k.a Revenge Of The Dragon, Tough Guy (Widescreen)

Link-

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Tough Guy was the first kung fu movie I saw. Good movie. Do you know if I can buy the widescreen version anywhere?

[DragonClaws]

Tough Guy was the first kung fu movie I saw. Good movie. Do you know if I can buy the widescreen version anywhere?

Sorry Morgoth Bauglir I don't know of any widescreen release for this one:sad:. The U.K version was heavily censored for the Theatrical release & the full screen VHS release I have is sourced from that.