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

[AlbertV]

The Mar's Villa starring John Liu, Stephen Tung Wai, Chai Kai, and Philip Ko.

Review is up on the main site.

[paimeifist]

Shaolin Wooden Men

Blind bought this on the cheap yesterday in a two movie set along with "To Kill with Intrigue".

Decent classic Jackie flick. The first half of it is pretty hit or miss, but the latter half is good with some above-average fighting. The story was simple, there were some really nice location shots in a dense forest. Kam Kong was really bad ass in this, although it would have been nice if he got to fight a little more. Overall a decent movie.

[Secret Executioner]

Shaolin Wooden Men

Blind bought this on the cheap yesterday in a two movie set along with "To Kill with Intrigue".

Decent classic Jackie flick. The first half of it is pretty hit or miss, but the latter half is good with some above-average fighting. The story was simple, there were some really nice location shots in a dense forest. Kam Kong was really bad ass in this, although it would have been nice if he got to fight a little more. Overall a decent movie.

Got this one on a pack with Snake And Crane Arts Of Shaolin and Spiritual Kung Fu, but I still have to watch it. From what I read though, it seems on par with these two.

[paimeifist]

The Ming Patriots

This was a pleasant surprise. A pretty solid cast including Bruce Li, Chang Yi, Chan Wai Man, Lung Fei and a cameo from Carter Wong. Simple plot, a ming princess and an elder are trying to deliver the emperors will and some jewelry, while avoiding the Chings who want them dead as well as the goods. Bruce Li is a retired escort who helps them reach their destination. The acting was actually decent for a low budget indie flick, which helped the generic plot. I also liked the dub in this one, no hilarious quotable a really, but some cursing and emotion! Lol

The action was above-average for the most part, with the Lau brothers as the action directors and a talented enough cast. Bruce Li was solid throughout, particularly in some exchanges with Chan Wai Man. Chang Yi was really cool as the white haired villain in both fighting and character, but sadly there wasn't enough of him. Chia Ling was pretty impressive in this, she showed some good kicks. Carter Wongs cameo at the beginning was one of the best parts as a rampaging patriot. He pummels a bunch of people before going down in a heroic way, I believe Jack Long was among those he pummeled! There was a really cool tracking shot that follows Carter Wong as he fights his way down a path next to a town wall.

The ending was a bit of a let down as I wish Chang Yi would have had more time as his character seemed cool. The film also gets the extremely epic feel right at the end, which was also a little strange. So it's an above average indie with some pretty good fights and a good cast. It's nice to see Bruce Li in a non-clone period film.

The Wu Tang dvd I have of this played two seperately trailers for the movie before starting the actual movie. It was a little confusing, but one of the trailers was really cool. Typical old exploitation trailer!

[DragonClaws]

Shaolin Wooden Men

Blind bought this on the cheap yesterday in a two movie set along with "To Kill with Intrigue".

Decent classic Jackie flick. The first half of it is pretty hit or miss, but the latter half is good with some above-average fighting. The story was simple, there were some really nice location shots in a dense forest. Kam Kong was really bad ass in this, although it would have been nice if he got to fight a little more. Overall a decent movie.

To Kill With Intrigue is the only JC/Lo Wei collaboration I'm not a fan off. The rest I enjoyed enough to buy on video. Ive been meaning to buy them again on DVD for a long time. The print I of SWM I had was one of the worst quality prints of a Kung Fu film Ive sat through. The film had an orange/yellow tint and was cropped really badly.

Interesting facts regarding Bruce K.L Lea Albert.

Nice review of the Ming Patriots Paimeifist, can anyone recommend a DVD release of this one?.

[paimeifist]

Well the R1 print that I got is clear in picture and sound! I will probably watch to Kill with Intrigue soon, although it seems not many like it! Shaolin Wooden Men was ok to me, worth a watch. Out of the couple movies I watched recently, I liked the Ming Patriots more.

http://www.amazon.com/Jackie-Chan-Beginnings-Shaolin-Intrigue/dp/B00BNADY8Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424021305&sr=8-1&keywords=shaolin+wooden+men

[Secret Executioner]

Been hesitating before buying To Kill With Intrigue, but as I have never come across that one again since then, I'm kinda glad I picked it up - even if it seems to be one of the worst Lo Wei/Jackie Chan films.

[DragonClaws]

The best release of SWM released in the U.K was the HKL Ultra-Bit DVD. Id stopped buying Asian films for bit around the time HKL released Jackie's earlier films. Now they've gone up a lot in price since Ive started collecting again.

[DragonClaws]

Been hesitating before buying To Kill With Intrigue, but as I have never come across that one again since then, I'm kinda glad I picked it up - even if it seems to be one of the worst Lo Wei/Jackie Chan films.

You might enjoy it GHW, I just didn't like it as much as the others. Some of his Lo Wei directed films are guilty pleasures of mine. To Kill With Intrigue is worth watching just to see Chan play a villain and act opposite Jimmy Wang Yu.

[DrNgor]

To Kill With Intrigue is worth watching just to see Chan play a villain and act opposite Jimmy Wang Yu.

Don't you mean KILLER METEORS?

Killer of Snakes, Fox of Shaolin - Cheap supernatural kung fu melodrama about a love triangle between a wandering fighter (Carter Wong), a male Snake demon, and a female Fox spirit. The fights aren't very good. Too often they're metrical, too step-by-step in their execution. Carter Wong looks ungainly and awkward here. The snake style on display is rote and uninteresting. Not Worth your time.

[Tex Killer]

I propably have not seen this since VHS era and gave it a shot yesterday. Barn fight and soccer match are very good, most of the rest turned out to be bit meh with some humour actually funny and lot irrating stuff...

[DragonClaws]

Don't you mean KILLER METEORS?

Killer of Snakes, Fox of Shaolin - Cheap supernatural kung fu melodrama about a love triangle between a wandering fighter (Carter Wong), a male Snake demon, and a female Fox spirit. The fights aren't very good. Too often they're metrical, too step-by-step in their execution. Carter Wong looks ungainly and awkward here. The snake style on display is rote and uninteresting. Not Worth your time.

I did mean Killer Meteors DrNgor, always get those two mixed up. Ive seen most of the JC/Lo Wei films more than a few times with the exception of KM & TKWI.

[DragonClaws]

The Godfather Squad

(1974)

Directed By- M.Cardinal

Starring- Siu Lung Leung, Shirley Corrigan, Yasuaki Kurata, Gordon Mitchell

Classic slice of 1970's Hong Kong grind house cinema with super kicker Siu Lung Leung. Better known in the West as Bruce Liang thanks to U.S distributors altering his name. While this film falls into the low budget HK cinema category it is not a little dragon exploitation film. With the exception of the first ten minutes the entire film is shot in Italy using some great locations in Rome. Unlike Bruce Lee's Way Of The Dragon where they filmed without permission in Rome. Here they clearly got permits with some well shot action sequences.

Leung plays a Kung Fu movie star who after saving someone from gangsters, gets a hit put out on him. The mafia men consist of a bunch of Italians and Yasuaki Kurata. The mobsters fool Lueng into appearing in a fictional film shot in Italy. For the rest of the picture he’s dodging assignation attempts from everywhere. Even when he goes for a medical check up the Doctor try’s to electrocute him.

Despite a lot of flaws this film stands above a lot of the other Hong Kong independents from the 70s. The film does appear to be a collaboration between a HK and Italian film company. You can see the western influence on the cinematography and production values. The Italian actors out number the Chinese ones. Yasuaki Kurata and Leung are the only Asians with big parts in the film. Kurata could have had more screen time in terms of fighting. Still he does a good job as the brooding Japanese villain who goes one on one with Leung in the finale. Their fight is one of the many highlights of the film with a Rome making a superb backdrop to the high kicking action.

Certainly worth tracking down if you like 70s Hong Kong Martial Arts flicks. Plenty of plot holes and bad acting but this is what you expect from a film of this style. Siu Lung Leung really deserves a lot more praise for his spectacular Martial Arts skills. He was trained in the Peking Opera like many of the 70's HK performers.

Before seeing this film Id only caught him in Magnificent Bodyguards & Four Shaolin Challengers. His skills stood out in those films but you get a far better idea of his abilities in Godfather Squad. Sadly as he began to gain fame and attention the communist government banned his films in China. This put him out of work for over two decades. Only to return in his only role as a villain in the Stephen Chow movie Kung Fu Hustle.

[AlbertV]

Woman Avenger starring Ha Kwong-Li and Peng Kang. Will have review up later today.

[DrNgor]

Sadly as he began to gain fame and attention the communist government banned his films in China. This put him out of work for over two decades. Only to return in his only role as a villain in the Stephen Chow movie Kung Fu Hustle.

Actually, I think it was sort of the opposite: His relationship with the Mainland got the others pissed at him:

HKCinemagic : In the late 1980s, you disappeared from the industry. It is said it was because you were banned from the Taiwanese market. How did that happen?

Bruce Leung : In 1983, I did a TV series which had some success in mainland. And at that time, I was a member of the Liberty Association based in Taiwan and, because of that, I was not supposed to have any relation with the Chinese mainland. I got an invitation from the cultural department in China and they knew I could not go there so we had discussions and agreed I would come secretly. Finally, it was known and that's how I got banned from Taiwan .

HKCinemagic : So, it really had a huge impact on your career?

Bruce Leung : Death penalty.

[DrNgor]

I did mean Killer Meteors DrNgor, always get those two mixed up. Ive seen most of the JC/Lo Wei films more than a few times with the exception of KM & TKWI.

Sorry being so pedantic.

[DragonClaws]

Actually, I think it was sort of the opposite: His relationship with the Mainland got the others pissed at him:

I was not aware of this information DrNgor, thanks for sharing.

[DragonClaws]

Sorry being so pedantic.

Its ok, I can be that way myself. My Kung Fu film knowledge is not as sharp as it used to be.

[paimeifist]

Legend of a Fighter

About time I got around to this one.. It is all it's made out to be. Fantastic movie, with a good story, good acting and cast, and fantastic fighting. Probably the best performance both fighting and acting I've seen from Kurata, and I love the chemistry early on between him, Yat-Choh, and Phillip Ko(who also put on a fantastic acting performance). The second half is pretty much the Beardy show, but the finale is awesome in the fighting and that it has some emotional weight to it. There is some signature Yuen slapstick and comedy, but it takes a backseat to the more emotional part of the film overall.

I watched it in halves and was preoccupied so I definitely need to watch it again, but still, it's a fantastic film.

[DragonClaws]

Legend of a Fighter

About time I got around to this one.. It is all it's made out to be. Fantastic movie, with a good story, good acting and cast, and fantastic fighting. Probably the best performance both fighting and acting I've seen from Kurata, and I love the chemistry early on between him, Yat-Choh, and Phillip Ko(who also put on a fantastic acting performance). The second half is pretty much the Beardy show, but the finale is awesome in the fighting and that it has some emotional weight to it. There is some signature Yuen slapstick and comedy, but it takes a backseat to the more emotional part of the film overall.

I watched it in halves and was preoccupied so I definitely need to watch it again, but still, it's a fantastic film.

It's a great film paimefist:smile:. this was the first Asian film I watched on DVD.

The original trailer features snippets of a fight that got cut out of the film. I cant recall what the fight is like as it so long since Ive watched the film or the trailer. The trailer appeared on the old HKL DVD release from 2001. If my memory serves me right he fought some western boxer in the deleted scene?.

[stills]

7 steps of kung fu

[DrNgor]

7 steps of kung fu

Excellent film, isn't it?

The Pier (1984) - Awful, inept, directionless film about a rivalry between two crime bosses (played by Philip Ko Fei and Tien Feng) who specialize in prostitution and human trafficking. Norman Tsui Siu-Keung plays a adulterous lout who Works for the newspaper that's a front for Tien Feng's activities, who comes into possession of a recording of a conversation between Tien Feng and a Thai "supplier". Leung Kar-Yan(Sporting only a mustache) plays a bumbling cop who's trying to solve the case, or something. Johnny Wang Lung-Wei shows up as a mob enforcer. The movie just goes nowhere for most of its 75-minute running time. It's more than 40 minutes into the film before there are any meaningful fights. Norman (or his double) is quick and acrobatic, and Leung Kar-Yan does some faux-Muay Thai in the finale against Philip Ko. The rest is chaotic Triad machete-wielding and hacking. The film is set in the 20s, probably in order to cash in on Project A's success, especially if you consider that one of the set pieces features a bicycle chase.

[stills]

Damn good. That was my 1st viewing of 7 steps.

Lung fei & chai Kai have a great scene together.

Chen Shan plays chen shan

[paimeifist]

Ngor you owe it to yourself to watch a good movie, lol.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

It's a great film paimefist:smile:. this was the first Asian film I watched on DVD.

The original trailer features snippets of a fight that got cut out of the film. I cant recall what the fight is like as it so long since Ive watched the film or the trailer. The trailer appeared on the old HKL DVD release from 2001. If my memory serves me right he fought some western boxer in the deleted scene?.

That fight in the trailer is Chinese sword vs fencing. The fencer gets a couple seconds of screen time after Beardy KO's the boxer. I'm sure Yuen Woo Ping had his reasons but I'd like to know why it was cut.

I'm glad you got to see it paimeifist. It's my favorite movie followed by Snatch, Killer Constable, Terminator 2 and Chinese Super Ninjas.