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

[DragonClaws]

I have always heard this, that David Chaing looked better than ever in "The Loot" and "The Challenger", but have seen niether. He did look pretty damn good in Shaolin Mantis though!

It's either this, or I find out just which of the 3 possible "Deadly Duo" movies is on this mill creek set next! I'm hoping it the one with Chan Wai Man and Chen Kuan Tai!

What is Crack Shadow Boxers? Was it bad and that is why your using it for comparison, or are you saying this guy is a reliable choreographer? Lol

Ive watched Deadly Duo from the Mill Creek set and it stars John Liu & Chan Sing. I dont recall seeing Chan Wai Man or Chuen Ken Tai in the film.

[DrNgor]

I have always heard this, that David Chaing looked better than ever in "The Loot" and "The Challenger", but have seen niether. He did look pretty damn good in Shaolin Mantis though!

It's either this, or I find out just which of the 3 possible "Deadly Duo" movies is on this mill creek set next! I'm hoping it the one with Chan Wai Man and Chen Kuan Tai!

What is Crack Shadow Boxers? Was it bad and that is why your using it for comparison, or are you saying this guy is a reliable choreographer? Lol

CRACK SHADOW BOXERS has a reputation of having choreography so slow it could put a person to sleep.

Said Mark Pollard:

Despite the few entertaining moments in CRACK SHADOW BOXERS, the lackluster story, humor too juvenile even by classic kung fu standards and sleep-inducing fight scenes lead the film to not only stumble but fall flat on its face. If your tastes in kung fu lean towards the absurd, you might still enjoy the film.

The DEADLY DUO is probably the same as THE TWO GREAT CAVALIERS with Angela Mao, Chen Sing, John Liu and Leung Kar-Yan. The final fight is really good. I haven't seen this one in years.

[paimeifist]

Ah, well even that Deadly Duo sounds interesting, as I have never seen an Angela Mao movie, and the rest of the cast is pretty solid...but now I have to track down this CKT/ Chan Wai Man collabo, that's about as badass and rough as it gets for classic stars!

Anyway, sounds like I'll be watching The Challenger next as well.

[QueMuchita]

'The Deadly Duo' movie in the pack is indeed 'Two Great Cavaliers' with Angela Mao & John Liu.

[stills]

Recently watched Ninja Heat (Chan Sing) & Champ VS Champ (Dragon Lee). Never thought Id hear Simon & Garthfunkel featured on a Kung Fu film soundtrack. The use of their song El Condor Pasa in the film City Ninja was a bit surreal. Entertaining flick in my opinion Chan Sing & Chan Wai Man were on top form as usual.

.

Is that the bicycle chase scene?

[DragonClaws]

Is that the bicycle chase scene?

There's no bicycle chase scene in the film that I can recall. There is a random slow motion running sequence on a beach with an Asian cover of the Simon & Garthfunkel song El Condor Pasa.

[stills]

It's awaken fist/ awaken punch.

It's got a van Morrison chase scene in it.

I have ninja heat as well. I knew it was familiar.

[DragonClaws]

It's awaken fist/ awaken punch.

It's got a van Morrison chase scene in it.

I have ninja heat as well. I knew it was familiar.

Never watched Awaken Fist/Punch but the chase scene with Van Morrison on the soundtrack has got me intrigued.

[paimeifist]

Never watched Awaken Fist/Punch but the chase scene with Van Morrison on the soundtrack has got me intrigued.

The movie actually had some solid basher choreo from the Yuens, and a decent dark story. Above average, worth a watch. The bicycle chase is hilarious at first, but it's longer than you think, and becomes annoying, haha.

[DragonClaws]

The movie actually had some solid basher choreo from the Yuens, and a decent dark story. Above average, worth a watch. The bicycle chase is hilarious at first, but it's longer than you think, and becomes annoying, haha.

Thanks for the heads up Paimeifist.

[Secret Executioner]

Dragon Fighter (1979)

AKA Duel Of Death, Struggle Through Death.

Starring- John Liu, Ma Chin Ku, Wie Ping Ao

Average Kung Fu flick Starring rubber legs John Liu. one of a few men to defeat Chuck Norris in open competition. Liu was a big star in Taiwan were he made this film and many others. A student of fellow actor Tan Tao Liang (The Hot The Cool The Vicious), he is known for his unique and impressive kicking skills.

The films basic plot revolves around a gold mine run by your usual moustache clad bad guy who loves supping tea. Liu is kidnapped and forced to work in the gold mine run by the villains. The conditions are so bad they simply kidnap people rather than advertise job vacancies in the local paper. Wie Ping Ao appears in the film, a well known Hong Kong character actor. Well known for his role as the Chinese translator in Fist Of Fury and the camp mafia man in Way Of The Dragon. Unlike his usual villainous role here he plays a good guy who helps his fellow workers.

Dragon Fighter is not anything special but slightly different to many of the films churned out at the time. We don't get to see the hero do his thing until an hour into the film, as he slowly learns his Heaven Legs technique. Once he’s mastered the style all hells breaks loose and he goes about kicking the spit out of everyone.

Oddly one of the cast members has been named Fuck Chueng which surely must be a joke?. The version I watched is called Dragon Fighter released on the Hollywood DVD label. It’s a poor full screen cropped print with some very bad audio in the finale. Had to laugh at the use of the Jason And The Argonauts soundtrack in certain scenes. One to watch for fans of 70s chop-sockey flicks and John Liu otherwise avoid it.

The "kidnapped people forced to work in a mine" plot sounded familiar, and I just remembered where I had seen it before: it was used in a Batman: The Animated Series episode where Batman goes undercover to investigate disappearing homeless men. Turns out they are kidnapped and sent in the desert to work in a mine with a fat disgusting boss that keeps eating all the time. A nice episode focused on the character's psyche as he has very little time as Batman and his kidnapping causes him to lose his memory.

Sorry for the off-the-topic.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Off topic away:smile: yeah that is a good episode. "My family! My family! My family!" That episode felt like a western.

I plan to watch Struggle soon. I've been meaning to get the Pagoda version for years and it's still at a good price. I didn't want to read your review until after I've seen the movie dragonclaws. I read a couple of lines and it sounds like a thumbs up. The part about John Liu not fighting until an hour in sounds interesting. I'm always looking for something different in kf movies these days. The standard teacher and student stories don't really do it for me anymore.

[QueMuchita]

I watched 'Killer Of Snake, Fox Of Shaolin', A supernatural martial arts movie staring Carter Wong. I didn't really enjoy this, all the supernatural stuff doesn't really work for me. I watched this last night and can't even remember if the action was good or not.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Haha yeah that's the sign of a dull movie when you watched it the night before and can't remember it. I didn't like it either. I thought the fighting was decent, but I'm not going to try and act like I remember the fights:tongue:

The Stomp- Jesus this one gets off to a fast start. Way too fast. It doesn't help that the Groundzero DVD uses an edited TV version. But when the opening credits finally come it slows down to a casual pace. This was better than I remember. Nothing too special but I enjoyed it. I'm a huge Doris Lung fan so it was nice to see her in a large role. She's the lead but it's more of an ensemble piece.

[QueMuchita]

Yeah, I was going to say Doris Lung was the best part of the movie. I can;t think of many other movies where she had such a big role.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I need to see more movies from the start of her career because she's the lead in Brave Girl Boxer in Shanghai from 1972 and she kicks major ass. Seems like she had an up and down career.

I liked the little kid in The Stomp. He reminded me of Wong Yat Lung from Sleeping Fist. A high skill level for such a young kid.

[QueMuchita]

I have 'Brave Girl Boxer in Shanghai' although I'm almost certain that I haven't seen it, I think I will watch that next.

The kid from 'The Stomp' was good, I think I may have seen him in something else but I can't remember what, he only ended up being in a handful of films I think.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I'll warn you you better have good eyesight to watch Girl Boxer. If you have a good version let me know I need to get one.

[QueMuchita]

I just checked, the quality is poor and the sub titles are barely legible. I might give that one a skip for now then.

A little off topic but do you guys prefer films from Seasonal/Ng See Yuen or Hong Hwa/Joseph Kuo?

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I like them both a lot but it's an easy choice for me. Seasonal. It's my favorite film company. Quality over quantity.

Actually I take that back. I was thinking Little Superman was Seasonal. I was going to use Little Superman to put Seasonal slightly ahead of Shaws and Golden Harvest in my mind. Yes, Little Superman is that important.

[QueMuchita]

It's really close for me, I can't really choose. If 'Invincible Armour' was Seasonal then that would make me choose them just slightly but I keep forgetting its not.

EDIT: Actually, I was just looking at a list and noticed 'Butterfly Murders' is Seasonal, thats could edge it for me.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I've always wanted to see The Butterfly Murders because the crazy guy who fights Adam Cheng in the beginning of The Sword is in it. Lau Siu Ming. I was impressed with his acting. How is he in Butterfly Murders? I think he's the lead.

[Cold Bishop]

It's not really a fair comparison. Ng See-Yuen really treated Seasonal as a film studio, essentially quitting making movies himself after '77. Joseph Kuo was Hong Hwa... Did anyone else even make movies for them?

If the question is Ng vs. Kuo, then I'm going with the latter: Ng's film clearly had more polish and made more of an attempt to challenge the majors, but Kuo instinctively understood the genre as sheer choreographical spectacle.

RE: Butterfly Murders - If I'm recalling correctly, Lau's character isn't even a martial-artist, but more of an "eyes of the audience" sort of character, standing witness to the wulin-intrigue surrounding him. Great movie, with a real jaw-dropping ending... but suffers what would prove to be a constant in Tsui's career: the nagging feeling that this film was worked around and condensed from a larger, longer and more cohesive movie.

[QueMuchita]

The Butterfly Murders is one of my all time favs, It just has a really eerie atmosphere to the whole film. I wouldn't say it is that impressive action wise but I just like the whole feel of the film. It's basically a creepy whodunit.

[QueMuchita]

It's not really a fair comparison. Ng See-Yuen really treated Seasonal as a film studio, essentially quitting making movies himself after '77. Joseph Kuo was Hong Hwa... Did anyone else even make movies for them?

If the question is Ng vs. Kuo, then I'm going with the latter: Ng's film clearly had more polish and made more of an attempt to challenge the majors, but Kuo instinctively understood the genre as sheer choreographical spectacle.

RE: Butterfly Murders - If I'm recalling correctly, Lau's character isn't even a martial-artist, but more of an "eyes of the audience" sort of character, standing witness to the wulin-intrigue surrounding him. Great movie, with a real jaw-dropping ending... but suffers what would prove to be a constant in Tsui's career: the nagging feeling that this film was worked around and condensed from a larger, longer and more cohesive movie.

I think only 2 or 3 movies from Hong Hwa were not directed by Joseph Kuo.