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

[DragonClaws]

I wonder if she was the same one who flashed the abbot in Ninja vs. the Shaolin Guard.

I cant recall that scene from Ninja VS The Shaolin Guard well enough to comment. I think a body double might have been used when she flashes her assets in Death Duel Of Kung Fu. You never see her face in the same shot. She has tattoo's in DDOKF on her chest and back. They may have been painted on for the role.

[stills]

Watched Thundering Mantis for the 1st time.

Thought it was pretty underwhelming. Beardy's fun.

Good musical score.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I cant recall that scene from Ninja VS The Shaolin Guard well enough to comment. I think a body double might have been used when she flashes her assets in Death Duel Of Kung Fu. You never see her face in the same shot. She has tattoo's in DDOKF on her chest and back. They may have been painted on for the role.

The same thing happens in Ninja vs. Guard. When the woman flashes her boobs, they cut to just her chest. If these women are doubled they do a damn good job of it.

[DragonClaws]

The same thing happens in Ninja vs. Guard. When the woman flashes her boobs, they cut to just her chest. If these women are doubled they do a damn good job of it.

I wonder if they pay boob doubles much money lol? might be a good hourly rate.

It might not have been a double, I'm assuming it was due to you not seeing the face. Hollywood does this lot with female leads, Tia Carrere was doubled for her nude scenes in Showdown In Little Toyko.

[DrNgor]

I was going to finish my Wong Tao weekend with Adventure for Imperial Treasure, but the copy on Youtube was too blocky to watch on my phone. So I went on a different adventure:

Adventure at Shaolin - Late 70s Taiwanese wuxia about a bunch of people trying to kill a white-haired kung fu master official diring the decadent days of the Song Dynasty. One of is Chang Sanfeng, the legendary founder of Tai chi. We also have some wandering swordsmen, a hunter and a family of rebels, including Polly Shang Kuan Ling Feng. The movie has too many characters and devotes too much time to the conflict between Shaolin and the villains. There needed to be more action, especially hand to hand, since the swordplay was often awkward. Polly also needed to have more fight time. Average film in the end.

[Tex Killer]

master with cracked fingers was the 1st JC flick I saw and one of the first kf movies I have seen. I was totally stunned right from the start as a 10 years old kid after seeing numerous chuck norris and ninja flicks, this stuff was on different level.

Recently I watched german release, was delighted to find english dub is there also in special features and it`s average picture quality only(chinese version is perfect) which adds nostalgy factor to maximum. While I would not anymore say it`s jackie chans best I still rate it extremely high.

[DrNgor]

master with cracked fingers was the 1st JC flick I saw and one of the first kf movies I have seen. I was totally stunned right from the start as a 10 years old kid after seeing numerous chuck norris and ninja flicks, this stuff was on different level.

Recently I watched german release, was delighted to find english dub is there also in special features and it`s average picture quality only(chinese version is perfect) which adds nostalgy factor to maximum. While I would not anymore say it`s jackie chans best I still rate it extremely high.

I'm curious as to how good the original version is compared to the Snake Fist Fighter edit. I watched this one the morning after watching New Fist of Fury and I thought it was way better.

[DragonClaws]

master with cracked fingers was the 1st JC flick I saw and one of the first kf movies I have seen. I was totally stunned right from the start as a 10 years old kid after seeing numerous chuck norris and ninja flicks, this stuff was on different level.

Recently I watched german release, was delighted to find english dub is there also in special features and it`s average picture quality only(chinese version is perfect) which adds nostalgy factor to maximum. While I would not anymore say it`s jackie chans best I still rate it extremely high.

I rented this one when I was just getting interested in Kung Fu films. Still haven't seen the original version without the added scenes. Its not a bad showcase for a young Jackie Chan, the fight he has at the docks on the boat I recall being pretty decent.

[DrNgor]

I rented this one when I was just getting interested in Kung Fu films. Still haven't seen the original version without the added scenes. Its not a bad showcase for a young Jackie Chan, the fight he has at the docks on the boat I recall being pretty decent.

I showed that fight to my brother-in-law back to back with his spear fights from Hand of Death and he preferred the former.

[Tex Killer]

I rented this one when I was just getting interested in Kung Fu films. Still haven't seen the original version without the added scenes. Its not a bad showcase for a young Jackie Chan, the fight he has at the docks on the boat I recall being pretty decent.

I sold my rarescope disc of original version few years ago, watched it once...It´s quite crap movie...

[DragonClaws]

I showed that fight to my brother-in-law back to back with his spear fights from Hand of Death and he preferred the former.

Hand Of Death holds a lot of nostalgia for me being the first Kung Fu film I purchased. There's some really good fight choreography on display in that one. The fight from Little Tiger From Canton is a good one.

I sold my rarescope disc of original version few years ago, watched it once...It´s quite crap movie...

It no masterpiece that's for sure, still curious to see it the original cut of the film.

[DragonClaws]

Iron Swallow (1978)

Directed By- Cheung Pooi-Shing

Starring- Judy Lee, Wong Tao, Ting Wa Chung, Wong Wing Sang.

Classic old school Kung Fu action with a cast of familiar faces from the 1970's Hong Kong cinema. The Iron Swallow (Judy Lee) is out to get revenge for some crimes that were committed in the past. She's hunting down those who were involved who are now old men. One of the old men has a son called Tu Lung (Wong Tao) and adaptive one called Ko Fang (Ting Wa Chung). The two son's set out to pursue Judy Lee in order to get justice for whats she's done. But not everything is what it appears to be.

I wont go into too much detail regarding the story, because it may spoil it for those have not watched this film. Iron Swallow is one of those rare Kung Fu movies that has a good story to back up the decent action. The film is far from perfect but its still stand out amongst the many independent films of the era. One of my few gripes is Wong Tao is a little under used and doesn't really come into the film until the last hour. Saying that he does put on the usual great performance and its a must see for fans of the star.

Ho Ming Hiu did a good job handling the fight choreography and there's some nice acrobatics on display. This is a film that does let the action take a back seat to the story sometimes. Fans expecting a non-stop fight fest should look else where.

There's a mysterious character in the film who wears a hat. I'm sure who the actor is who plays him?. He holds his own with the bigger names in the cast. Wong Wing Sang also puts on a good performance as the mysterious fortune teller.

Overall an enjoyable film that's worth watching if you are a fan of the cast involved.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

hkmdb says the guy with the hat is Lee Hoi Hing, the villain from Ninja the Final Duel. I'm not 100% sure on this but I'll take their word for it. I agree he holds his own with the other 4 top tier fighters. My only problem with Iron Swallow is that the final fight is disappointing, but I think that's only because the other fights are so amazing. This has to be Wong Wing Sang's best role. And the final fight isn't bad or anything. Good emotional impact, and Yee Yuen looks better fighting than he usually does.

[DrNgor]

hkmdb says the guy with the hat is Lee Hoi Hing, the villain from Ninja the Final Duel. I'm not 100% sure on this but I'll take their word for it. I agree he holds his own with the other 4 top tier fighters. My only problem with Iron Swallow is that the final fight is disappointing, but I think that's only because the other fights are so amazing. This has to be Wong Wing Sang's best role. And the final fight isn't bad or anything. Good emotional impact, and Yee Yuen looks better fighting than he usually does.

Lee Hoi Hing choreographed Promising Young Boy, which I reviewed the other day in the Modern Films thread. He also worked on the choreography for Five Fighters from Shaolin.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Lee Hoi Hing choreographed Promising Young Boy, which I reviewed the other day in the Modern Films thread. He also worked on the choreography for Five Fighters from Shaolin.

He was a good choreographer. It's just too bad he had to work on Iron Monkey 2. It looks like that movie ended his career.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Still playing catchup . mini-review:

A Fistful of Talons (1983: Sun Chung: Hong Kong)

One of the main reasons I had wanted to watch this was that Ric Meyers had named this one of his top 100 Kung Fu Movies. Now I am not the biggest Meyers fan but I had to watch it (it reminds me of when a relative, friend or foe states that they love a film that you have not seen and you use that as a reason to watch it.) It helps that it was directed by Sun Chung as I could not help thinking of Avenging Eagle when watching this.

One scene that I noticed was the crane shot early into the film (I am not sure it is used again) and it was done well. The cinematography and composition looks superb and is among the best looking of the independent HK films I have seen. Now the copy I have is faded and full-screen so I can imagine that this would look far better with a proper release.

The plot is basic, though interesting because it mentions, Sun Tzu (author of The Art of War), Sun Yat-sen and takes place during the Republic era of China. Here you have the Manchus (still being bad guys) trying to take back the country which makes a nice counter to all those Hans trying to take back the country in the Qing dynasty films.

I liked the Buddha set and I do wonder if that was used again in a film. Some of my favorite scenes involved this set. Billy Chong who has a short lived acting career as a precocious and capable martial artist who has to be bettered by a better sifu to be able to defeat the main bad guy (aka being a Jackie Chan clone, though his career and personality reminds me more of Conan Lee – weird coincidence that both Conan Lee and Billy Chong are in Aces Go Places V.) I liked Kung Fu Zombie, though I don’t think I’ve seen anything else he was in not counting Aces Go Places V.

I believe this was Whang In-shik’s last official Hong Kong appearance in film. I feel he was slightly underused, especially if you compare to his fighting in Dragon Lord the year before, in this as I thought some of the fight scenes could have been elongated. I liked the use of strategy at the end (nod to Sun Tzu) though. His side kick looks like it could kill Billy Chong if he wanted to.

I hope that was not a real eagle pulled apart by Nai Sin .

[DrNgor]

He was a good choreographer. It's just too bad he had to work on Iron Monkey 2. It looks like that movie ended his career.

And the thing is, a lot of the action in Iron Monkey 2 wasn't even that bad. The problem was more in the ramshackle plotting (at least for me) than anything else.

[DragonClaws]

I hope that was not a real eagle pulled apart by Nai Sin .

Greta review MOTOIP.

Good film, sadly I think it is a real eagle that Whang In Sik tears apart at the end.

hkmdb says the guy with the hat is Lee Hoi Hing, the villain from Ninja the Final Duel. I'm not 100% sure on this but I'll take their word for it. I agree he holds his own with the other 4 top tier fighters. My only problem with Iron Swallow is that the final fight is disappointing, but I think that's only because the other fights are so amazing. This has to be Wong Wing Sang's best role. And the final fight isn't bad or anything. Good emotional impact, and Yee Yuen looks better fighting than he usually does.

Thanks for that:smile:, I really liked his character. Loved how he randomly turns up at the start of the film to warn Judy Lee character about being in danger. He has some funny dialogue during the fight with Wong Tao too. The finale did feel a bit anti-climatic but its still pretty decent as you said.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

And the thing is, a lot of the action in Iron Monkey 2 wasn't even that bad. The problem was more in the ramshackle plotting (at least for me) than anything else.

Wow, I thought I was the only one who didn't completely hate the action in IM 2. I don't really like it, but there is some decent stuff in there. Billy Chow was pretty badass.

[DrNgor]

Wow, I thought I was the only one who didn't completely hate the action in IM 2. I don't really like it, but there is some decent stuff in there. Billy Chow was pretty badass.

The fight at the log yard (except for Donnie Yen somersaulting under the log), his rope-dart fight in the club, and the finale were pretty fun set pieces.

[One Armed Boxer]

I just got single disc Hollywood DVD of Secret Ninja Roaring Tiger some years ago. I bought Martial Monks Of Shaolin Temple around the same time which pretty much has the exact same cast. Cant recall what label that DVD was released on in the U.K?. There's a lot of films people here are reviewing Id love to re-watch but 90% of my collection is back at my parents house.

Yeah that's the same version I have. Both the single disc and the double-feature were released by Hollywood DVD in the UK, who released several cheapie kung-fu flicks around the start of the 00's (including another Korean flick called 'Blood of Dragon Peril').

Hong Kong Connection was the other label similar to Hollywood DVD, who released 'Martial Monks of Shaolin Temple'. How is that one by the way, any good in the context of comparing it to 'Secret Ninja, Roaring Tiger'?

Good film, sadly I think it is a real eagle that Whang In Sik tears apart at the end.

Yeah, fellow forum member KenHashibe was lucky enough to get to check this one out on the big screen at the New Beverly in LA back in November, and it sounds like it was definitely the real deal -

Now for the ending. First I’d like to say that the final fight is awesome and very exciting. The audience was in awe when the eagle started attacking Whang In-Shik, in particular, the scene when he was carried through the air. Then...the eagle gets ripped in half. It was strange, but on the big screen, I could see very small bits of flesh flying around. They were too small to have been seen on a TV and seeing it on the big screen was insane. I was expecting the audience to go crazier than they did, but most of the audience members just went “Ahhh!” until the end credits started playing.

Source - post #62 - http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22517&page=7

[DragonClaws]

Yeah that's the same version I have. Both the single disc and the double-feature were released by Hollywood DVD in the UK, who released several cheapie kung-fu flicks around the start of the 00's (including another Korean flick called 'Blood of Dragon Peril').

Hong Kong Connection was the other label similar to Hollywood DVD, who released 'Martial Monks of Shaolin Temple'. How is that one by the way, any good in the context of comparing it to 'Secret Ninja, Roaring Tiger'?

Yeah, fellow forum member KenHashibe was lucky enough to get to check this one out on the big screen at the New Beverly in LA back in November, and it sounds like it was definitely the real deal -

Source - post #62 - http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22517&page=7

Hollywod DVD released Leopard Fist Ninja, Blood Of The Dragon Peril, Secret Ninja Roaring Tiger & Revenge Of The Drunken Master. They released these all in a box set which I never bought. They also released four Godfrey Ho ninja films. I know they released a lot of independent American Martial Arts films such as Back In Action too.

Hong Kong Connection pretty much re-issued the old VPD U.K VHS collection on DVD. All their prints were sourced from old sometimes censored U.K VHS releases from the 80's. I used to see a lot of these, picked a few up over the the years.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I enjoyed Martial Monks, but only because it is so bad.

U.S. Catman 2- Boxer Blow aka Catman in Boxer's Blow-

The sequel to Catman in Lethal Track. I'm a huge fan of Lethal Track, and so I decided to try my luck with the sequel. But lightning did not strike twice. The movie is called Catman, but Catman's barely in it. His screen time amounts to about 5 minutes. The only reason this was made was to ripoff the fans of the first Catman:tinysmile_angry2_t:

[One Armed Boxer]

After DRAGON ON FIRE (THE DRAGON, THE HERO), MARTIAL MONKS was the next title I saw and remember with fondness

Nice timing, the guys over at cityonfire reviewed this one just yesterday! -

http://www.cityonfire.com/the-dragon-the-hero-aka-dragon-on-fire-1979-review/

[ThunderScore]

Nice review. Discovered both Dragon Lee and Chen Lau in this one. The Trans-Continental one-sheet with Dragon Lee (in the iconic pose) looking more like Jackie Chan makes me smile...

Trans-Continental also released the unbelievable Bruce Li title CALL ME DRAGON aka BRUCE LEE AGAINST SUPERMEN...