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

[ShawAngela]

Fantasy mission force.

 

Except for the ending which is full of blood and deaths, what a laugh this movie is !! 

 

Jackie Chan's scenes are as funny as in his kung fu comedies and all the fights are good. The two Scottish are also funny and for once, Suen Yuet doesn't have a villain's role.

 

Wang Yu is equal to himself and the twist at the end leads to a good fight with Jackie Chan.

 

Funny and entertaining though there are often non sensical scenes...

[AlbertV]

Force: Five (Robert Clouse, 1981) - a loose remake of Hot Potato with elements of Enter the Dragon thrown in, starring Joe Lewis, Grandmaster Bong Soo Han, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, Richard Norton, and Sonny Barnes. 

 

https://worldfilmgeek.wordpress.com/2015/12/21/review-force-five-1981/

 

[Secret Executioner]

I know I am digging up an old post (via One Armed Boxer's link), but I think it depends on what you consider Chansploitation. I bet you've seen a few Snake in the Eagles Shadow/Drunken Master rip offs, which I'd consider "Chansploitation", haha!

 

You mean like Tai Chi Shadow Boxing, where two guys that look somewhat like Bruce and Jackie (with one credited as Jacky Chen) are trained by an old drunk ?   

 

Edited December 22, 2015 by Secret Executioner

[paimeifist]

Lol! Yes, something like that!

 

Man, I think I have this on one of the mill creek sets.. MAYBE ANOTHER CANDIDATE FOR A REVIEW THIS MONTH?!?!

 

 

:-D

 

 

[Secret Executioner]

It's on the Flying Fists of Kung Fu 12-movie pack, so yeah it's highly possible you have it on a Mill Creek pack.  

[AlbertV]

I found a Xenon VHS copy of Tai Chi Shadow Boxing at the public library bookstore...only cost $0.20 LOL

[paimeifist]

Secret Rivals

 

The first time I watched this, I wasn't familiar with most of the actors and was more of a noob to the genre than I am now. Fast forward a few years, and I revisited it. Man what a damn movie. The plot and acting is simple and nothing great, but this ones all about the fights. It's a straight kick fest, and it excels in that regard. What the fights lack in fancy choreography, they make up for with extremely intense and furious looking fights, playing directly to Don Wong Tao's biggest strength as a screen fighter IMO. Every fight throughout is good, and they steadily get better as the film goes on. All involved do great, but Don Wong steals the show. The choreography was seemingly made for his signature explosiveness, and he puts on a great job with both his hand and feet. Other things of note are the fantastic soundtrack (that theme song makes me want to go spar), and beautiful/unique locations.

 

Very glad I revisited this one.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Love the scene in Secret Rivals where Hwang gives a kicking display for the prince.  Sshhh.

[paimeifist]

The repeat roundhouses in that scene all look like they could decapitate any sorry fool who were on the receiving end. Some serious leverage in those bad boys!

[DragonClaws]

Secret Rivals

 

The first time I watched this, I wasn't familiar with most of the actors and was more of a noob to the genre than I am now. Fast forward a few years, and I revisited it. Man what a damn movie. The plot and acting is simple and nothing great, but this ones all about the fights. It's a straight kick fest, and it excels in that regard. What the fights lack in fancy choreography, they make up for with extremely intense and furious looking fights, playing directly to Don Wong Tao's biggest strength as a screen fighter IMO. Every fight throughout is good, and they steadily get better as the film goes on. All involved do great, but Don Wong steals the show. The choreography was seemingly made for his signature explosiveness, and he puts on a great job with both his hand and feet. Other things of note are the fantastic soundtrack (that theme song makes me want to go spar), and beautiful/unique locations.

 

Very glad I revisited this one.

Its a classic, enjoyed reading your comments paimiefist. I watched this and the sequel close together and there films that remind me why I got into this genre. Isn't there a third movie that's loosely connected to the first two?.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Yeah DC it's another northern kicks and southern fists movie. Actually that's the title of the movie.   It's a must see shapefest. 

[DrNgor]

Yeah DC it's another northern kicks and southern fists movie. Actually that's the title of the movie.   It's a must see shapefest. 

That's the one with Alexander Lo Rei in the "Fists" role, right? Robert Tai did the choreography for that one.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

I've been working for hours to get the exact right conversion of The Deadly Breaking Sword onto my new Mac. Something which might drive others nuts but not me. Think I've broken my own record for how many times I've watched this film's opening fight in one day. 

 

So in between that I watched a little movie called Project A II ... the double head butt during the gangster's den scene was hilarious, some of those stunts looked ridiculously painful - as in real life ouch. A pretty decent film that I can't wax on too much since the politics and such are far beyond my grasp. It was a fun Jackie Chan film and even more fun to see these guys temporarily get one up on JC. If only for a moment. That couch flip though...

 

With all the Leung Kar Yan talking in the December Mutual reviews thread, I dug Hong Kong Godfather and Profile in Anger out of my pile. I only watched those once each as I tend to prefer LKY in period movies. I might watch one of them shortly...real Christmas eve viewing right?

[paimeifist]

Secret Rivals 2

 

I have to say I find Secret Rivals 1 to be a better movie in general. While neither has much of a story, Secret Rivals had decent characterization in my mind, while part 2 basically had none. Hwang Jang Lee and even more so John Liu put on a better fighting performance in part 2 in my opinion, but I found the more hard hitting choreography of the first film to be more to my liking. It may be strange to say two of the stars put on better performances, but the fights were still better in the first one, but that's how I see it! I could see how some may like the more intricate(and varied) choreo style used in SR 2 though. I also think the presence of Don Wong Tao (the standout performer of SR1 imo) is sorely missed here, while Tino Wong does a fair enough job, he doesn't nearly fill those shoes. With all that said, I still really enjoyed Secret Rivals 2, but wouldn't call it great, at least not next to its predecessor. The finale was better in Secret Rivals 2, and as I said before, Hwang Jang Lee and especially John Liu put on better fighting performances, but that's about all its got going for it in comparison to the first one.

 

Still an awesome movie, and really a must see for Hwang/John Liu or kicking fans; and if anyone on this board isn't a kicking fan you're on the wrong website!

 

[Morgoth Bauglir]

That's the one with Alexander Lo Rei in the "Fists" role, right? Robert Tai did the choreography for that one.

 

That's right.  Robert Tai plays the villain.  But it Is Chin Lung who steals the show in this one.  I think of it as a a Secret Rivals movie since it's a fists vs feet movie with a villain who is good against both styles.  And John Liu plays pretty much the same character that he did in SR 1 and 2. 

Edited December 27, 2015 by Morgoth Bauglir

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Death Ring (1984)  Forgive my crank, but this is hardly classic.   The usual descendants take revenge for their ancestors. Chen Kuan Tai was wasted here, although Ti Lung provided some much needed comic relief as what I can only describe as early 1980s Thai Pimp Exortionist who gets in the middle of the kid who murdered Chang Sing's son over a girl.   All I can say is, it was fun to see Ti deploy some Lu Feng choreography and even more fun to see Lu bust out in the finale. I will say the choreography was much stronger earlier in the film. And I have the same problem with this movie as I do any movie with the post Venoms besides the Five Elements Ninjas bunch, the new young actors have absolutely zilch charisma and are painfully hard to sit through. So I was delighted to see Lu Feng pop up every so often and in the final fight. 

 

In hindsight though, I wish this film was about Ti Lung's Pimp Extortionist who is so proper he has to remove the cape and bust out black gloves in order to fight. 

 

And while I haven't seen Duel of the Fists yet (in a few minutes actually. My reward for updating my new Mac's RAM.... ahem...) I feel like Chang Cheh tried to make this some kind of spiritual successor to Duel of the Fists and The Angry Guest.

 

In terms of mid 80s Chang Cheh, Death Ring is completely skippable. Save your $ for Shanghai 13. 

Edited December 27, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi

[DragonClaws]

Yeah DC it's another northern kicks and southern fists movie. Actually that's the title of the movie.   It's a must see shapefest. 

Thanks dude, I trust your opinion Morgoth and I'll get round to seeing it one day. Since joining this forum Ive gone from having a list of MA films to seek out, to a whole books worth of titles to track down.

[paimeifist]

Duel to the Death

 

What a movie... The plot was intriguing enough, if a little uninspired and at times predictable. It had enough intrigue to keep your attention, and the acting was on point. Norman Chu put on the best acting performance I have seen from him, and he is generally one of the better actors of the genre... So that is saying something. The rest of the cast did a decent job as well. The generally stunning cinematography, tight direction, and frequent action leave plenty of allowance for the plot anyway.

 

The thing that stood out most to me was the cinematography. This movie is just beautiful to look at, and even indoor scenes in bland colors are framed in a way that makes them visually pleasing. I wish I could go more in depth on this aspect, but I wouldn't know how to, so I'll assume most who have seen the film would agree with me and "get" me though. I'll make a bold claim and say many of the scenes are what I'd envision one of the classic samurai films looking like if they were shot in color. I watched the first twenty minutes or so dubbed before switching to the Cantonese track. The dub was actually pretty good, but I just wasn't feeling it tonight for some reason. The part with the talking bird "Dragon" was hilarious to me in Canto, and I am curious to hear it's dubbed voice.

 

The action was well done, but I admit it wasn't *always* my cup of tea. While it is certainly ahead of its time for 1983, that doesn't necessarily mean it is better. Bits of well choreographed and clearly undercranked swordplay (and I mean bits) are mixed with well done wirework to great effect. What makes the action ahead of its time is the dynamic camera angles, and they do make it a joy to look at. With that said, I'd prefer to see more "moves per cut", so while I acknowledge it is ahead of its time and entertaining, it could have been better *for my taste. I have seen the wirework praised and called "the best of its time", which I half agree with. In terms of wire assisted fighting, it is probably the best I have seen from its era.. As far as wire stunts go though, it pales in comparison to Shaolin Intruders to me.. All of the fighting cast handled their swords well, and Norman Chu did indeed fight like a samurai rather than a Chinese guy with a Katana. The standout action scene for me was probably the short cameo by Casanova Wong.. He was awesome and got to do more unassisted moves than most the other fights in the film, sadly, this is probably the most I've seen him in a movie! Yeah, I clearly need to rectify that! One last thing I'd like to mention on the action.. It got incredibly brutal and violent in the last part of the movie, and I liked it! Fingers, arms, and legs flying off, a decapitation resulting in said head flying and being impaled by a tree, it was all awesome.

 

I really enjoyed this film. I will definitely watch it again, great stuff. This is the first of three films that feature Ching Siu Tung as either director, assistant director or lead action director that I will watch in the very near future.. After seeing this, I am certainly looking forward to the other movies I have.

 

 

[DragonClaws]

Duel to the Death

What a movie... The plot was intriguing enough, if a little uninspired and at times predictable. It had enough intrigue to keep your attention, and the acting was on point. Norman Chu put on the best acting performance I have seen from him, and he is generally one of the better actors of the genre... So that is saying something. The rest of the cast did a decent job as well. The generally stunning cinematography, tight direction, and frequent action leave plenty of allowance for the plot anyway.

The thing that stood out most to me was the cinematography. This movie is just beautiful to look at, and even indoor scenes in bland colors are framed in a way that makes them visually pleasing. I wish I could go more in depth on this aspect, but I wouldn't know how to, so I'll assume most who have seen the film would agree with me and "get" me though. I'll make a bold claim and say many of the scenes are what I'd envision one of the classic samurai films looking like if they were shot in color. I watched the first twenty minutes or so dubbed before switching to the Cantonese track. The dub was actually pretty good, but I just wasn't feeling it tonight for some reason. The part with the talking bird "Dragon" was hilarious to me in Canto, and I am curious to hear it's dubbed voice.

The action was well done, but I admit it wasn't *always* my cup of tea. While it is certainly ahead of its time for 1983, that doesn't necessarily mean it is better. Bits of well choreographed and clearly undercranked swordplay (and I mean bits) are mixed with well done wirework to great effect. What makes the action ahead of its time is the dynamic camera angles, and they do make it a joy to look at. With that said, I'd prefer to see more "moves per cut", so while I acknowledge it is ahead of its time and entertaining, it could have been better *for my taste. I have seen the wirework praised and called "the best of its time", which I half agree with. In terms of wire assisted fighting, it is probably the best I have seen from its era.. As far as wire stunts go though, it pales in comparison to Shaolin Intruders to me.. All of the fighting cast handled their swords well, and Norman Chu did indeed fight like a samurai rather than a Chinese guy with a Katana. The standout action scene for me was probably the short cameo by Casanova Wong.. He was awesome and got to do more unassisted moves than most the other fights in the film, sadly, this is probably the most I've seen him in a movie! Yeah, I clearly need to rectify that! One last thing I'd like to mention on the action.. It got incredibly brutal and violent in the last part of the movie, and I liked it! Fingers, arms, and legs flying off, a decapitation resulting in said head flying and being impaled by a tree, it was all awesome.

Good review paimiefist, I was a little disappointed by the fact Casanova Wong didn't get a larger role to play in the film.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Duel to the Death

 

What a movie... The plot was intriguing enough, if a little uninspired and at times predictable. It had enough intrigue to keep your attention, and the acting was on point. Norman Chu put on the best acting performance I have seen from him, and he is generally one of the better actors of the genre... So that is saying something. The rest of the cast did a decent job as well. The generally stunning cinematography, tight direction, and frequent action leave plenty of allowance for the plot anyway.

 

The thing that stood out most to me was the cinematography. This movie is just beautiful to look at, and even indoor scenes in bland colors are framed in a way that makes them visually pleasing. I wish I could go more in depth on this aspect, but I wouldn't know how to, so I'll assume most who have seen the film would agree with me and "get" me though. I'll make a bold claim and say many of the scenes are what I'd envision one of the classic samurai films looking like if they were shot in color. I watched the first twenty minutes or so dubbed before switching to the Cantonese track. The dub was actually pretty good, but I just wasn't feeling it tonight for some reason. The part with the talking bird "Dragon" was hilarious to me in Canto, and I am curious to hear it's dubbed voice.

 

The action was well done, but I admit it wasn't *always* my cup of tea. While it is certainly ahead of its time for 1983, that doesn't necessarily mean it is better. Bits of well choreographed and clearly undercranked swordplay (and I mean bits) are mixed with well done wirework to great effect. What makes the action ahead of its time is the dynamic camera angles, and they do make it a joy to look at. With that said, I'd prefer to see more "moves per cut", so while I acknowledge it is ahead of its time and entertaining, it could have been better *for my taste. I have seen the wirework praised and called "the best of its time", which I half agree with. In terms of wire assisted fighting, it is probably the best I have seen from its era.. As far as wire stunts go though, it pales in comparison to Shaolin Intruders to me.. All of the fighting cast handled their swords well, and Norman Chu did indeed fight like a samurai rather than a Chinese guy with a Katana. The standout action scene for me was probably the short cameo by Casanova Wong.. He was awesome and got to do more unassisted moves than most the other fights in the film, sadly, this is probably the most I've seen him in a movie! Yeah, I clearly need to rectify that! One last thing I'd like to mention on the action.. It got incredibly brutal and violent in the last part of the movie, and I liked it! Fingers, arms, and legs flying off, a decapitation resulting in said head flying and being impaled by a tree, it was all awesome.

 

I really enjoyed this film. I will definitely watch it again, great stuff. This is the first of three films that feature Ching Siu Tung as either director, assistant director or lead action director that I will watch in the very near future.. After seeing this, I am certainly looking forward to the other movies I have.

 

 

Your review is wonderful paimefist, hits every right note about this film, especially Norman Chu's role and the cinematography. 

 

And aren't those Canto talking cockatiels a blast?  I love them. They add just the right WTH funny to the mix and they're adorable. Yes, I want an adventure with Dragon and the Cockatiel from Legend of the Owl (before that one goes ...well...Mission Impossible...)

 

Glad you liked it. 

[paimeifist]

Yeah it's a shame Casanova Wong didn't get to do more, he was on fire. His character looked very goofy with that silver wig too, lol. I need to see more of him though, for sure.

 

I read your review from the Mutual Review thread before I made my comments on it, and I pretty much fully agree with you on this one Lady Jin. I haven't seen Legend of the Owl, but Dragon and Hon Gwok Choi were funny.

Edited December 30, 2015 by paimeifist

[DrNgor]

This goes to show that Casanova Wong and normal hair just don't go together.

 

Great review. I haven't seen this movie all the way through in years and years. I got it for Christmas back when I was an adolescent and my mom sat down with me to see it. She said the flying ninjas gave her nightmares. Heh. I did record the big ninja duel (the penultimate fight sequence) on a compilation VHS with a bunch of my other favorite fights and watched that one a lot.

 

Oh, and I think it was starting with this movie that quick cuts became a staple of Ching Siu-Tung's action directing style, especially in the 1990s.

 

According to this movie and Ninja vs. the Shaolin Guard, the only match for a Shaolin abbot is a kunoichi's boobies.

[DragonClaws]

Casanova Wong would look more at home in a glam rock band with that silver hair. That said he still manages to look like a bad ass which says a lot about him really.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Right on paimeifist.  Duel to the Death is a fun one.  I put the DVD on all the time just to hear the music.  My favorite part is the decapitated head saying "I will kill you."  Crazy awesome stuff.  I was disappointed with Kwan Young Moon's role as a monk.  I don't think he fights at all.  KYM didn't get very good roles at Golden Harvest.  

 

Did you get the Fortune Star DVD?  I hate the dub on that one.  There is one good voice actor but the rest suck.  

 

 

Edited December 30, 2015 by Morgoth Bauglir

[paimeifist]

I did get the Fortune Star DVD. I didn't have the dub on long, but I liked what I did hear of it. I agree about Kwan Yeong Moon, would have been a treat to see him and Casanova kick each other. Has this occurred in any other films?

 

I forgot to mention the music. It was another positive part of the movie and fitting to the scenes. 

 

Your comment about glam metal Casanova Wong is a quotable DC.