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

[Killer Meteor]

Super Dragon is from later than 1976, as it has music from Star Wars in it. It's mostly empty handed fighting in a wu xia setting.

[DragonClaws]

On 5/31/2018 at 7:32 PM, Killer Meteor said:

Super Dragon is from later than 1976, as it has music from Star Wars in it. It's mostly empty handed fighting in a wu xia setting.

Thanks for that dude, I'll sit down and give it a second chance sometime.

Watched Showdown At The Equator(1978) late last night, not as bad as I'd expected it to be, from reading comments/reviews. That said, it's by no means the best Martial Arts flick from the late 70's. Lo Lieh, creditedhere as Lieh Leet, really was phoning it in. Most of his scene appear to have been randomly filmed at roadsides in Hong Kong. Not a big priority at the moment, but I have to see it in the original apsect ratio. The MillCreek Print is so heavily cropped/Pan and Scanned, that the impact of Bruce Siu Leung's ace kicking reportoire is greatly reduced. Hard to be too critical of the action for this reason.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Fistful of Talons 1983 Basically Billy Chong's best flick, but it wasn't enough to help his HK film career. Kind of a cross between Shaw Brothers (Sun Chung at the helm) and a Jackie Chan knockoff (WAAAAY TO MANY OF THOSE). Some good fights, and Hilda Liu was super cute in a sporty way, but anyone comparing him to Fu Sheng has to be kidding. The guy made 11 movies, with one of the roles being "bosses thug". Pai Ying and Hwang In Sik steal the show, though Hwang was looking a little long in the tooth in this one. Still, the 35 mm print is nice, it's a decent time killer and the use of Sun Tzu is a cool plot point.

Jade Claw 1979 Speaking of Jackie Chan knock offs, Jade Claw/Crystal Fist basically takes Simon Yuen and has Billy sub in for Jackie. Nice fights, included a really good one with one of the flunkies,  but beyond that, it's just meh. He had some nice kicks, but something is missing, beyond the charisma even. The guy was just not a big star in Chinatown. Black belt theater maybe, but by then it was too late. Still, better than a lot of the Taiwanese shapes movies of the time.

[DragonClaws]

On 6/4/2018 at 11:01 PM, Killer Meteor said:

especially Chan Lau as a creepy pervert who looses his willy to a dog, and thus develops the "Mad Dog Technique!" Phillip Ko especially impresses.

One of the all time creepiest characters in Kung Fu Cinema.

If only Godfrey Ho had spent more time on films like this, than splicing Ninja footage into random Korean movies.

 

 

10 hours ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

Jade Claw 1979 Speaking of Jackie Chan knock offs, Jade Claw/Crystal Fist basically takes Simon Yuen and has Billy sub in for Jackie. Nice fights, included a really good one with one of the flunkies,  but beyond that, it's just meh. He had some nice kicks, but something is missing, beyond the charisma even. The guy was just not a big star in Chinatown. Black belt theater maybe, but by then it was too late. Still, better than a lot of the Taiwanese shapes movies of the time.

Still ony my to watch list, along with a few other Billy Chong titles.

[Jay Stone]

I’ve seen Miracle Fighters many times, but I’d never seen any of the other films in the “series,” except Drunken Tai Chi. I don’t think that one is really part of the series.

I just watched 

Shaolin Drunkard

Taoism Drunkard

I’m watching Exciting Dragon now, seems very loosely related.

These movies are insane. The creativity is off the charts. The Yuen clan are really inventive guys.

Edited June 7, 2018 by Jay Stone

[kevenzz]

I need to start watching kung fu movies again.... I've been only watching Giallo movies on blu ray for the past 2 months

[Omni Dragon]

On 6/7/2018 at 6:15 PM, Jay Stone said:

I’ve seen Miracle Fighters many times, but I’d never seen any of the other films in the “series,” except Drunken Tai Chi. I don’t think that one is really part of the series.

I just watched 

Shaolin Drunkard

Taoism Drunkard

I’m watching Exciting Dragon now, seems very loosely related.

These movies are insane. The creativity is off the charts. The Yuen clan are really inventive guys.

I've never watched the whole thing before myself, but there's DUEL OF THE MASTERS aka GODZ/S OF WU TANG which also looks similar in style to THE MIRACLE FIGHTERS series as well. It was directed by Wilson Tong but it does have the Yuen Clan credited for the action (along with Tong).

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Hurricane 1971 Patrick Tse Yin, Nora Miao and Gam Chuen. Really dated in the sense that Golden Harvest was trying to sort of through together Cantonese B&W actors with the remains of Cathay studios that they had acquired Gam Chuen does a decent job as the young up and comer, and it's a shame he did not get more work. You can see him in Iron Bones which has pretty poor martial arts but great acting. At a certain point I will have Toby Russell (beg him, really) translate Iron Bones so every doesn't have to bear with my humorous made up lines. Anyway, Chan Siu Pang did the fights so it is uneven. Patrick uses his cape as a weapon, which is novel, but it's not exactly Donnie Yen in Once Upon A Time in China 2. Sek Kin uses a Nunchaku/Cudgel, but he mostly flays away. Nora Miao does her best resting bitch face, and the most interesting thing for her is to see her in action star mode, before she was sort of relegated to damsel in distress.

[saltysam]

General Stone Wow i'm usually a sucker for these films but this was a real stinker, boring as hell. Tan Tao Liang was whiny, Polly Shang Kwan had a few nice moves but any film that even the great Lung Fei can't help is doomed. The Rarescope DVD is annoying, non-anamorphic so zooming in the subs disappear, so had to watch in english dub. Absolutely terrible.

Edited June 13, 2018 by saltysam

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Salty, thanks for saving me 90 minutes, hahaha!

[DrNgor]

The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious (1976) - Shortly after Secret Rivals, Don Wong Tao had a falling out with Ng See-Yuen and went to Taiwan, taking choreographer Tommy Lee with him. They hooked up with Lee Tso-Nam for a partnership that lasted for the rest of the 1970s. Their first collaboration is essentially a reworking of Secret Rivals, replacing John Liu with his teacher, Dorian Tan Tao-Liang. The plot is unusually strong here, as Tan plays a police captain who's trying to bring in the son of the local nobleman for murder, said nobleman being the one who gave Tan the job in the first place. Meanwhile, former convict and Southern fist expert Don Wong Tao shows up in Tao for no good reason other than to be a nuisance to Tan, but obviously has ulterior motives. When Don Wong Tao goes to work for the nobleman, the two square off until Don reveals his true intentions...

This wasn't quite the all-time classic I remember, but it's still quite good. Like I said, the story is strong and eclipses that of Secret Rivals. Both films have similar casts and plot points, right down to Don Wong Tao going to work for the nobleman villain and the third act appearance of the main villain--this time it's Tommy Lee in whiteface and a blonde wig. Speaking of Tommy Lee, the action here is solid, but not as good as his work in Secret Rivals. Don Wong Tao is far more comfortable with hung gar here than he was there, and Tan Tao-Liang fights exclusively with his legs. Tommy Lee does some mantis and acrobatics as the main villain, but isn't as imposing and doesn't relish the villain role like Legendary Superkicker Hwang Jang Lee does. The final two-on-one fight is strong, but lacks the manic energy that made the final fights of Secret Rivals and Seven Steps of Kung Fu so memorable.

[DragonClaws]

5 hours ago, DrNgor said:

Tommy Lee does some mantis and acrobatics as the main villain, but isn't as imposing and doesn't relish the villain role like Legendary Superkicker Hwang Jang Lee does.

Loved Tommy Lee's character here, thought I felt hi character could have been fleshed out more, maybe with use of fashbacks?.

Do you find that, the more of the genre you see, the much harder to please you become?. Have fond memories of watching the THTCTV during my college year's, I might not see it the same way now.

 

4 hours ago, saltysam said:

I love Hot,The Cool & The Vicious. Saw it on the big screen around 1979-80 at the all night kung fu movie cinema event that was popular then. Another film that needs a proper, restored release.

With some luck, Michael Worth and his team will get round to giving this a decent official release. He's a big Lee Tso Nam fan, and often said this is one of his favourite old school flicks.

[DrNgor]

11 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

Do you find that, the more of the genre you see, the much harder to please you become?.

Someone questioned Mark Pollard about that after he gave a lukewarm review to the fairly solid Polly Kwan film A Girl Called Tigress.

I'm curious as to how I'll feel when I revisit Invincible Armour in the next week.

[DragonClaws]

1 minute ago, DrNgor said:

Someone questioned Mark Pollard about that after he gave a lukewarm review to the fairly solid Polly Kwan film A Girl Called Tigress.

I think there's a lot of other factors too, like the mood you are in when you watch the film.

 

1 minute ago, DrNgor said:

I'm curious as to how I'll feel when I revisit Invincible Armour in the next week.

Must be a good few years since I watched this, Secret Rivals and Death Duel Of Kung Fu. Lukcy enough to see those all around the same time, raised the bar high for any of independents I caught at around the same time.

[DrNgor]

I revisited Challenge of Death. See my old review:

 

 

[ShawAngela]

I finally put my hands on a Mandarin with English subtitles of Scorching sun, fierce wind, wild fire and I watched it today.

I had watched a French language version around 10 years ago, and all what I remembered was Lo Lieh disguised as Violet and of course, Angela Mao robbing the robbers, and, maybe because of the French dialogues (I should revisit this version), at that time, it looked more like a comedy with good fights for me, and there were some points of the plot that weren't very clear.

Watching it in its original language made me realize what a superb movie it is !! Very good plot and superb fights !

Nobody steals the show : Angela Mao has good fights, Hilda Liu has good fights, Tien Peng, Lung Fong, Tan Tao Liang and Lo Lieh also share their parts of the fights, and Chang Yi is perfect in his villain's role !

I recommend this movie to those who haven't watched it as yet !!

Edited June 26, 2018 by ShawAngela

[lilmanjs]

5 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

I finally put my hands on a Mandarin with English subtitles of Scorching sun, fierce wind, wild fire and I watched it today.

I had watched a French language version around 10 years ago, and all what I remembered was Lo Lieh disguised as Violet and of course, Angela Mao robbing the robbers, and, maybe because of the French dialogues (I should revisit this version), at that time, it looked more like a comedy with good fights for me, and there were some points of the plot that weren't very clear.

Watching it in its original language made me realize what a superb movie it is !! Very good plot and superb fights !

Nobody steals the show : Angela Mao has good fights, Hilda Liu has good fights, Tien Peng, Lung Fong, Tan Tao Liang and Lo Lieh also share their parts of the fights, and Chang Yi is perfect in his villain's role !

I recommend this movie to those who haven't watched it as yet !!

Gotta find this movie then. Has a good cast, so it shouldn't be crap!

[ShawAngela]

8 hours ago, lilmanjs said:

Gotta find this movie then. Has a good cast, so it shouldn't be crap!

Another reason to watch it is to try to spot Ko Fei and Ricky Cheng Tien Chi in the movie. I just discovered that they are in the cast, but I confess that I didn't see them. They probably play the villain's henchmen...

[saltysam]

Shaolin Deadly Kicks - 8 robbers each have a piece of a map that will lead them to treasure, they agree to meet up in 3 years ,put the map together and share the spoils. Tan Tao Liang has other ideas though,and one by one he starts to take out each gang member. Great cast, Tan Tao Liang, Lo Lieh,Kam Kong, Lung Fei but the film is just ok. Th 55th chamber DVD is at least 1.85.1 non-anamorphic widescreen but print is rough.

 

Young Hero- Hwang Jang Lee lead a group of japanese bullies who pick on the local chinese kung fu school. Cue plenty of fighting. Not bad and a lovely HD print which is a revelation.

[lilmanjs]

Young Hero wasn't too bad once they stopped jumping around randomly with the plot. Good fight scenes as well.

[DrNgor]

Soul of Chiba (1977) - aka Soul of Bruce Lee

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by DrNgor

[Killer Meteor]

Invincible Obsessed Fighter (1982)

Very much rock bottom for the genre - a dreary bore starring some poor chap named Elton Chong.

2/10

 

 

Bruce's Deadly Fingers (1976)

Hysterical Bruceploitation with Bruce Le and Lo Lieh (and Chan Wei-Man and Cheung Nick) fighting to recover Bruce Lee's prized fighting manual. This is not the then contempoary bestseller Tao of Jeet Kune Do, but rather the Ching Wu Fighting Manual, or as the dub would call it "Kung Fu Finger Book", resulting in many hilariously awkward lines such as "All you ever think about is Finger Kung Fu...you don't care about me!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg77kp4zUwQ


Goofy in the extreme and lots of fun, with some decent fight scenes, Nora Miao hotter than ever, real life Wing Chun (or Ving Tsan as the sign on his school reads!) master Wang Sun-Liang playing himself, and a truly awkward tortune scene involving a snake going in a most unmentionable place!

The Blu-Ray just released in the States finally restores the ending missing from the DVD, and has a great commentary and bonus trailers

6/10

[DragonClaws]

19 minutes ago, Killer Meteor said:

Invincible Obsessed Fighter (1982)

Very much rock bottom for the genre - a dreary bore starring some poor chap named Elton Chong.

2/10

 

Enjoyed this one a lot more, mostly for the excellent Korean kicking action on display.

Elton Chong played the baffoon in film and often gets bad mouthed, but he had some serious skills.

Edited July 8, 2018 by DragonClaws

[saltysam]

Brother Two AKA Fatal Strike - Asia line Germany latest release is a so so basher starring Kam Kong & Yusaki Kurata, who basically spend the entire movie run time fighting each other, then one runs (or cycles away) then they meet again, fight, one runs away..rinse & repeat. Is this a little known movie? can't find much info or reviews on it. Anyway two versions of the movie on the disc, a cut pristine version and as a bonus the uncut version using the pristine version with poor quality inserts. both english dubbed.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Tough Duel 1972. 

A favorite of my early teens. Grade A basher with Tien Peng, Chen Hung Lieh, Lung Fei, Shen Mao and Yee Yuen. Tien was a good kicker for the time and he is a one man wrecking crew in this, and the final fights are simply awesome in their fury. As a wandering marshall the railroad symbolizes his need to wander, and it's a bit of a melancholy film as he confronts his old classmate, who we kind of gather resented his masters harsh methods, where Tien's character thrived. Of course, all that wandering doesn't help in the relationship department either.Excellent use of Ennio Morricone. It's on youtube if you are a cheapo, my friend from France is working on clean the current VHS transfer. Subs by Toby Russell. Highly Recommended. I may have mentioned this one before, but that's how much I liked t.