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

[ShaOW!linDude]

Snuff Bottle Connection (1977) Stars: John Liu, Hwang Jang Lee, Wong Yat Lung, Yip Fei Yang, Phillip Ko, Roy Horan
Dir.: Tung Chin Hu & Lily Lau
Fight Choreographer: Yuen Wo Ping

The plot is a Chinese magistrate in collusion with the Russians to assist their invasion of China, and John Liu and his brother (played by Yip) must take on HJL and Horan. I have to say that I have never really cared for Liu's movies and his "standing still in one place while flailing on opponents with with one foot" fighting style. But this is something different, and I reckon that is due to Yuen Wo Ping being at the helm of the fight scenes. Liu, while obviously doubled for his acrobatics and the more involved segments of the weapons fights, has never looked this good on screen to me. He mixes his foot work with some nice hand techniques. I can't think of anything I've seen Yip in that really stands out, but I found him impressive here and quite complimentary to Liu. Wong Yat Lung is the freakishly contorting waif we've seen in a number of films, and thankfully he's not as annoying here. Hwang Jang Lee is always fun to watch, but his kicking talents are toned down here. Oh, he still gets to boot people in the head occasionally, but in this he predominantly fights with a fan, and he's quite dastardly with it. His lieutenants use a special dual snake & eagle claw style simultaneously, which is interesting to watch. Horan...man, I like Horan, but like in almost everything I see him in, he doesn't get that much in the way of fight scenes, and he gets killed off real easily, which was a drag. This is a movie I've skirted for years, and I can't count the number of times I've run across used dvd copies, but I finally broke down and got it a few months back. Watched it on a whim tonight. Solid choreography throughout with some rewatchable "in slo-mo" segments. Definitely a keeper for when I'm in that old school mood.

[DragonClaws]

9 hours ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

I have to say that I have never really cared for Liu's movies and his "standing still in one place while flailing on opponents with with one foot" fighting style. But this is something different, and I reckon that is due to Yuen Wo Ping being at the helm of the fight scenes. Liu, while obviously doubled for his acrobatics and the more involved segments of the weapons fights, has never looked this good on screen to me. He mixes his foot work with some nice hand techniques.

 

This was one of the first few John Liu movies I ever watched, glad to hear it's exposed you to a different side of his physical performance.

How would he have looked under Sammo Hung?.

[DrNgor]

10 hours ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

Snuff Bottle Connection (1977) Stars: John Liu, Hwang Jang Lee, Wong Yat Lung, Yip Fei Yang, Phillip Ko, Roy Horan
Dir.: Tung Chin Hu & Lily Lau
Fight Choreographer: Yuen Wo Ping

Glad you enjoyed it. I think John Liu was very dependent on his choreographer to do something interesting with his (limited) skills. Tommy Lee did it in Secret Rivals and Robert Tai did it in Secret Rivals 3.

[ShaOW!linDude]

1 hour ago, DragonClaws said:

How would he have looked under Sammo Hung?

Not sure Liu could've kept up. I don't know. Maybe.

1 hour ago, DrNgor said:

Glad you enjoyed it. I think John Liu was very dependent on his choreographer to do something interesting with his (limited) skills. Tommy Lee did it in Secret Rivals and Robert Tai did it in Secret Rivals 3.

I do have Secret Rivals 3 somewhere. Never watched it. Guess I wouldn't be too leery to check that out now.

[DragonClaws]

8 minutes ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

Not sure Liu could've kept up. I don't know. Maybe.

 

If he could surivive Tan Tao Liang grueling training and stretching rountines, he could have handled choreography under Sammo Hung. I could see him playing a smaller villian part, in one of Sammo late 70's/ear.y 80's flicks.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

12 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

If he could surivive Tan Tao Liang grueling training and stretching rountines, he could have handled choreography under Sammo Hung. I could see him playing a smaller villian part, in one of Sammo late 70's/ear.y 80's flicks.

He was not held in high regard by Hwang Jang Lee. I consider his kicks as high, but flimsy. He always had to drop his leg, unlike Tan or Hwang, to do chain kicks. 

[DrNgor]

11 hours ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

He was not held in high regard by Hwang Jang Lee.

Did he say this in an interview?

[DragonClaws]

14 hours ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

He was not held in high regard by Hwang Jang Lee. I consider his kicks as high, but flimsy. He always had to drop his leg, unlike Tan or Hwang, to do chain kicks. 

 

Never heard this before, I'm how many people would a man of that skill level, really rate?.

Often wondered if Liu, opted out of the leg hoping on screen, becuase his teacher and others were doing this in movies at the time?. Love or loathe the guy, he had a screen combat style all his own, even if it was a limited one.

Many forget Liu was by no means natural when it came to being flexible, Tan Tao Liang said he had to force him through some really prolonged and painful stretching. He must have had really stiff tendons, an issue Billy Blanks said he suffered from as a young boy.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

On 7/25/2018 at 9:10 AM, DragonClaws said:

 

If he could surivive Tan Tao Liang grueling training and stretching rountines, he could have handled choreography under Sammo Hung. I could see him playing a smaller villian part, in one of Sammo late 70's/ear.y 80's flicks.

He was not held in high regard by Hwang Jang Lee. I consider his kicks as high, but flimsy. He always had to drop his leg, unlike Tan or Hwang, to do chain kicks. 

 

He actually rated Tan and Sammo very highly in an interview. He would not put Liu in the top ten for kickers.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

PB: On the internet you’ll often see polls on kung fu movie sites which debate about who is the best kicker of all time. Of course in these polls, you are always number 1! So I wanted to ask, if Hwang Jang-lee was to make his poll of top kung-fu fighters, who would be your top 5?

HJL: (Speaking in English) Ok! 1. Jackie Chan; 2. Yuen Biao, and then, ummm,; 3. Lo Lieh,; 4. Ti Lung, and, ummmm; 5. Sammo Hung

PB: *laughter* No John Liu? He’s Number 6?

HJL: *laughter* I would rank John Liu much lower.

* This comment was made due to the previous interview conducted by a Spanish couple, who were making a documentary on John Liu. When asked about Liu’s onscreen fighting technique, HJL responded that Liu’s timing was not good, and often he would move in too close when they were filming a fight scene, which resulted in HJL frequently kicking or punching Liu full force by accident. He went on to explain that at the end of filming, Liu would often be covered in bruises!

[DragonClaws]

9 minutes ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

HJL: (Speaking in English) Ok! 1. Jackie Chan; 2. Yuen Biao, and then, ummm,; 3. Lo Lieh,; 4. Ti Lung, and, ummmm; 5. Sammo Hung

 

Never been impressed with Lo Lieh as a kicker, and he put Jackie Chan before Yuen Biao, maybe he and Liu didnt see eye to eye?.

I'll take HJL word for it, he is the Master kicker after all.

[DrNgor]

On 7/25/2018 at 1:08 AM, ShaOW!linDude said:

I have to say that I have never really cared for Liu's movies and his "standing still in one place while flailing on opponents with with one foot" fighting style.

For the record, which of Liu's films have you seen?

The Secret Rivals (1976)     
Snuff-Bottle Connection (1977)     
The Instant Kung Fu Man (1977) 
The Invincible Armour (1977)    
The Secret Rivals, Part II (1977) 
The Invincible Kung Fu Trio (1978) 
Shaolin Ex Monk (1978) 
Two Great Cavaliers (1978) 
Struggle Through Death (1979) 
Incredible Kung Fu Mission (1979)     
The Dragon, the Hero (1979) - Dragon on Fire    
Death Duel of Kung Fu (1979)     
The Mar's Villa (1979) - Wu Tang Magic Kick
Fighting Ace (1979) 
In the Claws of the CIA (1981)     
The New South Hand Blows and North Kick Blows (1981) - Secret Rivals III     
Zen Kwun Do Strikes in Paris (1981)          
Dragon Blood (1982) 
Trinity Goes East (1998) 
 

[ShaOW!linDude]

2 hours ago, DrNgor said:

For the record, which of Liu's films have you seen?

Snuff Bottle Connection & Two Great Cavaliers for sure. Maybe The Invincible Armor, but don't quote me on that. 

I've mainly seen clips from films he's done and while he's flexible and has range due to his height, in most of them I just think it's boring to watch him.

[DrNgor]

1 hour ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

Snuff Bottle Connection & Two Great Cavaliers for sure. Maybe The Invincible Armor, but don't quote me on that. 

I've mainly seen clips from films he's done and while he's flexible and has range due to his height, in most of them I just think it's boring to watch him.

You always forget you saw Dragon on Fire, with Dragon Lee, Bolo and Philip Ko Fei.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Kids of Shaolin Remaster.

I have been so busy I have not had time to watch some of the stuff I have been working on on my big screen. What a difference these remasters make! It's like watching a Shaw Brothers Celestial remaster. The color is better than the prints that I saw in the theaters in Chinatown when these came out! Not as many quick cuts and gore as Shaw movies (remember Taiwan is a little more uptight back then!) but a feast for the eyes. And how do you go wrong with Polly Kuan? Also, funny part, Chang Yi plays Tien Peng's dad. What are there? 5 years difference in age. About as weird as Ti Lung and Jackie Chan, though to this movies credit, they have Chang Yi a long beard, LOL! Anyway, not as good as 12 Bronzemen, but still, a good evening on the tele!

 

[saltysam]

Iron Fisted Monk

Sammo stars and directs in this tale of a young man who trains in Shaolin Temple and leaves in order to get revenge against the evil manchus who killed his uncle. Tone of the film veers wildly,sometimes comedic then turns rather brutal (the first rape scene is very nasty and still cut in the uk) not Sammo's greatest and Chen Sing is underused as a monk who helps Sammo, Fung-Hark-On is a truly nasty baddie and the climax is very good.

Enter The Fat Dragon

Sammo's love letter to Bruce Lee is very entertaining and politically incorrect (a white man blacked up) . I watched Kuenfists custom he made from the german VHS with inserts from the Crash version to make it fully uncut? I watched in english, there is a chinese audio option on there but no english subs sadly.This needs a proper release and restoration.

[ShawAngela]

Monkey fist 1974

I just finished to watch this movie, thanks to NoKungFuForYou for the subtitleds !

 

What a SUPERB movie, with non stop action, and what action !! I didn't know that Tien Feng and Shih Kien played in it !

As usual, the great Shih Kien superbly plays his very bad guy role, and what a final fight !

If you haven't got this movie as yet, don't hesitate to buy it, it's worth a watch !!

[Tong Zi Bai Fo]

On 7/26/2018 at 3:54 PM, DragonClaws said:

 

Never been impressed with Lo Lieh as a kicker, and he put Jackie Chan before Yuen Biao, maybe he and Liu didnt see eye to eye?.

I'll take HJL word for it, he is the Master kicker after all.

I was confused too but it seems like the interviewer posed the question as his "top 5 kung fu fighters" and not specifically kickers.

[chazgower01]

Here's my overly opinionated review of the last 'classic' martial arts film I watched. Keep in mind I saw this after spending two weeks watching all of Jackie's movies prior to this one...

Dragon Fist (1978, Hong Kong) Amazon Prime - Original Language 3/5 
It's hard for me to believe Lo Wei had anything to do with directing this. The story, sure - it's as convoluted as usual, with strange twists, repeated themes, and colorful characters, all leading to a showdown. But hkmdb lists two directors (the other is Lee Jeong-Ho), Jackie was the Action Director, and according to Jackie, Lo Wei wasn't even speaking to him by this point, so... Besides that, the camera seems so much more assured of what it's doing (compared to other Lo Wei directed movies I've seen) - this is a REAL movie, as well as a quality Kung Fu movie - NOT the work of a director's last film, who couldn't stand the star, was more interested in horse races, slept on the set, and whose track record leading up to it is... not very good. Just some thoughts for discussion...
As for the movie, it has many things to make me NOT like it - James Tien plays a recurring type, Jackie is not the Jackie who he'd become, and despite its well-talked about twist it's still a movie about the same old revenge. But I LIKE James Tien in this role (talk about an underrated career), and Jackie is actually really GOOD in this role here, and, well.... I never really get tired of revenge movies. Add to that Nora Miao, the spunky fighting of the cute Pearl Lin (how'd she not become a star - one of only eleven films she did), a really great performance from Yen Shi-Kwan, some of Jackie's most confident fighting scenes yet and... yeah, a little bit different of a story than usual, and you have something interesting here. But make no mistake - it'd all be JUST interesting if not for the assured camera work and steady storytelling. This is a real movie - not a cheap knockoff - and I think it says a lot about how the inmates were taking over the asylum in Lo Wei's last days.
And it's drama is good as well... Pearl Lin confronting Jackie (and throwing some furious kicks and punches) and him refusing to fight back because of the sadness he feels being the same as hers... this is good stuff in the middle of a fight movie! But it IS a fight movie and there's plenty of it, and even smaller roles like Eagle Han Ying flashing some skills to keep us entertained, and a free for all finale, some added drama (the poor mom!) and then the multiple showdowns are just what you hope for and more.
It only did HK $1 Million at the box office, but this is a good movie.
Jackie was done with Lo Wei. (Sort of)

 

 

Time between the Final Death Blow and the 'The End': 41 seconds

[chazgower01]

On 7/29/2018 at 3:52 PM, saltysam said:

 

Iron Fisted Monk

Sammo stars and directs in this tale of a young man who trains in Shaolin Temple and leaves in order to get revenge against the evimanchus who killed his uncle. Tone of the film veers wildly,sometimes comedic then turns rather brutal (the first rape scene is very nasty and still cut in the uk) not Sammo's greatest and Chen Sing is underused as a monk who helps Sammo, Fung-Hark-On is a truly nasty baddie and the climax is very good.  

 

Agreed. Just saw this as well and liked it....here's my novice review:

[chazgower01]

The Iron Fisted Monk (1977, Hong Kong) haiuken 3.5/5
Sammo Hung (as Hung Ching-Pao, star, writer, director, and action director) starts off his grim tale with comedy kung fu - something we'd see Jackie do for full movies starting seven months later in Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. Did this influence him? Here, Sammo gets the comedy out of the way early (though there are a few other gags later) before settling in on your standard revenge flick - his dad is killed by some thugs from the 'Manchus', and so he leaves the Shaolin Temple that took him in to go on a quest to whoops their asses. Sammo and the Iron Fisted Monk (Chan Sing) team up for the worthy finale after everyone else has been clobbered. There's two harsh rape scenes in this (one displayed, the other covered), as well as a few additional boobie scenes, surprising for a Sammo film (as he and Jackie both shy away from sexualized content), but still lots of fighting reminiscent of his and Jackie's style from this period. A few things Sammo doesn't have though, are Jackie's charisma, Jackie's smile, or Jackie's physique, and even though he put together quite an amazing career for himself, he wasn't always the best choice as the lead in a movie. So having Chan Sing as an additional co-star (though still a bit of a different choice as he was more known as playing villains), I guess helps somewhat. Add to that a bevy of 70's Hong Kong talent and familiar faces (Fung Hak-On, James Tin, Dean Shek, Wang Hsieh, Chiu Hung in one of his last roles..) it has more than enough to make it worth seeing.

[chazgower01]

Some took exception on another forum to my words about Sammo, because it does sound as if I'm putting him down. I love Sammo. He's awesome. He's just not Jackie Chan. No one is.

[Drunken Monk]

3 hours ago, chazgower01 said:

He's just not Jackie Chan. No one is.

No...he's better.

[ShawAngela]

Nice reviews, chazgower01 !

And welcome to the forum !

Reading your review on Dragon fist, I discovered some things I wasn't aware of regarding Lo Wei. Where did you get them ?

And I agree with Drunken Monk : Sammo is better than Jackie, but we just shouldn't compare them, because they both have enormous talent, are very skilled in martial arts and stunts, are very funny in the comedic parts of their movies, and when they both play in the same movie, it's a funny feast all along together with a martial arts feast !!

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

1 hour ago, Drunken Monk said:

No...he's better.

Amen.