Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (2013)

[derwood]

New teaser trailer for what sounds like a good film

TRAILER

Info

Starring Philip Ng Sammo, Chow Yun-Fat, Andy On, with action by good ol Yuen Woo-Ping

MORE INFO (taken from TwitchFilm)

"A pair of Hong Kong action icons will be pairing up for upcoming true crime film Once Upon A Time In Shanghai with word that Chow Yun Fat and Sammo Hung will be anchoring the cast.

Wong Jing will direct with Andrew Lau producing the film, the story based on the true life crime boss Du Yuesheng who built his crime empire through the 1920s and 30s in Shanghai and had close ties to Chiang Kai-shek.

Interestingly this is not Chow's first time tackling Du's life. The 1980's television series The Bund - the series that helped catapult him to stardom - also revolved around the crime lord, making this a homecoming of sorts for Chow.

Once Upon A Time In Shanghai will be exhibited in IMAX, so expect some big time spectacle."

[The Dragon]

Anyone heard of this?:

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[TrickyNicky]

Wow. Looks great. Any more info on Phillip Ng?

[OldPangYau]

More Ma Yong Zhen! I hope it's closer to Chang Cheh's Boxer From Shantung than Corey Yuen's Hero. Philip Ng does bear a stronger resemblance to 70s-era Chen Kuan Tai than Takeshi Kaneshiro, at least. Also, nice to see some more Yuen Woo Ping.

And who will Sammo play? One of the "four champions"? Can't wait to see more about this!

[Shaolin Patriot]

I'm sure I'm a bit late on this post. I recently saw the teaser trailer for Once Upon a Time in Shanghai, starring Philip Ng (not to be confused with the Chow Yun Fat film), and was really impressed. It's got the feel of a classic Shaw Bros. film and seems to be another remake of Chang Cheh's Boxer from Shantung. Do we have any firm information on theatrical release dates?

[DrNgor]

This is the fourth Ma Wing-Jing film that I'm aware of, alongside the über-classic Boxer from Shangtung, Jimmy Wang Yu's Furious Slaughter, and Corey Yuen's Hero. This one santizes the extreme violence, whitewashes Ma Wing-Jing into an always-righteous kung fu fighter, and throws in some Japanese villains to give that film the typical post-FEARLESS nationalistic vibe. Ma Wing-Jing is played by Philip Ng, a bumpkin boxer from the North who arrives in Shanghai to find work. He falls in with an un-and-coming crime boss, played by Andy On. On has beeen pissing off the local axe gang bosses, who include the late Fung Hak-On and Chen Kuan-Tai. So when the latter start dealing with the Japanese, everybody's life is at stake.

The story and the character relationships are generally very shallow. There is lip service paid to a relationship between Ma and the daughter of the benevolent old master (Sammo Hung) who feeds the immigrants into Shanghai, but it goes nowhere. The axe bosses are brought up early on, but are then forgotten about until the final act, when the bodies begin to pile up. Philip Ng lacks Jet Li's charisma to bring the super-righteous portrayal of a real-life martial artist to life. Acting-wise, it's Andy On who walks off with the film, but given the material, it isn't hard to do.

The action was furnished by Yuen Woo-Ping, who score a Best Action Design nomination at the HK Film Awards, but lost to Donnie Yen's Kung Fu Jungle. It wasn't bad, although the skirmishes in the first half are better than those in the second half, including the prolonged finale. The fights are a bit too overedited and stylishly photographed to be classics--too much sizzle, not enough steak. The showstopper is the prolonged duel between Philip Ng and Andy On that marks the halfway point of the movie. That was a great fight. The big finale has Ng storming a pagoda and fighting against the Axe Gang bosses and their men, which suffers from too many quick cuts, and then the Japanese fighters. The fight between Ng and the sai-wielding ninja assassin is the second best fight in the movie. The final duel is a bit forgettable, though. It's an easy way to spend 90 minutes, if nothing else.

[Drunken Monk]

I’ll always stand by this being an underrated movie. I honestly think it features some of Yuen Woo Ping’s best modern choreography (better than Ip Man 4, for example). It suffers from pacing issues which is a problem for a 90 minute film but when the action kicks in, it’s wonderful. Both Philip Ng and Andy On do an incredible job and every movie look powerful. The slow mo is a bit of an issue though.

The slower parts may be a little difficult to get through but give this one the time of day and it’s well worth it.

[WarriorBloodCrest]

On 10/31/2021 at 2:14 PM, Drunken Monk said:

I’ll always stand by this being an underrated movie. I honestly think it features some of Yuen Woo Ping’s best modern choreography (better than Ip Man 4, for example). It suffers from pacing issues which is a problem for a 90 minute film but when the action kicks in, it’s wonderful. Both Philip Ng and Andy On do an incredible job and every movie look powerful. The slow mo is a bit of an issue though.

The slower parts may be a little difficult to get through but give this one the time of day and it’s well worth it.

I'm the opinion that the overall concept of the movie would've worked much better as a remake of The Big Boss, especially considering that the final product doesn't have much in common with Boxer From Shantung plot or thematically wise (That and Philip Ng already shares a striking resemblance to Cheng Chao-An, particularly at the end of the movie).