Member Chinatown Kid Posted February 6, 2014 Member Share Posted February 6, 2014 Golden Harvest must have believed in the word "Recycle" huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member PaiLum Posted October 13, 2015 Member Share Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) Just watched Dreadnaught with Yuen Biao and Tak-Hing Kwan, it was fantastic!! Edited October 13, 2015 by PaiLum capitalization 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lady Jin Szu-Yi Posted November 9, 2015 Member Share Posted November 9, 2015 I loved Leung Kar Yan and Kwan Tak-Hing in this. Philip Ko Fei was also a lot of fun. The Dog and Lion Dance sequences were amazing. Nice to see Lily Li too. I liked the rivalry between the two schools because of the dance fights. It was a wonderful look at a beautiful, elaborate side of martial arts which is not showcased very often in these films. For me this ultimately did not click because of the White Tiger Killer. A strange mix of comedy, serial killer horror (performed too broadly for me, even for the comedy here) and kung fu action. I think they could have come up with many ways for Yuen Biao's character to finally grow a pair without employing the White Tiger, given the animosity between Philip Ko's Master Tam and Kwan Tak-Hing's Master Wong. Glad I saw it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShaOW!linDude Posted November 9, 2015 Member Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) I like Dreadnaught, but it really didn't click with me either. Yuen Biao's agility is on full display, but he never seems to do any actual fighting, which drove me nuts. I think that's the reason it just doesn't click. Oh, it's got fighting, make no mistake. It's just that Biao only does about 10% of it, which is bogus. Edited November 11, 2015 by ShaOW!linDude 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted November 9, 2015 Member Share Posted November 9, 2015 While I agree that Yuen Biao was sorely underused; I love Dreadnaught and think White Tiger is among the best Kung fu villains! What do you mean by "performed too broadly" Lady Jin? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lady Jin Szu-Yi Posted November 9, 2015 Member Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) For me, the actor went way too camp with the constant "mean / insane" faces etc. He took me clean out of the film whenever he was on. Had this been more of an Argento - Fulci like giallo, perhaps his performance would have clicked for me. Ah well. Glad you like him and enjoy the movie as much as you do. Edited November 9, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted November 9, 2015 Member Share Posted November 9, 2015 Yeah I can definitely see how the OTT performance could be to much for you. I guess to me I thought it worked cause he's supposed to be so darn crazy anyway, haha. I found it humorous many times as well though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted April 24, 2021 Member Share Posted April 24, 2021 I loved it. I regret putting this one off for so long. I'm a huge Yuen Bao fan and Beardy too. I love them together just like in Knockabout. And another thing like Knockabout is Spoiler Beardy dies and Yuen Bao takes revenge I must say that Yuen Shun-Yi is terrifying as the villain. He is great. Just like in the Miracle Fighter trilogy i didn't recognize him. The fighting is top notch. And i love Laundry Kung Fu (unofficial name). I'm not up on my history but i see that Kwan Tak-Hing is famous for playing the character Wong Fei-Hung. Looking at his filmography, he has played him more times than you can count. Very interesting. I have only seen him in 2 movies, this one and The Magnificent Butcher. Highly recommended. And it looks like i'd have to pay and arm and a leg to track down the dvd. One more thing. I see that Dreadnaught is also referred to as Prodigal Son 2. Is it an official sequel? Besides the fact it takes place in a theater, I see no other similarities. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted April 24, 2021 Moderator Share Posted April 24, 2021 6 hours ago, Duel to the Death said: One more thing. I see that Dreadnaught is also referred to as Prodigal Son 2. Is it an official sequel? Besides the fact it takes place in a theater, I see no other similarities. 'Dreadnaught' was released in HK cinemas in March of 1981, and 'Prodigal Son' was released in December of the same year, so that would be a no. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted April 24, 2021 Member Share Posted April 24, 2021 7 hours ago, Duel to the Death said: One more thing. I see that Dreadnaught is also referred to as Prodigal Son 2. Is it an official sequel? Besides the fact it takes place in a theater, I see no other similarities. Where does it say that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted April 24, 2021 Member Share Posted April 24, 2021 45 minutes ago, TibetanWhiteCrane said: Where does it say that? Here is one example. Some time last year I read it somewhere else but don't remember where I seen it. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fp%2F2117538080 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted April 24, 2021 Member Share Posted April 24, 2021 Well, not exactly a trusted authority. And it really saddens me that Dan Inosanto and Jeff Imada are selling Stiller boots on eBay. I'm sure it's a big company and they don't run the day to day operations, but the company bears their initials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted April 24, 2021 Member Share Posted April 24, 2021 1 hour ago, TibetanWhiteCrane said: Well, not exactly a trusted authority. And it really saddens me that Dan Inosanto and Jeff Imada are selling Stiller boots on eBay. I'm sure it's a big company and they don't run the day to day operations, but the company bears their initials. I have been several times tempted to buy movies from this store, but always let them go because I wasn't sure that they were original releases, since sometimes, Red Sun or Bonzai covers were shown... And you say that its Dan Inosanto's store ? How do you know that ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted April 24, 2021 Member Share Posted April 24, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, ShawAngela said: I have been several times tempted to buy movies from this store, but always let them go because I wasn't sure that they were original releases, since sometimes, Red Sun or Bonzai covers were shown... And you say that its Dan Inosanto's store ? How do you know that ? It's almost all boots with them. The two i's in iisportslearance stands for Inosanto and Imada, arguably legends of the martial arts community and film genre respectively. So a bit disappointing that they peddle crappy Stiller boots in 2021 like it was 2006.... or at all. Edited April 24, 2021 by TibetanWhiteCrane 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 12, 2021 Member Share Posted June 12, 2021 1981 was the tenth anniversary of Bruce joining Golden Harvest, so maybe it was intended as a respectful in-joke. Dreadnaught is weird in that Yuen Biao is so underused in what is supposed to be a leg-up from Knockabout. When you compare Dreadnaught with the Yuen Woo-Ping movies starring Yuen Yat-Chor, you can see where YWP's interests lie. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Omni Dragon Posted June 12, 2021 Author Member Share Posted June 12, 2021 51 minutes ago, Cognoscente said: Dreadnaught is weird in that Yuen Biao is so underused in what is supposed to be a leg-up from Knockabout. When you compare Dreadnaught with the Yuen Woo-Ping movies starring Yuen Yat-Chor, you can see where YWP's interests lie. I don't think it's favouritism as much as its characterization. Yuen Biao's character is a coward who doesn't realize how good his kung fu is or even that he has learnt kung fu early on. Not your typical action hero, almost the reverse. It honestly might be my favourite character that I've seen Yuen Biao ever portray, as a character at least not necessarily for action. I'm not sure about the title though? He does over come his fears a bit by the end, however I'm not sure he became fearless or dreads nothing (naught). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 12, 2021 Member Share Posted June 12, 2021 The title hurts the movie, which should have been called Rebellious Coward. Given that Wong Jing wrote the story, there was a missed opportunity for High Risk to capitalize on the Mousy connection since the Chinese title for High Risk (Mouse Courage, Tiger Might) is a satirical variation of the one for Die Hard (Dragon Courage, Tiger Might). 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Omni Dragon Posted June 12, 2021 Author Member Share Posted June 12, 2021 There's Enter the Dragon flags in The Young Master as well: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 12, 2021 Member Share Posted June 12, 2021 Interesting. The Young Master is almost a Bruce Lee homage movie when you also factor in the stunt casting - Tien Feng, Whang Ing-Sik and Shek Kin. If only Jackie had the balls to cast Bolo as one of the criminals. He could have at least cast his co-star during the Lo Wei years - James Tien. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 20, 2021 Member Share Posted June 20, 2021 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted April 20, 2022 Member Share Posted April 20, 2022 Dreadnaught is an odd little film in that it's a kung fu movie without much kung fu. The plot structure's there, the comedy is there, the characters are there but it's pretty low on action sequences. It feels like Yuen Woo Ping's attempt at a Giallo film without him forsaking his usual signature style. With all that said, it's still a fun little film. Admittedly, not one I'll be quick to watch again soon but it is good. The plot? Well there isn't really much of one. Out simply, a psychopathic Yuen Shun Yi wants to kill Yuen Biao, Leung Kar Yan and Kwan Tak Hing (once again playing Wong Fei Hung). That's all you need to know. It's a shame Woo Ping didn't focus on the action because the martial arts scenes in this are incredible. Fung Hak On, masquerading as a tailor and attacking Kwan Tak Hing is one of my favourite "covert" fights of all time and the "double sided killer" fight is truly iconic. Something only the Yuen Clan could have come up with. It's a quirky, oddly paced bag but I'm very glad to own it. The last 20 minutes is worth the price of the Blu Ray alone. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Ninja Sinai Posted May 17, 2022 Member Share Posted May 17, 2022 On 4/20/2022 at 7:11 PM, Drunken Monk said: Dreadnaught is an odd little film in that it's a kung fu movie without much kung fu. The plot structure's there, the comedy is there, the characters are there but it's pretty low on action sequences. It feels like Yuen Woo Ping's attempt at a Giallo film without him forsaking his usual signature style. With all that said, it's still a fun little film. Admittedly, not one I'll be quick to watch again soon but it is good. The plot? Well there isn't really much of one. Out simply, a psychopathic Yuen Shun Yi wants to kill Yuen Biao, Leung Kar Yan and Kwan Tak Hing (once again playing Wong Fei Hung). That's all you need to know. It's a shame Woo Ping didn't focus on the action because the martial arts scenes in this are incredible. Fung Hak On, masquerading as a tailor and attacking Kwan Tak Hing is one of my favourite "covert" fights of all time and the "double sided killer" fight is truly iconic. Something only the Yuen Clan could have come up with. It's a quirky, oddly paced bag but I'm very glad to own it. The last 20 minutes is worth the price of the Blu Ray alone. I first watched Dreadnaught back in the mid to late 90's when Made In Hong Kong released it on VHS in the UK and I have to say I was disappointed. Then watched it again when HKL released it on DVD and was again disappointed. Well lo and behold over the weekend I watched it again, this time on the new Blu-Ray release, which looked stunning by the way, but sadly was disappointed once again. My biggest gripe as Drunken Monk already mentioned is that lack of fight action. The fight with the tailor was good as well as the double sided killer fight, but thats it!! No classic fights apart from these two short fights!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted May 17, 2022 Member Share Posted May 17, 2022 A quick tip.... and I don't mean it in a condescending way, but when I finally learned (and it was long journey) to judge films on their own merit and what's on the screen, instead of what I wanted them to be, it was a bit of a relief. Doesn't mean I'm any less of a critical judge, but I judge only what the film gives me and take myself and my expectations out of the equation. I don't always pull it off and still get disappointed from time to time, though it is a useful little practice to apply. With Dreadnaught as an example, YWP was trying to do something different here; a slasher flick in a classic kung fu comedy wrapper, and a Wong Fei Hung yarn to boot. And while I may balk a bit at the inclusion of the latter, I think he succeeds in what he sets out to do. Me wanting more fight scenes is in a sense immaterial. It's not that kind of film or where the main focus was. So I try and watch and judge it as a kung fu comedy horror hybrid, and I think it works as such. Even if holding up against other similar themed titles from the time, such as Phantom Killer or the Billy Chong kung fu zombie/vamp flicks, I think it comes out on top. Though up against the likes of Spooky Encounters or Human Lanterns, it loses out. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Frank Bolte Posted June 9, 2022 Member Share Posted June 9, 2022 Always been a big fan ob Dreadnaught regardless of the lack of fight scenes...the lionddance is spot on and the whole flick is dopeness..just take it as it is 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member SunChien Posted June 14, 2022 Member Share Posted June 14, 2022 I thought it was a decent film but I preferred Knockabout over this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.