Member Cloud Hands Posted April 12, 2014 Member Share Posted April 12, 2014 I very clearly remember the first Shaw I saw. I was somewhere between 9 and 11 years old, late 80s, and I rented 36th Chamber of Shaolin on VHS. At the time I did Karate on Saturday mornings, after training we'd go in to town and I was usually allowed to rent a video. I'd always check out the martial arts section, in case they had new films. One day 36th Chamber showed up and I had no hesitations. The training scenes and temple life were seared into my brain and to this day it has a heavy nostalgia to it. At the time I wasn't aware there was this studio called 'Shaw Brothers'.. only a very limited number seemed to make it to VHS in the UK (I think a few other films did get releases, but I never had them in my local shop). I didn't see another Shaw until I was in my later teens and I started collecting. I was probably 19 when I finally got hold of a copy of 36th Chamber to call my own - a certain shop for connoisseurs had a sub copy taken from the reels, or so I was told. By then I 'd discovered the Venoms and the rest is history. Do you remember which film saw first or got you hooked? Some of you might have been lucky enough to see these films in the Cinema? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member wongfeihung62 Posted April 12, 2014 Member Share Posted April 12, 2014 KING BOXER on VHS from Warner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted April 12, 2014 Member Share Posted April 12, 2014 The 12 gold medallions and Virgins of the seven seas in a cinema when I was 12/14 years old and it wasn't even mentioned that they were Shaw Brothers' movies. I only discovered this studio when I began to collect VHS in the late 90's and found a VHS of 12 Gold Medallions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tex Killer Posted April 12, 2014 Member Share Posted April 12, 2014 Virgins of the seven seas That I would like to see. I think there is english friendly german dvd... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG Posted April 12, 2014 Member Share Posted April 12, 2014 5 Fingers of Death. 1973. My wife and I went to a triple header in Rochester, New York. The Big Boss was the second one. The Third I can not remember. We both were 'BLOWN' away in "our" first kung fu movies experience. OH YEAH! Let the journey begin. GD Y-Y Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member agentzuk Posted April 12, 2014 Member Share Posted April 12, 2014 HOUSE OF TRAPS blew my mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member David Rees Posted April 12, 2014 Member Share Posted April 12, 2014 I think it was either Water Margin or Disciples Of Shaolin in London, Wardour Street, Chinese cinema. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Skeleton Claw Posted April 12, 2014 Member Share Posted April 12, 2014 33 years ago. Saw Bruce Lee: His Last Days His Last Nights on channel 5 out of NY. A couple weeks later Master Killer (36th Chambers) came on. Game over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Shaolivevil Posted April 12, 2014 Member Share Posted April 12, 2014 The Duel aka Duel Of the Iron Fist in 1986 on WNUV 54 Baltimore... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted April 13, 2014 Member Share Posted April 13, 2014 KINGBOXER aka 5 Fingers of Death. That was followed by THE KILLER aka Sacred Knives of Vengeance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted April 13, 2014 Member Share Posted April 13, 2014 Return Of The One-Armed Swordman on DVD. Still think it's one of the greatest Shaw Bros movies ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member whitesnake Posted April 13, 2014 Member Share Posted April 13, 2014 Re: Virgins of the Seven Seas That I would like to see. I think there is english friendly german dvd... Koch Media released a Region 2 dvd, Karate, Kusse, Blonde Katzen (Virgins of the Seven Seas), German dub with English subtitles. The first Shaw Brothers movie I saw was Five Fingers of Death when it was on a double bill with Red Sun, over 40 years go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Treacherous Mastermind Posted April 13, 2014 Member Share Posted April 13, 2014 Five Deadly Venoms was the first one I saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member danthemandmv Posted April 13, 2014 Member Share Posted April 13, 2014 ''THE DELINQUENT'' aka ''STREET GANGS OF HONG KONG'';saw it back in Spring 1982 on HBO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member bobo Posted April 13, 2014 Member Share Posted April 13, 2014 i saw FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH at the theatre back in the 70's. the next shaws were SACRED KNIVES OF VENGEANCE, TRIPLE IRONS, MAN OF IRON,DUEL OF THE IRON FIST and HAMMER OF GOD. the kung fu movie craze was on and they came by the hundreds, but not to many shaw bros movies for some reason. most only lasted a week, two if they were lucky. obviously the bruce lee movies got most of the attention. i once saw FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH, FIST OF FURY and DEEP THRUST all on one weekend, all at different theaters --- those were the days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron Boat Posted April 14, 2014 Member Share Posted April 14, 2014 5 Masters of Death (5 Shaolin Masters) early 80s on Black Belt Theater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chinatown Kid Posted April 14, 2014 Member Share Posted April 14, 2014 ''THE DELINQUENT'' aka ''STREET GANGS OF HONG KONG'';saw it back in Spring 1982 on HBO... Your joking right? No way in hell you saw it on HBO lol... First Shaw I saw was the very first movie that premiered on Black Belt Theatre in the early 80's, The Savage Five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Gaijin84 Posted April 14, 2014 Member Share Posted April 14, 2014 Two Champions of Shaolin on WTXX-20 out of Waterbury, CT on an early Saturday morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member shaolinkng7 Posted April 14, 2014 Member Share Posted April 14, 2014 Unfortunately my first Shaw Brothers film was the Bruceploitation flick "Bruce Lee - His Last Days, His Last Nights". I was at my friends house playing Activision's Skiing and Stampede on his Atari when his father told him to turn it off and get ready for dinner. We turned the Atari off and the final 15 minutes of the Bruce Lee film was on. I could not believe an actual Chinese martial arts film was on television. There was a commercial break and I ran home to catch the ending. The station ran a promo for "Master Killer", and I vowed to tune in on the scheduled date. But it would not be on for another month, so the day it aired I completely forgot. I was outside playing manhunt with friends when another friend came out of his house and mentioned a Kung Fu movie was on Channel 5. I caught "Master Killer" from the point where Gordon Liu confronts the lead villain for the final fight. Another promo aired for "Duel of the Iron Fists" which would not air for another month. Once again I forgot it was on, and missed the beginning, catching it from the point when Ti Lung is ambushed by knife welding killers while in exile. The first full Shaw Brothers film I saw would have been "Chinatown Kid", but would not appreciate the quality of a Shaw Brothers film until "Savage 5" aired a month later. Your joking right? No way in hell you saw it on HBO lol... He probably meant WHT. If you did not live in an area with cable, then there was no way to see HBO. But WHT was available on UHF, just rent a box to unscramble the signal. WHT aired Shaw Brothers films. I have an old TV guide that listed Two Champions of Death airing on WHT on October 3, 1983. First Shaw I saw was the very first movie that premiered on Black Belt Theatre in the early 80's, The Savage Five. According to the list of Black Belt Theater films that aired in NYC, "Bruce Lee - His Last Days, His Last Nights" was the first film to air, while "The Savage 5" was the 9th. In those early days Channel 5's Drive-in Theater alternated between biker films, Hammer films and Black Belt Theater films. Many of the martial arts films aired a month apart, then eventually settled into every other week, and finally dominated Drive-in Theater airing every week ( except for the weeks SFM Holiday Network aired one of their G rated snore fest films in that time slot. ) In 1983 Channel 5 turned Drive-in Theater into a double feature, and usually two martial arts films would air back to back. This was the same year rival station Channel 11 aired Fist of Fury Theater with their own Martial Arts films. Many people remember "The Five Deadly Venoms" as airing first. But according to Chris Poggiali's well researched article on Drive-in Theater, "The Five Deadly Venoms" was the 8th film to air. There is a distinct possibility that WNEW aired a few martial arts films late at night, as a test run, before airing them on Drive-in Theater. If you lived in another city, it is possible the Black Belt Theater films aired in a different order. But I would suspect most stations aired the one with Bruce Lee in it's title first. Unless there was a knowledgeable Martial Arts film expert programming the station, no one would know any better. They would go for the film with at least one recognizable name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Eastern Evil Posted April 14, 2014 Member Share Posted April 14, 2014 The movie I now know as 'Marco Polo' was the 1st martial arts movie I ever saw - on channel 5, WWOR, on a Saturday in the early '80's. I never forgot certain scenes (Fu Sheng with the hands in the gravel & splitting wood, Phillip Kwok jumping in & out of the ditches & the palm prints on the column & the chest). Only in 2010 when I saw it again did I realize I saw this as a kid & it was such a trip to see it again & remember watching it so long ago. I then watched everything I could fing from Shaw Brothers - which is a lot! My 2nd was Shaolin Temple (1976) & then The Brave Archer'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted April 14, 2014 Member Share Posted April 14, 2014 The movie I now know as 'Marco Polo' was the 1st martial arts movie I ever saw - on channel 5, WWOR, on a Saturday in the early '80's. I never forgot certain scenes (Fu Sheng with the hands in the gravel & splitting wood, Phillip Kwok jumping in & out of the ditches & the palm prints on the column & the chest). Damn, that's one movie I would love to see - it looks really nice, someone on here has screenshots from this film in some of their albums and these pictures are marvelous. All I've been able to find so far is some German box-set with 5 movies (not sure what the other 4 are) and a bonus DVD - the movies are in German only though, no original or English dub nor subtitles of any kind (from the description on amazon). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted April 14, 2014 Member Share Posted April 14, 2014 Dirty Ho sometime back in the mid-to-late 1980s shown off of an independent channel (I believe 31 at the time broadcast from Sacramento.) I had no idea until years later that it was a Shaw Brothers film, but I enjoyed it so much I had memorized the title (well the title is memorable) as well as many sceens and years later got a boot copy (did not know it was a boot at the time; I had searched for years for it) to rewatch it when I started collecting DVDs. Now I've seen many more Shaw Brothers films. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted April 14, 2014 Member Share Posted April 14, 2014 People who saw these flicks back in 70/80s have a pretty good memory. I saw a bunch of these in theaters in Times Square, as well as, on BBT during this time and there is no bloody way I could tell you which one I saw first. I can recall titles on some, but first? No way. Its one big blur of martial arts goodness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 14, 2014 Member Share Posted April 14, 2014 The first Shaw Brothers film I saw was Crippled Avengers, but I am only 14 so obviously I didn't see it theatrically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted April 15, 2014 Member Share Posted April 15, 2014 All I've been able to find so far is some German box-set with 5 movies (not sure what the other 4 are) and a bonus DVD - the movies are in German only though, no original or English dub nor subtitles of any kind (from the description on amazon). Actually, it has German, Mandarin and Cantonese dubs - but only Germans for the subtitles. Guess I had it confused with another release. (and sorry for the off-topic) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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