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Shaw Brothers Hidden Gems.


Drunken Arts

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Drunken Arts

I googled "Shaw Brothers Hidden Gems" & "Shaw Brothers Hidden Gems kungfucinema" to see if there were any threads, I only got one on here from 2007 regarding gems that were going OOP, considering how old the thread was, and how many are "now" OOP i wanted to ask this;

I am new to the Shaw Brothers Libary, 10 months to be exact, so as i started my collection, reading top 10, 25, 50 even 100 lists, reading forums, reviews etc, you always get the usual films, and i've got myself alot of these usual suspects.

I think it may be easier if i list most of what i have hunted out, and in what sections, So i've gone and grabbed;

a] Venom Mob Films; 5 Venoms, Crippled Avengers, Masked Avengers, House Of Traps, Daredevils, Kid Golden Arm, Flag Of Iron, Rebel Intruders, Shaolin Invincible, Legend Of The Fox, Ode To The Gallantry, Magnificent Ruffians, Shaolin Rescuers, Heaven & Hell etc

b] LKL films; 36 Chambers Trilogy, Lady Is The Boss, Shaolin Mantis, Heroes Of The East, Dirty Ho, Executioners Of Shaolin, 8 Diagram Polefighter, My Young Auntie, Legendary Weapons Of China, Martial Club etc [Challenge Of The Masters is on my get list]

c] Chor Yuen; Killer Clans, Magic Blade, Jade Tiger, Legend Of The Bat, Death Duel, Black Lizard, Swordsman & The Enchantress, Sentimental Swordsman 1&2, Bat Without Wings, Clan Of Amazons, Clans of Intrigue, Convict Killer etc

and d] Chang Cheh [Non Venoms], Heroes Two, 5 Shaolin Masters, Water Margin, All Brothers Are Men, Have Sword Will Travel, Shaolin Martial Arts, Shaolin Avengers, Ten Tigers of Kwangtung, Golden Swallow, 7 Man Army, 5 Element Ninja etc

I do also have other big films like Come Drink With Me, Avenging Eagle, King Boxer and Clan Of The White Lotus. I've ordered 14 Amazons, which i read is a fan favourite and i see on these said lists.

Now here comes the tough part, alot of what i listed above appears on alot of Top/Best lists [apart from a few] but i stumbled upon films like Killer Constable, Black Tavern, Kung Fu Instructor, Tiger Killer and Secret Service Of Imperial Court. Some proper great films that i've heard very little about. Even films like Human Lanterns & Shaolin Intruders get some love but not as much as say 36 Chamber/King Boxer/Deadly Venoms.

You get the idea..

Now can anyone list Shaw films that probably dont make it into these public lists, or that are maybe more cult/hidden gems like Black Tavern, that are very good films or underground classics, i like most styles, be it Kung Fu, Sword Play, Wire Fu, Mystery/Thrillers etc

I just want to branch out from the Venoms/LKL/Chor Yuen but im happy for recomendations of Chang Cheh as he has soooo many films out, im bound not to of heard of some of his films.

With the Shaw Brothers Libary so Vast i think i've made a great start, i just want to now start to branch out :) thanks.

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The great thing is that you have many hours of enjoyment coming your way as you watch new films that you weren't aware of before!

Just keep in mind that you are going to get wildly varying opinions on here as it's always a bit subjective when asking such a broad question.

For my two cents, thinking of some titles that may not be on most lists, I'd recommend (in no particular order):

Monkey Kung Fu

Buddha's Palm

Killer Constable

Bastard Swordsman

Duel For Gold

Five Superfighters

Judgment of an Assassin

Shaolin Martial Arts

There are many, many more, but those are a few that come to mind.

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A few lesser-discussed ones that I like:

Chor Yuen, director:

The Bastard---great morality tale as far as poor and simple people versus worldly, wealthy people. Lily Li's best performance, IMO, as a young beggar girl. Tsung Hua as a simple, undeducated kung fu student who gets involved with some wealthy folks. Very sad, but some great action scenes and a nice story.

The Lizard----fun masked kung fu hero-with-secret-identity story. Yueh Hua as the star, Lo Lieh as the bad guy. Lighthearted and colorful, with some great early 70's fight scenes.

Duel For Gold---really grim, but compelling with great swordplay. There really are no heroes in this one, just four people out for gold. Another strong take on morality.

Chang Cheh, director:

Of course he's got a million, but I'll mention

Anonymous Heroes. Early Republic setting, with revolution brewing against the warlords. Ti Lung, David Chiang and Ching Li become drawn up in the revolution, and it just goes over the top (in a good way) with the loyalty among friends, heroic bloodshed ending. More guns, bayonettes and basher-style than traditional kung fu. Just Chang Cheh turned all the way up. :wink:

Seven Man Army-----one of Shaw's few WWII settings, about a small group of Chinese soldiers who hold out against overwhelming Japanese opponents. Some nice flashback stories about all the Chinese guys, and again, total Chang Cheh heroics and drama.

A couple others:

Enchanting Shadow----I liked this one a lot. One of the earliest Shaw's from Celestial (1960). Very slow paced, formal, atmospheric traditional Chinese ghost story. Not that scary and not much action, but a well-made film, with a nice haunting, atmospheric vibe.

Pursuit---one of the lesser-mentioned stories from the Outlaws of the Marsh literature (Water Margin, All Men Are Brothers, etc.) Great story about the betrayed general Lin Chong, and how he gets his revenge. Some great spear fighting, and snowy settings.

The Bloody Escape---Chen Kuan Tai as a naive bandit who develops a conscience, and then turns against his former gang to help female captive Shih Szu escape. Some great basher action, and I still say that other than Ku Feng, Chen Kuan Tai was Shaw's best actor, in that he could convincingly play a wide range of characters.

The Young Avenger---great Shih Szu swordplay. I thought she was up there with best of Shaw's screen fighting women---very natural and fluid, with some long takes in the fight scenes. Really beautiful, and a pretty good actress.

The Magnificent Swordsman---IMO, this was one of Shaw's best efforts at duplicating the feel of a Zatoichi movie. Very satisfying on all levels.

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I have around 120/130 SB titles. Most were blind buy based on what others suggested or featured one of my favorite Shaw stars, etc. Out of those, there are probably 10 that I have not watched yet and around 5 that I did not like. But, here is my list, minus what you have listed and ones that I did not like or seen yet.

A Deadly Secret

The Bare-Footed Kid

The Boxer Rebellion

Chinatown Kid

The Super Inframan

The Vengeful Beauty

The Bastard Swordsman/Return of the Bastard Swordsman

Blood Brothers

Bloody Parrot

The Brave Archer - (series: 1,2,3 and Brave Archer and his Mate)

Brothers Five

Buddha`s Palm

Cat vs Rat

Clan of the White Lotus

The Deadly Breaking Sword

Demon of the Lute

Descendant of the Sun

The Devil`s Mirror

Disciples of Shaolin

The Enchantress

The Flying Guillotine

Full Moon Scimitar

Heroes Shed No Tears

Human Lanters

Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan

The Imperial Swordsman

Judgement of an Assassin

Killer Clans

The Lady Assassin

Life Gamble

Lion vs Lion

Mad Monkey Kung Fu

Magnificent Wanderers

Marco Polo

Martial Arts of Shaolin

Men from the Monastery

One-Armed Swordsman/Return of the One-Armed Swordsman/

Opium and the Kung-Fu Master

Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman

The Pirate

Portrait in Crystal

The Proud Youth

Rendezvous with Death

Return of the Sentimental Swordsman

Roving Swordsman

Shaolin Abbot

Shaolin Intruders

Shaolin Temple

Soul of the Sword

The Spirit of the Sword

The Spiritual Boxer

The Sword Stained with Royal Blood

The Man in Chang-An

What Price Honesty

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i like: To Kill a Mastermind, Delightful Forrest, Ghosts Galore, Gang Master & Dragon Swamp. it doesn't seem that these obscure flicks get a lot of "promotion", but they're DOPE in either case!!!

happy Hunting!!!:smile:

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ShawAngela

Jade raksha, King eagle, A cause to kill, Raw passions (very good thriller), Payment in blood (superb non stop action movie), The last judgement, Mission impossible, Black enforcer... and a lot of other ones...

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Drunken Arts

Hey, First up thanks for the replies

ChanBiaoHungLungFuSheng;

Yeah i feel quite happy knowing i have so many Shaw Brothers films to hunt and watch, i also enjoy the hunt as much as the films some times lol

I will read up on the titles in your post, As i listed approx 90% of my films, I do have Buddahs Palm, just have not got round to watching it, thanks for putting that higher on my watch list.

KyFi;

As a Chor Yuen fan i have been trying to find a ILV of The Bastard, i know nothing about it but wanted to see all his Shaw Brothers Work.

Pursuit, Enchanting Shadow, Anonymous Heroes and Duel for Gold all sound Very Interesting. Cheers.

reason108;

Woah what a list. Cheers, i can sit for hours on end googling/imdb'ing Shaw Reviews or even what they are about, you have given me food for thought.

Buddha`s Palm has been brought up again. Nice. lol

I have heard only good things of some of these on your list. The Lady Assassin, What Price Honesty and Judgement of an Assassin have had good things said about them.

I read Descendant of the Sun was Shaws Superman, that kind of put me off, is that a fair description of the film?

sikmao;

Delightful Forest is another i have heard of, due to me reading up on Tiger Killer that i mentioned earlier, while i could import the US version, im holding out on finding a IVL, as 90% of my Shaws are IVL, but not sure how hard that will be..

Isn't To Kill a Mastermind the one, or one of the ones that never got a proper release on DVD?

Never heard of Ghosts Galore but will also check out the ones you have listed.

I made an order of Village Of Tigers and A Taste Of Cold Steel today on IVL DVD, never seen them, but in my research, they sound like i would enjoy them.

Blind buys can work out great or backfire, but part of the fun is taking that gamble lol

Have any of you guys seen these two?

EDIT;

ShawAngela;

As a big fan of Ti Lung, I have heard of King Eagle but not seen it, but ill watch any Shaw Brothers with him in it, i thought he was superb, without doubt one of my highlights when getting into these Shaws, 11 months ago i would not know who he was, [Put those knives down people! lol] but films like Magic Blade, Jade Tiger, Convict Killer, Kung Fu Instructor, Tiger Killer, Avenging Eagle etc which have been some of my highlights, made me realise i have been missing out..

The rest though, I have never heard of lol, so more food for thought, thank you.

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ShawAngela

Village of tigers and A taste of cold steel are very good too.

And if you have the luck to find King eagle, you'll really enjoy it.

If you can't find it, I have a vcd version from the Malaysian editor, so, if you're interested in it, let me know.

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Treacherous Mastermind
i like: To Kill a Mastermind, Delightful Forrest, Ghosts Galore, Gang Master & Dragon Swamp. it doesn't seem that these obscure flicks get a lot of "promotion", but they're DOPE in either case!!!

happy Hunting!!!:smile:

I just saw Delightful Forest today! It's definitely DOPE!

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"Isn't To Kill a Mastermind the one, or one of the ones that never got a proper release on DVD?"

-yes, this is one of the ones, but, it seems that it DID get the "remaster" treatment & NOT the proper release treatment. but, it's out there. there are folks on here that have it. i got the 'Fu Subs' version & have not been disappointed!!!

here's another title: The Master, with Chen Kuan Tai & Yuen Dak. it's SOOOOO DOPE!!! a definite MUST SEE!!! if you haven't heard of it already, that is!

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Cold Bishop

Yeah, Chang Cheh, Chor Yuen, and Lau Kar-Leung are the big three name directors, but I wouldn't stop there. Sun Chung and Hua Shan are deserving of an equal spot in that line up. Cheng Kang only made a handful of martial-arts films, but I'm convinced that with better material he could have been perhaps the studio's greatest director (12 Gold Medallions is one of the studio's masterpieces). Kuei Chih Hung also only made a few martial-arts films, but both The Delinquent and Killer Constable are masterpieces, and his non-fu films are nothing to sneeze at either (Boxer's Omen is brilliantly insane). Ho Meng-Hua's filmography is uneven, and I'm not sure he ever made a great kung-fu film, but his films are typically solid genre entries and always handsome (I'm a fan of the hard-to-find Black Enforcer). Same thing with Pao Hsueh-Li, although he's supposedly responsible for most of his Chang Cheh "collaborations", which are pretty good. If we're talking the late '60s wave of swordplay films, Griffin Yueh Feng, Hsu Tseng-Hung, Chang Cheng-Ho, even Lo Wei all made consistently entertaining films. If were talking the early '80s end-time era, Tong Gai, Tony Liu, Nam Nai-Choi and Johnny Wang all showed the signs of promising careers that unfortunately were cut short by the studio closing. And there's plenty of one-offs from directors who didn't leave much a mark at the studio, but made a few great films (Lady with a Sword, Black Tavern, The Casino, Five Superfighters, A Deadly Secret, What Price Honesty?, Buddha Palm, New Tales of the Flying Fox).

And that's barely getting into the other Shaw genres: Wenyi Melodramas, Huangmei Operas, Pop Musicals, Historical Erotica, Horror and Shawsploitation.

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Drunken Arts

Thanks for the new replies peeps :smile:

Eastern Evil;

I shall put this one into my search's as i do like me a Chor Yuen film. Cheers.

ShawAngela;

Glad to hear you think those 2 are good films, i must of spent 2 hours deciding back and fourth which two DVDs to buy lol, the others i saw were The Deadly Knives, Portrait In Crystal, Shaolin Handlock and Police Force.

Anyone have much to say about Police Force?

I will keep that offer in mind, Cheers.

Treacherous Mastermind;

Good, another thumbs up for Delightful Forest :bigsmile:

sikmao;

Ah sweet, i'll see if i can get a hold of it then [in regards to To Kill A Mastermind]

The Master, Hmm, Anything with Chen Kuan Tai in is worth a watch in my books, Im sure someone offered this on IVL to me for £5, shall go hunt that email out.

Cold Bishop;

Cheers on the directors, i will go through their films on imdb, I do have to say, when i mentioned i ordered 14 Amazons in my first post it was between that or 12 Gold Medallions, but opted for 14 Amazons, i am looking forward to these two, going to try and order 12 Gold Medallions next week, if i have the funds lol

The Delinquent has been put on my map now i know its from the director of Killer Constable.

More praise for What Price Honesty? and Buddha Palm. Excellent.

Thanks again :xd:

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Secret Executioner

Nothing to add here, just wanted to say that this is a really interesting thread for any Shaw Bros newcomer.

I often read this part of the forum and have a few movies on DVD, but I'm very lacking in term of SB culture, so a thread with title suggestions to newbies is an asset. :smile:

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ShawAngela

Shaolin handlock is excellent, in my opinion (as I'm a crazy fan of David Chiang, it's not surprising that I enjoyed it a lot...).

Deadly knives and Police force are very good too, I would say that Deadly knives is very very good...

Portrait in crystal is good but I enjoyed it less than the other ones...

And What price honesty is very good too, Pai Piao and Sun Chine are excellent in it.

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ShawAngela

If you can get The villains (unfortunately, you'll only find dvd-r of this one as it wasn't released...and I have it too, if you're interested in it), you'll surely enjoy it. It's a superb story and Yueh Hua, Shih Szu, Chen Hung Lieh, and Chin Feng are excellent.

Among the unreleased, there are also Kiss and kill, Operation lipstick, Night of the devil's bride, Revenge of the corpse, Thunderclap and Midnight murder which are very good...

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ShawAngela

If nobody has mentioned them as yet, there are also The kung fu instructor and The master strikes back, both with Ti Lung.

Boxer from the temple, Five shaolin masters, Invincible shaolin and Shaolin avengers are also very good ones.

The young avenger with Yueh Hua and Shih Szu is worth watching too.

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Hey, First up thanks for the replies

ChanBiaoHungLungFuSheng;

Yeah i feel quite happy knowing i have so many Shaw Brothers films to hunt and watch, i also enjoy the hunt as much as the films some times lol

I will read up on the titles in your post, As i listed approx 90% of my films, I do have Buddahs Palm, just have not got round to watching it, thanks for putting that higher on my watch list.

KyFi;

As a Chor Yuen fan i have been trying to find a ILV of The Bastard, i know nothing about it but wanted to see all his Shaw Brothers Work.

Pursuit, Enchanting Shadow, Anonymous Heroes and Duel for Gold all sound Very Interesting. Cheers.

reason108;

Woah what a list. Cheers, i can sit for hours on end googling/imdb'ing Shaw Reviews or even what they are about, you have given me food for thought.

Buddha`s Palm has been brought up again. Nice. lol

I have heard only good things of some of these on your list. The Lady Assassin, What Price Honesty and Judgement of an Assassin have had good things said about them.

I read Descendant of the Sun was Shaws Superman, that kind of put me off, is that a fair description of the film?

sikmao;

Delightful Forest is another i have heard of, due to me reading up on Tiger Killer that i mentioned earlier, while i could import the US version, im holding out on finding a IVL, as 90% of my Shaws are IVL, but not sure how hard that will be..

Isn't To Kill a Mastermind the one, or one of the ones that never got a proper release on DVD?

Never heard of Ghosts Galore but will also check out the ones you have listed.

I made an order of Village Of Tigers and A Taste Of Cold Steel today on IVL DVD, never seen them, but in my research, they sound like i would enjoy them.

Blind buys can work out great or backfire, but part of the fun is taking that gamble lol

Have any of you guys seen these two?

EDIT;

ShawAngela;

As a big fan of Ti Lung, I have heard of King Eagle but not seen it, but ill watch any Shaw Brothers with him in it, i thought he was superb, without doubt one of my highlights when getting into these Shaws, 11 months ago i would not know who he was, [Put those knives down people! lol] but films like Magic Blade, Jade Tiger, Convict Killer, Kung Fu Instructor, Tiger Killer, Avenging Eagle etc which have been some of my highlights, made me realise i have been missing out..

The rest though, I have never heard of lol, so more food for thought, thank you.

Descendant of the Sun is a fantasy film. But, its that Chu Yuan good, darkness, crazy, fantasy stuff. :tongue: Its similar in style to Bat Without Wings.

Also, To Kill a Mastermind and Revenge of the Corpse are sadly missing from legit dvd release. There are ways to get the films though but they are not remastered like the other Shaws movies have been. I think those two were ripped from the Ziieagle box. TKAM has to be one of the greatest Shaw films ever made. Revenge of the Corpse is a little uneven but packs a killer ending.

I am sure that you are aware already but just in case, Youtube is a good place to just watch some of these movies to see if its something that you want to buy. I think that the Shaws put out over 700 movies but not all of them are martial arts, of course. You might want to check out celestialpictures.com and download their SB catalog. You can see the complete list of their legit releases with a picture and brief overview of what the film is about. Happy Hunting!

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Tex Killer

I would say it`s more fun to discover them by yourself than read others recommendations. Well, at least that`s what I did...And seeing you are in good start and addicted you propably end up picking all eventually:tongue:

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Treacherous Mastermind

I actually uploaded the end fight of TKAM on youtube. I ripped it from my panmedia/red sun/shaolin/bonsai dvd, which surprisingly had good quality. TKAM is recommended to the fullest extent for it's amazing plot, and for its excellent actors, whose talents were never used again, sadly. From what I've seen the panmedia has the best quality of TKAM. This is the first and last time I'll recommend a panmedia dvd. But just to let you know the panmedia dvd of TKAM is only with mandarin language wit eng subs...no english dubs.

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Tex Killer
I actually

uploaded the end fight of TKAM on youtube. I ripped it from my

panmedia/red sun/shaolin/bonsai dvd, which surprisingly had good

quality. TKAM is recommended to the fullest extent for it's amazing

plot, and for its excellent actors, whose talents were never used again,

sadly. From what I've seen the panmedia has the best quality of TKAM.

This is the first and last time I'll recommend a panmedia dvd. But just

to let you know the panmedia dvd of TKAM is only with mandarin language

wit eng subs...no english dubs.

movie is amazing but don't pay any money for panmedia. torrent it or get dvd-r from other forum member.
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Secret Executioner
I actually uploaded the end fight of TKAM on youtube. I ripped it from my panmedia/red sun/shaolin/bonsai dvd, which surprisingly had good quality. TKAM is recommended to the fullest extent for it's amazing plot, and for its excellent actors, whose talents were never used again, sadly. From what I've seen the panmedia has the best quality of TKAM. This is the first and last time I'll recommend a panmedia dvd. But just to let you know the panmedia dvd of TKAM is only with mandarin language wit eng subs...no english dubs.

Added this one to my "must find" list.

The language thing is no problem at all for me - I tend to enjoy Shaw Bros movies (and Chinese films in general) with a Cantonese or Mandarin dub and subtitles than with a French or English dub (I still loved 36th Chamber Of Shaolin and Return Of The One-Armed Swordman with the French dubs though).

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Drunken Arts

Hey guys had a few busy days, and had little time to comment.

Godfrey Ho worshipper;

Im glad you think that way too. I, as a 31 year old, am a late bloomer regarding the Shaw Brothers and no doubt there will be more people down the line getting into Kung Fu/MA/Asian Cinema, and i hope this thread can be of some good use :)

ShawAngela;

Thanks ShawAngela again, some more to read up about, ponder or hunt down. The Kung Fu Instructor was brilliant!

reason108;

I really enjoyed Bat Without Wings, so i'll have to check out Descendant of the Sun.

Yeah i have seen that Youtube is a haven of old Kung Fu flicks, I shall try to see if TKAM or Revenge Of The Corpse is up. Cheers.

Tex Killer;

Yeah with sooo many Shaws i needed abit of help being pointed in the right direction, but I see what you mean and i agree, I have stumbled on some great blind buys, tbh I was in Hong Kong last Summer for a few weeks holiday, and i picked up my first Shaw IVLs from HMV, i had no idea what they were like, just went with the Front cover and my gut instinct lol, ended up with 6 films inc the likes of Clan Of The White Lotus and Crippled Avengers. Like this you feel more of a sense of maybe achievement. If thats the right word for it lol.

Picking up all??? :squigglemouth: lol. I wish i had the money too :cry:

Treacherous Mastermind;

I will go hunt down your video on youtube cheers. I also have read Forums and Blogs on how much Panmedia have hurt the Kung Fu Cinema releases, but I really do want to see TKAM, so will try to aquire it as Tex mentioned. But to have yet another shout out for this film is great. :smile:

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Secret Executioner
I would say it`s more fun to discover them by yourself than read others recommendations. Well, at least that`s what I did...And seeing you are in good start and addicted you propably end up picking all eventually:tongue:

I tended to do a lot of blind purchases before, but with this forum, I tend to try and get stuff that either was discussed on here or features familiar names in the credits - like Godon Liu, Chang Cheh, Ti Lung (whom I used to refer to as "the guy from Legend Of The Bat" after I bought that one)...

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Tex Killer

[quote name='Godfrey

Ho worshipper']I tended to do

a lot of blind purchases before, but with this forum, I tend to try and

get stuff that either was discussed on here or features familiar names

in the credits - like Godon Liu, Chang Cheh, Ti Lung (whom I used to

refer to as "the guy from Legend Of The Bat" after I bought that

one)...

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