Member paimeifist Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 This thread was inspired by the "who's your favorite superstar" thread. I have noticed that Gordon Liu, for being in as many great films, and being as great as he was, does not seem to get the clout that others do. He is a good actor a well as martial artist, and many of his movies are considered great. But for some reason it seems more people mention Fu Sheng, Ti Lung, etc. when "favorite" comes up. He definitely gets respect and is acknowledged, but it is just strange to me that not many seem to consider him their favorite, or one of their top favorite actors. I feel as if Gordon's diversity is a reason he isn't "favorited" as much as others. Granted he is most memorable as a monk to most I'm sure, he was good in almost any role. As to where other more popular guys seemed to have a somewhat consistent personality in their films. Look at someone like Hwang Jang Lee, who is constantly praised and seems to be a favorite among many.. He was a good villain, and a great fighter.. But he was generally just some stone faced guy with a mean mug, yet he gets as many shouts if not more than Lo Lieh who showed great versatility. (yes he is a favorite but I only mention him because it is an easy and good comparison). Extra: if anyone can give me an example of HJL showing some versatility in his acting I'd be interested in seeing that. Feel free to discuss similar situation with other people whether it be actors, directors, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 Look at someone like Hwang Jang Lee, who is constantly praised and seems to be a favorite among many.. He was a good villain, and a great fighter.. But he was generally just some stone faced guy with a mean mug, yet he gets as many shouts if not more than Lo Lieh who showed great versatility. (yes he is a favorite but I only mention him because it is an easy and good comparison). Extra: if anyone can give me an example of HJL showing some versatility in his acting I'd be interested in seeing that. Nobody can wear a blonde wig like Hwang Jang Lee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 I think there was some confusion on the term superstar (that thread was supposed to be about superstars not favorites.) I would not consider him a superstar, yet he is a favorite of mine. Gordon Liu was not as big of a box office draw as some mentioned in that thread. I'm personally a big fan. I enjoy watching him in films even when he is secondary or tertiary or smaller character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 Nobody can wear a blonde wig like Hwang Jang Lee. Well done GHW! GD Y-Y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted July 22, 2014 Author Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 I think there was some confusion on the term superstar (that thread was supposed to be about superstars not favorites.) I would not consider him a superstar, yet he is a favorite of mine. Gordon Liu was not as big of a box office draw as some mentioned in that thread. I'm personally a big fan. I enjoy watching him in films even when he is secondary or tertiary or smaller character. I have actually noticed this trend over my time with the forum, that thread just brought it to mind. People may say he is "one of their favorites" but you very rarely see him at the top when people talk favorites. I am pretty sure people just disregarded the superstar part of that other thread, haha. As far as superstars go, I don't think the thread starter was actually far off with those that he named. Were any Shaw stars "superstars?" You mentioned Gordon was not big back in his day, I didn't know that, although I assumed it to be true. That could have something to do with people favoring other Shaw stars over him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 I have actually noticed this trend over my time with the forum, that thread just brought it to mind. People may say he is "one of their favorites" but you very rarely see him at the top when people talk favorites. I am pretty sure people just disregarded the superstar part of that other thread, haha. As far as superstars go, I don't think the thread starter was actually far off with those that he named. Were any Shaw stars "superstars?" You mentioned Gordon was not big back in his day, I didn't know that, although I assumed it to be true. That could have something to do with people favoring other Shaw stars over him. Jimmy Wang Yu and Fu Sheng were easily superstars. Wang Yu was super popular in the mid-to-late 60s with possibly (One-Armed Swordsman is often credited) with this the first million HK dollar film and Fu Sheng was only getting bigger in popularity before his death. I don't mean to belittle Gordon Liu (he is one of my favorites) and the term "superstar" does have some fuzzy definition, heck I might even consider him "big" at one point (I am differentiating between being big and being a superstar), but in dealing with overall BO I just don't think he would be considered a superstar. But I will give this some more thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 Nobody can wear a blonde wig like Hwang Jang Lee. Gordon's come close... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted July 22, 2014 Author Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 Jimmy Wang Yu and Fu Sheng were easily superstars. Wang Yu was super popular in the mid-to-late 60s with possibly (One-Armed Swordsman is often credited) with this the first million HK dollar film and Fu Sheng was only getting bigger in popularity before his death. I don't mean to belittle Gordon Liu (he is one of my favorites) and the term "superstar" does have some fuzzy definition, heck I might even consider him "big" at one point (I am differentiating between being big and being a superstar), but in dealing with overall BO I just don't think he would be considered a superstar. But I will give this some more thought. When I said big I meant superstar level. I was guessing Wang Yu, Fu Sheng, Lung and Chiang would at one point be considered superstars from Shaw. Like I said, I actually didn't feel GD Y-Y was far off on his original post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 When I said big I meant superstar level. I was guessing Wang Yu, Fu Sheng, Lung and Chiang would at one point be considered superstars from Shaw. Like I said, I actually didn't feel GD Y-Y was far off on his original post. No I did not either. It just kind of went to a "favorites" quickly. Generally superstars are usually the first ones you think of for a particular time period. David Chiang is a weird one for me. I like him, but I just personally don't think of "star" when I see him (though what I think doesn't matter when dealing with superstars ). I wish there were better BO figures from around that time for HK films (weird the HKFA links I had for search are down; the main site is still up though -- EDIT they just changed the links and coding of their search pages.) When do you think David Chiang's popularity started to fade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member NoKUNGFUforYU Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 As far as Chiang goes, I think in 75' things went downhill. He and Lung were rumored to be less than friendly and what I have read Chiang was not easy to deal with. You can see his movies going down, as compared to 71' up to 74'. On the other thread I saw a lot of "Fu Sheng, he wasn't that good or a superstar". Fu Sheng was a big deal, whether he translates well to audiences now or not, he was the biggest MA star until Jackie Chan. My understanding is he got his leg broken, and racked with other injuries, wanted to move into comedies, etc. Can't blame the guy. Gordon Liu just never seemed to generate any power to me. He just looked whispy, even if it was shapes, he just lacked power. It was all form, and precious little flick form at that. He had hits though, such as 36 Chamber, etc. I feel like LKL wanted to promote Hung Gar so much that after a while Liu and his work got really, really redundant. And I really hate that scene in Heroes of the East where he tells his wife to fight like a lady. She is doing forceful kicks and punches and he instructs her to do the lamest shit you could ever do in a fight. Ugh. She should have had a shirt on under the gi, and would have, but that was in there to give the old "Japanese women are slutty" aspect. Some of the fights in the movie are great, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member rdenn Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 Gordon liu has the most respect from old school kung fu fans not sure why you think he doesn't get it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted July 22, 2014 Author Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 As far as Chiang goes, I think in 75' things went downhill. He and Lung were rumored to be less than friendly and what I have read Chiang was not easy to deal with. You can see his movies going down, as compared to 71' up to 74'. On the other thread I saw a lot of "Fu Sheng, he wasn't that good or a superstar". Fu Sheng was a big deal, whether he translates well to audiences now or not, he was the biggest MA star until Jackie Chan. My understanding is he got his leg broken, and racked with other injuries, wanted to move into comedies, etc. Can't blame the guy. Gordon Liu just never seemed to generate any power to me. He just looked whispy, even if it was shapes, he just lacked power. It was all form, and precious little flick form at that. He had hits though, such as 36 Chamber, etc. I feel like LKL wanted to promote Hung Gar so much that after a while Liu and his work got really, really redundant. And I really hate that scene in Heroes of the East where he tells his wife to fight like a lady. She is doing forceful kicks and punches and he instructs her to do the lamest shit you could ever do in a fight. Ugh. She should have had a shirt on under the gi, and would have, but that was in there to give the old "Japanese women are slutty" aspect. Some of the fights in the movie are great, though. Bold print made me laugh my ass off, just the way you worded that, haha. I hate to admit I have not seen this movie. As an amateur boxer, I can tell you that relaxation is better for power, speed, and generally everything than tensing up and looking like you're "trying hard", but it may not make for good screen fighting in a martial arts film! Lul I was going to assume mid 70s as far as the question of when Chiang began to go downhill, just by looking at his filmography. It also coincides with Fu Sheng catching fire, correct me if I am wrong there. Rdenn - did you read the thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member NoKUNGFUforYU Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 Bold print made me laugh my ass off, just the way you worded that, haha. I hate to admit I have not seen this movie. As an amateur boxer, I can tell you that relaxation is better for power, speed, and generally everything than tensing up and looking like you're "trying hard", but it may not make for good screen fighting in a martial arts film! Lul I was going to assume mid 70s as far as the question of when Chiang began to go downhill, just by looking at his filmography. It also coincides with Fu Sheng catching fire, correct me if I am wrong there. Rdenn - did you read the thread? Have you seen the scene lately? I would say that what Liu shows her is not anything near a boxing stance. He asks her to do some weird walk like something is wrong with him. Nothing he does looks remotely like a boxing punch. I agree 100% about being tense and relaxation being better, (my old boxing coach was always telling me to relax) but have another look and tell me Rhona Rousey would do that or Gina Carano. I'll take Shotokan over what he was offering. As far as Chiang goes, he was there for his looks, and I can't be sure, but it did seem that being a good martial artist got to be more and more important as Bruce Lee took HK by storm. You have to remember that Chiang was doing pretty well until Bruce Lee hit. Everyone had to up there game or move on to other things. A certain amount of dramatic leading men tried to do the Kung fu thing (Devil's Treasure, etc) and went back to making romances and war dramas. You can see the difference as some of the guys got really adept and others just didn't cut it (Wang Yu) and coasted, going to lower and lower budget flicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted July 22, 2014 Author Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 Lol, nah I said I haven't seen the movie at all. Terrible isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member NoKUNGFUforYU Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 It's on El Rey Network all the time, or here- kNRo28nTEvw Go in, 9:58 and watch that scene and tell me if that isn't the silliest, most repressed shit you ever saw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 Seriously just buy the Dragon Dynasty R1 release of Heroes of the East instead of seeing it online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member NoKUNGFUforYU Posted July 22, 2014 Member Share Posted July 22, 2014 Yes, the online version is crap. They have a very nice IVL version on EL Rey Network, if you get it where you are. It's actually pretty good, though for me, more for the weapons than the empty hand combat. Lots of cool match ups. But when he fights empty hand, meh. Kurata would eat him up. Hell, Tien Peng would eat him up, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted July 23, 2014 Author Member Share Posted July 23, 2014 I haven't watched Kung fu movie online in years, and nowadays I'd only watch one online if it was a notsogood movie or just unavailable any other way. For me it's as much as a feeling that I'm cheating myself as it is cheating the company. Yeah, I'll have to buy that next time I get some movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted July 23, 2014 Member Share Posted July 23, 2014 I haven't watched Kung fu movie online in years, and nowadays I'd only watch one online if it was a notsogood movie or just unavailable any other way. For me it's as much as a feeling that I'm cheating myself as it is cheating the company. Yeah, I'll have to buy that next time I get some movies. Good to hear. I just read too many times where someone uses a download/torrent/etc... of an easily available movie. I also like having the DVD/BD handy as well as lend if need be. Films like Heroes of the East are so easy to get (right now), heck I've seen it at 3 dollars in the States at both FYE and Big Lots at one point. So many Gordon Liu films, so little time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted July 23, 2014 Member Share Posted July 23, 2014 This thread was inspired by the "who's your favorite superstar" thread. I have noticed that Gordon Liu, for being in as many great films, and being as great as he was, does not seem to get the clout that others do. He is a good actor a well as martial artist, and many of his movies are considered great. But for some reason it seems more people mention Fu Sheng, Ti Lung, etc. when "favorite" comes up. He definitely gets respect and is acknowledged, but it is just strange to me that not many seem to consider him their favorite, or one of their top favorite actors. I feel as if Gordon's diversity is a reason he isn't "favorited" as much as others. Granted he is most memorable as a monk to most I'm sure, he was good in almost any role. As to where other more popular guys seemed to have a somewhat consistent personality in their films. Look at someone like Hwang Jang Lee, who is constantly praised and seems to be a favorite among many.. He was a good villain, and a great fighter.. But he was generally just some stone faced guy with a mean mug, yet he gets as many shouts if not more than Lo Lieh who showed great versatility. (yes he is a favorite but I only mention him because it is an easy and good comparison). Extra: if anyone can give me an example of HJL showing some versatility in his acting I'd be interested in seeing that. Feel free to discuss similar situation with other people whether it be actors, directors, etc. To be honest I really like Gordon Liu but like you said I wouldn't call him a favourite. I think for me I do tend to lean towards those with opera school training or are able to do incredible acrobatics. I think given all the talented martial arts actors, I don't think it says anything bad about Gordon that he might not be as many people's favourite, because he is very well liked. Also has a good body of work behind him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Superfly Posted July 23, 2014 Member Share Posted July 23, 2014 I never posted on that thread for some reason. But my favorite old school Kung Fu Actor is indeed Gordon Liu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG Posted July 25, 2014 Member Share Posted July 25, 2014 Found this pick on Facebook's Kung Fu Movie Fandom Page. GD Y-Y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted July 25, 2014 Member Share Posted July 25, 2014 Just my $0.02: Gordon Liu may not come on many people's lists of favorite actors or martial artists, but he's definitely very beloved. There is/was a thread on here about his problems, and when bad news on his health came up a year or so ago, people went nuts. Reading the thread, it sounded like it was a friend or someone of the family that was having problems - quite spectacular, perhaps only Run Run Shaw's passing caused more reactions He may not be everybody's #1 actor in MA cinema, but he's definitely loved and respected on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member fatcat Posted August 1, 2014 Member Share Posted August 1, 2014 Gordon is definitely my favorite kung fu movie star. It was his movies that got me into the genre. Imho he is the epitome of everything I love about kung fu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Doctor Schnabel von Rom Posted August 2, 2014 Member Share Posted August 2, 2014 I like him. i guess he is more popular then others because he has a big fan culture in america where he is known as the master killer. some kind of marketing thing. i met him in 2011 in amsterdam. gordon liu was very very modest and nice. he was really happy to see a young crazy swiss fan come extra for there for a pic and some autographes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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