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Burning Ambition (1989)


KenHashibe

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Am I the only person who thinks this movie is really damn awesome? It’s not the best movie ever but I thought it was fantastic. I’ve barely seen any reviews for this movie and I was thinking, why isn’t this movie very popular? Sure this movie’s underrated and very hard to find, but I feel like it should even be considered a classic. It has bits of 80’s action movie cheese, but it’s mostly dark, grim, exhilarating, and fun.

The action is outstanding and the story is complex and creative, but also easy to follow. The characters are all very interesting to watch and you feel sympathetic for a lot of them except for maybe O Chun-Hung who is just plain EEEVIL. The ending of the movie is fantastic and bleak. When our villain gets his comeuppance at the end, it isn’t really satisfying, but I found it to be very intriguing nonetheless.

I am very much aware that this movie is hard to find. And to that I say, why is this movie so rare? Someone buy the rights to this movie, remaster it, re-release it on DVD, and I will be eternally grateful. What are your thoughts on this movie? I loved it, but I know there are a lot of you who don’t. I’m very interested in what you guys have to say. This is definitely a movie worth talking about.

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One Armed Boxer
I am very much aware that this movie is hard to find. And to that I say, why is this movie so rare?

This is a movie I've always wanted to see, pretty much for the exact reasons you've described combined with the clips I've seen on youtube. However as you've mentioned above, due to a lack of any kind of release on DVD, I've yet to be able to give it a watch.

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This is a movie I've always wanted to see, pretty much for the exact reasons you've described combined with the clips I've seen on youtube. However as you've mentioned above, due to a lack of any kind of release on DVD, I've yet to be able to give it a watch.

I don't know if you have a problem with watching movies on YouTube, but the Wu Tang Collection channel has uploaded this movie in widescreen. The first time I saw this movie was on my phone and I still thought it was exhilarating. If the New Beverly ever screens this movie again (and they better), I'm definitely going to attend. If you're interested, you can watch it here:

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I've heard that some people have had a hard time following the story, but if you can recognize all of the characters (and you should), this movie's very interesting and a lot of fun.

I too love this flick! :wink:

It's a shame that this movie doesn't have a more mainstream DVD release. It's awesome!

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One Armed Boxer
I don't know if you have a problem with watching movies on YouTube, but the Wu Tang Collection channel has uploaded this movie in widescreen. The first time I saw this movie was on my phone and I still thought it was exhilarating.

Yeah, unfortunately I do.:tongue: Never watched a movie on youtube and never will, likewise for my phone, for me it's a cinema screen or on my TV.

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Yeah, unfortunately I do.:tongue: Never watched a movie on youtube and never will, likewise for my phone, for me it's a cinema screen or on my TV.

Man, I commend you for your pledge to never watch a movie on YouTube. I would do the same but I have little patience/money. :tongue: I removed the link so you won't be tempted (I know I would). Gosh darn it, this movie needs a remastered DVD release.

The last time the New Beverly screened this movie was about 2 years ago. If they show it again, I would buy tickets in a heartbeat. I think this movie would be great to watch with an audience. But for now, I'll keep my eye out for a VCD/DVD copy.

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One Armed Boxer
Man, I commend you for your pledge to never watch a movie on YouTube. I would do the same but I have little patience/money. :tongue: I removed the link so you won't be tempted (I know I would).

Ha ha, thanks, but you didn't need to remove the link on my account. Any temptation to watch it in a small window on my computer screen has always been zero.:tongue:

As long as a movie doesn't have an official DVD release, I personally don't see a problem with linking to a youtube version of it.

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Ha ha, thanks, but you didn't need to remove the link on my account. Any temptation to watch it in a small window on my computer screen has always been zero.:tongue:

As long as a movie doesn't have an official DVD release, I personally don't see a problem with linking to a youtube version of it.

Great! I put the link back up. Awesome movie! And I can't stress enough how badly I want a DVD (or even a VCD) of it. I'd like to see some special features too. The New Beverly has screened a very rare theatrical trailer of the movie which I was surprised to see. If the movie's rare enough, I didn't think a HK trailer would've still existed. If someone's going to make a DVD, that trailer should be included. Just watching the trailer is thrilling enough on the big screen. :wink:

I wish you luck on your quest to find a DVD. You gotta see it. Maybe I'm praising this movie too much (it isn't the best movie ever), but to quote Kozo from LoveHKFilm "Not a great film per se, but a terrific movie." I love that line. It's from his Hero (1997) review in case you're wondering.

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Ha ha, thanks, but you didn't need to remove the link on my account. Any temptation to watch it in a small window on my computer screen has always been zero.:tongue:

You are so 90s! :wink: It's no problem to download the video from youtube and burn it on a cd or dvd. Most players nowadays play these files, if not it's easily converted. I see no reason to wait for legit release that will likely never happen if there is this alternative.

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One Armed Boxer
You are so 90s! :wink:

Painfully so.

I'm not sure what it is, just the idea of it has never appealed. For me part of the ritual is buying the DVD, or as is the case quite frequently with this genre, attempting to hunt down the DVD.

I agree that for movies that are unlikely to ever get an official release then watching them on youtube is the best solution, but I'm so set in my ways that if youtube is literally the only option to watch it, then I just won't bother. (Ok, the fact that I also seem to have a never ending pile of unwatched DVD's may also be a slight factor in this as well.:tongue:)

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You are so 90s! :wink: It's no problem to download the video from youtube and burn it on a cd or dvd. Most players nowadays play these files, if not it's easily converted. I see no reason to wait for legit release that will likely never happen if there is this alternative.

It would be great if I could say that no one owns the rights to this movie, but I'm afraid someone might which means that burning a disc wouldn't be the most legal thing. But the Wu Tang Collection claims to own the rights, so I'll proceed to rewatch it on YouTube until a new DVD gets released or when it gets screened here in Los Angeles. Why shouldn't this movie get a legit release? It's an outstanding movie.

I'm not sure what it is, just the idea of it has never appealed. For me part of the ritual is buying the DVD, or as is the case quite frequently with this genre, attempting to hunt down the DVD.

Very well-stated. Hunting down these movies requires a lot of patience at times. I've said this before on a different thread, but it took me 3 years to find an uncut DVD of Project A. Sometimes it pays to wait.

I agree that for movies that are unlikely to ever get an official release then watching them on youtube is the best solution, but I'm so set in my ways that if youtube is literally the only option to watch it, then I just won't bother. (Ok, the fact that I also seem to have a never ending pile of unwatched DVD's may also be a slight factor in this as well.:tongue:)

I was just about to say, if you haven't seen a single movie on YouTube, you must have one heck of a DVD collection.

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It would be great if I could say that no one owns the rights to this movie, but I'm afraid someone might which means that burning a disc wouldn't be the most legal thing. But the Wu Tang Collection claims to own the rights, so I'll proceed to rewatch it on YouTube

Mine was not legal nor moral but technical advice. And I highly doubt that this channel actually aquired the rights to these movies.

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Cognoscente
On 10/26/2014 at 8:14 PM, KenHashibe said:

I am very much aware that this movie is hard to find. And to that I say, why is this movie so rare?

Top treasures take longer to negotiate a deal over.

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KenHashibe
On 10/27/2014 at 9:32 AM, kami said:

Mine was not legal nor moral but technical advice. And I highly doubt that this channel actually aquired the rights to these movies.

Oh boy, back in 2014 when I naively believed that the Wu Tang Collection actually acquired the rights for the films on their channel (they don't, of course :laugh). I had a lot of learning to do about licensing way back when.

It seems the only legal ways now are if you have the VCD, if you have the chance see a film print in a theater, or if you subscribe to the Chinese streaming services that have it (with no English subtitles though). Wish they would put it out on Blu-ray! I'll buy 10!

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17 hours ago, Cognoscente said:

Top treasures take longer to negotiate a deal over.

Absolutely! It's such a shame that some rights holder want such a ridiculous price for some of these films. I wonder if that's the case for Burning Ambition, or maybe it's obscure enough that Blu-ray labels don't realize that it's so beloved. One of my favorites from the 80's, no doubt. An HD version exists on Chinese streaming services.

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On 6/6/2021 at 2:47 AM, KenHashibe said:

Absolutely! It's such a shame that some rights holder want such a ridiculous price for some of these films. I wonder if that's the case for Burning Ambition, or maybe it's obscure enough that Blu-ray labels don't realize that it's so beloved. One of my favorites from the 80's, no doubt. An HD version exists on Chinese streaming services.

The HD version from the Chinese streaming services is apparently cut (by maybe as much as 10 minutes), so beware. It does mean that the film has been re-mastered and could be acquired for release by 88, Eureka, Arrow, etc.

14 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Here's at least one more review to add to the few others that are out there! - 

https://cityonfire.com/burning-ambition-1989-review/

Thanks for the review, reminded me that I finally need to sit down and watch this!

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sifu iron perm
1 hour ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

I have the HD with the cut scenes added. Working on subbing it now.

Update me when done, I will grab that!!

 

Thank you!

 

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2 hours ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

I have the HD with the cut scenes added. Working on subbing it now.

I was about to ask if this HD is happening, great news! 

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Watched this film yesterday, absolutely loved it. Blurry VHS-rip, but at least it was widescreen and subtitled. The parking lot fight scene with the broken windshields... just incredible. Kara Hui and Yukari Oshima were on fire!

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