Member KenHashibe Posted December 23, 2014 Member Share Posted December 23, 2014 I've probably seen about 10 Taiwanese movies and despite each of them being extremely dated, dumb, and dirt cheap, they're a ton of fun. And since I'm pretty much new to this type of cinema, I was wondering if I could get some recommendations. Which ones are the most entertaining? I'm mostly interested in the movies from the 80's because I've noticed some of those are pretty wacky, but any decade would be fine. I'm not necessarily looking for wacky action movies but any entertaining Taiwanese movie in general. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted December 23, 2014 Moderator Share Posted December 23, 2014 Hey Ken, this thread will be a good place to start - http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18333 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KenHashibe Posted December 23, 2014 Author Member Share Posted December 23, 2014 Hey Ken, this thread will be a good place to start - http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18333 That was fast. Thanks! I'll definitely look at that thread for ideas for movies to watch but I'm mostly interested in Taiwanese movies in general. I especially love the dated movies like A Heroic Fight, which is both extraordinarily fun and drenched in the 80's. Thanks again for the link! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted December 23, 2014 Moderator Share Posted December 23, 2014 That was fast. Thanks! I'll definitely look at that thread for ideas for movies to watch but I'm mostly interested in Taiwanese movies in general. I especially love the dated movies like A Heroic Fight, which is both extraordinarily fun and drenched in the 80's. Thanks again for the link! No problem! Here's a link to a pretty indepth review of 'Little Hero On the Run' from fellow forum member Dr Ngor, which also gives an interesting insight into the Taiwanese movie industry in the 80's - http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22601 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted December 23, 2014 Member Share Posted December 23, 2014 Now if you get interested into art films as well you will have to check out Ang Lee The Wedding Banquet (1993) Co-production Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) Edward Yang Yi Yi (2000): Criterion has a nice release of their only Taiwanese release. Tsai Ming-liang: He is very laconic with his shots and sparse with movement so he can be an acquired taste to many. The Hole (1998) What Time Is It Over There? (2001) Good Bye, Dragon Inn (2003) I still have not seen any Hou Hsiao-Hsien but he is well regarded with art-centric film fans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KenHashibe Posted December 23, 2014 Author Member Share Posted December 23, 2014 No problem! Here's a link to a pretty indepth review of 'Little Hero On the Run' from fellow forum member Dr Ngor, which also gives an interesting insight into the Taiwanese movie industry in the 80's - http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22601 Sounds interesting. I'll have to check that one out if I get the chance. I've always wondered if any of those 80's action movies were very popular in Taiwan because we don't have a whole lot of info on their box offices. Oh well. If there were so many being made, I would assume there was an audience for them. Now if you get interested into art films as well you will have to check out Ang Lee The Wedding Banquet (1993) Co-production Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) Edward Yang Yi Yi (2000): Criterion has a nice release of their only Taiwanese release. Tsai Ming-liang: He is very laconic with his shots and sparse with movement so he can be an acquired taste to many. The Hole (1998) What Time Is It Over There? (2001) Good Bye, Dragon Inn (2003) I still have not seen any Hou Hsiao-Hsien but he is well regarded with art-centric film fans. I've seen Eat Drink Man Woman, but Yi Yi and The Wedding Banquet have been on my Movies To Watch list. I'll look into some Tsai Ming-Liang/Hou Hsiao-Hsien movies and see if I like them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member JustinB Posted December 24, 2014 Member Share Posted December 24, 2014 Any of Pearl Chung's movies such as Miraculous Flower, Wolf Devil Woman and My Blade, My Life are great. Also, there are many others with a similar style such as Jade Dagger Ninja and Everlasting Chivalry (both with Doris Lung Chun-erh). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted December 24, 2014 Moderator Share Posted December 24, 2014 'Invincible Super Chan' is Taiwanese as well I believe. I love that movie, pure insanity from start to finish. Makes a great double bill with 'Jade Dagger Ninja'. Don't forget all of Jimmy Wang Yu's movie post-Shaw Brothers are also made in Taiwan. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Morgoth Bauglir Posted December 24, 2014 Member Share Posted December 24, 2014 Have you seen 7 Grandmasters? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KenHashibe Posted December 24, 2014 Author Member Share Posted December 24, 2014 Any of Pearl Chung's movies such as Miraculous Flower, Wolf Devil Woman and My Blade, My Life are great. Also, there are many others with a similar style such as Jade Dagger Ninja and Everlasting Chivalry (both with Doris Lung Chun-erh). I've heard of some of Pearl Chung's movies and I'll have to check some of them out. The other two mentioned (Everlasting Chivalry in particular) look visually interesting. 'Invincible Super Chan' is Taiwanese as well I believe. I love that movie, pure insanity from start to finish. Makes a great double bill with 'Jade Dagger Ninja'. I'll have to keep that in mind. Don't forget all of Jimmy Wang Yu's movie post-Shaw Brothers are also made in Taiwan. Yup. Fantasy Mission Force is a guilty pleasure of mine. I'm going to have to make an in-depth review of it someday. I feel like Island of Fire is sometimes underrated. I've seen some of Chu Yen Ping's other films like Funny Family and Book of Heroes (Book of Heroes seems to have a fair share of fans on the forum). Have you seen 7 Grandmasters? Of course! I didn't actually know this was a Taiwanese movie. In that case, 7 Grandmasters is definitely one of my favorite Taiwanese movies. @jimmywangfan I gotta watch Zodiac Fighters (aka Dragon Zombies Return). Haven't seen it before, but it has Polly Kuan in it which is an immediate plus. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KenHashibe Posted December 24, 2014 Author Member Share Posted December 24, 2014 well worth it bud it's taiwan madness at it's finest polly starred in some of the nuttiest movies in the latter half of her career I never thought I'd see the star of Dragon Gate Inn and Back Alley Princess fighting rubber squids. Sounds strange, but far from boring. I might give it a watch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member NoKUNGFUforYU Posted December 25, 2014 Member Share Posted December 25, 2014 Track down movies made by Union Films. I would put them right there with the Shaws movies, only more realistic sets(not as brightly colored, though!) Rider of Revenge, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KenHashibe Posted December 25, 2014 Author Member Share Posted December 25, 2014 Track down movies made by Union Films. I would put them right there with the Shaws movies, only more realistic sets(not as brightly colored, though!) Rider of Revenge, etc. I know Union Films from Dragon Gate Inn, The Fly Dragon Mountain, and Touch of Zen. Haven't seen/heard of Rider of Revenge. It's going on the list! also 18 jade arhats has a great scene were chang yi goes ip man gBHU2ohUvW0&feature=youtu.be&t=1h25m15s So many recommendations that I need to keep track of! I'll get around to watching all of them someday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted December 25, 2014 Member Share Posted December 25, 2014 If you're looking for Kung Fu there is plenty of great stuff out of Taiwan. A couple more I am sure you have heard about and maybe seen, Shaolin vs Lama Invincible Armour 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted December 25, 2014 Member Share Posted December 25, 2014 Rider of revenge is very good, with also Kong Ban in it. I don't know if they are Union Films or not, but there are also Black invitation, Fly dragon mountain, Iron petticoat, She'd hate rather love, The brave and the evil, The bravest revenge, The decisive battle, The grand passion, A girl fighter, A city called dragon, Blood revenge (superb action movie), The ghost hill which are all excellent. I watched them a while ago, but I still remember that I really enjoyed them at that moment... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KenHashibe Posted December 25, 2014 Author Member Share Posted December 25, 2014 If you're looking for Kung Fu there is plenty of great stuff out of Taiwan. A couple more I am sure you have heard about and maybe seen, Shaolin vs Lama Invincible Armour Taiwan definitely has a lot to offer as far as kung fu movies go. I've noticed a lot of Alexander Lo/Chen Shang movies are Taiwanese. I'm also looking for those ultra-80's action movies from Taiwan like some of Lam Siu Lau's movies. They're sometimes dumb, but always fun. Rider of revenge is very good, with also Kong Ban in it. I don't know if they are Union Films or not, but there are also Black invitation, Fly dragon mountain, Iron petticoat, She'd hate rather love, The brave and the evil, The bravest revenge, The decisive battle, The grand passion, A girl fighter, A city called dragon, Blood revenge (superb action movie), The ghost hill which are all excellent. I watched them a while ago, but I still remember that I really enjoyed them at that moment... I love how you described Blood Revenge as a "super action movie." That definitely makes me interested. I'll check that one out too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted December 26, 2014 Moderator Share Posted December 26, 2014 I gotta watch Zodiac Fighters (aka Dragon Zombies Return). Haven't seen it before, but it has Polly Kuan in it which is an immediate plus. This is available from our good friend Jamal, you can pick it up here - http://jamalkungfuprojects.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/zodiac-fighters_4.html Taiwan definitely has a lot to offer as far as kung fu movies go. I've noticed a lot of Alexander Lo/Chen Shang movies are Taiwanese. Robert Tai was working almost exclusively out of Taiwan in the 80's, a lot of the time collaborating with Alexander Lo. If you haven't seen it already, 'Ninja Final Duel' is a classic of cheese and kung-fu. What other movie can you check out ninja water spiders!? Another Alexander Lo movie from Taiwan worth checking out is '21 Red List'. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted December 26, 2014 Member Share Posted December 26, 2014 Lol, I'll have to check out Ninja: Final Duel myself. Another 50 pack movie I can scratch off the list if I'm not mistaken. It seems the cheesiest Fu always involves ninjas, haha. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted December 27, 2014 Member Share Posted December 27, 2014 So I watched Ninja: The Final Duel. I don't want to give away too many of the great exploitative/camp aspects of it, so I'll just say it's one of the greatest bad movies ever. Pretty good undercranked fights as expected from Robert Tai and Lo Rei. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cold Bishop Posted December 28, 2014 Member Share Posted December 28, 2014 I'm still waiting for fansubs for the full 13 hour version of Ninja: The Final Duel. I'll be waiting a long time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted December 28, 2014 Member Share Posted December 28, 2014 13 hour? Is this a joke or....I am a little flabbergasted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cold Bishop Posted December 28, 2014 Member Share Posted December 28, 2014 Nope. Believe it or not, it was made for TV. The full version is out there, but it's raw Mandarin as of now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted December 28, 2014 Member Share Posted December 28, 2014 This needs to be subbed or dubbed... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted December 28, 2014 Member Share Posted December 28, 2014 Nope. Believe it or not, it was made for TV. The full version is out there, but it's raw Mandarin as of now. Good luck getting ahold of all the VHS - from what I know, they have been released ONLY in Taiwan. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KenHashibe Posted December 28, 2014 Author Member Share Posted December 28, 2014 Robert Tai was working almost exclusively out of Taiwan in the 80's, a lot of the time collaborating with Alexander Lo. If you haven't seen it already, 'Ninja Final Duel' is a classic of cheese and kung-fu. What other movie can you check out ninja water spiders!? Another Alexander Lo movie from Taiwan worth checking out is '21 Red List'. Secret shame of mine: Haven't seen Ninja the Final Duel yet. It's been recommended to me before but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I don't want to give away too many of the great exploitative/camp aspects of it, so I'll just say it's one of the greatest bad movies ever. Pretty good undercranked fights as expected from Robert Tai and Lo Rei. Good to know! Gotta see this. I'm still waiting for fansubs for the full 13 hour version of Ninja: The Final Duel. I'll be waiting a long time. I don't think I'd be able to sit through that whole thing (maybe in parts). Sounds interesting. I can't even find the cut version in Mandarin. Good luck getting ahold of all the VHS - from what I know, they have been released ONLY in Taiwan. Do we know what the cover looks like? Does anyone own this VHS? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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