The Blood Brothers (1973)

[paimeifist]

I remember I was underwhelmed by much of the fighting the first time around and thought the movie was solid but not one of the best..

But damn, after another viewing it has to be one of the best Shaw's! Fighting was not the best I have seen although the choreo was snappy and direct. What made this film standout as great to me was the acting and the strong themes of ambition, loyalty, brotherhood, and betrayal.. I genuinely disliked Ma (Ti Lungs character) and CKTs wife. CKT was good as always, but just didn't have the part to shine in the rest of the cast did. But above all, this may be David Chiangs best performance from what ive seen. The themes may be common throughout MA films, but few display them as strongly as this. The story was well told if a little predictable, and paced well enough not to need constant fight scenes.

Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts on this because I enjoyed it so much (more) the second time around. Not sure why, maybe I just appreciate acting in my MA films more than I used to.

[KyFi]

Yeah, this is one of my favorite Shaws. Aside from some moments of sloppy direction (like the silly shot of the guys rolling down the hill for 5 minutes), I thought this was a real epic. There were a bunch of good performances in this one, but to me this is a great example of how versatile an actor Chen Kuan Tai was. In a film like Boxer from Shantung, he could play a really keen-witted guy who was a little bit sharper than all the other characters, and in Blood Brothers, he could play the dim-witted lout who was a little dumber than all the other characters.

I thought all three of the main guys did a great job of creating very distinct characters---and Ching Li was excellent as well. One of her best roles, IMO. And I know some criticize this movie as not having enough fighting, but I thought the quality and quantity of the fights was pretty much on par with anything coming out at that time.

[shukocarl]

I love Blood Brothers...to me it's an epic drama with some kung fu....not a kung fu film with with some drama! :-)

[paimeifist]

I love Blood Brothers...to me it's an epic drama with some kung fu....not a kung fu film with with some drama! :-)

I almost said that same thing in my original post!

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I remember the first time I saw Blood Brothers was many years ago. I hadn't seen a ton of kf movies and at the time I was making my way through the works of Joseph kuo and the Venoms. They were all pretty cheesy, but I was having a great time watching them. And then I watched Blood Brothers. I had no idea that a kung fu movie could be this good.

[Secret Executioner]

Watched this one this afternoon.

Nice film, with a gripping story and interesting characters - Ti Lung is great here as this megalomaniac asshole (and he should have been less likeable, this guy seemed more sympathetic than the guy Ti Lung portrays in Have Sword, Will Travel - sorry, but I just HATE this guy), Chen Kuan Tai was relatively likeable and sure provided some nice action, but my favorite character here was the one portrayed by David Chiang. He seemed like the most down to earth and reasonnable of the three, noticing what was happening and trying to help his friends. Plus, he has that cool weapon (is that a metallic version of the three-section staff ?) and delivers some nice action.

It seems actually that the one who gets the least action is Ti Lung, the one who wants to make it big with heroics (he fights CKT and DC at the start and has a couple of fights with DC when things get wrong, but that's pretty much it)... That said, the character looks great and is interesting, plus you don't see Ti Lung with a moustache that often. I noticed watching The Pirate (which I got in a two-movie pack with The Blood Brothers) that Ti Lung seemed to be growing a moustache, so maybe the two films were shot at a similar time. It seems like David Chiang and Ti Lung have similar costumes too, but I could be mistaking - a similar white costume for Ti Lung notably.

Overall, I wouldn't say it's one of the greatest Shaw Bros film like many say it is and it would rank rather low in my personal ranking, but with so many good to great movies that are of very similar quality, it's becoming very hard to rank some of these movies. I'd put this one on par with The Heroic Ones - a bit low, but still among the good or very good films.

[teako170]

Love Ti Lung's expression here....

 

[teako170]

Forgot to mention, CKT will be returning to the US in May, so if you missed out meeting the man in FL two years ago, here is another chance. First in L.A., then Tijuana, Guadalajara, and last somewhere in Brazil as well.

Here's some further details....

In L.A.: There will be a seminar with Chen and Chow in the day. Then that night, there will be a dinner party for Chen to greet his fans and sign autographs. This will be on May 14, 2016, hosted by Sifu Clark Tang, at his Wing Chun Temple in L.A.:

Wing Chun Temple
2601 E. 28th St.
Suite 308
Signal Hill, California 90755

(562) 276-0108

To help cover their expense to come out, the seminar and dinner will each be U.S.$50.00 or both for U.S.$80.00.

Tickets can be bought at: http://santidvds.mybigcommerce.com/dinner-party-ticket-for-chen-kuan-tai/#.Vjta2AcwcSZ.facebook

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Thanks a lot Teako for the terrific image and the CKT return the States info.

 

L.A. is out of the question, but I hope folks here get a chance to meet him. Always enjoy reading people's reports from these events. 

[Shaolin Patriot]

Forgot to mention, CKT will be returning to the US in May, so if you missed out meeting the man in FL two years ago, here is another chance. First in L.A., then Tijuana, Guadalajara, and last somewhere in Brazil as well.

Here's some further details....

In L.A.: There will be a seminar with Chen and Chow in the day. Then that night, there will be a dinner party for Chen to greet his fans and sign autographs. This will be on May 14, 2016, hosted by Sifu Clark Tang, at his Wing Chun Temple in L.A.:

Wing Chun Temple
2601 E. 28th St.
Suite 308
Signal Hill, California 90755

(562) 276-0108

To help cover their expense to come out, the seminar and dinner will each be U.S.$50.00 or both for U.S.$80.00.

Tickets can be bought at: http://santidvds.mybigcommerce.com/dinner-party-ticket-for-chen-kuan-tai/#.Vjta2AcwcSZ.facebook

Thanks teako170.  I've got the LA event on my radar for 2016.

[Shaolin Patriot]

Here's some added information regarding the CKT seminar, as posted on the CKT international fan club page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/The-Official-Chan-Koon-Tai-陳觀泰-International-Fan-Club-417601011615421/?fref=photo

 

Bonus: It very possible that Hsiao Hou ("Mad Monkey Kung Fu") will be coming too! We're still working on getting him to join Chen and Chow, so that's extra incentive for you to go!

 

That would be AMAZING if it happens!  

[panku]

Nice shot, thanks!

[Tex Killer]

On 29.3.2015 at 7:16 PM, Secret Executioner said:

It seems actually that the one who gets the least action is Ti Lung

It`s been few years since I watched this last time but I seem to be thinking that was case. As he did got promoted he did not attend anymore to fights but sent chiang and ckt to "work".

 

Drama here works so fine although I was not happy at very end law is not same as justice always.

 

Damn I might put this into revisit tower...

 

[Secret Executioner]

6 hours ago, Tex Killer said:

Drama here works so fine although I was not happy at very end law is not same as justice always.

That's probably one of the most infuriatingly unfair downbeat endings I've seen for a Shaw movie. That and Ti Lung rocking the 'stache are the two most memorable elements from this movie, though I must say I'm planning to revisit it because I realize there's much more to it - I could well find qualities I had missed the first time, as was the case with The heroic Ones and Have Sword, will travel.

[Iron_Leopard]

Every time I rewatch this it climbs the list of my favorite Shaws of all time. 

This just feels like more than a kung fu movie. It feels like a movie movie. Like King Hu.

[morpheus]

On 6/7/2020 at 10:37 AM, Iron_Leopard said:

Every time I rewatch this it climbs the list of my favorite Shaws of all time. 

This just feels like more than a kung fu movie. It feels like a movie movie. Like King Hu.

I think the story line here dominates the fight scenes.  I had a hard time seeing Ti Lung portray such a pr**k in the film, but he does an excellent performance. No wonder he won a Golden Horse award for this.

[Iron_Leopard]

On 6/9/2020 at 2:29 PM, morpheus said:

I think the story line here dominates the fight scenes.  I had a hard time seeing Ti Lung portray such a pr**k in the film, but he does an excellent performance. No wonder he won a Golden Horse award for this.

Were many Shaw movies or actors usually up for Golden Horse Awards back then?

[morpheus]

3 hours ago, Iron_Leopard said:

Were many Shaw movies or actors usually up for Golden Horse Awards back then?

The Golden Horse awards started in 1962 -much later than the Oscars that debuted in 1929.  Shaw was a big studio then and put out opera films and the like before churning out martial arts material.  Shaw studios had their share of nominations since there were a variety of categories being awarded. 

[Iron_Leopard]

54 minutes ago, morpheus said:

The Golden Horse awards started in 1962 -much later than the Oscars that debuted in 1929.  Shaw was a big studio then and put out opera films and the like before churning out martial arts material.  Shaw studios had their share of nominations since there were a variety of categories being awarded. 

Oh yeah. I always forget Shaw Brothers does more than just martial arts movies lol.

[Light in the Dark]

On 6/9/2020 at 12:29 PM, morpheus said:

On 6/7/2020 at 1:37 PM, Iron_Leopard said:

 

I think the story line here dominates the fight scenes.  I had a hard time seeing Ti Lung portray such a pr**k in the film, but he does an excellent performance. No wonder he won a Golden Horse award for this.

This is one of Ti Lung's awesome character study films and he's got a few of them.  One that comes to mind is his role in Wu Ma's The Heroes.   It's not a Shaw Bros movie but a good one nonetheless.

[Tex Killer]

While still think of course blood brothers is fantastic movie, today have to say prefer "oath of death"..dunno why exactly but would not be surprise if in the back of the head have feeling lo lieh makes it better version of quite same storyline..

 

[morpheus]

On 6/12/2020 at 8:35 PM, Tex Killer said:

While still think of course blood brothers is fantastic movie, today have to say prefer "oath of death"..dunno why exactly but would not be surprise if in the back of the head have feeling lo lieh makes it better version of quite same storyline..

 

If you are thinking of Lo Lieh in the role that Ti Lung plays, that's not a bad idea.  Lo Lieh was a good actor and would have done well; throughout his career, Lo has played heroes and villains. Good call there.

[morpheus]

There were 9 films that Lo Lieh was involved in during 1973 and another 9 in 1974 -when Blood Brothers was released.  It could have been time constraints or location difficulties for him.  Now it makes me wonder if he was ever offered the role????