Who Is Your Favorite MA/Asian Cinema Director?

[Hei Meigui]

Who is your favorite MA/Asian Cinema director? Why and what film is the best example of their work?

(you can also discuss your fav action director. This will help those of us who are new to fully appreciate and learn the people behind the magic)

[sym8]

Best director:John woo.best director of martial art movies Sammo Hung and Lau Kar Leung.Best fight choreographers:Jackie Chan,Sammo Hung,Lau Kar Leung,Yuen woo ping,Corey yuen(when it comes to fight choreography there are so many though,I could easily pick another 20.

[Secret Executioner]

Chang Cheh would be my favorite, just for the fact I've enjoyed pretty much anything I saw of his output.

[KUNG FU BOB]

My favorite director in this category is Lau Kar-Leung (Li Chia-Liang). For me, his kung fu films are among the greatest of all time. But he has made a few stinkers too.

Second favorite is Sammo Hung.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Sun Chung:

For his very complicated characters and stories; usually original as opposed to novel adaptions. I love his Wuxias because they boast great heroes, some delightfully gonzoid villains and what you see is not always what you get. His films look gorgeous and they’re shot / lit differently than his contemporaries. I get a Mario Bava or Dario Argento visual vibe which is great too.

He can also throw in a morality lesson or two and still keep the story entertaining, crazy and non preachy (Human Lanterns still knocks my socks off as one of the best horror films from anywhere.) Sun always works with at least one really solid actor/martial artist too and enjoys working with some of the same cast / crew frequently. All good things.

I have not seen his sexploitation thrillers, only some of his horror-fu, straight forward wuxias and some comedic martial arts films. Knowing me, I’d probably enjoy some of the exploitative stuff too because of my history with those films.

I also like that Sun’s films sneak up on me. I’ll enjoy them on a first or second pass and then a character or concept will constantly assert itself over anything else (such as Lo Mang’s Szu-Yi or Ti Lung and Chan Wai Man's characters from The Deadly Breaking Sword.)

Don’t ask me what my favorite Sun Chung film is though because I’ve really enjoyed everything thus far.

[SMK]

As far as a FAVORITE director, I'm going to have to agree with brother Bob

My favorite director in this category is Lau Kar-Leung (Li Chia-Liang). For me, his kung fu films are among the greatest of all time. But he has made a few stinkers too.

Second favorite is Sammo Hung.

Definitely one of my favorites

Lee Tso-Nam

Honorable Mention

• The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious (1976)
  
• Eagle's Claw (1977)
  
• Green Jade Statuette (1978)
  
• Fatal Needles Vs. Fatal Fists (1978)
  
• Challenge of Death (1978)
  
• Phantom Kung Fu (1978)
  
• Shaolin Invincible Sticks (1979)
  
• The Invincible Kung Fu Legs (1980)
  
• Shaolin Vs. Lama (1983)

[Hei Meigui]

Chor Yuen for Wuxia

Clans of Intrigue

The sentimental Swordsman

Killer Clans

Death Duel

Lau kar-Leung - Action and comedy

Dirty Ho

Martial Club

Legendary Weapons of China

Tsui Hark - political/social commentary nicely embedded in great action/fantasy films

Detective Dee series

The Green Snake

Chinese Ghost Story Series

Iron Monkey

King Hu

Dragon Inn

Come Drink With Me

A Touch of Zen

Wong Kar Wai - Unrequited love and suffering! any of his if you want to be depressed!!

[Secret Executioner]

As far as a FAVORITE director, I'm going to have to agree with brother Bob

Definitely one of my favorites

Lee Tso-Nam

Honorable Mention

• The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious (1976)
  
• Eagle's Claw (1977)
  
• Green Jade Statuette (1978)
  
• Fatal Needles Vs. Fatal Fists (1978)
  
• Challenge of Death (1978)
  
• Phantom Kung Fu (1978)
  
• Shaolin Invincible Sticks (1979)
  
• The Invincible Kung Fu Legs (1980)
  
• Shaolin Vs. Lama (1983)

Lee Tso-Nam has some good stuff going on. Lau Kar Leung and Sammo are indeed great names too.

Chor Yuen for Wuxia

Clans of Intrigue

The sentimental Swordsman

Killer Clans

Death Duel

Lau kar-Leung - Action and comedy

Dirty Ho

Martial Club

Legendary Weapons of China

Tsui Hark - political/social commentary nicely embedded in great action/fantasy films

Detective Dee series

The Green Snake

Chinese Ghost Story Series

Iron Monkey

King Hu

Dragon Inn

Come Drink With Me

A Touch of Zen

Wong Kar Wai - Unrequited love and suffering! any of his if you want to be depressed!!

I haven't seen much of Chor Yuen, but I'm still very mixed on this guy's work. I loved Bat Without Wings, but was disappointed with Legend Of The Bat.

I enjoyed the Detective Dee movies, but I feel Tsui Hark is a bit overrated.

I don't think I've seen any movie by King Hu.

Concerning Wong Kar Wai, I wwon't act like his stuff isn't that depressing (In The Mood For Love and 2046 sound like major downers - not sure if I want to check them out), but I really enjoyed The Grandmaster. There was a bit of what you bring up, but the movie has very impressive cinematography and nice action. As well as likeable and overall enjoyable characters.

[Leung Tsan]

My favorite is Sammo Hung, but I highly like him also because he does it all... producer, director, martial arts director, actor, comedian..... and well the fight choreographies he did were the ones that most impressed me.... about his humour, the grossest he goes, the more I like it.......and also I have this feeling that he tricks people (like the story I heard where he went to dinner with Jackie Chan, and Jackie told him the plot for the Who Am I movie and Samo stole it and adapted it for his Once Upon A time In China and America).

I also like his bad/naughty side.....I feel like he must have been a nightmare for actors when he's directing..... but then again, maybe we would not have these fantastic fight scenes that he captured..... and I dont know, he possesses something unique, like an aura or something..... got so much love for him, let's just say that if I was to be an HK actor, it would be him.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Can't really add to anything said about Lau Kar-Leung or Sammo Hung. I've always liked Jackie Chan's choreography as well as the way he frames his action. To throw a little someone different in the mix I'm going to say mention 3 other individuals.

First Prachya Pinkaew. While his plots and scripts were anything mind-blowing, the guy knew how to do action, and he knew who to use to stage it: Panna Rittikrai, another director I really like though his last couple of films weren't the best.

Second is Isaac Florentine. This guy's output is solid. The stories aren't Oscar material, but they aren't supposed to be. Still, they're better than most, and again, here is a man who understands how to stage and pace action because he's a practicing martial artist himself.

Lastly, Eric Jacobus. The guy is phenomenal. His love for the 80's/90's style of HK action is evident in his work, and he does a good job paying homage to it. Even in the early days of the Stunt People's film-making endeavors, the potential is clear. He's been honing his craft with dedication and hard work, as well as a unique style and sense of humor. I'm hoping he has another full length film out before long. I love all the short films, but I'm ready for another solid 90 minutes.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Chang Chei

[Hei Meigui]

I haven't seen much of Chor Yuen, but I'm still very mixed on this guy's work. I loved Bat Without Wings, but was disappointed with Legend Of The Bat.

I enjoyed the Detective Dee movies, but I feel Tsui Hark is a bit overrated.

I don't think I've seen any movie by King Hu.

Concerning Wong Kar Wai, I wwon't act like his stuff isn't that depressing (In The Mood For Love and 2046 sound like major downers - not sure if I want to check them out), but I really enjoyed The Grandmaster. There was a bit of what you bring up, but the movie has very impressive cinematography and nice action. As well as likeable and overall enjoyable characters.

I think Tsui gets a lot of attention because he tends to have the social commentary and will try to fit in in most movies. I like the fantasy ones he has done well even the cheesy Chinese Ghost Story Movies. Those were some of the first I started watching with getting into Asian cinema.

King Hu's epic is A touch of Zen and it is about 3 hours!! but it was the start of some of the wuxia popularity, but with a good solid story. It was one of the main influences for CTHD with the flying and forest top running scenes

Wong Kar Wai needs to take antidepressants!! The movie I love the most of his is Ashes of Time..it is so soulful gorgeous, full of symbolism with colors and movement. It's all about the unrequited love and lost chances. I have most of his most famous movies but they are in the boxes unsealed for a reason!!

I have the versions of The Grandmaster but I have not watched them yet. I hear it is good. I also love Tony Leung Chiu Wai. I eased into old style Kung fu by watching the newer actors like him.

[David Rees]

As mentioned by most others, my two favourites are Sammo Hung and Lau Kar Leung.

Special mention goes to Chang Cheh and Korean Chang Chen Ho. For modern day its John Woo and Johnnie To.

I think King Hu will get more recognition when his films become more available in good quality versions like the upcoming Blu ray / DVD releases of Dragon Inn.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

I will add Pops (because seeing more of Lau Kar Leung's work is blowing my mind),  Eric Tsang (especially his early work on The Challenger and The Loot), David Chiang for his comedy and Chang Cheh who goes without saying.

But Sun Chung remains my favorite, because he puts characters front and center and everything in the films including the fights reflects the characters. It's not just hurry up and fight.  He gets mood, tone and does some interesting shots, cinematography too. 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

I do not really have a favorite per-se because I enjoy so many films but in my top directors list of MA would be.  All of these directors have multiple films to watch so if you can just start early in their career and move forward.

Chang Cheh: So many interesting and fun films from his oeuvre that you almost have to pick a favorite from a particular period and even that is hard.  Should it be something from the Iron Triangle, a venoms films, a Jimmy Wang Yu film, an Alexander Fu Sheng ...  His themes of masculinity was such a huge influence on John Woo, Quentin Tarantino etc...  I think often his direction is underappreciated.  Start with The One-Armed Swordsman if you like, but like Lay's potato chips you can't just consume one.  He is like the John Ford of HK film.  He worked quite well within the studio system and if he wasn't happy with what he was working on, well there was always another film coming up.

Lau Kar-leung: as you read above there are quite a bit of fans.  He is the most reverent for martial arts among the MA directors.  I am a few films from finishing his filmography and I have enjoyed almost everyone of them. His movies are immensely rewatchable.

Sammo Hung: I got into his films after I got into Jackie Chan.  It was a natural progression.  While I do not like his later films as much as his late 1970s and 1980s output, he is an underrated martial art auteur who can mix genres well, has a knack for camera placement, knows martial arts quite well (duh) and is almost always fun to watch.  The Prodigal Son is one of my favorites.

Jackie Chan: probably the most influential early on for me.  Police Story was one of my earliest HK movies (probably my favorite HK film)  I have certainly seen more films he has been in then any other actor (probably all countries.)  I have not liked his later films as much, but I can still rewatch most of his 1980s films over and over again.

Johnnie To: not a martial arts director (though he has worked in this genre) is my favorite living director.  I have written several full length reviews on this site and will continue to do so.  His mixture of Jean-Pierre Melville (and many others) and his mix of offbeat humor and characters always interests me.  There are many of his early films that are not particularly good (Lucky Encounter) but much of his later films I think are among the best each year they come out.  Start with The Mission.  Thread on Johnnie To.

John Woo: While his resume has its ups and downs, it is his ups like The Killer and Hard Boiled that is celebrated over and over.  His Red Cliff is one of my favorite battle films.  He apprenticed with Chang Cheh and certainly has an influence there, but like Johnnie To and Tsui Hark their influences are worldly (he is also influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville) and are thoroughly knowledgeable cinephiles.

Wong Kar-wai: Unrequited love.   Start with Chungking Express which is actually not typical of Wong as he did this quickly and on respite from Ashes of Time.  But it is breezy, has his quirky sense of humor, typical (of that time) choreography.

I have not seen enough from directors such as Ann Hui, but what I have seen I have liked.  I am looking forward to more releases locally from King Hu (he is not underrated among critics though) and Sun Chung (or really I need to rewatch what I have.)   Directors like Chor Yuen I find very spotty, though he has films in my top 50 HK movies like The Magic Blade. I later realized I probably should put Akira Kurosawa in here.

[AlbertV]

Sammo Hung makes good use of skilled fighters known for kicking, such as Casanova Wong, Yuen Biao, and even Tetsuya Matsui, who played the villain in Lucky Stars Go Places. 

 

Corey Yuen is also a good action director and while he did have a bit of a slump in the mid 2000's, I did like his choreography in Rise of the Legend.

 

Donnie Yen for both his excellent kicking and now, grappling skills in his films. 

 

Lau Kar-Leung of course, because of his use and experience of different kung fu styles and he broke the mold when it came to the classic kung fu rivalry between Japan and China with Heroes from the East.

 

I also like Peng Kang. His style is very fluid, making good use of kickers like Delon Tan and Hsia Kwan-Li. Jackie Chan has even praised him as one of the best stunt guys he's ever worked with (he appears in both Fearless Hyena films, the second in one of the actual JC scenes)