Won Jin

[Super Ninja]

On 10/8/2021 at 3:12 PM, Dredderick_Tatum said:

founder of the Magpie Stunt Team

I'm interested to hear more about this. Korean team I guess? What did they work on? Who else was/is in the team? 

[J.J. Hayden]

I wish I had more to tell, a few months back when I was doing my research I probably could've told you more, although I don't think there was much info anyway. Due to the lack of film credits (Just Vindictive Venom in 1998, which was a TV movie [and presumably Vindictive Venom 2]) I believe they worked primarily on Korean TV rather than movies.

It's also called 까치班 or Kachi-Ban and had many members, but most don't seem to have other credits. Three worth noting were: Jang Dong-il who was in a few of the 90s kids MA movies in Korea; Yang Hae-gil who went on to do a lot of stunt work; and most notably Shin Jae-myung who also did some 90s kids movies (some with Won Jin), even playing Guile in Street Fighter Q, but more importantly went on to be a successful action director.

Edited December 1, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[Super Ninja]

3 hours ago, Dredderick_Tatum said:

I wish I had more to tell, a few months back when I was doing my research I probably could've told you more, although I don't think there was much info anyway. Due to the lack of film credits (Just Vindictive Venom in 1998, which was a TV movie [and presumably Vindictive Venom 2]) I believe they worked primarily on Korean TV rather than movies.

It's also called 까치班 or Kachi-Ban and had many members, but most don't seem to have other credits. Three worth noting were: Jang Dong-Il who was in a few of the 90s kids MA movies in Korea; Yang Hae-Gil who went on to do a lot of stunt work; and most notably Sin Jae-Myeong who also did some 90s kids movies (some with Won Jin), even playing Guile in Street Fighter Q, but more importantly went on to be a successful action director.

That's plenty to go on, thanks! Have you had any luck finding some of their films or those kids MA films, are they worth the effort?

Much like in Taiwan, kids MA movies seem to have been big in Korea back then, guess the trend has its roots in the mid 80's? Kung Fu Kids was hugely successful and most likely kick-started the trend in Taiwan, you think Korea just joined the trend?

[J.J. Hayden]

On 10/12/2021 at 7:13 PM, Super Ninja said:

That's plenty to go on, thanks! Have you had any luck finding some of their films or those kids MA films, are they worth the effort?

Much like in Taiwan, kids MA movies seem to have been big in Korea back then, guess the trend has its roots in the mid 80's? Kung Fu Kids was hugely successful and most likely kick-started the trend in Taiwan, you think Korea just joined the trend?

From what I understand, the Korean MA movies boomed in the late 70s, mostly down to HK companies filming there as it was cheap. Many of the stars were people like Hwang Jeong-ri who had been given some clout appearing as super-kickers in the HK movies. For the most part it seemed to fall into two categories: period MA movies (usually made to appeal to HK, often Drunken Master-esque action comedies) or gangster movies. I usually found the later to be of very low quality, the Korean action directors just didn't seem to be good at contemporary action style. The former they did well, although never getting to the level of top HK movies, they could do some good action and their kicks and gymnastics were often incorporated well.

 

However, the period MA movies became less popular in HK, with many films choosing a contemporary setting and this trend would pretty much be the death of MA movies in Korea by the late 80s. MA movies in Korea were already kinda niche and without the HK market, producers just weren't interested.

 

I'm not sure as to why, but in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, MA films in Korea seemed to become almost exclusively: low budget action comedies aimed primarily at young children, with many of the former martial arts masters (including Won Jin) doing super hero style movies, often similar to that of Power Rangers. For the most part their talent was wasted due to keeping things whacky for the kids and that Korean action directors still didn't seem to know how to shoot action as good as HK.

 

There were many of these kind of films and some even had many films per series such as: Thunderhawk; Super Hong Kil-Dong; Yeong-goo; and the many Street Fighter movies. I can't say that I'd recommend any of them, even the Won Jin movies I'd say to only buy them if you're a die hard fan but you can find many clips on YouTube.

 

Hope this helped.

Edited December 1, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[Mike Leeder]

Raven and his team were the stunt coordinators for MY SASSY GIRL, a lot of TV and commercials et

Amongst its members at various times were Bruce Khan (Revenger), Hyun Ji Park/Mong Cha Cha (New Police Story) and Lee In Seob (Mr Lee Jackie's stunt double since The Medallion)

[J.J. Hayden]

On 10/13/2021 at 2:52 AM, Mike Leeder said:

Raven and his team were the stunt coordinators for MY SASSY GIRL, a lot of TV and commercials et

Amongst its members at various times were Bruce Khan (Revenger), Hyun Ji Park/Mong Cha Cha (New Police Story) and Lee In Seob (Mr Lee Jackie's stunt double since The Medallion)

Cheers for the info Mike. I knew Raven was stunt co-ordinator for My Sassy Girl, but not the team, that's very interesting, did the team work on all his stunt co-ordinator credits?

 

I had seen some evidence that Lee and Hyeon were on the team but couldn't confirm, so thanks for that. But had no idea about Khan. It's good to see some of the Korean stunt guys have some renown.

 

It's so difficult to find any info on Korean TV stuff (certainly pre-2000s) do you know of any TV work that Won Jin did?

Cheers

Edited December 1, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[Super Ninja]

On 10/12/2021 at 11:06 PM, Dredderick_Tatum said:

From what I understand, the Korean MA movies boomed in the late 70s, mostly down to HK companies filming there as it was cheap. Many of the stars were people like Hwang Jeong-Li who had been given some clout appearing as super-kickers in the HK movies. For the most part it seemed to fall into two categories: period MA movies (usually made to appeal to HK, often Drunken Master-esque action comedies) or gangster movies. I usually found the later to be of very low quality, the Korean action directors just didn't seem to be good at contemporary action style. The former they did well, although never getting to the level of top HK movies, they could do some good action and their kicks and gymnastics were often incorporated well.

 

However, the period MA movies became less popular in HK, with many films choosing a contemporary setting and this trend would pretty much be the death of MA movies in Korea by the late 80s. MA movies in Korea were already kinda niche and without the HK market, producers just weren't interested.

 

I'm not sure as to why, but in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, MA films in Korea seemed to become almost exclusively: low budget action comedies aimed primarily at young children, with many of the former martial arts masters (including Won Jin) doing super hero style movies, often similar to that of Power Rangers. For the most part their talent was wasted due to keeping things whacky for the kids and that Korean action directors still didn't seem to know how to shoot action as good as HK.

 

There were many of these kind of films and some even had many films per series such as: Thunderhawks; Super Hong Gil-Dong; Yeong-Gu; and the many Street Fighter movies. I can't say that I'd recommend any of them, even the Won Jin movies I'd say to only buy them if you're a die hard fan but you can find many clips on YouTube.

 

Hope this helped.

I've barely scratched the surface when it comes to Korean MA films so this not only helped, it set the best foundation for further research that I could possibly have wished for, thanks @Dredderick_Tatum!

On 10/13/2021 at 3:52 AM, Mike Leeder said:

Raven and his team were the stunt coordinators for MY SASSY GIRL, a lot of TV and commercials et

Amongst its members at various times were Bruce Khan (Revenger), Hyun Ji Park/Mong Cha Cha (New Police Story) and Lee In Seob (Mr Lee Jackie's stunt double since The Medallion)

So that's where Bruce Khan originated, precious info, thanks @Mike Leeder.

[J.J. Hayden]

Here's a few of clips from films where Won really wasn't used very well at all, still it's worth seeing if you're a die hard fan. The first being his quick scuffle with Hwang Jeong-ri in 1981's Hitman In The Hand Of Buddha, not his worst role, but it's kinda sad that this is all we get between these two super-kicking gods. This scene was actually cut from the version I originally saw when I was a kid, I noticed WJ and wondered why he was not doing any fighting. This is in German but was the best visually.

 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[J.J. Hayden]

Here Won Jin has a small fantasy role fighting Andy Lau Tak-wah in 1992's Saviour Of The Soul II. Apparently this was a sort of screentest, to see how well WJ did with the HK action team, which makes me even more curious about To Catch A Thief, as that appears to be his first HK movie, was this scene shot first and released after, or did David Lai want to test WJ himself instead of Andy Chin Wing-keung's movie. How did WJ end up working with Andy Chin, I can't find any connection between that and his other HK movies, I'll probably never know. I wish I could ask him myself, lol.

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[J.J. Hayden]

Won Jin teams up with Sophia Crawford to take on Li Fai (most will know her as the witch from Iron Monkey) and then fights Tony Leung Chiu-wai in 1993's Hero From Beyond The Boundary Of Time. It's mostly wire work nonsense but a few good kicks get thrown. Still it's a shame that this was WJ's last film he made while living in HK, especially when he may have been in Police Story 3: Supercop or even Fong Sai Yuk II.

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[Mike Leeder]

WJ's first HK movie was Operation Scorpio,, he was living in HK for a couple of years and unfortunately nobody really seemed to know how to showcase properly after the first film, the film did well in Taiwan but didnt really make a ripple in HK sadly

David Lai & Corey Yuen used him again on Women on the Run as the villain and he gets the cool desert intro and the end museum fight shot on Andy :Lau's Moon Warriors set (the movie was produced under the auspices of Andy's company, and then after seeing the Cat 3 content, Andy let it go to another company)  Saviour of Soul 2 he gets the fantasu beat, To Catch a Thief is fun and he gets to battle both Moon Lee and To Siu-chun, while hero Beyond Boundary of Time was when he got sick, and he headed back to Korea

Edited October 31, 2021 by Mike Leeder

[J.J. Hayden]

I'm happy to say that a new Won Jin project has been released and he gets at least one short but cool fight scene.

It's from an 8 part TV series called My Name that aired on 15/10/2021. He is credited as Moo-jin's Driver (Moo-jin being the lead villain) although bodyguard may have been a more appropriate credit. I've seen clips including his final fight scene but haven't had access to the end credits so can't say if he was involved in the action directing (I didn't find info on AD online either).

Even more good news is that it's released on Netflix so many of you (not me :P) will be able to view it, unlike much of his material. Also this might give him the chance to be discovered my a larger audience, since Korean film and TV are very popular lately, especially with the success of Squid Game. I hope it leads to more recognition and more roles, he certainly deserves it.

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[J.J. Hayden]

I managed to check the action credits and Won Jin's name was not there, but they do have the other Kim Won-jin on the stunt team to confuse people as usual, lol. Anyway, here's the poster and a couple of screenshots from Won Jin's fight with leading lady Han So-hui, the second being one of his trademarks, pinning the opponent with a foot to the throat.

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[J.J. Hayden]

With Won Jin busting some moves on camera again, I decided to do a bit of research again, found a few decent things in the abyss. Two of which are upcoming projects:  the first is one I'm sure has been posted here before but according to the page I found and the text on the image, it seems that the movie known as Tiger's Trigger has finished filming. I'm very excited to see these two kick-masters go toe to toe.

 

The second also features another of the Korean great, Kwon Seong-Yeong. He's doing a film called Companion, where he plays a former martial arts star now working as a security guard and Won Jin is to make an appearance. I'm not sure if there'll be any action, but it's still nice to see these guys are still friends even now.

Cheers

Edited December 1, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[J.J. Hayden]

Happy New Year all. I can start the new year with something a little positive, it's not much but for me anything Won Jin is a plus.

Firstly I can confirm that WJ was the action director of the TV series "You're Beautiful", I managed to find the end credits, he's credited under his full name (Kim Won-jin) which is rare, but it is him rather than the others as it's under "Action Korea" which was his stunt team.

Second I can confirm two other project he worked on as an action director: The SBS TV series - Coffee House; and the KBS TV Special - Flower On The Tip Of A Blade.

Thirdly, can't confirm these yet but hopefully soon: a project as an action director that was rather unexpected, not film or TV; and a brief appearance in a old Korean martial arts movie, I'm 95% sure but waiting for DVD to arrive, so can confirm with better quality footage, post in the UK is slow as ass at the minute, ordered it 3 weeks ago, still waiting.

 

 

[DragonClaws]

42 minutes ago, Dredderick_Tatum said:

Happy New Year all. I can start the new year with something a little positive, it's not much but for me anything Won Jin is a plus.

 

Happy New Year @Dredderick_Tatum, keep up the great work you are doing with this thread.

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[J.J. Hayden]

2 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

 

That takes me back. First time I saw Won Jin in action, I said "Right I'm gonna do Karate" (there was no TKD here then), and I did.

This vids quality is very good compared to mine, on DVD it's ok but if transferred it turns into blurry soup.

Cheers

[J.J. Hayden]

Finally got my copy of The Dragon's Snake Fist and happy to confirm that I was correct, it does feature Won Jin in another brief role that I've never seen credited anywhere, here as one of the Snake Fist Students who throws a few awesome kicks before being dispatched all too quickly. It's possible that he did some doubling as well but I can't confirm that.

So anybody whose got Korean martial arts movies from 1979 onward, keep your eyes peeled for one of the world's most uncredited super-kickers.

Cheers

 

 

[One Armed Boxer]

On 3/31/2021 at 10:28 AM, J.J. Hayden said:

Won Jin's fight against Ricky Jun and Lee In-Seop in 1998's Vindictive Venom.

A collector currently has the original Korean VHS release of this one up for sale - 

[J.J. Hayden]

Cheers for the info @One Armed Boxer, do you have any contact details please?

[One Armed Boxer]

21 hours ago, J.J. Hayden said:

Cheers for the info @One Armed Boxer, do you have any contact details please?

PM sent.

[J.J. Hayden]

Won Jin with Japanese martial arts icon Michiko Nishiwaki at Eddie Maher's Health Club in Tsim Sha Tsui. Another match up that would've been great to see but never was.

Cheers

[J.J. Hayden]

It took a little while to confirm this one and it's a bit unusual, but Won Jin was the action director of a live action musical version of the popular children's TV series Fly Superboard (here it has the more appropriate English title of The Flying Superboard). The series is basically a cheaper version of Dragon Ball and had a poorly sung but really catchy theme song, lol.

The musical version featured martial arts, stunts and acrobatics, which Won Jin took charge of as the shows star was comedic actor Kim Byung-man, who was also a martial artist. There seems to be a strong connection in the Korean film industry between comedy and martial arts.

It's kind of a shame that many of the Korean martial arts actors ended up doing kids entertainment, instead of getting staring roles in martial arts movies like they deserved, but I can't think of anything more rewarding than making children happy. I reckon most of them feel the same way.

Byung-man would later go on to reprise this role in a live action movie of the Journey To The West story called Super Monkey Returns, which is also connected to Won Jin as the action director was one of his Action Korea members Kim Shin-wung.

Cheers

Edited February 6, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[J.J. Hayden]

Here's the latest project featuring Won Jin to see release, Secretly Sweetly. It's a web series starring Kim Myung-ho as a detective trying to solve a mystery within the art world. It seems there are only 3 short episodes and I'm not sure to what extent Won Jin worked on the project as he's given a "special thanks" credit rather than action director, on all three episodes.

I did however discover that they are planning to film a second series in mid April with some action scenes on which Won Jin will be directing, so it's something to keep an eye out for.

Cheers

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by J.J. Hayden