Alternative Top Ten: 90's Hong Kong Movies

[DragonClaws]

Ok I started this thread last year, but it was another casualty of the forum going down. Thought now would be a good time to re-post it. I started the thread not only to spark some discussion, but so I and others, could learn about some lesser known 90's movies. Like an idiot I did not save anything related to this thread, as I did intend on using the suggestions for future H.K movie purchases. While the title of the thread says Top Ten, for those who can think of more titles, you welcome to create a longer list. Or if your are struggling to find ten titles to list, just add what suggestions you can. Hope I’m making sense here and I'm not rambling too much?. All I ask is you don't mention any of the more well known movies such as Drunken Master 2, Iron Monkey, Fist Of Legend etc.

 

Jet Li and Paul Repovski in a scene from Hitman(1998), is this movie an overlooked gem?.

 

Shu Qi and Chui Man Chuk in The Black Sheep Affair(1998), underappreciated or ove-rated?

 

Fist Of Shaolin(1993) Does this Wong Qun movie deserve more praise?.

 

[sym8]

Here's a few of mine Bury me high(Tsui Sui Ming)Final run(Ko Fei this maybe late 80s though)Deadend of besiegers(Cynthia Khan)A moment of romance(Andy lau)Operation scorpion(Lau kar leung)?

[Iron_Leopard]

I'm a big fan of the 90s. Still so much I need to see though. Here's some lesser known ones that are good enough for at least a one time watch.

1. Moon Warriors
2. Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung
3. Burning Paradise
4. Tiger Cage 2
5. The Hero Swallow
6. All Men are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard
7. The Sword Stained with Royal Blood
8. The Magic Crane
9. Tai Chi Master II
10. Butterfly and Sword

Some of these are known but I doubt most if any would make a top ten best list of the 90s.

[DrNgor]

18 hours ago, sym8 said:

Final run(Ko Fei this maybe late 80s though)

I think Final Run aka Kickfighter is from 1989. It was apparently Ko's most successful action cheapie.

21 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

Shu Qi and Chui Man Chuk in The Black Sheep Affair(1998), underappreciated or ove-rated?

Put me in the underappreciated bin.

21 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

Jet Li and Jude Poyer in a scene from Hitman(1998), is this movie an overlooked gem?.

Is that Jude Poyer or Paul Rapovski?

21 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

Fist Of Shaolin(1993) Does this Wong Qun movie deserve more praise?.

Not from me, but most purists will enjoy it more than the actual OUATIC series.

10 hours ago, Iron_Leopard said:

I'm a big fan of the 90s. Still so much I need to see though. Here's some lesser known ones that are good enough for at least a one time watch.

1. Moon Warriors
2. Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung
3. Burning Paradise
4. Tiger Cage 2
5. The Hero Swallow
6. All Men are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard
7. The Sword Stained with Royal Blood
8. The Magic Crane
9. Tai Chi Master II
10. Butterfly and Sword

Some of these are known but I doubt most if any would make a top ten best list of the 90s.

Yeah, I don't think Tiger Cage 2; Burning Paradise; Butterfly and Sword; and Tai Chi 2 are all that lesser-known. Most people agree that Tiger Cage 2 and Burning Paradise are classics. That said, I still haven't seen Moon Warriors, Blood of the Leopard or the 1990s Sword Stained With Royal Blood.

[One Armed Boxer]

14 minutes ago, DrNgor said:

Is that Jude Poyer or Paul Rapovski?

It's Paul Rapovski.

If I remember correctly @DragonClaws, last time you posted this topic I bastardized it by recommending Taiwanese and Korean movies. So considering my own recent thread about people incorrectly labeling Mainland China movies as Hong Kong productions, I'll try and stay within your criteria this time.

I'll think of more for sure.  But for now I'd go with - 

Tiger Cage III (1991) - I think it's the best of the trilogy * ducks tomatoes *

Blade of Fury (1993) - Sammo Hung directing Ti Lung and Cynthia Khan

Many of Yuen Biao's 90's efforts often get overlooked, but are still thoroughly entertaining - License to Steal (1990), The Sword Stained with Royal Blood (1993), Kickboxer (1993), The Hero of Swallow (1996), The Hunted Hunter (1997)

New Kids in Town (1990) - Lau Kar Leung in a rare display of anger!

Angel Terminators 2 (1993) - Great female fight action from Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima

Godfather's Daughter Mafia Blues (1991) - A rare directorial effort from Fung Hak-On

 

[AlbertV]

Here are my Top 10

The Death Games (1997)

Fun and Fury (1992)

Butterfly & Sword (1993)

First Shot (1993)

Tiger Cage II (1990)

In the Line of Duty 5: Middle Man (1990)

She Shoots Straight (1990)

The Red Wolf (1995)

Tai Chi II (1995)

City of Darkness (1999)

 

 

[DragonClaws]

4 hours ago, DrNgor said:

Is that Jude Poyer or Paul Rapovski?

One Armed Boxer is right its Rapoovski, Ill correct that error. Just had a quick glance over HKMDB and say Jude Poyer credited as the assassin. The last time I watched it was on VHS back in the early noughties.

4 hours ago, DrNgor said:

Put me in the underappreciated bin.

Agree with you on this one Doc, its one of my favorites but I might be biased due to Shu Qi's involvment.

4 hours ago, DrNgor said:

Not from me, but most purists will enjoy it more than the actual OUATIC series.

Yet to put my copy in the DVD player, but I'll let you know my thoughts when I do. Recall it being a popular film in the old thread.

4 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

If I remember correctly @DragonClaws, last time you posted this topic I bastardized it by recommending Taiwanese and Korean movies. So considering my own recent thread about people incorrectly labeling Mainland China movies as Hong Kong productions, I'll try and stay within your criteria this time.

Much appreciaited, guess we could start a seperate thread at somepoint to deal with those countries.

 

4 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Godfather's Daughter Mafia Blues (1991) - A rare directorial effort from Fung Hak-On

Didnt you do a review of this one last year?.

 

Thanks for your contribution everyone, if we get more feedback from fans I might put together a list of ten of the most talked about titles.

[One Armed Boxer]

5 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

Didnt you do a review of this one last year?.

Guilty as charged.

Out of the movies I mentioned, I gave full reviews to 'The Godfather's Daughter Mafia Blues', 'Kickboxer', and 'The Hunted Hunter'.

I also reviewed @Iron_Leopard's recommendation of 'Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung', but for me this one unfortunately missed the mark.

[DragonClaws]

7 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Out of the movies I mentioned, I gave full reviews to 'The Godfather's Daughter Mafia Blues', 'Kickboxer', and 'The Hunted Hunter'.

The reson I recalled The Godfathers Daughter Mafia Blues, was due to the Bob Dylan reference.

 

Need to see more of Fan Siu Wong's 90s filmogrpahy, I know The Death Games has alreadybeen mentioned by @AlbertV.

 

 

[DrNgor]

6 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

Need to see more of Fan Siu Wong's 90s filmogrpahy, I know The Death Games has alreadybeen mentioned by @AlbertV.

The Death Games is without a doubt his best. He does some fighting in Project S/Supercop 2, Stone Age Warriors, and Master of Zen, but I don't think any of those reach of level of showcase that The Death Games did.

[AlbertV]

1 hour ago, DrNgor said:

The Death Games is without a doubt his best. He does some fighting in Project S/Supercop 2, Stone Age Warriors, and Master of Zen, but I don't think any of those reach of level of showcase that The Death Games did.

It wasn't just Louis Fan's best, but it was also the most action I think we get from Kim-Maree Penn, who initially plays a villain but ends up having a change of heart due to her being impressed with Fan's skills.

[Writ]

Can't believe there's so many recommendations here that I haven't seen or even heard of! Will be adding a bunch of them to my watchlist.

I don't have too much to contribute here considering most of the 90s HK films I've watched are the more well known ones, but I think these few aren't as appreciated as much as they should be:

Gorgeous (1999) - Even though this stars both Jackie Chan and Shu Qi, this one doesn't seem to get much love at all. It isn't quite an action film, though there are two very well choreographed fights with Jackie at peak form. It's really just a romantic comedy, somewhat generic but carried by just how charming Shu Qi is. Some unfortunate goofy HK humour, but as a whole, very fun movie.

Green Snake (1993) - It's a very messy film, especially when it comes to the action scenes, but it's got to be one of the most sensual non-pornographic films ever made. Absolutely gorgeous from the set design, to the costumes, to the lighting, to the music and our two lead actresses. It's unfortunate then that the action scenes aren't all that great, but if you view it as a fantasy romance film, you'll definitely have a very good time with it.

Outlaw Brothers (1990) - Frankie Chan is soooo underrated. This reminds me a lot of the early Lucky Stars films which are some of my favourite HK films ever. Despite starring Yukari Oshima and Max Mok (as well as Frankie Chan, though I guess people for whatever reason don't consider him a selling point) and guest starring Michiko Nishiwaki, I also don't see this one get talked about so much. The action is very solid, and the tricks and pranks that our titular outlaw brothers get up to are genuinely hilarious.

[DragonClaws]

Bumping this old thread, to see if anyone has some new suggestions?. We managed to get a lot more discussion in the original thread.

 

On 27/02/2017 at 11:41 AM, Writ said:

Gorgeous (1999) - Even though this stars both Jackie Chan and Shu Qi, this one doesn't seem to get much love at all. It isn't quite an action film, though there are two very well choreographed fights with Jackie at peak form. It's really just a romantic comedy, somewhat generic but carried by just how charming Shu Qi is. Some unfortunate goofy HK humour, but as a whole, very fun movie.

While this is not at the top of my Jackie Chan movie list, it still leagues ahead of his U.S productions that were to follow. In fact its better than 90% of the movies coming out from China over the past decade or so.

 

On 27/02/2017 at 11:41 AM, Writ said:

Green Snake (1993) - It's a very messy film, especially when it comes to the action scenes, but it's got to be one of the most sensual non-pornographic films ever made. Absolutely gorgeous from the set design, to the costumes, to the lighting, to the music and our two lead actresses. It's unfortunate then that the action scenes aren't all that great, but if you view it as a fantasy romance film, you'll definitely have a very good time with it.

I've yet to get round to watching this Tsiu Hark directed production.

 

Jackie Chan aims at Brad Alan, in the finale of Gorgeous(1999)

Green Snake(1993)

[Writ]

I do wish I had more knowledge of 90s HK films to contribute more to the discussion, but as it stands, I really haven't watched enough.

Two more that might fit the bill of "alternative HK films" might be A Hero Never Dies and Where a Good Man Goes. They are Johnnie To films, but they tend to be overlooked in his filmography - not quite as popular as The Mission or Running Out of Time though I think they're actually more interesting than the latter two. Where a Good Man Goes especially is actually quite unique in his entire filmography with maybe only Throw Down (which is a 2004 film of his) matching it's quirkiness while A Hero Never Dies is absolutely bonkers even by To's crazy standards.

[DragonClaws]

8 hours ago, Writ said:

I do wish I had more knowledge of 90s HK films to contribute more to the discussion, but as it stands, I really haven't watched enough.

Thats one of the reasons I started the thread, to learn about some of the lesser talked about titles from the 90's.

@masterofoneinchpunch contributed some great posts in the original thread, hope to see him back on the forums one day.

 

Anyone here watched the Clarence Ford directed Warriors The Black Panther(1993)?, starring Brigette Lin, Simon Yam and Tony Leung among others?.

[Drunken Monk]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Saviour of the Soul or is that too well known?

[One Armed Boxer]

If you're a fan of Darren Shahlavi then I'd definitely recommend the Ko Fei directed 1997 flick 'Techo Warriors'.  I reviewed it here.

 

[DrNgor]

On 01/12/2017 at 2:32 PM, Drunken Monk said:

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Saviour of the Soul or is that too well known?

I thought the flying mirror climax was a bit too disappointing for me to consider it a decade classic.

[DragonClaws]

On 02/12/2017 at 5:08 PM, One Armed Boxer said:

If you're a fan of Darren Shahlavi then I'd definitely recommend the Ko Fei directed 1997 flick 'Techo Warriors'.  I reviewed it here.

Remember your review of this, from the Phillip Ko Fei themed mutual reviews thread I started in 2016.

Any Kung Fu Fandom followers out there who think there's a littl known 90's Hong Kong movie, that derserves more praise?

[DrNgor]

I think my list would be something like this:

Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon (1990)
Crystal Hunt (1991)
Butterfly and Sword (1993)
Blade of Fury (1993)
Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993)
Hero of Swallow (1996)
The Death Games (1997)
Shanghai Affairs (1998)
The Black Sheep Affair (1998)
City of Darkness (1999)

Runner's Up:

Mahjong Dragon (1997)
Legend of the Wolf (1997)
Dragon from Russia (1990)

[Drunken Monk]

I hope that, some day, we'll see some of these make their way to Blu Ray. I feel like I've missed out on the majority of a decade's martial arts output because most of these films or either out of print or impossible to find.

[AlbertV]

On 12/2/2017 at 12:08 PM, One Armed Boxer said:

If you're a fan of Darren Shahlavi then I'd definitely recommend the Ko Fei directed 1997 flick 'Techo Warriors'.  I reviewed it here.

Ironically, back in 2000, I spoke with Darren via e-mail after having seen the film for the first time and I remember him saying he had some issues with the film, including his outfit (he felt a bit constricted and not being able to really kick as high as we're used to) and the fact that action director James Ha wasn't exactly a specialist when it came to martial arts fights, but he made the most of it.

[DragonClaws]

On 1/7/2020 at 5:55 PM, DrNgor said:

I think my list would be something like this:

Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon (1990)
Crystal Hunt (1991)
Butterfly and Sword (1993)
Blade of Fury (1993)
Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993)
Hero of Swallow (1996)
The Death Games (1997)
Shanghai Affairs (1998)
The Black Sheep Affair (1998)
City of Darkness (1999)

Runner's Up:

Mahjong Dragon (1997)
Legend of the Wolf (1997)
Dragon from Russia (1990) 

 

 

Thanks for posting your list @DrNgor, compiling top ten lists has never been my strength. I know you are someone who put some thought into any list your compile and post on here. Rather than just randomy addng a bunch of titles together. Still need to view many of those you highlighted, including The Death Games(1997). Which I somehow keep forgetting about pursuing on DVD.

[DragonClaws]

On 1/7/2020 at 5:55 PM, DrNgor said:

I think my list would be something like this:

Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon (1990)
Crystal Hunt (1991)
Butterfly and Sword (1993)
Blade of Fury (1993)
Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993)
Hero of Swallow (1996)
The Death Games (1997)
Shanghai Affairs (1998)
The Black Sheep Affair (1998)
City of Darkness (1999)

Runner's Up:

Mahjong Dragon (1997)
Legend of the Wolf (1997)
Dragon from Russia (1990) 

 

 

Thanks for posting your list @DrNgor, compiling top ten lists has never been my strength. I know you are someone who put some thought into any list your compile and post on here. Rather than just randomy addng a bunch of titles together. Still need to view many of those you highlighted, including The Death Games(1997). Which I somehow keep forgetting about pursuing on DVD.