Member Iron_Leopard Posted March 18, 2017 Member Share Posted March 18, 2017 Do you think the fandom for these movies are becoming an endangered species? I have no proof to back this up but I feel the resurgence of these films and the interest peaked about ten years ago around 2007. Is the passion of the cult fans just as strong as ever or is it waning? Will anyone know that these films exist in 20 or 30 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tex Killer Posted March 18, 2017 Member Share Posted March 18, 2017 There are probably lot fans in digital media releases(el rey, amazon prime, itunes) but not many find their way to forums like these. Few fb groups for Shaw brothers to talk about but found them interesting,conversation is often like" yeah,it is great movie.A;I agree". Still good that they exist, there is never too much blah blah of Shaws around...but for those know knows their Shaws beyond surface there is usually very litte to offer...Also I`m not too excited often american titles are used when discussing about movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member De Ming Li Posted March 18, 2017 Member Share Posted March 18, 2017 I will be around for a long time to come I actually didn't know about the Shaw Bros before 2011 and only stumbled onto their films in early 2011 when I moved from Sydney to Melbourne and went to a random Asian DVD store and in there was a whole load of Shaw films. Since then I've not looked back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted March 18, 2017 Member Share Posted March 18, 2017 I'll always be a Shaw Brothers movies' fan, and yes, I often only have to say " great, beautiful, superb " as comments... Maybe the following site has already been mentioned here, but I just found it and, from just the quick look I took at it, the guy has solid comments to give on the movies... http://iloveshawbrothersmovies.blogspot.fr/search?updated-min=2017-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2018-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Writ Posted March 18, 2017 Member Share Posted March 18, 2017 There's also another recent Shaw Brothers fan in me here! I'd always had an interest in martial arts films, but being the 90s baby that I am, I grew up with the mindset that I could only watch somewhat recent films (an unfortunate trait in many people my age or younger, even amongst self proclaimed film buffs). Unfortunately there aren't a whole lot of good "recent" martial arts films and so I had pretty much stopped watching them for a few years. I had watched a handful of Shaw films before that time though, but it wasn't until a couple years back when I gained a sudden interest 70s exploitation films that I started really watching Shaw films. But yeah, even if I'm a young Shaw fan, I've yet to meet anyone else from my generation that loves them as much as I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted March 18, 2017 Member Share Posted March 18, 2017 I`m so out of touch with the youth of today that I have no idea! Though, I do work with a lot of people from different age groups, there are only a few guys that talk about martial arts movies. But, it is mostly Bruce Lee myths and Chuck Norris jokes. Never a mention of Shaw Brothers. It really is up to to Celestial to promote these. Is the El Rey Network still around? Are these films still playing on it? Otherwise, there seems to be no promotion of the SB brand in the US. Not like you can go into a clothing store and pick up a shirt or buy posters or see them referenced in the movies. It seems that the attitude is that the SB titles are for people that already know about them. Us fans do what we can! But, we can only do so much! Pretty much everyone knows the names Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. If I mention Gordon Liu, they say Gordon who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tex Killer Posted March 18, 2017 Member Share Posted March 18, 2017 7 hours ago, reason108 said: . It really is up to to Celestial to promote these. Is the El Rey Network still around? Excactly.Money from come from new generation also and that is proven genrewise they prefer digital format...So much cheaper for label too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sym8 Posted March 18, 2017 Member Share Posted March 18, 2017 When ever I want too watch or rewatch a Kung fu movie I always go to my shaw collection first so for me it will never die I loved the sets,costumes and the ability of the stars,directors,fight choreographers to do what they did.I personally wished they still made these kind of Kung fu movies the way they did with there complex fight scenes and long takes instead of the quick cuts we get today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Karlos Posted March 18, 2017 Moderator Share Posted March 18, 2017 Funnily enough, I went to my local HMV store only yesterday and was stunned to see Mighty Peking Man BD & DVD proudly on display as I walked in! Not only that, but I then managed to find 5 of the new 88 Films BDs for sale! Alas, not only was there just one copy of each for sale - and 2 of which were very highly priced - but, to add insult to injury, they were all tucked away at the bottom of the "world cinema" section. Truthfully, I'm (pleasantly) surprised there's any sort of market for Shaw's films, either here or anywhere else. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE SB films, I really do. As a studio they are pretty much unsurpassed. The Celestial DVD releases of the early 00s were fantastic (and the brief UK releases, too). Indeed, I salute all the various companies who did and still are putting out SB re-releases worldwide, but they only seem to sell in relatively small numbers, and to a pre-existing audience. No new fans coming along, it seems. I would love to be proved wrong, but I can't see the SB films having more than a minor following now. Why? No idea. Are they seen as "old"? Is "old" bad? I dunno! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator thekfc Posted March 18, 2017 Moderator Share Posted March 18, 2017 44 minutes ago, Tex Killer said: Excactly.Money from come from new generation also and that is proven genrewise they prefer digital format...So much cheaper for label too And the companies that offer digital services are aware and slowly coming onboard. Amazon Video, itunes & Google play all offer a good amount of Shaws movies for rent or to own. I have Amazon Prime, Netflix & Slingtv (Elrey) so I can watch what is available any time I wish. Though I prefer to have a physical media - I have been getting a lot of digital media. In addition to "regular" movies, I have been slowly building up my Shaws library. I mainly buy my Shaws digital via Google Play (between my google account, my wife's and son's we have been getting plenty of promotion and using it). I also have a VUDU, Disney Anywhere, CinemaNow, Ultraviolet, Sony Pictures, Mgo/Fandangonow account and have them linked where possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron_Leopard Posted March 18, 2017 Author Member Share Posted March 18, 2017 I recently got Amazon Prime and was shocked to see how many Shaws they had on there. I've been watching a bunch lately that I've never seen before. I wonder if the ones on netflix have been watched my new fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member De Ming Li Posted March 18, 2017 Member Share Posted March 18, 2017 9 hours ago, Writ said: There's also another recent Shaw Brothers fan in me here! I'd always had an interest in martial arts films, but being the 90s baby that I am, I grew up with the mindset that I could only watch somewhat recent films (an unfortunate trait in many people my age or younger, even amongst self proclaimed film buffs). Unfortunately there aren't a whole lot of good "recent" martial arts films and so I had pretty much stopped watching them for a few years. I had watched a handful of Shaw films before that time though, but it wasn't until a couple years back when I gained a sudden interest 70s exploitation films that I started really watching Shaw films. But yeah, even if I'm a young Shaw fan, I've yet to meet anyone else from my generation that loves them as much as I do. You brought up a very interesting point. My brother who was born in 1996 utterly refuses to watch any of the Shaw films I recommended to him, or any old school martial arts film for that matter. Is there something specific to 90's born kids that make them hostile to older era films, maybe the dramatic advances in video game technology and digital format of modern media movies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Writ Posted March 19, 2017 Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 1 hour ago, De Ming Li said: You brought up a very interesting point. My brother who was born in 1996 utterly refuses to watch any of the Shaw films I recommended to him, or any old school martial arts film for that matter. Is there something specific to 90's born kids that make them hostile to older era films, maybe the dramatic advances in video game technology and digital format of modern media movies? From what I hear and from my own experiences, it's because how the older films themselves look and feel. I remember one time when I was studying overseas and watching North by Northwest, a classmate had come up to me and said something like "oh my god, that looks so old, I don't even want to look at it". There's even the fact that regardless of how good an older film looks, it still feels old. I mean something like 2001: A Space Odyssey still holds up with regards to special effects even to this day, but you can tell it wasn't made a few years ago because it doesn't quite have that modern day sheen. People are so used to modern day film making that you might be surprised at how many people think long shot long takes are outdated and lazy. It's a changing of culture really - these days we get gigantic alien robots shooting planet destroying laser beams and it looks totally real. Back then we got people in costumes attached to ropes you can still see and 2D lines meant to pass off as lasers. I think unlike the audiences of the 50s that would be absolutely amazed at how they managed to make a man in a lizard costume so big, people these days would complain if they're not convinced. How many complaints do you hear about the latest Avengers movie having bad CGI just because the Hulk looked slightly off for 2 seconds? This of course is just a generalisation from what I know, but I hope it does answer your question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member massa_yoda Posted March 19, 2017 Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 5 hours ago, Iron_Leopard said: I recently got Amazon Prime and was shocked to see how many Shaws they had on there. I've been watching a bunch lately that I've never seen before. I wonder if the ones on netflix have been watched my new fans. Amazon Prime also has some Golden Harvest stuff. Quite surprised to find titles like Lucky Stars Go Places and Ghost Punting. But yes, their Shaw selection is excellent. Very impressed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted March 19, 2017 Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 19 hours ago, Karlos said: Funnily enough, I went to my local HMV store only yesterday and was stunned to see Mighty Peking Man BD & DVD proudly on display as I walked in! Not only that, but I then managed to find 5 of the new 88 Films BDs for sale! Alas, not only was there just one copy of each for sale - and 2 of which were very highly priced - but, to add insult to injury, they were all tucked away at the bottom of the "world cinema" section. Truthfully, I'm (pleasantly) surprised there's any sort of market for Shaw's films, either here or anywhere else. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE SB films, I really do. As a studio they are pretty much unsurpassed. The Celestial DVD releases of the early 00s were fantastic (and the brief UK releases, too). Indeed, I salute all the various companies who did and still are putting out SB re-releases worldwide, but they only seem to sell in relatively small numbers, and to a pre-existing audience. No new fans coming along, it seems. I would love to be proved wrong, but I can't see the SB films having more than a minor following now. Why? No idea. Are they seen as "old"? Is "old" bad? I dunno! The local HMV has merged, what was once a big Martial Arts section, into a couple of shelves in the world cinema section. There's a lot of MA titles that they now simply mix in with all the other movies. There also clueless on pricing, a bootleg reease of Eagle Shadow Fist is 12.99, while a legit copy of King Of The Kikcboxesr is only 4.99. 14 hours ago, De Ming Li said: You brought up a very interesting point. My brother who was born in 1996 utterly refuses to watch any of the Shaw films I recommended to him, or any old school martial arts film for that matter. Is there something specific to 90's born kids that make them hostile to older era films, maybe the dramatic advances in video game technology and digital format of modern media movies? It's not that way for all kids born in the 90's. I have two cousins, who were both 90's kids and I put them on to Jackie Chan and 80's action cinema. While they may not be die hard Asian movie fans, they still rate a lot of pre-90's movies very highly. I remember having friends who refused to watch older movies, when I was younger. It might be more common now, but its always been around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tex Killer Posted March 19, 2017 Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 I have some young friends who are not totally into piracy but also buy some their stuff but they would rarely buy physical release. For them movie is product not to keep years so file more comfortable...They carry tablets etc wtf all the time with them so can watch anytime, I just in home.. What quality is that "king of kickboxers"?Would be very much interested if aspect ratio is ok... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted March 19, 2017 Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 On 19/03/2017 at 1:28 PM, Tex Killer said: What quality is that "king of kickboxers"?Would be very much interested if aspect ratio is ok... I can't recall the aspect ratio Tex, its the release below, if anyone has a copy and can confirm what the image is like for you?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tex Killer Posted March 19, 2017 Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 7 hours ago, DragonClaws said: I can't recall the apesct ration Tex, its the release below, if anyone has a copy and can confirm what the image is like for you?. It`s probably this ; http://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=9260 But if pq quality is good, sounds like worthy purchase. I loved that as kid, end fight in cage with spikes was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tex Killer Posted March 19, 2017 Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 7 hours ago, DragonClaws said: I can't recall the apesct ration Tex, its the release below, if anyone has a copy and can confirm what the image is like for you?. Funnily even as elite martial arts movies come mainly from china, then some japan and thailand..hollywood fight flicks have often some strange charm even as action is inferior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron_Leopard Posted March 19, 2017 Author Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 17 hours ago, De Ming Li said: You brought up a very interesting point. My brother who was born in 1996 utterly refuses to watch any of the Shaw films I recommended to him, or any old school martial arts film for that matter. Is there something specific to 90's born kids that make them hostile to older era films, maybe the dramatic advances in video game technology and digital format of modern media movies? I have a co worker born the same year and he's the same. Said he won't watch any movie made before 2006. That is just unreal to me. So I'm guessing he assumes Dinosaurs were still roaming the earth in the 70s and 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tex Killer Posted March 19, 2017 Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 7 hours ago, Iron_Leopard said: I have a co worker born the same year and he's the same. Said he won't watch any movie made before 2006. That is just unreal to me. So I'm guessing he assumes Dinosaurs were still roaming the earth in the 70s and 80s. choreography is so darn different. Some I know find old style very boring and prefer wires and rapid camera angle cuts.I agree f/x is lot better in new productions but action is not....if he/she watches movies for special effects only I can understand reasoning. effects have gone forward by tiger leaps in some years...If he/she can stand martial arts should try movies like lady assassin, secret service of imperial court, new tales of flying fox..action might seem more exciting than in old skool flicks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron_Leopard Posted March 19, 2017 Author Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 3 minutes ago, Tex Killer said: choreography is so darn different. Some I know find old style very boring and prefer wires and rapid camera angle cuts.I agree f/x is lot better in new productions but action is not....if he/she watches movies for special effects only I can understand reasoning. effects have gone forward by tiger leaps in some years...If he/she can stand martial arts should try movies like lady assassin, secret service of imperial court, new tales of flying fox..action might seem more exciting than in old skool flicks... Yeah I was surprised at how much wire work there was in "Lady Assassin". I've never seen that much before in a Shaw film. That's not a bad thing for me though. I don't miND it. My problem is CGI. Can't do it anymore. And watching Shaw Brothers movies is the perfect remedy for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator thekfc Posted March 19, 2017 Moderator Share Posted March 19, 2017 I have a few younger co-workers. There are about 3 of them who do watch the "older" Kung fu movies and have even asked for recommendations. After they get a liking to an actor, they want to see more of that actor's movies. Some of the stars they are into after recommendation are Fu Sheng, Ti Lung, Derek Yee, David Cheng, Kara Hui, Cheng Pei-pei, Yokari Oshima, Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen, Yasuaki Kurata. I showed them "Swordsman 2 & "Heroic Trio" and surprising they were hooked, they even commented that is the same lady from "Hero". The same group are also into the "younger stars" like Tony Jai, Iko Uwais, Rina Takeda & Jeeja Yanin. I have a co-worker who is strictly digital. There are times when he would buy a movie, take the digital copy code and give away the physical media. I also have another co-worker who buys for the "extras" - steelbook, collectable packaging, exclusive contents, etc,. If a movies is "barebone" then he wouldn't buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted March 19, 2017 Member Share Posted March 19, 2017 6 hours ago, Iron_Leopard said: Yeah I was surprised at how much wire work there was in "Lady Assassin". I've never seen that much before in a Shaw film. That's not a bad thing for me though. I don't miND it. My problem is CGI. Can't do it anymore. And watching Shaw Brothers movies is the perfect remedy for that. There is such a difference between the movies that I grew up on and the films of today`s remake culture. Even non action films find some excuse to include a digital shot. A lot of times, it might just be the background, sky, lighting, etc. Pretty soon, reality itself is going to stop looking real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted March 20, 2017 Member Share Posted March 20, 2017 On 3/17/2017 at 7:44 PM, Iron_Leopard said: Do you think the fandom for these movies are becoming an endangered species? I have no proof to back this up but I feel the resurgence of these films and the interest peaked about ten years ago around 2007. Is the passion of the cult fans just as strong as ever or is it waning? Will anyone know that these films exist in 20 or 30 years? No it will not become an endangered species and yes people will still know it exists 30 years from now. The classics will always be appreciated, though the lesser known films might get one printing and then become quite hard to get unless a new life emerges on streaming. Now it never has been mainstream though like with every niche/subgenre it will have its ups and downs. For goodness sake I have DVDs of Edison, Gaumont, etc... from the 1890s -- talk about a historical niche. People will still know Buster Keaton and Chaplin thirty years from now (it is interesting how their reputations have gone up and down over the years include Harold Lloyd with that too.) On 3/18/2017 at 6:28 AM, Writ said: ... I grew up with the mindset that I could only watch somewhat recent films (an unfortunate trait in many people my age or younger, even amongst self proclaimed film buffs). Unfortunately there aren't a whole lot of good "recent" martial arts films and so I had pretty much stopped watching them for a few years. ... But yeah, even if I'm a young Shaw fan, I've yet to meet anyone else from my generation that loves them as much as I do. Anyone who calls themselves a film buff and dismisses almost a century of cinema (or more) is no film buff. I never understood that mindset, but I grew up watching older films. Then I got into studying film and found an appreciation and a love for so much out there, from so many countries and so many decades. When I first saw the R1 releases here I became hooked with the Shaw Brothers. I love talking to people about film (probably too much) and I talk to some Hong Kong expatriates who saw these originally in Hong Kong or they will tell me there parents saw some of these and that their first Hong Kong films were somewhere in the 80s or 90s (depending on their age.) Then they wonder why I like them (this has actually came up several dozen times) and why I'm watching something that old. Then I tell them about the Ruan Lingyu films I have from the 1930s. On 3/18/2017 at 3:43 PM, De Ming Li said: You brought up a very interesting point. My brother who was born in 1996 utterly refuses to watch any of the Shaw films I recommended to him, or any old school martial arts film for that matter. Is there something specific to 90's born kids that make them hostile to older era films, maybe the dramatic advances in video game technology and digital format of modern media movies? It is not specific to age. I have a friend in his 60s who does not like films older than the 90s (this is unique though, most older friends like older films up to a certain point.) Many people I know have strange self imposed limits like no films older than their birthdays, no non-CGI films (this drives me nuts). Some do not like subtitles, silent films, black and white etc... On 3/18/2017 at 5:44 PM, Writ said: From what I hear and from my own experiences, it's because how the older films themselves look and feel. I remember one time when I was studying overseas and watching North by Northwest, a classmate had come up to me and said something like "oh my god, that looks so old, I don't even want to look at it". There's even the fact that regardless of how good an older film looks, it still feels old. I mean something like 2001: A Space Odyssey still holds up with regards to special effects even to this day, but you can tell it wasn't made a few years ago because it doesn't quite have that modern day sheen. People are so used to modern day film making that you might be surprised at how many people think long shot long takes are outdated and lazy. ... Long shots are still used, but more in artistic films like Birdman (2014; which was inspired by the one-shot film Russian Ark which I highly recommend to anyone interested in camera work.) Johnnie To used a long shot at the beginning of Breaking News. Atonement, the steady-cam shot in Tom Yum Goong etc... For some of us: "that modern day sheen" can sometimes look crappy. For example CGI blood just does not look as good as squibs. CGI crowd shots just does not look as good as huge amount of people like in Gandhi, Ben Hur (either of the first two including the silent) or the running of the soldiers in To Live. If you notice the CGI then it can take you out of the shot. Hand-held camerawork has mixed results -- with a complete overuse today that can also take you out of the shot. Take a look at the cinematography of Kenji Mizoguchi or F.W. Murnau (very few films today have as good as cinematography as Sunrise and that was released in 1927.) Now this is not to say there are no big differences. Studio shots were much more prevalent in the 30s through early 60s than today. That can throw you off. Certain types of special effects like optical, use of rear projection can certainly date something. But still prosthetics are still used (see Hellboy 2 for example as a good mix of CGI and older techniques.) And the fact that much camera work is so similar to each other that if one is only raised with mainstream Hollywood films from the 2000s till now they might be used to the same type of shaky patterns (the Greengrass or Michael Bay effects), same type of editing etc... There are also other ways to date films from clothing, cars, etc... (even period pieces may give certain aspects away). Someday some future streaming youths will be making fun of the Avengers, comic-book and/or, insert any popular film now and thinking the latest action movie is the greatest film ever made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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