Unpopular opinion thread

[danthemandmv]

On 7/7/2020 at 10:42 AM, megadurilicus said:

Both very beautiful but I kind of agree. I fell in love with Etsuko Shihomi first time I seen Sister Street Fighter wow I never seen a sexy ferocity like hers!

 

On 7/7/2020 at 11:41 AM, DrNgor said:

And she has aged extremely well on top of that.

Both statements most enthusiastically seconded!

[AbeRudder]

Jet's best performances fight wise were in the first 3 'Shaolin' movies, all the other fight choreographers he has worked with have held him back with wirework, excessive undercranking and so on. That includes Once Upon a Time in China and Fist of Legend. The sword fight with Donnie in 'Hero' is an exception.

Jackie is the GOAT fight choreographer and its not even close.

Ong Bak 2 has Tony's best fight scenes and is by far his best movie. I'm not sure if this is unpopular these days, when it came out the reviews seem mixed?

The Five Venoms isn't that great, the Venoms movies got better over time.

Brandy Yuen (the double for Yuen Siu Tin) was one of the cleanest on screen fighters of all time, could have been Yuen Biao level if they gave him more screen time.

Some of Seagal's mid 00s straight to dvd films are genuinely enjoyable.

[Cognoscente]

My unpopular opinion: Jackie Chan and Yuen Woo-Ping work better without each other.

[Super Ninja]

Think I confessed this somewhere on this forum already but I'll say it again. I love animal fights in kung fu movies. 

Based on legends (if my memory serves me right), more than one kung fu style was created thanks to a monk/master/nun observing two animals fighting. In kung fu movies it's usually the inferior hero observing two animals fighting and learning from it in order to defeat a superior opponent. I don't even care that much if it makes sense from the plot standpoint, what I like about this is the idea of a man learning from the nature and using the lessons learned to grow, overcome his limitations and progress. I don't think of these scenes as animal cruelty, that's what Italian cannibal films are here for, they do it for the sake of shock. Though again, that is nature, nature is cruel and you can see it all in the mondo films and various documentaries if you want. 

Confessing really eases the soul and beats living in a lie...

[Cognoscente]

Thundering Mantis would have been an even more powerful film if Leung Kar-Yan's character became a cannibal after seeing someone eat somebody else.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Cognoscente

[Rubber John]

I have yet to see a John Woo film that I like.

Bruce Lee Vs. Chuck Norris is severely overrated.

Batman Begins is the best of the trilogy.


 

[Drunken Monk]

1 hour ago, Rubber John said:

Batman Begins is the best of the trilogy.

You are very, very correct.

[KenHashibe]

2 hours ago, Rubber John said:

I have yet to see a John Woo film that I like.

I’d have to agree that there are some duds in his filmography, but I think many are terrific, or at least fun. Which of his films have you seen, out of curiosity?

[Rubber John]

I've seen a bunch of his more well known films like Bullet in the Head, Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow etc. (mainly the Chow Yun Fat collaborations), which I watched before he became a "must see" director in the west; plus his Hollywood stuff from late 90s early 2000s - Face Off, Windtalkers, MI2 etc.
Also, one or two of his older films, such as Last Hurrah and Hand Of Death, but most of his lesser known films I have not seen.

I think I prefer his older stuff.
 

[Drunken Monk]

2 hours ago, Rubber John said:

I've seen a bunch of his more well known films like Bullet in the Head, Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow etc. (mainly the Chow Yun Fat collaborations), which I watched before he became a "must see" director in the west; plus his Hollywood stuff from late 90s early 2000s - Face Off, Windtalkers, MI2 etc.
Also, one or two of his older films, such as Last Hurrah and Hand Of Death, but most of his lesser known films I have not seen.

I think I prefer his older stuff.
 

I think you’ve seen most of his most well loved movies. I’m surprised that you didn’t like any of them but to each their own.

I watched Face/Off too weeks ago and still love it.

[Duel to the Death]

Unpopular opinion

Dean Shek is funny 

 

 

[Rubber John]

I like Dean Shek.

[WaverBoy]

I also like Dean Shek, but I’m also a fan of silly Canto comedy. For instance, unlike most Sammo fans here it seems, I will defend to the grave all of Sammo’s comedic hijinks that were sadly cut from the international release of ENTER THE FAT DRAGON but remain intact in HK prints, so you know I’m serious when it comes to comedy (pun ALWAYS intended). That’s right — I actually LOVE the bus horse race broadcast scene, fight me.

Edited May 16, 2021 by WaverBoy

[saltysam]

I am not much of a Van Damme fan and only own 5-6 of his movies.

[Duel to the Death]

15 minutes ago, saltysam said:

I am not much of a Van Damme fan and only own 5-6 of his movies.

I am a Van Damme fan and have only seen 5 of his movies. (6 if you count the movie Breakin) lol

Some of his movies looked cheesy and i passed. 

[saltysam]

 I just find most of his films forgettable and he has little presence. Think i've got No Retreat,Hard Target,Kickboxer,Bloodsport. Probably should pick up Sudden Death.

[Rubber John]

1 hour ago, saltysam said:

 I just find most of his films forgettable and he has little presence. Think i've got No Retreat,Hard Target,Kickboxer,Bloodsport. Probably should pick up Sudden Death.

I'm ok with Van Damme, but it amuses me how his opponents could take a long look at their watches before he ever connects with those kicks of his.

[starschwar]

I didn't care for The Grandmaster - at least, the version they put out in theaters in the United States.  I understand there's something like 20-30 minutes that were cut and the movie itself was heavily re-sequenced?  I'll give the longer version its fair chance at some point in the future.

[DiP]

Non-action HK actors such as Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Alan Tam looked/look good performing fight scenes. For a long time, I felt these guys were bashed for simply not being real martial artists. However, they were highly athletic before entering the film industry so that helped them get into shape in preparation for shooting fight scenes.

Edited May 29, 2021 by DiP

[starschwar]

New Fist of Fury is actually good.

 

I never thought I'd type those words, but - there they are.  20+ years and a good remaster later... here I am.   I'll elaborate when I get a review put together later on. 

[WaverBoy]

5 hours ago, starschwar said:

New Fist of Fury is actually good.

 

I never thought I'd type those words, but - there they are.  20+ years and a good remaster later... here I am.   I'll elaborate when I get a review put together later on. 

I kind of agree — it’s at least not bad! Yep, I actually kinda like it okay. Much better than its infamous rep.

[legendarycurry]

Some of mine:

I don't think Tsui Hark's The Blade (1995) is a good movie

I think Iron Monkey (1993) is an OK film but definitely one of Yuen Woo Ping and Donnie's most overrated and underwhelming films. I'd say it is on par with Wing Chun.(1994)

I strongly dislike Donnie Yen's interpretations of the Chen Zen character, feels Bruceploitationish and cartoony rather than a tribute like when Sammo does it for example.

Enter The Dragon (1973) is my least favorite Bruce Lee film.

The third Once Upon A Time in China film is underrated and equally as good as the first two. ( I came to this conclusion fairly recently)

Drunken Master (1978) is better than Drunken Master 2 (1994) IMHO

Disciples Of The 36th Chamber (1985) is a straight-up bad film in my opinion.

Return to the 36th Chamber (1980) is better than 36th Chamber Of Shaolin (1978)

I prefer The finale in Paper Marriage (1986) over the Police Story (1985) finale

Stephen Chow should have played Yip Man in the Wilson Yip directed films instead of Donnie.

[DrNgor]

1 hour ago, legendarycurry said:

I don't think Tsui Hark's The Blade (1995) is a good movie

 

We'll have to agree to disagree.

1 hour ago, legendarycurry said:

Return to the 36th Chamber (1980) is better than 36th Chamber Of Shaolin (1978)

 

Idem. See my reviews of both at my site to understand why.

1 hour ago, legendarycurry said:

Drunken Master (1978) is better than Drunken Master 2 (1994) IMHO

 

I knew a Chinese kid in high school who was a huge Jackie fan and he had the same opinion.

 

1 hour ago, legendarycurry said:

Disciples Of The 36th Chamber (1985) is a straight-up bad film in my opinion.

 

That's really hard to argue with. It has good fighting, but I hate the portrayal of Fong Sai-Yuk and how Hsiao Ho executes it.

1 hour ago, legendarycurry said:

The third Once Upon A Time in China film is underrated and equally as good as the first two.

I wouldn't say equally as good, but it is a really good movie, all things considered.

[legendarycurry]

2 hours ago, DrNgor said:

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Idem. See my reviews of both at my site to understand why.

I knew a Chinese kid in high school who was a huge Jackie fan and he had the same opinion.

 

That's really hard to argue with. It has good fighting, but I hate the portrayal of Fong Sai-Yuk and how Hsiao Ho executes it.

I wouldn't say equally as good, but it is a really good movie, all things considered.

Regarding Drunken Master, I got the impression based on

1. My chinese friend and his family and their opinions 

2. The general availability of Drunken Master on physical media VS the availability of DM2 at the vendors I visited while in China,

That Drunken Master (1978) could very well be the more famous and well-liked film of the two , in at the very least that particular part of China.  But hey what do I know.

We seem to agree on more things than what we disagree on, how pleasant! Though of course differing opinions are also important and should be respected 

 

[One Armed Boxer]

19 hours ago, legendarycurry said:

Enter The Dragon (1973) is my least favorite Bruce Lee film.

You're not alone. I even went so far as to write a feature on this so I could articulate as to why, and got called a "degenerate that crawled out of a sewer" for my troubles (check the comments section ) - 

https://cityonfire.com/enter-the-dragon-the-most-overrated-kung-fu-movie-ever/

19 hours ago, legendarycurry said:

Return to the 36th Chamber (1980) is better than 36th Chamber Of Shaolin (1978)

I'd always thought I was alone on this one!