Taiwanese Tear-Up's: Classic Kung Fu from Taiwan

[DragonClaws]

 

Thought we could try and start a discussion thread, dedicated to the discussion of old school movies, made in Taiwan?. From major classics such as Dragon Inn(1967), A Touch Of Zen(1971), to Snuff Bottle Connection(1977) and My Lifes On The Line(1978), even including Hong Kong /Taiwanese co-productions, from later in the old school era, such as Shanghai 13(1984). Celebrating Taiwanese stars from the era such as Chaing Sheng, Angela Mao, John Liu, Phillip Kwok, Polly Shang Kwan, Sun Chien, Feng Lu and Alexander Lou Rei etc.

 

Tao Kwan(Hsu-Hsia) strikes out at General Shatung(Hwang Jang Lee), in a scene from The Snuff Bottle Connection(1977).

 

Polly Shang Kwan and Pai Ying, in a scene from The Invincible Super Guy(1976).

 

Edited August 9, 2020 by DragonClaws

[ShawAngela]

4 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

Polly Shang Kwan and Chang Yu, in a scene from The Invincible Super Guy(1976).

It seems to me that you mistook Chang Yi for Pai Ying...

Edited April 28, 2018 by ShawAngela

[DragonClaws]

42 minutes ago, ShawAngela said:

It seems to me that you mistook Chang Yi for Pai Ying...

Well spotted @ShawAngela, it looks like you are right.

 

[lilmanjs]

The Face Behind The Mask is indeed a classic any which way you look at it. Maybe some of the musical choices are somewhat off, but that is a good movie all around! I hope I'm not the only one who thinks this.

[DragonClaws]

16 hours ago, lilmanjs said:

The Face Behind The Mask is indeed a classic any which way you look at it.

Yet to see this Hsu Feng, Lo Lieh picture, I'm gessing its mostyl swordplay, judging by the movies poster.

 

 

[lilmanjs]

6 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

Yet to see this Hsu Feng, Lo Lieh picture, I'm gessing its mostyl swordplay, judging by the movies poster.

 

 

That it is, but done quite well. Worth picking up!

[DragonClaws]

6 minutes ago, lilmanjs said:

That it is, but done quite well. Worth picking up!

Thanks for the heads up dude.

 

Has anyone here seen this Taiwanese Horror flick from 1982, Witch with the Flying Head?, directed by Cheung Yan-Git(Iron Neck-Li). From what little I've read about the title, there doesnt appear to be much in the way of Martial Arts. However, there must be some Martial Arts action, in a Taiwanese movie from 82 right?.

 

[DragonClaws]

Found out a little more about Witch with the Flying Head, it was given a release on the old Tai Seng VHS label. The released wasnt dubbed or subtitled, and is apparenty pretty rare. Though there is a print on YouTube, I've no idea where thats sourced from?. One review suggested this movie may have been made much earlier than 1982, some saying it was produced several years earlier?.

 

Link- http://horrornews.net/100403/film-review-the-witch-with-flying-head-1982/

Here's another more in depth review

Link- https://www.braineater.com/witchhead.html

Edited April 30, 2018 by DragonClaws

[Drunken Monk]

We can't forget Kuo Chui's only directorial effort, Ninja in the Deadly Trap. That film's a whole lot of fun.

[Killer Meteor]

Face Behind The Mask wasn't my idea of a classic. Though apparently the masked dude is Jackie Chan...

[DragonClaws]

27 minutes ago, Killer Meteor said:

Face Behind The Mask wasn't my idea of a classic. Though apparently the masked dude is Jackie Chan...

He's not credited on the HKMDB page for the film, but that doesnt mean he didnt pay that role?.

Link- http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/images.mhtml?id=10532&display_set=eng

 

Where did you find out this information?.

While doing a search for the flick with Chan's name, the only thing that came up was this Wu Tang Channel image. The Chan picture  think is taken from To Kill With Intrigue, but its eons since I watced that JC movie.

 

 

1 hour ago, Drunken Monk said:

We can't forget Kuo Chui's only directorial effort, Ninja in the Deadly Trap. That film's a whole lot of fun.

Cant pass judgement on this one, its one of those productions I reallhy should have seen, but havent yet.

[Drunken Monk]

58 minutes ago, DragonClaws said:

Cant pass judgement on this one, its one of those productions I reallhy should have seen, but havent yet.

I love it. It’s silly, ninja-based fun but if you enjoy something like “Ninja the Final Duel,” you’ll probably enjoy “Ninja in the Deadly Trap.”

I’d love to see a remastered release.

[Omni Dragon]

On 4/28/2018 at 1:38 PM, DragonClaws said:

Thought we could try and start a discussion thread, dedicated to the dscussion of old school movies, made in Taiwan?.

When I think of Taiwanese movies, those of directors Lee Tso Nam and Joseph Kuo come to mind. Movies like THE HOT, THE COOL AND THE VICIOUS, EAGLE'S CLAW, SHAOLIN VS LAMA , THE 18 BRONZEMEN and THE 7 GRANDMASTERS etc. 

 

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Those are some pretty great flicks, let me add a few more- THE DUMB OX, ALONG COMES A TIGER, and guess what!? Chang Cheh made a bunch of films in Taiwan, including HEROES TWO and SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS among others. Also, don't forget FOUR REAL FRIENDS, BRAVE AND THE EVIL and A GATHERING OF HEROES.

[HyperDrive]

I have the old Rarescope release of Face Behind the Mask. It says Jackie Chan did some stunt work in this movie.

Other good Taiwanese movies released by BCI on the Rarescope/Kung Fu Theater label include The Dream Sword with Nora Miao, A Sword Named Revenge, and Big Rascal  with Chi Kuan-Chun.

Also there was a documentary released in 2005 called Taiwan Black Movies, which is about a gangster movie craze that hit its peak from 1979 to 1983.

http://goldenninjawarriorchronicles.blogspot.com/2012/03/taiwan-black-movies-at-ifd-filmark-part.html

http://goldenninjawarriorchronicles.blogspot.com/search?q=Black+Movies

The blog post mentions that most of the movies were lost after ending their commercial run and that they only survived on home video releases overseas or spliced into IFD ninja epics. This isn't exactly true as some offical Taiwan dvds have popped up on Ebay from time to time. Some of the more well known ones include:

First Exposure (1982)- Released internationally by IFD as Super Dragon's Dynamo. It features Champ Wang, Danny Lee and some bashing. I haven't seen this on official dvd yet.

I Want to Be a Good Person (1982)-  This should not be as obscure as it is because it's a real heavy basher starring Champ Wang and features appearances by Chen Hung Lieh, Chan Sing and Mark Long. It has gotten an official dvd release, complete with a nice sleeve, from Hoker.

Who Knows About Me (1983)-  The IFD international title is Final Mission Final and it features the same star power as Good Person. It too has an official Taiwan release.

Other so called black movies were released by Tai Seng on US VHS like Gangster and Me with Goo Goon Chung and one labeled Two Kids with Gut. The closest I've found is a movie called Black Leopard with an aka of Brothers with Gut. However, HKMDB dates it to 1986 while Tai Seng gives a year of 1984. One very interesting detail gotten from the Tai Seng releases is that Jia's Motion Picture Co. more known for producing films like Young Hero and Fearless Duo also was the distributor of an untold number of classic era Taiwanese films.

http://www.shaolinchamber36.com/kungfufandom/index.php?/topic/14689-jias-motion-picture-company/&tab=comments#comment-173183

Since we're talking about early 80's Taiwanese films, another one worth mentioning is 1983's very crazy and out of this world Fantasy Mission Force with Jackie Chan, Brigitte Lin, Adam Cheng, Jimmy Wang Yu, singer Frankie Kao, Pearl Cheung, Lee Kwan and Chen Hung-Lieh.  This was edited and released again as Fire Dragon by Chester Wong. It is said to be one of two movies done by Jackie Chan for Jimmy Wang Yu as a favor for settling things with Lo Wei.

 

[DragonClaws]

15 hours ago, Silver and Gold Dragon said:

When I think of Taiwanese movies, those of directors Lee Tso Nam and Joseph Kuo come to mind. Movies

Ditto, really should have mentioned their names in the opening post.

Joseph Kuo was one of the first Asian directors I started taking note of, in movie credits. In the early days of my interest, I somehow managed to obtain quite a few of his movies, more so than the Golden Harvest/Shaw Brothers movie men.

 

A recent shot of the director.

[DragonClaws]

 

Swordsman of all Swordsmen: Pre Kung Fu Joseph Kuo Classic from 1968

Link- https://croppedanddubbed.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/swordsman-of-all-swordsmen-pre-kung-fu-joseph-kuo-classic-from-1968/

 

[TheKungFuRobber]

I just finished checking out Gam Ming's 'BLACK ROSE' (1982) with Lu Hsaio-Fen, Wong Tao and Yasuaki Kurata. Really amazing movie, some great fight scenes and great entertainment. It has some James Bond music thrown in there and some cartoonish car chase scenes, as well as Wong Tao in a rare bad guy role. What more could you ask for?

Really enjoyed it, watched it English dubbed on the Wu Tang Collection channel which came from a very good looking Ocean Shores VHS. Does anyone know where I can find a copy of that same English VHS print, perhaps a bootleg? I know there is a subtitled HK VCD but the quality is horrid (someone put it on ADC and I didn't bother watching the movie after downloading because the version on YouTube was much better).

[DragonClaws]

 

My recent fix of Taiwanese Martial Arts action and displays, came from the Lee Tso Nam film, Phantom Kung Fu.

Click on the link below, to read the complete review.

 

 

Gam Ming(Tommy Lee) and Wang Tai Lang might be the focus of this DVD cover, but they only have a minro supporting roles.

This brother duo, really deserved their own movie/story.

[DragonClaws]

No Phantom Kung Fu fans around here?.

[TheKungFuRobber]

I've not seen Phantom Kung Fu, but I really enjoy Lee Tso-Nam movies, so I'll check it out and get back to you. I have high expect-asians.

[DragonClaws]

4 hours ago, TheKungFuRobber said:

I've not seen Phantom Kung Fu, but I really enjoy Lee Tso-Nam movies, so I'll check it out and get back to you. I have high expect-asians.

Hope you enjoy it, I'm interested to hear your opinions on this one.

 

[DragonClaws]

Have you had time to watch Phantom Kung Fu? @TheKungFuRobber?

[DragonClaws]

 

[DragonClaws]

 

 

Anyone care to share their thoughts on this Taiwanese/Hong Kong comedy thriller?.

 

The Gangster Match-Maker(1975) starring Charles Heung(on the right), I'm not sure who man on the left is?.

They've given the hero the useal BL style hair cut, but I dont think this falls one in the Bruceploitation genre?.