Why did Golden Harvest survive but Shaw Brothers didn't?

[Iron_Leopard]

Was it because of bigger star power? Better made movies? Or maybe people just eventually got burnt out on the Shaw brand?

Just curious what Golden Harvest did right to ensure their future for two decades after the fall of their rival studio.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Michael Hui and Jackie Chan. And they let the talent experiment. Sammo Hung, etc, Ronny Yu, John Woo. Only Wong Jing made it big after Shaw Brothers.

[Iron_Leopard]

8 minutes ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

Michael Hui and Jackie Chan. And they let the talent experiment. Sammo Hung, etc, Ronny Yu, John Woo. Only Wong Jing made it big after Shaw Brothers.

Do you also think Bruce Lee was the beginning of the end for Shaw Brothers? 

[morpheus]

I know Golden Harvest was successful moving into the comedic realm -especially with the Sammo, Yuen and Jackie.  They also delved into the horror genre as well.  Sadly, I think a lot of the Shaw actors were also typecast at this point as well.  The ones that survived were the actors that were more versatile like Ti Lung, David Chiang and even Danny Lee.  Even Ti Lung went through a dry spell until John Woo cast him in A Better Tomorrow.  I guess viewers' tastes were changing as well.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

18 minutes ago, Iron_Leopard said:

Do you also think Bruce Lee was the beginning of the end for Shaw Brothers? 

No, not at all. Golden Harvest struggled for quite some time. Michael Hui and John Woo's comedy is what sold tickets. Shaw's was quite dominate in the 70's. But Kung Fu slipped by 75 or 76.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

https://www.academia.edu/20496198/The_1970s_Movement_and_Transition

[sym8]

I personally think it was the talent Golden Harvest had,especially Jackie.He moved away from the shapes and gave us the manic use your surroundings choreography,Shaw bros I think were to stuck in there ways,same choreography and as good as there sets were they just got rehashed so many times.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

GH kept up with the times, SB didn't... it's as simple as that. Though it's not like SB went bankrupt.. They just halted feature film production and concentrated on TV, plus renting out their studio space and other avenues.

[DragonClaws]

43 minutes ago, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

plus renting out their studio space and other avenues.

 

I'd love to know just how many movies have been filmed on that back lot. If you were to include International productions that also used the studios as well.

 

44 minutes ago, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

GH kept up with the times, SB didn't... it's as simple as that.

 

That's just how I see it, can you imagine what Hong Kong cinema would have looked like during the 1980's. If Shaw Brothers had continued to innovate and keep up with the times. 

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Well, they just kept cranking up the craziness.... but there's a ceiling there..... how much more insane can you go beyond Demon of the Lute, Holy Flame of the Martial World or Boxer's Omen? Also, still doing Kung Fu comedy in 1985 is just out of touch. It was time for them to go and that's fine. They certainly did their part for the world of cinema.

[ukrevrend]

2 hours ago, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

GH kept up with the times, SB didn't... it's as simple as that. Though it's not like SB went bankrupt.. They just halted feature film production and concentrated on TV, plus renting out their studio space and other avenues.

I agree, SB were stuck in time!

Bless

[Iron_Leopard]

9 hours ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

https://www.academia.edu/20496198/The_1970s_Movement_and_Transition

What book is that?

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

3 hours ago, Iron_Leopard said:

What book is that?

Stephen Teo writes scholarly papers on action cinema in HK.

[morpheus]

17 hours ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

No, not at all. Golden Harvest struggled for quite some time. Michael Hui and John Woo's comedy is what sold tickets. Shaw's was quite dominate in the 70's. But Kung Fu slipped by 75 or 76.

The shows really peaked in 1978, here are some of the more popular titles from that year.  The bottom hit quickly, just about mid 80s the wheels all fell off.

• The 36th Chamber of Shaolin,
• The Brave Archer 2
• Shaolin Handlock
• Shaolin Mantis
• Legend Of The Bat
• Five Venoms
• Avenging Eagle
• Swordsman And The Enchantress
• Invincible Shaolin
• Crippled Avengers
• Heroes of the East

[morpheus]

12 hours ago, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

GH kept up with the times, SB didn't... it's as simple as that. Though it's not like SB went bankrupt.. They just halted feature film production and concentrated on TV, plus renting out their studio space and other avenues.

Looks like they did try.....

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/HKFA/documents/2005525/2007344/4-1-55_foreword_e.pdf

After 1975 hardly any martial arts films would crack the top ten. Most were comedies, crime films, erotica and dramas. I really believe that Sammo and Jackie saw Michael Hui's success and went down that route. I don't think they came up with comedy on their own. I think Lau Kar Liang wanted to go down that route as well, but he started to insert himself into those films and well, he was no Mel Brooks. He was respected, but old hat. And Wong Yu had all of Fu Sheng's mugging and none of his martial arts talent or charisma. He had Kara Hui, at least.

 

*

[JackieRome]

...because of the movies with the venoms 

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

1 hour ago, JackieRome said:

...because of the movies with the venoms 

LOL! Sure didn't help! Chang Cheh's movies were losing money for years. You could go see a movie where Jackie triumphs over adversity, have some laughs and see some good martial arts or watch a bunch of guys do acrobatics and die homoerotic deaths in downbeat endings. Your choice. Hong Kong was optimistic and story after story of doomed rebels just got old. 

[ShaOW!linDude]

Okay, is it just me or does Disco Bumpkins scream from an @One Armed Boxer review?

[Iron_Leopard]

1 hour ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

LOL! Sure didn't help! Chang Cheh's movies were losing money for years. You could go see a movie where Jackie triumphs over adversity, have some laughs and see some good martial arts or watch a bunch of guys do acrobatics and die homoerotic deaths in downbeat endings. Your choice. Hong Kong was optimistic and story after story of doomed rebels just got old. 

DAMN! The disrespect to the Venoms lol.

[paimeifist]

2 hours ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

LOL! Sure didn't help! Chang Cheh's movies were losing money for years. You could go see a movie where Jackie triumphs over adversity, have some laughs and see some good martial arts or watch a bunch of guys do acrobatics and die homoerotic deaths in downbeat endings. Your choice. Hong Kong was optimistic and story after story of doomed rebels just got old. 

While I love the Venoms films for what they are, this is simply the truth.

 

Many of the Venoms films can be viewed as "great bad movies" at best. No disrespect, and some of them would go on to do great things long after Chang Cheh stopped using them (Kwok Choi playing action director in a 007 movie is a pretty big deal for a star from Shaw Bros!

 

Also, Chinese Super Ninjas is a horrible movie.

[venom10463]

24 minutes ago, paimeifist said:

Also, Chinese Super Ninjas is a horrible movie.

How dare you say such nonsense

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

I have been burned out on watching B grade martial arts flicks lately, but last night I threw on the Blu Ray of Snake in The Eagle's shadow before bed, I only intended to watch a few minutes. I wound up watching an hour and missed out on some much needed sleep. As much as I despise modern day Jackie as a sellout, etc, you can really see how engaging this film is even to this day. No one is looking for revenge, and really it is the story of two lonely people making friends. Sam the Seed tells him never to call him Sifu and if he is fighting, don't get involved. These are at odds with most traditional films where the old fart would demand his whole family die to avenge him, and asks the young fellow to grovel at his knees. No, they just look out for each other. At the end good triumphs over evil and not a mention of the Manchu's, Japanese or 100 years of shame. I can see why at the time it smoked all of the Shaw Brothers films of the time in the Kung fu department.

[morpheus]

10 hours ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

Okay, is it just me or does Disco Bumpkins scream from an @One Armed Boxer review?

According to records its 90 minutes....Whoever has the courage to watch and critique it remember, its 90 minutes of your life that you will never get back.

[morpheus]

8 hours ago, paimeifist said:

Also, Chinese Super Ninjas is a horrible movie.

Ow!  Better check below my belt, that one hurt.