Who are the underrated geniuses of kung fu cinema in your opinion?

[AbeRudder]

I was watching Tsui Siu Ming's films like Mirage, Holy Robe of Shaolin, Bury Me High etc. and I'm consistently blown away by the scope and quality of his movies. However I barely ever see him mentioned outside of hardcore fu fans and his movies are often quite hard to find and only available in poor quality. So it got me thinking about the other underrated geniuses of kung fu cinema that never got enough shine. Who are some players that fit this description in your opinion?

[ShawAngela]

Unless I'm mistaken, it seems to me that Kao Pao Shu isn't very talked about.

She directed all the following movies :

Lady with a sword 1971 The desperate chase 1971 The cannibals 1972 Win them all 1973 The virgin mart 1974 Female fugitive 1975 Wrong side of the track 1976 The damned 1977 The jade fox 1979 Seed of evil 1980 The master strikes 1980
I saw them all except Wrong side of the track, Seed of evil and The master strikes, and they are all pretty good, with a lot of good action. And I just saw that she died in 2000 !

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Well, I sorta balk at the word "genius" as I think it's bandied about willy nilly these days. But here are some peeps of the genre I find underrated. Maybe thy're not and I just think they are... who knows?

 

Tony Leung Siu Hung... perhaps not THAT underrated, but still flying under the radar for a lot of people. Superb screen fighter and action maestro on many classics.

Hau Chiu Sing... not super prolific, but always impressive when doing his thing in films like Crystal Fist, Five Super Fighters, Monkey Kung Fu and others.

Meng Yuen Man... again, maybe not as underrated as I feel he is, but I just love watching this guy in action.... even in the crappy Shaw starring vehicles he was given. Daggers 8 is one of the best Kung Fu road movies ever made and him doing his thing in Hell's Windstaff and The Master Strikes never gets old.

Chia Kai... a guy not often brought up, but never fails to bring the heat especially in Avenging Boxer (Method Man), Seven Steps of Kung Fu and Of Cooks and Kung Fu.

Tony Tam... probably one of, if not THE, best kicker at Shaws and beyond. Later an action director in his own right on a lot of cool films.

Chu Tit Wo... another one that always impresses me and certainly not unknown to fans, but tallying up his excellent fighting performances tells me he should get more props for his efforts.

 

All I could think of right now.

 

[AbeRudder]

7 hours ago, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

Well, I sorta balk at the word "genius" as I think it's bandied about willy nilly these days. But here are some peeps of the genre I find underrated. Maybe thy're not and I just think they are... who knows?

 

Tony Leung Siu Hung... perhaps not THAT underrated, but still flying under the radar for a lot of people. Superb screen fighter and action maestro on many classics.

Hau Chiu Sing... not super prolific, but always impressive when doing his thing in films like Crystal Fist, Five Super Fighters, Monkey Kung Fu and others.

Meng Yuen Man... again, maybe not as underrated as I feel he is, but I just love watching this guy in action.... even in the crappy Shaw starring vehicles he was given. Daggers 8 is one of the best Kung Fu road movies ever made and him doing his thing in Hell's Windstaff and The Master Strikes never gets old.

Chia Kai... a guy not often brought up, but never fails to bring the heat especially in Avenging Boxer (Method Man), Seven Steps of Kung Fu and Of Cooks and Kung Fu.

Tony Tam... probably one of, if not THE, best kicker at Shaws and beyond. Later an action director in his own right on a lot of cool films.

Chu Tit Wo... another one that always impresses me and certainly not unknown to fans, but tallying up his excellent fighting performances tells me he should get more props for his efforts.

 

All I could think of right now.

 

Hau Chiu Sing is a good shout I always enjoy watching him, he moves differently to a lot of the opera influenced stylists of the time. As a side note....kinda bugs me a little when fighters who are great in their own right but aren't acrobats are excessively doubled during fight scenes. Not every fighter needs to be doing backflips and handsprings all the time. 

[AbeRudder]

Some others...

'Brandy' Yuen Jan Yeung - One of my favourite screen fighters, you can always pick him out when he's doubling someone. His movements are so distinct. But for some reason he was always given minor roles even in the Yuen clan movies. He can choreograph fights well too, he did the action direction on Three Against the World which has some wild modern style action in it.

Wu Hao - An acrobat from Robert Tai's crew who did the double frontflip in 'Of Cooks and Kung fu', he ended up paralyzed from the waist down doing a stunt on Shaolin Against Lama. Great onscreen fighter.

Lin Wan Chung - Did the fight choreography on a number of Taiwanese moderns, many of which I haven't seen. But the fights in Book of Heroes, Kung fu Wonderchild and the Kung Fu Kids movies are crazy. 

Yueng Ching Ching - Comes from a wushu background I think, she was in some later Shaw Bros movies and some moderns here and there. Her fights are always excellent, she has a brief little scrap with Yuen Biao at the start of License to Steal which despite barely lasting a minute is the best fight in the whole movie.

Edited August 26, 2020 by AbeRudder

[DrNgor]

3 hours ago, AbeRudder said:

Lin Wan Chung - Did the fight choreography on a number of Taiwanese moderns, many of which I haven't seen. But the fights in Book of Heroes, Kung fu Wonderchild and the Kung Fu Kids movies are crazy. 

Yeah, I always mention him by his Cantonese name Lam Man Cheung. He's excellent. He choreographed The Death Games and directed Donnie Yen's City of Darkness. And his work on Kung Fu Kids VI is some of the best 80s action ever.

[paimeifist]

Lau Kar Wing - In front of, and behind the camera.

Yuen Shun-Yi - ^ same.

 

They may not be as under the radar as others mentioned here, but are bit under appreciated in the shadow of their relatives.

Edited August 26, 2020 by paimeifist

[AbeRudder]

3 hours ago, DrNgor said:

Yeah, I always mention him by his Cantonese name Lam Man Cheung. He's excellent. He choreographed The Death Games and directed Donnie Yen's City of Darkness. And his work on Kung Fu Kids VI is some of the best 80s action ever.

I'm glad someone else digs his stuff! I'm always on the lookout for films taiwanese moderns that have that style of choreography. I quite like chiu chung hing too, mainly for A Heroic Fight. 

[Cognoscente]

Wilson Tong. He actually directed a movie called Kung Fu Genius.