Various Martial Arts film questions

[WangYu]

Martial Arts is commonly placed in 2 categories Wuxia and Kung Fu but I personally think it should be more detailed. There is a clear distinction between early 70s kung Fu films and late 70s kung fu films for example. Would it not be better if there were subgenres called "bashers" (Man of Iron)  and " fantasy kung fu" (f.e. Holy Flame of the Martial World) and "slapstick kung fu" (anything by Jackie Chan), "Shaolin kung fu" etc What do you experts think?

When did the "shaolin" wave of kung fu films start?

When did the "basher" era end?

When did kung fu comedy start?

What would you say is the end of the martial arts era? I would say the end is there where kung fu made place for guns, car chases and explosions.  I would say it all started in 1965 till 1981?

What was the first martial art film with very technical fighting and styles? I mean the exact opposite of the early 70s basher film.

I hope I made a bit of sense, I'm still finding my way into martial arts cinema despite having watched dozens over the years.

[WangYu]

I complete forgot one important question. What was the first film to use the student/teacher plot which became a staple of the genre ?

There is a subplot of this in "come drink with me" but it is not the main plot of the film

[ShawAngela]

1 hour ago, WangYu said:

I complete forgot one important question. What was the first film to use the student/teacher plot which became a staple of the genre ?

There is a subplot of this in "come drink with me" but it is not the main plot of the film

There were many of these already in the 60's Cantonese martial arts movies.The titles don' t come to my mind at this moment, but I think of a mo je with Siao Fong Fong, and another one with Fung Bo Bo.

Lots of 70's Taiwanese wuxias used this too, if I remember well.

[DragonClaws]

23 hours ago, WangYu said:

When did the "basher" era end?

 

23 hours ago, WangYu said:

What was the first martial art film with very technical fighting and styles? I mean the exact opposite of the early 70s basher film.

 

There wasn't really a cut off year, the style of fight choreogrpahy just gradually changed during the mid-1970s. Shaw Brother's were producing much more stylish choreography, while the indiependent basher's were being produced in the early 1970's. The same kind be said of Golden Harvest, in particular the work of Sammo Hung & Bruce Lee.

 

23 hours ago, WangYu said:

When did kung fu comedy start?

 

Comedy has always been a fixture in Asian Martial Art cinema, before it become a full blown sub genre in the late 70's.

 

 

[WangYu]

8 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

 

There wasn't really a cut off year, the style of fight choreogrpahy just gradually changed during the mid-1970s. Shaw Brother's were producing much more stylish choreography, while the indiependent basher's were being produced in the early 1970's. The same kind be said of Golden Harvest, in particular the work of Sammo Hung & Bruce Lee.

When would you say fight choreography became more stylish and intricate? One could argue it was as early as 1972 with The Bruce Lee films but I still consider them bashers myself. A better guess would be around 1974 with Heroes two?

 

Comedy has always been a fixture in Asian Martial Art cinema, before it become a full blown sub genre in the late 70's.

Yes a comedy moment is never far away but I feel late 70s and early 80s Kung Fu films are more slapstick than action films, they usually only get serious in the final act for example Sammo Hung's "the victim"

8 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

 

[WangYu]

I don't know what I did but I messed up the quoting part :-P

[Omni Dragon]

On 4/16/2021 at 8:03 PM, WangYu said:

When did kung fu comedy start?

I think I've seen Smiling Swordsman (1968) and Mad, Mad, Mad Swords (1969) described as early examples of martial art comedies.

Some later examples where discussed in the thread/topic called 'First Kung Fu Comedy?':

 

On 4/16/2021 at 8:03 PM, WangYu said:

When did the "basher" era end?

I guess you could say the trend for Hong Kong martial art movies in a period setting moved from bashers to shapes around the mid-1970s. I'm not sure where you would draw the line? I feel something like Heroes Two (1974) is a transitional movie though.

In my opinion, bashers kind of never ended in movies in a contemporary setting, they just evolved into what is typically called new wave. Maybe Carry On Pickpocket (1982) or Winners & Sinners (1983) is the transitional movie of that era/type?

[Omni Dragon]

13 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

Comedy has always been a fixture in Asian Martial Art cinema, before it become a full blown sub genre in the late 70's.

4 hours ago, WangYu said:

Yes a comedy moment is never far away but I feel late 70s and early 80s Kung Fu films are more slapstick than action films, they usually only get serious in the final act for example Sammo Hung's "the victim"

I think the style of movie you're thinking of was popularized by The Spiritual Boxer (1975) and Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow/Drunken Master (1978).