Member J.J. Hayden Posted June 21, 2023 Author Member Share Posted June 21, 2023 ...continued Davin Taylor Playing a second role, behind the fruit. This time he seems to be dating Chan Man-ching George Novak 2nd role as a distracted driver, quite appropriate considering his Mad Max days. Izeqiel McCoy 2nd role, just a pedestrian but a risky role when a horse and cart is thundering your way. Johnny Raaen 2nd role, another distracted driver, it was the 90s so seeing a woman in panties wasn't a mouse click away, so the rubbernecking is a bit more understandable Mars In the path of the oncoming car. Again, on the right in the white and red jacket. Again, on the right by the yellow flowers. On the right again, this time in a blue hat and standing next to a red object. Lastly for Mars, he's in Blue on the right, I believe the others who were sat at the table were other JC members but can't tell for sure, I thought perhaps the one in a black top might be Cho Wing, but again I can't be sure. Nicky Li Chung-chi On the left in the white jacket. Again, as a construction worker. Rocky Lai Keung-kun On the right in the white top and blue hat. Again, at the back behind the sunflowers. I have a bunch of pics of them doubling too but that's for another time. Cheers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted June 22, 2023 Author Member Share Posted June 22, 2023 Here's the 2nd of the "Big 4". Another familiar face, either because you've seen him in one of his many appearances in Korean action films, or due to the resemblance he has to his older brother, none other than Hwang Jeong-ri. Hwang Choon-soo 황춘수 Born on 18th January 1956, in Hamyang County county (South Gyeongsang Province) South Korea, he attended Masan High School and eventually moved to Seoul. Hwang Choon-soo entered the film industry in 1972 and his official debut was in 1974's Return Of Single-Legged Man alongside fellow industry stalwart Park Hui-jin and his own older brother, “King Of The Leg Fighters” Hwang Jeong-ri (real name Hwang Tae-soo). He went on to become a regular in the Korean martial arts movies of the 70's through to the late 90's, working with many of the era's top director's such as: Lee Doo-yong; Kim Shi-hyeon; Lee Hyeok-soo; and Richard Park Woo-sang. His distinctive face will no doubt be familiar to fans of the Korean action genre. Although never reached the level of stardom his brother attained, he was held in high regard by many in the Korean film and TV industries not only due to his martial arts skills with both weapons and his feet, but also his screen presence. He was often employed to play fighting villains and henchmen, giving him plenty of opportunity to not only show off said martial arts skills, but also his acting chops, which can't be said for many of the other talented martial artists among his peers. Hwang Choon-soo can be seen in several films alongside his brother including: his partial directorial debut Hitman In The Hand Of Buddha [1980]; and his official directorial debut Kwangdong Viper [1983]. Probably their most notable on screen collaboration was in Richard Park Woo-sang's Duel Of Ultimate Weapons [1983], where the two of them have a one-on-one showdown, brother vs. brother. Another interesting situation that involves the two brothers is with Corey Yuen Kwai's directorial debut Ninja In The Dragon's Den [1982], that features Hwang Jeong-ri as the final villain of the film. However, in 1985 Korean director Nam Ki-nam filmed completely new scenes for a 1986 re-edit Korean version of the film. Hwang Jeong-ri's scenes have been cut from this version and the role of the main villain is taken up by his younger brother Hwang Choon-soo. Whilst still making appearances in many films during the 90's, Hwang Choon-soo also had several opportunities to work as an action director, a role he took very seriously, he even pushed for higher safety standards within the industry as a whole. Probably the most notable project as action director was 1995's The Terrorist, one of the earliest of the 90's action thrillers in the vein of Shiri that finally brought Korean cinema to international attention. The Terrorist was also one of his final projects before leaving the film industry in 2000, and going on to do other business, such as his Utopia Club. Sadly it was announced that Hwang Choon-soo passed away on 21st June 2020, but he left behind a great legacy as one of the most prolific players in Korean martial arts cinema. For more pictures I've taken of one of martial arts cinema's unsung heroes, please check out the updated HKMDB page https://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=54636&display_set=eng Cheers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cheer You On Posted June 24, 2023 Member Share Posted June 24, 2023 Has anyone seen Jhoon Rhee's 1981 Korean film? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299769/ 돌아온 용쟁호투 https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/00020790 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted June 24, 2023 Author Member Share Posted June 24, 2023 6 minutes ago, Cheer You On said: Has anyone seen Jhoon Rhee's 1981 Korean film? Yes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Flashlegstan2009 Posted June 24, 2023 Member Share Posted June 24, 2023 Yeah I have aswell fun movie I wasn't blown away by it but interesting none the less 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted June 28, 2023 Author Member Share Posted June 28, 2023 (edited) I probably shouldn't have done this one at this time as it wasn't a priority and it actually took a lot long than I expected It didn't help that the film is a mess with actors changing all the time as well as some dodgy editing. I remember that being a problem with the film, but seeing it again now, I don't actually think the action is that good either. Anyway, I'm talking about The Master from 1992, even though some sources say it was shot in 1989, Jerry Trimble insists it was in 1990, as that's when he moved to LA, either way it was shelved until 92, maybe because it's such a choppy mess, which is a shame as there's some real talent involved. So I've done a bunch of IDs and even did a mini bio for one actor, I plan to do a few for some others but they'll take more time as their's actually have a lot to work with for a change. I have a crap load of images of doubling too, not only for the US guys, but for Jet for about half the film maybe I'll add them another time. Anne Rickets Billy Blanks - in this one scene where he just runs away, what a waste. Cheung Ching Cheung Wing-cheung - playing a Kung Fu student of To Wai-wo and a second role as one of Johnny's students, the same as the other HK guys, they do a lot of doubling too especially in the final fight which made IDing even more tricky. Chris Carnel - sadly died in a motorbike accident back in 2020 Crystal Kwok Gam-yan Dale Jacoby - a familiar face to fans of US martial arts films of the late 80's and early 90's, one of my first MA DVDs was a box set my parents got me for my 12th (I think) B-day, which had a bunch of those early 90s films, one of which was Ring Of Fire, where Dale played the lead antagonist. I also have an old Benny Urquidez training guide that has Dale demonstrating with Benny. to be continued... Edited June 28, 2023 by J.J. Hayden 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted June 28, 2023 Author Member Share Posted June 28, 2023 ...continued David Wald - very talented martial artist I look forward to writing a bio for, he was a TMNT stunt double and more importantly for me was a stunt performer in Power Rangers which was one of my 1st (if not the 1st) introductions to martial arts, and after watching The Movie recently, it may have also began my love of Van Halen too Derek Anunciation - replaced here and there (sometimes brazenly) by Henry Penzi as the movie ran over schedule and he had to leave. Doc Watson Erwin Villezon - I've done a bio for him, as I'd probably struggle to find the sources again, so I did his first. George Cheung Joh-chi - though from HK, he's probably more familiar from the huge amount of Hollywood films he's worked on, usually with the name George Kee Cheung. Glen Chin Ying-ming Guy Fadallone Henry Penzi - this scene is the most obvious moment where he's switched with Derek, they don't even try to hide it with the glasses here Jerry Trimble - The Golden Boy, look forward to writing a bio about him, big inspiration for my own fighting style. to be continued... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted June 28, 2023 Author Member Share Posted June 28, 2023 ...continued Jet Li - the bottom is one of the scene that has the most of Jet, rather than the various stunt doubles. Very nice shot. John Kreng - playing 2 different members of the Hawks gang. In an interview he said that they shot about 10 different fight scenes but that they cut alot of them and merged others. Just adds to the clump of tangled Christmas lights that is this film John Trujillo Kenneth Nowling - I don't even know if this guy has a name, I only heard him referred to as The Detective. Kevin Cole - I was surprised that I couldn't really find any info on this guy, he obviously has some skills and he did appear in a couple of other movies, but apart from that, nothing. Lee Fat-yuen Mark D. Williams - similar situation to Kevin Cole, couldn't find much despite the obvious talent. He did get another chance to show his skills in the earlier Jet Li film Dragon Fight. to be continued... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted June 28, 2023 Author Member Share Posted June 28, 2023 ...continued Michael Burke Pamela J. Anderson Ray Wizard - LA based martial arts champion and instructor, seems this was his only film, and like many others he keeps getting switched with another actor. Rich Hopkins - Short haired and skinny here, in the 90s he became a very popular stuntman both on and off the screen. Rubén C. González Stefanos Miltsakakis - another familiar face to fans of the US martial arts movies of the 90s. Steven Ho - similar to David Wald, great martial arts skills, doubled as a ninja turtle and I'm planning to do a nice bio for him. Also important to my childhood intro to MA as he was in Mortal Kombat which I rented on VHS from the shop with my pocketmoney on a nearly weekly basis, much to the annoyance of my parents He was also one of the doubles for Jet in this and Dragon Fight, where he also gets to show his awesome kicking skills against Dick Wei. To Wai-wo to be continued... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted June 28, 2023 Author Member Share Posted June 28, 2023 (edited) ...continued Tony Ling Chi-wah Yuen Gam-fai Yuen Wah Lastly we have this guy, he's one of the Kung Fu students but we don't get a decent look at his face, I reckon it's Ku Huen-chiu who was one of Jet's doubles, but I'm not 100%. Any ideas? For more pics see: https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=7575&complete_credits=1&display_set=eng Cheers Edited June 28, 2023 by J.J. Hayden 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Super Ninja Posted June 28, 2023 Member Share Posted June 28, 2023 3 hours ago, J.J. Hayden said: Lastly we have this guy, he's one of the Kung Fu students but we don't get a decent look at his face, I reckon it's Ku Huen-chiu who was one of Jet's doubles, but I'm not 100%. Dee Dee was in The Master, no way! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted June 28, 2023 Author Member Share Posted June 28, 2023 12 minutes ago, Super Ninja said: Dee Dee was in The Master, no way! Yup, I bet you'll like this pic. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted June 29, 2023 Author Member Share Posted June 29, 2023 my Erwin Villezon bio Born in the Philippines in April of 1960, Erwin moved to the USA in 1969 with his mother Nelita Villezon. Nelita had been a secret service agent for the Philippine government and she used to train her children in Eskrima and other martial arts in their back yard. They first moved to North Carolina, where Erwin studied in many different martial arts outside of his own Filipino martial arts background. It's also where he met his wife, Span who was also a martial artist. The two would move to L.A. California where Erwin would teach martial arts and continue to learn from other masters , including Jeet Kune Do master, Dan Inosanto. Dan said that Erwin was the closest he'd seen to Bruce in terms of movement, ironically Erwin would spar with Bruce Lee's son Brandon while training under Dan. Being in L.A. also meant that Erwin could follow his dream of entering the film and TV industry. Erwin succeeded in finding some martial arts roles in Hollywood, working alongside some very big names including: Don “The Dragon” Wilson; Steven Vincent Leigh; and even Jet Li. But later, Erwin's health began to suffer, at first there seemed to be no explanation, but eventually he would be diagnosed with having Tuberculosis Meningitis in his brain, which was causing his symptoms, including losing his memory. It became so severe that he suffered: Hydrocephalus; multiple seizures; and even two Strokes. He was in the forth and final stage of TB in his brain when doctors finally realised what was going on and they warned his family that the mortality rate in this situation was very high and that they should brace themselves for the worst. Despite the low chance of survival, Erwin did what he had all his life and fought, eventually pushing through and though it would be a long road to recovery, he had survived. He continues to inspire many martial artist, especially his daughter Nelita (named after her grandmother) who like her father before her, is a martial arts instructor and aspiring actress. Cheers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Super Ninja Posted June 29, 2023 Member Share Posted June 29, 2023 On 6/28/2023 at 7:52 PM, J.J. Hayden said: Yup, I bet you'll like this pic. Wow, he's so young here. Had to check.. in the early '90s he was already working with YWP so Yuen bros were his connection with The Master, been wondering how did he end up working with Tsui Hark in the US at such a young age. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted July 2, 2023 Author Member Share Posted July 2, 2023 This was actually meant to be #4 of the "big four" of the Koreans, but I've got a lot more notes on #3 than I thought, quite a few of them being duplicates, so it's taking a lot longer to work through for a bio, I also got distracted by other projects too Sadly the same can't be said for #4 Lee Hwa-jin, despite how many films he showed up in (often with prominent roles too), there's next to no info about him out there. I have a couple of notes but I'm not sure it's even enough for a mini bio, so for now I won't bother, I may come back to it in the future. I'll post a few of the better pics here. More can be found at : https://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=80852&display_set=eng Lee Hwa-jin 이화진 Cheers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted July 7, 2023 Author Member Share Posted July 7, 2023 I actually did this ages ago but due to several issues (including all the images I took being wiped ) it's been held up till now. It's actually held up another update for the Jackie Chan Stunt Team as I wanted to do this first (for reasons that will become clear). It was actually trickier than expected as there's a bunch of people who only did this one film (or few others), people not listed in the cast, people listed in the cast that hardly show up (if at al!!!) and the editing is pretty dodgy. The film is a mess Anyway here's my ID's for The Karate Kid [2010] Jaden Smith - before losing his mind he actually worked hard training with JCST leader Wu Gang for months before making this film. He shows some decent skills (such as the nice split above), though he is doubled extensively by lil Leo Li Lei (try saying that quickly ), seems like anytime he has to take a hit, though that's not too unusual. Adrienne Banfield-Jones - basically just a cameo from Jaden's grandmother Cameron Hillman - one of the kids (apart from Harry) in Dre's class that get credited in the cast but seem to be extra, or there scenes were just cut completely from all prints of the film. Ghye Brown - same deal as Cameron Hillman, they're in it so little it was impossible to get any decent shots of them. Guo Xin-hua Guo Kai - though not an "official member of the JCST" he is part of the Long Yun Martial Arts Troupe (see my JCST updates for more info). Han Wen-wen Harry Van Gorkum Jared Minns - just has a small scene at the beginning of the film, at least he gets some dialogue though. Looking at the surname, I assume he's related to Jaden's other double Jordon Keith Minns, not sure what scenes Jordon doubled for, maybe the skateboarding? to be continued... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted July 7, 2023 Author Member Share Posted July 7, 2023 (edited) ...continued JC Ji Tao - one of the "New Seven Little Fortunes" Joey Hu Ming-wu - "official member of the JCST" and of the Long Yun Martial Arts Troupe, this was the first time he and other troupe members worked with JC even though all (except Zhao Yi) don't get a credit. Some would go on to join the JCST, but all four are still members of the troupe. Leo Li Lei - poor kid deserves more credit than he gets for this film, he's only credited as Jaden's double behind Jordan Keith Minns, though it's clearly Leo doubling him in every fight scene. But he actually is a tournament fighter as well. They have him as 2 of Chang's opponent's, obviously the one fight but edited to be two and technically he's the third opponent too!!! As some of his fight is cut into that fight too, what a mess He grew up to become a "official member of the JCST". Liang Ge-liang - a former table tennis champion Liu Wen-tai Luke Carberry - again, seems a lot was cut as his only scene is meeting Dre and being at the fight in the park, then he disappears into the background for a few other shots and is there at the tournament but has no more dialogue. Weird Lv Shi-jia - another of the talented kids who worked on this and went on to become an "official member of the JCST". Owen Su Xiao-peng - another Long Yun Martial Arts Troupe who became an "official member of the JCST". Rocky Shi Xiao - this kid didn't end up on the JCST, but he did return to the film industry as a producer. ...to be continued Edited July 7, 2023 by J.J. Hayden 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted July 7, 2023 Author Member Share Posted July 7, 2023 ...continued Taraji P. Henson Tess Du Cray Wang Ji Wang Zhi-heng Wu Yan-yan Wu Zhen-su Yu Rong-guang Zac Wang Zhen-wei - the most obvious of cast members that went on to become an "official member of the JCST", he had actually acted before this film. Zhang Bo - similar to Ricky Shi, being one of the bullies that don't get to fight, even though Zhang Bo here appears at the tournament. The HKMDB has actually mixed him with another Zhang Bo, who was an adult at the time. I will correct this shortly. Zhao Yi - (he's been mixed with adult too) He's a member of the Long Yun Martial Arts Troupe, yet unlike some other member who appeared in this film, he and Guo Kai didn't become "official members of the JCST". Zhou Xiao-fei - another cameo really. I hat this aspect of the film, where instead of the opponent being unsure of what to do when confronted with a new and strange technique (like in the original), he starts to actually be hypnotised like Mowgli in The Jungle Book. It's stupid. Well that's that. I'll be updating the JCST page soon with the pics I've taken from this (as some members are kids) and the ID's I worked out ages ago (when they're all adults) there's still a few of the newer ones missing and I do plan on working through some of the newer films at some point. But at least other people can use the pics to do some sleuthing of their own. Cheers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted July 7, 2023 Author Member Share Posted July 7, 2023 Finally got around to updating these. A bunch more faces to go with the names that hadn't been ID'd yet, except maybe the JCST themselves , it took some sleuthing I tell ya and a lot of looking over bts photos (with some drastically varying quality) again and again until my eyes practically dropped out . And with several JC films on the way, hopefully there'll be some pics of the newest members soon too. For the full list see here: Now for the new IDs: 6th Generation #48 – Liu Ruo-xian 劉若顯 6th Generation #49 – Liu Jun-wei 劉俊偉 7th Generation #53 – Zhang Jin-shuang 張金爽 7th Generation #58 – Joey Hu Ming-wu 胡铭武 - already ID'd but now with a nice colour photo, I've done the same for the other Team/Troupe crossovers. 8th Generation #59 – Wang Hai-qi 王海岐 8th Generation #60 – Yao Xue-li 姚學力 (aka Johnny Yao) sweet pic of the gang together - I wonder if it was known back then that some of these kids would become "official members" see lil Leo Li Lei dressed as Jaden Smith, these days he's of been cancelled instantly 8th Generation #62 – Li Lei 李磊 (aka Leo Li) - all grown up 8th Generation #68 – Yan Ning-jie 閆寧杰 8th Generation #69 – Li Zhi-yuan 李志遠 to be continued... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted July 7, 2023 Author Member Share Posted July 7, 2023 ...continued 8th Generation #71 – Sheng Yao-wan 盛遥丸 8th Generation #75 – Wei Guo-jun 魏國君 8th Generation #76 – Gabriel Yang Ao 杨傲 - colour pic 8th Generation #77 – Aden Xing Shi-shuai 邢世帅 8th Generation #78 – Ma Teng-fei 馬騰飛 9th Generation #82 – Shen Wei-chao 身为超 (aka Charles Shen) 9th Generation #83 – Owen Su Xiao-peng 苏晓朋 in colour 9th Generation #84 – Seth Su Jing-jing 苏兢晶 - we can actually see his face now too. 9th Generation #85 – Jay Cao Jia-long 曹佳龙 - in colour Lil Zhao Yi with Big Brother and the gang. Yong Lun Martial Arts Troupe #5 Zhao Yi 赵一 Yong Lun Martial Arts Troupe #6 Guo Kai 郭凯 Mistress Hu Wei 胡伟 group founder (with JC) of the Yong Lun Martial Arts Troupe. Well that's all for now. Thanks to those who show their support, I hope this is useful, and above all informative. Cheers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted July 12, 2023 Author Member Share Posted July 12, 2023 Straight after I'd done my latest update for the JCST (a few days ago), I did another sleuthing session for all the missing (which I do periodically) and I managed to ID a whopping 8 extra members, the first 5 of which were also Long Yun Troupe members too. It's been a good week for the JCST, I'm quite pleased with my work So now, out of the full 100, there remains only 6 to ID, one of which I might know but not 100% on him yet. Thanks again to those who support me and as always I hope this was useful or at least interesting. 9th Generation #86 – Jiang Xing-ju 成家班 9th Generation #87 – Zhang Yong (7) 张勇 9th Generation #88 – Feng Hao-long 冯浩龙 9th Generation #89 – Dan Qian-fei 单乾飞 9th Generation #90 – Su Xin 苏鑫 9th Generation #91 – Zhang Yi-bo (2) 张宜波 9th Generation #92 – Yi Man-rui 易锰芮 9th Generation #99 – Jia Lian-qiang 贾连强 That's all for now. Cheers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted July 12, 2023 Author Member Share Posted July 12, 2023 While getting a few pics for my very latest Jackie Chan Stunt Team update, I also got a few other IDs while having a quick look at Vanguard [2020]: Temur Mamisashvili Sun Si-cheng Zac Wang Zhen-wei James Wang Wei-tao Luc Bendza Jia Lian-qiang Cheers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted July 19, 2023 Author Member Share Posted July 19, 2023 Lee Jin-yeong bio - It had to get put on hold for a few times due to other projects, but here it is, the last of the "Big 4". Born as Lee Dong-yeong in 1959 in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Lee Jin-yeong attended middle and high school in is hometown, before moving to the neighbouring city of Seoul to pursue a movie career, attending the Korean Academy Of Actors. He debuted as a stuntman on Richard Park Woo-sang's The Big Opponent (aka A Blow Of Fury), followed by the Dir Korean/Taiwan cross-over Seven Men Of Kung-Fu before quickly picking up a more substantial acting role acting role. This quick step up in his career was secured by fellow Korean martial arts cinema legend Kwon Il-soo, who had worked with Lee in his previous films and was impressed with his martial arts skills and screen presence. Thanks to a referral by Kwon, Lee was given the role of Yong Ho-rim in Dir Kim Seon-gyung's Emperor Of Kung Fu (aka Duel Of The Tough) [1978]. This character was one of the bodyguards of the main villain, giving Lee not only a chance to say some dialogue and get some decent screen time, but also a great opportunity to show off his spearmanship in a one-on-one fight against the film's star Wang Ryong (aka Mike Wong). Even though he was a prolific martial arts actor, the only official credit he has as a martial arts director was in 1984's Warrior in which he played one of the main villains as well as being one of the assistant martial arts director's, under the film's star Song Jae-cheol. Warrior is an interesting film which brought together an impressive cast of well established martial arts actors along with several well respected martial arts instructors of the time who had little to no previous acting credits, to create a very interesting Korean martial arts experience. He worked on over 90 different films and TV shows, including: 1984's Fighter starring Wang Ho (aka Casanova Wong) for KBS; and 1995's Hourglass starring Choe Min-soo for SBS. Lee's tall stature made him great casting for the many villains he played over the years, but also helped him getting cast in important roles on the hero's side, often playing stoic and fatherly roles. He also had several opportunities to feature in non-martial art films, a notable one being 1986's Lee Jang-ho's Baseball Team. It was a sports drama centred around baseball that was based on the comic Alien Baseball team, written by Lee Hyeon-se. The film starred An Seong-gi (recognised as one of Korea's finest actors) and did very well at the Korean box office. Remaining good friends with Kwon Il-soo he became a regular player in Kwon's own films when he turned his attention to directing, notably appearing in several of his gangster films: The Nationwide Constituency [1991]; it's sequel, The Nationwide Constituency 2 [1993]; and playing the role of Chairman Choe in The Independent Of The Underworld [1993]. Arguably the highlight of Lee's career came with yet another gangster film from the 90s. He was the co-lead with Keo Ryong (aka Dragon Lee) in Emperor Of The Underworld [1994] playing the role of Joo-cheol. Alongside Keo Ryong, he takes on the film's director and “King Of The Leg Fighters” Hwang Jeong-ri in a climactic final battle. The film also brings together a whole hoard of Korea's top action stars including: Hwang's own brother Hwang Choon-soo; Hyeon Kil-soo, Kwon Seong-yeong; Hwang In-jo; Jeong Bong-yeon; Cha Ryong; and Kang Yong-ho. Even after taking a back seat from stardom, Lee was still a busy man, not only raising a son and two daughters, but he still kept himself very much involved in the film industry. The former actor-turned-businessman, was running welfare projects for filmmakers, secretly carried out scholarship projects for descendants of movie stars and was a regular participant in charity organisations. His contributions earned him a high level of recognition and trust among seniors and juniors in the film industry. A rather memorable charitable event that Lee Jin-yeong participated in was the 2007 “Peace Star Cup”. It was an international celebrity soccer tournament, held at the Uijeongbu Sports Complex and hosted by the Sports Sun Moon Peace Soccer Foundation. It has been held every year since 2007, with the goal of supporting public projects, creating a healthy sports culture , and vitalising a culture of donation . It was established to fight AIDS in children around the world, with all proceeds from the contest, including the admission fee, being forwarded through UNICEF. Lee was a member of the “Big Star Team” managed by fellow martial arts star Kim Yeong-in; which featured many other former Korean action actors including: Keo Ryong (aka Dragon Lee); An Seong-gi; Kim Ha-rim; Hwang In-jo; Han Tae-il; Kim Bo-seong; Park Dong-ryong: Kook Jeong-hwan; Kim Yeong-in; Park Joong-hoon. Lee's continuous efforts over the years lead to him becoming vice-president of the KFAA (Korea Film Actors Association), president of the Asan city branch of the Federation Of Korean Film-makers and senior vice-president of the Asan Arts Foundation. He's also received many awards and commendations such as the “Proud Film Welfare Achievement Award” on the 53rd Film Day in 2015 for his work as the Welfare Society chairman of the KFAA; but also the “Proud Film Development Achievement Award”; and in 2019 he presented with the “Presence Of Korea Award”. All of this made him an ideal candidate for the 7th president of the KFAA, a position he would compete for beginning on the 1st of April 2021, against fellow martial arts actor (also singer, model and Taekwondo champion) Lee Dong-joon. The vote was held on the 15th of April and despite Lee Dong-joon having more star clout with the general public, Lee Jin-yeong's record gave him the edge with both young and old within the industry, winning with a hefty 102 votes out of 165. Lee Jin-yeong began his 3 year term as the 7th president of the KFAA with this inauguration pledge to “extend members' welfare by establishing a labour union, digitise the association's administration, strengthen competitiveness through holding film festivals and discovering new actors, strengthen Korean movie leadership through reorganisation of the association and reinforcement of professional manpower.”. These projects have been systematically carried out since the first day of inauguration. Further to that Lee also announced his will to "improve the treatment of actors, increase rights, realise welfare, and secure finances as pledges, and practice the mandatory film appearance system for members without fail, to achieve guarantees for appearances. The establishment of a labour union for legitimate rights development, legal and accounting free advice and guaranteed contributions, medical tax benefits, corporate sponsorship for the welfare of realistic actors, raising the financial independence of the association through various forms of fundraising I will do my best ” much to the encouragement and applause from fellow filmmakers in attendance of the ceremony. Lee is still hard at work in his role at president and has attended many recent events held to promote the Korean film industry including: the 1st Asan Chungmugong International Action Film Festival which was held in his hometown and co-sponsored by the KFAA in April 2022; the 58th Grand Bell Awards in December of the same year; and on the 27th of April 2023 he attended the 24th Jeoju International Film Festival. For your pics please visit his HKMDB page : https://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=54596&display_set=eng J.J. Hayden [03-Jul-2023] 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted July 27, 2023 Author Member Share Posted July 27, 2023 Though not part of the Big 4, Choe Hwa-seop will be a familiar face to fans of Korean action cinema. Similar to Lee Hwa-jin he had some pretty decent roles and had plenty of opportunity to show off his kicks but also a variety of weapons...yet there's very little info about him out there. He was in some of the kid oriented MA films of the late 80s/early 90s such as the Thunderhwak and Super Hong Kil-dong series' so maybe he simply moved into TV? For more pics see his HKMDB page: https://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=80874&display_set=eng Cheers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member J.J. Hayden Posted August 1, 2023 Author Member Share Posted August 1, 2023 Can't seem to stop myself from going down rabbit holes the last week, I've went from one thing to another and am bogged down with several things I'm working through, had some good result but some dead ends too, but should hopefully done with those in a week or so HOPEFULLY . Anyway while bogged down with all that, I thought this would be an easy one to get out of the way as as far as I know he only has the one credit. Park Woo-yong was only in Martial Monks Of Shaolin Temple, despite his obvious kicking skills, he didn't do any other film work, he appeared in this film as a prize from a martial arts competition. I may do a mini bio on him at some point as even though this seems to be his only acting role, he had a long career of doing live martial arts performances and martial arts feats that gained him notoriety in Korea, he's an interesting guy. Cheers 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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