Shaolin Temple trilogy vs Once Upon a Time In China trilogy

[Koravec]

Which series is better? Which showcases his abilities better? Maybe one or both series is better off as just the first film in the series. Maybe Jet’s too young in some of the early shaolin temple movies.

I actually dont know, not too familiar with Jet’s work. I saw some clips from shaolin temple a few years ago that blew my mind, they had one of the sequels on netflix a while ago but I didnt want to jump in the middle. Found the first Once Upon a Time on my shelf so will probably watch that sometime soon. Will be interested in hearing what you guys have to say.

[One Armed Boxer]

While I'm tempted to say they're not really comparable - one consist of Mainland wushu flicks while the other consist of HK new wave kung-fu flicks - if I had to choose I'd go for the 'Shaolin Temple' trilogy. These movies (which are all unrelated by the way - so you can watch them in any order, but if you have the choice go chronologically) represent Jet at the peak of his abilities, and even today I'd say are still the epitome of the wushu aesthetic being successfully transferred to the screen. The 3rd one in particular, 'Martial Arts of Shaolin', had the backing of the Shaw Brothers studio and is your only chance to see Jet Li being choreographed by Lau Kar Leung (who also directed), all set against some inspiring outdoor Chinese backdrops.

 

[dionbrother]

Shaolin Temple trilogy by a Shaolin mile. 

[Iron_Leopard]

I never got around to seeing The Shaolin Temple series with Jet Li.

But is it possible for any of those movies to be better than OUATIC II? 

[Cognoscente]

Rightly so.

[massa_yoda]

On 7/17/2022 at 6:15 PM, Koravec said:

Which series is better?

OUATIC

On 7/17/2022 at 6:15 PM, Koravec said:

Which showcases his abilities better?

Shaolin Temple trilogy

[dionbrother]

2 hours ago, Iron_Leopard said:

I never got around to seeing The Shaolin Temple series with Jet Li.

But is it possible for any of those movies to be better than OUATIC II? 

OUATIC II puts me to sleep, so...yeah, very possible.

[Drunken Monk]

The OUATIC is the best trilogy by far. The Shaolin Temple trilogy just doesn’t do anything for me with its wushu style choreography. I find all three films mostly dull minus one or two action highlights (some decent drunken sword, mantis fist etc.). The OUATIC trilogy is masterful. Even the third outing, which is one of the weakest of the series is preferable to Kids from Shaolin.

Lau Kar Leung’s effort is the best in the trilogy but even that one isn’t great when compared to the rest of Pops’ filmography.

[Graysman]

Temple trilogy for me it’s all executed much better than QUATIC.

[Cognoscente]

The Temple trilogy reminds me of the Evil Dead trilogy - the first one is the most serious, the second is the funniest, and the third one has the best production values.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Shaolin Temple for choreography vs OUATIC for story/drama.

Yeah, I'll go with the action every time. That's what I'm here for. That's probably why the OUATIC movies perturb me so much. Because the martial skill set Jet Li demonstrates in the Shaolin films is phenomenal while the new wave sensibilities of the OUATIC severely lacks that. Except for OUATIC&A. That movie rocks. It's the best of that lot.

[Cognoscente]

In an ideal world, Jet would have left the Mainland film industry after the third ST movie, wouldn't have done Born to Defend where he injured his back, and we would have got a more awe-inspiring version of OUATIC with little to no doubling.

Jackie would have been left quaking in the dust and Donnie would have been forced to play catch-up, and perhaps been more obedient with Yuen Woo-Ping.

[KenHashibe]

Never thought of comparing the two, but doing so has actually sparked such a great conversation!

For me, it's gotta be OUATIC, all the way. Like most have said already, Shaolin Temple is the better display of Jet's abilities, but OUATIC is my preferred trilogy for the story, music and innovative cinematography. I do understand the complaint about the wire-fu, but I still think the OUATIC fights are incredibly well-staged and creative. And the finale of OUATIC 2 with Jet and Donnie is one of the most impressive fights I've ever seen.

I revisit the OUATIC films way more often because none of the Shaolin Temple movies have a story that engages me. The only aspects that elevate them for me are the amazing fight scenes and scenery. Ideally, I would have loved if the OUATIC had the level of fight choreo as the Shaolin Temple films.