Member ThunderScore Posted January 23, 2023 Member Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) Published by Curtis F. Wong's CFW Enterprises (INSIDE KUNG FU), MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES magazine (1980-1982) was probably the gateway to the cinematic world of Martial Arts for more than a few here. It had a short, but memorable run - MAM video.mp4 Dynamic eye-catching covers combined with superior editorial design, MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES magazine ran insightful articles on actors and directors in the genre as well as many film reviews from those that had the distinct advantage of being there "as it happened" ... Edited January 23, 2023 by ThunderScore 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member shukocarl1441996347 Posted January 23, 2023 Member Share Posted January 23, 2023 I used to have about a dozen issues back in he day. It was a great read. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted January 23, 2023 Administrator Share Posted January 23, 2023 Cool video! I got almost all of them as they were published, and still have most of them (a few were loaned out, but not returned). They had some great interviews, articles, and tons of exciting photos in them. I enthusiastically read and collected magazines since I was a kid (right along with comics), never going anywhere without one. My first was Famous Monsters of Filmland, followed closely by Fangoria, Starlog, Cinefantastique, Fantastic Films, Gore Zone, Premiere, Rolling Stone, Eastern Heroes, Cinefex, Video Watchdog, and sometimes Cracked, Mad, Blackbelt, Inside Kung Fu, Impact, Gore Gazette, Bruce Lee Review, any Bruce Lee stuff, and back in the Seventies, believe it or not, shark attack zines! And I didn't just get these just to have them- I read most from cover to cover, in addition to copious amounts of books too. How did I ever have that much time back then?! For the majority of my life, wherever you'd go, you'd see people reading: newspapers, magazines, paperbacks, and now it's mostly just people staring at their phones. I can't recall the last time I was out somewhere and saw someone reading printed material. It's strange that this has changed so drastically during my lifetime, with one magazine after another discontinuing print editions (bye bye Entertainment Weekly). I still always have "an emergency book" in both my vehicle and in my backpack, but for the first time (that I can recall) I'm listening to an audio book via my phone. The good news is that this change is saving a lot of trees, but I'm still nostalgic for the weekly visits to the newsstands to shop for all the new issues coming out, and the sweet smell of a freshly printed magazine. How many of you read Martial Arts Movies? Which other magazines did you all enjoy? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted January 23, 2023 Member Share Posted January 23, 2023 Big mistake i made to sell them in my younger days.Used to travel from Liverpool to Manchester to buy a copy from the martial arts store that used to be there. I wish i could get the issues digitally back to read on the ipad. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ThunderScore Posted January 23, 2023 Author Member Share Posted January 23, 2023 MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES No. 1 (1980): 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted January 23, 2023 Member Share Posted January 23, 2023 I bought a few issues of the French version of Dragon Magazine in the late 70's but one day, the woman at the shop told me that it had ended. I was so sad, because it was the only way to "watch" some movies without going to the theaters. That's how I saw some pictures and a short synopsis of Stoner and discovered Angela Mao. The same for Black Panther, where I discovered Nancy Yen, and Assassin with Xu Feng and Chia Ling... These were the good old days. In the 90's-95's, I collected a few HKVideo Magazines that offered a VHS together with it. I think that I must have one or two KARATE magazines collectors with two or three issues in the same release. And a few years ago, I bought some Southern Screen magazines but I don' t have as a huge collection as some members have here... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member dionbrother Posted January 23, 2023 Member Share Posted January 23, 2023 Great magazine. Too bad Wong got cold feet and turned it into the nearly worthless Action Films, which was the CFW Publications debut of Ric Meyers. IIRC, Action Films died a much quicker death. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member shukocarl1441996347 Posted January 23, 2023 Member Share Posted January 23, 2023 6 hours ago, saltysam said: Big mistake i made to sell them in my younger days.Used to travel from Liverpool to Manchester to buy a copy from the martial arts store that used to be there. I wish i could get the issues digitally back to read on the ipad. I used to read them on the bog 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ThunderScore Posted January 24, 2023 Author Member Share Posted January 24, 2023 MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES Vol. 1 No. 1 July 1981: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Brucemee Posted January 24, 2023 Member Share Posted January 24, 2023 I believe I still have a copy of each issue from the original run (some of them in better condition than others), enjoyed each one, thinking about them definitely takes me back to my teenage years, living at Clark AFB in the P.I., seeing Bruce Lee movies for the first time, my life would never be the same thereafter! One of the things I appreciated about the original run of Martial Arts Movies was that the critics seemed to be allowed to freely express their critical opinions, that didn't seem to be the case with the special issues that would come out from time to time over the next few years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted January 24, 2023 Member Share Posted January 24, 2023 I never even heard of that magazine until I clicked on this thread. But seeing the time frame that mag came out, yeah it was before my time. Too bad because I would've definitely picked up a copy if I was around during the publication run. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thelastweaponmaster Posted January 24, 2023 Member Share Posted January 24, 2023 Hi everyone. I am like Kung Fu Bob in that I was around back then and was a regular collector/reader of magazines like Starlog, Fangoria, Cinefantastique, Cinefex, etc. I do have every issues of "Martial Art Movies" and even contributed an article to the last issue of the magazine. The article was a career retrospective (up to that point in time) on Liu Chia-Liang (Lau Kar Leung). MAM was a great magazine on the film genre while it lasted. Previously I was involved in such fanzines as "The Jade Screen". My first in-theatre experience of a Bruce Lee movie was "The Way of the Dragon" at the local Golden Harvest theatre at the time. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Shaolin Patriot Posted January 24, 2023 Member Share Posted January 24, 2023 Great video! Anyone recognize which SB film the music is from? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted January 24, 2023 Member Share Posted January 24, 2023 During the height of covid i was shielding and bought a few issues of Fighting Stars from a Facebook seller. While it was an ok read it couldn't hold a candle to MAM mag. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ThunderScore Posted January 24, 2023 Author Member Share Posted January 24, 2023 16 hours ago, Shaolin Patriot said: Great video! Anyone recognize which SB film the music is from? I think I remember it being used in THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ThunderScore Posted January 25, 2023 Author Member Share Posted January 25, 2023 MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES Vol. 1 No. 2 August 1981: Films Reviewed: FIST OF FURY, MASTER WITH CRACK FINGERS, SNAKE FIST FIGHTER, DANCE OF THE DRUNK MANTIS, THE GOOSE BOXER 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Brucemee Posted January 25, 2023 Member Share Posted January 25, 2023 17 hours ago, thelastweaponmaster said: Hi everyone. I am like Kung Fu Bob in that I was around back then and was a regular collector/reader of magazines like Starlog, Fangoria, Cinefantastique, Cinefex, etc. I do have every issues of "Martial Art Movies" and even contributed an article to the last issue of the magazine. The article was a career retrospective (up to that point in time) on Liu Chia-Liang (Lau Kar Leung). MAM was a great magazine on the film genre while it lasted. Previously I was involved in such fanzines as "The Jade Screen". My first in-theatre experience of a Bruce Lee movie was "The Way of the Dragon" at the local Golden Harvest theatre at the time. Which issue was the last one (of the initial run, anyway, before the occasional special issues came out)? Who/what was on the cover? Just wondering because I wasn't sure I had the complete collection, I don't know what the final issue was. Thanks for any info. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Brucemee Posted January 25, 2023 Member Share Posted January 25, 2023 5 hours ago, saltysam said: During the height of covid i was shielding and bought a few issues of Fighting Stars from a Facebook seller. While it was an ok read it couldn't hold a candle to MAM mag. I agree. I still have quite a few issues of Fighting Stars but it kind of seemed like kids stuff compared to MAM, they both covered similar material but the editors & writers at MAM seemed to treat that material more seriously. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Shaolin Patriot Posted January 25, 2023 Member Share Posted January 25, 2023 6 hours ago, ThunderScore said: I think I remember it being used in THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN... It's actually the opening theme for TWO CHAMPIONS OF SHAOLIN. You might also be correct though, since most music is repurposed from the De Wolfe library. Two Champions of Shaolin Opening Theme 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thelastweaponmaster Posted January 25, 2023 Member Share Posted January 25, 2023 7 hours ago, Brucemee said: Which issue was the last one (of the initial run, anyway, before the occasional special issues came out)? Who/what was on the cover? Just wondering because I wasn't sure I had the complete collection, I don't know what the final issue was. Thanks for any info. I believe it was the one with Carter Huang (also known as Carter Wong) on the cover. Dated October 1982. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Brucemee Posted January 26, 2023 Member Share Posted January 26, 2023 18 hours ago, thelastweaponmaster said: I believe it was the one with Carter Huang (also known as Carter Wong) on the cover. Dated October 1982. Thanks, I did get that one (I remember a photo of Carter with Bruce Lee at some Golden Harvest function). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ThunderScore Posted January 28, 2023 Author Member Share Posted January 28, 2023 MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES Vol. 1 No. 3 September 1981: Films Reviewed: THE SECRET RIVALS, THE SECRET RIVALS PART II, MY YOUNG AUNTIE, SNAKEFIST VS. THE DRAGON, THE CHINATOWN KID 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ThunderScore Posted February 1, 2023 Author Member Share Posted February 1, 2023 MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES Vol. 1 No. 4 October 1981: Films Reviewed: AN EYE FOR AN EYE, FORCE: FIVE, RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH, KUNG FU'S HERO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member whitesnake Posted February 2, 2023 Member Share Posted February 2, 2023 I remember Martial Arts Magazine, enjoyed reading and collecting issues, also some issues of Fighting Stars, wrote a few articles for Jade Screen, and a couple of articles for Martial Arts Movies, including "Sword and Sorcery: Filmic Fantasy". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thegoldenstate Posted February 2, 2023 Member Share Posted February 2, 2023 (edited) I remember that article! It was in one of the few issues of MAM that I owned back in the day. It alerted me to the existence of The Battle Wizard, which I would have to wait another fifteen+ years to see, when the Shaws releases began rolling out on DVD/VCD. Did you by chance write the one on invincibility that appeared in the same issue? That was a really cool one too -- and one that likewise discussed a bunch of films which it would be years before I had the opportunity to actually view (including Born Invincible, The Invincible Armor, and The Magnificent...) Anyway, it was such a great publication. It was striking to see kung fu and adjacent genres treated as a serious and "legitimate" art form. At the time those films tended to be laughed off outside fan circles due to poor dubbing, low budgets, minimal plotlines, etc. Pre-internet it was a fantastic resource for finding out more about kf cinema, particularly if one didn't read Chinese. I keep hoping that some beneficent soul would scan their collection and post them on archive.org. It would be great to be able to go back and read them, seeing as I was silly enough to part with my own copies years ago... Edited February 2, 2023 by thegoldenstate 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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