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70s Korean Chopsockey Question


DrNgor

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Does anyone know what was the first South Korean martial arts one--not to be confused with a Hong Kong one filmed in Korea with local talent in cast--to get a US release?

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Sifting through FilmRatings.com, the first example of a South Korean chopsockey film getting an MPAA rating is The Fierce One (1974), released stateside as Jaws of the Dragon.

TheFierceOne+1981-12-b.jpg

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No help here?

Does the MPAA keep a record of movies that passed through its slimy mits to get an official rating? Maybe I can find out through them?

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dionbrother

Was gonna guess THE KOREAN CONNECTION.  JAWS OF THE DRAGON was one of the first chopsockeys to be heavily promoted on videotape in the US when we rented video tapes at hobby stores.  I would see it, along with EXIT THE DRAGON, ENTER THE TIGER, listed in the video catalogs in 1981.  Strangely, I never bothered to rent it, despite the great title.

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6 hours ago, dionbrother said:

JAWS OF THE DRAGON was one of the first chopsockeys to be heavily promoted on videotape in the US when we rented video tapes at hobby stores.  I would see it, along with EXIT THE DRAGON, ENTER THE TIGER, listed in the video catalogs in 1981. 

I wonder if that explains the sudden flood of Shaw Brothers movies passing through the MPAA ratings system in 1981, even ones as far back as 1973 (i.e. The Savage Five): the advent of VHS and home video. Or was there a sudden Drive-In revival of kung fu movies in the early 1980s?

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dionbrother

World Northal had come up with a strategy of releasing Shaw movies in fleapits and drive ins and then selling them to tv stations via Black Belt Theater packages in 1981.  Strangely, video releases were not part of the strategy and there was little more than a short-lived deal with Embassy Home Video in 1983. 

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