Member Winfred Posted December 24, 2007 Member Share Posted December 24, 2007 Just received these 2 DVDs from reliable DDDhouse but there are no original or new trailers. Cutting costs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member oldeschool17 Posted December 24, 2007 Member Share Posted December 24, 2007 ivl is stingy on their trailers. Its never consistent. One would normally complain that perhaps the original trailer is damaged badly, but look at masked avengers. I wish they would include original trailers in all of their releases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member magicpoe Posted December 25, 2007 Member Share Posted December 25, 2007 Thank you for the trailer info. Also glad to see you here at the new forum Winfred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Winfred Posted December 25, 2007 Author Member Share Posted December 25, 2007 Glad to be here magicpoe. Is it my glasses or is The Bloody Parrot badly remastered? Several scenes are rather blur. Although confusing at first, many loose ends are tied in the conclusion making it a satisfactory movie. The female lead Jenny Liang has to be seen to be believed as she appears topless in many scenes. Usurpers Of Emperor's Power has been remastered until it's crystal clear. My friends and I really enjoyed this movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member vengeanceofhumanlanterns Posted December 30, 2007 Member Share Posted December 30, 2007 This film is awesome. Really, I was given a hard time when first posting about this film. It holds up so well. Thank you again Linn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member clfnole Posted December 31, 2007 Member Share Posted December 31, 2007 What are these two movies like? Not a lot of flying and chi blasts I hope. What do they compare to in terms of fighting style and feel? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ironfistedmonk Posted January 3, 2008 Member Share Posted January 3, 2008 Bloody Parrot was quite good, it's your typical SB murder mystery swordplay without the over complication of a Chu Yuan film. Hsu Hsia choreographed the action and it's pretty good although most of the fights aren't all that long, the highlight for me was Pai Piao's fight against the assassin with the long sword. The only lasers I remember came at the end and they were set off by a trap and not from one of the fighters. The feel of the film is kinda somewhere between Human Lanterns and a Chu Yuan film. Jenny Liang put in a very notable performance for obvious reasons when you see the film, a very charming young lady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member clfnole Posted January 4, 2008 Member Share Posted January 4, 2008 Thanks for the reply on Bloody Parrot. What's everyones opinion of Usurpers? How is the story and fighting in that one? Any lasers, flying or undercranking (things I didn't like from many of the 80s films)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member vengeanceofhumanlanterns Posted January 6, 2008 Member Share Posted January 6, 2008 Both films are directed by the same guy. It'll be interesting to see the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member peringaten Posted January 9, 2008 Member Share Posted January 9, 2008 Thanks for the reply on Bloody Parrot. What's everyones opinion of Usurpers? How is the story and fighting in that one? Any lasers, flying or undercranking (things I didn't like from many of the 80s films)?Usurpers is verry nice, I thought. It's got a bit of the old flying in it, supernatural powers, but seems kind of geared storywise. Really shows its '80s stylings, but with some very nice cinematography. Goes for a drama angle with a few light moments, some nice intrigues. Lau Suet Wah runs about showing a bit of leg, Lau Wing gives a reasonable, if unexceptional, performance in the acting department, Chiu Guk gives a wasted performance in terms of action, especially considering the brief showings of what he could do in The Weird Man, etc. but exercises some treacherous power-hungry upstart showings impetuously fittingly - star of the show though is Lung Tien Hsiang, this dude: Looks kind of similar to that, but a bit more wiley, in white haired mode. Flies about and stuff, but gives by far the best performance I've seen from him acting wise, using expression, etc. to carry himself through the movie, quite thoughtful. This is his flick to shine. And he does. Been thinking about this movie today, lingered in mind, good drama... You know Rebellious Reign? Well, this film ain't like that at all, but so far as fates and outcomes go... you might see why I'm drawing a similie without saying too much, not like that, but you might get my gist. Really is little to no redemption, and it's done quite harshly and matter of fact - dark, but not too dark, kind of matter of factly bleak outcomes - left me thinking about it in a sustained 'daaaammmmnnn that's a bleak outcome angle', but not DDAAAMMMNN, etc. you know, resonates in its matter of factness. The finale stands on its own two in its outcomes, not so much its action, which might leave some somewhat longing, but there are other concerns. Choreo's decent all the same. I'm going to shut up now and not bother looking over what I just wrote - leave it at that. Looking forward to watching it again. Recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member peringaten Posted January 9, 2008 Member Share Posted January 9, 2008 Oh yeah, and there's a bit of cranking in there, fight-wise and stuff (not detrimentally fight-wise imo), but seems to affect odd moments like non-fighty bits when people are running places, etc. for a shot or two... Either from the remastering process, or they accidentally left the camera in undercranked mode for a shot here and there. Oddly cranked punctuations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BaronK Posted January 11, 2008 Member Share Posted January 11, 2008 Wow. I've had Bloody Parrot since it came out but just watched it. This is almost like watching a new movie. The theater print was seriously cut. That print had no nudity and none of the gore. This was as gory and graphic a movie as I've seen. The nudity really suprised me. I recall mention of the same in Portrait in Crystal. The theater print of that was also cut according to reviews. The man in the underground lair with the maggots and such was also not inn the theater print. Very atmospheric. Very good sets, lighting, and cinematography. The movie that got me into swordplay movies, although nothing like other swordplay movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member vengeanceofhumanlanterns Posted January 11, 2008 Member Share Posted January 11, 2008 Bloody Parrot. Hands down one of my all time favorite Shaws films. I even ordered a back up copy just in case anything happens to my first copy and they're out of print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yu_Xihong Posted January 13, 2008 Member Share Posted January 13, 2008 Usurpers of... etc... the ending felt like an alternate ending. If I was the director that's how alot of my movies would end. Why should the heroes always win? Damn Chen Bo. I can't believe they made Wang Li SUCH an extra. Anyway, I thought this movie was neither here nor there. It's not bad. I still want to see Bloody Parrot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member gfanikf Posted January 15, 2008 Member Share Posted January 15, 2008 Wow. I've had Bloody Parrot since it came out but just watched it. This is almost like watching a new movie. The theater print was seriously cut. That print had no nudity and none of the gore. This was as gory and graphic a movie as I've seen. The nudity really suprised me. I recall mention of the same in Portrait in Crystal. The theater print of that was also cut according to reviews. The man in the underground lair with the maggots and such was also not inn the theater print. Very atmospheric. Very good sets, lighting, and cinematography. The movie that got me into swordplay movies, although nothing like other swordplay movies. Cool. I can't wait to see it. I'm popping in a copy right now to watch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted January 27, 2008 Member Share Posted January 27, 2008 Got 13 Shaw's in the mail yesterday and BLOODY PARROT was the first one I popped in. It's kinda sloppy but has enough exploitation elements to keep things interesting. I'm still not sure what exactly the film is supposed to be about. It's either the search for stolen jewels or the search for the 'Bloody Parrot'. By the end, it all amounts to an NC-17 version of a Scooby Doo show. PORTRAIT IN CRYSTAL is a bit better but PARROT is probably the sleaziest swordplay flick I've ever seen. Lots of full frontal nudity, gore, cannibalism(!) and the fights are really good from Hsu Hsia and two others whose names I don't remember. I'll check out USURPERS next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted January 28, 2008 Member Share Posted January 28, 2008 Watching USURPERS...and I enjoyed this one a bit better than PARROT (Same director). Lung Tien Sheng is a right evil bastard here. Boatloads of violence and this could be one of the bloodiest Shaw Brothers movies. The only drawback is that a couple of scenes appear to be cut. One obvious instance occurs approximately 1:02:00 into the film. The absolutely brutal pillage the village scene that takes place around the 70 minute mark seems to have at least one spot that seems cut short. Some very nice sets and costumes. Anybody who likes there Shaw flicks violent and bloody as all hell should check both of these out but I prefer USURPERS over the BLOODY PARROT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tai_shin_mun Posted January 28, 2008 Member Share Posted January 28, 2008 Is there lot wire-fu in Usurpers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted January 28, 2008 Member Share Posted January 28, 2008 Is there lot wire-fu in Usurpers? Yeah, there's a lot of wirework in the film. I wonder if this was one of the first of that new wave style of wire-fu that soon became standard procedure in later films? Lots of limbs hacked off, one guy is ripped apart on a torture device, one guy is cut in half, rape and one guy is gang-stabbed by about a dozen men with spears and he's stabbed hundreds of times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted February 9, 2008 Member Share Posted February 9, 2008 hmm, i thought usurpers could've used a bit more action actually. one of the few MA movies that i enjoyed more for the plot than anything else (although what action is there was pretty good). A great and unusual ending, a very welcome surprise. It kinda seems the movie is pulled in two directions. One is the influence of the director, Hua Shan, who is a quite gifted visual stylist and obviously wants to make a dark brutal drama. The other is the influence of the Yuen Clan members on hand to do the choreography, seemingly stuck in their the batshit insane miracle fighters/taoist drunkard mode and thus pulling the film towards a more fantasy and sometime comedic bend. The latter is wholly unwelcome, if the movie played it straight all the way through (in the manner of the beginning and the ending) I think it could've been an all time classic. As it is, it's a very interesting curiosity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yu_Xihong Posted February 9, 2008 Member Share Posted February 9, 2008 Forgot to mention did anybody spot Rambo in Usurpers? I could've sworn he was in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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