Once Upon a Time In China Series - The Jet Li Era

[fiol]

u dont consider OUATIC 4 as part of the series?

i never watched it since it's quite hard to come by (i missed the opportunity to buy the LD long time ago)..i know there is no Jet Li in this one.

[Ramji]

Part 1 was always my favourite, although I still think the 2nd is great.

[Yang Wu Liang]

Voted for 2, mainly for the quality of the action but also because there are one or two scenes with the White Lotus Cult that I think are really cool.

Anyone complaining that Yuen Biao didn't get enough action in Part 1 should check out Wu Ma's 'Once Upon a Chinese Hero' in which he stars and kicks some serious ass! IMO it's probably got better action than the Jet Lee OUTIC films.

[shelliegal]

Ya know, as I go back and watch the first OUATIC I realize why the action never clicked with me the same way it did with Iron Monkey or Tai Chi Master. It's because there was almost no contact on film. It wasn't so much lock, hit, lock, kick. It was very flowing and kind of obscure. I don't know if I'm explaining it correctly, it just doesn't feel like there's a lot of weight to it. It's harder to tell what knocked the enemy down.

But all the same, it is non-stop Yuen Woo Ping and the fighting is extremely creative nonetheless.

same here. for some reason, all the OUATIC films never clicked with me either. if you ask me what each movie was about, i wouldn't know even though i watched them. the only one i can recall is part 2, and that is only for the fight between jet and donnie. iron monkey - now that's a great film!

[David Rees]

Here are some cool behind the scenes shots of Once Upon A Time In China and Twin Dragons and featuring Tsui Hark and Jackie Chan.

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HONG KONG MOVIE POSTERS FOR SALE HERE

[Space]

Cool, is that from Eastern Heroes?

I wish my DVD had something along those lines. Didn't know Hark was such a workaholic.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

What is the best dvd version of OUATIC series?? Is the HKL one any good??

[shaolin drunkard]

same here. for some reason, all the OUATIC films never clicked with me either. if you ask me what each movie was about, i wouldn't know even though i watched them. the only one i can recall is part 2, and that is only for the fight between jet and donnie. iron monkey - now that's a great film!

OUATIC1 is lot better than iron monkey, part 2 equal and good flick like iron monkey.#3 is kinda bore tho, some ok moments but it suffers from lack of decent end fight and before that it`s not so good either.

[ShaOW!linDude]

OUATIC 1 - 3 were meh IMO. Don't get me wrong. I loved the stories and I could stare at Rosemund Kwan all day long. But I find them to be marred by the overabundance of wire-work. That's not to say that they don't have their moments though.

Never seen OUATIC 4. This stars Vincent Zhao, correct? Is it any better?

OUATICAA --- I'd probably say this is my favorite. Why? Directed by Sammo Hung for 1 and then I liked the premise of Wong Fei Hung being in the Old West. I know, I know....there's loads of wire-work in this one as well. But I remember the end fight being pretty cool. (A cowboy who knows kung fu? Cool!) Of course, I've only seen this once or twice and it's been well over a decade since I last viewed it. (I still have the vhs, never got the dvd.) When I first saw Shanghai Noon I immediately recognized parts that were borrowed from this film.

[Phoenix]

OUATIC 4 is great, although they completely wasted Chin Kar Lok and Billy Chow. I would suggest you avoid part 5, though, it's a complete let-down after part 4.

I always liked OUATIC 3, I prefer it to ther rest of the series. Part 2 has a huge amount of fans but I have never liked it that much, the first film in the trilogy was great but the ending, even with the great stunt work left me cold, I prefer a good fight at the end of a kung fu flick. Which is a criticism that applies to part 3, too.

[jmungus]

currently im revisiting the OUATIC franchise for the gallionst time. i`ve watched I, II & III in the past 2 weeks, 4-6 are on the schedule for september.

cinematically, I is easily superior to II; just as II definitely has the tighter fu-action. OUATIC I wins in terms of ambition, scope, diversity, acting, cinematography. pace is a close race, II is a bit tighter.

part III i watched just 2 days ago. it cant match the scope and depth of I & loses to both I & II in regards of the action choreography. does have some very nice action frames composition tho. always love those from tsui. for a large part of the movie, its underwhelming but still somewhat entertaining at the same time. the lighthearted moments didnt turn out so bad at all. in the final segment, things come together nicely, which made me feel more involved. character writing was seriously sloppy (ie clubfoot, leung fun, russian conspirators).

the epic lion dance in III could work in favor of the movie... or not. after nearly 3 decades of lion dance this lion dance that, i for one can do w/o lion dancing.

i must admit, i also dug everything white lotus when i was 17. now 20 years later, i find that clan to be one of the most dumbass, eccentric (in a bad way), trite misconceptions of a cult there is in the ma movie world.

back to business tho, in the past i`ve always liked the pirate one (V) the least. in terms of the fu, i remember this being superior to parts III and IV (oh yeah, more lion dance shenanigans) tho. part VI is idiotic, but also wire-fu mayhem at its best.

therefore my ranking is: 1. Pt. I 2. Pt. II 3. as of yet im being undecided bout Pt. III, IV or VI 6. Pt. V

[masterofoneinchpunch]

...And Tsui Hark is overrated as a director. He's made probably 4-5 good movies, but yet he's still considered some kind of cinema god? He's made more disasters than classics, so why is he still held in such high regard?

Why is Godard still regarded as a cinema God? OK I didn't need to add that in here.

I'm still lukewarm on Hark, but there several films I do really like from him with the first two OUATIC being among them. I normally rate the first a bit higher than the second, but I know enough friends who like the second the best.

[jmungus]

And Tsui Hark is overrated as a director. He's made probably 4-5 good movies, but yet he's still considered some kind of cinema god? He's made more disasters than classics, so why is he still held in such high regard?

hes certainly not overrated. thats simply not possible. hes also not just some good director; hes been mad influential, at a certain time groundbreaking with unparalleled creativity, stamina, big balls and guts and pure genius on occassion.

he also didnt make "probably 4, 5 good movies", he did make 4, 5 masterpieces tho.

add another dozen big fun gems, another 20-30 good movies and the occassional guilty pleasure on top of it.

unfortunately its very true theres some real crap in his back catalogue as writer/director/producer.

makes me cringe and feel very uncomfi every time i sit thru a TH production with those unfavorable features, knowing this junk comes from the man that partook in revolutionizing asian cinema.

but hey, counting all of the stuff hes been heavily involved with, theres maybe an avg. of one decent movie a year every year coming from tsui ever since hes stepped on the scene. "cinema god" indeed!

[DiP]

I'm not a big Tsui Hark fan and I do think some people tend to overrate him. But the impact he made in the 80s and early 90s can't be dismissed. Hark WAS one of the new wave Hong Kong directors that helped shape the industry to what it is today. All the work he put effort into as a director, producer, writer etc certainly made him reputed as a great director. To a large extend, I agree that he made the best productions as a producer but he also directed some cult classics on his own like Dangerous Encounter - 1st Kind, Peking Opera Blues, and the first two Once Upon a Time in China movies. And let's not forget The Blade which is regarded as the best wu xia movie of the 90s.

[One Armed Boxer]

OUATICAA --- I'd probably say this is my favorite. Why? Directed by Sammo Hung for 1 and then I liked the premise of Wong Fei Hung being in the Old West. I know, I know....there's loads of wire-work in this one as well. But I remember the end fight being pretty cool. (A cowboy who knows kung fu? Cool!) Of course, I've only seen this once or twice and it's been well over a decade since I last viewed it. (I still have the vhs, never got the dvd.) When I first saw Shanghai Noon I immediately recognized parts that were borrowed from this film.

I'd also have to go with this entry for essentially the same reasons as ShawOW!linDude, but also I found it to be the only one in the series that moved along at a sufficiently brisk pace. The Hark directed entries all seem to meander for long portions of their running time, to the point of inducing yawns when I first watched them, not that they are bad movies, I just think they could have been trimmed down and edited a little tighter.

Regarding the last comment, I remember reading one of the reasons why Jackie & Sammo had a falling out back then, was that Jackie said he'd often spoken about his wish to make a movie which contained the element of memory loss, and also a kung-fu western. Later he would go on to do exactly that, with 'Who Am I?' &, as is mentioned, 'Shanghai Noon'. But when Sammo made 'Once Upon a Time in China & America' before either had even been conceived, which was both a kung-fu western and used the memory loss plot device, Jackie believed Sammo had stolen the ideas from him.

And Tsui Hark is overrated as a director. He's made probably 4-5 good movies, but yet he's still considered some kind of cinema god? He's made more disasters than classics, so why is he still held in such high regard?

Can't agree with this....just looking between the time period of 2 of his best movies, 'Butterfly Murders' (1979) & 'Time & Tide' (2000), it's easy to pull at least 10 other movies which he directed that could be considered good, if not great, moments in HK cinema.

[shaolin drunkard]

Let`s not forget kung-fu cannibals either..I had tremendous fun watching this from vhs decades ago:bigsmile:

[One Armed Boxer]

Let`s not forget kung-fu cannibals either..I had tremendous fun watching this from vhs decades ago

One of the many AKA's for 'We're Going to Eat You'.

[jmungus]

I think he's overrated as a director. His production credits have nothing to do with it. Some of his best productions were done by other directors, so I don't count that. Look at his filmography as a director, it is not that impressive. You summed it up nicely with this statement (sorry a bit out of context):

over the years ive become sort of i guess what ppl like to call a fanboy of tsuis. hence i just HAD to object ;-)

but im not saying hes so awesome cuz im a fanboy but im a fanboy cuz hes so awesome; and thats just my opinion.

i tell u why i for one DO COUNT his production and writing credits: hes a movie making chameleon (writer, director, producer, (lousy) part time actor) slash artist slash entrepreneur slash shot caller slash supporter of talent and its often quite obvious theres the TH trademarks in plotlines/story and character development, cinematography, particular motives/messages/atmosphere, even if a movie of his/with his involvement is done by another director.

in the end, i dont watch a movie because a name is attached to it, but because i wanna have a good time. TH is responsible for me having good times aplenty with a whole lotta movies. that and him being innovative and mad influential, as being mentioned and discussed by others in this thread already, makes him a true hk and world cinema legend, imho.

Quote:

Let`s not forget kung-fu cannibals either..I had tremendous fun watching this from vhs decades ago

One of the many AKA's for 'We're Going to Eat You'

lol i havent heard of that aka. only know of "hell has no gates". certainly not a true gem (maybe a trash classic), i also dig that flick.

btw, just found out theres another old school days "kf cannibals" ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084573/ ) and apparently it has its trashy martial arts/exploitation merits as well.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Once Upon A Time In China And America

Finally saw this for the first time last night. I love finding connections in film. While doing some research on this (just in case I ever decide to do a full review on this) I found the following: here we have Jeff Wolfe who plays Billy, one of the few decent Caucasian actors in this movie, is the recipient of the infamous head stomp in Drive (2011).

While I haven't seen four and five, this is my least favorite of the four I saw. There are just too many issues from bad acting (mostly from the Texas cast), rushed cinematography, plot problems (from the wolf bad guy to the amnesia) etc...

[Jay Stone]

Speaking of Jeff Wolfe as Billy. There were rumors when the film was in production that Quentin Tarantino was in talks to play Billy!

I think the movie has its faults, but it has some great pieces too. Some of the choreography by Sammo is very inventive with wires, like when Wong is fighting the indians in the beginning.

The gweilo acting is what always brings down HK movies shot in English. Billy was decent, for an an HK movie...

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

Can you imagine I did not know who Yuen Bio was at the time of first seeing this film in the early 90's.

So last night I revisited OUATIC.

I said is that Yuen Bio and by golly it was.

Live and learn, LOL!

What a great film !!!!!!!!!

GD Y-Y

[DrNgor]

I know that Yuen Biao was capable of a lot more than being second fiddle/comic foil to Jet Li, but I do lament his leaving the franchise and being replaced by Max Mok.

[Drunken Monk]

While I knew it was Yuen Biao, I had no idea, until years later, that Iron Robe Yim was Yen Shi-Kwan aka the bad guy from "Fearless Hyena".

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

While I knew it was Yuen Biao, I had no idea, until years later, that Iron Robe Yim was Yen Shi-Kwan aka the bad guy from "Fearless Hyena".

In OUATIC

Was he not the bad monk in Iron Monkey too.

Indeed.

Wonder Palm Monk Hin Hung

Yen Shi-Kwan

It seems he was always a thug.......LOL.

Filmography (1952-2001)

Action Director (4 films)

Tiger & Crane Fists (1976)

Clutch of Power (1977)

Stranger from Shaolin (1977)

Shaolin - The Blood Mission (1984)

Actor (131 films)

The Precious Sword and the Magic Bow (1952)

A Sword Against Five Dragons (1952)

Magnificent Trio (1966) ... [Extra]

The Silent Swordsman (1967) ... Bandit [extra]

One-Armed Swordsman (1967) ... Feng's disciple [extra]

Lady with a Cat's Eyes (1967) ... Gang member

Lady Black Cat Strikes Again (1967) ... Gang member [extra]

Girl in Red (1967) ... Gangster [extra]

The Story of a Discharged Prisoner (1967) ... Thug [extra]

Rape of the Sword (1967) ... Lu's soldier [extra]

The Assassin (1967) ... [Extra]

The Professionals (1967) ... [Extra]

Man from Interpol (1967) ... [Extra]

Kiss and Kill (1967) ... Thug

The Sword of Swords (1968) ... Chuen's student [extra]

Golden Swallow (1968) ... Golden Dragon thug [extra]

The Silver Fox (1968) ... Old teacher's man [extra]

The Invincible Fist (1969) ... Lee's bandit [extra]

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969) ... [Extra]

Have Sword, Will Travel (1969) ... [Extra]

The Little Warrior (1969) ... [Extra]

The Singing Thief (1969) ... Wang's henchman [extra]

The Flying Dagger (1969) ... Green Dragon's thug

Three Encounters (1969) ... [Extra]

Redress (1969) ... [Extra]

Vengeance! (1970) ... Jin's thug [extra]

The Heroic Ones (1970) ... King Jin's soldier

The Secret of the Dirk (1970) ... [Extra]

The Singing Killer (1970) ... Fung's thug [extra]

My Son (1970) ... Chen's man [extra]

The Winged Tiger (1970) ... Martial artist [extra]

Swordswomen Three (1970) ... [Extra]

Heads for Sale (1970) ... [Extra]

The Wandering Swordsman (1970) ... Robber [extra]

King Eagle (1971) ... [Extra]

The Rescue (1971) ... [Extra]

Duel of Fists (1971) ... Chiang Ren's man [extra]

The Deadly Duo (1971) ... [Extra]

The Anonymous Heroes (1971) ... Commander Liu's officer [extra]

The New One-Armed Swordsman (1971) ... Chieftain Ho's man [extra]

The Duel (1971) ... Killed 4 times [extra]

The Oath of Death (1971) ... [Extra]

Angry Guest (1972) ... Japanese thug [extra]

Tough Guy (1972) ... [Extra]

Four Riders (1972) ... Thug in nightclub [extra]

Man of Iron (1972) ... Chang's thug [extra]

The Killer (1972) ... [Extra]

Boxer from Shantung (1972) ... Russian muscleman' challenger

Young People (1972) ... Ho Tai's ring assistant

The Water Margin (1972) ... [Extra]

The Lizard (1972) ... Casino thug

King Boxer (1972) ... Tournament fighter/Suen's pupil

Prodigal Boxer (1972) ... [Extra]

The King of Boxers (1972) ... Thug [extra]

Trilogy of Swordsmanship (1972) ... 3) Soldier

Hap Ki Do (1972) ... Japanese at opening scene

Delightful Forest (1972) ... Sheriff/Jiang's thug

The Deadly Knives (1972) ... Yan's clan man [extra]

The Delinquent (1973) ... Lam's bodyguard

The Iron Bodyguard (1973) ... Wu's man [extra]

The Mandarin (1973) ... [Extra]

The Devil's Treasure (1973) ... [Extra]

Chinese Kung Fu (1973) ... [Extra]

The Generation Gap (1973) ... [Extra]

The Young Tiger (1973) ... [Extra]

Police Force (1973) ... One of Sun's men [extra]

The Master of Kung Fu (1973) ... Robber

Not Scared to Die (1973) ... Gang member

The Black Belt (1973) ... Attack at container port

The Private Eye (1973) ... [Extra]

The Concrete Jungle (1974) ... [Extra]

The Savage 5 (1974) ... Bandit

Men from the Monastery (1974) ... [Extra]

Call Him Mr. Shatter (1974) ... Rattwood's thug [extra]

The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974) ... Leung's fighter

Friends (1974) ... Ma's thug [extra]

Wits to Wits (1974) ... Bank top fighter

The Escaped Convict (1974)

Na Cha the Great (1974) ... Auguang's soldier

Five Tough Guys (1974) ... [Extra]

The Thunder Kick (1974) ... [Extra]

The Spiritual Boxer (1975) ... Ruei's thug

The Young Rebel (1975) ... Martial art student [extra]

The Imposter (1975) ... Huang's man/bandit [extra]

All Men Are Brothers (1975) ... Rebel officer

Big Brother Cheng (1975) ... Prince Ji's man

The Taxi Driver (1975) ... Taxi driver challenges Fat

Bloody Money (1975) ... Constable [extra]

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975) ... Thug [extra]

The Monk (1975) ... Ta Chi

The Bloody Escape (1975) ... Bandit [extra]

The Super Inframan (1975) ... Science Research Center's staff

The Condemned (1976) ... One of Sheng's men

The Big Family (1976) ... Lung's son

Killer Clans (1976) ... Roc Society Chief's bodyguard

The Prodigal Boxer (II) (1976)

The Web of Death (1976) ... Major clan member

Oily Maniac (1976) ... Sin's worker

Bruce Lee and I (1976) ... Thug

The Shaolin Plot (1977) ... Villain

Clutch of Power (1977)

The 36 Crazy Fists (1977) ... Mo Dung Tak

The Iron Fisted Monk (1977) ... Thug

Breakout from Oppression (1978) ... San Yeh's thug

The Story of Drunken Master (1979) ... Grasshopper Bill Chan

Dance of the Drunk Mantis (1979) ... Sick Fist Master

The Fearless Hyena (1979) ... Yen Chuen Wong

Dragon Fist (1979) ... Master Zhong Jian Jun

The Stowaways (1979)

The Killer in White (1980) ... Killer in white

The Master Strikes (1980) ... Lung Tung Chien

Blood Child (1982) ... Captain Yu

Kid from Kwangtung (1982) ... Zhang Liyi

Fearless Hyena Part II (1983) ... Heaven Devil

Taoism Drunkard (1984) ... Old Devil's senior brother

The Young Taoism Fighter (1986)

Once Upon a Time in China (1991) ... Iron Robe Yim Chun Tung

Dragon Inn (1992) ... Ho Fu

Truant Hero (1992) ... Ti Chun Tung

Once Upon a Time in China II (1992) ... Governor Chung

Royal Tramp II (1992) ... Feng Shi Fan

Swordsman 2 (1992) ... Wu

The Heroic Trio (1993) ... Evil Master

The 13 Cold-Blooded Eagles (1993) ... Foster Father

Kickboxer (1993) ... Gold Panther

Iron Monkey (1993) ... Wonder Palm Monk Hin Hung

The Invincible Constable (1993) ... Sir Pang

The East Is Red (1993) ... Master Wu [uncredited]

Clans of Interigue (1993)

A Hero Never Dies (1998) ... Boss Yam

Gold Fingers (2001)

Man alive he was in a lot of GREAT films!

GD Y-Y

[DrNgor]

While I knew it was Yuen Biao, I had no idea, until years later, that Iron Robe Yim was Yen Shi-Kwan aka the bad guy from "Fearless Hyena".

I find it interesting that Yen Shi-Kwan was probably the old school actor who benefitted *most* from the 90s wire-fu revival. Just look at the guy's filmography in the 1990s compared to another old school actors:

OUATIC

Kick Boxer

Swordsman 2

New Dragon Inn

Heroic Trio

13 Cold-Blooded Eagles

Royal Tramp 2

Iron Monkey

Invincible Constable