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What Price Honesty / 目無王法 (1981)


Guest Donnie1974

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Guest jmungus

well the prison part is definitely an important element of this movie, but its not dominating the flick in any way. everything`s nicely and equally weighed.

im not too fond of prison themes in general myself- everything to know about movie-prison-life has been depicted in movies innumerous times & a prison block doesnt exactly make for a fancy/exotic/fantastical/exciting location.

the major theme is 'corrupted officials' and unlike most times, we get to see it from the inside this time around, as our heroes are part of the establishment (3 constables fresh off the academy).

its dark because a) the general tone of the entire movie is a little dark and B) theres no glorifying approach to the characters and their actions.

the writing is strong, coherent, realistic and comprehensible; still they managed to pull it off in a way not to cripple the sheer entertainment value.

*about the fighting (choreo): to me its like its based on and inspired by a tong gaai choreo for a 1971 CC movie, only 'matured by 10 years' (but kept in the exact same vein).

the great thing about it- this movie is basically timeless. works no matter if it were from 1967, 1975, 1988....

if one`s not "strictly shapes/styles/open hand" or despises serious martial arts flix, they should appreciate WPH

*about sun chiens performance: its not like i`d be like "give this guy an award for outstanding acting performance", but his (more than just sufficient) interpretation of his role makes me wonder why he never made it lead status; at least play the parts of the lead adversary or co-lead to a (single) main star (as opposed to be only co-leading or supporting as one of many in an ensemble cast with many co-lead or semi-lead characters).

7.5/10; another quality flick among the many hot ones from this years`batches.

quarter 1 of 2007 totally owns its 2006 predecessor and WPH is one of many reasons.

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Guest peringaten
Is this a cool stylish BADASS bloody action movie?
Yes, pretty much... Watched this again with a mate on Thursday, went down great. Definitely stylish, particularly stuff like one rain drenched showdown - one moment dry, the next everything is soaked in inches of water as the thunder kicks in and adversaries face off... the whole set-piece concern factoring towards stylistic effect. Good stuff! Love this movie. Badass - check; bloody - check; action - check... them good things.
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Guest peringaten

Well, despite, imo, Devil's Mirror forward thinking nature, there's a ten year gap inbetween them, so they're from somewhat different eras of action. This film's more about rough fights than just all out slaughtering one victim after another... even though there are a few bodies despatched quite easily here and there in What Price, we're not talking such volume of Devil's (that film's intense!). There's a lot of action in What Price, a lot of it concerning people taking a bashing or facing off, less straight all-out felling, but that's there in part...

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Guest BKarza

Just finished watching this rental. It lives up to what was said by peringaten.

There was more action than it seemed he let on. It wasn't nec. so rough and tumble. It was well choreographed action. The look and execution of the fight in the rain was rather cinematic and visually lovely, notwithstanding the circumstances surrounding it.

This is no kids flick. This is an adult film. HARD to believe this is the same guy that did Fighting Fool. It was well done, shot(very good camerawork here all around) and paced. Pai Piao is always the man and he is the same here. He does this type of material very well as he has that certain quality about him.

The director chose to dig pretty damn deep with the a-hole-ishness. Cops, officials, townfolk...it was all over and there was nowhere to turn. No way to right it. As this was playing the one thing that stuck out to me was the title of the film. It REALLY makes you question what you would do up against those odds.

What they did to them initially at the temple with Lo Lieh, then to Sun Chien to get Pai Piao at the restuarant and then later to his wife(that was bloody damn cold crap) and the potato thief was a bit unnerving. Bastards.

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Guest Ivy Ling Po

Watched this tonight. It's really good.....loved the twist at the end. Pai Piao & Sun Chien were outstanding. As a guest star, Lily Li had a plum role and strong scenes.

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Guest drunkenmantis13

Man, nobody can hype a flick like you do peri! :lol By the way you were so right about Daredevils...ownage!

But the word seems general, plus it does look really nice so i'll order it right away.

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Guest peringaten
By the way you were so right about Daredevils...ownage!
Oh, I missed this before... Yes, wasn't Daredevils nice. Good lord, wasn't that flick nice!!!

Hope you get on well with WPH...

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Guest shaolin student

Because of your review I bought this movie. And I regret to say that you do not know your kung fu movies. This movie was at best okay. Nothing, absolutely nothing special. Please stop over hyping movies that does not need hyping!!! Enough said.>: >:

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Guest peringaten
Because of your review I bought this movie. And I regret to say that you do not know your kung fu movies. This movie was at best okay. Nothing, absolutely nothing special. Please stop over hyping movies that does not need hyping!!! Enough said.
BWWAAHHAAHHAAHHAA!!!! NO!!

If I want to state how a movie affected me, I'll state it - it's not up for you to agree with my opinion. I'm not a salesman; this movie DID IT FOR ME; so I STATED THAT. No need to be rude and slight me.

Whatever, foo...

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Guest Chia Ling AKA Judy Lee
Because of your review I bought this movie. And I regret to say that you do not know your kung fu movies. This movie was at best okay. Nothing, absolutely nothing special. Please stop over hyping movies that does not need hyping!!! Enough said.

It seems appropriate at this juncture to mention how much I enjoyed Fantasy Mission Force.

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Guest jmungus

theres a very simple equation that applies here:

i know my kf movies, i dont know yours, u dont know mine, i hope (if i cared) u do know yours for your own sake. |I

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

*turned out this got longish. words were flowing like tai chi. just a little 'warning' 8o :b *

why do u regret saying it ? more fuel in the fire, more stuff to discuss :P

as long as its a "friendly duel", i dont see whats wrong with that, quite the opposite. lets talk controversial, lets praise movies, lets bash directors, lets look closer, look again and try to assume another angle this time around, but keep to the content of a post, leave the respective poster alone. shouldnt be so hard most of the times.

imo, peri cant possibly 'over-hype'. if u know the brothers taste and his enthusiasm about flicks he appreciates very much, u should be able to understand his reviews beyond the written words.

if i was u, i`d rather wonder how come theres SO MANY POSITIVE OPINIONS about WPH in general.

NOBODY knows their kf but u ????

as for WPH, i think its understandable why some ppl dont find it particularly hot.

whats your personal criteria for a good (kf) flick ?

i know mine varies from that of others. hell yeah i do (like everyone else ?!?!) consider my own taste in movies 'the best'. why would i have a certain preference if i didnt believe in it to begin with ?

btw, for a movie to work well it needs a whole lot more than just great kf shapes. WPH has what makes a movie work well.

WPH has quite many things to offer. its a tight, well conceived movie that has its own charm, many pros and no real cons if u apply an objective approach to it.

in context with 'the other martial arts movies', its one that adds extra dimensions to the genre (im not saying it does that exclusively!! its not like WPH was anything super-special in any way- imo!!).

do u want "monkey kf" or "kid with the golden arm" a thousand times over again, only with a different cast and sets ? boring! ;)

i prefer other type of action sequences/choreos over that of WPH, but a "5 superfighter"-choreo simply wouldnt fit this movie very well period.

tastes differ (greatly); i know i dont see why some movies have an avid fanbase- but apparently there must be a reason.

i for one dont give anyone`s reviews too much credit at first, even tho i read em under the assumption the respective author(s) know what they re talkin about.

frankly, i trust my gut feeling & vast experience first and foremost. as for other ppl`s reviews, theres always room for interpretation.

tough luck if u follow someone`s review blindly.

better know where its coming from ! if u re not sure, ask the right questions prior to your purchase, dont complain afterwards (just my 2 cents).

for example, i know i can trust reviews by kozo (lovehkfilm) almost blindly, as ive figured he not only has a taste in movies very similar to mine, but he often puts an emphasis on the same aspects about a movie, appears to be askin the same questions i got on my mind while watching movie x, makes the same observations etc.

he notices and specifies things i got aware of too, things apparently not on many- if any- reviewers minds when they watch/review a flick (too bad he doesnt do old school MA).

anyhoo; that is when a reviewer`s opinion becomes truly valid and considerable, if u ask me.

i know i cant trust markgways opinions. its unclear to me as to how he judges a movie. its like 50% perfect agreement and 50% disagreement on my end. confusing :x :\

i know (iron flag or iron boat ?!?) seems to have about the same background/roots i do; late 70s open hand hung gar stuff, but i noticed a strong tendency of him being overly critical with a lot of movies i find enjoyable.

i value vengeance/lanterns takes on MA flix, as we both seem to care about aspects in a movie that are not being addressed here very often. yet ive noticed there are things in movies (in this case, usually to do with swashbucklers and/or 1960s movies) that get him going but do not have the same relevance to me, hence i gotta try and draw the right conclusions.

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Guest shaolin student

If you know so much about kung fu movies or shaw brothers movies, describe one fight scene in the movie that merits all your praise. You literally wrote a book praising this movie. I'm not knocking you for liking the movie, I just think your enthusiasm was way over the top. After reading your review, I'm probably not the only one who bought this movie. Save your type of reviews for oustanding movies. Please stop the nonsense with the crocodile tears.:D

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Guest ironfistedmonk2003

You've missed the point entirely mate, he did think it was an outstanding movie IN HIS OPINION. If you bought the film based solely on his review then its your own fault if you didn't like it. I would rather read one of Peri's reviews full of exuberant praise than most of the reviews I read which seem to take pleasure in knocking movies.

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Guest iron flag

Looks like you're in the minority on this one Shaolin Student. You're the only one who didn't like the movie that much! If you collect KF movies there's no argument for not having What Price Honesty in your collection.

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Guest peringaten

F'ck how much I know about anything, if I like a movie I'll state it.

SS... you're a troll, right? Just as author of a mere few posts constituting such classics as "Rendezvous Of Death - this movie sucked, story, action, it all sucked, etc..." to paraphrase somewhat... and from what I can tell following deletion, "14 Amazons, what's the big deal!!!!" you've given no reason for me to believe anything but... or even believe you've even seen any of the movies you've mentioned due to a complete lack of any substance bar cursory generic criticism... You've given no reason to believe you've even considered any other posters thoughts from within this thread either, which gives me cause to believe you're just trying to yank my nuggin...

This was never intended as a review thread, purely my genuine thoughts on the movie as it affected me post-viewing, laid out for discussion; if you took them as gospel you're a mug... Please discuss your thoughts on the movie - not just mine before asking me to elaborate or criticising me for any supposed knowledge I'm supposed to have in order to state why I appreciate a movie.

I don't like you. But I'm willing to start respecting you if you'll actually discuss the movie itself, rather than the fact I said I like it. Do not tell me what I can or can't say if - it represents my opinion I'll say it - you're the mug who took it as gospel.

P.S. the Bwahaaa, etc was supposed to denote laughing... which I did when I saw your original post...

P.P.S. Did I mention I don't like you?

P.P.P.S. Get off and milk it. Talk about the movie or f'ck off.

Good day, sir...

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Guest shaolin student

I could careless whether you like me or not. If you read your own post there are several people who also bought the movie because of your hyperventilating A**. If you do not think that some of the people who come to the forum, use the forum to help them decide on what to buy or what not to buy, then you are more of a m@@@n than I thought. Once again, you go off ranting and raving about how upset you are.Who gives a F##K!!! Oh, by the way, did I tell you that I don't give a F##k, if you like me or not. I call it like I see it!!!

Oh, by the way, did I tell that I don't give a F##K if you like me or not. Enough with your 20,000 thousand word reviews.

Now What P##k!!!

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Guest JustAFan

You two need to stop, this is toooooo funny.

I'm almost afraid to say how much I loved Full Moon Scimitar.

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Guest peringaten

Yeah, I got to laugh really... you know what, don't worry about it fella... this is going to go nowhere. I was just venting, if you feel stiffed by me, then apologies, do your whatever... had a coffee and a smoke and feeling all hghgfgfg now - not fussed really... If you misread me, you misread me... I'll keep chatting about my thing, you chat about yours... I'll call it whatever... do your thing...

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