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The Martial Arts Essentials collections


Dast

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I have vol 1 which has some decent flicks on it. Saw vol. 2 at bestbuy the other day, was wondering if this is also worth picking up.

Also amazon has vol. 3 listed with a release date of july 22nd and these films listed;

7 Steps of Kung Fu (1979) - A cult classic and a fan favorite. ENGLISH VERSION.

SuperPower-(1979)- Starring superstar Billy Chong in this action masterpiece.

Fearless Dragons (1981) - A veritable who's who of Shaw Bros. stars make this a genre favorite. ENGLISH VERSION.

Life on the Line (1979) - An inspiration to the Wu Tang Clan and others. Superb action. ENGLISH VERSION

Call me Dragon (1974) - Starring Bruce Liang of Kung Fu Hustle fame. This film is the launching pad for many future stars including Jackie Chan. ENGLISH VERSION

His name is Nobody -(1980)- The joining of various genre masters to make a super epic. Featuring the top action directors in one film. SUBTITLED.

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For $12.99 you get:

Incredible Kung Fu Master

Don't Give A Damn / Burger Cop

Hidden Enforcer

King Swindler / Dragon Tiger & Father Son

Gambling Ghost

Mandering Magician /Bloody Ring

These are NOT some of Sammo's good movies - looks like they took some of his Bad Movies for that collection.

But, I did enjoy IKFM & GG - 2 movies I wanted for my collection.

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Morgoth Bauglir

Yeah the volume 2 is worth it just for GG and IFKM. And the end fights in Don't Give Damn and Mandarin Magician are pretty good.

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vonhumboldtfleisher

I like GAMBLING GHOST a lot. It'd be nice to see a copy that's better quality than the Universe VCD.

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Morgoth Bauglir

The GG picure quality is pretty good. It's English dubbed, but the sound is really low.

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thundered mantis

The films listed on Vol. 3 are really good, IMO (maybe I´d left out His Name is Nobody, but that´s up to personal tastes). All those can be got separatedly, better check if you´re getting the best versions...

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Morgoth Bauglir

7 Steps is widescreen, but the picture quality is pretty bad. The undercranking in the final fight seems to be messed up in some spots, and on the Saturn version it's not as bad. I actually like the full screen saturn version better because it has better pic quality, but the Videoasia version is still more than watchable.

Superpower pic quality is bad but watchable.

60 Second Assassin has major problems with the picture, but once again still more than watchable.

Fearless Dragons is no doubt the Xenon full screen version.

Call Me Dragon- doubtful they get a wide version of this.

His Name is Nobody- I haven't seen this.

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Chinatown Kid

Call Me Dragon is a very good basher which features Liang vs Kurata and both display some awesome kicks. Don't think there is a w/s version of this anywhere, if there is I would love to have it. Superpower is a great film like most of Billy Chong's movies are, great shapes/kung fu styles featured in this along with Billy's great bootwork. I don't know who put this Martial Arts Essentials collection out but if it was videoasia be wary because they are known to put out discs with crappy pic quality, got both the films mentioned from either flashlegsrare or rarekungfumovies, can't remember because it's been so long.

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Just wondering on the Samo Hung collection...i've been looking at couple online sites and it says this collection is in cantonese with english subtitles, but looking at comments here it's obviously not. Could someone tell me which of the titles are subtitles (if any)?

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Just wondering on the Samo Hung collection...i've been looking at couple online sites and it says this collection is in cantonese with english subtitles, but looking at comments here it's obviously not. Could someone tell me which of the titles are subtitles (if any)?

Hidden Enforcers

Don't Give a Damn

Imbedded Subtitles for both.

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Volume 3 has good movies, imo....I've seen them all and love "Fearless Dragon" and 'Super Power'. Are they widescreen?

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The only one in the volume 3 that's wide is 7 Steps of Kung Fu. Partly wide.

Thanks Morgoth.....useful info as i was thinking about picking this up.

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Seems like they don't do a good job of getting the info on what is even on these sets out to the public. I found some info on Wal-mart's site:

Lau Family:

"Odd Couple": Liu Chia Wing teams up with good friend and colleague Sammo Hung for weapons.

"Breakout From Oppression": Showcases the abilities of future star of "36th Chamber of Shaolin".

"His Name Is Nobody": Liu Chia Wing teams up with Liu Chia Jen. A masterpiece of the genre.

"Two Graves To Kung-Fu": Liu Chia Wing stars in an early "old school" piece. It might not be intricate but it makes up for it with brutality.

"Fury In Shaolin Temple": Gordon Liu returns to Shaolin and has to face the dreaded 'Bronzemen' of Shaolin.

"Revenge Of The Patriots": Liu Chia Liang action directed this star packed epic. His skillful hand is evident with his unique brand of detail in every action scene.

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Drunken Masters

"Shaolin Drunk Monk" (1982): Gordon Liu is the master of the Drunken Fist martial arts. Joining him is a one armed fighter who seeks revenge against the same gang who wronged Liu.

"Shaolin Drunk Fighter" (1989): A fantastic kung fu film that has it all! Drunk monks, bad guys, ninjas who suddenly disappear, a beautiful girl, and a revengeful young man.

"Drunken Arts And Crippled Fist" (1980): Fan Favorite Lee I Min joins up with the original Drunken Master himself, Simon Yuen, who helps Lee go against the Snake Fist villain Lo Lieh. Action packed from start to finish.

"Story of Drunken Master" (1979): Simon Yuen gets some new disciples and then the fists flow like wine. An enemy from his past returns and its up to his students to protect the original Ol' Dirty Bastard.

"World of Drunken Master" (1979): Fans of Jackie Chan's "Drunken Master" will get a kick out of this amusing effort, which was choreographed by Yuen Cheung Yan, the man responsible for the Kung Fu in "Charlie's Angels" and many more Hollywood action hits. Starring Lee I Min and Jack Long, the starts of "7 Grandmasters" and "Mystery Of Chess Boxing".

"Kung Fu of 8 Drunkards" (1980): Kung Fu star Meng Fei tries his hand at the Drunken Style in this intoxicating and intense genre epic. Featuring Chan Sing and some of the biggest names in the business, "8 Drunkards" is a long-standing classic

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DeathFuMaster

Thanks man, didn't even think to check walmart. The Drunken Masters set has some of the better Drunken Boxing films on it. Seems Amazon is the only store that has anything about Vol.7 The Best of the Best 2.

Are any of the Lau family movies listed above any good? I have heard of the Odd Couple, but none of the others.

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From my experience, these are probably the best budget collections you can buy. None of the movies are unwatchable, and there are generally at least one or two legitimately great movies on each set, and a few average. I have volume 1 and 2, got 1 back when it was released and just recently got volume 2. I watched gambling ghost last night, and I enjoyed it a lot, despite the first half not having much action. Haven't watched anything else from vol 2 yet, but Gambling Ghost was worth the $3 I paid for it.

Volume 1 introduced me to easily one of my very favorite Kung fu movies, Dance with the Drunken Mantis.

IMO, for the money these are hard to beat. I would definitely recommend them to someone just getting in to the genre. (They would get a pretty good taste of the good and the bad these movies have to offer, lol)

Edit: I forgot about the DD Shaw 4 packs, those are easily the best R1 collections money can buy...but these (am essentials)would be second after those shaw collections from what I have seen.

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