Member Yu_Xihong Posted June 15, 2008 Member Share Posted June 15, 2008 I'm getting 4 DVDs because I haven't ordered any since like September and I need a fix. I'm definitely getting "Heaven and Hell." I had no idea this was out. Anybody have it? I'm gonna get it anyway just for the novelty but I really don't remember what it's about. My VHS copy was so bad I returned it. Here's a few more... Notorious 8 Gang Master Generation Gap Big Brother Cheng And not really gonna buy but would be interested in hearing about... Pursuit of a Killer The Kid With the Tattoo Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Endsang Posted June 16, 2008 Member Share Posted June 16, 2008 Gang Master is probably in my top 10 Shaws. I really loved this movie. Kara Hui's brother, Austin Wai, is the lead and demonstrates excellent kung fu with choreography from Yuen Cheung Yan. Also decent performances from Chen Kuan Tai and Bruce Leung. The plot is quite good and original for a Shaw, and the story is very entertaining all the way through. The opening scene is also one of my favorites. A shame about Austin Wai's injury later on, as he could have done a lot of good work for Shaw Brothers, maybe if he got discovered a bit earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chinatown Kid Posted June 17, 2008 Member Share Posted June 17, 2008 Heaven and Hell is a weird Chang Cheh acid trip featuring the Venoms and also Fu Sheng. It's about the heroes trying to escape out of Hell and get to Heaven. Worth seeing just for the strangeness of it all. From what I understand some of the film was made much earlier featuring Fu Sheng and then several years later resumed filming with the Venoms. Big Brother Cheng is a sequel to The Teahouse with Chen Kuan Tai again in the lead role. More a Triad film than a Kung Fu flick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted June 17, 2008 Member Share Posted June 17, 2008 I'm definitely getting "Heaven and Hell." I had no idea this was out. Anybody have it? I'm gonna get it anyway just for the novelty but I really don't remember what it's about. My VHS copy was so bad I returned it. Here's a few more... Notorious 8 Gang Master Generation Gap Big Brother Cheng And not really gonna buy but would be interested in hearing about... Pursuit of a Killer The Kid With the Tattoo Thanks in advance. HEAVEN & HELL is an acquired taste and I wouldn't recommend to anybody other than someone wanting to see something out of the ordinary. I used to have a really nice widescreen English tape of this and it didn't make the experience any more bearable, IMO. Chang Cheh was apparently fascinated with fantasy films judging by the other misfires NA CHA, THE GREAT, FANTASTIC MAGIC BABY and then this film. Good intentions for these experimental movies but they did nothing for his career. He would obviously traverse similar territory again with WEIRD MAN and the Chang Ho flicks NINE DEMONS and ATTACK OF THE JOYFUL GODDESS. One thing can be said about the man, that he was never afraid to try new ideas. NOTORIOUS EIGHT is a gambling movie. Very little of interest there. A lot of drama and one or two brief fights although these are more basic punch and kick and nothing in the way of choreo in the kung fu sense. GANGMASTER is a nice under-the-radar kung fu flick with a good cast and story and the only known appearance by Bruce Liang in a Shaw flick. GENERATION GAP is one of CC's 'Juvenile Delinquent' series of films. David Chiang is in love with a young girl, the parents disapprove, they run away, Chiang falls in with a bad crowd....Not a typical CC movie in the wall-to-wall blood n' chivalry sense. BIG BROTHER CHENG I liked better than TEAHOUSE. As CK said, it's not a kung fu flick. Not as much drama as the first but more violent. If you want action with a helping of sleaze, check out the pseudo-sequel BIG BAD SIS with Chen Ping and an extended cameo by CKT's character from the other two films. PURSUIT OF A KILLER Starts off like gangbusters then slowly turns into the PLAN 9 of HK gangster movies. Oh, and Lo Mang eats a gecko if I remember right. Stay far away from this one. It is a VCD only title so a few dollars isn't that big of a loss if you're curious. KID WITH A TATTOO Great movie. Wong Yu is a lot of fun here. He's full on goofy mode but the fights are great. Wang Lung Wei and Yuen Wah play the villains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yu_Xihong Posted June 17, 2008 Author Member Share Posted June 17, 2008 Ok I went this route... Heaven and Hell Kid With a Tattoo Gang Master Black Tavern (this better be good you ALL really talked it up!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Shinobi Posted June 17, 2008 Member Share Posted June 17, 2008 I can't think of any reason why any Shaw fan would not like, no, LOVE, Black Tavern. The pace is excellent, the story is great, a dark atmosphere throughout. It's bloody, it's fierce, it's intense on-edge-of-your-seat action. Don't dare miss out on this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member SamuraiDana Posted June 20, 2008 Member Share Posted June 20, 2008 Ok I went this route... Heaven and Hell Kid With a Tattoo Gang Master Black Tavern (this better be good you ALL really talked it up!) BLACK TAVERN is good, sort of DRAGON INN LITE. It's Ku Feng's movie all the way; he plays the "Whip Master" and it's one of his best lead roles. There's another good actor, Kang Hua, who usually played bad guys, but he plays a heroic role here. Shih Szu is in it, always a good thing, but she's not the star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yu_Xihong Posted June 20, 2008 Author Member Share Posted June 20, 2008 Ku Feng is of course one of top my 5 favorite Shaw actors so I look forward to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted June 20, 2008 Member Share Posted June 20, 2008 Ku Feng is of course one of top my 5 favorite Shaw actors so I look forward to it. Ku Feng owns this movie. Easily his most sadistic and dominating villain role. Shi Szu plays the same character she played in LADY HERMIT (1971). A lot of gore and sadism in this movie. The finale is very unique and gruesomely creative. The same director did THUNDERING MANTIS (1979). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chinatown Kid Posted June 20, 2008 Member Share Posted June 20, 2008 Wow Black Tavern sounds intriuging, I'll have to see it especially since it has one of my favorite Shaw cutie's Shih Szu in it! I haven't even seen her in Lady Hermit yet, hope it's not out of print as I would like to get it as a double feature to watch with Black Tavern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted June 20, 2008 Member Share Posted June 20, 2008 http://dddhouse.com/v3/product_details.php?ProductID=6805 http://dddhouse.com/v3/product_details.php?ProductID=4207 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chinatown Kid Posted June 20, 2008 Member Share Posted June 20, 2008 Cool, thanks for the links Venom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted June 20, 2008 Member Share Posted June 20, 2008 Cool, thanks for the links Venom! No problem man. I think you'll enjoy both. HERMIT is gory too and there's a great bridge sequence, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member HAZ Posted June 21, 2008 Member Share Posted June 21, 2008 Hmm. I remember being bored by Black Tavern. Might revisit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yu_Xihong Posted July 3, 2008 Author Member Share Posted July 3, 2008 Ok so I got these in the mail today and watched them all. Kid With a Tattoo- I was bored at some parts but the action was good and the story was decent. I liked the chemistry between the characters. Wang Lung Wei and Wong Yu really made the movie. This is one of Wong Yu's top performances IMO. 3.8/5 Gang Master- Also had good action but too many no-namers for my taste. The story wasn't that original but it worked and there were a couple of good twists. Overall I thought it was lukewarm. Pai Piao I should've known. Why did I think he was really a good guy? 3.5/5 Black Tavern- Didn't live up to the hype but it was alright. I liked Duel For Gold better. Was this Ku Feng character also in The Shadow Whip (I remember that guy being top notch)? I can see how his whip inspired certain other weapons down the line. It's genius. I haven't seen Lady Hermit so I couldn't relate in that sense. Otherwise it's pretty good for an older movie (don't usually watch old ones) 3.5/5 Heaven and Hell- I got this just because. I didn't dig that Fu Sheng part at all. David Chiang was in the main credits but was in the movie for like 2 minutes just like how Gordon Liu is on the cover of Shaolin Mantis. Anyway, this was a weird ass movie but I liked it. It got rolling once they explained the backgrounds of those who were gonna be pardoned from hell. The ending and the demons were lame but otherwise I really liked it. There was a wide variety of characters in there too and that did a lot for me. This movie runs laps around "The Weird Man." 3.8/5 Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan- Saw this yesterday so I'll speak on it just for GP. I was really impressed, but I'm not quite sure why. Ainu was really sharp at "if you can't beatem joinem" and then beatem. The ending was a shocker and really good at the same time. It's not often that twists work in the finale. The lesbian chemistry was top notch too... Lady Chun (she was also a good looker in Clans of Intrigue) was crazy lol not to mention her "Ghost Hands" were SICK! I can't believe it took me so long to see it. 4/5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member SamuraiDana Posted July 3, 2008 Member Share Posted July 3, 2008 Ok so I got these in the mail today and watched them all. Black Tavern- Didn't live up to the hype but it was alright. I liked Duel For Gold better. Was this Ku Feng character also in The Shadow Whip (I remember that guy being top notch)? I can see how his whip inspired certain other weapons down the line. It's genius. I haven't seen Lady Hermit so I couldn't relate in that sense. Otherwise it's pretty good for an older movie (don't usually watch old ones) 3.5/5 He may have had a whip in both films but I don't believe Ku Feng was the same character in them. "Lady Hermit" is one I highly recommend because it's got Shih Szu AND Cheng Pei Pei. AND Lo Lieh. And lots of great action scenes. And a good story. AND strong characters. However, I liked "Black Tavern" more than "Duel for Gold." So take my recommendations with a grain of salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron Boat Posted July 8, 2008 Member Share Posted July 8, 2008 I ordered Black Tavern largely based on the glowing reviews of this thread. I liked it, then didn't like it, then started to like it again. Meaning.....I enjoyed it more the second time through. I was no doubt impressed with Ku Feng's fighting and handling of the whip. But I don't think this villain is anywhere near the characters he portrayed in New One Armed Swordsman and Avenging Eagle. Also, it was hard to take some of the characters seriously. The horned guy, zombies,(whats with the hopping?) and the old man who gets beat up in every movie playing a lethal swordsman was a stretch. Basically they were not serious competition so you never felt that the lead characters where in any real kind of peril. I do like the idea of everybody in the movie being shady characters all just competing levels of evil. Even the eventual heroes, Lady Hermit and the male lead, they were some shady bastards to, LoL!! Overall, I liked the film and the psychological games/feeling out process that the characters played inside the Inn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yu_Xihong Posted July 12, 2008 Author Member Share Posted July 12, 2008 After watching all those movies again. Kid With a Tattoo is my favorite. The goofy music ruined the mood at some points but that's the only real downside (the rest of the music was well done). Yuen Hua was sharp with the spear and Yuen Bun outfoxed him for the most part but he "lost" just because that's how the story goes. This is one movie where Dick Wei actually DIDN'T die and he was more than an extra! I also noticed that most of the cast from To Kill A Mastermind is in there. I can finally say I've seen some of these guys in another movie. Also, this movie has a transitional feel like it's between oldschool and the newer stuff. Wang Lung Wei struts his stuff at the end like he usually does. He's always a safe bet. It's a shame Ku Feng was a "non-fighter." His whole premise was that he was thought to be an assassin but he really wasn't. He could've pulled that off no problem but like I said before that's just how the story goes. I would even choose this movie over Rendezvous With Death (too many odd filler characters) and don't we all like that one? I bump my 3.8/5 to a 4.2/5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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