Member wilma Posted May 1, 2009 Member Share Posted May 1, 2009 thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted May 1, 2009 Member Share Posted May 1, 2009 MFTM is a phenominal film. It's told in flashback to present form to introduce the main characters, who at the time of this movie had not really been portrayed on film with any serious study. Each actor really exemplified their roles with their own personality, particularly Fu Sheng as Fang Shi Yu, and Chen Kuai Tai as Hung Hsi Kwan. They are most remembered for their performances in these roles. The film is rough around it's edges, and groundbreaking as far as Kung Fu ensemble films go, however, you do care for it's characters, and that build up to the finale is great. We must appreciate these films knowing how far they've come and our current crop of MA films how far they are from being nearly as good. "Will you tell me what Teacher died of..?" I think its a sloppy mess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alexandra Posted May 4, 2009 Member Share Posted May 4, 2009 I love, really fell in love when Alexander Fu Sheng plays and fight with the fan. He kills me. Lovely. Adoring him forever. Alexandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member MarsHarmony Posted May 17, 2009 Member Share Posted May 17, 2009 Sloppy mess? That is in the eye of the beholder. You stated your case very well though. Absolutely correct. Part of the "problem" with "MFTM" is that after filming had begun, for some reason they stopped and made "Heroes Two", then finished "MFTM". I think that explains the difference in Fu Sheng's hair in scenes, and they must have lost their train of thought, derailed as it were, in the transition between films. However as "sloppy" as it might be, it is so much better that three quarters of the films that have been put out over the twenty years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted May 18, 2009 Member Share Posted May 18, 2009 Sloppy mess? That is in the eye of the beholder. You stated your case very well though. Absolutely correct. Part of the "problem" with "MFTM" is that after filming had begun, for some reason they stopped and made "Heroes Two", then finished "MFTM". I think that explains the difference in Fu Sheng's hair in scenes, and they must have lost their train of thought, derailed as it were, in the transition between films. However as "sloppy" as it might be, it is so much better that three quarters of the films that have been put out over the twenty years. I don't know. I could think of many superior films from the Shaws alone. Five Shaolin Masters is a much better multi star film Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Shawoholic Posted January 9, 2011 Member Share Posted January 9, 2011 I remember when had this as a kid I watched it many times.But then had very limited selection of Shaws to choose from.Now, comparing to others it`s maybe weakest Chengs "shaolin cycle" movie.Those ministories are not that interesting really.Great endfight though and still everyone who is into Shaws should have this in collection:smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron Boat Posted January 23, 2011 Member Share Posted January 23, 2011 I enjoyed the Hung Si Quan storyline with CKT, the other parts I've seen before in Invincible Kung Fu Brothers so it was just rewatching that film in a sense. But Men From the Monastery, imo, definitely is not one of the best of the Shaolin series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted April 24, 2015 Member Share Posted April 24, 2015 I don't know. I could think of many superior films from the Shaws alone. Five Shaolin Masters is a much better multi star film And I've mellowed a lot since then. I really quite like Men from the Monstery these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted April 24, 2015 Member Share Posted April 24, 2015 The anthology approach may be a bit confusing, but it's overall one of my fav' Shaw Bros movies. The action is solid, and I love the performance of Fu Sheng here - he shines throughout the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted April 25, 2015 Member Share Posted April 25, 2015 I love, really fell in love when Alexander Fu Sheng plays and fight with the fan. He kills me. Lovely. Adoring him forever. Alexandra Hey! hey!! hey!!! watch it Alexandra, otherwise Meng Fei would hit the roof. Losing you to Fu Sheng? Fat chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted April 25, 2015 Member Share Posted April 25, 2015 I love, really fell in love when Alexander Fu Sheng plays and fight with the fan. He kills me. Lovely. Adoring him forever. Alexandra Hey! hey!! hey!!! watch it Alexandra, otherwise Meng Fei would hit the roof. Losing you to Fu Sheng? Fat chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted April 25, 2015 Member Share Posted April 25, 2015 Hey! hey!! hey!!! watch it Alexandra, otherwise Meng Fei would hit the roof. Losing you to Fu Sheng? Fat chance. Gotta admit Fu Sheng shines in this. The way he messes around with people and his action parts, plus the fan stuff - nothing I didn't enjoy. So... Yeah, I'm a straight guy, but I kinda understand why Alexandra would feel that way (though I think it's fair to mention I'm a big fan of Fu Sheng, in case people hadn't figured it out). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cloud Hands Posted April 27, 2015 Member Share Posted April 27, 2015 Men From the Monastery is one of my favourite Shaws. Some seem not to like it, each to their own.I like the segmented storylines, decent action, multiple leading stars and for me it has that x factor. It's one of the earliest Shaw Brothers films I saw as I believe it had a VHS release in the UK in the 80s. Watching this always makes me feel like I'm discovering the Shaolin Cycle all over again. I agree with those praising Fu Sheng, he brings energy and freshness to an emerging genre - this period is where we are beginning to see real hung gar/proto shapes mixed with basher. But I'd also like to single out Chi Kuan Chun's performance. He is a BOSS in Men from the Monastery. I can feel myself wanting to watch the Shaolin Cycle again.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BaronK Posted April 27, 2015 Member Share Posted April 27, 2015 This is one that may have only played on tv once back in my area back in the day. As a result, I never saw it until last night. Knew about it but was never compelled to see it. After reading many reviews first yesterday before seeing it, I was not sure what to expect. What I saw was a picture that would have had me jacked back in the day after I saw it. CC goodness. Man was an artist. I loved the 3 character single story, with FS blending into CKC's story, then into CKT's story. Lovely. That Wooden Men Alley was lovely. Some hot KF right off the bat in there. My man Hsu Hsia spotted. Everyone came from CC. It was crazy the amount of action in this. It was a friggin fight fest. It had fight numbers like an indie. This had more fights than all of Sammo's movies from the 80s combined. As a kid this thing would have been madness. It eliminates training and just has more fights. Is that good? Not really. Too many fights and you forget the fight from 4 minutes ago. Man I love CC. Man knew cool(The cool sounds as the candles blow out in the alley). Man knew his faces, peoples roles(villains looked like villains and should play villains-I always hated Chiang Tao, Fung Hark On, etc). CC always made those SOB's do the things that made you hate them and I did. He really knew how to draw a viewer into a character's determination, esp. in the face of death. CKC would not be denied his vengeance. A character stabbed, sliced is going to get somebody on the way out. I was really feeling the yeah, get that MF. That switch to the b&w was lovely ish. Cool factor ramped up. Not only did it look cool but it was also an omen for the shaolin men. It encapsulated their endings separate from CKT and FS. I didn't know what to expect having never seen it but I didn't expect some that died, to have been killed. I really got into the fact that they got killed as a result. In a perfect blend of director and choreographer, you can see in the take that CKC is about to, bang. I saw it coming and damn. Red, then back to b&w. Damn, CC. CKC fights til the last heart beat. FS's exit is hard for any male to watch. I flinched. Yelled. He pulled it out. I yelled. Damn Manchus. Was it great? No. Pretty much all fighting and not really memorable fighting. A good matinee picture. Glad that I saw it. I wouldn't compare this to the other Shaolin Cycle pictures, as this was more blow through with action and characters you are already familiar with. Where say MAoS and Disciples of Shaolin are slower, more character, situation based, with a stronger audience-story tie. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted March 14, 2019 Member Share Posted March 14, 2019 Bumping an old thread on MFTM with this cool UK poster. In case anyone's wondering about Falkor's question from over a decade ago (lol), the correct "production order" is: 1) Breakout From Oppression 2) Heroes Two 3) Men From The Monastery 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron_Leopard Posted June 8, 2020 Member Share Posted June 8, 2020 This movie to me feels like an hour and a half of deleted scenes from "Heroes Two". Not saying it's a bad cause it's not. But why almost make the same movie twice? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member CT KID Posted June 8, 2020 Member Share Posted June 8, 2020 10 minutes ago, Iron_Leopard said: This movie to me feels like an hour and a half of deleted scenes from "Heroes Two". Not saying it's a bad cause it's not. But why almost make the same movie twice? Probably a case of "They liked the first one so we'll give'em more of the same!" 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted August 29, 2020 Member Share Posted August 29, 2020 Question: The Chinese title for the film is 少林子弟 (Shaolin Zidi) which, according to Google Translator, means "Shaolin Children". However, if you rearrange the last two characters to "Dizi", it means "Disciple". So, is the title meant to literally translate as "Shaolin Disciples" or "Shaolin Children"? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted August 29, 2020 Member Share Posted August 29, 2020 As there are no children in the movie (from what I remember, watched it 10 years ago or more and didn't revisit it...), I would say Shaolin Disciples. Isn't the word "Di" the same as the one used when the fighters from a same school call each other "xiong di", or "shi di" or "something di" according to their rank on the school ("san di" for "third disciple", "si di " for "fourth disciple" and so on ) ? If it's the same word, it's likely your interpretation of the title as Shaolin Disciples that would be the most accurate. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chu Liu Hsiang Posted August 30, 2020 Member Share Posted August 30, 2020 It's that same di, it means younger brother. In xiong di, it means brother in general while di di is a younger brother. In school ranks, san di etc. is sometimes translated as 3rd brother, sometimes as 3rd disciple. For zi di I also found the translation younger generation which would make sense for the movie. Elder brother is ge, da ge for big brother is often used in movies. Whether someone says san ge or san di depends on his/ her own rank/ age. The corresponding female terms are jie for elder sister and mei for younger sister. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonny Posted August 31, 2020 Member Share Posted August 31, 2020 On 8/17/2007 at 9:12 PM, Guest Markgway said: Cottonmill isn't as good as any of the Chang Cheh Shaolin films. For years it was overrated due to its rarity. Now people can see for themselves. I don’t agree.. there’s a lot of different styles of Kung fu used in that movie.. it’s a classic! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted August 31, 2020 Member Share Posted August 31, 2020 59 minutes ago, Jonny said: I don’t agree.. there’s a lot of different styles of Kung fu used in that movie.. it’s a classic! Different styles don't make a good film alone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted September 28, 2020 Member Share Posted September 28, 2020 (edited) On 3/13/2019 at 10:02 PM, teako170 said: Bumping an old thread on MFTM with this cool UK poster. In case anyone's wondering about Falkor's question from over a decade ago (lol), the correct "production order" is: 1) Breakout From Oppression 2) Heroes Two 3) Men From The Monastery So that means that Breakout from Oppression was produced around the end of 1973 but was only released in 1978 (presumably after 36th Chamber of Shaolin hit it big)? Edited September 28, 2020 by DrNgor 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted September 28, 2020 Member Share Posted September 28, 2020 Yes it began in ‘73. Think I have more info at the house. Not sure why it was held up so long. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted September 29, 2020 Member Share Posted September 29, 2020 There's a lot of HK movies that don't seem to have had a release in HK itself close to production, but they were presumbly avaliable for distributors who wanted them all over the Mandarin film circuit (which covered Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, America etc), hence the original version of Jackie Chan's CUB TIGER FROM KWANTUNG surviving as a theatrical print. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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