Member HAZ Posted December 5, 2008 Member Share Posted December 5, 2008 I thought Boxer Rebellion was a terrible bore. Its with Fu Sheng right? I fell asleep during this in 3-4 separate viewings. LWOC is campy & bizzare. That scene with the guy ripping his own balls off was fcuked up. All that weird Taoist mystic magic schitt, that scene with the latrine, Fu Sheng's crazy laugh, his street fight with the fake guts. Dudes getting shot cause they think they're bulletproof with Gordon Liu yelling "fire" & then they collapse and die. The end fight. There was a lot of fun & memorable stuff in this movie. Boxers Rebellion? Like I said, put me right to sleep like nyquil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ironfistedmonk Posted December 5, 2008 Member Share Posted December 5, 2008 Have nice time with mickey mouse kung-fu movies. Shit if Mickey was busting moves like in LWOC I'd buy me a bunch of Disney movies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted February 17, 2014 Member Share Posted February 17, 2014 Re-watched Boxer Rebellion the other night. Still stands as one of my favorites of CC. Curious if anyone has seen Charlton Heston's 55 Days at Peking and what you thought? I do realize Chang's film is riddled with historical inaccuracies and wondering if anyone knew what the most accurate film on the boxer rebellion is out there. Thx.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted February 17, 2014 Member Share Posted February 17, 2014 I loved CC's "Boxer Rebellion", and as I said in another post, I thought the screenplay did a pretty admirable job of showing some of the nuances of the conflict. As I've read, the Boxer Rebellion was kind of the end result of almost a century of Chinese humiliation, where they had been the highest civilization in the area (or world, to them) for centuries, and with the rise of modern Europe and Japan, they had just about collapsed on a cultural level---their old ways as far as technology, politics, military, culture--were just not able to compete with other countries, They lost wars to Britain, Japan and Russia, the foreign powers could make all kinds of demands on China that they couldn't resist, the other countries looked down on China as backward, foreign missionaries were there spreading new religions, the Qing empress was corrupt and incompetent, and China was seeing itself as a nation of beggars, servants, addicts, and lackeys. This all exploded into the Boxer Rebellion. One thing that wasn't really shown in CC's movie that I recall (but I think was referenced in OUATIC 2 where Jet Li fought the Boxers) was that the Boxers didn't just take on foreign troops---they also engaged in wholesale mass-murder of foreign civilians and Chinese civilians who were helping them--especially in regards to the missionaries. It was a pretty morally complex time, I'd say---lots of tragedy to go around. I have not seen all of "55 Days at Peking" to say how accurate it was, but here's a couple of great books on the subject that you can get "used" for pretty cheap: http://www.amazon.com/The-Boxer-Rebellion-Dramatic-Foreigners/dp/0425180840/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1392670816&sr=8-2&keywords=the+boxer+rebellion http://www.amazon.com/China-Journal-American-Missionary-Rebellion/dp/0684189518/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392670948&sr=1-5&keywords=china+journal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted February 17, 2014 Member Share Posted February 17, 2014 One thing that wasn't really shown in CC's movie that I recall (but I think was referenced in OUATIC 2 where Jet Li fought the Boxers) was that the Boxers didn't just take on foreign troops---they also engaged in wholesale mass-murder of foreign civilians and Chinese civilians who were helping them--especially in regards to the missionaries. Yeah, I've been doing a good bit of reading on the topic and that is one of the aspects I'm curious to find out more details on. There's a book at a local college that I plan to pick up (wasn't either of the two you listed) but the actual title escapes me. Overall, despite its inaccuracies, CC's film has a very lush feel to it and I highly enjoyed it (again). Too bad CC couldn't have seen it remastered and released in its entirety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted February 17, 2014 Member Share Posted February 17, 2014 Yeah, I've been doing a good bit of reading on the topic and that is one of the aspects I'm curious to find out more details on. There's a book at a local college that I plan to pick up (wasn't either of the two you listed) but the actual title escapes me. Overall, despite its inaccuracies, CC's film has a very lush feel to it and I highly enjoyed it (again). Too bad CC couldn't have seen it remastered and released in its entirety. Yep, what I really liked about the movie was the range of Chinese positions of the main characters: Fu Sheng---Kind of a simple peasant who wasn't sure if the boxers had magical powers, but just wanted to be patriotic Wang Lung Wei---didn't truly care about the movement or how many people got killed, just concerned with his own advancement and power Leung Kar Yan---knew the Boxer's magic was fake, but was willing to fool the peasants and let them get sacrificed, because he thought the end justified the means for the sake of the country. Chi Kuan Chun---also knew the Boxer's magic was fake, didn't want to see the peasants sacrificed for a lie, and because of that he wasn't too keen on the whole movement in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cold Bishop Posted February 17, 2014 Member Share Posted February 17, 2014 Overall, despite its inaccuracies, CC's film has a very lush feel to it and I highly enjoyed it (again). Too bad CC couldn't have seen it remastered and released in its entirety.I've actually been curious about this: does the dvd release represent Chang Cheh's original cut? Or simply the Taiwanese release, which was itself further edited down for Hong Kong or abroad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted February 17, 2014 Member Share Posted February 17, 2014 These movies seem like some nice material, but what REALLY got my interest is the fact that (kinda like with the Shaolin cycle), there's an historical background to this story. (yeah, I'm a bit of a sucker for historical stuff ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted February 18, 2014 Member Share Posted February 18, 2014 I've actually been curious about this: does the dvd release represent Chang Cheh's original cut? Or simply the Taiwanese release, which was itself further edited down for Hong Kong or abroad? Good question. I've seen various versions clocked at 73, 98, 116 (Italian) and 137min. According to CC in his Memoirs he stated that "the US version was perhaps a more complete one, though it was released hastily in Chinatown cinemas". Unfortunately there are no running times listed. I have a couple SS articles on this film translated but again no specifics on the run-time of his ideal version. Wang Lung Wei---didn't truly care about the movement or how many people got killed, just concerned with his own advancement and power Especially loved the scene where he comes across the defeated Japanese soldier and then pretends he had beaten them alone. First its 9 soldiers, then 90, then 900 and by the time the Empress here's the tale, it's 9000 (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cold Bishop Posted February 18, 2014 Member Share Posted February 18, 2014 I like the film, but Johnny Wang is one of the downsides: he's a very interesting character who simply vanishes the moment things get most interesting for him. I would love to have seen him survive the Eight-Nation reprisal; it's easy to imagine a whole subplot of him making it through by wits and guile. As things go, he just kind of pops up at the end just so Chi Kuan-Chun can have his own final fight. According to CC in his Memoirs he stated that "the US version was perhaps a more complete one, though it was released hastily in Chinatown cinemas". Interesting. It has me worried that this may be another Chinatown Kid situation where the version released isn't the optimal. But it's hard to say without tracking down a Chinatown-released print, which is unlikely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted February 19, 2014 Member Share Posted February 19, 2014 I have the Celestial dvd release of Boxer Rebellion. It does seem to go on forever. And, though I like it, I ended up watching it in segments. I think the coolest part was where they were performing their forms in the palace. Otherwise, the kung fu was average. Since this is the only version of the film that I have seen, I don`t know if it was an incomplete cut or not but I would certainly hope that it was not meant to be longer than what it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chinatown Kid Posted February 19, 2014 Member Share Posted February 19, 2014 Although I own the IVL as well, I remember the English dub version I first saw on BB Theatre back in the 80's. When it first comes on Fu Sheng is practicing his Kung fu in the air and Leung Kar Yan yells "Stop jumping around like a damn monkey!" Sounds like something my grandparents would say to me when they saw me practicing Kung fu as a kid lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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