Guest pressureworld Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 taekwon-do expert & screen fighter Wong Tao has always been my favorite martial artist Hot Cool Vicious, Challenge of Death, Secret Rivals. He can kick ass but it's the charisma he brings to his films I really like, I always thought he was underrated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rederror Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 Yeah he defo had something about him on screen. Very powerful on screen fighter. I thought he was brilliant in Death Duel of Kung Fu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WalkOn Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 He's one of my favorites. Always felt he should've been a bigger star. Had the complete package. He just needed a few great films. I read some where he had a serious (leg) injury that prevented him from performing at top level later in his career. Is this true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest THESHAWMAN Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 yes,its true he did have a leg injury,and he could'nt kick properly again......he mentiones this in an interview on one of the soulblade releases.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tosh Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 I always liked ol' Don, seems he always got overshadowed by his high kicking partners like Tan and Liu, I thought he was great in Phantom Kung Fu, The HC&V has to be one of the best opening scenes ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WalkOn Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Thanks for confirming the injury.I agree HCV has one the best openings! My favorite film of his is Death Duel of KF. He had the complete package, the looks, physique, ma skills but more importantly a lot of charisma! Too bad he wasn't part of bigger classics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dragon herb Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 When was it approx (or precisely) he had the leg-injury? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vengeanceofhumanlanterns Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 I thought Along Came a Tiger and The Hot, The Cool, And The Vicious were some of his best films. Challenge Of Death is great as well as Warlock Of The Battlefield (a fairly cool example of a kung fu/horror flick -been waitin for this flick to be released with legible eng. subs someday). His fight with Chuck Norris is awesome (IMO) in, Slaughter In San Francisco (I think that's the title of the film), kick ass fight right there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chinatown Kid Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Slaughter in San Francisco is actually one of my favorite performances from Don Wong fightwise and he really shows more of his kicking off in it more than any other film I've seen him in. The fight with the crooked police chief played by Dan Ivan and the Mafia boss of Frisco played by Norris were highlights. I have no idea how Chuck survived getting beat in the face repeatedly with that broken hoe without even getting a mark on his face though! :lol Never knew about Wong's leg injury but I guess this explains why he didn't kick much in his later roles.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pressureworld Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 Im embarrassed to say I haven't seen Death Duel of Kung Fu, Along Came a Tiger or Slaughter in San Francisco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Squid Lips Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 Well pressure, of those Death Duel Of Kung Fu is my favorite but Tiger is a big hit on these boards as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shadow kick Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Glad someone has written a piece about this kung fu powerhouse. WONG TAO , unfortunately never got the roles, acclaim nor the promotion he needed to be a star that stood out......... the guy had the entire package ; looks, physique and genuinine screen presence .His martila arts skill was second to none , and if anyone on this board has seen movies like DEATH DUEL OF KUNG FU SHAOLIN DEVIL AND SHAOLIN ANGLE SNAKE IN THE EAGLES SHADOW 2 EAGLES CLAWS 18 SHAOLIN RIDERS CHALLENGE OF DEATH aka dragon and snake in spiders web FATAL NEEDLES , FATAL FISTS SECRET RIVALS SHAOLIN IRON CLAWS Just to name a few, then his film credentila are un-impeachable......... One wonders what would become of his career if he had ever worked for shaw bros.. He is one of my personal faves and he has squared off with some of the great screen baddies in the genre...... hwang jang lee....secret rivals chen hsing .....shaolin devil and shaolin angel chang yi .....challenge of death ; phantom kung fu lung fei ...snake in the eagles shadow 2 han ying.....death duel of kung fu. This man is one of my faves of the genre and his name belongs right up there among the very best . shadowkick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest morgoth Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Yep, this guy had it as an actor and martial arts performer. He even made movies like Eunuch of the Western Palace enjoyable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WalkOn Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 TRUE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stormybman Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I never realized he was adept at the nunchuku as he is until I finally saw Secret Rivals. That film I heard about for years through the late '70's, and I never saw it until around '90-'91. And it was made in '74. I believe Golden Harvest hired him as an actor to help replace the void Lee left, Signing him to a contract for he was an authentic Martial Artist. They never used him properly with a film like SISF. Ng See Yuen was extremely keen at spotting talent. He signed John Liu, Hwang Cheng Li, and Wong Tao for the Seasonal Film Co. Those men provided us with terrific MA action well into the late '80's. I thank them all for displaying their wares onscreen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alvin George Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 Sadly to say, I thought "Slaughter in San Francisco" was a stupid movie. The final fight between Wong and Norris didn't impress me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest morgoth Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 I just saw Snake in the eagle's Shadow 2. HORRIBLE movie, but good fights. Wong Tao looks great, and Lung Fei is magnificent. Best performance I have seen from him. Better than One-armed Boxer, Death duel of the mantis, Return of the Chinese Boxer and all the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kungfusamurai Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 I didn't know Wong Tao was a TKD practitioner. His kicks don't strike me as being of a TKD style. By that, I mean, he doesn't have the leg extensions with one leg planted on the ground, like HJL, John Liu, Tan Tao Liang, etc... Even Yuen Biao's kicks look more TKDish than Wong Tao's. KFS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chinatown Kid Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Someone on here said that Wong had a leg injury that hampered his kicking ability in later films KFS. I wondered the same thing you did because Wong never seemed to display much kicking in his films. The most I ever saw him kick was in Slaughter in San Francisco and I think that was his first film, evidently this was before his leg injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theportlykicker Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Well check these out then: It was apparently made in 86, but he gets to let loose with some great looking kicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest morgoth Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 No wonder Wong Tao couldn't work anymore after he injured his leg, that guy had serious hops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kungfusamurai Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Nice clips. I like the kicking, but I still wouldn't be able to tell that he was a TKD guy. I guess he must have injured himself early on (pre-Secret Rivals?). Regardless, it's nice to know his background in martial arts. KFS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Linn1 Posted July 11, 2007 Member Share Posted July 11, 2007 Secret Rivals. The problem was he didn't have long legs, so his kicks didn't look as good as some. But he was an excellent kicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Beat TG Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I haven't seen much from this dude but he was great in Drunken Tai Chi fighting Donnie Yen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest morgoth Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Wong Tao had maybe the best jump kick in the biz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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