Member falkor Posted January 8, 2009 Member Share Posted January 8, 2009 Here's the long awaited topic finally posted! This statistical analysis--published here for the first time--was carried out during the first half of 2006 and is based on data from that time. Since then, information about other "Rares" may well have been added to the site. Specifically, the criteria is focused on Martial Arts films that are considered rare based on (1) and (4) in the following definition: There's different degrees of "Rares", and some people interpret it different to others. 1) Commercially available, but hard to find, ie. overseas ordering service in foreign language/don't accept online payments/don't ship overseas etc. Example: Death Fist 2) Unavailable commercially, but in circulation among collectors. Example: Boxer From Kwantung 3) Unavailable commercially, but owned by a collector on reels. Example: Chivalry Deadly Feud 4) Unavailable commercially, and not in circulation among any collectors on any format. Example: Magic Ring There's also many in-betweens, maybe based on how many collectors roughly own the rare. 1965 33/53 = 62.26% Moslem Sacred Fire Decree Part 1 Moslem Sacred Fire Decree Part 2 The Legend Of Eight Heroes Part 1 The Legend Of Eight Heroes Part 2 Eighteen Powerful Swords The Heroic Pair The Powerful Fist Of A Thousand Hands Part 1 The Powerful Fist Of A Thousand Hands Part 2 Competing Heroes A Drop of Chivarous Blood Part 1 A Drop of Chivarous Blood Part 2 The Furnace Of Heavenly Fire A Magic Pearl In A Haunted Valley Burning Of Pingyang City Two Swordswomen Loyalty Priceless Sword Part 1 Priceless Sword Part 2 The Invincible Kid Fang Shiyu Story Of The Sword And The Sabre Part 1 Story Of The Sword And The Sabre Part 2 Beautiful Queen Of Hell Beautiful Queen Of Hell Part 2 The Ring Of Spies The Blind Swordsman (Part 1) The Blind Swordsman (Part 2) Wonder-Girl Part 1 Wonder-Girl Part 1 The Invincible Book From Heaven Part 1 The Invincible Book From Heaven Part 2 The Vulture And The Heroine The Decree Of Death Powerful Sword, Magical Flute 1966 26/39 = 66.67% Romance Of The Sword Downhill They Ride (Shaw Brothers) Jade In The Red Dust Grand Finale Tiger Boy (Shaw Brothers) The Infactuating Palm Part 1 The Infactuating Palm Part 2 The Infernal Gate Part 1 The Infernal Gate Part 2 Golden Monk Sacred Fire, Heroic Wind Part 1 Sacred Fire, Heroic Wind Part 2 Hero Of Midland The Golden Cup, The Wandering Dragon And The Decree To Kill The Eighteen Darts Part 1 The Eighteen Darts Part 2 The Golden Bat (?) Return Of the Golden Bat An Avenger's Tale Part 1 An Avenger's Tale Part 2 Fire Dragon And The Mythical Pearl The Heroic Tribe Part 1 The Heroic Tribe Part 2 Banner Of The Twin Phoenixes Part 1 Banner Of The Twin Phoenixes Part 2 One Duel Too Many Part 1 One Duel Too Many Part 2 1967 10/27 = 37.04% Terrors Over Nothing How The Sacred Fire Heroic Winds Defeat The Fire Lotus Array Ying Ku Seven Princess Part 1 Seven Princess Part 2 The Legend Of Gods and Goddesses Golden Masked Heroes The Iron Horse The Seven Swords And The Thirteen Heroes Huang Feihong Meeting The Heroes With The Tiger Paw 1968 28/67 = 41.79% The Terrible Killer Huang Feihong: The Incredible Success In Canton Ghostly Shadows In Paradise The Deadly Dragon Sword The One-eyed Swordsman Buddhist Spiritual Palm Returned Huang Feihong: The Invincible 'Lion Dancer' How Huang Feihong Vanquished The Monster And Conquered The 9 Fractions The Flower And The Sword The Feats Of Feng Shiyu Three Heroines Part 1 Three Heroines Part 2 Huang Feihong: The Eight Bandits The Grand Duel Decree Of The Fire Dragon The Assasinator To Kill A Rover The Magic Whip Huang Feihong: The Duel Against The Black Rascal The Flying Dragon Dagger I Have Come Again Huang Feihong: Duel For The Championship The Saint Unicorn Fortress The Avenging Sword Iron Fiddle Escort Temptation 1969 27/79 = 34.18% Eight Beauties The Magic Sword Part 1 The Magic Sword Part 2 Sworn Chivalries (?) The Master Sword (?) The Violet Mansion Huang Feihong: The Duel For The 'Sha-yu-qing' Sky Dragon Castle Huang Feihong: The Conqeuror Of The 'Sam-hong Gang' Shattering The Immortals' Array Where The Dragon Dares The Sword That Vanquished The Monster Red Rose, The Beautiful Avenger Mysterious Weapon Eight For The Border Bloody Handkerchief Heroic Tale Of The Five Mountains Lightning Sword The One-eyed Loner Silver Knife, Scarlet Blade Huang Feihong's Combat With The Five Wolves The Charming Killer Escorts Over Tiger Hill Huang Feihong In Sulphur Valley The Challenge Betrayer The Gentleman Sword 1970 11/55 = 20.00% Eighteen Disciples Of Buddha Lucky Strike The Filial Girl At The Icy Valley Unconquered The River Dragon (?) Kill Without Compensation Huang Fei Hong: Bravely Crushing The Fire Formation Flying Sword And The Smart Lad The Unknown Swordsman The Storm Of The Ancient Bell Seizure Soul Sword Of A Blind Girl 1971 12/74 = 16.22% Bloody Claw The Great Duel AKA One Armed Vs. Red Devil (?) The Tiger And The Dragon The Bandits (Shaw Brothers) Super Boxer The Mighty Couple The Patriotic Knights Thirty Six Killers The Merciful Sword The Ghost's Revenge The Sword Hand The Patriotic Heroine 1972 4/77 = 5.19% The Champion Of The Boxer To Skin A Tiger The Ghost Insanity Being 1973 6/97 = 6.19% The Boxers (Shaw Brothers) Black Guide Beauty Heroine The Flaming Bulwark Of Miao Imperial Tomb Raiders Prospect 1974 7/92 = 7.61% Dragon Den Dragon and Tiger A Fascinating Avenger Girl The Guy!! The Guy!! AKA Kung Fu Revenger (?) Lucky, Lucky The Devil In Her Sleeping Dragon 1975 1/44 = 2.27% The Crazy Group 1976 3/57 = 5.26% The Magic Ring Posterity And Perplexity The Stormy Sea 1977 2/57 = 3.51% Devil Strikes Woman Of The Hour 1978 0/85 = 0.00% 1979 5/106 = 4.72% The Winner (?) The Last Judgement The Reckless Cricket The Reporter A Massacre Survivor 1980 4/72 = 5.56% Mr. Kwong Tung And The Robber Twentieth Century China Mistress Hsieng Lin http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=6173 1981 3/58 = 5.17% The Story Of Cloud Mountain (?) Oh! What A Family (?) http://www.hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=6310 (?) 1982 1/44 = 2.27% Man's Fight With Snake, Fox and Ghost (?) 1983 0/41 = 0.00% 1984 0/27 = 0.00% 1985 0/17 = 0.00% Lucky Diamond (?) Total Number Of Rares: 183/1268 = 14.43% To the right of the Year column the percentage of rares is based on how many titles are listed for that year, and at the bottom is the grand total. As you can see, the older the film, the more rares. To shatter an old myth: a rare has nothing to do with entertainment value. If a film is not available then that doesn't mean you should ignore it and assume it must be crap; this is bad brain. Many rares that have surfaced during my time are now considered classics, such as Canton Viper and Magic Blade. Bare in mind, the above list is only the tip of iceburg, as many rare Martial Arts movies were produced outside HK in Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia and China. Indeed, not even all the known HK Rares are included, plus don't forget the data is over 2 years old. For any collector to say "I have most of the martial arts films ever made and am only missing a few rares" is an overstatement. 14% is quite a lot of films to be missing! Also, ask yourself how many of those title you are actually familiar with? I reckon easily at least 75% of the above will be previously unknown to collectors. Therefore, by publishing this statistical analysis, I hope to have raised more awareness for both collectors and fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ching li Posted January 8, 2009 Member Share Posted January 8, 2009 Welcome back, Falkor! It's been awhile. Great info about these rares as usual. It is amazing how we may think we have seen or have collected all of these martial arts movie, but really we're not even close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted January 8, 2009 Member Share Posted January 8, 2009 Here's the long awaited topic finally posted! Props to Master G for all his efforts! A most worthy of threads. Your dedication to the genre is as rare as some of the films you list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 These two Shaw films are out on DVD in Hong Kong from IVL. I've seen them both. 1972 The Imperial Swordsman 1976 Heroes Of The Underground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member HAZ Posted January 8, 2009 Member Share Posted January 8, 2009 Pfft...I have all of these subbed & widescreen I keed, I keed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member falkor Posted January 9, 2009 Author Member Share Posted January 9, 2009 Welcome back, Falkor! It's been awhile. Great info about these rares as usual. It is amazing how we may think we have seen or have collected all of these martial arts movie, but really we're not even close. Thanks! It's even worse when one is a fan of Korean films like ourselves; as you know, we've got a long way to go. Props to Master G for all his efforts! A most worthy of threads. Your dedication to the genre is as rare as some of the films you list. Thanks for the kind words! I like your Shaw Brothers and "history of Fandom" topics, which also help keep this place interesting. These two Shaw films are out on DVD in Hong Kong from IVL. I've seen them both. 1972 The Imperial Swordsman 1976 Heroes Of The Underground Thanks for the correction; opening post edited. Pfft...I have all of these subbed & widescreen Shhh! This topic is for mediocre collectors; not those of your calibre! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member niro Posted January 9, 2009 Member Share Posted January 9, 2009 Wow its a shame so many films are unavailable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member JAMAL Posted January 9, 2009 Member Share Posted January 9, 2009 GREAT POST G !!!! NOW YOU GIVE ME LOT´S OF WORK TO FIND THIS RARE´S !!! CHEERS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member falkor Posted January 9, 2009 Author Member Share Posted January 9, 2009 Yeah mate, I know you're a fan of old Swordplays--plus you've done very well over the past few years--so now you have more titles to try and hunt down for us all! Remember, I'm retired, so its up to JAMAL and Houndslow to round up the remaining rares... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yang Wu Liang Posted January 9, 2009 Member Share Posted January 9, 2009 Nice thread, there's some mouthwatering titles there for a swordplay fan like meself!! I've been after 'Mighty Couple' ever since I bought the poster. Some of those Connie Chan titles are commercially available though aren't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tantao3-son of tantao2 Posted January 9, 2009 Member Share Posted January 9, 2009 ...solid infos, falkor... but there are many many many more rares out there, i.g Phantom Chivalry, "One Armed Guest" and Wandering Knight by Chien Lung, etc. etc. etc. all in hkmdb...happy hunting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 It's amazing the number of 60s Cantonese martial arts films that are MIA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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