I think I'm burnt-out from watching Kung Fu movies!

[The Dragon]

I don't know, but I haven't had the desire to view even my "un-watched" stash of Kung Fu movies. I need to find a way to rekindle the desire. Even Bruce films are not doing it for me. I have a wish-list of titles, around 10, which ordinarily, I would have ordered without delay, but have procrastinated for about a month. The last time I've felt this way was around '92, just before I first got introduced to the original Jet Li craze. Any suggestions? I mean I'm not looking to dump my treasures, just seeking a way to spice my interests again.

Does anyone else have the same feelings?

[DAJIZZARIZZA]

same thing happen to me bro,... i tell you what is the problem.

the problem is that you stick to the same genre of kungfu movies too much.

after a while they all become the same ,.. revenge,.. and bad endings.

so your brain starts to believe they are all the same.

atleast this is what happen to me,.. so i started watching asian (japanese/chinese) dramas,.. musicals,.. plays,.. comedies in hopes to shake things up a bit,.. thank god it fix my problem ,.. know i can watch my fliks again,... and i keep mixing it up a bit,.. now i even watched a movie called Mongol,.. a movie in the mongolian language,.. nice change.

then i mixed it up with my collection of cartoons,.. in other words shake it up a bit.

hope this works ,.. btw,.. it's called overkill ,..lol

[tdb]

Try finding someone to watch with, someone new to the genre or someone who's still engaged.

Or take a 'vacation' for a month or so, there's plenty of other movies (horror, sci-fi, comedies) out there. Video games or books, too. A little variety might be all you need.

[Endsang]

Exactly same problem here actually. I figure a break will do me good, but I won't buy any more new movies for the time being. Except Ip Man perhaps.

[niro]

It happens, but i believe its not necessarily a bad thing, a break can be good for you. Something will spark your desire again and it will feel good as it will be kinda like discovering kung fu flicks for the first time again.

Last time it happened to me, the thing that re-sparked my interest in watching martial arts films again was when I was working at my internship I found out one of the guys i used to hang around with during my free time was a big kung fu film fan, so he gave me two films to check out (Shaolin Temple and Eastern Condors) and that re-ignited my interest

[shaolin drunkard]

Has happened to me few times too,during then I give up on watching kung-fu movies unfamiliar to me and go to old classics like King Eagle,Masked Avengers for week or so to remind me why I luv this genre so much.It does not hurt to watch few hollywood movies either.

[Flashlegs Pete Jr]

Are you a FAN or a collector??

Fans tend to burn out due to kung fu movies being nonotonous at times!! very dificult to break this unless you try some Japanese old classics and mix it all up a bit....

What is a fan in my mind? someone who picks a spicific part or sector of the genre or worst still only likes certain stars in movies...its easy to burn out in this mode..

A collector however is always on the hunt for a RARE!!! title and UPGRADE for what he already has.....or a Taiwanneese Swordplay that is hard to find....better still a Punch & Block that is almost impossible to find....In all the collector is a DIE-HARD and cant get enough like me:D...dont take this as the gospel though its just my personal opinion:angel:

What would burn me out though is if I had it ALL!!!! I would never want that....the HUNT is the real fun;)

Happy New Year everyone!!!

[SamuraiDana]

This has happened to me, too, over the years and the way to deal with it is to plunge into something else that provides similar satisfaction. Explore a similar genre that you haven't explored much. I don't know what those would be for you, so I'll just throw some ideas at you:

Anime: try Dragon Ball Z or Ninja Scroll, or Streetfighter II: The Animated Series or even some space combat series like Mobile Suit Gundam. There's tons of great anime.

Japanese action: There are tons of sentai and tokusatsu series that provide similar thrills, e.g. the Kamen Rider series, Space Sheriff Gavan, and the various sentai series (e.g. Zyuranger, Dairanger, Gekiranger) that provide the footage for the American "Power Rangers" series. These particular ones are actually hard to find, but there have been some R1 releases, including the original Ultraman series and titles like Kikaider, Super Robot Red Baron, Iron King, and Sukeban Deka.

Japanese samurai: "Lone Wolf and Cub" - six films (all spectacular) plus a TV series. Zatoichi: dozens of films plus a TV series. And these are pretty much all available on R1 DVD. Plus "Shadow Warriors" with Sonny Chiba, another great Japanese TV series.

Hong Kong swordplay: go old school with all those Cheng Pei Pei and Jimmy Wang Yu swashbucklers from Shaw Bros. in the '60s/early '70s. Stuff like GOLDEN SWALLOW with Jimmy and Cheng, or THE LADY HERMIT with Cheng and Shih Szu, or BROTHERS FIVE with Cheng and an all-star cast.

Hong Kong TV series like "Legend of the Condor Heroes"

Westerns: Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy, Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH, plus other classics like VERA CRUZ, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, MAJOR DUNDEE, THE PROFESSIONALS.

War movies: THE DIRTY DOZEN, THE LONGEST DAY, BATAAN, SAHARA, ATTACK!, MEN IN WAR, MERRILL'S MARAUDERS, THE STEEL HELMET, HELL IS FOR HEROES, PATTON, etc.

Spectacles: EL CID, SPARTACUS, BEN-HUR, THE VIKINGS. Especially THE VIKINGS.

Monster movies: THEM!, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE THING (both versions), KING KONG, GODZILLA, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, THE GIANT BEHEMOTH, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, tons more. Plus all those great GODZILLA VS... movies. Lots of great multi-monster slapdowns in those.

Musicals with great dance sequences (similar to great martial arts sequences): Gene Kelly: THE PIRATE, ON THE TOWN, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER;

Fred Astaire: those musicals with Ginger Rogers, plus: EASTER PARADE, THE BANDWAGON.

Bob Fosse: GIVE A GIRL A BREAK, SWEET CHARITY, CABARET, ALL THAT JAZZ

Plus: WEST SIDE STORY

That should keep you busy for a while.

[June]

hello all,

same here in philly, hopefully "IP MAN & LEGENDARY ASSISSIN" will re-energize me.

[ironfistedmonk]

I'm proper burnt out, I've got about 3-400 unwatched films and I am not in the slightest bit interested in watching any of them at the minute. With no more celestial Shaws I'm stuck with washed out raw bashers and swordplays and I'm struggling to get up any enthusiasm to watch them. I've been focusing more on music recently, I'm hoping the break will rekindle the passion i once had.

[drunkenmaster]

It's certainly a common thing to have that loss of interest. It's already been mentioned, but the best thing is to not even think about it too much. Watch something else for a while. If not films, try some TV series that you may have missed or enjoyed previously and wouldn't mind a second viewing. I didn't watch any kung fu for about two months, but I did keep watching Asian films along with other stuff. I just branched out into gunplay and horror. I found a taste for Korean films too. Now I happily flit between them all.

[Rebornman]

I was burned out last year and i have a funny story on how my spark was rekindled. My ex-gf came over to bring me some stuff i left from when we lived together. She happened to notice the stacks upon stacks of vhs and dvd i have on the shelf and after looking at several she says," I see you still have these retarded (chinese racial slur) movies." So I kicked her out and started watching them

[Iron Palm]

It happened to me for the last few months. It's only natural, you get burnt out a little. It actually got rekindled today when I was so hyped to get Supercop and then checked online for new releases. Something will catch your eye and it'll come flooding.

[Chinatown Kid]

Hey just watch a few of those crappy reality tv shows and you'll be begging to watch KF flicks again. But seriously too much of anything is bad, variety is the spice of life and keeps things from getting stale. I try to watch flicks from all kinds of genres and keep active with outside activities as well to keep from getting the ole burnout syndrome. I usually like to watch MA flicks right before I workout because it gets me fired up and excited.

[thedirtytiger]

It happened to me too about 4 years ago and lasted for about a year. I just didn't feel like watching them any more. But after about a year it just suddenly lifted and I got back to my old self and have been good ever since.....all I can say is don't sell off your collection or else you will regret it later.

[lillippa328]

Thats why when I watch movies...i do it in a fashion like such

A Shaw movie

a newer chan movie

an old school movie

a shaw

a jet li

a old school

ect

[northern b]

I was out of the frame for around 2 -3 years just got a little jaded with it, just watched too many!

So after a break I'm suitably refreshed and of late I've

1. Watched movies I hadn't previously seen like Writing Kung Fu, Legend of the drunk tiger

2. Revisited movies that previously I thought a little over-rated like Secret Rivals (the Wong Tao interview and commentary make it a very worthwhile purchase) and Mars Villa and found they were better than I remember!

3. Revisited classics like Buddhist Fist- The top graders just don't lose their magic do they!!?

Reckon a couple of films a week is enough for me..for now...

that way won't become jaded quickly

[JazzandZen]

You're burnt out, and it's understanable. Like others have already stated, you should try to take a break from martial arts films.

I love martial arts films to death, but I have a busy life and a number of hobbies as well as a number of other interests in cinema to keep me occuppied.

I love guitar so I practice that a lot. I enjoy writing, so sometimes I write stories. Other times, if I'm in the mood, I might watch a Godzilla flick or an Anime.

Then there are those times when I might just watch some good drama films like "Soul Food" or "The Family that Preys."

Anyway, my point is that I have a lot of other interests (as I'm sure you do also) to keep me occupied so that I don't ever run the risk of burning out on one thing.

[Monk Sante]

When I feel the Kung Fu burnout I turn to Japanese, Spaghetti Westerns or hollywood films. I'll never get rid of my collection, I love the genre too much!XD

[The Dragon]

I want to let it be known I actually watch a vast variety of film fare. Old school Kung Fu happens to be my favorite. If you've seen me post on the "Newly Purchased" threads you'll see I've been collecting Blu-Rays. For some reason, the KF flicks-my love for viewing, is wanning. I haven't even watched one in over a month, my last being Odd Couple. I have this list of Taiwan releases that I've been waiting to order, and I just can't pull the trigger. Maybe Blu-Ray has got me screwed up. I'm serious guys, which is why I wrote about it here. I thank everyone for their input and ideas.

Just for the record, the variety of genres I enjoy include:

Sci-Fi The Matrix!

Drama There Will Be Blood

Action Transformers!

Thriller No Country For Old Men!

Grindhouse Planet Terror & Death Proof

Political Syriana

Westerns Tombstone & Open Range

Horror 30 Days of Night & 28 Weeks later

and some Comedy.

So, you see I have variety.

P.S., oh I'm absolutely, positively NOT getting rid of my collection! Hell no! Better kill me first! In fact, when you do kill me, before I die, I'll tie my guts around my waist, ala Wang Chung, from The Water Margin, look you in the eye, and say, "...It's ok, I will not die!... yet!"

:l

[vengeanceofhumanlanterns]

Are you a FAN or a collector??

Fans tend to burn out due to kung fu movies being nonotonous at times!! very dificult to break this unless you try some Japanese old classics and mix it all up a bit....

What is a fan in my mind? someone who picks a spicific part or sector of the genre or worst still only likes certain stars in movies...its easy to burn out in this mode..

A collector however is always on the hunt for a RARE!!! title and UPGRADE for what he already has.....or a Taiwanneese Swordplay that is hard to find....better still a Punch & Block that is almost impossible to find....In all the collector is a DIE-HARD and cant get enough like me:D...dont take this as the gospel though its just my personal opinion:angel:

What would burn me out though is if I had it ALL!!!! I would never want that....the HUNT is the real fun;)

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Happy new years to you as well flashlegs!

You touched upon a particular method as to how I collect these films, so I had to respond.

The hunt is fun I agree. Though I disagree with what makes only a fan. I'm a collector as well and I usually, though not always, collect by actor/actress or director in chinese and japanese films alike. Cherry pickin flicks with the knowledge of actors/actress' you really appreciate greatly improves the odds of your liking the flick even if it's bad. Hunting for flicks just because they're rare is usually fruitless for someone like myself, since I tend to feel most actors/actress' are somewhat like a film starring extras, empty. Not everyone can act. The Devil's Mirror, in my worthless opinion, (I know many on this board disagree) lacks for want of leads (actors/actrss' who have the presence to carry the film or that you can identify with because of their emotional command or diversity) the two who do somewhat carry Devil's Mirror, the villian and villianess are not enough, though I thought they were the best part of the film acting wise. The fighting is fast and furious I agree and I think it's very important as well. Fighting alone does not make these films classic or enduring, you need at least bare boned storyline and characters you either hate, love, hope for, ie. identify with somehow. In fact in all film genres that I collect I go by actor/actress, or director, and I'm usually pretty happy with my findings.

[northern b]

Flashlegs point is true to an extent- for example some collectors on here own a ton of films both legit releases and DVD-rs of unreleased stuff etc.

I'm more of a fan that collects movies of a certain style or vibe i.e. on the tightly choreographed and shapes side. Due to that films like the Victim or Buddhist Fist are among my faves whilst I don't care too much for some of the bashers with Wang Yu etc and don't own any apart from a VHS of Chinese Boxer!

[Bruce Long]

If all you are ever doing with your kung fu films is watching them, then probably there's nothing to do but take a long vacation from them until your interest revives.

If you want them to have a bigger part in your life, then you could try to do more than just watch them. Participating in this discussion group is certainly one avenue. Some other examples:

Watch a film with the specific intention of writing a review for HKMDB or IMDB. The review should not just cover the action scenes, but should examine and grade the film at least a half-dozen different ways.

If you have video capture equipment:

You could find one of your favorite films which has no images yet in the HKMDB, and capture a bunch of images for uploading there.

You could make some YouTube videos. Don't just capture a fight scene, be creative and edit together a bunch of short bits with a common theme. (Some possible examples: comedy gags of certain kung fu actors, scenes from different films which used the same spaghetti western music, clips of various actors doing the same stunt, clips of the same actor dying many times in different films, clips highlighting an unusual aspect of one of your favorite actors, clips of famous kung fu actors in drag, etc.)

You could make a kung fu movie web page that is different and fits your personal interest.

So, if you want kung fu movies to be more of a hobby, you need to expand that hobby far beyond just watching the films.

[SamuraiDana]

I want to let it be known I actually watch a vast variety of film fare. Old school Kung Fu happens to be my favorite. If you've seen me post on the "Newly Purchased" threads you'll see I've been collecting Blu-Rays. For some reason, the KF flicks-my love for viewing, is wanning. I haven't even watched one in over a month, my last being Odd Couple. I have this list of Taiwan releases that I've been waiting to order, and I just can't pull the trigger. Maybe Blu-Ray has got me screwed up. I'm serious guys, which is why I wrote about it here. I thank everyone for their input and ideas.

Just for the record, the variety of genres I enjoy include:

Sci-Fi The Matrix!

Drama There Will Be Blood

Action Transformers!

Thriller No Country For Old Men!

Grindhouse Planet Terror & Death Proof

Political Syriana

Westerns Tombstone & Open Range

Horror 30 Days of Night & 28 Weeks later

and some Comedy.

So, you see I have variety.

l

That's a very limited notion of "variety." The films you listed are all Hollywood films, most made in the last two years, and all but TOMBSTONE made in the last ten years, not one of the greatest decades in Hollywood history.

[The Dragon]

... I wouldn't call that much of a "variety" myself. They're all Hollywood films, most made in the last two years, and all but TOMBSTONE made in the last ten years, not one of the greatest decades in Hollywood history.

I was simply giving examples SD, I love Asian cinema of various genre also. Those were not stated to represent all my interests, nor my library.