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JIMMY WANG YU GUNG FU


Guest daTOAD

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Guest daTOAD

Sorry if i enrage some ,but Jimmy Wang Yu-dont get it. why man. why is this dude a legend? granted ive not really seen his early chang cheh flicks except for One Armed... and it was o.k. his choreo suuuuucked. waht little he did. i can picture him watching his stuntman do all the work while guzzling a hot beer. im no hater and i understand its all opinion, but somebody make me see why this guy is so praised. BTW One Armed Boxer 2 -classic, but nothing else ive seen from him measures up.

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Guest the dirty tiger

So watch some more of his films, there are over 100. They arent all classics, but nobody can make good films every time. Watch 'The Sword' and 'Return Of The Chinese Boxer' and 'Trail Of The Broken Blade' - if you still dont get it then I cant help you :lol

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Guest daTOAD

So watch some more of his films, there are over 100.

my belief is that the only thing you can lose in life is time.:lol

i have heard his early work is action packed though. if his Chang Cheh work doesnt get me i wont be got.

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Guest jmungus

well youre spot on.

wang yuk blows. no acting skills, no fighting skills, poor character. plain facts.

if i could go back in time and be a SB exec., i`d give all 'his' parts to yueh hua, or i`d try chan chun.

yet i only hate on him so passionately cuz so many of my co-fu-natics are like "wangster this, wangster that".

sometimes hes just straight up B.A.D. (corny and annoying i wanna give him a good beating), other times his presentation of stoicism and suppressed rage wrapped in a pocket of humbleness works quite well.

the wang yuk cult is larger than the mans actual performances.

his indie flick formula is sort of a blueprint for cult-kf-action-cinema.

some are pretty good, many are average, and of course theres some really sorry ones too.

needless to say, each and every single one of em would have been better with a different guy in jimmy`s role.

he`d cover his behind very well, casting/hiring skill and talent.

then again, his face would pop up in almost every fans`"early chop sock encounters", making some sort of impact no doubt.

and last but not least (lets be fair here)- a number of his movies are TRUE m.a./swordplay-classics!

maybe not exactly thx to jimmy`s qualities as an actor or screen fighter, but the flix are great and jimmy`s input would easily suffice, sometimes even show the very best of him.

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Guest rdenn

he may of not been the most skilled screenfighter but he made up for it in screen prescense and also wang yu didnt mess about in his movies and thats why he is so popular.

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Guest daTOAD

needless to say, each and every single one of em would have been better with a different guy in jimmy`s role.

:rollin

so true.

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Guest morgoth

Thank you Rdenn. Wang Yu is the man!!!! Nobody is better at making me believe they are in a really tough fight.

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Guest the dirty tiger

I always like Wang Yu, although not all his films are good I am always glad to see him on screen. He has a lot of charisma whether you like him or not. And the fact remains that he has made at least 10 good films. Furious Slaughter, Brave And The Evil, Two Cavaliers are also good. Oh, and Desperate Chase, Deadly Silver Spear, I like him anyway :eek

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Bruce Long

Obviously you can't compare him to the subsequent crop of kung fu actors, but I think his work during the 1970's was much better than his Shaw contemporaries (Yueh Hua, Tsung Hua, Lo Lieh, etc.).

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Guest Markgway

His early films are the best.

When Wang Yu left Shaws he took the decision to stop acting and just play Wang Yu.

Most of his post-Shaws films are inferior (even the Golden Harvest ones).

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Guest Chinatown Kid

Even though Jimmy's techniques are crude and he's not much of a Martial Artist I do enjoy watching his basher style fights in movies like Tattooed Dragon, Screaming Tiger, and The Man From Hong Kong. He had a certain cool charisma and screen presence despite his lack of skill. If your looking for great technique he is not the one to watch, if you want to see a good pop'um in the nose brawl he is. ;)

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Guest killer meteor

I quite like Jimmy's work, especially as a director. His acting for some reason became wooden as time went on, but his Shaw work is good, and he is particualry impressive in Zatoichi Meets The One Armed Swordsman. His latter day appareance in Island Of Fire is effective, too

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Guest chingdog

Wang Yu is the first big male kung fu star. He just had that screen presence and he did make his fights look more real and hard hitting. I admit his technique is awful but that is because he wasn't a martial artist. The thing about him is that he was always fighting in real life and usually putting a hurting on someone. he did know how to street fight and he brought that into his films. he deserves credit for bringing martial arts movies into the 70's with a good fan base. I think he is a legendary ass beatin machine that made some good films.....he just doesn't look stylish doing it

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Guest Markgway
I quite like Jimmy's work, especially as a director. His acting for some reason became wooden as time went on, but his Shaw work is good, and he is particualry impressive in Zatoichi Meets The One Armed Swordsman.

Maybe the Japanese director Kimiyoshi Yasuda demanded more of him than some other directors (himself included)? IIRC, the film's assistant director Hsu Tseng Hung directed a couple of Wang's best Shaw films.

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Guest W Hong
my belief is that the only thing you can lose in life is time. I have heard his early work is action packed though. if his Chang Cheh work doesnt get me i wont be got.

I'd suggest you watch "Golden Swallow"(AKA "The Girl with the Thunderbolt Kick") to change that opinion about JWY movies directed by CC.

but I think his work during the 1970's was much better than his Shaw contemporaries (Yueh Hua, Tsung Hua, Lo Lieh, etc.).

What about some other Shaw contemporaries, like Chen Kuan Tai, David Chiang, etc.? I know that "MasterOTFG" is one of Jimmy's best, but I remember not really liking "Beach of the War Gods". I do feel lucky, however, to have seen the Rainbow/Tai Seng VHS version back then. I was also lucky enough to have seen "Zatoichi VS. the One Armed Swordsman" in a theatre(!), but it was a few years ago. It was shown during The Asian Film Festival at SF's 4 Star Theatre. I forgot if "Z Vs. TOAS" was good, but I remember it being a mostly dark print. that screening might have been right before a Non-bootleg DVD was finally released, if that was true. It also seems kind of hard to know if a lot of Jimmy's 1970's movies were good or not anyway. There only seems to be a few of his '70's movies on DVD. For now, what's available for REgion 1 or 3, non-bootleg, are only "MasterOTFG", "The Chinese Boxer", and a few others.

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Guest vengeanceofhumanlanterns

I think Jimmy Wang Yu was extremely cool with his 'style" ...in all departments of film making. He also kicked ass in the Shintaro Katsu film, Zatoichi Meets The One Armed Swordsman. The man was an excellent actor... hence he was in a Zatoichi film.

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Guest stormybman

I don't know if you guys are aware of this, Jimmy Wang Yu, when he left the Shaws, part of his agreement was to never work in Hong Kong again. That would explain his surliness in each subsequent role. It was almost like going through the paces for him. Didn't help either a Chinese guy at GH studios stole his alternative plans, becoming the ' King of Kung Fu ".

Wang Yu's contribution to the genre was every bit as significant as others who gain more praise. His ideas were fresh, innovative, ground breaking, and although not a Martial Artist himself, he had the insight to hire great choreographers, the Lau Brothers, for most of his better material. Check the background.

How would you feel if the place YOU became a star, didn't allow you to earn your living any longer? Such is life with the Triads.

One more thing, his onscreen fighting suffered at most times, however, his off screen rep. was that he'd kick your a@#! And many times he proved that fact over and over. That's no rumor!

;)

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Guest moongirl6

I first started watching Jimmy's films for everybody except Jimmy. First, I wanted to see Lung Fei, then I'd watch anything with Shan Mao or Tin Yau...then suddenly I realized that the one thing all these great films I was loving had in common was Jimmy. He's not the flashiest martial artist, but he has a lot of subtle charisma and a lot of creative talent. I love his direction in Beach of the War Gods and One Armed Boxer & MOFG, I think it's brilliant. And I love the little surprising things he throws into his films--like the way his character in MOFG can jump onto the wall--it's fantastical, but not outrageously so, it's just enough to be really cool. But most of all, he comes across as really believable. Someone, somewhere, on some site (unfortunately I don't remember where) was giving a review of Furious Slaughter, and said it best: "I don't know if one person can really fight off forty men, but when I see Jimmy do it, I believe that he can."

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interestingly although in many his movies hate toward japanese is displayed,most of jimmys martial arts skills come from shotokan karate.

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Mostly I'd have to repeat what others have said about him on this thread. When he is in a movie, you believe he is in a fight. He has screen presence and charisma. His movies are always good, often great. His movie fighting skills are just that--same as any other actor who is in a kung fu movie. I enjoy watching shapes as much as the next guy, but that ain't real fighting anyway.

For me, Jimmy is the one guy who's crude film fighting skills don't bother me a bit. He puts so many other factors into his roles. Now, David Chiang, on the other hand......:rolleyes:

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You need to know all his movie's to totally judge his acting and his presence on screen. I myself liked mainly his old school kung fu classics.

Here's a link for you of all his accomplishments.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0911093/

Chinese Boxer

Return of the Chinese Boxer

The One Armed Swordsmen

Rage of the Master

Blood of the Dragon

The Silver Spear- not his best movie!! But watched it anyway because of the name. And it had Jimmy Wang Yu...

Shanghai 13

The Great Hunter

Just to name a few of my favorites..:cool:

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I am ashamed to say that I don't have a single movie with Wang Yu yet (Millionaire's Express doesn't count). I've heard his martial arts abilities are somewhat limited, but I really WANT to like him so which of his movies (name one, please) would be a natural starting point for me? (decent kung fu, strong story and presence).

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hmm...one-armed swordsman(return of..which is even better than part#1),invincible sword,golden swallow,one armed boxer,magnificent trio&master of the flying guillotine are at least risk-free picks if you can accept thing kung-fu is not as flashy as in venom flicks...Clip of "sword of the swords" looks like jimmys finest but have to see whole movie before judging.

and flicks I cannot really recommend are chinese boxer(&sequel),tattooed dragon,one armed swordsman against nine killers,one armed swordsmen,a man called tight,seaman#7.

^those are worth picking if you see on 2nd shop for some€,but not worth wasting time and money in ordering them.

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