Member Drunken Monk Posted April 7, 2013 Member Share Posted April 7, 2013 I review "The Grandmaster" here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted April 8, 2013 Member Share Posted April 8, 2013 The Weinstein Company has apparently revealed that "The Grandmaster" will be in US cinemas on August 23rd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted April 10, 2013 Member Share Posted April 10, 2013 The Weinstein Company has apparently revealed that "The Grandmaster" will be in US cinemas on August 23rd. Of course. Is it too early to place bets on what they are going to rename it. I know others will say the same thing but I vote for Legend of the Grandmasters. Maybe if RZA isn`t busy directing his next opus then he can re-score the soundtrack. And, perhaps they can edit out all the non fight scenes. :tongue: ps - I just want to state how grateful I am to the Weinsteins for their loving and caring and respectful treatment of asian cinema over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted April 10, 2013 Moderator Share Posted April 10, 2013 This is up for pre-order with a 23rd April release date, my order is in! DVD - http://www.yesasia.com/global/the-grandmaster-2013-dvd-2-disc-edition-hong-kong-version/1033040912-0-0-0-en/info.html Blu-ray - http://www.yesasia.com/global/the-grandmaster-2013-blu-ray-hong-kong-version/1033040913-0-0-0-en/info.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted April 11, 2013 Member Share Posted April 11, 2013 dddhouse has a steelbook version of this for pre-order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted April 11, 2013 Member Share Posted April 11, 2013 dddhouse has a steelbook version of this for pre-order. Yep, I'm gonna buy it/ watch it till it premieres in August and then I'm gonna flip them on ebay,heheehe!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted April 11, 2013 Member Share Posted April 11, 2013 You bastards, it's sold out!!!! There's gotta be some kind of error on the site, no way this was sold out, are you serious???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted April 11, 2013 Member Share Posted April 11, 2013 You bastards, it's sold out!!!! There's gotta be some kind of error on the site, no way this was sold out, are you serious???? Not only out of stock but out of print! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sifu iron perm Posted April 11, 2013 Member Share Posted April 11, 2013 dddhouse has a steelbook version of this for pre-order. steelbook version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member mark187 Posted April 23, 2013 Member Share Posted April 23, 2013 ok, so to those who've seen it, without spoiling, does Cung Le appear in the China/HK version? i read his fight scene will only be in the international version, is this true? or is there any fight footage of him in HK version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BaronK Posted April 23, 2013 Member Share Posted April 23, 2013 He's in the first fight. It's that Matrix Revolutions fight scene that was a teaser clip shown before the movie was released. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted May 21, 2013 Member Share Posted May 21, 2013 You people nit-pick too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted May 21, 2013 Member Share Posted May 21, 2013 You people nit-pick too much. Who's nit-picking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted May 21, 2013 Member Share Posted May 21, 2013 You people nit-pick too much. It wasn't me! I just haven't finished it yet, too many movies to watch right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted May 21, 2013 Member Share Posted May 21, 2013 Since people have brought this thread back up, I figured I could share my views on this one (saw it a couple of weeks ago): Got to see The Grandmaster at the theater today. I was pleasantly surprised as the reviews I had read weren't very positive. I expected - based on some reviews - something much more boring (kinda like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) but it was a good and entertaining effort. The nitpick I have though is that the actions scenes looked more like what you'd get in the recent wuxia films like House Of Flying Daggers than what one would expect from a kung fu movie - though the choreography is pretty nice. Not a bad film overall, but clearly not the best from those last years. I much preferred the first Ip Man movie with Donnie Yen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted May 22, 2013 Member Share Posted May 22, 2013 Who's nit-picking? Now, there you go... I wasn't accusing you DM. The nit-pickers know who they are. Just watched it mandarin with eng subs. Pretty disappointing for me. The film moves at a very slow pace throughout and I just couldn't get into it. Zhang Ziyi stood out the most with her role and I agree she has the best action in the film. But the fights have too much slo mo, close ups and are heavily edited for me to enjoy. Since people have brought this thread back up, I figured I could share my views on this one (saw it a couple of weeks ago): Got to see The Grandmaster at the theater today. I was pleasantly surprised as the reviews I had read weren't very positive. I expected - based on some reviews - something much more boring (kinda like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) but it was a good and entertaining effort. The nitpick I have though is that the actions scenes looked more like what you'd get in the recent wuxia films like House Of Flying Daggers than what one would expect from a kung fu movie - though the choreography is pretty nice. Not a bad film overall, but clearly not the best from those last years. I much preferred the first Ip Man movie with Donnie Yen. Well, it’s choreographed by YWP, so we’re bound to get meticulously executed but highly exaggerated, airborne and of course pretty “unrealistic” fight action here. To view this film with the expectation that this AC would stick to just exemplary, “pure” Wing Chun moves is nigh on impossible. Then WKW adds his touch, something you probably meant with “mystical”, obscuring the action (rain-showers, snowflakes, intense lighting, editing choices, etc), but that shouldn’t come as a surprise either. The “fight-pause-restart-stop” rhythm you mentioned didn’t distract me at all, it perfectly matched the rousing, strongly percussive score and I loved it! I agree on point re: YWP. Re: "fight-pause-restart-stop" rhythm, I believe again it's because not all the leading actors are MA's. The more exceptional artist skill level, the better choreography you can muster out of their skill sets. i. e. Jet Li/Donnie Yen, Jet/Collin Chou, Donnie Yen/Collin Chou Jackie Chan/Ken Lo, etc... I believe this is because not all of the leading actors are real martial artists and it's the choreographer's attempt at creating something visual as opposed to skillful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted May 22, 2013 Member Share Posted May 22, 2013 I wasn't implying you we're accusing me. I was genuinely interested in what you deemed to be nit-picking. In fact, I don't think the examples you used were nit-picking, per se. Heavy wirework and incessant slow motion CAN make or break a film for many fans. After all, let's face, a huge component of the kung fu genre is, in fact, the kung fu. While "The Grandmaster" is a luscious and beautifully executed film, the fights are a important to its weight. Because we know Yuen Woo Ping's on board and we know what he's capable of, lacklustre choreography (or editing) really can be a letdown. Look at "Bangkok Adrenaline," a film with pretty well executed fight work but horrendous acting. I wouldn't say I'm nit-picking by saying I hated the film and found it unwatchable because of the less-than-amateur performances. That said, though. I loved "The Grandmaster." It's actually one of my favourite films of the year, thus far. But I believe that everyone's entitled to weigh in with their criticisms no matter how nuanced they might be. Oftentimes, I actually think it benefits the discussion of this particular genre. But, I suppose nit-picking is subjective so my argument is somewhat mute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted June 10, 2013 Member Share Posted June 10, 2013 I do feel it's a good film.. I also enjoyed The Guillotines, which has taken some flack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted July 18, 2013 Moderator Share Posted July 18, 2013 I just watched this last night, and thought it was an amazing movie. Whenever Wong Kar Wai & Tony Leung get together magic seems to happen, I'm also a huge fan of all of their other collaborations, but this one may have topped them all. It's hard to call it a kung-fu movie so much as it is a movie about kung-fu. I can't think of any other movie which aims so purely towards defining the heart and soul of martial arts, and the sacrifices that come with it, quite as much as 'The Grandmaster' does. The fact that it's about Ip Man seems to be the least important detail. At the same time it appears to be, much like 'In the Mood for Love', a fond remembrance of a bygone era of Hong Kong, with some meticulously constructed sets. Of course it can't be a movie about Ip Man without a few fights, and they come at fairly regular intervals. Wong Kar Wai made the interesting choice to score the two most significant fight scenes, both of which feature Zhang Zhiyi, to music rather than relying on sound effects to deliver the impact, and it works perfectly. Tong Leung delivers another nuanced performance and is a great fit for his role, capturing whatever emotion he's feeling through expression alone. While this might not be the movie that a kung-fu fan wants, there should be no doubt that this will be considered a classic in years to come, and rightfully so. But then again, my favorite HK movie of 2011 was 'Wu Xia' and favorite movie of 2012 was 'CZ12', so what do I know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted August 22, 2013 Member Share Posted August 22, 2013 According to Twitch, the American cut is an absolute bloody nightmare... Judging by the U.S. cut of The Grandmaster, in comparison to the version released in Hong Kong, we Americans must be really dumb. The Hong Kong version, available on Blu-ray in Asia, runs 130 minutes. The U.S. cut runs 108 minutes. But it's not simply a trim job; the U.S. edition is so significantly edited that it qualifies as a different movie. By adding, subtracting, and re-arranging dramatic footage, the rhythm and pace changes; by removing historical footage that provided context and replacing it with explanatory title cards, it now unreels as something closer to a traditional bio-pic -- with plenty of crunchy fighting and doomed romancing -- with the instructional value of a high school history lesson inserted, rather than an elegaic tribute to a lost martial arts world. While it was great to see big chunks of a movie that I've quickly come to love on the big screen with an attentive audience, it was disconcerting and disappointing to see that the attempt to 'Americanize' the movie had turned what is very close to a masterpiece into a sliced-up pizza with all the toppings removed and piled on the side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted August 23, 2013 Administrator Share Posted August 23, 2013 According to Twitch, the American cut is an absolute bloody nightmare... STUPID F*#KERS!!!!! :tinysmile_angry2_t: :tinysmile_angry2_t: :tinysmile_angry2_t: :tinysmile_angry2_t: :tinysmile_angry2_t: I'd like to put the Weinsteins through a giant editing machine. Ignorant, thoughtless dolts!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG Posted August 24, 2013 Member Share Posted August 24, 2013 STUPID F*#KERS!!!!! :tinysmile_angry2_t: :tinysmile_angry2_t: :tinysmile_angry2_t: :tinysmile_angry2_t: :tinysmile_angry2_t: I'd like to put the Weinsteins through a giant editing machine. Ignorant, thoughtless dolts!!! WELL NOW, IF THIS IS THE CASE SHOULD I SEE IT WHEN IT COMES TO TOWN AUGUST 31, ON THE BIG SCREEN GD Y-Y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted August 24, 2013 Member Share Posted August 24, 2013 I actually read that a few of the Actors in the movie approved of the America cut up, in the newspaper the other day! I was like WTF are you serious! I ordered the HK version. When they release a movie on BR/DVD both versions should be on it to let us decided which version we want to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted August 25, 2013 Moderator Share Posted August 25, 2013 I actually read that a few of the Actors in the movie approved of the America cut up, in the newspaper the other day! Sad but true, although it could well be that they're just saying that for publicity purposes considering the US release is imintent....it's also worth bearing in mind that this isn't a Weinstein hack job in the traditional sense of the expression, but rather the Weinstein idiots asked Wong Kar Wai himself to make a new cut of the movie for US audiences, and as the original Twitch article which was referenced pointed out, asking Wong Kar Wai to make a new cut of one of his movies is a lot like asking a kid to run wild in a candy shop. Tony Leung said - "I think it's wise for him to do a version for Americans. It's much easier for them to follow." With Zhang Ziyi adding - "In my opinion, I like the American one. It's clearer. Easier for foreigners." Go figure, I'll never watch it that's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted August 25, 2013 Member Share Posted August 25, 2013 I want to know what it is they think we would 't understand in the HK version. I got confused ONCE in the film and my girlfriend immediately cleared it up for me. It was a simple mistake. I've read that a lot of people are confused about the character of the Razor as he doesn't really have a well explored storyline. But that's why this film is great. There is a LOT to explore and understand, thematically. Debates to be had etc. For example, I think that, through their shared dedication to martial arts, Ip Man and Zhang Ziyi's character (I forgot her name) fall in love. My girlfriend doesn't. She thinks it's just a powerful, mutual respect and that Ip Man is dedicated to the memory of his wife. It's all open to interpretation. That's what makes it such a special kung fu movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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