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Fistful of Talons (1983)


jiujitsu77

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butcher wing

Kung Fu Bob the movie is actually called Kera Sakti (1977) indonesia made. video asia released it under the title invincible monkey fist.

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masterofoneinchpunch

I'll move my mini review here as well. This is a film I ended up liking quite a bit too.

A Fistful of Talons (1983: Sun Chung: Hong Kong)

One of the main reasons I had wanted to watch this was that Ric Meyers had named this one of his top 100 Kung Fu Movies. Now I am not the biggest Meyers fan but I had to watch it (it reminds me of when a relative, friend or foe states that they love a film that you have not seen and you use that as a reason to watch it.) It helps that it was directed by Sun Chung as I could not help thinking of Avenging Eagle when watching this.

One scene that I noticed was the crane shot early into the film (I am not sure it is used again) and it was done well. The cinematography and composition looks superb and is among the best looking of the independent HK films I have seen. Now the copy I have is faded and full-screen so I can imagine that this would look far better with a proper release.

The plot is basic, though interesting because it mentions, Sun Tzu (author of The Art of War), Sun Yat-sen and takes place during the Republic era of China. Here you have the Manchus (still being bad guys) trying to take back the country which makes a nice counter to all those Hans trying to take back the country in the Qing dynasty films.

I liked the Buddha set and I do wonder if that was used again in a film. Some of my favorite scenes involved this set. Billy Chong who has a short lived acting career as a precocious and capable martial artist who has to be bettered by a better sifu to be able to defeat the main bad guy (aka being a Jackie Chan clone, though his career and personality reminds me more of Conan Lee – weird coincidence that both Conan Lee and Billy Chong are in Aces Go Places V.) I liked Kung Fu Zombie, though I don’t think I’ve seen anything else he was in not counting Aces Go Places V.

I believe this was Whang In-shik’s last official Hong Kong appearance in film. I feel he was slightly underused, especially if you compare to his fighting in Dragon Lord the year before, in this as I thought some of the fight scenes could have been elongated. I liked the use of strategy at the end (nod to Sun Tzu) though. His side kick looks like it could kill Billy Chong if he wanted to.

I hope that was not a real eagle pulled apart by Nai Sin :D.

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Whang looked beastly in this. His kicks did look(and with the help of strong soundfx) like they could kill. It was an interesting picture. The action style was different for Sun Chung and Robert Tai. Seemed like a weird pairing. Its not flow, longer take based choreography. It's wires, stunts, moves, stuff. It works but its different for the creators, players.

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I don't know why, but I think I like this movie more than most people. Well, the characters and story aren't anything new, Whang In-Shik is underused at times, and the fight scenes are far from anything remotely realistic. The horrendous home-video releases don't help matters much either, but still, A Fist Full of Talons is probably my favorite Billy Chong movie. I can't really explain it; I just think this is an extremely fun movie. There're creative wire-fu effects, a unique setting (Republic Era of China), and a unique atmosphere. This movie gets surprisingly dark at the end, but I still consider it one of the most fun, exciting, and unique kung fu movies of the 80's. Wire-haters and PETA members beware!

I really love this movie and seeing it in widescreen in 35mm was amazing. If you like this movie already, you'd love this movie in widescreen. The ending's also slightly less abrupt with end credits following it. It's really a shame that this hasn't gotten a proper release (as mentioned before), but I'm still hoping for it someday.

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Cold Bishop

I'm going to have to be the voice of dissent and say this movie didn't do it for me. It, like most of his kung fu films, ultimately just felt like a watered down version of Sun Chung's wuxias, right down to the cross-gender/cross-generational group vs. a political conspiracy. The most interesting thing, like most of these Billy Chong films, are the strange mix of old-school and new wave aesthetics, most notable in the comic book physics and Sun Chung's inventive camera work (The P.O.V. shot around the statue got a laudable "ahahhhh" from the audience). Ultimately I expect more narrative cohesion and grim intensity from my Sun Chung films. Plus, Chong comes off more like a fascist thug than cocky hero in the beginning.

With that said, see it in 35mm if you get the chance

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10 hours ago, clanarchy said:

Wow...nice. Thanks for posting this up.

@rdenn put in in this thread (Thank you!), but @laagi originally posted it. He had this HD transfer made from a 35 mm print he purchased, all at considerable personal cost. It is beyond generous of him to share this with us.

In other threads @laagi has also shared JADE CLAW (aka. CRYSTAL FIST) http://www.shaolinchamber36.com/kungfufandom/index.php?/topic/22615-billy-chong-aka-willy-dozan-appreciation-thread/&tab=comments#comment-275903

and DREAMING THE REALITY  http://www.shaolinchamber36.com/kungfufandom/index.php?/topic/22051-official-girls-with-guns-thread/&tab=comments#comment-275902

both also HD transfers made from 35 mm prints he purchased.

Lets all give a big thanks to him for posting these for us! :BL-Love:

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@KUNG FU BOB@rdenn@clanarchy Thank you guys I really appreciate it. And you're all very welcome. I just need a serious break from it all. Rather than to get uptight about this (I'll spare you the details :laugh), I thought I'll just share it with the people who know how to appreciate it. Hope you all can enjoy it for what it is!

Who knows maybe some day the companies in Hong Kong will get their head out of their butt and release this in a proper and worthy way for us fans. So long guys!

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On 9/11/2017 at 12:42 PM, laagi said:

@KUNG FU BOB@rdenn@clanarchy Thank you guys I really appreciate it. And you're all very welcome. I just need a serious break from it all. Rather than to get uptight about this (I'll spare you the details :laugh), I thought I'll just share it with the people who know how to appreciate it. Hope you all can enjoy it for what it is!

Who knows maybe some day the companies in Hong Kong will get their head out of their butt and release this in a proper and worthy way for us fans. So long guys!

@laagi I encourage you to share your story and original plan with everyone. Honestly, I think they'd be surprised and interested in the details. Of course, that's up to you.

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