Member Chinatown Kid Posted July 14, 2009 Member Share Posted July 14, 2009 Just recently got back into Judo after my TKD school went on hiatus for a while and was looking for some more Judo films to inspire me in my training. I have Sanshiro Sugata and plan on getting the sequel and also have the film Throwdown. Anyone know of any more Judo themed films and where to find them? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted July 14, 2009 Member Share Posted July 14, 2009 Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl - it's a judo sports anime that came out the same time as Ranma 1/2 (was more popular in Japan than Ranma 1/2). Animeigo released the first box set of 40 episodes, and it's finally available from Best Buy, Amazon, etc..for about $80.00, give or take. It's a very good series and the box includes a booklet that gives a nice over-view of judo along with a lot of definitions (there's a lot of technical terms in the anime). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kaleyboy Posted July 14, 2009 Member Share Posted July 14, 2009 I've heard good things about the movie Red Belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Milkyway Posted July 14, 2009 Member Share Posted July 14, 2009 Johnnie To's Throw Down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted July 14, 2009 Member Share Posted July 14, 2009 I've heard good things about the movie Red Belt. I wasn't the biggest fan of this. The more you know of MMA the more problematic the film becomes. Actually for a Mamet piece I wasn't that thrilled with the writing either. Johnnie To's Throw Down. I second this. I'm a huge To fan though. Capsule review I wrote on this: Throw Down (2004: Hong Kong: ***½/****) If I had not listened to others and previously watched some of the brilliant oeuvre of Johnnie To then a recent watch of The Executions (co-directed by Tony Ching Siu-Tung) might have prevented me to delve into other of To's movies. Luckily I knew better and anticipated Throw Down with furious glee. Released right after Breaking News that same year (neither one was a box office hit, yet his next film Yesterday Once More, which I have not seen, would be a more popular film with the HK audience though is not talked about as much today.) Though this does fit with To's production company Milkyway Image (HK) Ltd. modus operandi of filming popular movies to help fund his personal projects. I tend to prefer to personal features. Louis Koo Tin-Lok (Election, Rob-B-Hood) stars as Szeto To an enigmatic ex-Judo expert who mysteriously quite competition to drink, gamble and stumble his way through life. He meets two strangers who quickly integrate themselves into his life: one wants to be well known actress or singer and needs a singing gig in his club (Cherrie Ying Choi-Yi: My Left Eye Sees Ghosts), the other is an up-and-coming judo fighter who just wants to fight him (Aaron Kwok: The Storm Riders). Szeto To just wants to gamble. Like most of To's movies there are superb scenes and idiosyncratic characters which work best when combined. There is the triad member Boss Savage (To regular Eddie Cheung) who mumbles disparaging remarks to his opponents when playing video games, has a nasty streak to people who are late and forgives Szeto for stealing his money over and over again. There is mentally deficient yet loyal Jing (a character very reminiscent to one in Shower) who greats everyone with the same phrase and there is Lee Kong (Tony Leung Ka-fai: Ashes of Time) who is the most proficient expect of Judo that is still upset that he did not get to fight Szeto. A great scene with him is one similar to Red Beard where he dislocates one triad members arm after another. Oh such a fun film. Made as a homage to Akira Kurosawa's Sanshiro Sugata and Kurosawa in general, it still feels like a To film. It is quirky and quite eccentric but for fans of Johnnie To's more personal films like PTU and The Mission they will find this one of his better movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chinatown Kid Posted July 23, 2009 Author Member Share Posted July 23, 2009 Thanks for the suggestions guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member jiujitsu77 Posted July 23, 2009 Member Share Posted July 23, 2009 the sequel to sanshiro sugata is considered the first "style vs style" film, however, it was also a film kurosawa did as he was commissioned by the government, so it met with mediocre results. he considered it his worst film. still not a bad movie, just an interesting piece for your collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member jiujitsu77 Posted July 23, 2009 Member Share Posted July 23, 2009 and i believed we have mentioned this before....avoid the mei ah disc. HORRIBLE subtitles. oh and Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted July 23, 2009 Member Share Posted July 23, 2009 I think we need more Judo films:yociexp37: I'm digging these monkeys too:khi5m: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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