Member falkor Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 What Kung Fu films do women like? Is there any female fans among us; if so, please share your all time favourites? Do women generally prefer Shaw Brothers over independents? Do women generally prefer movies with female martial arts actresses, or those with more muscular men like Chang Cheh's Shaolin Temple? To all geezers and blokes: tell us about any of your positive experiences watching Kung with the opposite sex? Ultimately, I would like us all to contribute to this topic and come up with a list of suitable cult titles for those emotional and psychotic species who like to nag all day long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 Is anyone else getting the feeling that Falkor is doing some kind of secret, sinister survey?? Just kidding, Falk....! From my limited experience in watching Kung Fu flicks with girls (I don't share my hobbies with girlfriends, but have on occassion watched a couple of asian films with females) I'd say that the more good looking, bare chested dudes there is, the better! At least they have something to look at! Also if they have a lot of strong emotional content, over just ass kickings, that would probably be a plus! And finally, if the protagonists are female, and badass females as is usually the case, then it tends to go down a little smoother. Just my limited observations.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 I've noticed the following actors are popular with my lady friends Bruce Lee Jackie Chan Jet Li Lu Feng (seriously) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member dragonherb Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 Many likes Wuxia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Fightingfist Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 Yehh thats right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member rdenn Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 i did go out with a girl who did like fu sheng and my last girlfreind found carry on pickpocket really funny she really dug that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 Depends a lot on where the woman is from and her age, many girls I've met from Asia that moved to the US grew up on a lot of Asian soap operas that are more like wuxia, and they must of played a lot of Jackie Chan movies, most foreign women I've met seem more open to reading subtitles and watching movies from other countries. The American women I've went out with usually find it silly and want nothing to do with it, maybe CTHD or Hero, but an old Shaw movie? Forget it. Not to generalize though, this has just been my experience thus far, I can't get a lot of my friends to sit down and watch a KF flick with me either for the most part. In a perfect world every woman I met would love Kung Fu and Samurai movies as much as I do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 If you know your woman's preference in film, the subject matter will need to apply. For example, my lady likes action, so to show her any Kung Fu-WuXia with just fighting would bore her. However, If I show a Shaws oldie, with plot twists and the usual back stabbing, she gets hyped to see who's gonna get theirs in the end. One that comes to mind is What Price Honesty... I've been waiting to spring this gem on her soon. Another is The Bastard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member silver hermit Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 i have had success getting females to watch modern fem fatale films, cynthia rothrock seems to go over well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member peringaten Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 My gf hated kung for a long time, found it cheap & cheesy. Took her to Boxer From Shantung at the NFT & she found it boring - "this is stupid, why doesn't he die already?", tried to explain about the cinema & how revolutionary the violence was for the time, how it drew from Peking opera, etc. in terms of the heroic protagonist's death, etc. Wasn't happening. She saw Invincible Armour & laughed condescendingly at it - the stuck on hair, bad dub, lack of barreling stright in with a proper whoop, etc.... Recently she realised she was getting unfit, laying around a lot, being lazy... she hates the thought of excercise for excercise's sake - she's naturally slim, & doesn't obviously need to take care of herself at the gym for vanity's sake, health-reasons probably, but feels if she's going to throw herself into excercise, it needs real purpose... So, I discovered a sifu who teaches hung gar, thought about it a bit (we considered a number of martial possiblities in the meantime, she was initially thinking more plausibly relaxing tai chi) - 'how about we learn this?' Put on some LKL so she could see some intricacies of a possible way to get fit & learn a fighting philosophy; guess a penny dropped. She pushed me on to get in touch on the hung gar front; started training together - now almost overnight she loves the movies, we've been watching them constantly of late. However, she still doesn't dig the likes of Invincible Armour or indies so much. Her interest is in those relevant to that she's now practiscing, so Lau Kar Leung films & CC's hung gar related stuff - Shaolin Cycle, in that she now begins to understand the choreo through the forms she's learning, and importantly the legends surrounding the history & lineage. She really doesn't like wires or trickery, instead authenticity she can begin to relate too. Actor-wise she's come to love the hung gar guys - Chi Kuan Chun, Lau family members, and more than any, seems like most women she's come to adore Fu Sheng more than most. She always had a problem with the movies before she saw the depth within them - they didn't conform the the more typical arthouse & foreign fare she's used to from cinema. She never had a problem with the actual art of kung, just the silliness surrounding the movies. It took a very initial practical understanding of the arts to arouse her curiosity towards the movies supporting them. Cat's out of the bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thundered mantis Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 Superb post peringatean! Your kung fu is powerful indeed. Only kung fu movie I got success interesting the girl in was Marc Dacascos´ Crying Freeman, because he showed "such a back and a superhot ass" BTW, it´s only me who hates those horrid smilies? I think my posts are so short cause I can´t bear its sight on the right of the screen while posting for more than a couple of mins. They are annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member teako170 Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 she found it boring - "this is stupid, why doesn't he die already?", When I read that line, I heard it in a woman's voice and just about died (no pun intended) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Morgoth Bauglir Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 I showed 2 girls Love and Sword, and they liked it. Also Dirty Ho (I just realized it'll seem like I'm joking with DIrty Ho, but the ladies like it, trust me. One girl kept asking me to rewind the Kara Hui scene). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cesare Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 thundered mantis: As for the smilies - they're all over Sina. I'm used to them...:-) Though I wouldn't mind if a set of less conspicuous emoticons was available...;-) Regarding my preferences - I'm not exactly an MA geek. It's only one of the many important things. I don't care for authenticity and I don't give a damn if in RL Bolo Yeung would gobble up David Chiang for breakfast. I can appreciate both Bruce Lee in FoF and Dou Zhi Kong in BXJ 2007. As long as it looks good, it doesn't matter what style it is, whether it's more authentic, more acrobatic or if it's wire-fu... What REALLY got me into Chinese and HK films and TV shows was the sense of drama and the overall cinematic language of the films. Stories, twists and characters that grow out of a totally different milieu than I had previously been accustomed to. I had seen 36th Chamber of Shaolin long before 5DV and Magnificent Trio - but even though I liked 36th Chamber a lot, it were the CC films that got me hooked. I suppose that illustrates quite well what I'm looking for in Chinese & HK films. Generally, I prefer wuxia to kung-fu - because wuxia (as a genre - there are always exceptions, of course) wins hands down when it comes to plot and characterization. And of course, Chinese people tend to look really cool in hanfu. Overall - it seems to me a more diverse thing with more facets. I like bloodshed and gore. The more blood, the better. I have always loved good dying scenes - and fu flicks and wuxia are packed with those. And I definitely prefer movies that have more to offer than cool fights. As stated above - story and characters are important to me. Oddly enough, I'm not into Fu Sheng. :-] On the other hand - I think only a girl would develop SUCH a soft spot for Goo Goon Chung. But of course - it is always individual. I know girls who strongly prefer traditional kung-fu to wuxia, dislike wire-fu and all that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member peringaten Posted August 2, 2009 Member Share Posted August 2, 2009 When I read that line, I heard it in a woman's voice and just about died (no pun intended)Tell me about it; it's not often we get any classic martial films at the cinema nowadays, so to get a retrospective of a favourite only to have the gf (only came because she didn't want to miss an evening out at the cinema) next to you rolling their eyes & huffing at all the good bits puts a massive downer on things. Ah, well, I still enjoyed it. Funny thing is, she probably would now - Heroes Two managed to put her on a CKT buzz the other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted August 3, 2009 Member Share Posted August 3, 2009 When I met my now wife, she had no interest in the kung fu genre but was very open to giving it a try. I think the first movie i put on for her was either "Drunken Master" or "snake in the Eagle's Shadow." She knew of Jackie Chan and she recalled her uncle watching kung fu flicks with her when she was a kid. Well, once the first movie was finished, she was hooked. I think the first being a kung fu comedy caper influenced her tastes. Right now "Dirty Ho" is her favourite kung fu movie with "The Odd Couple" being a close second. My wife, literally, wants to watch nothing but kung fu movies. I hear the question, "Don't you have any new kung fus?" pretty much every night. Right now she is on a Sammo Hung kick and even gets giggly whenever Dean Shek appears on the screen. Oh and she claims Jack Long, portraying an old man a la "Mystery of Chess Boxing" is handsome. So, there is that sex appeal for some ladies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted August 3, 2009 Member Share Posted August 3, 2009 ... Your wife Rocks!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pretty women Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hong Gi-seon (The Road Taken) will be bringing the true story of Cho Jun-pil to the big screen this September. April 3, 1997 Jung-Pil Cho an 22 year Hong-ik University student was found stabbed nine times in the neck and chest around 11 pm in the restroom of a Burger King in Itaewon, Seoul. Arthur Patterson and Edward Lee who were accused of the random killing ended up being released for lack of evidence. You can read about the case HERE. It is a very interesting read, but because the case was never solved, it is like reopening an old wound. With the release later this year, it will be interesting to see what effect it will have on the case. If any new information comes to light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 When I met my now wife, she had no interest in the kung fu genre but was very open to giving it a try. I think the first movie i put on for her was either "Drunken Master" or "snake in the Eagle's Shadow." She knew of Jackie Chan and she recalled her uncle watching kung fu flicks with her when she was a kid. Well, once the first movie was finished, she was hooked. I think the first being a kung fu comedy caper influenced her tastes. Right now "Dirty Ho" is her favourite kung fu movie with "The Odd Couple" being a close second. My wife, literally, wants to watch nothing but kung fu movies. I hear the question, "Don't you have any new kung fus?" pretty much every night. Right now she is on a Sammo Hung kick and even gets giggly whenever Dean Shek appears on the screen. Oh and she claims Jack Long, portraying an old man a la "Mystery of Chess Boxing" is handsome. So, there is that sex appeal for some ladies! ... Your wife Rocks!!!! AGREE!! WOW! I've only been able to get my wife to watch CROUCHING TIGER, IRON MONKEY, and HERO, and that was several years ago. So, when I can, I usually have movie night with the guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Fightingfist Posted August 6, 2009 Member Share Posted August 6, 2009 LMAO that was funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member moongirl Posted August 7, 2009 Member Share Posted August 7, 2009 I must live in an alternate universe, because I'm a woman who loves these films but has a hard time getting my male friends to watch them with me! Anyhow, to answer the original questions, I personally like both independents and Shaw Brothers. I like any films with either a good story, especially if it has an element of mystery or fantastical aspect, supercool moves or an actor I really like (Jimmy Wang Yu, Tan Tao Liang, David Chiang, Lau Kar Wing and my alltime favorite CHANG YI)--any of these elements make for a film I'll really enjoy. Some of my favorite films that I can watch over and over again are Eagle's Claws (one of my favorites), Master of the Flying Guillotine, One Armed Boxer, 7 Commandments of Kung Fu, Beach of the War Gods (this is probably one of the films I've seen the most) and Knockabout (which I would rank as one of the greatest films ever made). I tend to like watching films featuring these actors (rather than ones with female leads) but I've really come to like movies with Polly Kuan too. If you're trying to lure your lady friends into watching these films with you, I'd suggest that you pick some films that have a good story and also a compelling lead actor--someone who's charismatic and easy to sympathize with and like, because she likely won't be familiar with any of the actors and it'll make it easier for her to get into it if the main guy is someone compelling--nothing can kill interest in a movie like not being able to remember who's who. I've always found Jimmy Wang Yu interesting, as well as Tan Tao Liang--but Chen Kuan Tai has a lot of charisma as certainly does Bruce Lee. You probably couldn't go wrong with any David Chiang film where he plays a hero who is haunted by tragedy (like the New One Armed Swordsman, or the one where he has to sell his horse (Have Swords Will Travel or the Wandering Swordsmans, I forget which)). Also any Jackie Chan movie I think would be a hit also. And also a film with a decent quality picture wouldn't hurt. What you really want to do is get them to like a few films and then gradually introduce other similar films until they're hooked. Here are some films that have gone over well with my non-kung-fu-loving friends and family: Enter the Dragon -- A sure-fire hit, everyone has liked this. Bruce Lee is very charismatic, the picture quality is excellent, it's set in modern times and has the bonus of being in English. It's good movie AND a good martial arts film. Eagle's Claws -- Another hit, because of the interesting characters, intrigue and excellent story line. Knockabout -- It's just a fun film with a lot of interesting action. Mad Monkey Kung Fu -- Tragic story, awesome moves. Master of the Flying Guillotine -- Not everyone I tried to get to watch this loved it, but my mother actually watched it and stayed awake for the whole thing, which tells me it must be one of the greatest movies ever made. I hope this helps! EDIT: I'm also adding Five Shaolin Masters to this list. It's a great movie, maybe not the most interesting for a non-kung fu fan, but I think many ladies would enjoy that cast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cesare Posted August 7, 2009 Member Share Posted August 7, 2009 You probably couldn't go wrong with any David Chiang film where he plays a hero who is haunted by tragedy (like the New One Armed Swordsman, or the one where he has to sell his horse (Have Swords Will Travel or the Wandering Swordsmans, I forget which)). Have Sword, Will Travel. (But he sells - or maybe rather pawns - his two short swords in Wandering Swordsman...;-)) As for not being able to get your male friends to watch the films with you... LOL...:-) It definitely is an acquired taste isn't it...;-) Though sometimes it's perhaps better if you can watch - and discuss - the films with other girls. Commenting on Ti Lung's gorgeous legs in Duel of Fists earned me a few awkward looks from guys. No idea why - Ti Lung really has gorgeous legs. :-] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member moongirl Posted August 8, 2009 Member Share Posted August 8, 2009 Though sometimes it's perhaps better if you can watch - and discuss - the films with other girls. You have a point there. I've never noticed Ti Lung's legs myself, but I do have a bunch of observations about many of these other actors that I generally keep to myself! Thanks for the clarification on the David Chiang films too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted August 8, 2009 Member Share Posted August 8, 2009 Hmmm, interesting, I would of thought a male not into these movies would rather watch a KF flick then a, and sorry for the phrase but, chickflick type movie. You women need to start yanking some mancards away from these guys. I have had more luck with older Samurai movies as even the movie snobs can't deny the impact the golden age of Japan's cinema on movies over the years, it's easier to sell a movie like say Rashomon when you can explain how influential the film has been. Maybe I need a new strategy for KF, I would of thought a movie with a strong female presence would work better like Come Drink with Me. Never noticed Ti Lung's legs before:xd: The dude's upper body was always pretty ripped back in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cesare Posted August 8, 2009 Member Share Posted August 8, 2009 The legs: Anyway. I'm quite fortunate. I know quite a few people who like HK stuff and Asian films in general and whose tastes are diverse enough (in terms of genre, provenience and era) - both guys and girls. So there are folks to discuss both fanboy and fangirl stuff with. And as far as watching the movies is concerned - I usually prefer to watch alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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