Seen any good Kung-Fu flicks of late?

[CMcK]

I had RitB (and First Strike) at home on laserdisc by the time it hit the cinema here but still went to see it on the big screen. It’s exactly what you want from a JC flick of that era. Great action, crap acting and outtakes.

[QualityChimp]

I had RitB (and First Strike) at home on laserdisc by the time it hit the cinema here but still went to see it on the big screen. It’s exactly what you want from a JC flick of that era. Great action, crap acting and outtakes.

That's so true!
Something like The Shinjuku Incident has a more serious and poignant story, but it ain't going to be remembered with the same fondness at Rumble, despite its faults!

I was chuckling in the nightclub scene that I was totally fine with before, but there's a biki-clad dancer, in a cage, surrounded by another cage with a tiger in it! In a "New York" nightclub!
Then the camera pans across and there's a hairmetal band playing, but what they're playing is NOT what it being played in the club!
Then the same band are playing later on and the drummer yells "HOVERCRAAAAFT!"

[QualityChimp]

I watched Ip Man: The Final Fight (2013 via DVD).

Another take on the Ip Man story that's unrelated to all the other Ip Man films that focuses on his later years.
Some pretty decent scraps, displaying the fast style of Wing Chun.
The sets are amazing, having built a city set reflecting the years Ip Man was alive.
Most of the performances are decent too, especially Anthony Wong as Ip Man and Eric Tsang as Master Ng Chung.

Story is pretty bland, though.
Donnie Yen's Ip Man is more likeable. Wong's interpretation is a bit grumpy and quiet, being a bit rude to Bruce Lee at the end and bagging himself a mistress.

Not quite sure how accurate these films are and I imagine they're all quite liberal with the truth.

Alright and worth a watch if you want another take on the Ip Man story with some nice Wing Chun fighting.

[QualityChimp]

[QualityChimp]

Fearless (2022 via DVD)
Another I've not seen since the cinema.
Love how Jet Li's character, Huo Yuanjia, is likeable but arrogant and due a downfall for it.

He's quite a complex character with serious daddy issues, but yikes can he fight.

I'd forgotten just how many fight scenes there were!

A bit of wire work to make things a bit more spectacular, but also a lot of grounded action.

I liked how the story was bookended by his last tournament.

If you're in this thread, you've probably seen it, but if not, it's worth checking out.

Disc just had a short making-of featurette, but barren after that.

[CMcK]

Arrow are releasing a new Bruce Lee Golden Harvest box set!

4K UHD goodness too. Kind of pricey though.

[prinnysquad]

Arrow are releasing a new Bruce Lee Golden Harvest box set!

4K UHD goodness too. Kind of pricey though.

I’ve ordered this because I haven’t had any new copies since the HKL releases. There’s enough extras to get me interested. I’ve settled for a thing via PayPal whereby I pay it in three, interest-free instalments, which is an easier hit to take.

[CMcK]

I can’t decide between this set and the Trois Couleurs trilogy.

[prinnysquad]

It all depends on whether or not you want to be a badass, or a wimp.

[QualityChimp]

They keep finding "new" stuff, but I'm pretty sure I've seen all I can for Game of Death now.

Apparently they now have some new footage of Chieh Yuan charging Dan Inosanto's character with a large wooden log that has only been seen in pics before:


I do love the Bruce Lee footage of Game of Death though.
The version on the HKL disc is great, showing how Lee's philosophy to fighting is adaptation and flexibility, rather than rigid katas.

Despite the amazing John Barry score, the US released film (before the Lee finale) is absolute bobbins, with the bloody cut out of Lee's face stuck to a mirror.

[prinnysquad]

The new one has new Big Bowss footage, too. Burnt-in subs I think. No saw in the head, but a decent amount of stuff not seen for a long, long time.

[wakka]

Ugh, I really want that Golden Harvest boxset. Looks so good. Can't really justify £130 for it atm though (having accepted, like the rest of the UK, that I am poor now).

[QualityChimp]

Using my cinema pass, I went to the cinema TWICE IN ONE DAY. Livin' the dream, boys.

I went to see Ip Man: The Awakening (2021 via the cinema).
I was a bit underwhelmed by this, if I'm honest.

It doesn't help that I recently watched Ip Man: The Final Fight and Fearless which use similar sets, but have better stories and action.

At this point, they're just completely making stuff up.

Ip Man travels to the city, beats up some thieves and then single-handedly stops a smuggling ring run by the evil British whilst happily overlooked by the authorities and headed up by a Brit that knows his own martial art that he proclaims is better than Wing Chun.

Not awful, but pretty pointless when the story has been told better in all the other Ip Man films and spinoffs and the action has been done better many, many times.

Cameras too close and far too many edits make this a bit of a choppy mess for fight fans, which is 99% of the audience.

[CMcK]

It all depends on whether or not you want to be a badass, or a wimp.

I have redeemed myself Sifu. One UHD Bruce Lee boxset has been ordered. There was £30 off on the Arrow site so seeing as the disc I was after was sold out I could almost justify it...

[prinnysquad]

Badassery by accident!