Seen any good Kung-Fu flicks of late?

[prinnysquad]

I like the cut of your jib young man.

I was having this conversation the other week with Exile-Boy.

We thought that some of the camera work in 70s/early 80s kung fu flicks is years ahead of its time, with a kinetic yet clear framing of the action, so you've got a lot of movement but you always know what's going on. Some of the tracking shots and close-ups we've seen are excellent.

[QualityChimp]

Yeah! Take a look at the end fight of Winners and Sinners. It's exciting to watch, but when you start analysing how the shots are made up, it's so well done.

My fave section is where Sammo is on the crates at 0:32. The shot shifts to a crash zoom out to reveal the sandbags behind him. The shot then switches to a wide shot where as Sammo takes out several henchmen, the camera tracks along with him onto the sandbags, then a shot that frames Sammo on the right and a henchman flying onto the barrels on the left.

The rest of the sequence is filled with amazing kinetic shots like this:
Richard Ng jumping down the stairs (2:36)
Charlie Chin running away (2:51)
Charlie Chin "fighting" with a briefcase (3:06)
Sammo fighting with a pole (3:42)

Sammo knows just how to frame a shot, use slo-mo, use a crane and when to change camera.



In other Sammo news, SPL (Sha Po Long) is finally being released in the UK as Kill Zone. Sammo's getting on a bit, but you can't tell by the fight with Donnie Yen in it!

[Finsbury Girl]

I must admit the stuff Yuen Biao does in twinkle twinkle is nothing short of amazing.

[vanpeebles]

I was having this conversation the other week with Exile-Boy.

The Guitar Hero controller is an excellent weapon. It is also one of the basic weapons. World Tour Guitar is the best kind!

[prinnysquad]

Well, well, well, it's almost Friday, and a viewing decision needs to be made.

So many dvds, I don't know where to start. Snake Deadly Act? Eunuch of the Western Palace? Two Champions of Shaolin? Fearless Dragons? The agony of choice.

[QualityChimp]

Fearless Dragons has superkicker Jang Lee Hwang in it and he actually killed a man!

This Korean powerhouse actually killed a man in real life (in self-defense). It seems the man was a "knife expert" who claimed that the knife is superior to "any" form of unarmed combat. Wang disagreed with that "statement" and an argument soon followed where the "knife expert" challenged Wang to "prove" his point to which Wang declined, went to turn his back when the guy lunged at him. Wang turned and fired a "round-kick" hitting the guy "square" in the temple, killing him instantly.

[prinnysquad]

Yeah, he was one tough guy, although apparently he was distraught at having done this. According to lore, he also hurt Jackie Chan badly on the set of Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, kicking one of his teeth out.

In 1978, Hwang was hired to take on a young Jackie Chan in SNAKE IN THE EAGLE?S SHADOW, but at first almost didn?t get into Hong Kong. According to Ng See-Yuen, customs officers asked why he couldn?t find a Hong Kong actor with N.G. replying, ?Get me a local actor who can kick like him and you have a deal.? Hwang got the visa and played the Eagle Claw school leader in the film. An accident did occur on the set of the film. Hwang accidentally knocked out one of Jackie?s front teeth with his kicks. Rumors are that Jackie couldn?t get along with Hwang because of the incident, but if that was true, then Hwang may not have gotten the villain role in the follow up DRUNKEN MASTER, where he played the aptly titled ?Thunder Foot? Yen.

It might have to be Fearless Dragons! It also has Phillip Ko and Beardy in, bonus-me-do.

[prinnysquad]

Shaolin Death Squad
Cliff Lok, Carter Wong, Polly Shan Kwan.

Solid film with a lot of decent action, including two fighters going up a huge temple tower, taking on monks with various styles and weapons. Watched this last Friday so it's a bit hazy, but I seem to remember enjoying it, without it being outstanding.

Fearless Dragons
Leung Kar Yan, Phillip Ko, Wang Lung Wei.
Oddball comedy, with some truly bizarre sequences. Basically, two drifters witness a heist of village silver, and get caught in the middle of the situation, being blamed for its disappearance. Cue lots of goofy comedy, including very strange contemporary references. There's a big bloke with gold teeth in it, a Jaws homage, which is outrageously out of place.
However, much of the comedy is amiable and funny. The two leads are very watchable. The best reason to watch this film though is the terrific end fight. It's a masterclass of high-paced choreography and skilled shapes work. Ko and Beardy take on Wei with such an assured intensity that you ignore the fact that it's amusing in some respects, and instead revel in the speed and grace of the fighters. Probably in my top 10 shapes fights list ever.

[prinnysquad]

Heads up: Fearless Dragons is on movies4men2 in the early hours of Wednesday morning (12.30am).

[QualityChimp]

I watched Zatoichi, the 2003 version by Takeshi "Beat" Kitano.

Obviously, it's all sword play rather than unarmed combat, but pretty watchable.

There's some ropey sword and blood CGI effects in places and some good ones elsewhere. They probably should have mixed it more with traditional effects. There's a couple of good sword fight sequences, but nothing that's not been done before in the Babycart or Yojimbo series.

There are a few fast-forwardable lulls, and a crazy dance routine before the end credits, but I'd wanted to watch this for a while, however I'm looking forward to getting back into the Lucky Stars series!

[prinnysquad]

Can't understand why they bother with CGI blood, especially if it looks dodgy. If they want blood that looks dodgy them Shaw brothers late 70s blood is the one to go with, it's scarlet-y pink!

Still, anything with Count Takeshi in is worth watching. As my old dad used to say, He's smiling, but his spuds are killing him.

Friday night, despite the best efforts of SOMEONE to skank it, will still be a kung fu watching night. I've got a load of movies4men2 flicks on the skybox, so maybe one of them. Or maybe something like The Prodigal Son. Hmmmmm....

[QualityChimp]

It's not just the blood that's ropey, the swords seem to move too.

Have a butchers at this. At around 1:12, the sword comes out his back. They moves a bit, but the sword tip doesn't seem to move. Rubbish!


We didn't even get to see Takeshi's castle with all its humorous minigames. Or am I thinking of the wrong Takeshi?

I now fancy watching a Babycart flick to make amends or move on to the next Lucky Stars film, My Lucky Stars.

[prinnysquad]

Yeah CGI

I wish Takeshi Kitano would stop fannying about and make more Castle episodes. There'd be no need for cgi then, all the pain would be real. I'm sure that if he got legal bods to draw up a water-tight liability waiver and got all contestants to sign it, they'd still get loads of applicants.

[Team Andromeda]

Jackie Chan badly on the set of Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, kicking one of his teeth out.

He did , you can clearly see Chan missing his front teeth at the end Fight . I think he also Damaged Chan's wind pipe in Drunken Master (after a Kick) for which Chan needed Hospital Treatment

[prinnysquad]

Wu Tang Magic Kick, aka, The Mar's Villa

John Liu, Phillip Ko, Chan Chia Kai, Tung Wei.

Before anything about the film, I'd just like to warn against getting the Eastern Heroes dvd of this film. It's got a few bios and extras on it, which is great, but the film transfer is technically poor. The picture itself is fine, but there's some flicking and tearing, like there are missing frames. The sound is appalling, really distant and muffled. I felt like I was watching the film with a pair of cushions strapped to my ears. There was a German language version on the same disc, and the sound was far clearer. I would have watched that version, but alas, no subtitles.

It's been a while since I watched a John Liu film, so to correct that fault I thought I'd indulge in this Taiwanese flick.

Mar Tien Liang (Liu) is a local business bod who has a run in with an old git, played by Phillip Ko. After a bit of argy bargy he kicks his ass (a good stunt at the end of this - Ko falls from about 8ft onto a wooden table full of water-filled pots, smashing stuff everywhere). Suddenly, things go awry. A new kid turns up on the block, demanding a fight against Mar's famed Magic Kick technique. Mar though has promised his wife to keep out of the rough stuff. A mystery puppeteer then orchestrates a series of devasting events - Mars' business gets smashed up, his bank gets nailed, and some of his students get pwnd. The new kid is quick to try to prove his innocence, moving into Mar's villa. The villians are revealed and poor Mar is forced into insanity by the various tortures they inflict on him.

The story is quite different to stuff I've watched up to now insofar as the hero is forced right to the brink, at one point not even recognising his own wife. It's a story of three parts - victory, slow defeat, then revenge. John Liu is pretty good in this, though not as fluent as in his later films. He really nails some big kicks, though his hands don't get to do much work. His acting range gets more of an airing than usual here, and it's decent enough.

Phillip Ko seems to be hanging back in this film, like he doesn't want to hog the limelight. He is still top rank though, easily the best martial artist on show.

The supporting cast are fine, the locales super (big waterfalls, temples, plains, etc), and the whole film enjoyable. It nails a good pace, with a decent story to frame it. The martial arts standard ranges between competent and very good, but never raises itself to the top level. If only Ko had hit his top level.

I think Phillip Ko is probably my favourite martial arts star. He's got such a good all-round range, and plays villians to particularly good effect. He never, ever looks out of his depth. His standard in Duel of the Seven Tigers was consistently excellent, he was superb as a good guy in Fearless Dragons, giving a fantastically fast and technical horse boxing style, and in Eight Diagram Pole Fighter he proved his ability to fight in a top-rank Shaw Brothers picture. The fight between himself and Gordon Liu in the temple is eye-openingly good.

In an interview he said his favourite films were The Loot and The Challanger. I have both but haven't watched them yet!