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Seen any good Kung-Fu flicks of late?

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    "I threat you! I challenge you meet me on the roof tonight for a duet! I will kill you until you are dead from it! Beware, your bones are going to be disconnected!"

    All the vengeance vids took a while to get. I'm still shy of a couple of Rarescopes, but I should get them easy enough.

    If anyone is particularly interested in vengeance vids, here's a heads-up. The rarest one I've been aware of for the last couple of years is Queen Boxer. I saw it ages ago for about a fiver, but I didn't get it and it went. Then I checked every other day for about 18 months and never saw it again. In May another copy (used) came up for 15 quid, so I took the plunge. By that point I was only a few off the set. At the moment there's a copy up for £6.99, it's the only one I've seen since I got mine and really is a must-get for set collectors. It's a terrible print of the film, though!

    For anyone wanting to get old school vengeance video stuff, here's a list of the main players as far as rareness and costly entries are concerned. I'd been watching them on amazon for the best part of two years, and developed a pretty good idea of rarity and market value. The titles below are either:
    - rare (usually cost a fortune, and it's currently no exception)
    - unusually cheap ('bargain!' noted next to them - these are usually far more pricey and/or scarce)
    - unusually expensive (ones not to splash out on)
    - unusually rare (be patient, more will arrival at better prices)
    - Combinations of the above.

    All prices on amazon.co.uk.

    - Buddhas Palm and Dragon Fist (difficult to get cheap, maybe worth waiting to come down though)
    - Shaolin and WuTang (has rocketed in price, keep an eye for cheaper prices around 5 to 8 pounds mark)
    - Warrior of Kung Fu (one on amazon for £12.80; it's been at 50 quid for most of the time). Bargain, in context!
    - 18 Shaolin Riders (1 new on amazon for £9! Normally goes for 40-odd). Bargain.
    - Iron Monkey 1977 is a funny one, it's currently extortionate but I have seen it for £2.
    - Death Duel of Kung Fu is usually pricey, amazon has one for less than £3 though. Bargain.
    - Shaolin vs Tai Chi goes through phases, amazon has 9 copies, all for 6 quid or less, but I've seen it far rarer and far pricier. Probably a bargain.
    - The Eight Escorts has been rare recently, but amazon has one for a fiver. Bargain.
    - Drunken Arts and Crippled Fist = always costly.
    - Evil Destroyer vanished for ages but amazon currently have 2 copies for £3 or less! Bargain.
    - Mantis Fist and Tiger Claw - rare and expensive. Always expect to pay big bucks.
    - The Eagle Fist - mega rare, mega expensive. I paid £15 quid for mine, but currently it's going for £40. Probably the second-rarest after Queen Boxer.
    - Shaolin Zen Master - moderately rare, usually pricey.
    - Snake Fist of a Buddhist Dragon - usually scarce, but currently 2 copies on amazon for less than a fiver. Bargain.
    - South Shaolin and North Shaolin was bread and butter a year ago. Now amazon has 1 copy, for £8. Another phase dvd. There could be 10 copies for 89p each another month.
    - Likewise Duel of the Tough. 1 copy for £3. Probably a bargain.
    - Fearless Dragons, always expensive. 17 quid at the mo.
    - Hard Bastard, always expensive, and rare. One copy for 20 quid at the moment.
    - Tiger Over Wall was always common, now it's tough to get. 1 copy on for 6 quid at the mo. Bargain.
    - 18 Jade Claws of Shaolin. Tough to get cheap.
    - Sleeping Fist rarely dips below £15. If it does, get it. That goes for a lot of these usually-pricey ones.
    - Snake in Eagle's Shadow 2 is very rare and nearly always £60. But there's a single used copy for £15 at the mo. Bargain, for the completist.
    - Kung Fu Genius, very rare, seldom dips below £15. One on now for £25.
    - Horse Boxing Killer goees through phases. It's a rip off on amazon at the moment.
    - As is Duel of 7 Tigers. One copy for £15? Dream-on...
    - Shaolin Drunk Monkey always hovers around the £15-20 mark.
    - Disciple of Shaolin Master is another rare, which currently has 2 copies at just over a fiver. Bargain.
    - Enter the Game of Death is always a rip-off, betweenn £8 and £18.
    - The One Armed Swordsmen is always tough to get, it's £13 at the mo. That's not cheap though, even bearing it's rarity in mind. I've seen it cheaper.
    - Seven Steps of Kung Fu usually goes for a lot more than £4.97! Bargain.
    - Drunken Dragon is increasingly scarce.
    - Once Upon A Time In China 6 is cheaper now than it's ever been. Buy buy buy!
    - The Clutch of Power is now rare.
    - So is Kung Fu in the Brave Shadow.
    - And Zombie Rivals.
    - And Invincible Armour.
    - As is Snake and Crane Secret.
    - Oh, and 10 Shaolin Disciples.
    - Fist of Golden Monkey, Dragon Lee vs Five Brothers, Bruce Lee True Story, and Descendents of Wing Chun all appear sporadically, but never very expensive. Worth picking them up when you see them.

    Comment


      Originally posted by prinnysquad View Post
      Cool.

      - One Armed Boxer 2 is the same film as Master of the Flying Guillotine.
      - Shaolin Master Killer is what the Americans call The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. I think it's a classic of Shaolin legend. It's got a slow, careful build-up as the main character learns his skills though various training rooms.
      - Duel of 7 Tigers is very old school, all shapes and basic story. It's the one I started with after Drunken Master and Snake In The Eagle's Shadow. It has a lot of action in it, not particularly brutal or visceral, but nicely choreographed.
      - Invincible Armour showcases the kicking skills of John Liu and Hwang Jang Lee. It's an emphasis that became popular after Secret Rivals in the mid-70s.
      - The Buddhist Fist and Thundering Mantis are both quite mental, with some odd scenes amongst the nice choreography. Both old school.

      You're probably best off going for Lee and Chan stuff first. They're seen as the classics and most popular of the genre. Things like South Shaolin & North Shaolin and Ten Tigers of Shaolin are probably not the best to start with. Outside of the action they could be slow and boring to plough through. But the ones in red are solid old school classics with dodgy acting, iffy stories, grainy film stock, ropey dubbing, ripped-off music soundtracks and often dance-like fighting. Class
      Add in Warriors Two An all time classic that one



      And so is Encounters Of The Spooky Kind

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        Prinny, you're always so vague about your suggestions, you never put any detail in!
        /joke

        I'm getting a crazy big backlog of films to watch now! I'll write up what I've got to watch when I check my list.

        In the meantime, here's another one to add to the list: Gallants.
        I'd read about it in Impact magazine, but this trailer makes it look super-sweet.
        A kung-fu master awakes from a 30 year coma to find his teahouse/dojo knocked down. So he and his aging pals go on a youngster-whipping rampage.

        The film is set in modern times but is in the style of Hong Kong action comedy films from the 1960s and 1970s.

        Check it:

        Comment


          I saw the second half of Police Story 2 and all of Fist of Legend last night.

          PS2 has some poignant scenes inbetween the fighting and asks the questions "can a hero ever switch off?" and "Is Ka-kui a hero or a little psychotic?". There's a couple of silly scenes of Canto-humour, but also some of high tension. The shopping mall bomb threat being one that sticks in the mind. Ironically, it's when JC has quit as a cop that he follows the rule book best!

          As for the fight scenes, the playground sequence is a classic and uses the scenery brilliantly. The end sequence is also great and Benny Lai is a whirlwind as the deaf/mute. I remember being put off the dubbed version as he sounded like John Major clearing his throat. The subbed version isn't too dissimilar, but is less comedic.

          FoL is great too. The introductory scene in the classroom is great. The director wanted to show the ceiling a lot so that the audience sees there's a lot less wire work. There's still plenty evident (Vaseline is smeared on the top of the lens in one scene to disguise them), but it feels a lot more grounded and bone-crunching.

          It's a bit daft when Jet Li is flying around a nightclub in Romeo Must Die...

          I watched both of these with the commentaries on, but watching the fight scenes without them first. Jude Poyer on PS2 is no Bey Logan on FoL! There's long periods of quiet and says a few times "Ouch, that looks painful". That's kind of the point!

          I recorded The Medallion off telly t'other night, so I've that to look forward too, but if I remember correctly, I didn't like how much wire work there was, because JC gets "magic powers" or some other MacGuffin.

          Went to watch Eastern Condors again, only to find the case was empty! Argh! Where did I put that disc?!

          Comment


            Prinny, thanks for that list. I do have some Vengeance titles from years ago but I lost a few due to careless mates.

            QC-you bought the recently released remastered Police Story box set, didn't you? It uses the longer cuts so I might purchase it. I've seen them already but want a better version.

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              Hiya, I didn't get the box set of Police Story, I just bought the two separate films. The only difference with the box set is that they're in a box! Same cases and discs.

              They're £2 and £2.50 if they have 'em at a CEX near you...

              Comment


                No, I thought ages ago you ordered the recently released chinese version boxset, remastered by Joysales I think?

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                  Not me, sir!

                  I've got the HKL releases, which do me nicely!

                  I'll always go for the HKL version first and some other version if that's not available.

                  I've got SPL, Dragon Tiger Gate and City of Violence, but that's about it. Sorry!

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                    Oh, I see.

                    HKLs do have great special features most of the time, but some of their releases have drawbacks, like the picture distortion in Magnificent Butcher, wrong colour tones in other films, frame trimming in Drunken Master, etc etc.

                    They did have some great releases though.

                    Comment


                      They're worth it for the Bey Logan commentaries though. Glad he's doing them on the Dragon Dynasty discs.

                      At the end of Fist of Legend, he suggests Jet Li should do a sequel where Chen Zhen returns and is secretly fighting the Japanese as an underground figure.

                      I wonder if Donnie Yen heard that, because that's exactly the premise for his Return of Chen Zhen!

                      In the meantime, this really made me laugh:

                      Comment


                        I think Donnie and Bey are friends, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's where he got the idea from.

                        Comment


                          Originally posted by shinobi7000 View Post
                          No, I thought ages ago you ordered the recently released chinese version boxset, remastered by Joysales I think?
                          I've got the recentish boxset's from Fortune Star of the Police Story, Armour of God and Project A movies, still haven't got round to watching them yet though
                          Last edited by Mad Gear; 08-01-2011, 17:39.

                          Comment


                            Watched recently....

                            Kung Fu Genius
                            The Eight Escorts
                            The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
                            Everlasting Chivalry
                            Showdown at the Cotton Mill
                            Whirlwind Knight
                            Witty Hand Witty Sword

                            Do write-ups later

                            Comment


                              Anyone seen Reign of Assassins (co-directed by John Woo) yet?

                              Comment


                                No!

                                I've ordered an uncut version of The Dragon Tamers (1975), one of Woo's first films. It has Carter Wong in it. Awesomes.

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