Seen any good Kung-Fu flicks of late?

[prinnysquad]

I recognise that name, but I have no idea whether or not I have it! Bah.

[Harry]

I watched Ip Man for the first time yesterday, awesome movie.

Shame I can't find the 2nd flick with it's original Cantonese audio track and proper English subtitles. They all seem to be dubbed Mandarin with poor English subtitle translations.

[Finsbury Girl]

Oh dear. watched Kamui - it's based on the manga Legend of Kamui which I loved back in tha day. But this is an utter ****e film. Ropey cgi, ropey acting and some of the dodgiest ninja fighting I have ever seen. I reckon this film has no redeeming features whatsoever. Seriously, it's almost American Ninja bad.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!

[QualityChimp]

Thanks to another Shinobi suggestion, I saw High Risk/Meltdown, which is a Jet Li vehicle that I avoided as I thought it'd be pretty low budget, but there's been a fair bit of cash thrown at it with explosions and helicopter crashes and so on.

The pitch of it is a little uneven, as there's plenty of slapstick comedy and gurning, but the violence is pretty full-on, with headshots, bloodpacks and hostages or terrorists been taken out willynilly.

Jet Li plays a bomb disposal expert that has his wife and son killed by a trap bomb set by an exceptional thief. He then goes into hiding and starts a new life as a stuntman for a famous Hong Kong action star called Frankie Lone. Frankie claims he does all his own stunts, but it's Jet's character that does most of them and a TV reporter has sussed this out and is trying to reveal Frankie's secret.

Events conspire and Frankie Lone, the reporter and Jet end up at the same tower that Hans Gruber the terrorist is robbing. Jet recognises his voice and sets off to kill him to avenge the death of his family.

If you haven't sussed, this is an homage to Die Hard. Even the original title, "Rat's bravery and Dragon's might" is similar to Die Hard's Chinese name, "Tiger's bravery and Dragon's might". It's different enough to still be exciting though and Jet has some good fights in it. Jacky Cheung (whom I enjoyed in Tiger Cage) has some great scenes as the cowardly Frankie Lone, but steps up with some nunchaku action.

Overall, the film is silly but action-packed, and I really enjoyed it, especially the sequence where Jet takes out a lobby full of bad guys in his compact hatchback! Corey Yuen did the action choreography.

The main thing to note is that, as Shinobi has mentioned, High Risk was directed by Wong Jing who previously worked with Jackie Chan on City Hunter and they didn't get on at all. Chan went on to disown the film and attacked Jing in the press. So for High Risk, Jing created Frankie Lone who is surrounded by his stunt team, does none of his own stunts and is a womanising drunkard!

He spends most of his time doing Bruce Lee impressions though, he even dons the iconic yellow Game of Death tracksuit.

[monel]

Jacky Cheung's performance cracks me up every time in High Risk, I need to watch it again, thanks for the reminder. Some of the character traits such as being a near alcoholic must have really hit Jackie hard. Weird thing is, I heard Jackie Chan held it against Jet Li for quite a while, more than anyone else involved in the film (allegedly).

Jackie Cheung also seems to lust after every woman within breathing distance too, in the film.

I love that film, but QC you'll have to get used to the slapstick comedy, it's quite rare to get classic Hong Kong films with zero comedy in them.

Wong Jing did another film that was supposedly influenced by Die Hard, but what little I saw of it looked pretty crap and I got rid of it before finishing it. Might have to hunt it down again but I doubt it can compare to High Risk.

[prinnysquad]

Watched over the last couple of weekends...

Tough Duel (1972)

Tien Peng was in this. Can't remember much about it now, other than the fact it was a decent basher. There was a heist on a steam train, with a guy witnessing it, but refusing to get involved, due to his undercover mission. It was a nice little grubby punch and block film.

Win Them All (1973)

Another basher. Yasuaki Kurata stars as Iron Fingers, the hard-ass mastermind of much trouble. The daughter (Hsu Feng) of a man killed by Kurata teams up with a whiny bint (Woo Gam) and a random guy to track him down. Simultaneously, Wong Yuen-San, an agent, tries to take doen Boss Chen (Tien Feng), who is working with Kurata. Plenty of comedy and daftness in this, with Woo Gam simpering and gurning her way through the story. It's equal parts amusing and annoying. Take the pant-removing fight scene - amusing, yet if played straight I reckon it could have been better. The daughter is very stern-faced, and completely focused on the mission. There's some great action and choreography, with Kurata's power and technique totally awesome. The settings are classic - really grotty early-industrial and rural. The end fight between Kurata and Wong Yuen-San is excellent, with quintessential early 70s punch and block work.

[monel]

Prinny, have you seen any Kurata tv series? I can't remember the names, one of them maybe G-Men but I really can't recall as I haven't seen them.

[prinnysquad]

The Silver Spear (1979)

Tien Peng stars in and directs this wuxia swordplay. One review of this suggested it had beeen cut, and I can see why. There's numerous plot strands that leap out of nowhere, with characters appearing and disappearing. The story has four swordsmen being summoned to a tourney, to win the hand of the daughter of Madam Green Plum, who is the head of the mysterious Jade Palace. There's a double crossing and Tien Peng is accused of murder. He is tracked by a group of well-meaning monks, and encounters numerous people on his travels to help him, or hinder him, in his quest for the truth.

There's some oddness in this effort. The opening scene is lovely - a duel in a tightly-filmed snowy area. The story is reasonably easy to comprehend, it just throughs some weird aspects in out of nowhere, like some drunken masters at the end. Kam Kong has a brilliant cameo as a huge, practically undefeatable vampire. Tien Ho plays a vicious, murderous scumbag. One of the monks wears a pair of yellow dungarees, and has a rucksack on his back in the shape of a mini shrine. It's bizarre. Chen Sing has a cameo as a recluse who is wrongly-accused of a crime. Doris Lung also features, as does Meng Fei and Wang Ping. A great cast! The choreography is decent, though, with classic swordplay virtues, and Kam Kong's quick, brute force lifts the film into memorable quirkiness.

Kung Fu Headcrusher aka Tough Guy aka Revenge of the Dragon (1972)

Chen Sing is a cop assigned to go deep undercover in a smuggling ring. He breaks San Kuai (Buddhist Fist hunchback) out of prison, and gets a job working down the docks. Chen beats up some guys while defending a local chap. When Kuai comes to pummel him, he realises who it is, and asks Chen back to meet the boss. Chen's infiltration is complete. But he faces a problem when the hoodlums he associates with attack local people. Chen maintains contact with his assistant via matchbox messages. The trouble starts when members of the smuggling gang begin to suspect his actions.

I didn't realise this was Kung Fu Headcrusher until after I'd watched it, so I had no sense of expectation. As I was watching it, I was thinking, 'wow, this is canny. A hidden gem!' Only later did I realise it was a highly rated low-brow punch and block classic. Which was a good thing, as I watched it fresh, expecting nothing. The story and the settings are very basic. There's no detailed plot, but the characters are decent. The settings are typical grotty rural and small-town. The action is where it's at. There's plenty of fights, featuring some top early-70s punch and block work. Chen Sing is a beast in this, I can see why some folk think of him as a Chinese Bronson. He's very personable as a good guy, yet when he gets cross, there's a lot of fury and power in his swinging. He's a real basher powerhouse. He's ably assisted in this film by San Kuai, Henry Yu Young, Nick Cheung and Fung Hak-On. Mars, Corey Yuen and Yuen Woo Ping are lurking around in here too, in small roles. The latter handled the fight choreography too. There's a very decent fight on a boat, and the end scene is immense. There's running brawls along cliff tops and grassy plains, ending on a muddy riverbed, with Sing and Kuai duking it out, covered in filth. It's raw and unglamorous, but fits in with the exhuastion of the fight. There's also some nice knife and pole work.

A great watch for its time, with some power hitting in every fight. The end fight is a long, tiring and very satisfying after the set-up.

Chen Sing and Kurata are absolute beasts in these early 70s bashers, they really lay the smackdown.

[prinnysquad]

Prinny, have you seen any Kurata tv series? I can't remember the names, one of them maybe G-Men but I really can't recall as I haven't seen them.

I haven't. He's a proper beast of an on-screen action bod. Everything I've seen him in - Legend of a Fighter, Secret of Shaolin Poles - he's hogged the screen with his power.

[prinnysquad]

Shaolin Youth Posse (1984)

What can I say? Ludicrous and totally annoying. Yet, there's some undeniably good choreography here. The story has a load of kids at Shaolin Temple left behind with an abbot to guard the joint. The other monks are off to pay lip servce to the Ching Emperor, y'see. A Ching Princess uses the opportunity to attack the temple, to try and root out a Ming child-Prince being concealed there. The kids face wave after wave of attacks from various henchmen.

The dub I watched was ****. The kids were voiced by women and squeaky-voiced punks, so they all had annoying whining Minnie Mouse voices. It was a real film-skanker. The characters were similarly bizarre. One of the henchman seemed to be a gay paedo who bit kids on the neck to kill them. Halfway through, with the kids in retreat, a spirit monk bust out of a statue and laid the smackdown, before sitting down outside the temple and turning into a skeleton. There were numerous scenes of kids getting brutally murdered.

The fights were ok. The acrobatics were impressive, with a nice use of environment and co-operation. It was just difficult to see beyond the ludicrousness of the story and the rotten dub.

[monel]

I haven't. He's a proper beast of an on-screen action bod. Everything I've seen him in - Legend of a Fighter, Secret of Shaolin Poles - he's hogged the screen with his power.

Oh yeah, totally agree. His showdown with Gordon Liu in Heroes of the East, the first time I watched it, was so enjoyable, it had everything. I have a few Kurata flicks I haven't watched yet. Some of those films you mentioned seem interesting, I assume Silver Spear isn't the same film as Deadly Silver Spear?

[prinnysquad]

That is correct. Deadly Silver Spear is a Jimmy Wang Yu film iirc. Decent I seem to remember - I may have posted a review on here, I can't remember.

Kurata in Heroes of the East was superb! I'm of a mind to get some of his bashers.

[monel]

Heroes of the East and Legend of a Fighter are probably my favourite Kurata moments, the latter because of the strength of his character and the relationship with his student.

[prinnysquad]

That was a tremendous film, and a tremendous performance. It just oozed quality.

I'm actually quite enjoying these early 20th-century-set bashers from the 70s. There's a level of filth and grit to the settings that's almost unfakeable. The grotty streets, steam trains, docks, mines and junkyards kind-of fits in with the hard-edged brawling. There's no artistry to the fights, they're just based on fury and power, with blocking techniques. If it makes sense, the setting fits the fights - raw, rough and brutal. Contrast that to the more historical-flavoured, flowery settings and costumes, and how they seem to fit the artsy elegance of shapes. Of course, these styles aren't exclusive, but as a general rule the fight styles seem to reflect the settings, and vice versa.

Love the costumes in bashers! Always a blue or grey loose shirt-jacket, with a white shirt underneath, and huge white cuffs. They're like a pyjama suit. I might get one, and watch kung fus while wearing it. It shall be my kung fu outfit.

[monel]

LOL I watch a lot of my films in my pyjamas. With several mugs of tea. I have never properly got into the bashers, yet. On an unrelated note, and not trying to be a prick, but on every specialist forum I've ever been on or lurked at, usually kung fu or music, they have a ton of arrogant, ignorant twats on them. edit- several very helpful and knowledgable people too, but the former type try and spoil it for everyone.