Seen any good Kung-Fu flicks of late?

[QualityChimp]

Yeah, it's pretty good Fader. I saw it a couple of weeks back. There's a long build up and then the last section is all action.

It's all sword fighting, but some tense scenes when it all kicks off.

It's similar to other flicks like Seven Samurai, Sanjuro and Yojimbo, which are equally as good.

[monel]

Fader, as much as I hate Cex, if there's a branch near you there's a chance you can pick up some good titles very cheap. Just thought I'd suggest that. Then again, certain films they overprice- you can pick them up brand new for much less than Cex charge.

[QualityChimp]

Shinobi's right (as usual), Fader.

I'm not sure what you have or haven't seen, but if you're looking for suggestions, we did some top tens in 2009 starting at post #85.

I pop into CEX all the time and peruse their Martial Arts and World Cinema aisles, hoping to spot a Hong Kong Legends disc I want. In fact, you can't usually go wrong with an HKL disc. The films are usually good and they're given the best treatment possible.

It's easy to compare prices with CEX and eBay online and see which has a cheaper copy. I might pick up So Close and it seems it's cheaper in CEX than most eBay listings.

Nice to see you posting in here, now hurry up and review something!

[prinnysquad]

Just thought of a new topic based on something Bash said in The Raid thread.

Which MA films have you seen that feature (Vaughan Savidge voice on) A VAST MULTITUDE OF STYLES? Films where you see loads of different weapons, and/or wing chun, and/or shapes, and/or other MA, and/or wire-fu?

Off the top of my head, I'll go for SEVEN GRANDMASTERS.

In one fight alone, Corey Yuen gets through about half a dozen different weapons. Add that to the shapes throughout, kicking, some decent fist work, and you get a lot of styles in 90 minutes.

[Fader209]

Thankyou for the advice, I had a quick check of the top tens and QC's list is more in line with what I like (and what I recognise lol) Basically the movies on my DVD shelf consist mainly of newer work from Jackie Chan or Jet Li (Rumble in the Bronx and Kiss of the Dragon being my stand out favourites), then a few other greats like Ong Bak, Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. It's quite a small martial arts collection but I have seen many others on TV such as the Police Storys and other older Chan/Li stuff.
My list of movies to watch: IP Man, SPL/Kill Zone, The Raid...and anything else you recommend!

[prinnysquad]

I'm not one for moderns, but quite enjoyed Flashpoint.

[Fader209]

Yeah that is another one for my list. I haven't seen any movie where Donnie Yen is the lead so any of his look like a good watch.
I did see him in Blade 2 though but he didn't really do much in that
Also, does Blade/Blade 2 count as martial arts? Ignoring the cgi parts there are some bad-ass fights in there.

[prinnysquad]

I believe it is.

I have to say, though, that personally, a Western MA film just doesn't feel like a proper kung fu film. The settings are just all wrong, and the Western actors don't seem as graceful. Some (though not all) just seem like big powerhouse lumps.

[monel]

Fader- if you like the Jackie Chan films look out for Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung and Donnie Yen's better films. Read some reviews or look through this thread, maybe.

Films with lots of different styles? I'm braindead right now, but Burning Ambition was good for that. Then (typical suggestions maybe), Legendary Weapons of China (SB)- the weapons showdown in the end plus the fight with Gordon Liu, great intro to the film (which has quite a few flaws but is a classic). Heroes of the East, definitely.

Trying to think of more... Oh yeah, Lady is the Boss has a brilliant ending with a showdown between different styles, with some parodying going on. I love that ending.

There used to be a site with decent reviews, they were called Dragons Den, but they changed their name, I found it a while ago but forgot. http://www.fareastfilms.com/reviewsList.php That should help, they focus on a lot of the 80s and 90s stuff I think. Wastedlife was a brilliant site for reviews of all genres of KF films, but it's gone . I never agree completely with most reviews but they are useful. Tend to disagree generally when they slag off a film I like a lot.

[prinnysquad]

As much as I love the old shapes, there's something about a film with tons of styles. Shaolin Kingboxer has shapes, punch n block, weapons and mad traps, too. A real all-rounder.

[monel]

I don't think I've seen that. There's loads of films which I just can't remember right now though which have a mix of different fighting styles and action. It always happens when you try and remember something straight away, then it comes to you later.

[prinnysquad]

I must admit, my mind is clogged up with ****e at the minute. I barely seem able to focus on anything.

I watched Crazy Horse Intelligent Monkey last week. It was great; a really enjoyable, skilled shapes fest. Yet I can barely remember a single thing about it. Chi Kuan Chun was in it - I think. His horse boxing was superb, though not quite as exotic as Ko Fei's in Two on the Road. I remember the title was mis-spelt 'Craczy Horse', which caused early mirth. Other than those bits n bobs, I'm lost.

I think I'm starting to suffer from some kind of dementia.

[QualityChimp]

Off the top of my head, there's a few films where there are contests with various styles like Bloodsport or Fearless.

I really like the recently-discovered footage from Bruce Lee's Game of Death that's available on the HKL DVD. Although Bruce is only using Jeet Kune Do, his opponents are using fixed styles and Bruce shows that fixed routines and patterns can be broken, only being flexible like a cane or fluid like water can one become undefeatable.

That 40 minute sequence is better than the whole of the released version of the film !

[prinnysquad]

I watched a little cracker last night. Righteous Fist, aka, Furious Ultimatum - an unreleased Rarescope print. I'll not say too much about it as I'm going to do a proper review later, but the film had me baffled.

When it first started I was thinking it was made in the early 70s. As the film progressed, I changed my mind. Mid-70s? Late 70s? The stylings and choreography seem late 70s, especially in the final fight. It's bloody, too.

When I checked the date of production on hkmdb, it stated ... 1972! WTF? To me, it seems years ahead of its time. My knowledge of films of the early 70s is shady, and this has made me totally unsure of what I thought they could do in that period. The film reminds me of a prototype of Rebellious Reign - big fights where every blow is intended to kill.

A re-watch and review is incoming, I feel.

[prinnysquad]

Thursday night -

The Sword of Swords (1968)

A Shaw Brothers Jimmy Wang Yu vehicle, with Tien Feng playing a bad un. The story is based around an incredible blade that took 10 years to fashion. It possesses power beyond the metal, such as creating an ear-splitting noise, or a powerful wind. An old master has a tournament to decide who will hold the blade after his death. Much to the disdain of bandit-in-disguise Elder Brother, Jimmy Wang Yu is selected. What follows is lashings of melodrama where JWY is pushed to mental and physical breaking point by the actions of Elder Brother and his evil cohorts.

The swordplay in this film is very impressive for 1968. It's crisp, clean, and far, far faster than Taiwanese efforts from 1968-1974. This may be due to the fact that one of the action directors is Lau Kar Leung. There's some brutal sequences where the filmmakers seem to have pushed the boundaries of what they could get away with. Plenty of claret on show. As usual, I was wowed by the fight in the snow, in which JWY gets chopped up good and proper, and a fight in the rain, where a blind JWY takes out a bunch of men with efficient precision. The best bit of that scene is where he manages to get two blokes to stab each other through a wooden door.

The end fight is very good (for its time). JWY goes mad, and unleashes his blind dual-knife style on the evil hordes. Unfortunately, his gagged family are ushered into the battle by their captors. JWY doesn't know this. It's the crowning piece of **** he has to deal with.

As usual with a Shaw, the production values are really good. The only iffy thing is the pace and composition of some parts of the story. JWY puts up with far too much before he goes for broke, and there's a bizarre sequence where he seems to become a master of knife and dart kung fu within days. In other films, a disabled warrior takes years to learn their new, adapted skills, but JWY's baby son doesn't grow up at all between his blindness and his mastery. It's a daft continuity error.

Good watch, though, if slightly overlong, and despite its faults.


Full Contact (1992)

Chow Yun Fat film. I don't even know if it belongs in this thread. The emphasis is on gunplay over martial arts, although the action director is Lau Kar Wing. It's a story of criminal betrayal and revenge. There's millions of synopses on the web, so I'll stick with impressions.

I really enjoyed this, but I'll start with the weird/bad bits.

- The soundtrack is very much of its time, and amusing rather than epic, with cock guitar solos reaching for the sky.
- The songs to display past events and move the story on. Urgh.
- The nympho character. She was a vital part of the story at times, but I can't say I was particularly entertained by her frigging herself off all the time and whinging on like a spoilt brat that she wasn't shunting every five minutes.

The good bits

- Plenty of gory action, with guns and knives. There's chopped fingers, multiple head blasts, holes blasted through throats and hands, the works.
- The lighting and atmosphere. The scene where the blood is cleared off the knife by the rain at the start is great, and the whole film has some superb settings.
- Chow Yun Fat is ice cool. It's a great performance - he seems vulnerable, yet so skilled as to be near-invincible. He plays off the bad guys well with hostage-taking, and never looks frightened.
- The bullet-cam. Really neat.
- The other cast. The openly gay head honcho with his magic tricks, the lunatic with the big gun and his disagreements with the bloke who gets done in at the start, the traitor friend who tries to make amends - all good characters.

This film almost embodies what I like and dislike about late 80s/early 90s stuff. Some bits made me squirm, like the songs and the soundtrack; but the rest was a total blast, with top action and a strong pace throughout.