Seen any good Kung-Fu flicks of late?

[monel]

Cool, glad you liked it. I loved the bit [HIDE]where Donnie and Fan Siu Wong pause the fight for Donnie's son[/HIDE].

[QualityChimp]

So I saw Jackie Chan's First Strike again for the first time in ages last night.

Firstly, let's get the negatives out of the way: It's a lame story; the dubbing is off-putting; the Police Story heritage seems forgotten and it seems to imitate Western films (James Bond, Beverly Hills Cop) when it's unique enough in its own right.

Now that's out of the way, let's focus on the the positives - the action!

This is a film that is packed with inventive action and fight scenes. Within the first 30 minutes, there's a great chase sequence where Jackie is pursued on a snowboard down a mountain. It finishes with him jumping onto a helicopter, then falling from the helicopter as it's blown up into the freezing lake below and then hiding beneath the ice whilst getting shot at! I know there's movie magic involved, but it's a great set piece.

The final third of the film is almost non-stop with action. I'm not scared of heights, but even I was unsure about when Jackie is running around the ledge around the outside of a penthouse at the top towerblock, seemingly without wires or nets! It's quite a funny fight as he flips through windows and doors trying to evade the Russian agent who seems twice Jackie's size.

There's an amazing fight sequence (which probably fits into a JC Top 10 Fights list) where he fights with tables, chairs, scaffolding, poles and stepladders as he defends himself from a family that think he murdered their father. The part where he flings the stepladders about is brilliant cinema, so clever.

The next action sequence sees Jackie rescuing the girl whilst on a pair of stilts. She's been held on a first floor balcony, but his extended legs gives him the extra reach he needs to kick the henchman holding her.

The chase moves to the aquarium that the McGuffin is hidden in. Naturally, it's at the bottom of the shark tank. There's a great fight underwater and Jackie uses the reduced gravity to do flips and spins to take out the henchmen after him. As he has no SCUBA gear, he's trying to grab the mouthpieces from them. When his thumb is cut, the shark smells blood and comes out to investigate, so he has to alternate between breathing from the mouthpiece and sucking his thumb to avoid more blood escaping.

No JC movie would be complete without him jumping through the air in a Mitsubishi, so to finish the film, that's what he does, onto an escaping boat!

There's plenty of humour too. It's not hilarious, but it raises a chuckle throughout.

So, yeah, not an amazing film plot-wise, but it's a very inventive and amusing ride that's a great showcase for Jackie's ability to think outside the box when it comes to action.

[rmoxon]

First Strike is pretty Underrated (much like Mr Nice guy which was released around the same time). I agree that the Ladder Fight is probably one of Jackies best fights, It's one of those scenes that only Jackie Chan can do, I mean..... he beats people up with a giant ladder and whirls it around his head like its a tiny stick.

I think there are a few reasons why the film isnt that appreciated though. One is that there are very few fights in the film, in fact there's probably only 2 proper ones and even the latter of those (in the water tank) is kind of stop and start. The other reason is that the western release of the film is cut and missing about 20 minutes of footage, the cuts dont make it as nonsensical as they do in somthing like The Acidental Spy, but there is still a large chunk of the story missing.

Im a massive fan of Chan and enjoy all his films so for me the above complaints don't really have much of an impact, but I can imagine that for many they would cause annoyance.

[Kit]

Watched New Police Story last night. The end fight scene in the Lego store was fun to watch, with Jackie smashing through giant Lego constructions, but the rest just felt like an excuse for Jackie Chan to show off his acting skills by crying every five minutes. Very disappointing really, seeing how good the first one is.

The original and new are the only two Police Story films I've seen so I'm going to watch through the others I've missed.

Quick question: Which one of Jackie Chan films has him jumping on balloons fighting in mid-air? want to track that one down as I recall that fight scene being jaw-dropping.

Cool, glad you liked it. I loved the bit [HIDE]where Donnie and Fan Siu Wong pause the fight for Donnie's son[/HIDE].

That bit made me a smile too.

[monel]

Watched New Police Story last night. The end fight scene in the Lego store was fun to watch, with Jackie smashing through giant Lego constructions, but the rest just felt like an excuse for Jackie Chan to show off his acting skills by crying every five minutes. Very disappointing really, seeing how good the first one is. The original and new are the only two Police Story films I've seen so I'm going to watch through the others I've missed. Quick question: Which one of Jackie Chan films has him jumping on balloons fighting in mid-air? want to track that one down as I recall that fight scene being jaw-dropping. That bit made me a smile too.

Midair, balloons? I can only recall the bit in Thunderbolt right now, where he is fighting in the arcade on the coloured inflatable balls or maybe the pachinko balls too.

[rmoxon]

He could be thinking of Armor of God.

[Kit]

Midair, balloons? I can only recall the bit in Thunderbolt right now, where he is fighting in the arcade on the coloured inflatable balls or maybe the pachinko balls too.

That's the one! just checked. Reading the comments to the video the movie itself isn't one of Jackie's best but I remember that particular fight scene being awesome - he fights two taekwondo guys like he does in Who Am I.

[monel]

That's the one! just checked. Reading the comments to the video the movie itself isn't one of Jackie's best but I remember that particular fight scene being awesome - he fights two taekwondo guys like he does in Who Am I.

My memory's playing up today, but I think he was heavily doubled during that film since he was injured (I think). He's always used doubles, like most stars, but there's something about Thunderbolt I've forgotten. I like the film, far from his best, but the racing scenes were obviously sped up and you can tell they're doing about 15mph really.

[rmoxon]

My memory's playing up today, but I think he was heavily doubled during that film since he was injured (I think). He's always used doubles, like most stars, but there's something about Thunderbolt I've forgotten. I like the film, far from his best, but the racing scenes were obviously sped up and you can tell they're doing about 15mph really.

He injured his leg filming Rumble In The Bronx, which is why he spends most of the film sat in a race car. He was heavily doubled in that scene, but the rest of the action that they shot for the film didnt really require him to be, fortunatley.

[Kit]

Just finished watching Police Story 2. Not sure how well received the second one was but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Some really good stunt work on show again, in particular the ones towards the end where they were falling off the fireworks factory with nothing to break their fall! Another one that stands out is the smaller chap taking a huge dive into the water drums below - they should have shot that from multiple angles as the final shot doesn't seem to do it justice.

Also, I want a girlfriend like Mai.

[prinnysquad]

It seems that in my absence, rmoxon has soaked this thread in Chan-cum. Let's get things back on the Road of Obscurity with a recent basher.

Tiger From Hong Kong (1974)

Chang Yi is a dude wrongfully convicted of the murder of a special operative. He escapes and seeks to fettle the hoodlums who framed him, while having to avoid the attentions of a replacement special op. The copy I watched was pretty dire - with random inserts of video company titles throughout the film. It was like watching through a pane of vaseline-covered glass in a thick fog. There was also a lousy soundtrack, with distant-sounding voices almost overwhelmed by the rumble of the degraded print. The film itself was a decent enough distraction. A very cliched plot, but delivered with a seriousness that works to Yi's advantage. He puts in a good performance and nails some impressive bootwork. Nancy Yen gives a nice turn, too. Not even vaguely recommended for those without high tolerance levels and a real affection for low budget, lesser entries in the genre. Has the superb aka of Seventy Two Hours in Green Town.

I also watched Fury of Shaolin Fist (1972). I can barely remember anything about it, apart from the main baddie using a 'gun' that looked like a squashed sphere in the palm of his hand. I remember enjoying it, but thinking that it was very much of its time. Lisa Chaio Chaio is in it, always a bonus. The aka is Chivalrous Robber Lee San. Another case of the alternative title being better than the Westernised one, which has bugger all to do with Shaolin as far as I recall.

[monel]

Another case of the alternative title being better than the Westernised one, which has bugger all to do with Shaolin as far as I recall.

I hated how the US Shaws were often retitled as 'Death' whatever, like Death Chambers, Martial Club became Instructors of Death (!) etc etc. But the Americans were lucky to get the Shaw films on telly...


I saw Cinema of Vengeance the other day, maybe a couple of days ago actually. I haven't seen it for many years, it's a decent documentary and features lots of stars including Sammo, Lau Kar Leung, Gordon Liu, John Woo, etc etc. With clips from quite a few films, some spoilers too. It does give too much time to certain actors who were more famous during the 90s, though. Not a bad docu to watch, especially for someone new to the genre.

[prinnysquad]

Agreed!

I may be wrong about Seventy Two Hours being an aka. FLK suggests that hkmdb is wrong, and it's a wholly different film. DAMN THEM.

[redstar_dan]

I watched the Raid recently. I enjoyed it immensely. I didnt enjoy the dubbing.
I watched it dubbed, to impress the legendary QC. The joke backfired on me.

[prinnysquad]

Legendary?

He's got a long way, and a ****load of **** films to watch, before he reaches that.

Let's call him 'Nameless Thug #2' QC, in true Shaw Brothers style.

A few more years, and he might be up to 'Right Hand Man of Mid-Boss' QC.