Seen any good Kung-Fu flicks of late?

[ETC]

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.

Only if he dedicates himself the full 90% to his cause

[QualityChimp]

I'm away for a few days, only to find I'm getting cussed bad - in my own dojo!

Nameless Thug #2 sounds about right though.

Got a few more HKL discs to watch, but the pile is still building faster than I have time to watch!

Glad you enjoyed The Raid, Dan. It's not a perfect film, but it's a damn good one. I look forward to seeing some more of both Gareth Evans and Iko Uwais. Going to get some mates round to watch it when it comes out on the 24th Sept.

I DID manage to watch something recently - Detective Dee & the Mystery of the Phantom Flame.

Chivalrous Facts:
Director - Tsui Hark (Once Upon A Time in China, Zu Warriors, Better Tomorrow)
Action Choreography - Sammo Hung
Starring - Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs, House of Flying Daggers), Tony Leung and Li Binbing

Basically, this is Sherlock Holmes if he lived in Tang Dynasty China around the year 689. Dee has been imprisoned for treason, but when a series of mysterious spontaneous combustion cases threaten the unveiling of a giant statue to commemorate the first Empress to rule China, he's released to help investigate.

He teams up with the Empress' attendant and a penal officer to investigate just how people are being made to catch fire and who would want to commit the crime.

I really enjoyed this as there's a great storyline and finding out who perpetrated these heinous crimes and their motivation was really intriguing. Naturally, there's a bunch of fight scenes, but considering it's Sammo, they're not that astounding. It's probably that they're mainly done on wires and, for me, that always takes away some of the tension. They're not bad, just functional.

There's a great selection of sets, costumes and effects (mostly) to strengthen the story and all the actors do their parts well. Li Bingbing has no martial arts training, but is very convincing.

Bonus points for having a fight sequence against a bunch of deer and for having a character called Donkey Wang.

It's a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Zu Warriors, and although isn't as good as either of those, it's a pretty fun ride.

[CMcK]

Watched The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk this evening.

It's the recentish Blu-ray version which does look a bit better than my old DVD. I must admit I had forgotten how good this film is. Goes from light hearted to serious but in that hammy way you associate with 80's Jackie Chan stuff.
Great action scenes throughout with the usual focus on Li's kicks and overall speed. Not too heavy on the wire work either which is always a good thing.

[monel]

Watched The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk this evening. It's the recentish Blu-ray version which does look a bit better than my old DVD. I must admit I had forgotten how good this film is. Goes from light hearted to serious but in that hammy way you associate with 80's Jackie Chan stuff. Great action scenes throughout with the usual focus on Li's kicks and overall speed. Not too heavy on the wire work either which is always a good thing.

Is it cut like any Miramax releases of Jet Li films were? I didn't know about this release, or who released it. I know I hate the modern dubs and the best dvd versions of those films were the French releases or something, which were lacking subs. I liked the films when I first saw them, but I would have to skip a few bits now. His mother was irritating as hell in the sequel. FSY's wives were always very pretty in the films, though.

[rmoxon]

Is it cut like any Miramax releases of Jet Li films were? I didn't know about this release, or who released it. I know I hate the modern dubs and the best dvd versions of those films were the French releases or something, which were lacking subs. I liked the films when I first saw them, but I would have to skip a few bits now. His mother was irritating as hell in the sequel. FSY's wives were always very pretty in the films, though.

There is a Cine Asia release that's avaliable on both DVD and blu ray. And it's uncut.

[monel]

OK, thanks for the info, I haven't been following any new releases for ages.

[QualityChimp]

Hey fight fans!

Here's some martial arts titles to look out for in 2013!

The Monkey King
Donnie Yen and Chow Yun-Fat take on the story of Monkey Magic.

The Protector 2
Tony Jaa is back, and hopefully back on form...

Chinese Zodiac
JC completes the Asian Hawk trilogy. He's tried to do as many stunts as he can and learn how to use a skate suit, so it sounds like he's still being inventive. He'll never be as good as his 80s prime, but he's usually watchable!

The Grandmaster
It'll be interesting to see if the first film about Yip Man (Yen's film had to call him "Ip" to avoid copyright) is actually any good. The trailer makes it look like the Super Burly Brawl in the rain from The Matrix Revolutions, but if there's less flying about, it could be awesome.

Dut Shu Sun Fun
There was some production issues and the co-star walked off set, but Donnie Yen is normally the best thing about his films!

The Guillotines
A remake of the Flying Guillotines.

47 Ronin
Keanu Reeves returns to martial arts after The Matrix trilogy.
Man of Tai Chi
Reeves directs this one and also plays the bad guy!

Once Upon a Time in Shanghai
Sammo Hung returns!

Iron Monk
Set in London's China Town and Mark Strange is in here somewhere.
Tai Chi
Has Stephen Chow still got it?

Snowblade
A remake of Lady Snowblood directed by Bey Logan.

Sin-Jin
JeeJa Yanin's next film. "When she was a little girl everything was taken from her. Now she will take it all back."

I just wanted to list a few coming out next year, but there's quite a few more listed here: http://www.imdb.com/list/dzI_RkgPSzo/

[Finsbury Girl]

I love Armour of God and Armour of God II but I know deep in my heart of hearts, that this next one will be ****e.

Deffo looking forward to 47 Ronin and Man of Tai Chi. Intrigued by the Bey Logan Lady Snowblood remake. Am a big fan of the manga series by Koike (no surprise considering my avatar).

[QualityChimp]

I love Armour of God and Armour of God II but I know deep in my heart of hearts, that this next one will be ****e.

I agree. I'm setting my expectations pretty low so hopefully it'll be OK.

To be fair, I saw Rob-B-Hood this year and I quite enjoyed it. There's quite a prolonged fight towards the end and it's pretty inventive with the use of props (musical instruments, fans, quad bikes) and there's some nice shots too.

Watching My Stunts shows JC is constantly coming up with ideas, even whilst on-set when he's inspired by the locations.

I think we're all scared it's going to be pretty weak like The Spy Next Door, but that was squarely aimed at kids, I suppose.

Keanu Reeves really took to the martial arts whilst filming The Matrix, judging by the making-of documentaries, so I'm really curious about what he can come up with.

Although Bey Logan is the walking encyclopaedia of 'fu films, his contributions thus far have been a bit questionable - Blood Bond, The Medallion and Hard Spike.

This is the first film he's directed though, and he definitely knows what looks good on screen, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out!

[rmoxon]

I agree. I'm setting my expectations pretty low so hopefully it'll be OK.

To be fair, I saw Rob-B-Hood this year and I quite enjoyed it. There's quite a prolonged fight towards the end and it's pretty inventive with the use of props (musical instruments, fans, quad bikes) and there's some nice shots too.

Watching My Stunts shows JC is constantly coming up with ideas, even whilst on-set when he's inspired by the locations.

I think we're all scared it's going to be pretty weak like The Spy Next Door, but that was squarely aimed at kids, I suppose.

Keanu Reeves really took to the martial arts whilst filming The Matrix, judging by the making-of documentaries, so I'm really curious about what he can come up with.

Although Bey Logan is the walking encyclopaedia of 'fu films, his contributions thus far have been a bit questionable - Blood Bond, The Medallion and Hard Spike.

This is the first film he's directed though, and he definitely knows what looks good on screen, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out!

Robin B Hood is probably the best movie Jackie Chan has made in about the last 10 years, it's both very funny and has a couple of fight scenes that are just classic Jackie Chan type stuff. From what I have read about Chinese Zodiac it seems like Robin B Hood will probably be his last really good film too, as initial word on his new movie is not great,

[monel]

It's alive! The thread, I mean. I'm not posting online much anymore but thanks for the discussion this thread bought over the last few years. From the list QC posted I want to see what Tony Jaa is going to do with his return, after going off-track for a bit. Sammo too, I thought his last decent fight was in SPL not that I've watched all his films since. Didn't see Rob B Hood all the way through but it was great to see Biao was working with Chan again. Yuen Biao, he was the man.

[darkangel]

The Raid! ****ing amazing!

[rmoxon]

Watched Invisible Target. Not a great film by any stretch of the imagination. The plot is a mess and features too many main characters, but there's some fun action, mainly thanks to the fighting talents of Jacky Wu as the main bad guy, who even when attached to wires is still completely bad ass.

the film also has a surprisingly effective and heartfelt climax, I'm not quite sure how the film makers managed it, because as I said the plot is all over the place, but it's helped a great deal by a performance from Jaycee Chan who seems to have inherited his dads ability to play the likeable Everyman to perfection.

Worth a watch if you feel like seeing over the top action scenes done well, as there's loads of those in the film.

[QualityChimp]

Re: Seen any good Kung-Fu flicks of late?

Yeah, I enjoyed it too. Some pretty kinetic fight scenes and interesting characters that you care about.

There's not a single sheet of glass that remains unsmashed by the end though!

[rmoxon]

Yes, Benny Chan clearly has some sort of glass smashing fetish.