Invincible Pole Fighter (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Some history for those who say this feels like two movies in one. Fu Sheng, who does a GREAT job of the brother having gone mad after witnessing the execution of his family, was killed during the production of this film and it was halted for about two years. Fu Sheng was a favorite student of the great Lau Kar Leung, and his death nearly devasted Lau. When the director returned to this movie, his half brother Gordon Liu was put into the lead role and the whole movie's tone became very heavy and angry, as is evident in the scene when G.L. first goes to the temple demanding refuge. You will never see a Gordon Liu character so hell bent on killing. That said, he showcases some incredible pole work. His fight with Ko Fei before he leaves the temple to seek revenge is off the charts. That last fight scene will have you covering your mouth and checking for your teeth!
Shaolin Temple [1976] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure One of the BEST martial arts movies EVER, with an outstanding cast. There is nothing I can say here that has not already been said about this movie, except: get it and watch it with "Five Shaolin Masters". Interestingly, although this came out 4 or 6 years LATER, it is the prequel to "Five Shaolin Masters". Almost all the greats are in this one, including very young Venoms actors, but of course the focus is on Ti Lung, David Chiang, Chi Kuan Chun, and Fu Sheng, all of whom are in the sequel, along with Meng Fei.
Five Shaolin Masters (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Although it came out 4 or 6 years prior, "Five Shaolin Masters" is the sequel to "Shaolin Temple" ("Death Chambers"). The story is historically significant and even touching, the martial arts incredible. Many of the Shaw Brothers heroes and villains are in this one. It is good to see Meng Fei hold his own next to some big names. My favorites are Ti Lung, Johnny Wang, and Chi Kuan Chun, who uses about 10 different styles when he fights Fung Hak On (who, by the way, does mantis fist better than anyone!). Watch this movie, but only AFTER you have watched "Shaolin Temple", which has most of the same cast. It is a bit odd to see a sequel where all the actors are considerably younger, but believe me, you will get more out of the story if you do it this way!
Five Deadly Venoms (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure If there were only two martial arts films that no true collector should be without, most people would say "Shaolin Master Killer" is one of them. I am telling you "Five Deadly Venoms" is the other! Great martial arts, intrique, double crossing, a storyline that actually makes sense, great fight scenes, and all SIX Venoms. The only drawback, as usual, is that Lo Meng is killed off early in the movie. If you are new to Venoms movies, THIS should be the first you watch. If you know who the Venoms cast members are, then that ruins the mystery right up front.
Dirty Ho (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Absolutely classic! This movie made me fall in love with Lo Lieh. He plays the villain with such coolness, arrogance, and an indifference towards his opponents that just gives him an air of supremacy. This, typically, has a revenge plot, but pay attention to the detail about "soft" and "hard" power. Liu is a stubborn fighter hell bent on taking revenge, but he first has to learn from his sister in law how to best combine the two types of powers. Great fight scenes! Liu and Lo always have such great chemistry on screen together.
Most people who give this movie a low rating do not understand the historical/cultural story that is being told. As is always the case, Lau Kar Leung shows the brotherhood, honor, and discipline bestowed upon practitioners of Hung Gar and lion dancing. This is an outstanding cast consisting of the three famous Liu (Lau) brothers and Chen Kuan Tai. It is about school rivalry. The sub-plot is that Kar Leung is also a wanted killer. Lau Kar Wing is pursing him. Another sub-plot deals with Wong Fei Hong’s father’s refusal to teach him Kung Fu, so his father’s teacher teaches him instead and impresses upon him the values of forgiveness, humility and never humiliating your opponent. All of this comes into play when Fei Hong (Gordon Liu) ends up facing real life older brother/director/choreographer Kar Leung. The training fights with Kuan Tai are wonderfully realistic, and all of the fights between the Lau brothers showcase traditional Hung Gar forms, especially the weapons--something that is hallmark of his movies. If you want blood and gore, this isn’t for you. If you want history, culture, and real martial arts, this should be in any real old school collection as well as its sequel, Martial Club.
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Or perhaps most of the people who gave it low ratings did so because it is a subpar effort with uninspired fight sequences.
The Bastard (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts If you want realistic fight scenes and/or a good story, this is for you. I almost passed this by, but the price and original language convinced me to buy this. "The Bastard" is a naive boy who befriends a beggar girl on his search for his father. He does find his father and this is when he learns some very harsh lessons about the variety and complexities of human nature. At times heart wrenching, this is also a movie that makes great use of realistic martial arts and values such as frienship, honesty, love, and poetic justice.
If you have seen many martial arts films, particularly Shaw Bros. joints, then you are familiar with Johnny Wang (Lung Wei). Along with Lo Leigh and a handful of others, he was usually cast as the main villain opposite Gordon Liu, Fu Sheng, The Venoms etc. I once read that it was because he almost always played the villain, his real-life martial prowess always had to take a back seat to that of the on screen hero. If you have ever seen My Young Auntie or Shaolin vs. Wu Tang then you know that he has showcased some skills.
In keeping with his effort to accurately portray the historical significance and martial arts world, Liu Chia Liang directed and choreographed a film that focuses on cultural relevant celebrations like the lion dance, and martial arts etiquette. The story is yet another that has as its main character Wong Fei Hung and the martial arts style of Hung Ga, which is well demonstrated throughout the movie. The Liu's brothers Hung Ga lineage is directly linked to Wong Fei Hung, and so no doubt they are trusted authorities on the style as well as Shaolin martial arts history in general. That said, the movie is fun to watch, has an authentic feel, and is a nice break from the anti-Ching movies that I have seen over and over again, but do love. While I would not categorize this as a comedy (something the detracts from many martial arts films) I would say that this one, even with the violence, has also a light-hearted energy! Martial club focuses on brotherhood, martial etiquette, loyalty, and competition. This brings me back to my original comments. For me the best feature of this movie, after having seen many with Johnny Wang as the villain, is seeing him in a noble role as the outsider (Northerner) who is just in town to learn about Southern styles. Yet he is the one who insists on honoring martial code when he is caught in the middle of a rivalry between two local schools. He wants to get his fight on as well, but here it is only for testing and improving his own vast martial arts knowledge. His is an upstanding character and as such, he does get more on screen time to show off his skills. In the finale, of course, he is not the one doing those acrobatic moves. My guess is that is Hsiao Hou who is also in the film, but with no significant fighting scenes. He is, however, known for his incredible acrobatics in other films. Check him out in Mad Monkey Kung Fu, which showcases much of the same cast you find in Martial Club. Great movie with valuable lessons.
The Shaolin Avengers [1976] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Great movie! Think "Men From The Monastery", retold without Chi Kuan-Chun as Hung Hsi Kwan. However, Bruce Tong gets a larger role as Fang Shiyu's brother. Chi Kuan Chun, one of my favorites, in reprising his role as Hu Hui Chen has even better fight scenes here than he did in "MFTM". Although this one is told in flashback mode, whereas "MFTM" brings together three separate stories of the three heroes, these are essentially the same story. Both are still very enjoyable and this one was worth the extra bux I paid to get the new Celestial release in the original language!
The Secret Rivals (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure That aside, this movie has a simple plot and very good fights. A highlight of this film is Wong Tao practicing forms! I would love to know what style(s) he really practiced. Most of his films are very good and quite inexpensive. This is is a classic and a keeper.
The Green Jade Statuette (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This is a very good movie. The most annoying thing about this is the [dubbed version]. Every time I think to watch this again, I think about those corny limey accents that just do not mesh with Asian martial arts, and I watch something else. Otherwise it is a great movie, especially for the price they have it at HKFlix and if you are a fan of Chi Kuan Chun and/or Mei Fei.
Born Invincible [PanMedia] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Okay, first let me say that generally I am not a Carter Wong fan. Secondly, I have watched a LOT of old school martial arts movies. This is a WINNER! I held off for tthree years and finally bought it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, aside from C.W., three of my favorites are in this movie: Lo Leih, and Jack and Mark Lung. The fighting is great, the story pretty typical, but very watchable. The only thing I did NOT like about this film is that annoying whistle-like sound effect that is used whenever C.W. gets positioned to fight. Believe me, for this price you cannot go wrong. I even like C.W. as the "invincible" villain in this.
My Life's On The Line (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I have a poor quality version of this and still LOVE this movie. I am hoping that at some point I can get it in its original language. It has a great story, some twists, and some great fights. Any flaws are redeemed during that last fight scene that goes on for a significant legnth of time. I have to say this whenever I watch this guy, I find it hard to believe that Leung Kar Yan is and was never a martial artist. He has some of the best hand to hand combat I have EVER seen on screen. This is a good movie!
Dirty Ho (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Liu is a prince who is more interested in fine arts than he is in ascending to the throne. One of his more ambitious brothers is trying to have him assassinated.
What makes this such a stand out are all the fight scenes that are done incognito. To hide who he is from his protegee, Liu literally has fights while at art viewings and dinners so inconspicuously that only the people he fights know what is happening. Some scenes were a bit over the top for me, but then again it might play out better in the original language. One of the most creative martial arts movies to be watched.
Heroes Two (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts Chen and Fu play the rebel heroes they were famous for playing: Hung Hsi-Kuan and Fang Shih-Yu (Fong Sai-Yuk), respectively. Fang Shih-Yu is remorseful and hell-bent on helping to rescue Hung Hsi-Kuan after he unwittingly helps with his capture because he does not realize who he is. This has never been one of my favorite movies, mostly because I love Chen but am only lukewarm to Fu. It does belong in any old school collection, however.
Grand Master Of Death [Ground Zero] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I have to say that it has taken me some time to warm up to Fu Sheng. This is an impulsive-hothead-refusing-to-be-bullied movie, and it costs him and his family. After some training, he comes back for revenge. I watched this movie two years ago and can remember few things about it. I do remember that last fight scene and how incredible I thought it was, along a growing respect for Fu Sheng. Worth the buy!
Five Superfighters (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure There's nothing particularly special about this movie, however it is not a bad movie either. It is one of those movies that you get and are happy if it cost under $10. Not a classic, but definitely worth the buy and watch! And probably much better in the original language.
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This movie is a classic, and I would certainly pay more than $10 for it.
I held off for a long time buying this because I had not read many good reviews about it and I can only rarely appreciate the comedy/martial arts mix.
I believe those who give this movie a bad review miss the point! Yes, this was supposed to be Shaws' last hurrah in the martial genre, and of course critics/fans wanted a major epic perhaps, once again, depicting common martial arts movie themes.
Shaws did some of that, but with a twist. Those of us who are movie collectors know well the stories of Fong Sai Yuk, Hung Hsi Kwan, and Hu Hui Chen. See Men from the Monastery and/or Shaolin Avengers that has pretty much the same cast.
This is another anti-Ching movie, but it takes a look at the conflicts that arise between a group of budding monks and a group of rebels who use Shaolin more so as a place of refuge from the Chings than as a place of practice and worship.
What happens is a movie filled with jovial antics and tricks in which each group tries to one up the other. This is where the comedy occurs and very appropriately so. It is a different less serious take on what training/conflict behind those hallowed walls could have been like.
There is a serious side... Lo Leigh, again plays the evil Ching representative who is trying to get into the Temple to get a golden seal from Hung. This some monks use as a reason to have Hung and the other secular students expelled from the Temple. This is keeping with the history that these rebels brought the Temple under suspicion and therefore brought danger and the eventual burning of it.
Perhaps after decades of showing the training films, and the demise of the Temple, Shaws just went in another direction that showed the internal conflicts, the boyish competition, and the lighter side of sometimes failing in one's effort to be righteous.
The only thing I did not like about this film deals with Lo Leigh. Almost all of his scenes were increased in speed and required acrobatics that he obviously could not do. The use of a double and speed makes the film seem too cheesy at some points.
Lo Leigh had established himself as a great on-screen martial artist and to have much of his fight scenes be fought by someone else did him and the movie a dis-service. Oh and wasn't it great to see Lo Meng in a film where he did not get killed off in the first half hour or so?
I actually bought this one by mistake, but with the new Zoke Culture discs, you really cannot pass on the remastered, original language DVDs. Well, I have to say that this movie is actually pretty good for the first half-hour. One of my favorites, Leung Kar Yan, is in it and shows off some neat sword work, but fans beware he is killed off early in the movie. This really starts the uninteresting plot that just has too many "twists" and really odd, un-needed additions to the plot that made this movie a chore to watch. It is sad too because even with the excessive wire fu, the choreography is pretty good. I do not regret buying it but it is not classic. It was good to see Kara Hui have some strong performances, but in the end the writers/directors had her play the pretty typical weeping/wimpy woman role. Odd thing, in one scene she is destroying people, but when in the scenes with the main character she becomes martially inept. That was annoying. Still, if you like sword-play movies (and this has about two really good hand-to-hand scenes) and/or you are a collector, it’s worth having.
Spiritual Kung Fu (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure What makes this movie bad is this concept that Jackie is taught and led by the spirits. Actually, that is not bad, but that we can see them annoyingly prancing around in tights ruins this movie. I guess that was the comedic effect. What is good about this movie is the storyline, the twists, and the fighting. A lot of people do not know just how good Jackie Chan is because they are put off by the comedy. This is one movie where I have to work to not let all the annoying fairy-like spirits get in the way of my enjoyment of the movie. Otherwise, I would rate it higher.
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