Agreement:91% of 159 voters agree with TheDenizen's reviews Gender: Male Age: 34 Location: Ontario, Canada Lists:WISH LIST (7) / OWNED LIST (296)
Bio: Kung Fu fanatic from Southern Ontario, Canada. I'm also into Samurai films, splatter horror, Spaghetti Westerns, Film Noir and grindhouse exploitation flicks.
3 Dev Adam (product link) Action/Adventure Possibly the greatest idea ever conceived: Mexican wrestling star Santo and Captain America doing battle with psycho criminal gang leader Spiderman. Half of this movie is fistfights and brawls that look like they were improvised in one take. See this movie.
Halloween [1978] (product link) Horror / Thriller Michael Myers was the first and best of the serialized slashers. This flick is still absolutely nerve-shredding over 30 years later, and 99% of the films the copied it shamelessly never did it as good.
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Outstanding horror flick! Great acting coupled with suspense made this a modern Horror Classic!
Aliens (product link) Science Fiction / Horror Genius. Horror, sci-fi and action have never blended together so wonderfully. Incredible set/creature design and effects that still look great to this day. Essential flick full of classic scenes and timeless one-liners.
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People keep telling me that the original is better, but they're wrong. Every aspect of "Aliens" just works perfectly, and it may be the best fun ride around. James Cameron knows how to produce a thrill, and that's the end of the story.
Iron Monkey [1993] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure One of the very best early 90's wire-fu extravaganzas. The flaming pole fight finale is an incredible example of action cinema framing and editing.
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Yup, this was a really refreshing high quality film in 1993, changed things up a bit in the genre.
Seven Samurai (product link) Drama / Swordplay/Sword(s) One the very best action/drama films ever. There's a reason "Seven Samurai" has endured for over 50 years, with other filmmakers borrowing its ideas constantly. The perfect blend of comedy/romance/drama and bloodshed.
The Throne Of Blood (product link) Drama / Action/Adventure Kurosawa's first Shakespearian adaptation, this is a retelling of "MacBeth". Very stagy in its presentation, incorporating some Noh elements (not unlke "Ran"). Not a ton of action (though there are a couple of tasty fights), but the characters and story will keep you fully engrossed. The actress who plays the Lady MacBeth role is terrifying.
Shaolin Master Killer (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Classic, must-own, essential, etc. Gordon Liu's journey through the 36 Chambers of Shaolin is a brilliant example of Shaw Brothers filmmaking and is jam-packed with awesome kung fu. Almost half of the film is devoted to training sequences devised by Lau Kar Leung, 'nuff said.
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Heeeelllllz yeah! This movie IS the 36th Chamber Of Shaolin!!
Rashomon (product link) Drama / Mystery This Kurosawa-Mifune collaboration is right up there with the best of their more action-oriented samurai films. It's a meditation on the subjective nature of truth, as the events of a vicious crime are recounted by four characters, each telling a slightly different version of the tale. The brilliant and original multi-flashback structure of this film has been "borrowed" by countless other films and TV shows. Essential Kurosawa (isn't it all?).
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Another landmark film by Kurosawa. You're so right- they are all essential.
Knockabout (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure One of my all-time faves. Probably Yuen Biao's best performance, and seeing Sammo and Biao doing tandem monkey style in the teahouse fight is an absolute joy. It's pretty much impossible not to love Sammo's impish charm here.
Samurai Assassin (product link) Action/Adventure / Swordplay/Sword(s) One of my favourite samurai films of all time. Mifune is a tightly coiled spring, primed to strike at any second. A tense and emotional drama that reveals its secrets slowly. The climactic battle sequence is stunning, and accompanied by an overwhelming sense of bitter irony. A true Jidaigeki classic.
This Is Spinal Tap (product link) Comedy If there is a funnier movie in existence, I've never seen it. So many classic lines and scenes, and some great cameos. Genius.
The Magnificent Butcher (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure IMO, this is Sammo Hung's greatest movie ever. Kwan Tak Hing doing Kung Fu calligraphy, Sammo in prime form doing some incredible Wing Chun, and Yuen Wo Ping directing the whole mad affair.
Simply kung fu perfection.
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I know where you're coming from cause I'm in the same neighborhood. Great stuff.
A truly remarkable remake of my fave Bruce Lee flick, one I thought could never be topped. Jet Li shows us exactly how. Yasuaki Kurata has an incredible supporting role as a mentor of sorts.
Enter The Dragon (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure THE STANDARD by which all subsequent kung fu movies must be judged. Not my favorite Bruce Lee flick, but it's his best known and it kicks ass.
If you are visiting this website, odds are you already own this; but if not, do not hesitate to get it.
Shaolin Temple [1982] (product link) Martial Arts / Drama Jet Li's film debut is required viewing. Jet is at his physical peak, and the Drunken Pole vs. Drunken Sword battle is one of his very finest. This whole film is packed with amazing training sequences and fights.
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Yes, Jet Li was very young, but he and the entire cast were on top of their games. The action is mesmerizing.
Dawn Of The Dead [1978] (product link) Horror / Thriller This is not just the best zombie movie of all time, I think it's the greatest horror movie ever made. Vicious, funny, and terrifying.
Shaolin Challenges Ninja (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This is probably the best kung fu movie I can think of where nobody dies and everyone is friends at the end. Also one of the very few Hong Kong movies that doesn't depict Japanese as cretinous, murderous thugs. Oh yeah, and the fight scenes are pretty much continuous and amazing. Top 10 material.
How many great kung fu films climax with a bloody fight, only to have the words "The End" pop up within seconds of delivering the deathblow to the lead villain? Answer: most of them. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it shows that the vast majority of action pictures are primarily concerned with depicting violence. Almost never do they meditate on the repercussions of the violence on display.
Not so with "Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance", the first film in Park Chan-Wook's "Vengeance Trilogy". Some people might not like the film's initial slow pace, but in exhaustively setting up all the characters and getting to know them intimately, we are more powerfully affected by the emotional devastation they face. This movie spends lots of time building up to the violence, and the violence itself is fairly brief, and is never glamorized; it is brutal, ugly and efficient. Then there is lots of time spent as the various characters are forced to deal with the physical and emotional consequences of their vengeful acts.
It is precisely because the movie spends so much time getting to know both the killers and victims, that you care enough about the characters to want them to get their revenge, and understand why they feel they deserve it. When they finally do get it, you know the characters intimately enough to realize (as they do) that their vengeance is empty and ends up destroying them.
Powerful filmmaking, and for my money, it's Park's best.
Police Story (product link) Martial Arts / Comedy The first 20 minutes alone are worth the price of the DVD. Then it just keeps getting better. One of Jackie Chan's very best, this movie has lots of genuinely funny situations and incredible action/stunt work.
The Lady Hermit (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This is probably my favourite of Cheng Pei Pei's wuxia films. Her grace with a sword is simply unnparalleled. Shih Szu is also brilliant--both these ladies knew how to handle their weapons. The strong story and intricate, flowing action scenes combine to form a true martial arts classic.
Drunken Master 2 (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Jackie Chan's best film, and probably the best kung fu movie ever. Nonstop jaw-dropping entertainment in this film. If you're visiting this website and don't own "Drunken Master 2" already, buy it right now. You'll thank me.
Invincible Pole Fighter (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Gordon Liu's masterpiece, I have to give this film a slight edge over the also-incredible "36th Chamber of Shaolin" due to its darker tone and unrelenting violence. Opening with a massacre, this movie is bleak, angry and chock full of some of the greatest weapons fighting ever witnessed. Essential Shaw Brothers.
Hard Boiled (product link) Action/Adventure / Bullet Ballet What can you say? This is the BEST action movie ever made, anywhere, by anyone. Hands down. Own it.
Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog (product link) Martial Arts / Comedy Behind the incredible "Magnificent Butcher", this is my second fave Sammo Hung movie. Nonstop silly comedy and awesome fight scenes, all centered around a "MacGuffin" magic suit of armor. The final fight is unbelievable. Thoroughly entertaining.
Azumi (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure A cute girl in a short leather skirt carrying a katana fights over 100 men at once. It doesn't get much better.
This story of young men and women trained as the deadliest of assassins is beautiful to watch, and the action is stylized but excellent. No shortage of spraying blood here.
Bijomaru is one of the most memorable bad guys in recent years in martial arts cinema. This movie is MUCH better than the similar (girl with sword) Princess Blade.
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I liked the film, despite its failings: Dazzling brilliance may be required to understand the difference between "reversed" and "reserved," so it may be you should only pay attention to comments from people who know the difference.
Five stars should be reversed for genre classics, not movies that are just like a hundred others. The only thing that makes this movie interesting at all is the casting of a female in the lead.
Ran (product link) Drama This is absolutely my favorite film ever. Akira Kurosawa spent years in preparation for the filming of Ran, and it shows.
Incredible drama, costumes, cinematography, you name it, Ran does it stunningly well, including a truly inspired performance by Tatsuya Nakadai. Since it is based on Shakespeare, it is fairly talky, so that might turn off more casual viewers or folks looking for a little more action-oriented samurai fare.
For those that can sink their teeth into the melodrama offered up here, be forewarned that the tone of this film is staggeringly bleak. The final image of the film will stay burned into your mind for some time.
Zatoichi At The Fire Festival (product link) Swordplay/Sword(s) / Action/Adventure My favorite Zatoichi movie (of the ones I've seen), The Festival of Fire contains a perfect blend of humor, intrigue and lightning fast swordplay. Tatsuya Nakadai is great in a small, but ominous role.
Features Zatoichi in an unbelievable fight against about 20 other guys in a bath house, did I mention they are all naked?
Shaolin Intruders (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure More no-frills action from Shaw Brothers, this movie is pretty much non stop kung fu. Unarmed or with a variety of weapons, the speed and complexity of the fights escalates gloriously towards full-blown insanity.
I bought this movie blind and it has quickly become one of my favorites.
City Of God (product link) Drama / Action/Adventure Incredible tales of survival in the drug-infested slums of Brazil. Violent and dark, this movie also has some great comedic flourishes. HIGHLY recommended.
The Bride With White Hair (product link) Martial Arts / Fantasy For my money, this is the best sword and sorcery movie in all of Hong Kong filmdom. Brigitte Lin's smoldering glare could bore a hole through titanium. Frenetic action, hilarious villains, and a tragic love story combine to make this film a real winner.
For Your Height Only [DOUBLE FEATURE] (product link) Action/Adventure / Crime My. God.
What did I just witness? I'm not entirely sure, but it was unbelievably funny. Weng Weng is an absolute monster, tearing up the screen as only a 2 1/2 foot tall midget can. He is irresistibly charming and a completely legit badass at the same time.
This is better than all the James Bond and Austin Powers movies rolled into one.
The Twilight Samurai (product link) Drama Despite being short on typical samurai action, this film is an instant classic. A bittersweet story with complex, fully realized characters, beautifully filmed and well acted, and culminating in an inescapable but savage duel to the death.
The Prodigal Son (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Definitely a genre classic, "Prodigal Son" is loaded with a superb and skilled cast, excellent choreography and a story that covers more ground than just the usual "you killed my teacher!" plot line. This one begs for multiple viewings.
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Some of the best action choreography to be found. This is a great film.
Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (product link) Drama / War Tatsuya Nakadai is brilliant in two roles, and Kurosawa masterfully uses color to great effect in this epic samurai tale.
The Sword Of Doom (product link) Drama / Swordplay/Sword(s) Ryunosuke as portrayed by Tatsuya Nakadai is perhaps the most amoral of all screen samurai. This film has devastating emotional power. The only criticism is that too often, other samurai just run straight at him, sword raised, waiting to be sliced across the belly. Slightly better chorography could have made this perfect.
Five Shaolin Masters (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Excellent and engaging old school Shaw Brothers flick helmed with the typical masculine style of Chang Cheh. Top-notch action from David Chiang, Ti Lung, Fu Sheng, et al.
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