Agreement:100% of 8 voters agree with Prayingmantis888's reviews Gender: Male Age: 38 Location: Taiwan Lists:WISH LIST (17)
Bio: I am an Alaskan living in Taiwan, teaching English in a university and studying Hung Gar. I used to study and later teach 7 Star Praying Mantis as well.
YOU ARE HERE:INTERACT HOME / PRAYINGMANTIS888'S PROFILE
Master Fighters Of Classic Kung Fu [3-Disc Set] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This three disc set is a mixed bag, but still worth a look!
"Green Dragon Inn" has surprisingly good fight scenes for a non-Shaw Brothers film of its time. Usually the swordplay is very general and secondary to the plot, but this one had some surprisingly subtle choreography as well as some quite pretty brutal violence!
"Buddha Assassinator" is a good meat-and-potatoes kung fu flick. The fight choreography is above average and the plot is watchable, even with the limp attempts at comedy.
The only reason I didn't give the set 5 stars is the "Bloody Mill Fight", which was high on plot, but low on fight scenes. The scenes are okay, but wading through the storyline to get to them is trying on the patience.
Erotic Fantasies And Female Phone Fantasies (product link) Erotica / Fantasy This highly edited version of a hardcore movie is watchable, but only just. Since there was almost no plot to begin with, hardly unusual with the genre, reducing it to softcore has made it rather silly. On the plus side, it stars the legendary Asia Carrera, who is drop dead gorgeous and always worth tuning in for.
Men From The Monastery (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This movie is virtually identical to "Shaolin Avengers", also a notable Shaw epic. Though both movies are great, the fight scenes in "Men From The Monastery" are a little tighter and there is better direction. Even more important is the presence of Chen Kuantai, the Shaw stable's top fighter. The movie is three short stories that are all well known parts of the "Burning of Shaolin" canon. It is a worthy addition to any Shaw library!
AGREE?
READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
Y
To those who feel "Shaolin Avengers" is perfect, this is a revelation. Pretty much the same events occur, but Fu Sheng, Chen Kuan Tai and Chi Kuan Chen do it even better than before. Chi Kuan Chen should be better known - he's remarkable.
Ninja Fantasy [DOUBLE FEATURE] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I have watched literally hundreds of martial arts movies and am very tolerant of things like plot, acting, production values, etc. This, however, was the bottom of the barrel. The worst martial arts flick in the history of mankind. The plot made no sense, the special effects were beyond laughable, and the fighting ludicrous. It looked liked a high school Super 8 film project!
Opium And The Kung-Fu Master (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure We can look past the simplistic preachy anti-drug tone of the move since it is a fairly good story. It's always good to see Chen Kuan-Tai have a chance to chew scenery as a villain. The real problem with the film is the overuse of sped-up photography [undercranking] for the fight scenes. These actors can all pull off a well-choreographed brawl, so there is no reason for it.
Challenge Of The Masters (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This is my all-time favorite Shaw flick for a few good reasons. Yes, there is less action and blood, but the fight scenes are flawless and tightly choreographed by Pops himself, Liu Jia-Liang. The story focuses on martial virtue and character, which makes it far more appealing than the usual revenge for death/rape/humiliation/etc.. The training scenes are real Hung Gar, no bizarre torture or impossible stunts. I have sat around watching this with both my 7 Star Praying Mantis and Hung Gar shifus dozens of times, and have never tired of it. This is the stuff for traditional practitioners!
AGREE?
READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
Y
One of my all time favorites also! Glad you appreciate it so much!
The Martial Club (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This film serves vaguely as a sequel to "Challenge of the Masters". It is a top shelf fu flick for three reasons. One: tons and tons of great action, fight scenes galore. Two: Hui Ying-Hong, the most beautiful fu actress in the history of the universe. Three: Wang Long-Wei, the all time heavy gets to be a good and virtuous dude. Any one of the above would be worth the price. The plot and tone are a lot less serious than "Challenge of the Masters", which cost it half a star from me, but it is still in the top tier!
Shaolin Martial Arts (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure The only surprise here is that after training like madmen, the first couple of Shaolin men who set out for revenge get creamed. Aside from that, the plot is standard with the usual trimmings. Wang Long-Wei as always is a pleasure to watch as the ultimate bad guy, and the guandao form scene in the beginning was great. Nothing new, but lots of action and training.
My Young Auntie (product link) Martial Arts / Comedy Any film with Hui Ying-Hong is worth watching, and this is one of her shining moments. There is good and effective comedy and comedy that is painful to watch here, but enough fight scenes to make up for it. Liu Jia-Liang does his usual spectacular job of making the rest of us Hung Gar men look slow, and his fight with Wang Long-Wei is worth watching again and again and again...
AGREE?
READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
Y
I love your reviews, and I totally agree that Kara Hui is a stunner--as well as my favorite female onscreen martial artist.
Coward Bastard (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Not even the mighty Wan Long-Wei can save this stinker. There are a couple of fight scenes loosely inspired by Jackie Chan, but the rest of it was horrid comedy that just falls flat for Western viewers.
The Iron Monkey [1977] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Chen Kuan-Tai's labor of love, "Iron Monkey" stands out as a solid independent fu flick. A monkey fist expert himself, Chen tries hard to demostrate all aspects of the style, rather than only focussing on monkey imitation, which gets old after awhile. A short while. The plot is standard training for revenge, but the fight scenes are plentiful and watchable.
Heroes Two (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts Chen Kuan-Tai's finest hour. There is almost no plot to speak of, but Chen really unleashes his power for solid fight scene after solid fight scene. Fu Sheng thankfully takes it easy on the comedy for a change and backs Chen up with some of the best fight scenes in his tragically short career. The only thing that makes me roll my eyes is the notion that a man can get stapled to a wall for a week and not only be sane and healthy, but actually could recover from a serious wound in the process!
The Lady Is The Boss (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure The good: Hui Ying-Hong having some fun and kicking butt and swearing in bad English. Wang Long-Wei being evil while wearing truly dreadful fashion. Liu Jia-Liang doing what he does best: old school Hung Gar. Liu Jia-Hui and Xiao Hou making fun of their earlier famous roles.
The bad: a lot of the movie is silly comedy which only occasionally makes you laugh.
The movie does a really good job of showing not only how kung fu schools were trying to cope with modernity in 80's Hong Kong, but also how the Shaw Studios were trying to catch up to Golden Harvest who had breezed past them with new styles of martial arts movies.
The Lady Assassin (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I usually go more for meat and potatoes kung fu movies, but this sword epic made me sit up and take notice with a decent plot and very tight fight scenes. It didn't surprise me at all to find out this was directed by Liu Jia-Liang, of more standard kung fu movie fame. One of the best wu xia movies Shaw produced in my opinion.
Buddha's Palm [1982] (product link) Action/Adventure / Fantasy I saw this movie on video when I was very young and could hardly believe my eyes through the bizarre plot twists and off the wall special effects. Now that I have seen more of this kind of almost psychedelic wu xia movies, I can better appreciate it! If you just sit back and enjoy the ride, this roller-coaster can be highly entertaining. Just don't expect anything to make sense!
Shaolin Temple [1976] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This film defines star-studded, with a cast of most of the top kung fu actors in the Shaw stable. It has all the training and fight scenes we have come to expect, with enough plot and acting to hold them together. A truly epic fu flick!
Shaolin Mantis (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure David Chiang's finest hour. He was always more of an actor and stuntman than a kung fu man, but he gives it his all in this one. The fight scenes are great (especially the weapon scenes!!!), and Lily Li is a nice saucy romantic interest, but the plot slows way down after the introduction. Halfway through it gathers steam and goes full speed ahead towards the bloody eviscerating finale!
The Brave Archer (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure If you are unfamiliar with Jin Yong's epic kung fu stories, this movie is a good introduction. The plot is baffling and wide sweeping, so try and follow it at your own risk. On the plus side, "Brave Archer" has much better fight scenes than its sequels, and the sheer labyrinthine plot makes it an intriguing show!
10 Tigers Of Shaolin (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Plot? Who needs plot? Hysterically bad dubbing? Check! Unhinged kung fu? Check! Random nudity for no reason whatsoever? Check!
This gem is a very random film with jaw-dropping kung fu sequences throughout. The final mass fight scene is 25 minutes long! Sit back, laugh at the "acting" and cheer for the butt kicking!
Dreadnaught (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Any movie with the legendary Kwan Tak-Hing in it is worthy of owning. Though this movie suffers from the curse of so many Hong Kong movies--comedy that just doesn't translate well to western culture--the fight scenes are excellent. The plot is standard for a Huang Fei-Hong movie; and the lion dancing scene, though stretching the limits of credibility, is pure entertainment.
AGREE?
READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
Y
Agreed, any movie with the legendary Kwan Tak-Hing is worth owning!
SECURE CREDIT CARD PROCESSING BY VERISIGN.
1386 users online right now / 1148679 visitors since 12/28/2008 5:37:27 AM All content copyright 2000-7 HKFlix.com, not to be used without written permission.
