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.
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Black Belt (product link) Martial Arts / Drama I heard the hype, I watched the film, and it was awesome! It is always nice to see real experts doing the fighting in a movie. It is even better to see how martial arts can be treated by people who respect them and understand what they are truly about. The morality and symbolism in the movie is as subtle as a brick to the head, but that only emphasizes the message. I am reccomending this to anyone who like martial arts, of any style.
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True words. This film will easily move to both cult and legendary status.
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!
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!
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One of my all time favorites also! Glad you appreciate it so much!
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!
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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.
Shaolin Challenges Ninja (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure A classic. One of the only Shaws where I actually think the comedy is funny, and the comic situations not totally absurd. The fighting is mostly top shelf, no one dies and yet it is still unhunged!
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.
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Agreed, any movie with the legendary Kwan Tak-Hing is worth owning!
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!
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!
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 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!
Executioners From Shaolin (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure A necessary addition to any Shaw collection. Chen Kuan-Tai gives his usual solid performance with decent tiger style fight scenes. Gordon Liu Chia-Hui has a cameo with the MANLIEST death scene in Shaw history! The actor playing Hong Wei-Ding is annoying and way too effeminate to be taken seriously, but we can overlook him. This is the film that stuck Lo Lieh playing Pai Mei (Pak Mei) the White Browed priest for more than one movie.
Legendary Weapons Of China (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I have mixed feelings about this movie. The first two thirds are a write off, a combination of dreadful "humor" and uninspiring plot; but the last the last third is unhinged kung fu. Liu Jialiang gives his usual spectacular display, with a solid cast of fighting co-stars. I just wish the whole film was like that, not just the latter part.
The Magnificent Butcher (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Though featuring Kwan Tak-Hing and boasting some truly great fight scenes, this movie gets burdened down by slapstick "comedy." I appreciate any chance to see the mighty Kwan in action, but I have to fast forward to the action to avoid grinding my teeth to powder. "Dreadnaught" was superior!
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 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.
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...
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I love your reviews, and I totally agree that Kara Hui is a stunner--as well as my favorite female onscreen martial artist.
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.
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.
Fist Of The White Lotus (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Following up "Shaolin Executioners" both vaguely in plot and closely in narrative structure, this movie delivers some good fighting, and some odd plot devices. Gordon Liu Chia-Hui does his usual stand-up job of training for revenge, though Lo Lieh's millionth version of Pai-Mei the white browed priest gets a bit silly. His indestructibility and super powers get wilder every time they use the character. Some of the comedy is limp, but it is kept to a minimum. Also, the movie features Kara Hui Ying-Hung, and there is nothing wrong with that!
Iron Bodyguard (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Chen Kuan-Tai does a fine job holding up his end of this historical action piece. His character shows proper honor and virtue, and the necessary ability to beat the tar out of his enemies. Unfortunately, most of the history at that volatile time goes on off-camera, including Tan Si-Tong's famous attempt to free the jailed emperor by sword. This makes the plot sort of flat and dull, but by no means unwatchable.
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