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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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!
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.
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.
Descendant Of The Sun (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I never would have imagined "Superman" remade as a Chinese kung fu hero movie, but here it is! Complete with secret identity that people can't figure out, super powers including flight and costume change, and vulnerabilities that make the hero weak and mortal. Lots of um...interesting special effects.
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.
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.
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!
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 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.
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.
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!
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