The Assassin [1967] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Masterpiece, early Shaw film. It has much more to do with plot and morals and respect than all-out action. Based on a true story, an epic tale of an assassin who killed the corrupt premiere during state divided China. A political story, with typical Shaw bloody action!!! Classic martial arts.
Samurai Fiction (product link) Comedy "Samurai Fiction" is quite different from your normal samurai movies. If you've seen Takeshi's "Zatoichi", then you will most likely enjoy this great movie.
The film is enjoyable. It has good action, good music, and is simply very cool.
The story is of one lone samurai who steals a precious katana (sword) from his new overlord. The overlord's son (our main hero) goes on a quest to rescue it, however not knowing the strengh of his enemy.
The movie is in black and white, which actually plays well with this film.
Overall, all martial arts/samurai fans should own this.
Dirty Ho (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Should be loved by kung fu fans and martial arts fans.
This is probably Lau Kar Leung's greatest comedy, which is set during Qing Dynasty China. The set designs/costumes are lavish and show the top production resources this movie got from the Shaws.
The story involves the 11th prince who is actually hiding from the royal family due to his not wanting the throne. He meets a chief/businessmen and after few conflicts he befreinds him.
11th prince is played by Gordon Liu, who is probably one of the best martial arts actors pre-Bruce Lee. His co star is Wang Yu, from "Executioners From Shaoiln".
Both do an excellent job. The action is great, Lo Lieh plays his typical role as the bad guy. The fight scene in the end is pure brilliance in martial arts--Lo Lieh and Wang Yu seem to steal the show.
For all kung fu/martial arts action fans, this is a must.
Martial Arts Of Shaolin (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This would be Jet Li's final movie in the Shaolin Temple series, and a good one too.
However I only can just give it 4 stars because of the top notch brilliant action.
The plot is typical: Shaolin student seeks revenge on Ching official. The downside of this film is some of the goofing around--e.g. Jet Li dressing as a woman, and a few other comedic sequences.
But the last scene in this film is worth watching by all kung fu fans. The action is fast and entertaining. The movie however is not so special, but just plain simple.
For Jet Li fans, this is a must-have; and for kung fu fans, it's worth checking out.
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READER COMMENTS
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I agree. Great action, but the goofing around drops this to 4 stars
This has to be in the top 10 of greatest kung fu /martial arts movies made
The reasons are simple:
It's dead fun to watch and the action is kick-ass and so is the plot.
Gordon Liu basically is trying to get back at Pai Mei, played by the director lo lieh . Pai Mei is basically industrucitble--nothing can even get close to him. This just leads Gordon to find ways of getting him. Even better, Johnny Wang Lung Wei (common villain in a lot of SB films) plays co-villain next to Lo Lieh, and has some brilliant fight scenes with Gordon. Who steals the show? It's indeed Pai Mei--probably one of the greaest villains in martial arts history.
Even though it's a revenge film (typical kung fu), the revenge part of the film seems to be thrown out in the middle of the film, and the plot turns more into Gordon trying to beat Lo Lieh (almost forgetting that Pai Mei had killed Gordon's brother, who both together killed Pai Mei's classmate).
Some scenes will just make you laugh intentionally or unintentionally. For example, the last scene in which Lo Lieh jumps out of a bath while Gordon gate-crashes his meditation. This is very entertaining; the action scenes aren't repetitive either. This is simply a sequel to "Executioners From Shaolin". Simply, this is one of those late night classics, a top 10 kung fu film.
Is it that good ?
Basicaly, I went off martial arts films for awhile after seeing a majority of the great ones. However I idiotically decided to leave this one for another time. But I watched this and it was like watching martial arts without wirework or large special effects and CGI for the first time.
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