Fearless Dragon (product link) Martial Arts / Comedy Cast is everything when marketing a film. That's probably why I even gave this sub-par film a look. With the likes of Leung Kar Yan, Phillip Ko Fei and Wang Lung Wei, I thought this must be halfway decent!
Boy, was I wrong! Cast can only take you so far. With a story that lacks substance and silly comedic scenes, your best bet is to fast-forward to the end fight, which is at least entertaining, mainly because of the talents of the cast. Check it out only if you've seen everything else.
Death By Misadventure: The Curse Of The Dragon (product link) Documentary / Martial Arts As an avid Bruce Lee fan, I had to see this documentary. Naturally I was looking for some new tidbits that I hadn't discovered in my many years of admiration of my childhood hero.
The info in this below-par production (use a boom or a lapel mic next time) is hard to swallow. The doc reveals aspects of Lee's life that most fans don't want to hear. I don't know why the producers feel they have to expose very personal aspects of someone's life, especially after his death. No one is perfect!
If all the information in this film is true, so what! I don't think what Bruce did hurt anyone, and we all have our vices in life. Why is it so easy to bring someone down and so difficult to uplift our fellow man?
This film is only for the die hard Lee fan who has seen all or most documentaries on the greatest martial artist of all time.
The Stunt Woman (product link) Drama / Martial Arts "Stunt Woman" (aka "Ah Kam") quickly tells us, by the opening music track and scenes, that this film is a behind the scenes look at Hong Kong moviemaking. The film, starring Michelle Yeoh and Sammo Hung, is a gritty, realistic examination of the life of stunt men and women in the Hong Kong film industry.
The film is short on action sequences, even though Tony Ching is in charge of the fight choreography. Due to an injury to Michelle Yeoh during filming, director Ann Hui had to adjust the script a bit, and I believe it hurt the flow of the film. This film is only for the true Hong Kong cinema junkie.
Ron Van Clief Collection [2-Disc Set] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Too bad the production values on these two films--"The Death Of Bruce Lee" and "Way Of The Black Dragon"--were so poor. The only good thing about either of the films are the talents of master Van Clief.
Good martial arts technique by master Van Clief, bad movie otherwise. Only for the nostalgia buff or hardcore kung fu cinema junkie, like myself. I give the three stars to "The Death Of Bruce Lee" ("Black Dragon's Revenge"), zero stars to "The Way Of The Dragon". Almost forgot, there is some behind the scenes footage and film commentary that will interest the old school kung fu and blaxsploitation film buff.
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Mr. Van Clief could have shone with better production values (and scripts, too, really.)
The Master Strikes (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Hey! Where did my movie go? That's how I felt after viewing this film most recently. If not for the superb kicking skills of Casanova Wong, the film would have been a total waste.
Casanova stole the show with his surprisingly good acting and martial arts skills. Playing an emotionally disturbed transporter of valuable goods, Casanova was tricked into thinking he had failed his important mission. So distraught Casanovas character spends most of the movie in a daze wondering why and how he failed his mission.
Even though his character was not all there he could still execute great kicks and punches when provoked. After that the movie was incomprehensible with little or no plot and before you know it, the final fight scene is ready to take place.
Performances by Yen Shi Kwan and Meng Yeun Man seemed dialed in and sub-par at best. Give the three stars to Casanova Wong!
Films Of Stephen Chow [SE 3-Disc Set] (product link) Comedy / Drama This set gets 3 1/2 stars due to an incredible fight scene within a brothel, in the early minutes of one of the films in the set KING OF BEGGARS.
Stephen Chow plays a student of kung fu, living on an island near Hong Kong, who would rather play snooker than practice his martial arts. Once his con man Uncle (played by the legendary Leung Kar Yan) finds out his nephew has useful skills, he convinces his kung fu teaching brother to let his nephew join him in the big city of Hong Kong to make it rich and famous.
The unscrupulous uncle quickly tricks his naive nephew into playing snooker, for money, even though the nephew has sworn to his father that he would not gamble in the big city. The uncle soon finds himself behind the 8 ball when he must mislead his brother into gambling the family land on the island to secure a life changing wager.
The wager: Lung (Chow) must defeat real life snooker champion Jimmmy White in a snooker competition, in order to save the family land.
In between the snooker action, which is quite entertaining, Chow is his usual humorous self, revealing that he has narcolepsy and falls asleep at the most inappropriate times. Stephen Chow is a master at physical comedy.
Don't expect too much martial arts in this one. It's all about the comedy and snooker. There are a few fight scences choreographed by Corey Yuen Kwai and Yuen Wah in various parts of the film. However, they are very short in length and lack a little imagination.
Chow, being a Bruce Lee super fan, references Bruce a few times in the film, when Yuen Wah's character informs us that he worked as a stunt double on Mr. Lee's films.
Look out for brief cameos by Amy Yip and Lee Hoi San, to round out the cast.
To sum it all up LEGEND OF THE DRAGON is an okay film that shows Stephen Chow's upcoming comedy greatness that would soon be arriving in the likes of SHAOLIN SOCCER and KUNG FU HUSTLE.
Lady Kung Fu (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure "Lady Kung Fu" (aka "Hapkido") has an all-star cast: Mao Ying, Kam Bo, Jin Han Jae, and Wang In Sik, among others. However the story and sets are very similar to Bruce Lee's "Chinese Connection" ("Fist Of Fury"). In retrospect, it was very entertaining to see Sammo and Jackie (stunts) as young men early in their careers. Also, Mao Ying did an above average job headlining this movie. Regarding the story, it's the basic Chinese against Japanese revenge plot, with the twist being the Chinese heroes protecting the honor of the Korean art of Hapkido.
Speaking of Hapkido, watching the masters of this spectacular and deadly art, Jin Han Jae and Wang In Sik, was a very special treat. Once they strut their stuff on screen, one can see right away the difference between true martial artists vs. Chinese opera-trained screen fighters. No offense, Sammo and Jackie.
Sun Dragon [Crash Cinema] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I really wanted to give this film 5 stars, but I could not stop laughing at the ridiculous dubbing on this movie.
And if it wasn't for the fine choreography by action director Leung Siu Chung and the great performances of the stars Billy Chong and the underrated Carl Scott, this film would probably be found at your local supermarket bargin bin. But, with the addition of some interesting and sometimes hilarious villains, this typical revenge story keeps rolling right along. Great fight and training sequences throughout. Only for kung fu film fanatics!
The Fists Of Righteous Harmony (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure "Fists Of Righteous Harmony" is a great indie film that centers around a group of masked crime fighters who battle evil forces with martial arts and psychic powers.
Along with the great story is a riveting soundtrack/score by George Shaw that adds a level of suspense that compliments the film with dynamic impact. A very entertaining film!
Dirty Ho (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Great technical kung fu footwork choreography, great acting by Gordon Liu. The plot and ending are a little questionable. Check it out for the kung fu and opening scene.
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Agreed! One of Gordon Liu's best acting performances.
I agree with your rating, but was probably less disturbed by the ending than you. Yes, it was abrupt, but not really unsupportable with the court intrigues of the day.
Seven Swords (product link) Martial Arts / Swordplay/Sword(s) I gave this film 4 stars for effort. The film had moments of greatness, but failed to deliver the final blow that should have catapulted this film into martial arts cinema's hall of fame.
Great cinemantography, sets and costumes were a plus.
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And you should have given it one star for horribleness.
A very good Stephen Chow film that showcases his athletic and comedic chops once again. Great fight choreography by the Yeun clan, great Yuen Cheung Yan, most notably the duel between Stephen Chow and David Lam Wai in the brothel, which is worth rewinding again again to capture its true greatness!
Engrossing plot about a spoiled, wealthy but illiterate martial artist who tries to capture the heart of a young lady by winning a competition that would award him the title of KUNG FU SCHOLAR. Events end up casting him and his father out of their home and into the streets as beggars for eternity. Add in some plot twists and the two find themselves in an all-out war between the beggars and corrupt officals.
This movie is definitely worth checking out. However, I would have liked to have seen more of the great hand-to-hand kung fu battles that Cheung Yan and his team constructed in some of the earlier scenes. Also, some of the wire work and speeding up of the film didn't work for me.
Cinema Of Vengeance (product link) Documentary / Martial Arts Well made doc on the Hong Kong film industry. Rare shots of the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest Studios which were the two main studios from the genre's heyday.
Also, great behind the scene and historical clips and interviews from Hong Kong cinema's hall of fame superstars. Great for the serious fan!
For several years I overlooked this film because of the movie stills and lobby cards I saw in magagzines and at local Asian movie theaters back in the day. The photos seemed to show a film that was geared more for Asian audiences (which is probably true) than the typical US martial arts movie fan. Since I'm not the typical US martial arts fan, I had to see for myself.
Lau Kar-Leung has done it again! The fun and creative story was a nice change from the mediocre revenge stories usually produced by Hong Kong film companies.
The story centers around the star of the show, Kara Hui Ying-Hung (YOUNG AUNTIE), who must marry her dying sifu in order to keep his inhertiance and estate from the sifu's evil brother, played by the reliable Wang Lung-Wei. The safest way to keep the inheritance out of the evil brother's hands and stay alive is to deliver the sifu's last will and testament to one of his kung fu practicing nephews (Lau Kar-Leung) in Canton. Sounds pretty easy, until the nephew's son (played by the energetic Hsiao Ho) can't come to grips with his youthful great AUNTIE's prescence and spends most of the film devising pranks and challenges to show her who's boss.
Once the silliness concludes, the REAL kung fu starts! With the action direction of Lau Kar-Leung, with the help of Ching Chu and Hsiao Ho, YOUNG AUNTIE explodes with some fantastic martial arts choreography. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, Lau Kar-Leung has done more to promote true martial arts in film than any other film star except Bruce Lee.
Add in great performances by Tong Wai Shing, Yung Moon, and a cameo from Gordon Lui Chia-Hui and the silliness in act two was somewhat tolerable. I also enjoyed the film opening Hung Fist form by Lau Kar Leung.
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i agree with you're good review i found the film very entertaining and not once was i bored.good action good comedy what more can you ask for.
Drunken Master (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure "Drunken Master" stars Jackie Chan as a young Wong Fei Hung who, as a troublemaking youth, is taught a lesson for starting a fight in the local town by his martial arts master father. The lesson is to learn an obscure form of drunken kung fu from master So, played by the legendary Simon Yuen.
The team behind "Drunken Master" is like a who's who in kung fu cinema. First you have Yuen Wo Ping as the director/action director; assisting in the action directing is Hsu Hsia and Corey Yuen Kwai; add in the fantastic kicking ability of super bad guy Hwang Jang Lee and you a have a well produced Ng See Yuen classic.
Ten Tigers From Kwangtung (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure "Ten Tigers of Kwang Tung" starts out like many films Chang Cheh churned out in the 70's and early 80's: basic hand-to-hand and weapon combat with one or two fatal fights thrown in to move the plot along. It's not until the third and final act that the action really makes you wake up and pay attention.
While watching this film, I almost gave up on this old school Shaw Brothers offering because of the cookie-cutter first half.
I'm glad I stuck with it! Chang Cheh and his group of action directors really came through with an action packed second half full of great hand-to-hand and weapon duels. Kudos go to Wong Lik and Chan Shu Kei as well-cast villains with great skills.
I recommend this film because of the all-star cast and the awesome ending fight sequences. A must for the genre collector.
Once Upon A Time In China Trilogy [UK SE 3-Disc Set] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure "Once Upon A Time In China" is a genre classic! It literally started the new wave of the kung fu period film. Jet Li is at his best and Yen She Kwan is one of the most underrated cinema fighters ever! His night time battle with Yuen Cheung Yan is one that must be viewed a second time to really absorb the artistry.
Regarding OUATIC II And III, as they say it is never as good as the first time. However, OUATIC II has Donnie Yen and Jet battling it out with Chinese staffs, and part III has great locations from Mainland China, interesting camerawork, and lion dancing!
All and all this set will please any true martial arts movie fan.
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#1 is among my favorites; #2 & 3 are a little bit less, but they have much to recommend them. Jet Li broke both legs (I think in the ladders battle) making #1 - but any doubling or trickery is invisible.
Martial Arts Of Shaolin (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure What do you get when you team a young and super-energetic Jet Li with the legendary Lau Kar Leung? You get a fantastic, poetry in motion martial arts film! Add the beautiful landscape of Mainland China and you get a visually stunning gem of a movie!
I have to give props to the remaining "Shaolin Temple" movie's supporting cast also, for great forms and fight choreography in this Hong Kong/Mainland China callboration.
Some of the camera angles showed that Shaw Brothers and Lau Kar Leung were at the helm of this genre classic. However, the story could have been told with a liitle more depth, extending the short 89 minute runtime.
All in all this film is beautiful to watch and shows skilled wu shu practictioners in their prime.
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