Agreement:80% of 269 voters agree with Jeffrey Frawley's reviews Gender: Male Age: 50 Location: Potomac, Maryland, USA Lists:WISH LIST (15) / OWNED LIST (454)
Bio: I like Asian film more than is good for me. Golden Harvest is good, but Shaw Brothers holds a special attraction, particularly Chang Cheh, with Ti Lung or the Venoms, or Lau Kar Leung, with or without his brothers. I'm learning more about South Korea, and find it the best cinema of the past two decades. Thai film is entertaining, but I don't have the critical apparatus to go beyond "That elbow strike was cool!"
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Iron Monkey 2 [1996] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure The fighting is fairly good, probably - the cinematography is so poor that it's hard to tell. The writing, direction and acting are below average. There is no substantial connection between this and the three other films I know of which dub themselves "Iron Monkey" - not in characters, personalities or even time period.
It's pretty bad.
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I agree, this film left a bad taste in my mouth! What we have here is a lot and I mean a lot of wasted potenti
Devilman (product link) Action/Adventure / Fantasy Bad writing, acting, makeup and special effects. This seems incomplete in every respect. The premise is fairly good, but the development is childish.
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Unfortunately, yes, I agree. I was really surprised at how bad this was.
The Gene Generation (product link) Girls With Guns / Science Fiction Badly written and acted, with insufficient visual appeal to make up for its other failings. It has come to the point that watching any performance by Bai Ling feels like a shameful view through the peephole of a deteriorating specimen--uncomfortable performing in English, emaciated, and dressed like a lunatic.
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I haven't seen this film, but your sentiments re: Bai Ling are spot-on. I cringe whenever I see her. She had a great performance in "Three Extremes" but beyond that she's almost unbearable to me.
Fists Of Legends 2: Iron Bodyguards (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure It takes a good deal of concentration to make any sense of this mash-up of at least two unrelated films, but it is not really worth the effort.
Amazing Masters / Shaolin Traitor [DOUBLE FEATURE] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure "Amazing Masters" is a poorly written, terribly narrated collection of clips from kung fu films, concentrating heavily on Carter Wong--presumably because they had access to his work, rather than for any aesthetic reason.
"Shaolin Traitor," on the flip side of the disc, is probably a third rate effort--with the execrable dubbing and very poor transfer to DVD it's hard to judge.
Amazing Masters [DOUBLE FEATURE] (product link) Martial Arts / Documentary Ken Howard's narration is lackluster and badly written; and Carter Wong's level of skill appears to be vastly overstated in the narration, although the gentleman does seem to have maintained a praiseworthy physique (at least as of whenever the footage was assembled).
Dr. Wai In The Scripture With No Words (product link) Martial Arts / Fantasy This is a fairly uninteresting misfire. Jet Li is miscast as a passive loser of a pulp writer whose stories and fantasies are played out by the mysterious Dr. Wai, his alter ego and fantasy fulfillment--also (of course) played by the much better cast Jet Li. There's not enough story to tell one story, much less two. Jet Li has been in other bad films, but his unfocused performance in this one is more embarrassing than his better turns in even worse films such as "The Master".
Black Mask 2 (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts A very inferior cashing in on the good Jet Li film, "Black Mask. Jet Li, Lau Ching Wan, and Karen Mok are sorely missed, and the WWF wrestlers making up the bulk of the cast are fairly incompetent.
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Dreadful! The name should not have been allowed to use "Black Mask"! Don't buy this one - get the original "Black Mask" with Jet.
Samourais (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts This is a poorly written and acted attempt at Hong Kong-style martial arts by unathletic and annoying French actors. The sidekick is just as annoying in French as he is in English. They must have looked hard for an English language dubber to match the French actor. The martial arts choreography, by Kuo Chui/Philip Kwok, is quite good, and when the stunt performers take over the action looks good - It just stinks when the stars take over.
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I think it depends on where the director was going with the characters in the first place. Once the story got moving, I didnt mind the silliness, as long as it stuck to the story, with some great fight direction attached to it.
Destiny's Champion (product link) Drama / Action/Adventure This is a very disappointing film, as Ti Lung's role (a supporting one, despite the packaging and publicity) is underwritten and uninteresting. The lead actor is adequate in a not-too-good role, and I expected much more from the director, who has done a great deal of good work before.
I like Anthony Anderson: occasionally, now, but not in this heap of garbage.
I like Tom Arnold: never, ever, under any circumstances.
Once again, Joel Silver has taken Jet Li's Beijing-style wushu and forced it down the throats of the American public, interspersed with third-rate hip-hop and tenth-rate writing. Jet Li is marvelous to watch, even in trash: this is trash.
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I think my review has more effect because of the AIDS comment but yes this garbage but should of been a zero rating.
Ninja Fantasy / Fight Among The Supers [DOUBLE FEATURE] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure It may be the Saturday TV matinee quality transfer, but more likely the poorly thought out very late period Chang Cheh androgen worship which makes these films unappealing. Lu Feng should have never been reduced to this inferior stuff. It may be that Chiang Sheng should have, but that's just me.
Dante 01 (product link) Science Fiction / Thriller This is a horribly disappointing film. If one considers it as a drama in three acts, it is missing act two.
The situation is set up in the first act: an unnamed man is brought to a remote psychiatric prison ship orbiting a distant planet, and he begins to display what seem to be supernatural powers. Some inmates worship him and some resolve to kill him.
The second act, one would expect, would set up a connection between the first act and the third, in which inexplicable trippy events occur, and the credits then appear.
I liked the first act, and found the third at least visually interesting; but there is no coherent plot, so this film is a failure.
Born To Defence (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts This is Jet Li's debut and (so far) single instance of directing a film, although he has been at one level or another of producing many of his films. He tells a simplistic story of good, small Chinese being manhandled by crude, huge, ugly Americans until one strong, hardened Chinese war veteran beats the hell out of Americans in and out of the boxing ring. The fight choreography is good. The script and direction are not.
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Agreed, it could have been much better. As an ex-military policeman, unfortunately soldiers do tend to think they could get away with anything in host countries. That part of the film is more realistic than most people know.
Street Warrior (product link) TV Shows/Movies / Martial Arts I probably enjoyed this a bit more than my 2.5 star review indicates. This is an entirely run-of-the-mill story with generally undistinguished performances; but it moves along, provides some entertainment, and has the charmingly loathsome Nick Chinlund as a first-class villain.
Returner (product link) Action/Adventure / Science Fiction A mediocre film with adequate performances--but it is not unentertaining. For the most part it plays fair with the time issues it raises.
Born To Fight [1986] / Thai Police Story [2-Disc Set] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure There is some value to these films, because Panna Rittikrai's stunts and stunt direction are good--but the script, acting and production are extremely slipshod.
I've seen a lot worse films, but people impressed with the films of Rittikrai's disciple Tony Jaa should realize that Rittikrai is not at all the same kind of fighter and that the films he did earlier in his career are vastly more minor productions.
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I agree. Not much value here beyond the stunt work
Invisible Target (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts The story is very much what is to be expected, and none of the performers is very able, but this is a reasonably well put together thriller.
Death Ring (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure The people involved have real talent, but the film is disjointed and seems like at least two different films spliced together. I don't want to discourage anyone from seeing it, because some of the fighting is good and it's interesting to see what Lu Feng, the co-director and former Venom, can do. From commentary I have heard elsewhere, it seems that the better scenes, which seem set in a timeless martial arts world, are directed by Chang Cheh and the grittier modern day sequences are from Lu Feng.
The Dead Pool (product link) Crime / Thriller In "The Dead Pool" Harry is no longer up against pure evil (1), fascism (2), greed (3), or vengeance (4): now it's decadence and envy. Well-known people whose names appear on a "dead list", a series of bets on which celebrity will be the next to die, are being helped along, and Harry's name is now on the list. He sets things right with a VERY big gun. The character has sunk as low as is possible, and thankfully this is the end.
Undercover Hidden Dragon (product link) Comedy / Crime Ronald Cheng is slightly amusing in a very lightweight tale of an easily suggestible minor gangster convinced he is an undercover cop. The film is not believable for a moment and has very little gravity, but most parts are reasonably well played, and Cheng is good in this kind of role.
Sanshiro Sugata 2 (product link) Drama / Action/Adventure Much inferior to "Sanshiro Sugata," this still has much of the visual flourish and humanism of the first film. Second rate Kurosawa is still Kurosawa, and that counts for quite a bit.
Dragon Tiger Gate (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This doesn't do a whole lot for me. Donnie Yen's martial arts performance is good, despite being hampered by a bizarre peekaboo hairstyle. Nicholas Tse, despite a more normal hairstyle, fights adequately, but nowhere hear Yen's level. Shawn Yue, in a wig (I hope it's a wig) more or less as foolish as Yen's, isn't given much to do. The plot is much thinner than the martial arts choreography.
No, this movie is a classic. I think the hairstyle was the comicbook's illusion, I believe. I belive this movie is four stars because they pulled the epic storyline off well, especially the martial arts scene at the end. I have to disagree. It's worth it.
Born Invincible (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Carter Wong has been in a lot of worse films, and the martial arts scenes (60% of the film?) are very well done. Reviews are supposed to be of the film, rather than the DVD - but when the only DVDs available have the mediocre transfer and incredibly awful English dubbing found here, it's hard to take the film very seriously or to enjoy it as much as it deserves.
Another significant problem with enjoying "Born Invincible" is that, very typically for Joseph Kuo, the initial characterization of Tai Chi and Tai Chi practitioners is just bizarre.
The 10 Faces Of Sonny Chiba [10-Movie Set] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Most of these ten films are guilty pleasures, but pleasures they are. Sonny Chiba's films with Kinju Fukasaku are low points for both men - with unconvincing special effects and inferior set design - but I'm not sorry to have this set! Most of the films are worthwhile, and the Streetfighter films, particularly the first one, are quite enjoyable.
The Wandering Swordsman (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Enjoyment of this film depends almost entirely on whether one appreciates David Chiang's acting and charm: I do not, or at least not very much. There is a well-established tradition of the Chinese wandering swordsman roving a timeless China, righting wrongs and defending the downtrodden, with no concern for his own gain. That's fine, and it's made for many good films.
In this case, David Chiang plays a gullible, stupid little man with some sword skills and an inflated opinion of his own cleverness. Am I missing something, or isn't it foolish to believe whatever a stranger one is fighting tells you?
Things do not turn out well for this smiling cavalier.
Return To A Better Tomorrow (product link) Action/Adventure / Crime Lau Ching Wan is quite good in a second or third lead part - he is almost always quite good - but star Ekin Cheng is superficial - as he very frequently is. The film is as conventional a Triad drama as Wong Jing is capable of making. Unusually for Wong Jing, there appears to have been some effort to maintain a coherent plot. I found the film reasonably entertaining, but it is an outrage to even pretend it has some relationship with the great "A Better Tomorrow," hugely entertaining "A Better Tomorrow 2" or the fairly ordinary "A Better Tomorrow 3." Other than dealing with Triad members, there is no connection, and the setting of this film is noticeably more contemporary than any of them.
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I hate Ekin Cheng... the guy's a cardboard cut out! This movie taints the name of ABT!
War (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts I wanted to see Jet Li and Jason Statham in another film after the disappointing "The One," and here they are. There is virtually no martial art action - particularly between the two stars who are most popular for what they can do with their bodies. The film is a huge letdown for anyone who insists on what is expected. If one can get past that, this is a reasonably satisfying action/Yakuza/Triad/International Hitman/FBI thriller. London and Beijing are just a little bit far to look when casting American action figures.
What exactly makes this movie worse than Azumi, a movie you rated at 4.5 stars? Statham and Li are certainly much more competent than Aya Ueto, and the story is no more derivative. I got exactly what I expected.
Iron Monkey 2 [1978] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This film has no connection to Chen Kuan Tai's previous "The Iron Monkey," and is a lesser effort than that good movie - but it is a fairly good picture if one thinks of it as a small, independent action flick. Chen Kuan Tai's acting is nothing special - but his action is very special indeed.
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He meant the story and conception are irrelevent to the first Iron Monkey with Chen Kuan Tai.
Godzilla: Final Wars (product link) Science Fiction / Thriller A mediocre film from a usually more exciting director. I first saw this without subtitles and was able to get a general idea of what was going on. When I saw it with fairly competent subtitles, it gained only marginally in comprehensibility. The special effects are adequate but not much more than that.
The Shadow Boxing (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Perhaps I'm humorless, but this film does very little for me. Wang Yu, Liu Chia Ying, Liu Chia Hui and Lee Hoi Sang have all given better martial arts performances in other films by Liu Chia Liang, and the humor may be aimed specifically at a Cantonese or Hong Kongese sensibility. I prefer Liu Chia Liang when he is more serious. All of this being said, this is still much better than a lot of films by lesser directors and casts: this lineup simply encourages much higher expectations.
The Chinese Boxer (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Wang Yu just doesn't have the skills to be a convincing martial artist. As a swordsman, one armed or two, he is sufficiently convincing, and his acting ability makes one armed kung fu interesting, at least, but in bare two handed kung fu he is surpassed and eclipsed by many.
I've seen a lot worse, but it's better to go with actors who have more training and ability.
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Jimmy is bad ass, simply put. He's a brawler not a fluffy snow flake who flips around like a tool. I loved this film!
I agree with you comments. Though Jimmy does have a lot of screen presence, and there are some classic scenes in here. Like the "samurai showdown" in the snowy wheat field... that's cool stuff!
Jet Li, Delroy Lindo, Jason Statham and Carla Gugino head a strong cast saddled with second rate special effects and a third rate script, but this bad little film provides some pleasures. At least there's a rationale for the wirework: Jet Li plays various multiverse versions of the core character; As each dies, his strength and abilities are divided among the remaining Gabe/Gabriel/Law/Yu Law variants. One of them has realized this and resolved to murder all of the rest, so that he can be "The One" - a superior being, a god or a universal destroyer, depending on the various theories. Shortly after the film starts, the multitude of Gabes has been reduced to two, and Jet Li is given an excuse to show his stuff: Seemingly fighting himself, through sometimes convincing camera work and face replacement technology. Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham play the senior and junior agents detailed to prevent Yu Law from becoming the One; Carla Gugino is the devastatingly sexy love of Gabe, Yu Law and perhaps others of the multitude.
Empire Of The Wolves (product link) Action/Adventure / Thriller This is not really a good story or one which holds up to logical dissection, but it is nearly buoyed up by Jean Reno's charisma and enthusiasm. With a different lead, my rating would probably drop by at least 1.5 stars. A retired police officer is drawn into the investigation of a triple murder with dark sociopolitical connections. Of course he is completely outmatched, or so it would seem. This is Jean Reno, you know! He is tall, tough, loud and persistent. The ultra-nationalist Turks he faces are less tall, tough, loud and persistent: This is a French film, starring the (currently) French Jean Reno, so there you go.
Sudden Impact (product link) Crime / Thriller In "Sudden Impact" Harry comes up against low life small town rapists and murderers who, inconveniently, are being picked off by someone else. Hey, no fair! He solves the case, but where does justice lie? His answer is very different from what it would be in the first three films.
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Clint's girlfiend need a job... hey, let's make Sudden Impact!
This film is a rip-off of Kiss Of Death, and old Shaw Brothers. In Kiss Of Death, the female stabbs her victims balls. In this one the female blows them off.
Dragon Fight (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Excellent fighting, tired plot, and minuscule budget. Jet Li and much of the cast can be relied upon for great moves, but that's not enough.
Tokyo Gore Police (product link) Action/Adventure / Horror Mediocre acting and direction, terrible costumes and special effects, added to simplistic writing and sprinkled with a great deal of energy results in a more pleasurable than not monster/slasher/police drama/conspiracy/some other things picture. It isn't good, and I don't respect it--but I kind of like it.
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they need to take lessons from dead alive to know how to make a consistent gore film. I find gore films retarded and this film is a great example of it!
18 Fatal Strikes (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Tung Wei, in the lead, shows strong skills in a better than run-of-the-mill kung fu potboiler. I don't believe for a moment in Shaking Eagle's style, but it photographs pretty well. The appallingly hammy and unfunny Dean Shek doesn't bring this film down all that much - which is a blessing.
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