Kung Fu Flicks? Anyone? (NRR)
puchito
374 Posts
Who is watching them and what are they watching? What are your favorites?Famous Kung Fu Flick Collectors?Posters?PLEASE KEEP ALL WU TANG REFERENCES TO MINIMUM HERE
Comments
the younger dude moves just like a monkey! hilarious ass kickery.
chinese husband (gordon liu) tries to convince his japanese wife that chinese martial arts are superior. japanese masters get hold of a challenge meant for his wife and take the matter personally...
i'm convinced people really got hurt during the fight scenes.
over the top action, effects, and comedy! two bad guys use a zither to fling deadly soundwaves...
I've seen thousands of them since I first started watching in the 70's.
As in any genre there's going to be a lot of crap to sift through.
But when it all comes down to it, I always find myself back at the Shaw studios.
Pound for pound they made the best kung fu movies. Period.
And until very recently, the majority of Shaw films have gone unseen for years.
Off the top of my head, here's some of my favorites (keep in mind that Shaw produced over 1,000 pictures)...
FIVE (DEADLY) VENOMS
5 ELEMENT NINJA (SUPER NINJAS)
LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF CHINA/KUNG FU
KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM
TO KILL A MASTERMIND
GANGMASTER
KUNG FU INSTRUCTOR
AVENGING EAGLE
8 DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER
THE MASTER (3 EVIL MASTERS)
HUMAN SKIN LANTERNS
5 SUPERFIGHTERS
DIRTY HO
TREASURE HUNTERS (MASTER OF DISASTER)
SHAOLIN PRINCE
OPIUM AND THE KUNG FU MASTER
HOLY FLAME OF THE MARTIAL WORLD
THE PROUD TWINS
CHINATOWN KID
5 SHAOLIN MASTERS
BOXER FROM SHANTUNG
MAGNIFICENT RUFFIANS (THE DESTROYERS)
REBEL INTRUDERS (KILLER ARMY)
CRIPPLED AVENGERS (MORTAL COMBAT)
FLAG OF IRON (SPEARMAN OF DEATH)
MASKED AVENGERS
BRAVE ARCHER PARTS 1-4
A DEADLY SECRET
LADY ASSASSIN
LEGEND OF THE FOX
SWORD STAINED WITH ROYAL BLOOD
HOUSE OF TRAPS
KID FROM KWANGTUNG
BAT WITHOUT WINGS
BLOODY PARROT
36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (MASTER KILLER)
RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER (RETURN OF THE MASTER KILLER)
DISCIPLES OF THE 36T CHAMBER (DISCPLES OF THE MASTER KILLER)
FLYING GUILLOTINE
AMBITIOUS KUNG FU GIRL
FULL MOON SCIMITAR
BASTARD SWORDSMAN
RETURN OF THE BASTARD SWORDSMAN
EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN
CLAN OF THE WHITE LOTUS (FISTS OF THE WHITE LOTUS)
just the tip of the iceberg too I'm afraid.
That list was pretty complete, there was a couple very necessary jawns left out though...
1. Drunken Master 2 *** (the remake) - not "classic" in the same way as Shaw flicks, but arguably the most ridiculous shit ever caught on film.
2. Shaolin vs Lama
3. Two Champions of Shaolin (you had the pictures in your post, but not the name I think)
4. Killer Army
5. Invincible Shaolin
6. Shaolin vs Wu-Tang
7. Grandmaster of Shaolin Kung Fu
8. Snake in the Eagles Shadow
9. Fist of Legend - the Bruce Lee version and the Jet Li remake
10. Enter The Dragon
11. Jackie Chan's 1st Strike, Rumble in the Bronx, Operation Condor - all pretty dope, if you like new school
** yo you also mentioned Legend of the Fox - I have it on DVD, but its unwatchable b/c the sound goes in and out... maybe there's other versions out there
Yeah, I should have been more clear that my list was strictly Shaw Brothers (and even then not complete by any means!).
A list of top non-Shaw kung fu flicks (including Golden Harvest, independants, etc.) would take up another page at least.
It was listed - under the OG title "Rebel Intruders". Pics are there too!
Major co-signature! Although heads in the US old enough to remember would have seen it on tv back in the day as "Unbeatable Dragon" (aka "North Shaolin vs. South Shaolin" & "Shaolin Bloodshed").
Class venoms flick.
Definitely in my TOP 5 ALL TIME old school kung fu flicks (neck & neck with "Dance of the Drunk Mantis").
Shaw or not, this is the one.
The joint that made Jackie a star and the one that solidified Yuen Wo-Ping's career.
The movie is essentially the blueprint for literally 100's of imitators that would follow...
...youthful kid learns esoteric kung fu style under the tutelage of an old master (in this case, Yuen Wo-Ping's father Simon Yuen who went on to perfect the "Sam Seed" character in dozens of other copycats flicks). Great choice.
I'm assumng you have an old bootleg?
Celestial just recently released a gorgeous looking (and legitimate) DVD. You can cop it for under $15. online. But depending on how much of a stickler you are about these things, I'd suggest getting the vcd instead, since Celestial (the company who owns the rights for releasing all Shaw Bros. films on DVD) went ahead and added or "enhanced" all sorts of extra music and sound effects to the film as a way of marketing to the fickle, 5.1 surround-loving youth market in HK - who presumedly won't watch a movie if it was originally shot in Mono.
Personally I think they've ruined some of these films (they've done the "enhancements" to some of the DVDs, not all) and so I just get the vcds whenever warranted.
Also, check for "New Tales of the Flying Fox" - another Shaw flick also out courtesy of Celestial (I've posted pics of this one as well).
It's based on the same book as "Legend" but was made a few years later and boasts much faster moving fights.
(plus Hui Ying Hung is in it)
Not long at all really.
I've got all those images on deck, so it's not like I scanned them all just for the occassion!
There's nothing I hate more than record dealers asking me what I'm looking for. Not because the question is offensive, but because I draw blanks quicker than cigarette smokers.
You have to remember that there are literally thousands of these movies.
And since my nearly lifelong love for kung fu movies is right up there with my love of music, it's really no thing to name off 50 titles I really dig.
It's when I look at what I wrote 20 minutes later that I realize I've forgotten at least another 35 joints that should have made the list.
Yeah one of my favourite Chan films as well. Also features one of my favourites Jang Lee Hwang as the villain - worth checking out his film Hitman In The Hand Of Bhudda which features some truly stunning leg work.
I've posted this before, but it's good to have bookmarked. Trailers to alot of films.
http://www.shaolinchamber.com/trailerschamber.html
Anyways...
Toronto people who are into Fu flix
Nov. 11th
Mad Mad Kung Fu aKa DIRTY OLD KUNG FU is playing!
And one that I will be at for sure... I've seen the movie a million times. But never on the big screen...
Nov. 25th
The Kid With The Golden Arm!!!
I'll probably be going with my gurl, but anyone that wants to come out let me know!
That girl is beautiful. Was she the one on DYNASTY OF BLOOD?
Haha. After a while of loading some of the pics on 56k it is too much for it and just stops loading pics. FUCK.
The best I've seen. With some of these you gotta make sure you get the letterboxed versions.
And I trained with Lam Chun Fai who appears in the opening of the movie Budo Wing. I know all those forms he does in this clip, too but could never do them anywhere near as well as him: http://www.siulam.info/charris/films/lcfsets1.WMV
Thanks For The Links!
I'm not on the studio carpet level, but I was suprised not to have seen any Kung Fu Mentioned on soul strut. I knew there had to be some head on here.
Ah, Hui Ying-Hung. A dime among nickels.
Ying-Hung was not in Dynasty of Blood (aka Blood Brothers).
You're probably thinking of Ching Li - another beauty no doubt. But she's no Hui Ying-Hung.
Ying-Hung is best known for her roles in Liu Chia Liang's classics (8 Diagram Pole Fighter, My Young Auntie, etc.).
If you don't know, Sifu Liu Chia Liang ("Pops") is widely considered to be THE greatest director of kung fu films, period.
He's the man. And for a while, Hui Ying-Hung was his woman. Or his mistress anyway.
Once that fizzled out, she apparently became hard up for cash and posed for the HK version of Playboy.
OG copies of that particular issue is the among kung fu collectors.
Here's a peek...
and i can't forget the samurai films .. particularly the lone wolf series ..
or THIS dude?
Real headz want to know the deal.
Damn she fine. DAMN she fine. I ain't sayin' I'd suck her daddy's d**k, but I would drink her bathwater (yum).
Here's my little list of ones to check out...
THE VICTIM
(Sammo Hung's early masterwork. PRODIGAL SON is good, too.)
BRUCE, D-DAY AT MACAU aka KUNG FU SUPERMAN
(Ocean Shores Taiwanese joint featuring the dude who went on to play the villain in Kung Fu Hustle. Many, many fools get kicked in the head in this piece.)
TAOISM DRUNKARD ( "Raised, most likely, in extreme poverty, paid little for their bone-breaking work as stuntmen, they took the opportunities provided by directing jobs to assemble demonic displays of hair-raising bric-a-brac into motion pictures powered by the surreal." That just about sums it up. )
THE BUTTERFLY MURDERS
WE ARE GOING TO EAT YOU
BURNING PARADISE
THE BLADE
(Early and late efforts by the incredible and incredibly ignored Tsui Hark)
There's a lot more, but, yeah...this is a deep wellspring.
PS: What movie is that with the dude rocking the Gene Simmons makeup?!? I gotta get that!
http://www.kungfucinema.com/reviews/knockabout.htm
http://www.kungfucinema.com/reviews/dreadnought.htm
Kiss came first.
'Bat without Wings' is from like '82 or so...so just about the time Kiss was unmasking, Shaw Bros were capitilizing on it.
That's a nice, crazy Shaw Bros flick by the way....wayyy out.
Has anyone mentioned the Buddah's Palm[/b]?
(I haven't read the whole thread), but that flick is off the hinges, almost as nuts, no MORE nuts that Holy Flame of the Martial World[/b].
And can anyone get me a copy of Boxer's Omen[/b]?
Hit me on the PM
Chan, you got the Lone Wolf and Cub TV series? I found one guy with it but he won't trade and is trying to charge me too much. I want the first three seasons. Let me know and we can work it out. Oh ya, I need English sub's. lol. I better throw that out there now
Something I would be interested in also...
I really wish I never sold the laserdisc's for the flicks. I don't even care that I don't have a player anymore. Just would like to have those disks again.