Top 5 Shaw Brothers Movies...
djsheep
3,620 Posts
I know Big Chan and paulnice are gunna kill this, but I still have a backlog of movies to watch, out of the ones I've seen so far, these are my top 5;1. Five Venoms2. Judgement Of An Assassin3. Clan Of The White Lotus4. The Master5. 36th Chamber Of Shaolin(just missed the list -- The Deadly Breaking Sword, Legendary Weapons Of China)
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8 Diagram Pole Fighter
Executioners From Shaolin
Avenging Eagle
Legendary Weapons Of China
The Blood Brothers
Human Lanterns
Come Drink With Me
Spiritual Boxer
Original One Armed Swordsman
Mad Monkey Kung Fu
Chinese Super Ninjas
Invincible Pole Fighter
Five Deadly Venoms
Master Killer
Return To The 36TH Chamber
Honorable Mention
The Avenging Eagle
Avenging Warriors Of Shaolin
The Battle Wizard
One-Armed Swordsman
Executioners From Shaolin
Fist Of The White Lotus
Come Drink With Me
Mad Monkey Kung Fu
Shaolin Martial Arts
The Five Deadly Venoms
The Kid w/ The Golden Arm
Magnificent Ruffians aka Destroyers
Master Killer
I want to cop some of my favs, but I dont want no booleg bullshit.
That is a whole crazy thread of its own. The visuals are perfect, sometimes the soundtracks have been re-edited & the subs are not bad, but not perfect. I don't buy the lousy bootlegs. Only the R3 dvd's. This is the only way to own many of these titles now. An American company will be releasing some in the fall which will be amazing, but their selection is not that great because of copyright issues.
To Kill A Mastermind
Gangmaster
House of Traps
The Lady Assassin
Tigress of Shaolin
Finally, the Sifu drops the knowledge!
2. Buddah's Palm
3. The Battle Wizard
4. Master Killer (36 Chambers of Shaolin)
5. Five Venoms
Here's what I'm feeling today...
Clan/Fists of the White Lotus
(Lo Lieh's star turn as the White Lotus Chief Priest Pai Mei. Was also his only directing gig at Shaws.
Though the story goes, Liu Chia Liang aka "Pops" actually ghost directed it. Wouldn't be suprised as it has his touch all over the film - particularly in the fight scenes. NEVER get tired of this one)
Legendary Weapons of China / Kung Fu
(Another "Pops" "real kung fu" showcase. And one of his best. Fuck, they're ALL great.
If you live in NY, check the Lincoln Film Center schedule, this one is actually playing today and tomorrow.
See it by all means!!)
Kid From Kwangtung
(It's a rare one, but well worth tracking down, if just for the final confrontation between Wang Yu, his 2 friends and long time indy kung fu villain WANG JIANG LEE!!
((other than that, the film IS a bit too thick on the slapstick - but the last 15-20 minutes make up for it, trust me!))
This was one of only 2 films that Wang made for Shaws and it's by far the best.
This guy is SO badass that in many of the movies he's in, it often takes at least TWO heroes to take him out.
He's NO JOKE. Nick names: "Rubber Legs" and "Silver Fox". Ask somebody.
Would have been nice to see what he might have done had he stuck around at Shaws and worked with some of the industry's best choreographers. Alas, the story goes, he pulled a knife on Run Run's mistress Mona Fong after she denied him his pay.)
Kung Fu Instructor
(While directors Chang Cheh and Liu Chia Liang are more famous and prolific, Sun Chung was, as QT put it, the Stanley Kubrick of Shaws Brothers. He didn't make many films. But there's SO MUCH in every one he did make. They're all treasures. This is one of my favorites. This was sort of a return to form for actor Ti Lung, who, for so many years, had toiled under director Chang Cheh making countless heroic bloodshed films with partner David Chiang. Here, he plays an older, wiser, badass gung fu instructor who takes Wang Yu under his wing while working as a hired tutor for an evil clan. Good stuff.)
To Kill a Mastermind
(co-sign with Chan Dog on this one. Perhaps one of the rarest of all Shaw flicks is also one of the best.
Again, another jewel from Sun Chung. Made in 1979, this failed at the box office because there were no stars in the film to speak of. In fact, besides perenial villain Wang Lung Wei, just about the entire cast was filled with new comers. That aside, the film is a non stop face melting kung fu spectacular with a mind numbing plot that would make Agatha Christie proud.
Unfortnately, as of this writing, the only copy that exists is a horrible VHS with bleached out colors and subtitles that are for the most part, below the screen!
Hopefully, Celestial will get around to releasing this baby sometime next year. Please!!)
I'll put it like this. If you still own ay old bootlegs, hold on to em.
Yes, the new region 3 releases look gorgeous, but are often cut AND are often robbed completely of their orginal soundtracks (beautiful De Wolfe stuff for the most part) and either replaced or played over with some bullshit, out-of-key Casio synthesizer. It's horrible. Countless classics have already been ruined this way.
This actually seems to be par-for-the-course in the HK DVD industry.
If a movie is deemed to be too old, then they'll often get rid of the entire soundtrack and replace it with newer, synthetic synths in order to appease consumers with 5.1 set ups.
And apparently there isn't much protest among consumers over there, because it's a common practice that's been going on for a while now.
I remember they did this with the release of A Better Tomorrow and some people DID freak out (no doubt because that theme song is so classic and such an integral part of the film), and they eventually re-released it wit the OG ST intact.
Celestial - who releases the Shaw stuff - seems to FINALLY be putting this stiff out in MONO as originally released in theaters. But many think it's more due to cutting costs than anything else.
If you care about such things, just be careful before you buy.
On line reviews can help before buying - reviewers will take note of the crappy sound edits. I have some celestial dvd's from the mainland - those are a trip. They're mono, but don't have a cantonese soundtrack & have no music during the intros. For the first couple minutes, the screen goes black, simple text credits roll & then the movie starts.
Forgot about this....that is one of the most balls-out demonstrations of cinematic martial arts ever to be put on film. My impression of that flick was that the plot was pretty much a framework for the demonstration of different styles and weapons, but what a spectacle!
I think this week Ima check out Fist of the White Lotus, Legendary Weapons of China, and 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, yeah!
36th Chamber of Shaolin/Shaolin Master Killer fucked my head up! So ill.
I thought the pan media's have english dub & no chinese language soundtracks?
I wish I worked at HK Flix!
I'm guessing I'll hang onto all my vhs boots I collected over the last 20 years. I was thinking of getting rid of them, but I guess I'll hang on to them now.
This is why I love Toronto. Cats like Colin Geddes keeping OG 35mm prints and screening them on the regular. Tho, I bet you he cries at night over the lost of a reel for Master Killer...
Question , now I usually always enjoy the true real language track for these films with subs. But there are times that a few of these films I can only watch with the OG dubs? 5 Deadly comes to mind.
Anyone else?
Oh, and Paul. I had Fists of the White Lotus as a honorable mention. But after ur posting of that pic made me think about it again and should move on my list.
THX
Which town is this? Does that mean you have access to their full catalogue? Where do they run outta? Hawaii?
Oh, I most definitely prefer the OG english dub for my Shaw films whenever possible.
It's clearly a nostalgia thing as it's how I grew up watching these flicks.
Any other film of non-english origin I gotta see with subs - including any other HK flicks made after 1983.
But pre-'83, GOTTA have em in english.
And you're right, 5 (Deadly) Venoms just doesn't seem right watching it in cantonese or mandarin.
Same goes with just about any Shaw flick IMO.
But that's just me.
It's another reason I'll hold onto my old tapes.
As it stands to reason that we'll never see these released in english again.
Two of my favorites, and one that has not been mentioned so far
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan
Come Drink With Me
I've seen Intimate Confessions several times and the end gives me chills every time.
So well done .. such an amazing conclusion.
Unfortunately the copy I got from HKflix seems to be a bad transfer from the film.. it's got a soft fuzz to it which is really difficult. Come Drink with Me and the others I bought look amazing though - great transfers. I forget the studio, but the DVD's appear to have original soundtracks and no cut scenes that I could notice. Intimate Confessions uses some ripped off early Pink Floyd to great effect.
I had Come drink on my honorable mention list. But never seen Intimate Confessions. I'll be on the look out. Thx
Confessions is okay, but its a bit too porno for my tastes.
I haven't seen these yet:
The Water Margin
Brave Archer
Heroes Two
Boxer Fron Shantung
Dirty Ho
Oh, I thought you guys meant the og english dubs, yeah I don't really know bout the chinese language version, there's deltamac and IVL versions that I think have chinese dubs, but are those the ones Paul's talking about with new soundtracks on 'em?
OOOAAAAKKKKLLLLAAAAANNNNNDDDD....
Company based out of Hawaii, warehouse in Oakland where I work.
That's PanMedia, those are straight up rips of the OGs with English dub on them. For the most part, the transfer is pretty much solid.
Really looking forward to this coming in the mail. The only Shaw Bros. with Jet Li. Looks like a good one.
This movie was more like Jet Li's Shaolin Temple & Kids From Shaolin. They aren't a true series like the OUATIC movies, but they make up their own trilogy in a way (I like watching them together). If you haven't seen them, I'd recommend 'em.
I always wanted to know what it must have been like on the set of that film.
Jet Li was not even 20 yet but he had 2 bonafide hits under his belt and was the toast of the genre.
Yet, this was his first film where he actually had to work with professionals from HK.
(keep in mind that his prior 2 films - "Shaolin Temple" and "Kids From Shaolin" were essentialy the first 2 martial arts films produced by mainland China)
So what was it like for him to work under the direction of "Pops", an actual descendant of Wong Fei Hung?!
I have read that Jet Li was a bit intimidated, and that's to be expected, but I'd love to hear more.