Martial arts movie buffs - I need some guidance
m_dejean
Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut. 2,946 Posts
They're running a series of 10 Chinese martial arts movies from 1970-1982 at the Film Cultural Centre here in CPH this month. My knowledge of the genre is not that deep, but I know I like it a lot, and there are plenty of classics I want to see. I know there are some connoisseurs on this board, and since I only have the money/time to see a few of them, I'd like to hear which ones you think I should check out first:http://www.dfi.dk/cinemateket/Program/seriebeskrivelse.htm?pageType=titler&id=2677Thank you???
Comments
I just have a feeling you might like it.
Clans of Intrigue
Dirty Ho
The Boxer From Shantung
The Five Venoms
The New One-Armed Swordsman
It's worth it. Five Venoms is a 42nd street classic, but is slightly slower in terms of pace.
Have fun.
1.King Boxer
2.The New One Armed Swordman.
3.Magic Blade.
4.Five Venoms.
5.Boxer From Shantung.
I didn't like "Dirty Ho" or "Legendary Weapons of China"
I haven't seen the rest of them,i cant comment on them.
All those are great, but 'Legendary Weapons of China'[/b] is non-stop. I would drop everything to see that and the Five Venoms on a bix screen.
I know I could probably grab several of these on the innanet, but a certain percentage of my monthly cinematic experience has to be on a celluloid screen, and this sort of stuff doesn't deserve to be viewed on a 12" powerbook IMO.
Found the P.Nice Venom appreciation thread, but damn that's a lot of info to sift through!
cinemateket is a really good repertory cinema
Be happy you can watch them on a big screen!
Personally I would try and see them all but that is just me. I don't know how "down" Euros are.
i saw legendary weapons of kung fu and im assuming they are the same film.
venoms, if you have not seen it is a must.
I liked Legendary Weapons far better than 5 Deadly Venoms. Thats just me though.
"Legendary Weapons of Kung Fu" is just the US theatrical release title for "Legendary Weapons of China".
They are in fact the same film.
My take on it:
Excellent kung fu flick.
It does take it's time to get going and the extended Fu Sheng cameo is a bit more slapstick than the film really needed, but once that third reel kicks in, it's pretty much non stop, top notch Liu Chia Liang madness at his very best.
One critic called it the quintessential kung fu movie.
In other words, it was one of the only films to anyones knowledge where kung fu in of itself is the primary point of the film.
Without kung fu, the film wouldn't work/couldn't exist.
Aside from all that, the action is great.
Seeing the real life/on screen brothers go at it with the 18 weapons at the end is treat.
And it FAR surpasses any of the work done in the Five Venoms.
Although I suppose it's apples and oranges, but we're talking about REAL kung fu techniques from a direct descendant of Wong Fei Hung VS. a troupe of Taiwanese acrobats.
Don't get me wrong. I love the Venoms and their whole catalog of films.
I just place Five Deadly Venoms as a movie towards the lower part of that short list of films.
I think I mentioned it in that other post, but the best part of the Five Deadly Venoms to me was the first couple of minutes when they introduce each Venom and their style.
It's worth seeing just for that alone.
After that, we're treated to a dark, brooding if sometimes boring mystery with very little action until the last 8 minutes.
Winner: "Legendary Weapons of Kung Fu/China"
@PiedPiper - yes we're pretty lucky to have an institution like Cinemateket here. The monthly program is always full of great stuff. I used to have a yearly subscription which gives you a discount on all the tickets, making it only 35 kr. (ca. $6.5) to go see all these amazing films. And it's all genres. Like, within one month you'll have The Shaw Bros., Andrei Tarkovskij, Roger Corman, Leni Riefenstahl, Emir Kusturica and Buster Keaton shorts with live piano backing. It's fucking great. And the two theatres in the building are topnotch.