dugan

We need a thread dedicated to martial arts movie recommendations.

What are your favorite martial arts movies, and why?

devilshalo

Well there were a few threads in the International DVD catagory...

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/internation...fu-thread.html

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/internation...fu-thread.html

Mountain Biker

Those are great threads (I never visit that forum so first time seeing them)!

My most wanted on DVD would be 5 Masters of Death. I remember recording that off Kung Fu Theater back in the 80's, but haven't seen it since.

Ash Ketchum

FIVE MASTERS OF DEATH has come out in a restored, remastered edition under its original title, FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS, but only, as far as I can tell, in a Region 3 DVD from Hong Kong (part of Celestial Pictures' line of Shaw Bros. restorations). If you don't already have a code-free player, you should get one. There's tons of great stuff out there. I go to my local Chinatown stores to stock up periodically. (I much prefer buying from stores than going on-line.)

A number of Shaw Bros. greats have come out in new R1 DVDs from places like Anchor Bay, Media Blasters (Tokyo Shock), Image Entertainment, and Dragon Dynasty who've licensed them from Celestial. You might want to check out ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN, LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF CHINA, THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, FIVE VENOMS, HEROES TWO, THE MARTIAL CLUB, HEROES OF THE EAST, BRAVE ARCHER and KING BOXER (original title for FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH), to name just a few legit high-quality DVDs that should be available. Someone on some site must have a list of all the Shaw Bros. films that have been released in R1. All of these are in Mandarin with subtitles, but a good number of them have the original English dub tracks as well.

devilshalo

I still want the Warner Bros print of Seven Blows of the Dragon aka The Water Margin.

Ash Ketchum

The original HK version is out on R1 DVD from Image Entertainment.

I have a bootleg VHS of the American release version, SEVEN BLOWS OF THE DRAGON, which dubbed it and cut about 25 min. from the film, but I doubt it will ever see the light of day on DVD.

devilshalo

I have the Celestial R3 version. And years and years ago, I got my hands on the official Warner Bros VHS release. Side by side there are some differences.. I think I noted them in the Old School threads.

Ash Ketchum

Oops, the math side of my brain isn't working so well these days. They cut 45 min. out of THE WATER MARGIN to create SEVEN BLOWS OF THE DRAGON. The original was 125 min. or so. The dub was about 80 min.

devilshalo

Why remove the sex scene from the original only to add it into the WB version?

Ash Ketchum

Actually, the sex scene was shot specifically for the American cut. Roger Corman was in charge of the English dub (which was distributed in the U.S. in 1973 through his company, New World Pictures) and he demanded sex scenes in every one of his pictures. So Shaw got the actor and actress back and shot the new scene. I wonder if they would have been so willing to comply if they knew Corman was going to cut out nearly a third of the movie.

One good thing about SEVEN BLOWS OF THE DRAGON, though. It replaced all those HANG 'EM HIGH music cues with a different, somewhat more appropriate score.

devilshalo

Interesting.. I never knew that. Thanks for the info.

Solid Snake

This thread is your orgasm of action:http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/...ght-scene.html

We had probably WAAAY too much fun with this one...granted it's all HK but...HK has some of the very best. I think they are the best when it comes to it.

Also: Fuck you, Tony Jaa. Yes, I know you can kick my ass..and I can live with that. I do like SOME of your action but your Muay Thai is getting boring as hell. You need to really act better and make a fucking movie w/ NO presence of a damn elephant ever again.

inri222

Down and dirty bonecrunching beatdowns and ass-kickings delivered by yours truly.

Solid Snake

Wait..you're motherfucking Sonny Chiba?!

Mondo Kane

Actually, I feel that The Sister Streetfighter films are much better martial arts films. It's not much of a fight when you easily break and dismember your opponents.

Solid Snake

Yeah...well you try explaining that to all kids who watched us get our asses kicked in school.

cruzness

I'll ad some of my favorites aside from the ones already listed.

Fist of Legend
Project A
Legend of Drunken Master.
Iron Monkey
Shaolin Master Killer
Eight Diagram Pole Fighters
Fist Of Fury
Snake In The Eagles Shadow

devilshalo

Here's a couple more older threads....

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/...ts-movies.html

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/...fu-movies.html

terrible chong

Improve your skills... Harden your body... Become... a NUMBER ONE MAN!

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Rypro 525

having the full japanese version w/ subs is fucking awesome!

terrible chong

I'm also a fan of the Kozure Okami (Lone Wolf & Cub) movies

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And the goofily dubbed U.S. version, Shogun Assassin!

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terrible chong

I'm sure it is, but I also enjoy the dubbed glory!

"So I'm to die because I know who it is that controls the Yakuza? Isn't that mean and nasty!"

RocShemp

As much as I enjoy Tokyo Drift, it would have been an infinitely better movie had it just been 90 minutes of Sonny Chiba doing exactly this (with some incidental races in the background).