What can you tell me about these movies???
07-02-01, 01:22 PM
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Wing Chun- Michelle Yeoh's best solo film. Good modern, wire fu. Yuen Woo Ping in top form, delevering good balance of comedy and action, with emphasis on action. Donnie Yen good as always in a supporting role. 8.5/10
Blade of Fury- A lot of people like this swordplay drama, but I found it really tedious except fot the opening and end fights. The rest was bad melodrama and has a fight in the middle that is so sped up its laughable. You can do worse, but its no masterpiece. 5.5/10 (or 8/10 for the opening final fights)
A Touch of Zen- 1969. This ones been on my "need to see" list forever, still searching for that ever elusive good copy. King Hu's 3 hr martial epic, considered to be the first real marraige of art with martial arts.
Moon warriors- Fair swordplay/fantasy film directed by Sammo Hung. Its entertaining, but not a classic. I'd say average film, didnt live up to its potential, but its pretty good. 7/10
The Master Killer- Old school classic, one of the seminal martial arts films. Contains some of the best training sequences (its pretty much nothing but that) and Gordon Lui was rarely better. Widely considered one of the best Gordon Lui/ Lau Kar Lueng collaborations, and one of the best 70's era martial arts films, though I've always preferred Eight Diagram Pole Fighter. (as far as pre 1985 films go) 9/10
[Edited by iaido on 07-02-01 at 11:26 AM]
Blade of Fury- A lot of people like this swordplay drama, but I found it really tedious except fot the opening and end fights. The rest was bad melodrama and has a fight in the middle that is so sped up its laughable. You can do worse, but its no masterpiece. 5.5/10 (or 8/10 for the opening final fights)
A Touch of Zen- 1969. This ones been on my "need to see" list forever, still searching for that ever elusive good copy. King Hu's 3 hr martial epic, considered to be the first real marraige of art with martial arts.
Moon warriors- Fair swordplay/fantasy film directed by Sammo Hung. Its entertaining, but not a classic. I'd say average film, didnt live up to its potential, but its pretty good. 7/10
The Master Killer- Old school classic, one of the seminal martial arts films. Contains some of the best training sequences (its pretty much nothing but that) and Gordon Lui was rarely better. Widely considered one of the best Gordon Lui/ Lau Kar Lueng collaborations, and one of the best 70's era martial arts films, though I've always preferred Eight Diagram Pole Fighter. (as far as pre 1985 films go) 9/10
[Edited by iaido on 07-02-01 at 11:26 AM]
07-02-01, 04:53 PM
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Wing Chun- I think Michelle Yeoh is a great actress, with fantastic screen presence. This is kind of lighthearted, but it's fast paced and has some great fight scenes. Like a lot of Yuen Woo Pings stuff, though, I just keep thinking how much better it would be without the speeded up camera and wires----Michelle Yeoh is SOOOO fluid and naturally athletic.
Blade of Fury--I kept hearing fantastic things about this one, but it didn't leave much of an impression on me---maybe I should watch it another time, but again, for me it was too much undercranking and wire-work.
Touch of Zen--I saw this a few years ago when the Boston Museum of Fine Arts had a retrospective on the works of King Hu. I was really blown away. I'm not sure if fans of the HK new wave movies would have the patience for it, though---as I recall, there wasn't a fight scene until the 2nd hour of the movie. It just really takes it's time and goes from ultra-realistic small town life to trippy martial arts action. As opposed to wires, though, most of the fight fx involve trampoline work, which to me just looks a lot more natural and fantastic, without the cheesiness. To be honest, I'd have to see this again to give more details, as I think it was about 5 years ago I saw it. I just remember loving it.
Moon Warriors--I may be in a minority here, but this is probably my favorite HK new wave movie of the 90's, with the possible exception of OUATIC 1. I loved the story, the great outdoor cinematography, the music---everything. Even though there's a lot of wire work, for some reason the fights in this one just looked so much better than most other 90's movies, IMO. To me, a lot of these fight scenes look like the best of old-school and new-wave fights mixed together. Incredibly acrobatic and kinetic---and I love the atmosphere of the fights in the mist-filled forests (which actually reminded me a lot of Touch of Zen). Take my review with a grain of salt though, as many others don't feel the same about this one.
Mater Killer---I would just quote a review I once read of this movie: "If this movie doesn't make you want to quit your job, go to Shaolin Temple and train kung fu for the rest of your life, then there's something wrong with you."
Blade of Fury--I kept hearing fantastic things about this one, but it didn't leave much of an impression on me---maybe I should watch it another time, but again, for me it was too much undercranking and wire-work.
Touch of Zen--I saw this a few years ago when the Boston Museum of Fine Arts had a retrospective on the works of King Hu. I was really blown away. I'm not sure if fans of the HK new wave movies would have the patience for it, though---as I recall, there wasn't a fight scene until the 2nd hour of the movie. It just really takes it's time and goes from ultra-realistic small town life to trippy martial arts action. As opposed to wires, though, most of the fight fx involve trampoline work, which to me just looks a lot more natural and fantastic, without the cheesiness. To be honest, I'd have to see this again to give more details, as I think it was about 5 years ago I saw it. I just remember loving it.
Moon Warriors--I may be in a minority here, but this is probably my favorite HK new wave movie of the 90's, with the possible exception of OUATIC 1. I loved the story, the great outdoor cinematography, the music---everything. Even though there's a lot of wire work, for some reason the fights in this one just looked so much better than most other 90's movies, IMO. To me, a lot of these fight scenes look like the best of old-school and new-wave fights mixed together. Incredibly acrobatic and kinetic---and I love the atmosphere of the fights in the mist-filled forests (which actually reminded me a lot of Touch of Zen). Take my review with a grain of salt though, as many others don't feel the same about this one.
Mater Killer---I would just quote a review I once read of this movie: "If this movie doesn't make you want to quit your job, go to Shaolin Temple and train kung fu for the rest of your life, then there's something wrong with you."
07-03-01, 10:51 AM
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The fight sequences in Wing Chun were awesome. Some of the best I've seen. Only complaints I have about the movie were that Donnie Yen wasn't used enough, and the ending was a little lame (not the final fight...just like the last 20 seconds).
Master Killer is a MUST have. It is easily one of the best old skool kung-fu flicks out there. This one is in my top 5 of most watched dvds I own. The dvd is widescreen, but the audio on it sucks...you'll have to put it on blast to hear it.
Blade of Fury was a major disappointment. I think the dvd is OOP, but its fairly easy to find on ebay and pokerindustries has some too. The dvd quality is pretty lame, with burned in sub-titles that you can't even read most of the time. I agree with others comments. The fights scenes are way too sped up, and it looks like Sammo went way overboard on the wire-work trying to make an attempt to take it the next level, but he failed.
Moon Warriors is an ok flick. You can find it for fairly cheap on pleaces like hivizone or dddhouse. For me it is more of a filler titles. One that I added to an order to make the shipping worthwhile. It occupies space on my shelf, but I've only wathced it 2-3 times at most. I don't myslef reaching for it often.
Haven't seen touch of zen yet. Curious to see it now after the reccomendation it got.
Master Killer is a MUST have. It is easily one of the best old skool kung-fu flicks out there. This one is in my top 5 of most watched dvds I own. The dvd is widescreen, but the audio on it sucks...you'll have to put it on blast to hear it.
Blade of Fury was a major disappointment. I think the dvd is OOP, but its fairly easy to find on ebay and pokerindustries has some too. The dvd quality is pretty lame, with burned in sub-titles that you can't even read most of the time. I agree with others comments. The fights scenes are way too sped up, and it looks like Sammo went way overboard on the wire-work trying to make an attempt to take it the next level, but he failed.
Moon Warriors is an ok flick. You can find it for fairly cheap on pleaces like hivizone or dddhouse. For me it is more of a filler titles. One that I added to an order to make the shipping worthwhile. It occupies space on my shelf, but I've only wathced it 2-3 times at most. I don't myslef reaching for it often.
Haven't seen touch of zen yet. Curious to see it now after the reccomendation it got.
