JHosk

great idea on the old school thread.

I have always like cityonfire.com for reviews. I find they have alot of reviews (more than any other site I've seen), and its a good mix of new school and old school. PLus each movie is reviewed by multiple people to give differrent view points.

dvdcult is the best for upcoming kung-fu dvds. Also the links iaido posted were great...especially the site with the breakdown of all the old skool stars.......another one is grandmastervideo.com if you are interested in getting some older Shaw Bro's flicks.

got The REvenger the other day. Its a pretty solid dvd....starts off strangely and jujmps a little but around 20-25 minutes into it, it settles down to be a solid flick. Alot of sword and staff fighting.

Ky-Fi

Yesterday a local museum was having a series on Chinese films, and I saw King Hu's The Fate of Lee Khan, which I really liked a lot. However, this was just a showing of the Tai Seng videotape---not a sharp print, faded colors, pan and scan----which along with cutting out a lot of the picture, also cut out half the subtitles which originally covered the whole width of the widescreen film. Total butchery of what must have originally been a great looking movie.
Now I've seen A Touch of Zen, Dragon Inn, and Fate of Lee Khan from King Hu, and I'm REALLY impressed with his work. Not as action packed as Shaw Brothers, but high production values, and better acting, plot, stories and cinematography than most of the SB movies. He was a really visionary director, and I love his fight choreography--no wires, but a lot of trampolines which, IMO, look much more natural and fluid---and cooler--- than wirework.

I believe Touch of Zen and Dragon Inn are out on DVD in Japan, but as far as I know, only some of his later works (which I didn't care for as much), like Swordsman are out in Region 1.

If anyone has ANY info about possible releases of old King Hu titles on DVD in region 1, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it.

Slumbering Fist

Yeah King Hu is one of those overlooked guys. I’ve spent years waiting to see a complete version of Touch of Zen, had no idea it was released in Japan (I wonder which cut they used?).

Update, for those who may not know...
UPCOMING RELEASES
Ground Zero has some releases on schedule for September. Basically the last onslaught was mainly Lui Chai Laing/Gordon Lui collaborations, whereas this time we are getting a slew of Venom films>

Flag of Iron (aka Spearmen of Death)
Nine Venoms
Ten Tigers from Shaolin
Invincible Shaolin
and the long awaited Killer Army

*most likely they will be pan and scan since thats what Shaw seems to supply, but we can cross our fingers and hope a widescreen or two will slip through. I'll be pre-ordering at least two, will post reviews of course when I get them.*

Also scheduled this Fall/Winter from Xenon Studios (Shaolin Dolemite Collection) >
Jade Claw
Buddha Assassinator
Thundering Mantis
Fearless Dragon
Dragon on Fire
Eagle Vs Silver Fox
Fighting Ace
Four Invincibles
Invincible Obessed Fighter
Kung Fu for Sale
Kung Fu Genius
and the awesome Snake in the Monkey's Shadow

Ky-Fi

Iaido,
At DVDcult, they said in a little blurb that Killer Army, Flag of Iron, and Shaolin Invincible will be widescreen (and I inferred that the others aren't).

Also, they've got a review up of Mask of Death, which sounds pretty good to me.

elengineer

This might've been posted before but...
I just ran across a Kmart in my area that is selling some HK DVDs for US$5 each. It appears that all of the DVDs are Beverly-Wilshire/Telefilms/Saturn productions. I picked up a couple Jet Li flicks and Flying Guillotine.

For 5 bucks I don't expect anything beyond crappy-VHS quality, but FG is really bad. I have so far watched the first 30 minutes or so. The most annoying thing is that the video drops out. It is like the tape they were mastering from had worn spots and nobody cared. These drop outs have happened several times so far. Also, it is supposed to be in 'widescreen' but it is a strange widescreen. There are the infamous black bars, but the ratio looks to be somewhere between the standard 4:3 and 1.85:1. Further, the aspect ratio is "scrunched" so people generally appear slightly shorter/fatter. The other weird thing is that I have definitely noticed elements of Pan & Scan going on. Truly strange. It almost seems as though that during the mastering process they just decided to "scrunch" the aspect ratio so they could label it as widescreen. The flick itself seems bizarre but kinda cool. The overall image quality is that of a worn VHS tape. However, the movie is watchable (and laughable with the dubs) if you can tolerate the scrunched picture and video drop-outs.

I haven't taken a look at the two Jet Li flicks yet. The titles are Deadly China Hero and Lord Of The Wu-Tang (Kung Fu Colt Master). They are both advertised as widescreen, subtitled versions, but I don't expect much as far as quality. These are Jet Li movies that I probably would never have bought in a full-price DVD anyway, and they made a good impulse buy.

I didn't remember if the above info concerning FG had been posted before, so I figured to give people a heads-up if they see the disc elsewhere.

JHosk

A buddy of mine got hte lord of the wu-tang dvd....the quality is pretty lame. The sub-titles are burned in and half the time you can read what they are saying. Again the video tranfer is obviously from a VHS....one that has been copied over several times....I have copies of copies of copies of some HK flicks on VHS and its on par with these discs. But the qulaity is good enough to fast forward and check out the fight sequences. I personally though Kung-fu Master was a good movie...not jet Li's best, but better than I thought it would be as I am more into straight up martial arts rather than fantasy (wuxia) type of flicks.

I had the same reasoning as you...for five bucks you can't go wrong. I mean you would spend five bucks on renting a movie almost. roblem is the quality of these dvds is so bad on alot of them you can't make it through even one viewing.

BTW....my friend also bought the five deadly venoms cheapie version and the transfer also suffers from that stranger cropping formatting thing elengineer mentioned in his last post. Its almost like they took a pan and scan version and just put black bars on it. I haven't compared it to the Crash version but I would say its safer to spend the extra ten bones and get a decent copy.

Slumbering Fist

Great, because those three were my top choices from that list!

KMart, ect, Cheapies>As far as the talk of the cheapies goes, yeah, it is hit and miss, some are tolerable or a good buy for the price and others might as well be coasters. Has anyone picked up the cheapie of Kid with the Golden Arm yet? I'm wondering if they used the extended cut, because the ground Zero uses an abbreviated cut. It'd be worth $5 to get the cheapie if it had a decent pic and the full cut.

jojo4

I hope your kidding. It's obvious Shaw isn't supplying Ground Zero. Ground Zero is just bootlegging old censored TV prints of the Shaw films. The guy at DVD Cult fails to mention these DVDs are cut probably because he's never seen the films before.

JHosk

iaido,

teh cheapie kid with the golden arm is butt....the picture is out of focus the entire thing.....I'll compare it to the ground zero version (I had to to buy it twice becuase th cheap version is unwatchable and this is one of my favorite old skool flicks), and let you know.....I don't remember anything different in actual content though....

Slumbering Fist

Actaully three different HK film sites, Advantage Video, Tai Seng, and DVD Cult all told me that Shaw was somehow reluctant to jump on the widescreen bandwagon and rarely provided widescreen prints of their films. None of them could go into any info as to why, which does cast some suspicions, but....like I said, that just what they told me. And so far a good bulk of the Shaw films Ground Zero does are not censored, the only really censored one so far is Chinese Super Ninjas, which isnt unusual.

HKFlix

iaido - Do you have any further info. on how that one is censored?

Slumbering Fist

As far as I know, there is the uncut (which I've never seen), a slightly cut, and heavily cut (tv?) version of Super Ninjas. Ground Zero released the slightly cut one. The "stepping on intestines" sequence is trimmed, as well as the finale when they the main villain. There may be other slight gore cuts here and there, but not so much it becomes incomprehnsible like the heavily cut version. I think the slightly cut version is probably the one the most people have seen.

Phil Chandler

DVDCult has a new review of Ground Zero's REVENGE
OF THE PATRIOTS. It sounds like Ground Zero dropped
the ball with this one:

spam

Slumbering Fist

Ground Zero Presents, a Wu Tang Clan Hidden Chambers DVD...

Return of the Deadly Blade

***This review can now be found in DVDTalk Reviews***

Ky-Fi

OK, Killer Army and Invincible Shaolin are on the shelves, at least. I picked up Killer Army, and here's my take:

DVD: No extras, and the print is not fantastic. It's slightly below the quality of Fist of the White Lotus and Kid W/Golden Arm, but it's better than Super Ninjas or Legendary Weapons---it is full widescreen and the colors are fine, though, so I'm not really complaining.

Movie: Wow, these are just some of the most physically talented performers in the history of action movies. This is the venoms at their peak, and IMO Shaw Brothers at their peak---the villains and even some of the minor stuntmen are incredibly skilled--and the choreography is really amazing. The acrobatics of Chang Sheng and Kuo Chui are really stunning----somersaults, backflips and tumbling runs integrated seemlessly with complex weapon choreography----and a lot of it in long, uncut shots. Maybe the story and the overall movie aren't the best ever, but the fight scenes are right up there, IMO.

For anyone interested---the weapons used a lot are

bench
broadsword and shield
three sectional staff (kind of a mini one)
double short swords
spears
flexible spears

elengineer

Ky-Fi - Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten about these titles coming out. Too much work and not enough play time will do that.

I picked up KA and pretty much agree with you. That is some of the fastest, most fluidly executed choreagraphy I have seen in the old-school flicks I have. I was looking for undercranking, but if they did it, it was so subtle as to be unnoticeable (at least to me).

This flick gets my vote for best Bench-as-a-weapon work. That short three-sectional staff was really awesome too. This flick also gets my vote for best use of rope by teh bad guys. That battle was really spectacular to watch. Yowza.

IMO there was absolutely no plot and a totally inane script. But, as we all know, most of the time you don't but a MA movie and expect an oscar winning plot, performance, and script.

For those of you who have seen Killer Army, did it seem somewhat cenosred to you? I was watching the DVD and was struck by several parts in the movie that are edited just way too abruptly. Most of these scenes are dealing with some kind of violence/killing, but I think there was one or two parts that just seemed to go through scene transitions waaay to fast.

Anyboy have any idea what the skinny is on the other flicks...Nine Demons, Flag of Iron, Invincible Shaolin, & Ten Tigers? Widescreen? Plot? Fights? etc?

Slumbering Fist

Well they are all Venoms/Chang Cheh films. Flag of Iron is really solid. Nine Demons is one of the more outlandish, magic, over the top films by Chang Cheh. I can't recall if I went crazy over Invincible Shaolin and Ten tigers or not, but I dont remeber disliking either- I saw every single one of the films at Sam Goody's and they all appeared to be fullscreen.

Basically, my Killer Army and Flag of Iron have been stuck at Amazon. If I hadnt used a coupon, I would just cancel the order and got them at Sam Goody's, but expect reviews when I do finally get them.

Ten Tigers of Kwantung (or Shaolin), as I recall, has a bunch of fighters, the Ten Tigers hiding a revolutionary and an official doggedly tries to get the revolutionary away from, them. The film tells all that in flashback, and mainly deals with the disciples of the Ten Tigers further helping the movement and battling the officals son.

Invincible Shaolin concerns a warlord/emporer who tries to eliminate the Shaolin masters by pitting the Noth and South against each other, and eventually they figure this out, after lots of fighting, and then team up to go after the bad guy.

Nine Demons is one of the films Chang Cheh and the Venoms made at the end of the Shaw Bros days, in what I refer to as Chang Cheh's "acid trip kung fu" days, when he made Chinese Super Ninjas, Human Lanterns, and Attack of the God of Joy.

Flag of Iron (which I've always known as Spearmen of Death) is about two rival clans, one good (The Spearmen) and one bad. The good clans leader is assinated and their favorite son exiled. While the favorite son is away, the two clans merge, and he finds out the details of the the assasination and returns to set things straight.

Ky-Fi

Cool, thanks for the plot summaries, SF. And I agree with you about Cheng Cheh's "acid trip days" ---Even Super Ninjas was too excessive for my taste---it just doesn't have the classic feel of the late 70's stuff, IMO.

I think DVD cult said Flag of Iron and Invincible Shaolin were both widescreen, and that the others weren't--I wish they would list it on the cover art.

Elengineer: yeah, gotta love that "jump rope" fight scene in Killer Army . I wonder if they ever did use ropes in that manner, or if it was totally made up for the screen? I remember watching the SB movie Magnificent Wanderers, where David Chiang used a bow that shot small metal balls instead of arrows, and I thought they just made it up for the movie---then I was reading some book on ancient Chinese weapons, and they said bows like that were a real weapon--so who knows! .

I also noticed a couple scenes where Killer Army was cut. Clearly, when the bad guy with the double swords died, some of that was edited---and I had a little trouble following the climatic slo-mo scene at the final fight.

I think the more I watch these, my favorite venom is Chiang Sheng. In his fight scenes, he always looks completely relaxed and confident---and no matter how acrobatic or complicated the choreography, it just looks effortless for him. His broadsword and shield work in this one was just awesome, I thought. Also, I thought Lo Meng's empty-hand work against the spearmen was really convincing.

Slumbering Fist

Well, like I said, there was no mention of widescreen,... the packaging looks the same as there other fullscreen efforts like Super Ninjas and Shaolin Challenges Ninja

dablueguy

Flag of Iron is widescreen. Really good picture too although there are flaws with the source material. Had some sound drop-outs too.

Slumbering Fist

Well, just saw that Amazon has Chang Cheh and The Venom's Avenging Warriors of Shaolin (aka. Shaolin Recuers) and probably my all time favorite old school film Invincible Pole Fighter (aka. EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER) up for pre-order on Nov 6th, $11.24 each... The releasing company is Ventura Distribution, that handles cheapies like Invasion of the Blood Farmers, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, The Girls Gone Wild DVDs, and (Central Park Media's) Retun of the Deadly Venoms and Master Killer DVDs,...so I'm less than hopeful about top notch quality, but I'll take a chance on Pole Fighter.

Ky-Fi

Well, I picked up Flag of Iron, and I would have to say I was a little disappointed. Not bad, and it had some great fight scenes, but just a really uninteresting story, IMO. Also, for some reason this wasn't dubbed by the usual Shaw Brothers English voices, and this is a really horrible dubbing job, compared to most SB releases. It really brought the whole thing down a notch, for me. I guess I've just gotten so used to the 2 or 3 guys that dub the bulk of SB movies---that's part of the enjoyment for me. Also, this movie is a little gorier than most of the SB releases, and that didn't really help--not a classic Shaw Brothers movie, IMO.

It is a nice clear, widescreen print, though.


DVDcult.com has some new reviews up, including Invincible Shaolin.

Slumbering Fist

Keeping the thread alive...

Added reviews for,

the chop socky standard,
SHAOLIN EX-MONK
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=2812

the off the wall,
SHAOLIN KUNG FU MYSTAGOGUE
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=2814

more to come...

Ky-Fi

OK, here's my review of one of my favorites, Avenging Eagle, just out on a marginally OK full frame DVD (no extras)

My review has spoilers, so if you're offended by having the plot of a 25 year old kungfu movie described, then read no further......



....The movie starts off with Ti Lung riding a horse through a barren desert. He's dehydrated and exhausted, he's barely conscious and his horse is lame. He faints, falls off his horse and down and embankment and loses consciousnes. Along comes Fu Sheng, who just happens to be riding by. Fu Sheng sees Ti Lung on the ground, and gets off his horse and gives him some water, reviving him. Fu Sheng offers him some food, but Ti Lung attacks him, and steals his horse, leaving Fu Sheng with the lame horse. Fu Sheng follows the trail to a ruined hut, where he finds Ti Lung. The two have a brief fight, but Ti Lung apologizes, and they sort of become friends. The next morning, three bandits attack them, and the two kill all three of the bandits. Ti Lung explains that those guys were his former brothers in the Iron Boat bandit clan, who he's on the run from. Ti Lung decided to leave the clan, so the old evil master sent his men to kill Ti Lung. Fu Sheng is sort of a wise-cracking, light hearted guy, and he seems to be ignorant of why the clan is out to kill Ti Lung, so Ti Lung tells him his story through flashback....

He was sold to the clan when he was 9 years old, and put through hellish training, where the kids were killed if they showed any weakness or kindness to anyone. By the time they were adults, the 13 strongest formed the Iron Boat bandit clan, and did a lot of killing and robbing for their master. After one heist, Ti Lung was wounded, and he was nursed back to health by a kind-hearted family who didn't know he was a bandit. After he was healthy, he rejoined the clan----and one of their next victims was the family that helped him. He felt terrible about this, began to develop humanity and compassion, and didn't want' to kill anymore. For their next attack, they raided the family of a government official who foiled one of their plans, and the evil old master forced Ti Lung to kill the pregnant daughter of the official. He felt so guilty for this, that he left the clan and went on the run.

As the movie goes on, Ti Lung and Fu Sheng team up to fight the members of the clan that come after them, killing them all. Ti Lung decides that he's going back to the clan to kill the old evil master, and Fu Sheng says he'll help him since they've become friends. Ti Lung can't quite figure out why this stranger is risking his life to help him, and he slowly realizes Fu Sheng knows a lot more about the Iron Boat clan than he's letting on.

After defeating a bunch of henchmen, they finally come face to face with the old evil master. The villain is surprised to see his former pupil has come back, but he also recognizes Fu Sheng. He informs Ti Lung that his new friend is actually........THE HUSBAND OF THE PREGNANT WOMAN HE MURDERED!

Ti Lung is confused as to why Fu Sheng hasn't killed him already, since he now knew the whole story of what happened to his wife. Fu Sheng, however, realizes that the old master is the real villain, and that they should team up to fight him.. But as they're fighting, the old master tells Ti Lung that he'll forgive him and make him his heir if he turns against Fu Sheng, and Ti Lung considers it............

I won't give away the ending--watch the movie!

Ti Lung uses a 3-sectional staff, and Fu Sheng has blades in the soles of his shoes that attach to brackets on his forearms. Lots of great weapons fights. Although maybe not as great action as some of the venoms films, the fights are strong, and I just thought this was one of the most emotionally engaging KF movies ever---awesome story and performances----heck, even the actors doind the dubbing do a good job. It's too bad this isnt' widescreen, as the director uses some VERY cool camera angles and slow motion.

If you like old school KF movies, I think you'd definitely enjoy this one---a classic, IMO.

JHosk

I have Eight Diagram Pole Fighter on order from Poker (along with Crying Freeman). I haven't received shipping confirmation but hopefully I'll get it soon. I'll post a review if anyone else hasn't at that point.

Also, any have any info on the masked avengers dvd ?? How about The Blazing Temple ?? Blazing Temple is an HK release. I noticed it on dddhouse the other day. I have never heard of it before, but could be good.