Reviews: The Duel + The Foul King + Dirty Tiger,Crazy Frog
 

-The Duel
Starring: Andy Lau, Ekin Cheng, Nick Cheung, Vicki Zhao...
The basics: Andy Lau (Son-Cool Yeh) wants to have a duel with Simon the Snowblower (Ekin Cheng) to see who is the better swordsman. (in reality there is a hidden agenda)
Good fight scene in the first 12 minutes of the film. Nick Cheung as Dragon 9 (the best of the Emperor's guards/agents) is given some impressive skills also. He also has a ton of funny/sarcastic dialogue. This definitely helps to keep the movie light and entertaining. Dragon 9 ends up investigating some mysterious murders before the duel. All seem to have a connection...
No spoilers! I'll stop here. Good characters, This is one of the more memorable movies I have seen in several months. The banter from Dragon 9 had me cracking up! :D Sound and vid quality are good. (There is a layer change around the 75 min. mark that made my Aiwa pause for a sec.) Mine is the China Star region 0 disc. Highly recommended! :thumbsup:
Score= 8.5/10


-The Foul King
About a young man with low self-esteem. He works as a loan officer in some financial institution. He is tardy for work and his supervisor physically harasses him. He wants to improve himself so he goes and looks into taking martial arts to improve himself. He decides that isn't right for him and stumbles across a gym advertising "wrestlers wanted". He's always been a huge wrestling fan. (this is pro wrestling, not olympic style if anyone is confused). The wrestling coach doesn't want to take him as a student. The coach gets pressured into training a new wrestler by his sponsors. Guess who ends up in training? :D
There is humor present, but as Trigger said in his review, it is spaced rather far apart (or seemed to be that way at times. there were times in the film, I found it absolutely hilarious). The rest of the movie is him training, or in matches, or trying to apply his new skills/confidences to his everyday life.
Good movie and I enjoyed watching it, but nowhere near the top of the rather short list of Korean movies I own so far. (The numbered special edition pkg. I got came in a huge display box with a shower cap. No snapper case like Trigger's copy. It definitely stands out on my shelf) :)
Score= 6.5/10 -2nd viewing= 7.5/10


-Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog
Starring: Sammo Hung, Lau Kar-wing

Every once in a while, I enjoy watching an older kung fu film. This one proved worth my time. :)
The basics: Frog (Sammo) is on the run from his much older wife. When he left, he took with him a family treasure, "invincible armor". Dirty Tiger (Lau) is contracted by Frog's wife to find him and bring him home. Before Tiger can catch up with Frog, the armor is stolen from Frog. Word gets around about the armor, and before long, everyone wants it. Tiger takes pity(?) on Frog and helps him get away from his old/ugly wife so they too can go search for the armor. Much double-crossing occurs, some scheming, lots of fighting (3-section staff fighting near the end)! The best badguy is White Brow Monk who has an undefeated crab-style.
This movie was pretty entertaining. Lively, humorous, and a woman with tricks up her sleeves! -literally! Video quality was pretty good IMO for an older film. No burned in subs either. Mei Ah region 0 disc. Recommended.
Score= 7.5/10

Cheers,
Gabe

Links to my other reviews.

i'd give the foul king a higher score. like an 8.5. i really liked it a lot. equally as much as nowhere to hide.

You know, I was thinking that myself. I gave it a 2nd viewing last weekend. I liked it better the second time. I would still rank it behind Nowhere to Hide though.. :)

I have to somewhat disagree with your review of The Duel. Yeah the first fight scene was impressive. A good mix of CGI and actual martial arts. That fight scene and the premise of a duel between two sword fighting master had me foaming at the mouth. BUt the rest of the movie never delivered IMHO. The comdeic parts in the middle weren't that funny and there were too many scenes setting up smaller sub-plots which made no sense. The script jumped around too much, and it to me it seemed like there were no main characters in the movie.

The movie is great eye candy though....the CGI, sets, and costumes all looked great.

I'd give it a 7/10.

I think the Duel was a let-down for alot of people because their expectations were different that what was delivered. Watching it a second time made me appreciate it more since I wasn't expecting to watch some epic swordsman duel. The film is quite witty and sharp. I like the performances and the eyecandy is just a bonus. If you pick up the US release, have a listen to the commentary.

Re: Reviews: The Duel + The Foul King + Dirty Tiger,Crazy Frog
 

Gabe, please check out my thread on Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog at:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/195433

Thanks,

Sherry

Re: Re: Reviews: The Duel + The Foul King + Dirty Tiger,Crazy Frog
 

Cool! Nice site Sherry. Yuen Biao huh? I guess I should watch more closely eh? :D

Cheers,
Gabe

Personally, though The Duel was utter crap.. the worst of the thrilogy of CGI movies. Bad fights and editing.

Foul King was totally excellent...

Will have to check out the Sammo movie someday...



J.T.