Please help me pick some old school HK films
05-06-05, 06:37 AM
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Please help me pick some old school HK films
I'm living in Japan at the moment and am thinking of doing one last order of films from HK before heading back to Canada, because while shipping seems to be no cheaper to Japan, I don't have to pay duty, tax, and the like.
I don't really have many old school HK films - maybe one or two (Magnificent Butcher comes to mind). I'm actually thinking of Shaw Brothers pictures primarily...
The thing is, I have to admit, I am not a big fan of films which are a letdown in the acting/plot department.
One film I was thinking of getting, based on one online review I read, is The Water Margin. Anyone seen it?
Other films which I was thinking of, because I've read about them being in the "you MUST have these films in your collection" are
Come Drink With Me
The Five Venoms
36th Chamber of Shaolin
A Touch of Zen
But, a question about the last - what DVD versions are out there? The only one I've read about is a Tai Seng edition which reported has lousy mono sound.
I don't really have many old school HK films - maybe one or two (Magnificent Butcher comes to mind). I'm actually thinking of Shaw Brothers pictures primarily...
The thing is, I have to admit, I am not a big fan of films which are a letdown in the acting/plot department.
One film I was thinking of getting, based on one online review I read, is The Water Margin. Anyone seen it?
Other films which I was thinking of, because I've read about them being in the "you MUST have these films in your collection" are
Come Drink With Me
The Five Venoms
36th Chamber of Shaolin
A Touch of Zen
But, a question about the last - what DVD versions are out there? The only one I've read about is a Tai Seng edition which reported has lousy mono sound.
05-06-05, 07:17 AM
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reagarding Shaw Brother films, you simply have to check out the 1983 film
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter - completely over the top, highly energetic and utterly amazing - Nicheflix is renting this out, and now I simply have to own this film. Is this still in print, cause I am having a hard time finding a copy online.
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter - completely over the top, highly energetic and utterly amazing - Nicheflix is renting this out, and now I simply have to own this film. Is this still in print, cause I am having a hard time finding a copy online.
05-06-05, 08:22 AM
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Originally Posted by Giles
reagarding Shaw Brother films, you simply have to check out the 1983 film
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter - completely over the top, highly energetic and utterly amazing - Nicheflix is renting this out, and now I simply have to own this film. Is this still in print, cause I am having a hard time finding a copy online.
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter - completely over the top, highly energetic and utterly amazing - Nicheflix is renting this out, and now I simply have to own this film. Is this still in print, cause I am having a hard time finding a copy online.
Chris, these links might be helpful to you. Personally, I'm not a big martial arts film fan, I prefer dramas,melodramas and Wong Jing.
Shaws Mini-reviews:
http://p088.ezboard.com/fhongkongdvd...cID=2779.topic
And warnings (mono can be better than 5.1):
http://p088.ezboard.com/fhongkongdvd...cID=7461.topic
Last edited by dleedlee; 05-06-05 at 08:28 AM.
05-06-05, 08:35 AM
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I've just started collecting the R3 Celestial Shaw Brothers titles and they are of very high quality compared to the previous releases. These are clearly the best these movies have ever looked and sounded and I recommend them over any other release.
I have bought my DVDs in Chinatown in NYC for about $13 each, but cdwow has a lot of them for $10.95 and free shipping (at least to the US) when you click through this link:
http://www11.cd-wow.us/promotion.php...efcode=14282_1
CDWow also has several HKL titles for $10.95, which are also very good but are PAL, if that makes a difference to you.
I have exhaustively gone through the archives here at DVDTalk and the titles that seem to be the most universally recommended are:
36th Chamber of Shaolin
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter
Five Venoms
I really liked the first 2 but I thought the Five Venoms was only OK. I have found the KungFu Cinema site to have excellent reviews for the actual content of the movies and have a new order placed based on their recommendations.
http://www.kungfucinema.com/
Good luck and please submit some reviews once you have had a chance to watch them!
I have bought my DVDs in Chinatown in NYC for about $13 each, but cdwow has a lot of them for $10.95 and free shipping (at least to the US) when you click through this link:
http://www11.cd-wow.us/promotion.php...efcode=14282_1
CDWow also has several HKL titles for $10.95, which are also very good but are PAL, if that makes a difference to you.
I have exhaustively gone through the archives here at DVDTalk and the titles that seem to be the most universally recommended are:
36th Chamber of Shaolin
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter
Five Venoms
I really liked the first 2 but I thought the Five Venoms was only OK. I have found the KungFu Cinema site to have excellent reviews for the actual content of the movies and have a new order placed based on their recommendations.
http://www.kungfucinema.com/
Good luck and please submit some reviews once you have had a chance to watch them!
05-06-05, 11:28 AM
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I second the recommendation for 8 Diagram Pole Fighter. That movie is over the top great. I really like the Celestial Shaw Brothers Shaolin Temple and the follow-up Five Shaolin Masters. Be warned that Shaolin Temple has a non-anamorphic transfer.
The Celestial 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a beautiful disc and a damn fine movie.
You may also want to check out the IVL Green Snake dvd. It is more fantasy than martial arts but it is excellent dvd and the DTS track is very good. Plus it has undulating Maggie Cheung in it.
The Celestial 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a beautiful disc and a damn fine movie.
You may also want to check out the IVL Green Snake dvd. It is more fantasy than martial arts but it is excellent dvd and the DTS track is very good. Plus it has undulating Maggie Cheung in it.
05-07-05, 05:05 AM
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chente, I think you mean the Mei Ah Green Snake DVD.
I definitely recommend Eight Diagram Pole Fighter as well. It's amazing movie. One of the best to ever come out of Shaw.
A couple more must-haves are
Heroes of the East
Two Champions of Shaolin
The first is another Liu Chia-liang movie and has Gordon Liu fighting 7 Japanese masters. The story isn't so nice, but the fighting is amazing. It's an amazing piece of work. The second one is one of the best later-era Chang Cheh movies. You might like it better, Chris. It's got a great story with nice characters and great fights. You can even see Chin Siu-ho (Ting-An from Fist of Legend) in a very early role! The Five Venoms was good but I liked this one better.
The Water Margin and its sequel, All Men are Brothers are great. The first is decidedly better than the second, though. The sequel is pretty much one big fight. The first one has a very good story along with it.
Come Drink with Me is a great movie but the movie is more experimental than others. I think King Hu was trying to figure out what new things he could do at that time. The characters are very nice, though.
Definitely worth checking out:
Five Shaolin Masters
Martial Arts of Shaolin
the 36th Chamber series
The Heroic Ones
One-Armed Swordsman series
Legendary Weapons of China
The Boxer from Shantung (or anything else with Chen Kuan-tai in it)
The plot may not be the most important thing in some of these movies, but if you like fights, these will not let you down.
You might want to check out the A Chinese Ghost Story DVDs. IVL just released the trilogy in a great set.
About A Touch of Zen, if you want 5.1, you can check for the Korean release. It's got no English subtitles, but you can find those on the internet. Otherwise, you'll have to wait. I think I remember reading that Miramax has the rights for that movie. I really don't want to know what they'll do to it.
I definitely recommend Eight Diagram Pole Fighter as well. It's amazing movie. One of the best to ever come out of Shaw.
A couple more must-haves are
Heroes of the East
Two Champions of Shaolin
The first is another Liu Chia-liang movie and has Gordon Liu fighting 7 Japanese masters. The story isn't so nice, but the fighting is amazing. It's an amazing piece of work. The second one is one of the best later-era Chang Cheh movies. You might like it better, Chris. It's got a great story with nice characters and great fights. You can even see Chin Siu-ho (Ting-An from Fist of Legend) in a very early role! The Five Venoms was good but I liked this one better.
The Water Margin and its sequel, All Men are Brothers are great. The first is decidedly better than the second, though. The sequel is pretty much one big fight. The first one has a very good story along with it.
Come Drink with Me is a great movie but the movie is more experimental than others. I think King Hu was trying to figure out what new things he could do at that time. The characters are very nice, though.
Definitely worth checking out:
Five Shaolin Masters
Martial Arts of Shaolin
the 36th Chamber series
The Heroic Ones
One-Armed Swordsman series
Legendary Weapons of China
The Boxer from Shantung (or anything else with Chen Kuan-tai in it)
The plot may not be the most important thing in some of these movies, but if you like fights, these will not let you down.
You might want to check out the A Chinese Ghost Story DVDs. IVL just released the trilogy in a great set.
About A Touch of Zen, if you want 5.1, you can check for the Korean release. It's got no English subtitles, but you can find those on the internet. Otherwise, you'll have to wait. I think I remember reading that Miramax has the rights for that movie. I really don't want to know what they'll do to it.
Last edited by pat00139; 05-07-05 at 05:10 AM.
