favorite kung fu movies...
-
dragonhack
- Atomsmashasaurus Dex
- Posts: 787
- Joined: 05 Feb 2004 16:41
favorite kung fu movies...
i recently saw kung fu hustle and thought it was halarious and well done...i also have an itch i can't scratch for old school kung fu movies(mainly due to the lack of good movie titles) im hoping this thread will help me scratch away...
I don't even know where to begin here.
I'll start with KUNG-FU HUSTLE since it initiated the discussion. Just a warning, if you're hoping to dig up more Stephen Chow films (writer/director/star of KUNG-FU HUSTLE) in the same vein as KUNG-FU HUSTLE, you're sadly out of luck. Chow, the biggest box office draw in Hong Kong (yup, bigger than Jet, Jackie, and Yun-fat), is mostly know for his "mo lai tau" or "makes no sense" humor, a mixture of Cantonese word play, puns, and cultural references. While many of his films are good, most are not of the same variety as KUNG-FU HUSTLE. About the closest you'll find is 1990's ALL FOR THE WINNER, a parody of the popular Chow Yun-fat GOD OF GAMBLERS series. ALL FOR THE WINNER has plenty of humor, plenty of kung-fu, and plenty of Stephen Chow - definitely worth a look. It goes without saying that I recommend SHAOLIN SOCCER for the few remaining souls who have yet to see it (not kung-fu, but still great action. On a brief side note, if you're truly looking for the synthesis of soccer and kung-fu, hunt down THE CHAMPIONS, an early '80s Hong Kong actioner starring Jackie Chan schoolmate Yuen Biao and the best dressed man in Hong Kong cinema, Dick Wei).
Since, KUNG-FU HUSTLE is recent, I guess I'll use this to springboard into some other contemporary martial arts films. I realize that the post asked to list kung-fu, but I'm going to take the liberty of nominating a few recent non-Chinese, non-kung-fu action films that will surely please kung-fu aficionados. I guess this is mainly because some of the best contemporary action cinema is not coming from the depressingly stagnant cameras of Hong Kong (once the mainstay of kung-fu films), but rather from Thailand, Japan, and Korea. To begin, ONG BAK, a muay Thai ass kick fest, is doing the rounds now and comes to mind first. Tony Jaa IS the obvious heir apparent to Jackie Chan. This movie contains stunts that will make you rub your eyes in disbelief and brutal fight scenes that really have few equivalents. Watch out for TOM YUM GOONG, the next team-up by ONG BAK director Prachya Pinkaew and ONG BAK star Tony Jaa. It comes out later this year and should be awesome. From Japan, everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of post-modern samurai films from director Ryuhei Kitamura. Try VERSUS, AZUMI, or ARAGAMI if this kind of stuff floats your boat. Korean cinema (possibly the most vibrant current national cinema outside of Hollywood, and, as a bit of trivia, the only local cinema that defeats Hollywood films at the local box office) has some excellent fight films. NOWHERE TO HIDE has some of the best action ever choreographed to Bee Gees music (plus this movie was the obvious inspiration for some of the fights in the final MATRIX film although "ripped off" is maybe the right thing to say since no one gives this film credit). Last, I won't sleep unless I plug one the most exciting contemporary directors, Korea's Park Chan-wook. Check out OLDBOY to see the best damn one-man-with-a-hammer-verse-a-ton-of-thugs fight ever committed to film (and all done in a single, brilliant take). (p.s. even though I hate to endorse the decadent and depraved films of Zhang Yimou, newbs should gives HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS a peak - even though they’re both vastly overrated)
Anyway, with that brief intermission aside, let's move on to kung-fu. As we all probably know, with China chugging out Communist propaganda and Fifth Generation art cinema, hyper-capitalist Hong Kong spent a greater part of the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s establishing itself as the home of great kung-fu films. This is going to get kind of tricky, and will require some gross generalizations, but I am going to try to break Hong Kong kung-fu cinema into 3 eras from the past 30 years or so and then give some recommendations from each era. Please excuse my methodology for defining these eras as it’s tenuous at best. Please don’t try to view these eras as concrete, but rather look at them as heuristic methods that I am using to group together films (to make this easier for me to type and you to read). Anyway, here are my three eras of Hong Kong kung-fu cinema:
Classic period (roughly 1968-1981): This is the period of Hong Kong kung-fu films that we traditionally equate with Bruce Lee. This era begins with movies like CHINESE BOXER and TOUCH OF ZEN that signaled the revival of kung-fu and wuxia pian (fantasy swordplay) films, spans across the Bruce Lee and Five Deadly Venoms films of the ‘70s, and ends with films like Jackie Chan’s DRUNKEN MASTER and SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW and Sammo Hung’s PRODIGAL SON. Most movies from this era are period pieces (usually set during the Qing dynasty or somewhere in 1700s or 1800s), have simple, revenge driven plots (hero’s family dies, hero is angry, hero trains, hero gets revenge), and feature fight choreography that may seem a bit stiff in comparison to modern action films. Maybe the best way to sum up these movies is to think of them as the overdubbed classics that we all grew up watching on Kung-fu theatre.
The Surge: Hong Kong in the ‘80s (roughly 1981 – 1990): This is the decade where Hong Kong cinema really flourished and managed to dominate much of the pan-Asian box office. Budgets were big, and the stars were bigger. This is the era that launched the careers of Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, and Chow Yun-fat. Most movies from this era are set in modern Hong Kong and feature urban landscapes and storylines (you’ll get tons of “cop on a mission” stories), have stories with a romantic subplot, and feature the type of loose, rapid fight choreography that we associate with modern action cinema. Personally, my favorite films come from this period.
The Decline: Hong Kong in the early ‘90s (roughly 1991 – 1996): Tsui Hark’s 1991, ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (OUATIC) marked a return to historical settings and fantasy martial arts. This is the era that saw the rise of Jet Li. Tons, and tons, and tons of crap was released during this 5 year span (most of it rehashes of the OUATIC series). Sadly this is the period when Hong Kong cinema really started to die - local box office revenue went down, foreign hits like JURASSIC PARK and TITANIC dominated, everyone feared the Handover, and many actors and directors jumped ship and fled to America. Still, there are some real gems that came out during this period.
Now onto recommendations:
Classic Period:
The big studio from this era was Shaw Brothers, and luckily Celestial, a Singaporean DVD distributor, purchased the rights to most of the Shaw library and has been releasing it in chunks over the past few years (sadly it’s all region 3… I’m not sure who on this list has a region-free player…). This means tons of great Shaw films (in other words most of the great kung-fu films) from this era are available on DVD. If you don’t have a region-free player, you can find lots of these titles on VHS. Just do a little searching. If you like swordplay it’s your duty to check out the movies of King Hu. They tend to be a bit arty, but you’ll be hard pressed to get bored if you check out COME DRINK WITH ME, A TOUCH OF ZEN, or DRAGON INN. Anything by Cheng Cheh rocks. If he directed it, you can guarantee that you’re going to get a lot of violence, lots of blood, and some unbelievably acrobatic kung-fu battles. His best two films are probably FIVE DEADLY VENOMS and CRIPPLED AVENGERS. Both feature a team of acrobatic, kung-fu experts known as…well… the Five Venoms. The end of CRIPPLED AVENGERS contains an absurd fight that incorporates a set of metal rings with fighters jumping in and out of the rings – you have to see it to believe it. Other good Chang Cheh films include KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, CHINATOWN KID, and BRAVE ARCHER. Another great director from this era is Liu Chia-liang (often credited as Lau Kar-leung). 36th CHAMBER and RETURN TO THE 36th CHAMBER are probably his most famous films, but if you’re able to hunt down SHAOLIN CHALLENGES NINJA, DIRTY HO, or LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF CHINA you’re in for a real treat. The end of this era is where you’ll find some of the early films from Jackie Chan and his opera troupe cohorts (Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, etc.). DRUNKEN MASTER is worth a look, but unless you’re a diehard fan, it’s best to shy away from Jackie until the ‘80s (this is when he starts to direct and choreograph his own films). Sammo Hung’s PRODIGAL SON is one of the best movies from this era, do not miss it. The final battle between Yuen Biao and Frankie Chan is one of the most realistic fights captured on camera.
OK, I’m burnt out. I’ll finish up recommendations from the last two eras of Hong Kong cinema later.
To be continued….
I'll start with KUNG-FU HUSTLE since it initiated the discussion. Just a warning, if you're hoping to dig up more Stephen Chow films (writer/director/star of KUNG-FU HUSTLE) in the same vein as KUNG-FU HUSTLE, you're sadly out of luck. Chow, the biggest box office draw in Hong Kong (yup, bigger than Jet, Jackie, and Yun-fat), is mostly know for his "mo lai tau" or "makes no sense" humor, a mixture of Cantonese word play, puns, and cultural references. While many of his films are good, most are not of the same variety as KUNG-FU HUSTLE. About the closest you'll find is 1990's ALL FOR THE WINNER, a parody of the popular Chow Yun-fat GOD OF GAMBLERS series. ALL FOR THE WINNER has plenty of humor, plenty of kung-fu, and plenty of Stephen Chow - definitely worth a look. It goes without saying that I recommend SHAOLIN SOCCER for the few remaining souls who have yet to see it (not kung-fu, but still great action. On a brief side note, if you're truly looking for the synthesis of soccer and kung-fu, hunt down THE CHAMPIONS, an early '80s Hong Kong actioner starring Jackie Chan schoolmate Yuen Biao and the best dressed man in Hong Kong cinema, Dick Wei).
Since, KUNG-FU HUSTLE is recent, I guess I'll use this to springboard into some other contemporary martial arts films. I realize that the post asked to list kung-fu, but I'm going to take the liberty of nominating a few recent non-Chinese, non-kung-fu action films that will surely please kung-fu aficionados. I guess this is mainly because some of the best contemporary action cinema is not coming from the depressingly stagnant cameras of Hong Kong (once the mainstay of kung-fu films), but rather from Thailand, Japan, and Korea. To begin, ONG BAK, a muay Thai ass kick fest, is doing the rounds now and comes to mind first. Tony Jaa IS the obvious heir apparent to Jackie Chan. This movie contains stunts that will make you rub your eyes in disbelief and brutal fight scenes that really have few equivalents. Watch out for TOM YUM GOONG, the next team-up by ONG BAK director Prachya Pinkaew and ONG BAK star Tony Jaa. It comes out later this year and should be awesome. From Japan, everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of post-modern samurai films from director Ryuhei Kitamura. Try VERSUS, AZUMI, or ARAGAMI if this kind of stuff floats your boat. Korean cinema (possibly the most vibrant current national cinema outside of Hollywood, and, as a bit of trivia, the only local cinema that defeats Hollywood films at the local box office) has some excellent fight films. NOWHERE TO HIDE has some of the best action ever choreographed to Bee Gees music (plus this movie was the obvious inspiration for some of the fights in the final MATRIX film although "ripped off" is maybe the right thing to say since no one gives this film credit). Last, I won't sleep unless I plug one the most exciting contemporary directors, Korea's Park Chan-wook. Check out OLDBOY to see the best damn one-man-with-a-hammer-verse-a-ton-of-thugs fight ever committed to film (and all done in a single, brilliant take). (p.s. even though I hate to endorse the decadent and depraved films of Zhang Yimou, newbs should gives HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS a peak - even though they’re both vastly overrated)
Anyway, with that brief intermission aside, let's move on to kung-fu. As we all probably know, with China chugging out Communist propaganda and Fifth Generation art cinema, hyper-capitalist Hong Kong spent a greater part of the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s establishing itself as the home of great kung-fu films. This is going to get kind of tricky, and will require some gross generalizations, but I am going to try to break Hong Kong kung-fu cinema into 3 eras from the past 30 years or so and then give some recommendations from each era. Please excuse my methodology for defining these eras as it’s tenuous at best. Please don’t try to view these eras as concrete, but rather look at them as heuristic methods that I am using to group together films (to make this easier for me to type and you to read). Anyway, here are my three eras of Hong Kong kung-fu cinema:
Classic period (roughly 1968-1981): This is the period of Hong Kong kung-fu films that we traditionally equate with Bruce Lee. This era begins with movies like CHINESE BOXER and TOUCH OF ZEN that signaled the revival of kung-fu and wuxia pian (fantasy swordplay) films, spans across the Bruce Lee and Five Deadly Venoms films of the ‘70s, and ends with films like Jackie Chan’s DRUNKEN MASTER and SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW and Sammo Hung’s PRODIGAL SON. Most movies from this era are period pieces (usually set during the Qing dynasty or somewhere in 1700s or 1800s), have simple, revenge driven plots (hero’s family dies, hero is angry, hero trains, hero gets revenge), and feature fight choreography that may seem a bit stiff in comparison to modern action films. Maybe the best way to sum up these movies is to think of them as the overdubbed classics that we all grew up watching on Kung-fu theatre.
The Surge: Hong Kong in the ‘80s (roughly 1981 – 1990): This is the decade where Hong Kong cinema really flourished and managed to dominate much of the pan-Asian box office. Budgets were big, and the stars were bigger. This is the era that launched the careers of Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, and Chow Yun-fat. Most movies from this era are set in modern Hong Kong and feature urban landscapes and storylines (you’ll get tons of “cop on a mission” stories), have stories with a romantic subplot, and feature the type of loose, rapid fight choreography that we associate with modern action cinema. Personally, my favorite films come from this period.
The Decline: Hong Kong in the early ‘90s (roughly 1991 – 1996): Tsui Hark’s 1991, ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (OUATIC) marked a return to historical settings and fantasy martial arts. This is the era that saw the rise of Jet Li. Tons, and tons, and tons of crap was released during this 5 year span (most of it rehashes of the OUATIC series). Sadly this is the period when Hong Kong cinema really started to die - local box office revenue went down, foreign hits like JURASSIC PARK and TITANIC dominated, everyone feared the Handover, and many actors and directors jumped ship and fled to America. Still, there are some real gems that came out during this period.
Now onto recommendations:
Classic Period:
The big studio from this era was Shaw Brothers, and luckily Celestial, a Singaporean DVD distributor, purchased the rights to most of the Shaw library and has been releasing it in chunks over the past few years (sadly it’s all region 3… I’m not sure who on this list has a region-free player…). This means tons of great Shaw films (in other words most of the great kung-fu films) from this era are available on DVD. If you don’t have a region-free player, you can find lots of these titles on VHS. Just do a little searching. If you like swordplay it’s your duty to check out the movies of King Hu. They tend to be a bit arty, but you’ll be hard pressed to get bored if you check out COME DRINK WITH ME, A TOUCH OF ZEN, or DRAGON INN. Anything by Cheng Cheh rocks. If he directed it, you can guarantee that you’re going to get a lot of violence, lots of blood, and some unbelievably acrobatic kung-fu battles. His best two films are probably FIVE DEADLY VENOMS and CRIPPLED AVENGERS. Both feature a team of acrobatic, kung-fu experts known as…well… the Five Venoms. The end of CRIPPLED AVENGERS contains an absurd fight that incorporates a set of metal rings with fighters jumping in and out of the rings – you have to see it to believe it. Other good Chang Cheh films include KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, CHINATOWN KID, and BRAVE ARCHER. Another great director from this era is Liu Chia-liang (often credited as Lau Kar-leung). 36th CHAMBER and RETURN TO THE 36th CHAMBER are probably his most famous films, but if you’re able to hunt down SHAOLIN CHALLENGES NINJA, DIRTY HO, or LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF CHINA you’re in for a real treat. The end of this era is where you’ll find some of the early films from Jackie Chan and his opera troupe cohorts (Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, etc.). DRUNKEN MASTER is worth a look, but unless you’re a diehard fan, it’s best to shy away from Jackie until the ‘80s (this is when he starts to direct and choreograph his own films). Sammo Hung’s PRODIGAL SON is one of the best movies from this era, do not miss it. The final battle between Yuen Biao and Frankie Chan is one of the most realistic fights captured on camera.
OK, I’m burnt out. I’ll finish up recommendations from the last two eras of Hong Kong cinema later.
To be continued….
Last edited by mattkain on 26 Mar 2005 11:10, edited 1 time in total.
Brutal is too mild a word. I firmly believe that he must have killed several stuntment in some of those scenes or at the very least ended their careers. Pure action movie. That is, not much plot, but lots of action. Read; LOT - O' - ACTION. It also feature one of the most surreal vehicle chase scenes I've ever scene.ONG BAK, a muay Thai ass kick fest, is doing the rounds now and comes to mind first. Tony Jaa IS the obvious heir apparent to Jackie Chan. This movie contains stunts that will make you rub your eyes in disbelief and brutal fight scenes that really have few equivalents
I just appreciate seeing any Muay Thai done well in film. And, no, Van Damme's Kickboxer does not count. Not even close. Shame on you if you even thought it.
Zeke
Funny movie titles if the movie were about poop:
Red
Fast & the Furious
The Green Mile
Children of the Corn
There Will be Blood
Funny movie titles if the movie were about poop:
Red
Fast & the Furious
The Green Mile
Children of the Corn
There Will be Blood
Zeke,
Have you seen BORN TO FIGHT? It's the last big action/stunt spectacular to come out of Thailand. You can check out the trailer here:
http://www.ugo.com/channels/filmTv/trai ... leID=12183
Did you see any of the making of videos for ONG BAK? They're on the Thai DVD and were floating around the web for a while (like 2 years ago so they're prolly gone now). Pretty nuts - they show Tony Jaa practicing some of the stunts and fights. The stuff he pulls off is just plain ridiculous.
MK
Have you seen BORN TO FIGHT? It's the last big action/stunt spectacular to come out of Thailand. You can check out the trailer here:
http://www.ugo.com/channels/filmTv/trai ... leID=12183
Did you see any of the making of videos for ONG BAK? They're on the Thai DVD and were floating around the web for a while (like 2 years ago so they're prolly gone now). Pretty nuts - they show Tony Jaa practicing some of the stunts and fights. The stuff he pulls off is just plain ridiculous.
MK
The brief description of Born to Kill was increadibly similar to mine on Ong Bak. Sadly, I was unable to see the trailer.
Seriously, the stunts in Ong Bak were absolutely mind blowing. Tony Jaa is one seriously athletically blessed mu' fucker. He's got the verticle leap most NBA players or olympians would kill for, add to that the ability to throw an elbow or knee strike from any direction and you can't go wrong. I think I'm gonna watch it right now.
Seriously, the stunts in Ong Bak were absolutely mind blowing. Tony Jaa is one seriously athletically blessed mu' fucker. He's got the verticle leap most NBA players or olympians would kill for, add to that the ability to throw an elbow or knee strike from any direction and you can't go wrong. I think I'm gonna watch it right now.
Zeke
Funny movie titles if the movie were about poop:
Red
Fast & the Furious
The Green Mile
Children of the Corn
There Will be Blood
Funny movie titles if the movie were about poop:
Red
Fast & the Furious
The Green Mile
Children of the Corn
There Will be Blood
recommendations continued…
The Surge: Hong Kong in the ‘80s (roughly 1981 – 1990):
This is easily the most prolific and exciting period of Hong Kong cinema. Needless to say there is a virtual treasure trove of great kung-fu films from this era. The 1980s films of Jackie Chan are an obvious, excellent starting point. PROJECT A and PROJECT A II are both terrific movies, both filled with brilliant, comedy chase scenes and some ridiculously fun fights. POLICE STORY I and POLICE STORY II are also highly recommended and feature two of my favorite Chan fights – a romp through a department store with more broken glass than an Annie Lennox song and an over-the-top, beautifully choreographed battle on a jungle gym. ARMOUR OF GOD is worth a look for the final fight with a bunch of buff Amazons, MIRACLES has the closing rope factory fight that only Chan could have dreamed up, and TWIN DRAGONS has a hilarious confrontation at an automobile test facility.
Working closely with Chan is actor/director/choreographer Sammo Hung. Hung, Chan, Yuen Biao, and other Hong Kong action fixtures were members of the 1960s Cantonese opera troupe, the Seven Little Fortunes. Any of Hung’s collaborations with Chan and Biao are absolute must-sees for any kung-fu fan. The big two are WHEELS ON MEALS and DRAGONS FOREVER. Both films are also notorious for featuring epic battles between Chan and international kickboxer, Benny “the Jet” Urquidez. As legend goes, there was a bit of animosity between Chan and Urquidez – both refused to pull punches or let up during the filming of their fights. Whatever the truth is, these are some of the most intense battles you’ll find in any film. Also of note is the appearance of Yuen Wah (the old master and husband of the landlady in KUNG-FU HUSTLE) in DRAGONS FOREVER. Check it out if you’re a fan. Hung and Chan also teamed up for the popular Lucky Stars films (basically rip offs of the early ‘80s ACES GO PLACES films). The Lucky Stars movies combine an all-star cast of comedians and martial artists, put them in a bunch of absurd situations, throw in some hotties like Sibelle Hu, and let the rest write itself. MY LUCKY STARS, WINNERS AND SINNERS, and TWINKLE, TWINKLE LUCKY STARS are all solid films if you like action comedy. If you’re looking more for pure fights, stick with TWINKLE, TWINKLE LUCKY STARS (you’ll even get to see Hung go to town with a couple of tennis racquets). Hung also directed a handful of brilliant kung-fu films sans Jackie Chan – many of these are some of the best examples of kung-fu cinema from this era. MILLIONAIRE’S EXPRESS, PEDICAB DRIVER, and EASTERN CONDORS (the best movie to features Hung's longtime friend and wife, Joyce Godenzi) are all essential viewing. Don’t miss any of these. PEDICAB DRIVER is probably the best of the lot with the usually jocular Hung really pushing the levels violence and intensity. The final confrontation between Hung and a group of thugs led by super baddy Billy Chow is one of the best brawls in all of cinema with Hung pounding the stuffing out of villains until they puke. If you have the time, OWL VS BUMBO, WHERE’S OFFICER TUBA, CARRY ON PICKPOCKET, BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, and PAPER MARRIAGE are also worth a look.
Another big name that really established himself during the ‘80s is Yuen Woo-Ping (known to most Westerns as the guy behind the MATRIX choreography). Some of Yuen’s best films are collaborations with actor Donnie Yen, so this is definitely the place to start. DRUNKEN TAI CHI is about as strange as kung-fu movies get (the weirdest part is that there is no drinking in the entire film, but it does have a pretty rad breakdance scene), TIGER CAGE and TIGER CAGE 2 are both excellent, and no list would be complete without IN THE LINE OF DUTY IV, a film that redefines the notion of "too much action" and says “bah” to storytelling. If you really fall for Yuen, also take a look at DREADNAUGHT, LEGEND OF A FIGHTER, and MIRACLE FIGHTERS. Yuen will come back strong in the ‘90s, but I’ll get to that later.
One of the most popular trends during this era was the Girls with Guns movies. The name is self-explanatory – find a beautiful actress, give her a gun, train her in some martial arts, have her beat the hell out a truckload of guys. These movies launched the careers (and sadly when the cycle dried up also spelled the end of some of the same careers) of Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Kahn, Cynthia Rothrock, Moon Lee, Sibelle Hu, Yukari Oshima, Michiko Nishiwaki, and many others. It’s probably best to start with the wonderful Cynthia Rothrock/Michelle Yeoh vehicle YES, MADAM (complete, once again, with Hong Kong fashion whore Dick Wei in the best outfit ever - a super tight, short sleeve combat uniform). Other great Michelle Yeoh movies include MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS and ROYAL WARRIORS. Any film with the vastly underrated Cynthia Kahn is worth a look. She’s brilliant in IN THE LINE OF DUTY III and IN THE LINE OF DUTY IV – no one has ever kicked more ass in tight, stone-washed jeans. SHE SHOOTS STRAIGHT, AVENGING QUARTET, any of Moon Lee’s ANGEL movies, and THE OUTLAW BROTHERS are all great. Also of note are the copy cat films of Liu Chia-liang. As Shaw Brothers studio lost speed to upstart studios like Golden Harvest and Cinema City, the Shaw stable of directors struggled to copy the trends of the more popular production companies. Liu Chia-liang directed two wonderful Girls with Guns keepers starring Kara Hui, MY YOUNG AUNTIE and LADY IS THE BOSS (featuring the only dirt bike fight I’ve ever seen). Both of these are tough to hunt down, but definitely worth the effort.
There are a ton of excellent miscellaneous films from this era as well. Corey Yuen Kwai’s RIGHTING WRONGS is one of my all-time favorites, ZU: WARRIORS OF THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN launched a new era of special effects in Hong Kong cinema, STORY OF RICKY challenges the Troma films for sheer violence and lunacy, and Kirk Wong’s almost impossible to find FLASH FUTURE KUNG-FU (I’ve only seen it dubbed) features a futuristic world of drug addict, Chinese Nazis that hang out in arcades and love to fight – possibly the most bizarre movie I’ve ever seen.
Whew! There’s a lot more from this era, maybe I’ll edit this post as I think of more titles. Anyway, for anyone that made it this far, I’ll soon post my kung-fu recommendations from the 1990s.
The Surge: Hong Kong in the ‘80s (roughly 1981 – 1990):
This is easily the most prolific and exciting period of Hong Kong cinema. Needless to say there is a virtual treasure trove of great kung-fu films from this era. The 1980s films of Jackie Chan are an obvious, excellent starting point. PROJECT A and PROJECT A II are both terrific movies, both filled with brilliant, comedy chase scenes and some ridiculously fun fights. POLICE STORY I and POLICE STORY II are also highly recommended and feature two of my favorite Chan fights – a romp through a department store with more broken glass than an Annie Lennox song and an over-the-top, beautifully choreographed battle on a jungle gym. ARMOUR OF GOD is worth a look for the final fight with a bunch of buff Amazons, MIRACLES has the closing rope factory fight that only Chan could have dreamed up, and TWIN DRAGONS has a hilarious confrontation at an automobile test facility.
Working closely with Chan is actor/director/choreographer Sammo Hung. Hung, Chan, Yuen Biao, and other Hong Kong action fixtures were members of the 1960s Cantonese opera troupe, the Seven Little Fortunes. Any of Hung’s collaborations with Chan and Biao are absolute must-sees for any kung-fu fan. The big two are WHEELS ON MEALS and DRAGONS FOREVER. Both films are also notorious for featuring epic battles between Chan and international kickboxer, Benny “the Jet” Urquidez. As legend goes, there was a bit of animosity between Chan and Urquidez – both refused to pull punches or let up during the filming of their fights. Whatever the truth is, these are some of the most intense battles you’ll find in any film. Also of note is the appearance of Yuen Wah (the old master and husband of the landlady in KUNG-FU HUSTLE) in DRAGONS FOREVER. Check it out if you’re a fan. Hung and Chan also teamed up for the popular Lucky Stars films (basically rip offs of the early ‘80s ACES GO PLACES films). The Lucky Stars movies combine an all-star cast of comedians and martial artists, put them in a bunch of absurd situations, throw in some hotties like Sibelle Hu, and let the rest write itself. MY LUCKY STARS, WINNERS AND SINNERS, and TWINKLE, TWINKLE LUCKY STARS are all solid films if you like action comedy. If you’re looking more for pure fights, stick with TWINKLE, TWINKLE LUCKY STARS (you’ll even get to see Hung go to town with a couple of tennis racquets). Hung also directed a handful of brilliant kung-fu films sans Jackie Chan – many of these are some of the best examples of kung-fu cinema from this era. MILLIONAIRE’S EXPRESS, PEDICAB DRIVER, and EASTERN CONDORS (the best movie to features Hung's longtime friend and wife, Joyce Godenzi) are all essential viewing. Don’t miss any of these. PEDICAB DRIVER is probably the best of the lot with the usually jocular Hung really pushing the levels violence and intensity. The final confrontation between Hung and a group of thugs led by super baddy Billy Chow is one of the best brawls in all of cinema with Hung pounding the stuffing out of villains until they puke. If you have the time, OWL VS BUMBO, WHERE’S OFFICER TUBA, CARRY ON PICKPOCKET, BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, and PAPER MARRIAGE are also worth a look.
Another big name that really established himself during the ‘80s is Yuen Woo-Ping (known to most Westerns as the guy behind the MATRIX choreography). Some of Yuen’s best films are collaborations with actor Donnie Yen, so this is definitely the place to start. DRUNKEN TAI CHI is about as strange as kung-fu movies get (the weirdest part is that there is no drinking in the entire film, but it does have a pretty rad breakdance scene), TIGER CAGE and TIGER CAGE 2 are both excellent, and no list would be complete without IN THE LINE OF DUTY IV, a film that redefines the notion of "too much action" and says “bah” to storytelling. If you really fall for Yuen, also take a look at DREADNAUGHT, LEGEND OF A FIGHTER, and MIRACLE FIGHTERS. Yuen will come back strong in the ‘90s, but I’ll get to that later.
One of the most popular trends during this era was the Girls with Guns movies. The name is self-explanatory – find a beautiful actress, give her a gun, train her in some martial arts, have her beat the hell out a truckload of guys. These movies launched the careers (and sadly when the cycle dried up also spelled the end of some of the same careers) of Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Kahn, Cynthia Rothrock, Moon Lee, Sibelle Hu, Yukari Oshima, Michiko Nishiwaki, and many others. It’s probably best to start with the wonderful Cynthia Rothrock/Michelle Yeoh vehicle YES, MADAM (complete, once again, with Hong Kong fashion whore Dick Wei in the best outfit ever - a super tight, short sleeve combat uniform). Other great Michelle Yeoh movies include MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS and ROYAL WARRIORS. Any film with the vastly underrated Cynthia Kahn is worth a look. She’s brilliant in IN THE LINE OF DUTY III and IN THE LINE OF DUTY IV – no one has ever kicked more ass in tight, stone-washed jeans. SHE SHOOTS STRAIGHT, AVENGING QUARTET, any of Moon Lee’s ANGEL movies, and THE OUTLAW BROTHERS are all great. Also of note are the copy cat films of Liu Chia-liang. As Shaw Brothers studio lost speed to upstart studios like Golden Harvest and Cinema City, the Shaw stable of directors struggled to copy the trends of the more popular production companies. Liu Chia-liang directed two wonderful Girls with Guns keepers starring Kara Hui, MY YOUNG AUNTIE and LADY IS THE BOSS (featuring the only dirt bike fight I’ve ever seen). Both of these are tough to hunt down, but definitely worth the effort.
There are a ton of excellent miscellaneous films from this era as well. Corey Yuen Kwai’s RIGHTING WRONGS is one of my all-time favorites, ZU: WARRIORS OF THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN launched a new era of special effects in Hong Kong cinema, STORY OF RICKY challenges the Troma films for sheer violence and lunacy, and Kirk Wong’s almost impossible to find FLASH FUTURE KUNG-FU (I’ve only seen it dubbed) features a futuristic world of drug addict, Chinese Nazis that hang out in arcades and love to fight – possibly the most bizarre movie I’ve ever seen.
Whew! There’s a lot more from this era, maybe I’ll edit this post as I think of more titles. Anyway, for anyone that made it this far, I’ll soon post my kung-fu recommendations from the 1990s.
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dragonhack
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I saw that on TV the other day. That scene does have the most broken candy glass in the history of cinema! It's like everytime someone gets hit, they some how break some glass. Sweet fight though.mattkain wrote:POLICE STORY I and POLICE STORY II are also highly recommended and feature two of my favorite Chan fights – a romp through a department store with more broken glass than an Annie Lennox song....
Joshua Annis
"Don't Panic..."
"I woke wanting nothing more than a box of Gushers....
DENIED
I shake my first at the sky."-Matt Cross
"Yeah, seriously! When I got back into my cubicle Jazz started throwing dimes at me. What an asshole."-David Wilder
"Don't Panic..."
"I woke wanting nothing more than a box of Gushers....
DENIED
I shake my first at the sky."-Matt Cross
"Yeah, seriously! When I got back into my cubicle Jazz started throwing dimes at me. What an asshole."-David Wilder
I used to watch Kung Fu theater late night on USA when I was about 10. It was the shit!!! I don't remember any of the names of the movies, but they were awesome.
Some movies that I really liked were
Revenge of the Ninja
Return of the Ninja
Ninja III the Domination
All Sho Kazuki movies.
Pretty much anything with Jackie Chan is worth a look-see.
"Bloodsport" ruled back before it was realized that Jean Claude Van Damme could only do 3 kicks and a split.
"Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" was pretty fuckin' good too even though it wasn't technically a Kung Fu flick.
Some movies that I really liked were
Revenge of the Ninja
Return of the Ninja
Ninja III the Domination
All Sho Kazuki movies.
Pretty much anything with Jackie Chan is worth a look-see.
"Bloodsport" ruled back before it was realized that Jean Claude Van Damme could only do 3 kicks and a split.
"Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" was pretty fuckin' good too even though it wasn't technically a Kung Fu flick.
Old Skool
recommendations continued…
The Decline: Hong Kong in the early ‘90s (roughly 1991 – 1996):
This isn't my favorite era of Hong Kong cinema, but it definitely contains some of the more recognizable modern kung-fu films (I'm sure many of you have seen movies from the horrifically butchered Jet Li Collection box set that Dimension put out a few years ago). Again, to reiterate some of the comments from my earlier posts, this era marks the return to wuxia pian - AKA period piece, fantasy kung-fu films. There's buckets of rehashed muck here so be careful when renting/buying films from this period.
Anyway, as mentioned above, the starting point for this era is Tsui Hark's innovative ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series. OUATIC 1 and 2 are both solid flicks that anyone can enjoy. They also served to catapult Jet Li to the status of regional Asian action superstar. I personally feel that OUATIC 3 and its anti-climactic lion dance finale is rubbish, OUATIC 4 and 5 (which star stone-faced Zhao Wen Zhou, not Jet Li) are bore fests, and OUATIC AND AMERICA is only requisite viewing for diehard Sammo Hung or Jet Li fans (by this point in his career Tsui began handing the directorial reins over to others while taking a more passive role as producer).
Continuing with Jet Li, I'm not his biggest fan (I honestly think his films are extremely uneven), but some of his collaborations with legitimate directors make for some of the wildest, most intense, and often hilarious films from this era. FONG SAI YUK 1 and 2, both directed by Corey Yuen Kwai, are absolutely superb. I'll never get sick of Josephine Siao's cross dressing or Jet Li boasting that he's "Canton's number one young hero." For some reason seeing Jet battle Zhou Wen Zhou in FONG SAI YUK (both played Wong Fei-hung in the OUATIC series) seems absolutely surreal - it's like Superman fighting Superman. Li also teamed up with Corey Yuen Kwai for BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING (a loose remake of the Kevin Costner BODYGUARD), a film which I really like and am loath to admit is panned by many. My favorite Jet Li film is easily FIST OF LEGEND, a remake of Bruce Lee's FIST OF FURY (known stateside as THE CHINESE CONNECTION). Li's fight with old school superstar Yasuaki Kurata rules, and any time you get to see Jet Li take on Chin Siu-ho you're in for a treat. Sadly the North American rights to FIST are tied up by MiramAXE who refuse to release an OAR (original aspect ratio), uncut, Cantonese language version. If you don't mind watching butchered crap, then by all means check out the MiramAXE DVD, but if you have any respect for cinema or artistic creation, then try to hunt down the old Tai Seng VHS (which I thank God for daily). TAI CHI MASTER, directed by Yuen Woo-ping, is probably my second favorite Jet Li film. It uses more wire work than FIST (which bugs me a bit), but it features Chin Siu-ho as the main villain, and let me just say that he's about as badass as they come in this film. Between Chin Siu-ho snapping people's arms in half, Michelle Yeoh fighting on tables, and Li inventing Tai Chi, you get a dose of just about everything awesome. I'll also give a thumbs up to MY FATHER IS A HERO (also by Corey Yuen Kwai) and HIGH RISK (with Jacky Cheung doing a pretty hilarious parody of Jackie Chan). However, be warned - for every good Jet Li film, there is an absolute dud. Besides HIGH RISK stay FAR away from the Jet Li films that are directed by sleaze master Wong Jing (known mostly for fart and toilet jokes). DEADLY CHINA HERO and NEW LEGEND OF SHAOLIN are the most egregious offenders. Other Jet Li duds include DR. WAI, KUNG FU CULT MASTER (sorry Sammo), BLACK MASK, and SWORDSMAN II (I don't care how awesome Brigitte Lin is or how many critics praise it, this movie stinks).
Anyway, jumping back to the OUATIC series and its followers, one of the most interesting responses to the revitalized cycle of wuxia films was Wong Kar-wai's existential swordplay mindbender, ASHES OF TIME. Be warned, this movie is not for the impatient, tends to be a bit on the pretentious side, and its mangled, ambiguous narrative can be frustrating for some. Still, if you're looking for something different, check it out. After Wong received international acclaim for ASHES, Tsui Hark, never one to be outdone, responded with his own version of swordplay meets art cinema. The result is THE BLADE, a visceral, hyperfest of rapid editing, jarring camera angles and raw intensity. For years I had an internal debate over which I preferred more, ASHES OF TIME or THE BLADE. It wasn't until seeing 35MM prints of both that I sided with THE BLADE. In all honesty these are both brilliant films that serve as a testament to the interesting results that can be obtained when a director chooses to bend the rules and conventions of cinematic genres.
If violent, heady films aren't your thing, there are many mainstream variations of the wuxia genre from this era. Some of the best come from Yuen Woo-ping. IRON MONKEY (Donnie Yen at his best), WING CHUN (Michelle Yeoh at her best, Donnie Yen at his cheesiest), FIERY DRAGON KID, and HERO AMONG HEROES are all solid flicks. Be careful to avoid Yuen Woo-Ping's TAI CHI 2. This film is nothing more than 90 minutes of bad. Other great wuxia films include NEW DRAGON INN (a remake of the old King Hu film), BARE-FOOTED KID (one of the few times I can deal with Cantopop star Aaron Kwok) THE EAST IS RED (Brigitte Lin at her androgenous best), and BURNING PARADISE (Ringo Lam does wuxia?). Sadly, awful wuxia films from this era are terribly abundant - KICK BOXER, DRAGON FROM SHAOLIN, CHINA DRAGON, GREEN SNAKE, EAGLE SHOOTING HEROES (a "parody" of ASHES OF TIME), MOON WARRIORS, FLYING DAGGERS, DEADFUL MELODY, BLACK PANTHER WARRIORS, HOLY WEAPON, etc., etc. I could go on, but remembering the countless hours that I spent watching some of this trash is truly depressing (then again, this is coming from a guy who willingly sat through EMOTIONAL GIRL: DOUBT OF UNDRESS and the entire RAPED BY AN ANGEL series. You get what you ask for).
Since I'm on the topic of duds, I have to mention HEROIC TRIO and THE EXECUTIONERS, a couple of science fiction meets kung-fu films from this period. I have no idea how one of my favorite directors, Johnnie To, and 3 of my favorite actresses, Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, and Michelle Yeoh, managed to team up to create such awful, awful crap. Even more shocking is that these films are universally praised and often championed as cornerstones of 1990s Hong Kong action cinema. I just don't get it. Take my advice, you're better off watching LEONARD PART 6 than this dross.
What about Jackie? Yup, Jackie Chan was still pumping out films during this era. What's most interesting is how Chan began to be more deliberate and methodical in working towards his goal of becoming the world's number one international action star. His films had bigger budgets, more diverse casts, and featured numerous foreign locales. Anyway, everyone who is still in the dark needs to see DRUNKEN MASTER II, Jackie's sole attempt to tap into the wuxia fad. His epic fight with his real life bodyguard Ken Lo is simply unreal. Just do yourself a favor and see this movie (sadly, this is another case of tangled DVD rights. I recommend staying away from the atrocious, expurgated LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER US rerelease and instead search out the old Tai Seng VHS). My other favorite Chan film during this stretch is THUNDERBOLT. It's sort of a Hong Kong DAYS OF THUNDER. Tough to find, but a great movie if you can get your paws on it.
The saddest thing about this era is that for many reasons (success of Hollywood films at the local box office, a market saturated with redundant crap, exodus of talent spawned by a fear of the Handover, the shrinking of regional markets) the well of great Hong Kong action cinema began to dry up. Sure some great kung-fu and action films came out of Hong Kong post 1996 and still do (the CGI heavy movies of Andrew Lau, KUNG-FU HUSTLE, TWINS EFFECT, the crime noir thrillers of Johnnie To), but for the most part these films are few and far between. C'est la vie. Luckily there are decades worth of great Hong Kong cinema that even the most avid cinemaphile can spend years pillaging and still find gems.
The Decline: Hong Kong in the early ‘90s (roughly 1991 – 1996):
This isn't my favorite era of Hong Kong cinema, but it definitely contains some of the more recognizable modern kung-fu films (I'm sure many of you have seen movies from the horrifically butchered Jet Li Collection box set that Dimension put out a few years ago). Again, to reiterate some of the comments from my earlier posts, this era marks the return to wuxia pian - AKA period piece, fantasy kung-fu films. There's buckets of rehashed muck here so be careful when renting/buying films from this period.
Anyway, as mentioned above, the starting point for this era is Tsui Hark's innovative ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series. OUATIC 1 and 2 are both solid flicks that anyone can enjoy. They also served to catapult Jet Li to the status of regional Asian action superstar. I personally feel that OUATIC 3 and its anti-climactic lion dance finale is rubbish, OUATIC 4 and 5 (which star stone-faced Zhao Wen Zhou, not Jet Li) are bore fests, and OUATIC AND AMERICA is only requisite viewing for diehard Sammo Hung or Jet Li fans (by this point in his career Tsui began handing the directorial reins over to others while taking a more passive role as producer).
Continuing with Jet Li, I'm not his biggest fan (I honestly think his films are extremely uneven), but some of his collaborations with legitimate directors make for some of the wildest, most intense, and often hilarious films from this era. FONG SAI YUK 1 and 2, both directed by Corey Yuen Kwai, are absolutely superb. I'll never get sick of Josephine Siao's cross dressing or Jet Li boasting that he's "Canton's number one young hero." For some reason seeing Jet battle Zhou Wen Zhou in FONG SAI YUK (both played Wong Fei-hung in the OUATIC series) seems absolutely surreal - it's like Superman fighting Superman. Li also teamed up with Corey Yuen Kwai for BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING (a loose remake of the Kevin Costner BODYGUARD), a film which I really like and am loath to admit is panned by many. My favorite Jet Li film is easily FIST OF LEGEND, a remake of Bruce Lee's FIST OF FURY (known stateside as THE CHINESE CONNECTION). Li's fight with old school superstar Yasuaki Kurata rules, and any time you get to see Jet Li take on Chin Siu-ho you're in for a treat. Sadly the North American rights to FIST are tied up by MiramAXE who refuse to release an OAR (original aspect ratio), uncut, Cantonese language version. If you don't mind watching butchered crap, then by all means check out the MiramAXE DVD, but if you have any respect for cinema or artistic creation, then try to hunt down the old Tai Seng VHS (which I thank God for daily). TAI CHI MASTER, directed by Yuen Woo-ping, is probably my second favorite Jet Li film. It uses more wire work than FIST (which bugs me a bit), but it features Chin Siu-ho as the main villain, and let me just say that he's about as badass as they come in this film. Between Chin Siu-ho snapping people's arms in half, Michelle Yeoh fighting on tables, and Li inventing Tai Chi, you get a dose of just about everything awesome. I'll also give a thumbs up to MY FATHER IS A HERO (also by Corey Yuen Kwai) and HIGH RISK (with Jacky Cheung doing a pretty hilarious parody of Jackie Chan). However, be warned - for every good Jet Li film, there is an absolute dud. Besides HIGH RISK stay FAR away from the Jet Li films that are directed by sleaze master Wong Jing (known mostly for fart and toilet jokes). DEADLY CHINA HERO and NEW LEGEND OF SHAOLIN are the most egregious offenders. Other Jet Li duds include DR. WAI, KUNG FU CULT MASTER (sorry Sammo), BLACK MASK, and SWORDSMAN II (I don't care how awesome Brigitte Lin is or how many critics praise it, this movie stinks).
Anyway, jumping back to the OUATIC series and its followers, one of the most interesting responses to the revitalized cycle of wuxia films was Wong Kar-wai's existential swordplay mindbender, ASHES OF TIME. Be warned, this movie is not for the impatient, tends to be a bit on the pretentious side, and its mangled, ambiguous narrative can be frustrating for some. Still, if you're looking for something different, check it out. After Wong received international acclaim for ASHES, Tsui Hark, never one to be outdone, responded with his own version of swordplay meets art cinema. The result is THE BLADE, a visceral, hyperfest of rapid editing, jarring camera angles and raw intensity. For years I had an internal debate over which I preferred more, ASHES OF TIME or THE BLADE. It wasn't until seeing 35MM prints of both that I sided with THE BLADE. In all honesty these are both brilliant films that serve as a testament to the interesting results that can be obtained when a director chooses to bend the rules and conventions of cinematic genres.
If violent, heady films aren't your thing, there are many mainstream variations of the wuxia genre from this era. Some of the best come from Yuen Woo-ping. IRON MONKEY (Donnie Yen at his best), WING CHUN (Michelle Yeoh at her best, Donnie Yen at his cheesiest), FIERY DRAGON KID, and HERO AMONG HEROES are all solid flicks. Be careful to avoid Yuen Woo-Ping's TAI CHI 2. This film is nothing more than 90 minutes of bad. Other great wuxia films include NEW DRAGON INN (a remake of the old King Hu film), BARE-FOOTED KID (one of the few times I can deal with Cantopop star Aaron Kwok) THE EAST IS RED (Brigitte Lin at her androgenous best), and BURNING PARADISE (Ringo Lam does wuxia?). Sadly, awful wuxia films from this era are terribly abundant - KICK BOXER, DRAGON FROM SHAOLIN, CHINA DRAGON, GREEN SNAKE, EAGLE SHOOTING HEROES (a "parody" of ASHES OF TIME), MOON WARRIORS, FLYING DAGGERS, DEADFUL MELODY, BLACK PANTHER WARRIORS, HOLY WEAPON, etc., etc. I could go on, but remembering the countless hours that I spent watching some of this trash is truly depressing (then again, this is coming from a guy who willingly sat through EMOTIONAL GIRL: DOUBT OF UNDRESS and the entire RAPED BY AN ANGEL series. You get what you ask for).
Since I'm on the topic of duds, I have to mention HEROIC TRIO and THE EXECUTIONERS, a couple of science fiction meets kung-fu films from this period. I have no idea how one of my favorite directors, Johnnie To, and 3 of my favorite actresses, Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, and Michelle Yeoh, managed to team up to create such awful, awful crap. Even more shocking is that these films are universally praised and often championed as cornerstones of 1990s Hong Kong action cinema. I just don't get it. Take my advice, you're better off watching LEONARD PART 6 than this dross.
What about Jackie? Yup, Jackie Chan was still pumping out films during this era. What's most interesting is how Chan began to be more deliberate and methodical in working towards his goal of becoming the world's number one international action star. His films had bigger budgets, more diverse casts, and featured numerous foreign locales. Anyway, everyone who is still in the dark needs to see DRUNKEN MASTER II, Jackie's sole attempt to tap into the wuxia fad. His epic fight with his real life bodyguard Ken Lo is simply unreal. Just do yourself a favor and see this movie (sadly, this is another case of tangled DVD rights. I recommend staying away from the atrocious, expurgated LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER US rerelease and instead search out the old Tai Seng VHS). My other favorite Chan film during this stretch is THUNDERBOLT. It's sort of a Hong Kong DAYS OF THUNDER. Tough to find, but a great movie if you can get your paws on it.
The saddest thing about this era is that for many reasons (success of Hollywood films at the local box office, a market saturated with redundant crap, exodus of talent spawned by a fear of the Handover, the shrinking of regional markets) the well of great Hong Kong action cinema began to dry up. Sure some great kung-fu and action films came out of Hong Kong post 1996 and still do (the CGI heavy movies of Andrew Lau, KUNG-FU HUSTLE, TWINS EFFECT, the crime noir thrillers of Johnnie To), but for the most part these films are few and far between. C'est la vie. Luckily there are decades worth of great Hong Kong cinema that even the most avid cinemaphile can spend years pillaging and still find gems.
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ShredOnLawn
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Read my above post. There are 6 OUATIC films in all. And if you want to get really crazy, there are about a gillion movies about Chinese folk hero, Wong Fei-hung. Personally, I'm a sucker for OUATIC II. Jet and Donnie's fight is really well done, and any movie that features a fictionalized, Renaissance version of Sun Yat Sen is golden in my book (for those who know Chinese history, a glorified version of nationalist, KMT leader and former Taiwanese political celebrity, Sun Yat Sen appears in OUATIC II as a calculated move to garner bigger box office receipts in Taiwan, then one of the larger ancillary markets for Hong Kong cinema. Sure this would have ruffled some feathers in the mainland, but with foreign film quotas, censorship, and a lack of urban exhibition infrastructure in the PRC, no one really cared).pill wrote:there's a third once upon a time in china?? i'll have to check it out, i loved one and two
MK