favorite kung fu movies...

itsanother · Post by **itsanother** » 01 May 2005 19:41

shaolin soccer- stephen chow

Splint · Post by **Splint** » 01 May 2005 20:45

Jet Li has a fantastically cheesy looking one coming out called "Unleashed".

mattkain · Post by **mattkain** » 01 May 2005 22:45

Splint wrote:Jet Li as a fantastically cheesy looking one coming out called "Unleashed".

Yup, and I'll be there opening night. What cracks me up the most is that the title was only recently changed to UNLEASHED from DANNY THE DOG. I kept thinking, "Do they seriously plan on calling this DANNY THE DOG? That's the dumbest name ever. What next? Jet Li starring in PEANUT BUTTER PANIC!" Apparently someone had the same epiphany. Still, there is some hope for this movie. Yuen Woo-ping did do the action choreography. I just wish that Jet wouldn't waste time doing another film with Luc Besson. Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for some of the old Besson stuff (SUBWAY, NIKITA, etc.), but wasn't KISS OF THE DRAGON painful enough? Must we go through another bore fest of sloppy compositions, handheld cameras, and headache-inducing, rapid editing? Besson and his cronies have no sense of how to shoot a fight scene (see THE TRANSPORTER for further proof). For those who have yet to see the DANNY THE DOG trailer (oops, I mean UNLEASHED):
mms://video.mov3.com/danny_the_dog.wmv

Anyway, the truly exciting Jet Li news right now is that he is back in Hong Kong working on HUO YUANJIA (a biopic based on the eponymous Chinese hero from the late 19th century) with director Ronny Yu (famous for THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR films). Since this looks to be a true HK production Jet should have a lot more freedom with both the story and action scenes. Some are claiming this might be a return to the kind of hard-hitting, visceral kung-fu films that Jet was doing in HK during the '90s. We'll have to wait and see. My fingers are crossed.

MK

Splint · Post by **Splint** » 02 May 2005 00:37

mattkain wrote: Some are claiming this might be a return to the kind of hard-hitting, visceral kung-fu films that Jet was doing in HK during the '90s. We'll have to wait and see. My fingers are crossed.

My only beef with Jet Li from his work in the 80's and 90's is that he uses entirely too many wire stunts, and now in the 2000's too many computerized effects. I mean what the hell, Jet Li is a world class Wushu artist capable of amazing feats of near superhuman ability. The Matrix Trilogy would have saved millions of dollars if he hadn't passed up on the deal to do "The One". Either that or they would have spent millions more enhancing his already supernatural ability.

I'm all about Jet getting back to showcasing his real talent.

mattkain · Post by **mattkain** » 02 May 2005 08:09

Splint wrote:My only beef with Jet Li from his work in the 80's and 90's is that he uses entirely too many wire stunts, and now in the 2000's too many computerized effects. I mean what the hell, Jet Li is a world class Wushu artist capable of amazing feats of near superhuman ability.

I couldn't agree more. Besides FIST OF LEGEND, there aren't really many Jet Li films that show off his pure fighting skills (and even FIST has a couple of wire-aided moments). I think it just goes to show that real matial arts skills don't necessarily translate into "cinematic" martial arts skills. As an example, take a look at Chuck Norris. In real life he's one of the baddest dudes on the planet, but cinematically he's managed to produce some of the most boring onscreen fights ever (see Walker, Texas Ranger for proof). Still, I prefer Jet's wire work over his CGI garbage any day. If I want CGI fighting, I'll go play Tekken. Even a return to the style of the OUATIC films or TAI CHI MASTER would be a step up for me.

MK

CIC flurry · Post by **CIC flurry** » 12 May 2005 23:02

Zeke and I just watched The Champions today. It was pretty damn cool. Zeke and I are going to tell Kamil to bring his soccer ball out next time, so we can try some of the stuff we saw.

The dancing scene, where they are fighinting and doing the tango at the same time was so awesome.

There were some weird and funny moments in the movie...like when the uncle tells him to not play soccer, then has an immediate change of heart (so funny), and the little end bit with the guy with no legs that scared the dude made no sense. These bits were rare, but so prominent that I had to note them.

tom
cic