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Return of the One-Armed Swordsman is described as having much more action than the original One-Armed Swordsman, and it does. There are lots of fights, and a group of villains, each of whom specializes in a different special weapon and methods of dispatching their victims. This group forces the elders of all the other sword clans to enter a contest, then holds them hostage. They then inform the younger clan members that they must cut off their right arms in order to gain their elders' release. So they seek the aid of the One-Armed Swordsman (Jimmy Wang Yu).
Once again directed by Chang Cheh, and also featuring a number of actors and performers in youthful early appearances: Chen Sing, Cliff Lok, Yuen Chung-Yan, etc. Also featuring Tien Feng, Ku Feng, and Lau Kar-Leung, Wu Ma, etc., among the lead villains. Ti Lung has a very brief role that I believe was his first onscreen appearance ever in this film. That alone probably would have made it worth the price for me.
Though this movie has more action, I'm not sure that it's actually a better movie than its predecessor. 5.5 to 6/10.
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Full Moon Scimitar starring Derek Yee- this is easily one of the best SB movies I've seen. It replaces The Magic Blade as my favorite Chor Yuen movie.
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Ichi (2009).
Not to be confused with Ichi the Killer or its prequels, Ichi is often described as a new take on the Zatoichi tales. Incorrect. If anything, it is a continuation of the Zatoichi story. Though the name Zatoichi is never mentioned, the wandering, blind female swordswoman named Ichi is on a quest to find her mentor, a 'blind swordsman' who not only taught her swordsmanship, but also may or may not have been her father.
Reading various reviews of this movie, most seem positive, but some seem very negative. Some people who were negative on it seemed to expect the Ichi character to be a female clone of Zatoichi. Not expecting much, I ended up liking this movie a lot. I wasn't expecting a reprise of the Zatoichi character (except as a female) with the personality and humor of Shintaro Katsu's blind swordsman. They are different characters, and thus her personality will not be the same.
IMO, Ichi is a worthy continuation, or a branch-off story, of the Zatoichi movies. Even the over-the-top villain played by Shidou Nakamura is acceptable, as his near-cartoonishness kind of balances out the introverted Ichi (Haruka Ayase). Ichi is accompanied by a seemingly cowardly ronin who may be something other than he appears. The fights are well-done, without any of the wire-work that's so prevalent in movies today. YMMV, but for me, it was one of the most entertaining new Japanese samurai movies I've seen lately.
9/10.
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Serenity.
Also, 2 new Shaw releases:
Shaolin Prince.
The Duel.
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I'm hoping to get Shaolin Prince today. I can't wait to see it again. It's my favorite of the 3 movies Tong Gai directed. And I love the English dub, especially Derek Yee's goofy dub job. "Have you gone crazy in the head or something."
How's the picture and sound? I haven't heard about any problems yet. No doubt it'll be better than the messed up pic quality Red Sun version I have. But ever since watching Shaolin Handlock, I find out if there are any problems with Funimation DVDs before I buy them.
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I haven't noticed any problems with Shaolin Prince. I watched it in Mandarin w/subs, the way I saw it in the theater in the early '80s. Everything seemed fine to me. One thing I did not notice when I first saw it was Tang Chia (Tong Kai) is one of the monks, and he has a one-on-one fight with Derek Yee in the main hall of Shaolin. He has the mustache and is wearing the red (or partly red) robe with the double weapons (swords? I'll have to watch again). 8/10.
The Duel also seemed to be without problems. Not my fave film, but pretty good, and it's a way better-than-average basher-style film, very knife-heavy. I'd only ever seen it on Kung Fu Theater, and back then the TV station's reception was very poor. It's amazing what a good, remastered copy does for the viewing experience. Though I spotted a couple anachronisms early in the film, in a tattoo parlor (the film is set, I think, in the 1920s, but you can spot a '60s or '70s image of Donald Duck, as well as a photo of a nude white woman clearly from the late '60s/early '70s). Ti Lung's the only one in the film whose movements aren't sloppy; everyone else moves like the guys who played the friends and extras in Bruce Lee's movies. Flag of Iron was basically a remake of The Duel, as it follows the same general story, but The Duel is noticeably more violent and bloody. 7/10.
IMO, these releases are about as good a quality as most of the Celestial Shaw releases.
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...and I also finally watched The 14 Amazons.
Not a bad movie, and more violent than you might expect. It was filmed on an epic scale for the period (1972). But it can also be a bit boring. It's a long movie and seems long. Briefly, it's about the women of the Yang Family seeking vengeance against the "Xia barbarians" for the massacre of their husbands/fathers. (The same Yang Family that the movie 8 Diagram Pole Fighter was about). It's one of those old-style, uber-formalized movies. Stars include Ivy Ling Po, Yueh Hua, Tien Feng, Fan Mei-Sheng, Lo Lieh, Wang Hsieh, Lily Ho, Betty Ting Pei (*that* Betty Ting Pei, whose bedroom Bruce Lee later died in), James Nam, Bolo Yeung. Action-directed by Ching Siu-Tung. Not great, not awful, but mostly interesting as a curiosity piece. 5/10.
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Yeah Tong Gai is the thick guy with the mustache who uses double swords. Shame he didn't show his skills more in movies, because his skill level is obviously extremely high. Even though brief, I thought he had the best fight in Opium and the Kung Fu Master as the blind guy.
Thanks for the info on the release. I hop to get it tomorrow.
Some releases to look for in the future are 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, Crippled Avengers and Shaolin Mantis. All being released by Dragon Dynasty/Vivendi in the next few months. Funimation's next releases are Shaolin Rescuers and Soul of the Sword with Ti Lung as the lead. Soul is the only one of those I won't be buying. It's good, but not one of my favorites like the other 4. ****But actually I need to edit this now. I may get Soul of the Sword if it has an English dub, because it's the only one of those 5 that I haven't heard the dub
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I got Shaolin Prince. Looks and sounds awesome. Soooooo much better than the majorly flawed Red Sun "remastered" version.
Got the Jackie Chan and the Karate Kids 8 film collection. It comes with the first 2 movies in the Young Dragons Kung Fu Kids series. I fastforwarded a bit through these movies (to make sure I am correct on the titles), and Dik Wei is in part 2. I can't wait to see him fighting little kids lol. It has another movie called "Kung Fu Kids". This is actually Kung Fu Kids Break Away starrng the kid from Thundering Mantis, the kid from Love and Sword, Cassanova Wong and Eddy Ko as the villain. Very crappy movie IMO. The last movie is "Incredible Karate Kids". The onscreen title says "The Incredible Kids", and in the opening credits it introduces the kids as Little Rambo, Little Jacky, Little Chuck and Little Bruce. I fastforwarded the movie to the final fight because I was trying to find the movie on hkmdb.com, and there's some awesome action and really brutal stunts. Even the kids get tossed around on a few of the stunts. Check out this clip of the movie if you get a chance- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGWsF52ngg8 You gotta love the child brutality in these kiddie movies:D Only in Taiwan.
The other 4 movies come from a previous Videoasia 4 pack. Old Master starring Jackie's teacher Yu Jim Yuen, Killer Meteors, Jackie Chan the Invincible Fighter and Kung Fu Cook. Toby Russell says this movie stars Jackie's real life father as the cook. Kung Fu Cook is the only decent movie out of these 4. Actually it's not very good at all, but it's the only movie I know of that has Bruce Tong in a leading role, Cheung Nik hs a nice cameo at the start, and in the final fight with Bolo, Bruce Tong creates the Urkel dance. I kid you not- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G17bJDNU0Sc
Also got UFC 114 and WEC Aldo vs Faber. Some epic fights, especially the Korean Zombie vs Leonard Garcia. This is the only WEC fight I've ever seen shown on Spike's UFC Unleahed. And both events were just $11.99 at Suncoast ($10.79 with card). I don't know how Suncoast keeps selling these so much cheaper than Best Buy. Usually Suncoast DVDs are a lot more expensive.
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I watched Kung Fu Kids 2 with Dik Wei. This was a ton of fun. One of the best stunt movies of all time. Even though a kids movie, I give it a solid rating of 8/10.
The Incredible Kids is bad. There is some awesome stuff at the end, but that’s pretty much it. I found out this is also called The 5 Kung Fu Kids.
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I'll have to pick up that movie collection. Mainly because a guy from Colorado who was a good friend of mine over their in Taiwan appeared in the first Kung Fu Kids movie. It's near the end of the film, when the kids chase the bad guys into a dojo filled with foreign guys. My friend Dave was the 2nd foreigner the kids beat up, the white guy with the beard and mustache (he's initially seen in a close-up as he's trying to choke one of the kids). I remember when he told me he got the part. After his part was done filming, he told me that out of the foreigners in that scene, only Eugene had any experience in movies (it shows). Eugene was also paid way more than the others. Dave had never worn a karate gi (uniform) before; he practiced northern kung fu, but he wasn't able to show anything onscreen. He said it took several days to film that scene, but his entire time onscreen is only a few seconds. That was back in the days (mid-to late '80s) when action filmmakers in Taiwan and HK would often go to youth hostels and English-language schools (where lots of foreigners work) to find foreigners for small parts or as extras in movies. I recently found that scene again recently on youtube.
I also saw part 2 in Taiwan. I mainly remember the sound effects were super-loud, esp. the echoing sounds when guys were hit/kicked in slow-motion. Those movies were popular with kids over there for a couple years or so.
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Cool story.
Part 2 does have really loud sound effects. It was annoying because I had to have the volume up loud enough to hear the dialogue, and the sound effects are so much louder than they should be. But on the positive side, it's one heck of a fun movie and has some of the most painful looking stunts I've ever seen.
Since Eugene Thomas got paid a lot more than other people in part 1, I wonder how much Dik Wei got paid. When he did Part 2, he was the best fighting villain in HK cinema.
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Since the first Kung Fu Kids became a surprise hit, not only in Taiwan but in other Asian countries as well (I heard it did very well in S.E. Asia), I'm sure the filmmakers had a lot more money and clout to hire Dik Wei for the sequel. At the time, I was wondering what real benefit Dik Wei got out of it since, like you said, he was the No. 1 fighting villain right in that period. But by 1986, his popularity in HK might have been starting its downslide, though he continued there a few more years, too. Dik Wei is from Taiwan, though.
I liked Dik Wei's role the best in Ma Lu Xiao Ying Xiong (I forgot the English name for it again!). The one with Chang Shan in a small part. I *think* Yuen Cheung-Yan was the director; he was one of the co-stars, with the tomboy Lin Hsiao-Lou (Lin Xiaolou). That was probably Dik Wei's best Taiwan movie, IMO.
Another 1986 Taiwanese movie I've been waiting for on DVD is Book of Heroes. That was surprisingly good, since the co-stars (male and female), if I remember right, were non-MA TV personalities. But they handled their fight scenes very well. Also starred Yukari Oshima, Yasuaki Kurata, Eugene Thomas and Yang Hui-Shan. I'd like it in original language.
Unfortunately, there's a racial part during part of the end fight with the male/female leads teaming up to fight Eugene, and it would probably have to be cut from any U.S. release, or at least purposely mis-translated. During the fight, the two leads speak Mandarin to each other, saying stuff like, "You attack high, I'll attack low." But Eugene understands Mandarin and keeps thwarting their attacks. Finally, they say in English, "F***ee you! You! Baboon! You are black baboon!" Then they switch to speaking strategy in the Taiwanese dialect (quite different from Mandarin), which Eugene's character doesn't understand, and eventually beat him. When I saw it, the Taiwanese audience thought that was hilarious when they said those things in English. I did not. I always wondered how Eugene felt about that scene; I'll bet he wasn't aware of it prior to filming.
What I would regret missing is the Mandarin/Taiwanese switch-up that was instrumental in their characters beating him. I thought the dialect switch-up idea was very clever and well-done, but that the slurs really weren't necessary. (I will point out that a lot of U.S. movies use anti-Asian epithets rather freely and every bit as bad, esp. some of Tarantino's movies). But if this ever sees DVD release, it'll probably be only dubbed, because only Videoasia releases indy stuff like that anymore. If it's dubbed, the whole dialect switch-up thing would be scrapped.
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When Kung Fu Kids 2 came out in 1986, I'm pretty sure that Wei was still the top fighting villain in HK. I think Billy Chow took over in 1989 with Pedicab Driver. He even beats Wei up in Pedicab, like he's unconsciosly saying "sorry, but it's my turn now to be the top villain". Then he started being in lesser movies, but I'm sure he still made plenty of money being in 33 movies from 90-93. From 94- on he was in mostly bad extremely low budget stuff, like Horrible High Heels.
That movie that you always bring up with Wei and Chang Shan is Heroic Fight. I saw a clip on youtube once and Chang Shan puts some serious heat on Wei in their brief fight. When I can get a bank account again I'm definitely going to get it since it's out on DVD from Fortune Star/Joy Sales. I heard it's a really weird and wild movie.
There's so many old classics out from Joy Sales, but some are only a VCD release, like the widesreen versions of Jimmy Lee's classics Rebellious Reign and Wiley Match. All of their DVD/VCDs come in widescreen and original language. Book of Heroes is also a VCD only release, and it has better pic quality than most of my VCDs. The older the movie, the worse the quality is for the most part. I can't say I liked the Book of Heroes much,but there is some awesome fights that's for sure. I was definitely caught off guard by the racial part with Eugene Thomas, but I agree the dialect switch and the way they defeat him was well done.
I have another pretty good movie on VCD called Funny Family which teams Yukari Oshima back up with Laam Sam Mei, the leading lady from Book of Heroes. Book gets the edge in fights, but Funny Family lives up to its name and is much funnier.
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Thanks, I'll have to look into getting Heroic Fight, then. It is a weird film, very much the type of movies the Yuen Family (if it is a Yuen film) were making during the early-mid-'80s (weird inventions, strange comedy, etc.). Heroic Fight came late in the Yuens' 'weird' period (around 1986 or '87).
Is there a way to transfer VCD into DVD? I know very little about VCDs and don't own any. I've also never purchased from Joy Sales, but it's clear they have a lot of stuff that will never see release in regular stores. Are their DVDs normal (U.S.) compatible or region 3?