Kung Fu Espresso!!

[jethro]

I like the villain's name. Trevor Gotitall.

[Jimbo]

Well, I have to confess that I found American Shaolin more fun than the original Karate Kid. Once again, it's the cornball aspect that makes it fun.

Yeah, Trevor Gotitall had to be one of the great awful names in MA film history. :P

[Jimbo]

220 - The Five Deadly Venoms (a.k.a., The Five Venoms)

This probably should have been entered in earlier. Although all the actors had appeared in minor roles in earlier Chang Cheh-directed films, this was the movie that propelled Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Lo Meng, Sun Chien, and to a lesser extent, Wei Pai, into stardom. It's not as off-the-wall as many of their later efforts, and Venoms came and went throughout the following years. It's also unusual because, like Daredevils, it emphasized empty-hand fighting. With the exception of Lo Meng and Sun Chien, the Venoms were generally known for acrobatics and weapons play.

(Opening Scene: includes Lu Feng as "centipede," Wei Pai as "snake," Kuo Chui as "lizard," Sun Chien as "scorpion," and Lo Meng as "toad")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX6EHqcvqyo

(End fight; Chiang Sheng, Wei Pai, Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, and Sun Chien)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2GH-OBg4o0

[Jimbo]

221 - A Fistful of Talons

Billy Chong (a.k.a., Willy Dozan) was an Indonesian star who starred in only a few movies in HK/Taiwan from 1979 to 1983, though he starred/appeared in many films in Indonesia/Malaysia before and after this period. This was his last starring role in HK/Taiwan, although he did make a brief appearance in a later Aces Go Places film around 1989. He remains a star in Indonesia/Malaysia, or at least still was until fairly recently. He had loads of talent and charisma, and it's a shame he wasn't in more HK films. Reportedly, he had tried out for the Wong Fei-Hung role for the first Once Upon A Time in China film, which ultimately went to Jet Li.

The first link is actually a collection of various scenes from the movie. Unfortunately, there are no full clips of the final fight, etc., on youtube yet. I will only say that the lead villain, Hwang In-Shik, did not look as sharp in this film as he did against Jackie Chan in The Young Master and Dragon Lord (see entry #'s 78 and 88). But to be fair, Billy Chong doesn't look as technically sharp as he normally did either, so it's probably Sun Chung's direction. Although it's a much slicker production than Billy's other films were, he wasn't able to show off as many of his skills.

Many in the West would know Hwang In-Shik as the 'karate guy' who both Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee beat down in Way of the Dragon, and as Angela Mao's ally in Hapkido. This was probably Hwang In-Shik's last movie, or at least his last Chinese film. He lives in Toronto and has taught Hapkido there for decades.

If this movie has a Shaw Brothers look and feel to it, it's probably because the director is Sun Chung, and parts of it appear to have been filmed at Shaw Studios, though the bulk of of it was filmed in Taiwan.

(Scene collection: With Billy Chong, Hwang In-Shik, Pai Ying, Liu Hao-Yi, Chiang Tao, Chang Shan, Ma Chin-Ku, Cheng Ki-Ying, Tien Feng, Yang Hsiung, etc.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIF7gPj1kj8

(Here is a bit more to the very end of the final fight. Billy Chong, Liu Hao-Yi...and an eagle...vs. Hwang In-Shik)

http://youtu.be/TS7QcvpWdUg

[Jimbo]

222 - The Tigress of Shaolin

Starring Lau Ka-Yung and Kara Hui. Lau Ka-Yung is the nephew of Lau Kar-Leung and Lau Kar-Wing.

(Training sequences and end fight; Lau Ka-Yung & Kara Hui vs. Chan Dik-Hak & Tong Kam-Tong)

**end fight begins @ approx. 24:25**

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwxrxjkmQSU

[mickey]

223- The Invincible Super Chan: Forced to Fight

This flick was an unwelcome introduction to the fantasmagoric aspects of kung fu films to the 42nd audiences in NYC., most of whom were looking for something hardcore serious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3d1JDpaZkE


224- The Chinese Mechanic (aka Chinese Dragon), Barry Chan

The promotions that went along with this movie tried to promote Barry Chan as the next Bruce Lee. I remember the marquee saying "Step aside Bruce Lee..." Barry Chan appears more comfortable with the aristocratic sword fighting flicks than he does with unarmed fighting movies. The only exception would be Dragon's Vengeance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpkKk...eature=related

225- Three The Hard Way, Jim Kelly

While on the technical level this scene is not epic, people would still be talking about this scene if this music had originally accompanied it. It takes the viewer into a different zone, pulling the viewer into the protagonist's oppressed reality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wtS4APtAS4

226- Hero with 9 Dragon Tattoos, Chen Kuan Tai

Chen Kuan Tai portrays one of the characters from Outlaws of the Marsh (Water Margin). This film may have been his first attempt at "comedy" kung fu. Here it is used to portray the immaturity of the character. The original dialect used was a little distracting for me because Chen's character was called Shihtalong and I did not hear the soft "h" sound in Shih. One thing that was unusual appeared to be Chen Kuan Tai's ability to do a lot of independent films. He did not appear to be locked in to one company by contract.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpFtv...eature=related



mickey

[Jimbo]

227 - Buddha's Palm and Dragon Fist (a.k.a., The Roving Heroes)

(End fight; Chi Kuan-Chun & Li Yi-Min vs. Suen Shu-Pao. End fight begins @ approx. 15:00. But there are so many fights in this last third of the movie alone, the entire clip is worth seeing)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_PY5p-YslM

This movie was one of those independent Taiwan productions that featured even more fighting than the normal old-school KF movie. During Chi Kuan-Chun's post-Shaw Brothers/Chang Cheh period, the movies he was in featured him doing less and less pure Hung Gar-style in his films. Yet he handled it very well indeed. Of course, Li Yi-Min starred in several Taiwan productions after leaving Shaw Bros/Chang Cheh, and seemed to do better in the independent films.

The arch-villain, played by Suen Shu-Pao, was most familiarly seen in movies as the weaselly right-hand lackey to arch-villains, or as a betrayer to heroes, often in non-fighting roles, but got a few chances to play the main bad guy, this being his best. During the golden age of kung fu cinema, it seemed that almost anyone, even those who were usually bit-parters, extras or stuntmen, had an opportunity to have at least one turn in a movie as a leading star, a co-star, or an arch-villain, because the talent pool was so deep at the time.