recent purchases

[Jimbo]

Come to think of it, you're right, Jethro, Wang Lung-Wei and Leung Kar-Yan were used well in Chang's films...I even forgot one of my favorite movies, Shaolin Martial Arts (among others in the Shaolin cycle). But mostly, Leung Kar-Yan was not used as well as in many later films. Though I think Chang did that because he liked making movies with large ensembles of characters, so naturally, everyone could not be used to full potential every time.

I watched The Deadly Duo. It's a pretty good film, though a bit shorter than most of Chang's films. Bolo Yeung gets a decent fighting role as one of the 5 element villains (he plays the "water man"). The fighting here is better than, say, The Water Margin, but still below the fighting in the Shaolin cycle that followed. I would point out with some of these remastered Shaws, the clarity of the picture makes the bright red fake blood look even more fake, esp. in many of Chang's early-'70s films where the "bloody" actors are in direct sunlight. Not a complaint, just an observation.

I saw She Shoots Straight in Taiwan and was disappointed. There is a decent fight at the end between Joyce Godenzi and a Filipina bodybuilder who I think was playing a Vietnamese character. It seems like a lot of Corey Yuen's films don't seem to maintain steam throughout, often flatlining halfway through, and even some of his final fights having unsatisfactory endings. IMO Corey's best full directing effort was So Close, because it had a good story, interesting characters, and good action leading up to a really good final fight. I believe She Shoots Straight might have been Joyce Godenzi's last time in front of the camera (or was that Spooky, Spooky, Spooky?).

[jethro]

Yeah She Shoot Straight is disappointing. It was all going well, up until that chunk of like 30 minutes in the middle which drag and drag. The fights at the end are good. I love that finishing move Godenzi does. right in the boobs. I have to wonder if that was Sammo's idea. My favorite fight is the one in the hallway. I don't know the girl's name, but she gets trapped in a narrow hallway with 3 or 4 guys on both sides of her. She gives a mean face, and out of nowhere comes this incredibly awesome fight scene. There had to be some doubling, but it was done so smoothly. A really amazing fight. I know I will be watching it again and again. And my second favorite action scene has to be Yuen Wah's shootout and escape towards the beginning of the movie. I loved the intensity in that scene.

I know what you mean about that fake blood. I had the same experience when Animego remasterred the Lone Wolf and Cub movies, but I have to say the SB movies are even more fake looking.

[kungpowmaster]

Jethro,

Yes, that's him, Hon Gwok-Choi. All the guys in Fung Fu Superman were very good. So, these new Videoasia releases, have they been playing well? I know they have a mad rep, manufacturing defects, and I've had some bad experiences with them, but then I also have a lot of their stuff that does play. But all the new Videoasia stuff looks good to me, the Kung Fu Essentials(is that right?), the Sammo Hung collection, the 8 Diagram Pole collection. Do you know what the latest Videoasia sets are? I'll check them out.

Oh, I watched The Princess Blade, and I really liked it. She is super hot too. I am glad I picked it up on a whim. I haven't watched Yojimbo yet, nor but that one on the Ultimate Dragon set, and like I said, the Dragon 4 Pack seems defective.

Chosen

[jethro]

Yeah the Essential volumes play fine. Here's the only problem, and to me it's pretty minor. Each Essential volume is 6 movies, and it comes on 2 discs. One of the discs is double sided and has 2 movies on each side. If you look very closely you can see that the pic quality is not as good as the disc that only has 2 movies. Like I said, just a minor complaint. Here's links to the 3 volumes that have been put out. I've seen them all at Besy Buy-

1- http://www.amazon.com/Martial-Arts-E...2919231&sr=1-1

2- http://www.amazon.com/Martial-Arts-E...2919231&sr=1-4

3- http://www.amazon.com/Martial-Arts-E...2919231&sr=1-2

[kungpowmaster]

Thanks,
I hope it's the DVD and not my player that's messin' up. I'm talking about that Dragon 4 Pack, the side with Clones of Bruce Lee messed up on both my dvd players, so it makes me think it's the DVD, as well as it being a Videoasia, which has a bad rep. Today I wanted to see if the other side of the disc would play, and started watching Bruce Lee's deadly Kung Fu. This movie was great, and I think the most look alike to Bruce Lee. But then about 8 mins to the end, it started pixilating and sticking, and then after about 6 mins to the end, popped to the menu. I then pushed for the bext movie, and it stuck from the beginning. Sometimes I think I prefer the days before DVD. Since the other side messed up on both my players, I can only conclude it's the disc and not the player(I hope at least). But what I saw of this movie was really good.

Anyway... I'll take it back, and probably get something else.

Chosen

[jethro]

Yeah that sucks. Luckily these newer ones play fine. Let me know if you have any problems.

[Zenshiite]

Picked up The Tai Chi Master yesterday. Man... everytime I go into Best Buy I get so dazzled and overwhelmed with all the stuff that's been released right now. I hate being broke. I'm thinking of getting the director's cut of Fearless/Huo Yuan Jia. Is there any reason to get it?

[jethro]

The only reason I won't buy the director's cut of fearless is because I'm scared it will be one of the ones that they messed up. When they first released it, they didn't include the director's cut. it took month or so, but they finally put out the right release. How do you release a director's cut and not include the director's cut? Maybe in a few years I'll take a chance on it, or if it's in a used store. Im just relly scared of being burned I guess. I don't want to have to deal with mailing it to the DVD company and waiting a month for them to send me the right disc.

Today I decided to say screw it! I don't need money for rent! I picked up The Rebel and I'm about 30 minutes in. Pretty good so far. I'm not into the story, but I'm loving the fights, especially the one where Nyugen fights some white guy. I also got The Wizard. I didn't even know this was on DVD. it's about a really quiet little kid who is awesome at Nintendo. I remember they go to a Nintendo tournament at the end. I can't wait to finally rewatch it. It was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I saw it in a theater when I was like 8 or 9. And Jimbo I got that Bushido tournament. I was disappointed with the Phil Beroni vs Punk Minowa rematch, but man oh man, there are a lot of great fights. Great Pride event. Glad i got it.

[Jimbo]

Yeah, the Minowa/Baroni rematch wasn't much to watch. Actually, my favorite Minowa matches are his fight with Kimo in Bushido 8 and, oddly, another fight of his I've only seen on youtube. It's sort of a novelty match; he beats the living heck out of Giant Silva in impressive fashion. People can say what they want about Silva, but he's still 7'2", and maybe 400 pounds(?).

I finally bought The Magnificent Seven at BB. At this location, they moved everything around, and ever since, the martial arts section seems a bit smaller. There were some good films I had my eye on, and it appears someone bought 'em up, or...?

I was also looking at the director's cut of Fearles again, but remembered what you said about the first ones being without the cut. I'll wait a while on it.

Oh, I also picked up the 40th anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead. It's labeled as widescreen edition, but the picture's in fullscreen. It's released by Genius Products/Weinsteins. Not a big problem, but I generally prefer widescreen.

[jethro]

Have you seen that Silva video on youtube? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCaFis9BWOY That is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. The person who made that video is a genuis. I don't know how to describe it, you just have to see it for yourself. and I just finished watching The Rebel. Good fights. My only real complaint with the fights is that there's too much twirling from Nyugen the lead actor.

[kungpowmaster]

Hi,

I've become a shopaholic when it comes to DVD buyin'. Today I found a good batch and got them:

Jackie Chan's Police Story. I really like this one. I have a Chinese DVD of this only with subs, but this is the US DVD special edition, and it was only $5.35.

Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman. I LOVE all the Zatoichi that I have seen, and I have collected over 10. This was $12.17.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword Of Vengeance. $9.18.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx. $9.18.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart In Peril. $9.18.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons. $9.18.
Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell. $12.21.

Now if they had the 3rd one, I would have bought it too. But if DVDAF is right, the 3rd one, Baby Cart in Hades(I think) is also Lightening Swords of Death. I have Lightening Swords of Death, which of course is the dubbed version.

I have not seen these. I have a Vipco DVD of Shogun Assassin, and a Red Sun of Lightening Swords of Death, which I love, so I am sure I'll be happy with everything here. They are all classics.

Comments welcome.
Chosen One.

[jethro]

That is a good move getting all of the LWAC movies kungpowmaster. I agree, great movies. It's a tough choice, but part 5 is my favorite. Out of the dubbed versions, I've only seen Shogun Assassin, but I think all of the other dubbed LWAC movies are just edited versions like Shogun Assassin.

Jimbo I saw New Shaolin Boxers. I don't really know much about CLF, but I agree that Fu Sheng looks better than CLiff Lok. I can't remember if it was you or CLFnole that said Fu Sheng looked better, or maybe it was both of you. But I still stand by what I said that Cliff Lok looks great in the movie Choi Lee Fat Kung Fu!

[Jimbo]

I'm sure it was both CLFNole and myself that said that. IMO, Fu Sheng has captured the 'flavor' of CLF movements much better, due to his southern-style Hung Gar roots. Besides having practiced Beijing/Peking Opera, Cliff Lok is a 6 Harmony 8 Methods (Liuhebafa) stylist, which I believe is northern. Not to say that Cliff Lok isn't a real good m.a.-ist, though, because he apparently is. Where did you get New Shaolin Boxers?

I bought Corpse Mania and Skyhigh.

Corpse Mania is by the same director of Boxer's Omen. Not quite sure why I bought this, other than it's a Shaw Bros release. Kinda curious to see if it's good, though. It's not a movie I'd ever heard of, as far as I know. Oddly, at BB they had this in the m.a. section, and they've stocked House of Traps in the horror section.

Skyhigh is a Japanese film by the same director of Versus. That's the main reason I got it. The woman on the front of the cover is kinda cute, which caught my eye in the first place.

[jethro]

Someone posted New Shaolin Boxers on youtube under the name Grand Master of Death. And I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Corpse Mania. I would have gotten it, but I have been buying WAY too much lately. I think the highest rated review I've read says it a little above average. Also if you could let me know if you think it's better or worse than Boxer's Omen. Thanks.

BTW, do you know anything about Vietnamese martial arts? Maybe a link you can provide? After seeing The Rebel I would like to educate myself a bit and find out how true they are to Vietnamese MA in The Rebel. Nobody has answered my question on the main forum so I have my hand out in the dark now reaching for answers

[Jimbo]

Corpse Mania is not a bad film at all. It's not really scary IMO, but it does attempt at atmosphere (helped considerably by the soundtrack, much of which is lifted from Phantasm). It's really hard to compare it to Boxer's Omen, because they are vastly different films. Corpse Mania (CM) is a period film, taking place during Republican China (probably around the 1920s or so). It almost looks to take place around the same time period as movies like Fist or Fury/Fist of Legend, Mr. Vampire, and possibly Pedicab Driver, etc. Compared to Boxer's Omen (BO), CM is a more coherent film, way more of a conventional "maniac/slasher" film with similarities to other slasher films of the '70s and '80s, only it's in China. The cinematography is beautifully shot, though. But there is nothing at all supernatural going on in CM. It's almost like a whodunit crime story, with a little twist at the end. I would say BO is more fun, bizarre, and gross; and CM more conventional and slow-paced. In fact, some parts of CM are a bit boring. But it was still better than I was expecting.

As far as Vietnamese m.a., I really have little I'm aware of. There is a school near where I live that claims to teach a Vietnamese martial art, Cuong Nhu (sp?). I had read in a Black Belt magazine back in the early '80s or so that Cuong Nhu is actually a combination of Shotokan Karate, Judo, and Wing Chun that were combined in Vietnam. I had seen some of the nearby school's students in a couple local competitions when I used to go to those, and they wore karate gi's and looked like karate.

I used to know a Vietnamese guy in the '80s who learned to fight as a kid in the Vietnam war. His movements seemed very awkward and ugly, but he was very effective and dangerous. But he never told me any name for what he did, or if it was just wartime combat training. So I still know nothing about Vietnamese m.a., though I would assume Vietnam should have a rich history of native fighting methods.