let's poll the Shaw Brothers

mods pls amend this poll so we're voting for our favourite actual shaw brother

it's run-run for me obv

oh man

ok i haven't seen all of them but oh man

my favourite is probably Come Drink with Me but

I think I'm going to need to watch all of these before voting

The contrarian position I've arrived at is that, out of the big Shaw directors, I actually like Chang Cheh the least: his stuff is still great, but watch too many of his in a row and the worldview starts to get to you. He's kinda of the artistic statement as therapy school, except I don't know if he was aware of this and if the therapy ever helped him any. There's a lot of war trauma in there, clearly, and many would say repressed homosexuality as well, though of course he violently denied this. But if you look at his films as gay love stories, they are tragic ones that inevitably end with one or both of the couple dead. Mostly they tend to end with everyone dead, good or bad, and while I can appreciate the nihilism of that, it comes accompanied by a ferocious nationalism that doesn't allow me to enjoy these films as just pure downers. Also his first big achievement was in ending the era of big female stars and while I'd be lying if I said I could imagine enjoying those 60's melodrama musicals* as much as Shaw's martial arts output, that's still not a very cool thing to have as a claim to fame.

His student Lau Kar Leung is much more my speed: for one he accords his characters the respect of having personalities that go beyond the simple white hats black hats terms of Cheh's stuff. I love how 36th Chamber Of Shaolin is about a guy's physical and spiritual development much more than it is about any fights. And while 90% of the time if a Japanese character shows up in a Shaw film they're gonna be a pantomine villain (understandable enough, given Japan's recent history in that area of the world), Heroes Of The East manages to deliver a humanist message of co-existence that feels sincere and not just like a sop to the Japanese market. Dude is also interested in family, and as such women get better roles in his films.

Kuei Chih-Hung is just kinda punk rock, his films are as bleak as Cheh's but in his case I don't think there's any patriotism alleviating his darkness. Boxer's Omen is of course entirely bonkers, The Iron Dragon Strikes Back (not a Shaw film) a brucesploitation gem that delivers some amazing brutalist Hong Kong architecture and that 70's bleakness you don't often associate with Hong Kong. Can't wait to get to Killer Constable on Shawscope 3.

Chor Yuen gets my current vote for most underrated, he has a very clear authorial presence but doesn't get discussed much. His movies always look gorgeous, and materialwise he seems to be the most amenable to wuxia weirdness, there's a psychedelic quality to a lot of his work. I often hear Shaw Bros referred to as "fairytales", meaning I suppose that they aren't accurate historical period pieces, but Yuen's movies are the ones that actually feel like fairy tales to me, with their mysterious plots, forests and underwater kingdoms. He's also fond of investigative structures that aren't actually about finding out who did it, and an interest in sapphic love to rival Jess Franco. Jade Tiger is a movie that straight up comes out against martial arts! And Confessions Of A Chinese Courtesan, I went into that one expecting sleazy sexploitation and instead I got this tragic revenge film that looks like a million bucks.

* not that I can put this hypothesis to the test - Hong Kong cinema has become super available on disc but we're not quite at the stage yet where they're letting the non-action stuff in

Tempted to vote 36th Chamber but i still havent seen about two-thirds of this list. Appreciate you doing the homework and sharing your thoughts on these Daniel, I’ll be going through some of those recommendations for sure

just dropping in to say thank you to Daniel_Rf. I've long been curious about Shaw Brothers but overwhelmed by the volume and I really appreciate this poll and that write up.

It's Dirty Ho, just ahead of Heroes of the East, but there's another half dozen at least I could have been persuaded by.

A quick top5 for neophytes: if you watch The 36th Chamber, Heroes Of The East, Jade Tiger, Crippled Avengers and Five Fingers Of Death that oughta give you a quick overview of the Shaw Bros aesthetic.

And Confessions Of A Chinese Courtesan, I went into that one expecting sleazy sexploitation and instead I got this tragic revenge film that looks like a million bucks.

Yeah when that turned up on the Shaw MUBI collection the other year, that was a hell of a watch. Definitely a case where the title isn't the film.

Some of my other faves are Boxer's Omen, Killer Constable, Five Deadly Venoms, Mad Monkey Kung Fu and Crippled Avengers.

Agree about Chinese Courtesan, not at all what I expected it to be.

I’ve only seen the legend of the 7 golden vampires

I'm even worse and have not seen any of them. Despite growing up listening to dozens of samples swiped from them on Wu Tang productions.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Watched Jade Tiger the other night and it was a major hoot, such a blast

Recently watched The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter which was an absolute blast, though with a truly gruesome finale - all those teeth. Other than that I think I've seen Come Drink With Me, 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Five Deadly Venoms, and Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires. Have been meaning to check out Dirty Ho and The Boxer's Omen. Missed out on a screening of Killer Constable recently.

I've mostly lost my appetite for them but looking forward to Bells Of Death from Eureka, still want Demon Of The Lute and some Chor Yuen films. Maybe the Brave Archer sequels?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Just saw Sex & Zen (90s Golden Harvest), never thought I'd see Lo Lieh watch a guy suck another man off

Get working on the Golden Harvest poll then! (I'd vote).