Kung-Fu Films

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

In honor of the up-coming "Kill Bill," I'd like to discuss one of the great guilty pleasures of the cinema - the chopsocky film.

Now, for some reason, I have seen some video stores place Kurosawa and Inagaki's "Samurai" trilogy among this genre. We must get it straight that these are worlds apart.

We must begin, of course, with the granddaddy of martial arts films, "Enter the Dragon," a classic exploitation film if I've ever seen one.

Aside from Bruce Lee, there is the other great genius of the martial arts, Jackie Chan, the greatest physical performer to grace the silver screen since Fred Astaire. The first "Police Story" and "Legend of Drunken Master" remain my favorites.

Also worth noting is "Once Upon a Time in China," starring Jet Li. There is a trilogy, although as of yet I have only seen the first entry. The action sequences in this movie must be seen to be believed. And yeah, so what if the Westerners are nothing more than cardboard cut-out villains. After years of using Arabs, Germans, Italian-Americans, and Russians as our two-dimensional bad guys, it's nice to get a taste of our own medicine.

― Anthony (Anthony F), Friday, 5 September 2003 04:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Anything with Michelle Yeoh in it from the 1980's is classic. Checkout Yes, Madame! - the transition from the ending to the credits alone is...unique.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Friday, 5 September 2003 04:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Jackie Chan's Hollywood film haven't been entirely useless: Rumble In The Bronx is great fun, and the Shanghai films (Noon and Nights) pair him with someone who actually seems to understand what it means to co-star. He's not as young as he was, but to be honest I appreciate fantastical physical feats less than imaginative set-pieces and Shanghai Nights in particular has several of these.

His best film is probably Drunken Master 2. Nice history lesson, fasntastically lyrical action, proper subboss-subboss-boss action progression.

Is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon above or apart from these? IE is it a proper kung-fu film, with excellent theme/acting, or does its focus on these disqualify it from kung-fu greatness. The answer to this probably has a lot to do with whether you consider these guilty pleasures or just pleasures.

Girolamo's answer also highlights that they've had female heroes for ages. Isn't it The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk where Jet Li's bailed out repeatedly by his mum?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 5 September 2003 10:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I think Jet Li's best film is Fist of Legend. The set pieces are not as spectacular as the Once Upon a Time in China series, but the action sequences show Jet Li at the peak of his skills.

One of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's biggest drawbacks is that Chow Yun-Fat is not a martial arts expert. He does a wonderful job in spite of it, but it's not quite the same as seeing a master like Jet Li in action.

― Jeremy (Jeremy), Friday, 5 September 2003 14:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Iron Monkey to thread!

― Leee (Leee), Friday, 5 September 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Which Jet Li is the one where he blindfolds himself to fight the Japanese master in a field?

― Leee (Leee), Friday, 5 September 2003 20:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Which Jet Li is the one where he blindfolds himself to fight the Japanese master in a field?

That's Fist of Legend.

― Jeremy (Jeremy), Friday, 5 September 2003 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not sure where Crouching Tiger fits into this. Certainly, it transcends its genre, but is 2001 not as much a science fiction film as Plan 9 From Outer Space?

― Anthony (Anthony F), Saturday, 6 September 2003 10:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I know ''enter the dragon'' is seen as some sort of landmark, as it introduced Kung Fu/martial arts into mainstream cinema but I don't really like it too much as a film.

''Once upon of time in china'', on the other hand, is great. Better fight sequences, plot and the guns vs martial arts undercurrent is another bonus point.

Michelle yeoh is great!!! and another vote for ''police story'' and, in fact, the 80s was him at his v v best.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 6 September 2003 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.kungfumovies.net/15793.jpg

― Ryan McKay (Ryan McKay), Sunday, 7 September 2003 03:34 (twenty-two years ago)

To be honest, I'm not really a huge fan of Enter the Dragon, either. I like it for all its 70s corniness, but as a martial arts film, it's pretty unsatisfying. The fight scenes are too brief.

― Anthony (Anthony F), Sunday, 7 September 2003 03:45 (twenty-two years ago)

You need to see Donnie Yen's Legend of the Wolf then. The showdown alone is a twenty minute non-stop kung-fu-a-thon with insanely OTT sound effects. Yen's attempts at Bruce Lee impersonation are rather embarrassing, though.

― Herbstmute (Wintermute), Sunday, 7 September 2003 12:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Speaking of wolves, does Brotherhood of the Wolf count?

― Girolamo Savonarola, Sunday, 7 September 2003 12:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I used to buy Saturn kung fu movies for a dollar each at Woolworths when I was younger, and there were many good ones. The greatest hits compilation that had just the best fights was neat too.

― A Nairn (moretap), Monday, 8 September 2003 03:22 (twenty-two years ago)

"enter the dragon" is definitely not the best onscreen bruce lee experience. his best film is either "way of the dragon" aka "return of the dragon" or "fists of fury" aka "the chinese connection". the fight scenes he shot before his death which turned up in the "game of death" debacle are pretty amazing, too.

the bruce lee imitators/exploitation movies present a fascinating area of study. i'm trying to think of a western equivalent of this phenomenon, but i can't seem to come up with anything. there were jackie chan imitators as well...

i am a fan of many of the "old school" independent classics of the '70's and early '80's. if you can't deal with extremely low production values, poor acting, and so forth, then i guess you should steer clear...but there are some truly amazing and inventive action sequences in some of these films. http://www.dvdcult.com/KFDVD.htm is a pretty good source for guidance in sorting out which of these are worthwhile and which are utter crap. also, teleport-city.com

― Dallas Yertle (Dallas Yertle), Tuesday, 9 September 2003 09:14 (twenty-two years ago)

four weeks pass...

Don't forget Master Of The Flying Guillotine.

― PVC (peeveecee), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 07:24 (twenty-two years ago)

eight years pass...

http://www.fareastfilms.com/newsPage/Gordon-Liu-Suffers-Stroke-And-Left-Disabled-3517.htm

: (

― rustic italian flatbread, Thursday, 27 October 2011 22:49 (fourteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.