Movie Comments

Martial Media, Culture and Other Arts Martial Media and Popular Culture
1

Hi. I thought this could be just a generic thread to comment on whatever movies one has seen and want to say something about them.

Last night I watched for the 1st time, “Fist of Fear, Touch of Death”. I bought this months ago on a 4 movie disc for a dollar, and never put it in.

Well, actually, this movie to me, was one of those “so bad it’s good” types.

I mean it was total cheap and Bruceploitation, but it was very entertaining, and funny, esp the “Bruce Lee Story” part in the middle, the dub was hillarious!

I’m not a martial arts expert, but I don’t think the terms Karate and Kung Fu are interchangeable, are they? And I don’t think China had Samurai, did they?

Well, “Fist of Fear, Touch of Death”, used all these terms and ideas however they wanted to.

But, overall, for a cheap movie, this movie was very entertaining for what it is.

Chosen One

2

I watched “Snakes on a Plane” this past weekend and I must say that I was totally entertained.

The movie opens with some dude witnessing a murder. Samuel L. Jackson is then assigned to protect him until the trial. They have to fly from Hawaii to Los Angeles. Once on the plane there are some pretty silly scenes. This one couple is just making out the whole time. The go to the bathroom to become members of the mile high club. The girl is super hot by the way. This is right about the time that the snakes get out. The couple in the bath room are the first victims. It’s funny. They’re yelling and screaming and the film makers made a point of showing one of the snakes bite the chick right on her bare t!t. ??? Not sure why but I thought it was funny. My wife just rolled her eyes.

Then all heII breaks loose with people getting attacked all over the plain. At one point there is this freakin’ huge snake that starts to eat this guy. Towards the end of the movie comes the best line.

Samuel L. Jackson: “I am sick of these Mutha Fukin’ snakes on this Mutha Fukin’ plane!”

Overall, I’d say it was entertaing and a decent movie to rent. Don’t expect to take it seriously though. How could you with a title like “Snakes on a Plane”

3

Just watched 3 Evil Masters. Awesome movie. Yuen Tak is great in the lead role. Chen Kuan Tai and him begin a student/teacher relationship. Lung Wei plays the main villain. While the movie is a bit generic, it had great action and the directing job was the shining point. It also uses a lot of outdoor locations which the shaw Brothers just didn’t do enough of in their last years.

4

I actually saw Fist of Fear Touch of Death when it was briefly released in theaters in around 1981 or so. It was funny. I think it also had Sid Caesar and featured an actual kickboxing match (then called full-contact karate) showing Lou Neglia. I thought of it as more of a patchwork type movie by people who wanted to exploit Bruce Lee but didn’t know anything about martial arts in general.

3 Evil Masters is a great one. I actually liked and miss those old Shaw’s indoor sets. It’s pretty amazing how much detail they put not only into their interiors, but also the indoor “outdoor scenery” sets. That’s because they were filming around the clock, and some of their “daytime” scenes were actually filmed late at night.

5

Blind Fist of Bruce

Last night I watched “Blind Fist of Bruce”. From the 10 movie set, Legends of Kung Fu, on the Brentwood BCI label.

This movie was really good. The DVD picture quality was good too, it was fullscreen, with clear strong picture. The audio was dubbed and sounded good, though in two instances the sound went out, but quickly came back and no dialogue was missed.

I guess this movie’s title was appealing the the Bruce Lee cult. Not sure of the stars name, but I did think he resembled Bruce Lee a bit. The story was simple enough, as for me, sometimes the story is too complicated and too many characters and I end up not knowing what’s going on.

This had some good action and fight scenes. The real star was the old blind man, and the not so good looking girl who everyone was challenged to beat in Kung Fu.

The ending was good, but I think it’d have been better to proceeded a bit further.

Not sure when this was made, that info is not listed, and I haven’t looked it up yet online, it looks like mid seventies though.

Overall, a very good movie, good rewatchablity factor, has some humorous aspects too mainly with the star’s Kung Fu teachers. DVD quality is good too, so I’d recommend this one.

Chosen One

PS. The post about Fist of Fear, Touch of Death, mentions Sid Ceaser, the guy in this movie is a black guy named Adolf Ceaser, he’s the main narrator/announcer.

6

[QUOTE=Jimbo;743896]I actually saw Fist of Fear Touch of Death when it was briefly released in theaters in around 1981 or so. It was funny. I think it also had Sid Caesar and featured an actual kickboxing match (then called full-contact karate) showing Lou Neglia. I thought of it as more of a patchwork type movie by people who wanted to exploit Bruce Lee but didn’t know anything about martial arts in general.

3 Evil Masters is a great one. I actually liked and miss those old Shaw’s indoor sets. It’s pretty amazing how much detail they put not only into their interiors, but also the indoor “outdoor scenery” sets. That’s because they were filming around the clock, and some of their “daytime” scenes were actually filmed late at night.[/QUOTE]

I LOVE the Shaw Brothers sets but they an get a bit claustrophobic. It was a great movie overall, especially the brothel scene. I also loved Yuen Tak’s master in this. Lau Hok Nin has worked with this director before and tit may be his best role ever. You may recognize Lau Hok Nin as Phillip Ko’s master in tiger Over Wall and he played Master Wong in Hell’z Windstaff. The thing I liked best about 3 Evil Masters is that it didn’t feel like a single scene was rushed. A bit geneic, but VERY well done.

7

i watched total recall last night with some buddies.

it was the special addition so it came in a case shaped like mars. you know from that its going to be a wonderful viewing experience.

i would like to share images from my 2 favorite scenes in the movie.

take a look.

http://warehouse.carlh.com/article_079/total_recall_20.jpg

http://warehouse.carlh.com/article_079/total_recall_19.jpg

8

I got the special edition because it had Arnold commentary and it blew a$$. The entire time he just says stuff like-“Oh, look, look here. This is where my head blows up”.

9

Jethro:
Lau Hok Nin (mandarin: Liu Ho-Nien) was a true veteran of KF movies. Usually he’s on the receiving end in fight scenes, often playing the old master or minor villains. I first saw him as a heavy in the first kung fu movie I ever saw, a CBS tv movie from 1974, called Men of the Dragon. I saw it several years later and was not at all impressed, but it was the first one I saw as a kid. A rip-off of Enter the Dragon with a white American brother and sister, and their partner, played by Robert Ito (who later co-starred in the Jack Klugman series, Quincy). I remember Lau being judo flipped in a china shop by the girl. Another heavy in that movie was Chu Tieh-Ho, another familiar face (Martial Club, Legendary Weapons of China, Tiger Over Wall). Chu is generally on the dishing-out end in fight scenes.:slight_smile:

kungpowmaster:
My bad. I knew it was something Caesar!:smiley: I think they filmed the whole thing around Aaron Banks’ Oriental World of Self-Defense if I’m not mistaken. I’m not sure about now, but back in the day, that was a HUGE martial arts event in NY.

10

Lau Hok Nin is definitely one of my favorites. Not only is he a GREAT character actor, but the guy has some really good moves. He also fights Bolo in fist Kicks and Evils, but his performance in that movie is hardly worth mentioning.

And Chu Tieh-Ho, is he in Tiger Over Wall? I may be getting him and Tien Ho mixed up. TIen Ho was in a lot of swordplays and Chu Tieh-Ho was in Legendary Weapons and Invinible Pole fighter(I haven’t seen Martial Club). Anyways, I am not a fan of Chu Tieh-Ho, but if that is him in Tiger Over Wall where he fights Nick Cheung, then he has got skills.

11

I think Chu Tieh-Ho was one of Hwang Jang Lee’s men who fights Phillip Ko. I will have to watch it again. He was also in one as the main villain against Chi Kuan-Chun and Han Kwok Choi, don’t remember the name.

One movie that has Lau Hok Nin in quite an extended fight scene is Super Power with Billy Chong. He plays one of the masters who is eliminated in challenge matches by the three Manchu villains. It’s the longest fight I’ve seen him in.

12

Kung Fu: The Punch of Death

The other night, I watched, Kung Fu: The Punch of Death, from the 10 movie set, Legends of Kung Fu, on the Brentwood BCI label.

This movie was great! The video quality was fair, but maybe good, well, the picture was clear, and it was in widescreen, but the color and tones would not be stable, I guess it was from an old print. But it was fully wtachable. Had a small spot where the sound went out, but it didn’t hurt any dialogue or anything. This was dubbed, and done well enough.

The first thing about this movie that really stood out to me, was the sets and visuals, I believe it’s the cinematography. It just had a great imagery throughout, and it seemed like a bigger production. To me, it was impressive.

The action was good, and the story was the basic revenge story, where the star sets to better his Kung Fu to avenge the murder of his father. The girl is hot too.

This was a great movie overall I thought, esp the production values. Another great one from this set!

Chosen One

13

[QUOTE=Jimbo;744493]I think Chu Tieh-Ho was one of Hwang Jang Lee’s men who fights Phillip Ko. I will have to watch it again. He was also in one as the main villain against Chi Kuan-Chun and Han Kwok Choi, don’t remember the name.

One movie that has Lau Hok Nin in quite an extended fight scene is Super Power with Billy Chong. He plays one of the masters who is eliminated in challenge matches by the three Manchu villains. It’s the longest fight I’ve seen him in.[/QUOTE]

Hey Jimbo, after typing tha huge complicated message to you, I went home to watch a couple of Tien Ho movies, Tiger Over Wall, and then Leagendary Weapons to see if these are all the same guy. I still don’t know. But I don’t really care, I will just assume they are the same person until someone tells me different. And Kong Do is Hwang’s man who fights Kao Fei. Nick Cheung fights Tien Ho. And I don’t remember Lau Hok Nin in Super Power, but I will haev to watch it again. that movie has plenty of good fights, but the finale was unfortunately only average.

Kungpowmaster-Kung Fu Punch of Death AKA Prodigal Boxer is an oldie, but a goodie. good thing you saw it widescreened, otherwise that movie is unwatchable.

14

The Street Fighter

Hi,

Last night I watched The Street Fighter, with Sonny Chiba, for the 1st time. I started watching this from the Legends of Kung Fu 10 Movie set from the Brentwood BCI label, but finished it with the St.Clair Vision Martial Arts Master collection of 9 movies. The Brentwood video quality was ok, seemed maybe not a strong picture(kinda like how a VHS is not as bold a picture quality as a DVD, but good. The St. Clair Vision seemed about the same, but seemed a bit darker.

It was dubbed, and in widescreen, on both sets. Some of the dub, I found hard to understand. Overall, I thought the movie was good. I now have guite a few Sonny Chiba movies, which I will watch. I have not seen any of the others before either. I did notice Sonny makes some sorta odd faces and sounds when he fights.

While I did like this, it does seem to have a different feel and vibe than the Chinese productions. At this moment, I think I like the Chinese martial arts movies best. Though, and while maybe not “Martial arts”, one of my all time favorite movies is Shogun Assasin. I also notice a couple of Samurai movies with Sonny Chiba.

Now this may sound immature, but as I watched it, I wondered who’d win in these matchups:

Sonny Chiba Vs. Bruce Lee.
Steven Segal Vs. Jean Claude Van Dam
Chuck Norris Vs. Jackie Chan

What’s some others? I tried to match them by age and time of popularity.

The Chosen One

15

Hey Jimbo, I am an idiot. Tieh Ho from Legendar Weapons is in Tiger Over Wall. Tien Ho is in Taiwanese wuxias. I always get these dam names mixed up.

16

No problem, Jethro.
I forgot to mention that Chu Tieh-Ho is also the main villain in The Jade Claw (Crystal Fist), Billy Chong’s first starring role (at least outside of Indonesia).

kungpowmaster:
Actually, I would consider Shogun Assassin to be a martial arts movie of sorts. After all, kenjutsu (art of the sword) was a martial art of the samurai. And the star of Shogun Assassin (and all the Lone Wolf and Cub films), Tomisaburo Wakayama, held real dan ranking in kendo or judo…probably both.

As for what movie star would beat who, there’s no real way of knowing. However, if you take Jackie Chan at his own words, “My expertise is in movie martial arts,” if you take him and Chuck Norris, each at their peak ages, I would, though it pains me a bit, have to bet on Norris. Before Norris was in movies, he was a fighter, and was quite fast and good at using hand and foot combinations, something very few people did well back then. Many people judge Norris by his choreographed fight with Bruce Lee and think he was slow, but that’s not the case. He just wasn’t as explosively quick as Lee was. I saw old film of Norris training in the early '70s.

But there is one match-up that I know actually did happen between two martial arts film stars: John Liu vs. Chuck Norris.

The match took place in Paris, France, in what was billed as a “battle of past champions” in the early '70s. John Liu lived in France at the time, and might still. Liu defeated Norris. I am assuming the match was a point-type of karate method. The French martial arts press apparently made a big deal about it, and gave Liu a lot of publicity over it. I am assuming this occurred before Liu starred in Secret Rivals.

17

It’s all talk, but my 2 favorite kung fu movie stars would haev to be the 2 guys i think could beat anybody. If Hwang Lee and chang Shan squared off, I have no idea who would win, but I would pick Chang Shan. And If you don’t know who either is, check out some of their works. I say Hwang could take Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan at the same time.

And I haev also heard that story about John Liu. No doubt that it was a point karate match.

And thanks for the info on Jade Claw Jimbo. I did not recognize him, but I would have to use a word like magnificent to describe his performance in that movie. His fight with Nick Cheugn is still dam good though.

18

I actually think Hwang may have been the best, at least of the kung-fu movie stars, if what I heard about him during his time in the Korean Tiger Division in Vietnam was true. Supposedly, he knocked out Jackie Chan’s front tooth(teeth?) while filming Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow. That’s why at the end of that film, Chan has that space in his front teeth. I have no doubt Hwang would easily have handled Chan, Bruce Lee, Norris, or just about any of the rest.

Apparently, Jackie Chan was p!ssed at Hwang and they didn’t get along, so after Drunken Master, Chan never wanted to work with him again.

I heard Jackie (maybe playfully) challenged Benny Urquidez on the set of Wheels on Meals to a match. Benny answered to the effect of, “Any time.” I think somebody showed Chan some films of Urquidez’s fights, and decided it would be better not to mess with him. Which I fully believe; Urquidez was a monster of a fighter. I think Urquidez would probably be able to take Hwang (both in their primes, of course).

19

Yeah, Urquidez was pretty unstoppable. I haev heard a couple of stories of people getting the better of him though. He is just too fast and I doubt Hwang could take him. I would also add in chan Wei Man to this discussion. I think Porkchop posted some info on him and if you ever saw that guy in the ring, you know he is tough. Wicked striking abilities.

I still can’t really put Urquidez up there with Hwang though. Other than 2 fights with Jackie Chan, he hasn’t really done too much in the movie business. You may remember him from Roadhouse wth Patrick Swayze, but probably not.

And I still have to mention Chang Shan again because that guy just looked so perfect doing ANY style. He also has a unique move where he will pick a guy up and bodyslam him in a split second. I have never seen someone look so fluid on screen in everything he does.

20

True about Urquidez not really being a martial movie star, but rather a fighter who was featured in some movies. His first movie was Force: Five with Joe Lewis (another bad Robert Clouse effort). I think though Urquidez was a great fighter, how he came across in movies depended completely on who directed him. IMO, only Sammo Hung knew how to get the best out of him and make him come off looking really good onscreen. Compare his work in Gross Pointe Blanke, Force: Five, Roadhouse, a brief appearance in Van Damme’s Streetfighter, etc., with the two Sammo/Jackie movies.

I like Chang Shan a lot, too, it’s just hard for me to make a guess. I know he did time for fighting, though, and looks like a tough and vicious dude.

Chen Kuan-Tai had won the Southeast Asian Martial Arts Championship tournament, I forget which division (probably lightweight) in 1969, and his brother, Chen Mu-Chuan (Monkey Kung Fu) won the same thing in 1971. I don’t know about the skill level in that tourney, but it was full-contact, and those old-school tournaments overseas back then were very brutal. Both Kuan-Tai and Mu-Chuan were Tai Shing Pek Kwar stylists; a.k.a., Monkey style combined with Piqua style. Though I seriously doubt they fought using monkey style moves.

Jimmy Wang Yu was known as a pretty wild streetfighter in real life. I heard he once fought off eight men near the Lungshan Temple in Taipei (don’t know how reliable that is, but we can surmise he was pretty tough). I guess he’s a good example of how a good real fighter can look terrible in the movies.

I had heard Chan Wai-Man was a bodyguard for a Triad, and had faced many life-and-death encounters.