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Martial Media, Culture and Other Arts Martial Media and Popular Culture
41

I think the editor was high on something. This is one of those movies where, if you watched it in a theater, it would make you queasy from motion sickness. And a lot did NOT make any sense at all; for one, there is a shooting near a dragon dancing demo, and yet after the chase leads away from the demo, the dragon dancers and audinece continue on as if nothing happened!?! Also, the very end of the movie is retarded and is nonsensical.

I actually liked A Force of One simply because it was so d0rky. Even back then, I thought it was hilarious. The fact that the settings were familiar yet the movie so serious seemed to add to that. It was obvious who the “karate killer” was; Bill Wallace threw a kick in disguise with his right leg at the beginning to try to “throw off” moviegoers who were familiar with him (he mostly kicked left leg). No one was fooled. The silly acting and dialogue were classic camp. :smiley:

42

Oh, and I recently bought another DVD, Dragon Heat. a Dragon Dynasty-released title. It stars Sammo Hung, Michael Biehn (Terminator, The Abyss), and Maggie Q. Or that’s who are advertised.

Personally, it was a big disappointment. The real lead characters are a group of Interpol agents played by young actors who look more like pop idols. I dunno, but I wasn’t impressed with the slow-mo spinning/prancing/gun posing of the idols. Sammo Hung has a couple of fights, but they are not choreographed or filmed well at all. Nothing at all like his fights in SPL, which was shot the same year. Michael Biehn has a sizeable role, but Maggie Q, billed as a major player in the film, has barely anything to do as a villain/sniper. Chin Kar-Lok was the martial arts choreographed, but it would have been better if they’d used Sammo Hung himself. Sammo’s two fights against the Korean leader of the terrorists would have been much better, but instead, the fights seem flat. I think the film tries too hard to be stylish.

i currently have a hit out on danniel lee for putting this crud out.

43

He should at least have his eyes gouged out. Or maybe he films his movies and doesn’t look at the finished product. I remember the final fight of his Chen Zhen series with Vincent Zhao. It was like a 10 minute fight and I don’t think there was any actual fighting. Not a single second! He would probably make better movies if he was blind.

44

Hi,

I finally got this set I’d been wantin’. I had read it was super crappy, and on Videoasia, but it had some Ninja movies I wanted. I’ve been looking for this for about a year, but all I saw was it for 10 or more bucks, and I didn’t wanna pay that, from the reviews I read.

Well, I finally found it for 6.49 total. Well, the actual mechanical product is really crap. Some of the discs didn’t even play, or play well, I’ll try them on another player.

But anyway, it’s the Martial Arts 10 Pack. It is 3 discs, just stacked on top of each other, with some clamp thing holding them down. I got it new, and sealed, but the discs did come loose, though they didn’t get damaged, except one had a slight scratch, but that one seemed to play fine.

The line up is:

Cotton Mill
The rarest kung-fu movie ever has been found. Thought to be lost forever, this unseen classic is finally here. Superstarring Shaw Bros. Legend Chi Kuan Chuan and leg fighter Tan Tao Liang.

Tiger Over Wall
King of leg combat Hwang Jang Lee in his greatest role since drunken master. An absolute classic!

Ninja and Dragon(I think this actually Ninja Destroyer, which I already had)
Two agents must join forces to catch the tiger connection heroin gang. One agent is a secret ninja, the other a dragon on fire!

Hunt for Ninja(Ninja Hunt)
The CIA battle terrorists villains with their super weapon - the ninja master. Heads roll and bodies fly!

Ninja Challenge(Challenge the Ninja)
The red devils are a brutal gang that kill a mans entire family. He seeks revenge by training with the deadliest gang alive - the ninja. His new powers even the odds. Let the vengeance begin!

Knight and Warrior( called Ninja in the Imperial Court onscreen)
A ninja from Japan, a warrior from China and a villain from hell clash to the death and beyond! The greatest ninja action ever shown in the world!

Black Belt Fury
The jungle just got deadlier. The fiercest beast is man, and this kung fu spectacular proves it!

Burger Cop
Kung fu superstar Sammo Hung is the cop with the appetite of a fat dragon. Joining him is fellow superstar Yuen Biao (Prodigal Son) in this action-packed comedy thriller!

Deaf Mute Heroine
Her senses may be impaired, but her sword hand is not! The greatest sword since Zatoichi! Her blade is as dangerous as her fury!

Shaolin Lady
Mega star Cynthia Rothrock is the lady with the Shaolin Skills. She takes on all comers, Her best action role ever!

So, for what I paid, I’m good with it, as Ninja Hunt, and Challenge the Ninja play fine, and that’s why I wanted it.
I’m not familiar with the other titles. I saw Burger Cop looked decent and has Sammo Hung in it.

Chosen One

45

Sorry you had to experience that 10 pack kungpowmaster. All of those movies have had good widescreen releases, except tiger Over wall. Seek out the Groundzero version of Tiger over Wall (pretty good picture quality). It comes with Goose Boxer which is a movie you would love. And best of all it is really cheap. Tiger Over Wall is in my opinion Hwang Jang Lee’s greatest kicking performance, which is saying a hell of a lot. NInjas in the Dragon’s den is on there. One of my top 20 favorite movies of all time. Corey Yuen really took the genre to a new level with that movie. The 10 pack has a REALLY crappy full screen version of Ninja in the dragon’s Den. Very sad, because it has been beautifully remastered. And you may think I am joking when I say this, but I suggest just throwing that 10 pack in the trash can. after you try and watch the movies you may be more inclined to smash it with a rock before you throw it away. Also, Burger Cop (real name is ‘Don’t give a dam’) has 2 audio tracks running at the same time. Without a doubt that is the worst 10 pack that any company has ever put out.

Also, Rarescope released Showdown at the Cottonmill. Not very good picture quality, but it is perfectly widescreened. The 10 pack you have cuts off about 70 of the picture, no joke. I would go over the other movies but talking about this 10 pack really makes me sick to my stomach.

46

A bit off-topic…
Bronson Lee’s real name is Tadashi Yamaa, a Shorin-Ryu karate master.
I saw him in a Sonny Chiba movie that also had Bolo Yeung and a Chinese fighter who used the crane style as villains, forgot the title. In it, Chiba uses an electronic device to make his punches super-fast, and Yamaa has a final fight against Bolo. Not as well-made as, say, The Killing Machine.

I would also recommend the Rarescope version of Showdown at the Cotton Mill. You may end up paying a little more for the one movie, but you do get what you pay for.

I will make a confession: I tried to buy a special Gordon Liu 4-DVD special. I say “tried” because after I opened it (before I left the mall), I found that the plastic part that secures the 3rd DVD into the case was cracked off and that DVD and the broken case pieces were loose in the case. The movies were 4 Assassins (Marco Polo), Shaolin vs. Wu Tang, Master of Disaster (The Treasure Hunters) and Shaolin Martial Arts. What I really wanted was a DVD version of Shaolin Martial Arts, my fave m.a. film; I only have a poor VHS version. I returned it and opened up 3 other ones in the store; they all had that defect in the packaging. Perhaps the DVDs were fine, but that is p!$$-poor quality control and package design. I looked at the DVD company’s name, it only said Yin-Yang Films or something, no other info. I later realized it was probably another name for Red Sun/Bonzai(??). So just as well I ended up not getting it.

The real disappointment was instead I decided to switch up and ended up buying Dragon Heat. I shoulda gotten Have Sword Will Travel instead.

47

Man, can’t even write Yama s-h-i-t-a??
:smiley:

48

I know, you can’t even say dam(n). Anyways, i am realy interested in seeing that movie with Bolo. Check out this clip of a Bronson Lee movie. Kurata goes insane- http://youtube.com/watch?v=wvyuajg7Sig Actually I just remembered, you cant watch it, so check it out whenever you get a chance. Kurata is on the top of his game.

And yes, you should have gone with Have Sword Will Travel. It is a REALLY good movie. But you probably figured the special features on Dragon Heat would still be worth watching even if the movie sucked. Wrong!

49

Yeah, the Dragon Heat special features weren’t worth it. The main thing was Michael Biehn gushing about how great a director Daniel Lee is, and how great the shootout scenes in the movie were. He must live in a cave or something, not knowing anything about HK cinema until now. Which is funny, because if DH is any indication, without Donnie Yen (and Stephen Chow), HK cinema is deep in the doldrums now.

I’ll pick up Have Sword Will Travel next.

I wonder when (if?) Dragon Dynasty will release Tiger on Beat. That seems like a candidate for a wide release if ever there was one. (I saw part of the Conan Lee/Gordon Liu fight on Youtube before someone else at work had to use the computer!) :wink: I’ll try to check out the Yasuaki Kurata clip next week.

50

I think what I said about HK being in the cinematic doldrums was a bit harsh. There actually are other good directors/movies still coming out of there as well. I wrote that because I’m still miffed at myself for getting Dragon Heat.

51

Yeah Dragon Heat is not a good example of what HK cinema is about these days. Lets make a rule here, no one can talk about dragon Heat ever again on this site. I think we can agree on that:D

52

videoasia

Why is Videoasia so crappy? I mean their stuff is so poorly made, and I don’t mean the transfers of the movies. Even the various Dollar Tree store DVD labels are higher quality.

I was looking at my Martial Arts 10 Pack yesterday.

I was watching Challenge the Ninja last night, it seemed to be OK, then it stuck, and then jumped ahead. I could then rewind it back to the sticky area. I didn’t see any scratches on it, but it did have an odd small spot that seemed maybe to be a manufacturing defect.

My older player would not read one of the discs sides, but my newer player did. So overall, crap as it is(I’m OK with not so great picture quality, it’s the poor manufacturing that get’s me), I’m glad I got it, and found it for $6.49 total. This item is out of print, and I can’t just return or exchange it. It’s not even on ebay, and Amazon’s cheapest used is $13.98 total.

I guess it’s no big deal, but like I said, I am a fan of, and a collector of the Lai/Tang Ninja movies, and this set has 2 titles I can’t find anywhere else.

I wish there was enough a fan interest of these Lai/Tang Ninja movies, that a good company would release them as definitive editions, with trailors and even commentaries, and galley of posters etc.

anyway,

Chosen One

53

Videoasia is cr@ppy because IMO they don’t care about the quality of product they put out. I have only one Videoasia DVD that’s perfect, and that’s The Invincible Armour. The Crane Fighter comes in second, but most of them are varying degrees of awful. I have a couple of their DVDs that don’t even play properly. They play normal for 15 minutes or so, then jump out of sync or replay what just played. It’s impossible to play those disks and just watch the movie straight through. And I’ve had to return some of their disks that did not play at all. That’s why I stopped buying them; last Videoasia release I bought was Seven Steps of Kung FU, because it’s a good film, and luckily the DVD worked acceptably.

Which is too bad, really, because SOME of the movies they release on DVD are good movies, and this makes it less likely that these movies will get a real DVD release from someone else.

54

I actually just bought 2 Videoasia DVDs today. Triumph of 2 Arts (Chan Wai Man) I haven’t watched yet, and the other one I got is Duel of the 7 Tigers (a 2-pack with a crappy looking movie called Invincible From Hell). I am watching Duel of 7 Tigers right now and it is AMAZING. It stars Tony Leung Siu Hung (cameo), Yeung Pan Pan, Phillip Ko, Cliff Lok, Cassanova Wong, Chu Chi Ling (the muscleman with the brass rings around his wrists in Kung Fu Hustle), Han Ying Chieh, Pomson Shi (from Snake in MOnkey’s Shadow) and Charlie Chan. I spotted all these guys and I have only watched the first 30 minutes!! San Kuai and Chan lau also have cameos. I can’t follow the story very well because it is full screen and the subtitles are cut off quite a bit, but I am loving this movie! Definitely worth the $1.99 I paid for it.

I have noticed that a lot of Videoasia DVDs don’t play on some DVD players, but luckily I have 4 DVD players so I have always been able to get them to work. Specifically I am talking about the double-sided discs that are the ones that don’t play on some players. Dragon Blood/Fighting fist of Shanghai Joe, Writing Kung Fu/Ninja Killer, and also a collection called the “Shaolin Double Features”. Shaolin Red Master, Secret of Shaolin Kung Fu…

Also, a lot of the movies jump around and skip chapters making it impossible to watch the whole movie. But, I figured it out. You have to keep the time display on and every time a chapter is about to end, you have to fast forward until the next chapter starts. Unfortunately the 2 movies I experienced this with were not worth all of that effort. Invincible Monkey Fist and Rivals of the Silver Fox. Both really crappy movies.

So yeah, like you said Jimbo, Videoasia DVDs are really crappy. But, I have noticed that all of their single-sided double features play just fine. Shaolin Blood Mission/Shaolin tmple Strikes Back, Kugn Fu Zombie/Fistful of talons, Circus Kids/High Voltage (both bad Donnie Yen movies), Duel of the 7 Tigers/Invincible From Hell…

So hopefully this information helps you out Jimbo. And if anybody ever needs help with Videoasia DVDs, just ask me and I will let you know if it is a DVD worth buying.

And speaking of 7 Steps of Kung Fu Jimbo, thank you very much for recommending that to me a while back. It is one of my favorite kung fu movies. Chang Shan has his best fight in my opinion. he even does some acrobatics!

Oh yeah, I also got the movie Code of Honor today. I heard D!ck Wei is the lead actor in this movie so I had to snatch it up when I saw it at the store.

55

Jethro:
Duel of the 7 Tigers is a classic film. I think it was done with the cooperation of the Hong Kong Martial Arts Association or something. That’s why it’s loaded with real-life kung fu masters in the cast (Chan Sau-Chung, Lee Koon-Hung, Chiu Chi-Ling, etc.). I saw it in theater back in the day, and the only nagging question I had was, if they were trying to show the greatness of kung fu, why did it take the knowledge of all those kung fu styles to beat one karate man (Phillip Ko).

Unfortunately, I can’t give the same praise to Triumph of 2 Kung Fu Arts. Because “Triumph” is really a failure. It’s depressingly boring; most of it is Chan Wai-Man feeling sorry for himself and showing his sad mother. There are no good fights to speak of. The whole thing looks like it was shot through a fogged-up lens. Which is probably just as well. Too bad for me it was NOT one of the Videoasias that skipped. This one gave me an especially bad case of buyer’s remorse.

On a better note, I acquired Have Sword Will Travel and will watch it later tonight. Also picked up a non-martial film, The Descent, a well-done horror film, that was on sale for only about $6.99, brand new. There is a Filipino(?) girl in this film who in some ways comes off as far more dangerous and considerably more cunning than Maggie Q (or what I’ve seen of her so far).

As for Videoasia DVDs, how is the quality on Secret Rivals 3? I saw a previously viewed one on sale but didn’t get it due to quality concerns.

56

Pick up SR 3 immediately!! Picture quality is more than watchable, and all of the action can be seen clearly. You are the one who recommended that to me and I was more than happy with that purchase. Alex Lo, John Liu, Robert Tai and Chu Ker are all very good. But, the heart of the movie is Chin Lung. He plays the woodcarver and is the main reason why I love this movie so much. If you like comedy in your kung fu movie then you will love his role. And I don’t know if you have seen Bone Crushing Kid but check that out if you get a chance. Chin Lung is such an amazing kung fu performer.

And I am about to watch Triumph of the 2 Kung fu arts right now and you had better be wrong!!

57

Jimbo you are right. I am watching it right now and man does it suck. I hope the Chan Wai Man Kam Kong fight is decent, but I am not expecting much. This movie is putting me to sleep.

58

Jethro:
When I saw Secret Rivals 3 in the theater, it was called The New South Hand Blows and North Kick Blows (!!). It’s been one of my fave John Liu movies since the early '80s, and thanks for letting me know the DVD’s picture quality is pretty good. If it’s still there next time I go back (I really hate the mall), I’ll pick it up (It’s used, so hopefully it’s not all fingerprinted up).

When I watched Triumph, I waited and waited for something decent to happen, and it never did. In fact, I consider it to be in my top five worst kung fu movies, and that says a lot. Even Kam Kong could do nothing for this one.

Chin Lung was great in Bone Crushing Kid. He was wasted in The Leg Fighters and Ninja in the Dragon’s Den, though. He was one of those criminally underused players.

59

By the way, I watched Have Sword Will Travel last night. First time I’ve seen this one, and I liked it. I’m wondering if the tower and the heroes having to fight their way up it served as Bruce Lee’s inspiration for Game of Death? I do know that Bruce Lee visited the Shaw studios and also the set of at least one Chang Cheh film, and posed with David Chiang, Chen Kuan-Tai, Lo Lieh, Ti Lung, etc, some of whom were in full costume. I’m sure he watched and studied a lot of the '60s-era Shaw films (and he definitely lifted some ideas from Japanese Samurai films as well).

I think I’ll look into getting The Wandering Swordsman next. Another Chang Cheh classic.

60

I remember ordering Secret Rivals 3 immediately after you told me about it. The picture quallity is not great or anything but still not bad. And just so you know, when i got it in the mail the disc was loose (like most fvcking videoasia DVDs), and the disc was scratched to hell. BUT, I have NEVER had a problem playing the disc, and I have seen it countless times. Kinda like Tai seng DVDs they are extremely durable.

And I didn’t think Wandering Swordsman was nearly as good as Have sword Will Travel but I still liked it. I thought I was the only one who liked it so thanks for making me feel better! And check out Shadow Whip if you get a chance. I give it the same rating as Wanderign Swordsman (7/10), but I liked Shadow Whip a bit more.

And check out Code of Honor of you get a chance. I am watching it right now and I am about half way through it. One of the best movies I have seen in a while. I will probably post a review of it here. Hopefuly by tomorrow.

And you are so right about Triumph of the 2 Arts. I thought the movie had a few unique touches to it, but overall it is just a godawful movie. 2/10 rating.

Take care Jimbo! always good to talk to you. :smiley: