As far as I know, all the fighting in Blade II was choreographed by Donnie Yen, who also played the dude with the katana.
Yeah, he got the screen credit, but who did the actual work apparently shook down rather not the same (creative differences, ya know - it’s all on the commentary track.)
Basically, the stunt co-ordinator, who’s name I forget did most of it, with Donnie and Wesley splitting the remainder. They talk about who choreographed what fight and all that stuff. It’s interesting to hear, and really gets across the fact that screen credits only tell part of the story.
karate is too general, but..
Originally posted by Former castleva
I have the idea he holds something like 5th dan in karate,which sounds freaky but I believe it it to be so.
Dunno about other cases.
What is this lumping together of karate like all karate was the same? He is an honorary 5th dan in Shotokan. This created some controversy amongst many senseis as it wasn’t necessarily earned, but awarded for his recognition of various masters on his " Masters.." deal that promo’d Blade I.
He is probably closer to 2nd or 3rd degree in reality, but that would still make him a bad-arse. He did study Capoeira, Shorin Ryu, and FMAs but not to the degree he did Japanese Karate (Shotokan). Why would he do some sorry arsed style like Kenpo if he knew a legit karate style like Shotokan? Kenpo suxxxxxxxxxxxxxx!
Ah, good. I was worried we didn’t have enough style vs. style warriors on the board.
Ah well, at least we’re finally moving on to a more contemporary movie ass-kicker. Maybe Bruce Lee can finally get some rest…
RING RING
RING RING
Excuse me a minute…
RING…
Hello?
Mmm-hmm.
Sure, no problem.
Bye.
OK, that was Bruce on the phone. He rang me as Ryu’s not around at the moment. He said to tell you that he thinks Wesley Snipes deserves his Shotokan degree, that Kenpo and Kempo are both just a variation on JKD, that BJJ is totally inferior to Shaolin-Do and that he wishes you lot all the best now you’ve finally moved onto a new movie star to mock, harass, berate and pretend like you know all about him.
Re: karate is too general, but..
Originally posted by Machimurasan
[B]
What is this lumpimg together of karate like all karate was the same? He is an honorary 5th dan in Shotokan. This created some controversy amongst many senseis as it wasn’t necessarily earned, but awarded for his recognition of various masters on his " Masters.." deal that promo’d Blade I.
He is probably closer to 2nd or 3rd degree in reality, but that would still make him a bad-arse. He did study Capoeira, Shorin Ryu, and FMAs but not to the degree he did Japanese Karate (Shotokan). Why would he do some sorry arsed style like Kenpo if he knew a legit karate style like Shotokan? Kenpo suxxxxxxxxxxxxxx! [/B]
The honorary thing is nothing new to MA, there are many others with honorary ranks, one of whom is Brian Genesse - the guy from the early 90’s series ‘street justice’. He was given an honorary black sash in hung gar. He does have a legit black belt in TKD though, and some CMA training.
Originally posted by Serpent
As far as I know, all the fighting in Blade II was choreographed by Donnie Yen, who also played the dude with the katana.
yeah, i understood that too. i think jeff ward choreographed the first one (which is no slouch in the screen fu category either).
The honorary thing is nothing new to MA, there are many others with honorary ranks, one of whom is Brian Genesse - the guy from the early 90’s series ‘street justice’. He was given an honorary black sash in hung gar. He does have a legit black belt in TKD though, and some CMA training.
and some FMA training to boot. i always liked that guy. not really certain why. maybe because when ‘street justice’ was out, it was one of the few shows at that time to have a genuine martial arts character. [shrug]
Why would he do some sorry arsed style like Kenpo if he knew a legit karate style like Shotokan? Kenpo suxxxxxxxxxxxxxx!
reporting live, from the interior of my own arse, this is machimurasan saying, “goodnight, KFO.”
Much as I like both Blade movies, I really wish Wesley’s black James Bond riff in “The Art of War” had been a better, more profitable movie so we could see some more of that style. Especially since Bond isn’t doing much for me these days (no, I haven’t yet seen “Die Another Day.”) Maybe they could cast him as a Bond villain - that might spruce things up. Nah, I’d never buy Pierce Brosnan kicking Snipes’ tuchis.
i agree completely. the art of war had a lot of promise. and delivered on very little of it. (though i still liked the movie alright.) blade is, so far, the best realized of snipes’ action movies, i think. the blade franchise, i mean. not just the first one. (i actually think blade 2 is better.)
but i really enjoyed passenger 57, for crying out loud.
check out undisputed as well. it’s boxing, but it’s still got some nice fight scenes. (of course, i quite like boxing. YMMV) you can see snipes’ karate background in the choreography. he retracts his hands in a way that looks more TMA than boxing a couple of times. but i don’t care. it’s fun to watch regardless.
stuart b.
p.s. for whatever it’s worth, ‘die another day’ is far, far better than the last bond film.
stuart b.
Really? I finally caught “The World Is Not Enough” on video a ways back, and figured it was a real step up for the franchise. But I really like Robert Carlyle and thought he made a really good villain (half the battle right there.) Plus Sophie Marceau was the hottest bond gal I’d seen in a while.
Back to Snipes: I checked imdb, and his next project is based on a book called “The Killer’s Game.” Here’s the summary I found on Amazon
“As a hit man, Joe Flood deals in death. But when his doctor tells him that he has only months to live, he puts out an open contract on his own life with a 6-million-dollar reward. But now there’s a catch; the lab made a mistake and he’ll live - unless one of his competitors can cash in on his contract. Now it’s kill or be killed as Joe tries to stay one step ahead of his fellow stalkers in a romp that bristles with suspense.”
Sounds a bit gimmicky, but promising. I’d prefer if Hollywood went back to old-fashioned script that were pretty meat and potatoes plotwise, but put a lot of characterization into 'em. That’s what I get for renting bunches of Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, and Lee Marvin, I guess.
i didn’t think much of ‘the world is not enough.’ carlyle was cool, no doubt. but denise richards as a nuclear physicist?! can denise richards even spell physicist? (granted, it took me three tries… ) and while sophie marceau was gorgeous in braveheart, i felt like she did a little too much, ‘i’m french and beautiful, so you must love me’ in this flick.
in any event, i thought ‘die another day’ was much better. so if you dug the last one, i’d encourage you to give this one a shot. but that’s just an opinion.
as for snipes, yeah that’s a bit gimmicky. but if it gives an excuse for some quality mayhem, i’m all for it. 
that said, i have to agree with your call on some of the older action flicks. i finally got around to seeing ‘the french connection’ the other day. frankly, i don’t see how an action movie can go wrong when your star is named ‘hack man.’
back to snipes: there’s been talk for ages about him starring as another marvel hero, the black panther. personally, i’m keeping my fingers crossed. i’m thinking that would be worth seeing.
stuart b.
But…but…but…
How would they do the Black Panther/Blade crossover?!!?
No, give it to Don Cheadle.
I hope he keeps going with Blade, the second one was better then the first so hopefully they can keep that pace up.
i think number three is already in the works.
For a good old fashioned machismo-fest triple feature of the stars I mentioned before, I don’t think you could do better than The Train, Cape Fear, and Point Blank.
The Train (1964) has Lancaster (at 50!) as a French Resistance fighter trying to prevent Nazis from stealing Paris’ great art treasures. Lancaster not only does his own stunts, he doubles for other actors.
Cape Fear (1962) is the superior version of the Nolte/DeNiro picture from a ways back. Mitchum plays a stalker/serial killer/rapist smart enough to keep the law on his side and tough enough to beat the crap out of three hoods Gregory Peck sics on him. He’s only scarier in Night of the Hunter, but he’s tougher here.
Point Blank (1967) is the superior version of Mel Gibson’s Payback from a few years back. Marvin figures the mob owes him some money and kills and kills and kills his way up the ladder past petty functionaries who think they’re too smart for him.
If you’re not ready to devour the still beating heart of your enemy after watching these three videos, probably nothing’s gonna do it.
Okay, maybe The Wild Bunch.
‘the train.’ that’s what i was watching the other day. saw the last 10 minutes of a flick and had no idea what it was. but that must have been it.
‘point blank’ is one i meant to check out after seeing ‘payback’ and forgot. i’ll mention it to dad this weekend. bet he’d like to see that too.
‘the wild bunch’ we did see together. last christmas, i believe. good times.
i’d read a couple of times that sam peckinpah was a big influence on john woo. but having seen ‘the killer elite’, i couldn’t really see it. so i rented ‘getaway.’ the original mcqueen/mcgraw version. it’s more obvious in the last 10 minutes of that film. and finally, ‘the wild bunch.’ the finale particularly. good grief, that film rocks. one day, i’ll get around to seeing ‘straw dogs.’
stuart b.
I experienced what I think is the best way to see The Wild Bunch about a month ago. A friend of mine’s wife was out of town for a conference, so he invited a few of his male friends over, and we smoked cigars (and uh, other stuff) drank a whole bottle of whiskey (right from the neck - no glasses) and killed a case of beer over the course of the 2.5 hours or so it took to view it.
My recommendation for Straw Dogs is: don’t see it with your wife, or any woman present. There is a Sam Peckinpah movie for that, but it’s Junior Bonner.
And to barely stay on topic, I sure hope Blade 3 kicks a lot of ass, too! They’ll need the right director, though.