Indonesian craziness that mixes in horror and b-l-a-c-k m-a-g-i-c with the martial arts action. A man named Gumilar has everyone killed who gets in his way of becoming the mayor of a village. His method of murder is quite horrific: pills that sprout roots when ingested. The practical effect of the roots shooting out of the victims is primitive but effective. When a young man (Barry Prima) comes to the aid of the mayor’s daughter, the conflict with Gumilar's henchmen escalates is a sublimely ridiculous finale. Although the influence of Hong Kong martial arts cinema is evident, Special Silencers certainly did not have the resources of those films. The result is an enjoyable low-budget exploitation experience. The transfer on the Mondo Macabro blu-ray is gorgeous.
I do not think you will be disappointed. It is fortunate that there was source material still in good shape for an HD transfer. So often, film materials in tropical Asian countries are not taken care of or are lost completely.
For some reason, the words with the hyphens are not liked by Blogger when they are together.
THE SUPER NINJA (1984) First-time rewatch on Gold Ninja Video Blu. 8/10 up from 6/10. I first found this as an EP tape on the Suncoast bargain rack nearly 30 years ago. I thought I was getting a movie my friend told me about in art class: CHINESE SUPER NINJAS (aka FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS). There were some similarities to his description, but this didn't seem right. This was possibly my first dose of Tomas Tang/Godfrey Ho magic. And to be fair, my lower rating dates back to some hideous past in which I thought I would rate things objectively... Cop Alexander Lo is framed for drugs but partner Eugene Thomas doesn't believe it. Neither does his girlfriend or her dad, who's trying to cure drugs. Lo must face his asshole boss, betrayal, a gold ninja, a red ninja, a camo ninja & many black ninjas. He's a white ninja, of course. Flashbacks to his training with master Jack Long (who also did choreography for this flick) help him get ready for the biggest fight of his life. Along the way we get frantic editing, near-constant action, a saxy sex scene & mood intensification through "borrowed" music cues from CAT PEOPLE, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, PHANTASM & one of the STAR WARS movies. Also available on Tubi!
Bonus super recommendation: THE SUPER WEAPON a semi-psychedelic documentary about martial arts that's 78 minutes long. https://tubitv.com/movies/473924/the-super-weapon
Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976, dir. Jimmy Wang Yu)
Pretty much non-stop action. The flying guillotine is one of the most memorable weapons in movie history. One of the fighters can stretch his arms to 10 feet in length which I found weirdly creepy. This is probably my second favorite Jimmy Wang Yu movie I have seen after The Man From Hong Kong. What can I say, this is a classic.
LADY WHIRLWIND/HAPKIDO (1972, 2-DISC ARROW VIDEO BLU-RAY SET)
These early star vehicles for Angela Mao, directed by Huang Feng with fighting choreography by a young Sammo Hung (who appears on-camera in both features), show how rapidly the kung-fu genre was evolving since 1970's "The Chinese Boxer" started the kung-fu craze of the 70's. Best known in the West as the sister of Bruce Lee's character in "Enter the Dragon," Mao is ironically the weakest part of these two movies with a distracting 'Oh, s**t' facial expression as she takes on waves of baddies. But that comes with the caveat that in less than a year (both "Lady Whirlwind" and "Hapkido" were made and released in '72) Angela's technique, Hung's fight choreography and director Feng's framing of the action improved tremendously.
"Lady Whirlwind" has a not-insignificant problem in that it sets a pace for 80 minutes, then proceeds to cram what appears to a whole last act's worth of action/resolutions in the final 10. I'd rather an action flick be lean than overstay its welcome, but this is ridiculous. There's an interesting wrinkle to the typical 'revenge for my sister killing herself' trope because Miss Tien (Mao) actually has to save the man she wants to fight, Ling Shih-Hao (Chang Yi), by helping him gets his revenge against Japanese heavy Tung Ku (Pai Ying) and the men he commands that left Ling near death three years prior. Ridding Tung Ku would make a lot of innocent people very happy, but Tien couldn't care less. She just wants a chance to kill Ling to avenge her sister. It's only when Ling's love interest, Hsuang Hsuang (Oh Kyung-ah), intervenes that Tien shows an inkling of softness. Whenever Angela Mao is just acting and showing strength (like the opening where she gambles in a crooked casino) she's effortlessly cool. But during the many action scenes her great athleticism and fight choreography (if the distracting extras mugging for attention in the background don't bother you) are betrayed by facial expressions that show fear, concern, concentration, etc. I'm sure I've seen Mao in other kung-fu films, but in this debut feature for Golden Harvest she's clearly green at the 'looking cool while you fight' thing. Still good enough for 3.5 MOUTHFULS OF RED-PAINT-AS-BLOOD SQUIBS (out of 5).
Transferring the location (Korea) and fighting technique (local style over traditional Chinese martial arts) sets-up "Hapkido" with the Japanese occupation of the region (Manchuria and portions of both Korea and China) as the backdrop for a much-improved follow-up to "LW." Siblings Yu Ying (Mao), level-headed Kao Chang (Carter Wong in an early role) and hothead Fan Wei (Sammo Hung) graduate with honors from the Korean school of their master and his head student (rea-life Hapkido masters Ji Han-jae and Hwang ln-shik, respectively). The trio return to China to start their own Hapkido school, but run afoul of the local branch of the Japanese Black Bear School. It's "The Karate Kid" with a body count. Even by the standards of your typical kung-fu action flick, the Japanese baddies in "Hapkido" are both extreme a-hole bullies and over-the-top racist caricatures. Pai Ying returns as an instructor of the Golden Bear school, and it's no exaggeration that by the end of the movie you're rooting for him and his fellow Japanese disciples to die a thousand horrible deaths. Blink and you'll miss small early roles for Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and future Hollywood action director Corey Yuen as students.
The leap in quality from "LW" to "Hapkido" as staggering. Mao still makes weird faces when fighting (which she does with more confidence), but director Feng and action choreographer Hung frame/stage the action to diminish her weakness. Carter Wong, Sammo Hung and Hwang ln-shik joining their sister in epic beatdowns and many-versus-one brawls keeps things lively even though it's a longer movie. Watch them both, but "Hapkido" is the real deal. 5 UMBRELLA STANDS TO DEFLECT SAMURAI SWORD THRUSTS (out of 5).
Once Upon a Time in China (1991, dir. Tsui Hark). This was a great re-watch of a Wuxia classic. If memory serves, this might have been my first Jet Li that I saw sometime in the mid-2000s. It an interesting story as it lies at the intersection of the west and east, with the Americans and Brits being the villains in a "newly discovered" 19th century China. Our hero has an internal struggle between the traditional Chinese ways, and the promise of the new world ("where you can't walk without tripping over gold", but in reality we learn they were being made into slaves and wh0res). The fight choreography and camera work is just outstanding. The scene where they're fighting on tall ladders is remarkable. I should make time for the sequels at some point.
PHANTOM KUNG FU (1978) First-time watch. Gold Ninja Video Blu-ray. 7/10. "I came here to find some damned rebels." A mustachioed villain with a deadly Palm of Death hunts down rebels who wish to defeat the Ching. Rumors circulate about a fighter he's just killed studying spiritual kung fu are backed up by the reappearance of the fighter after every death. The film is a solid, mid-line kung fu story with a finale that lives up to its title. Some bits from the LIPSTICK score ramp up tension & atmosphere. Also available on Tubi in a pan&scan version.
Bonus magic-palm recommendation: Shaw Bros' wild BUDDHA'S PALM from 1982. Free with English subs on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9hCyEZvCLA
THE MIGHTY 4 (1978) Now here’s some low budget shlock at its low budget schlockiest. An orphan is raised by an evil warlord to be the ultimate fighting machine. Only then does he learn the evil warlord is… evil! This is action-comedy, with a lot of Jackie Chan-style slapstick fighting. It’s all plotless silliness, but it’s certainly not boring. Everything zips along at a quick pace and something’s always happening, which is the best kind of cheapie B-movie.
SHINOBI GIRL (2015) Super low-budget shot-on-video flick about a lady ninja slicing and dicing her way through corrupt Wall Street types. The filmmakers’ ambition exceeds their grasp with too many characters and unnecessarily complex plotting, but the amateur aesthetic has a lot of charm. There’s a real “Oh boy, we’re making a movie!” feel to this that makes it fun.
Bonus #Universal Monster-sploitation: THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940) What’s interesting about the Invisible Man series is that we don’t follow characters from sequel to sequel. Instead, we follow the invisibility formula as it exchanges hands each time. This one re-does a lot of gags from the first movie, but Vincent Price is awesome and there’s a sweet action finale.
SHADOW FIST HUNTER (1973) First-time watch. Dark Force Entertainment Blu. 8/10. You know the old saying: just when you think it's safe to munch on a large, circular loaf of bread while hitching a ride in a wagon, watch out for bandits! A dude is looking for his alchemist father but ends up in the middle of a murderous ploy for gold bars that belonged to his dad. What starts off as mildly confusing kicks into action gear for an exciting second half with special weapons, primitive gas masks, a one-armed assassin, plenty of fighting & a jealous rivalry over Pearl Chang with that Asian guy in blackface named Wuhan. The only bad part about SHADOW FIST HUNTER is that Pearl Chang is just the love interest; she doesn't get to display her martial prowess.
I love old school kung fu but have a LOT to catch up on. This movie is widely considered one of the best and i reallllly like it. Theres a very long but super creative training sequence at the shaolin temple. Plus Gordon Liu! (Tarantino is obviously a huge fan of the man and movie...Gordon plays two different rolls in Kill Bill). One quick note of praise for boutique dvd labels...in the past couple years theyve embraced the kung fu genre and released some amazing stuff. In this case Arrow's Shawscope vol 1 and 2 contain INCREDIBLE transfers of movies that many of us grew up on with beyond sh@tty quality on old school UHF stations or bootleg vhs or looow quality vhs/dvd. The transfer on this is beyond my wildest hopes.
This Junesploitation was already full of all-timers before this and wowza. The Keaton/Chaplin comparisons are exhausted by now but what an incredibly entertaining film. Face hurts from giddy smiling throughout. Shame Chan is a shill for an awful government but I'll be shocked if this isn't the most entertaining film I watch this year.
I need to revisit Hustle, it's been far too long. I used to swear by Flying Guillotine but there's something about the mix of humor and action that you get in Chan/Chow flicks that just works so damn well.
perfect pick Frank! i got into Jackie Chan in the early 90s just before he broke thru to mainstream america. i fondly remember buying a 2 vhs tape copy of Drunken Master II in chicagos Chinatown for $100 (when i had little extra spending cash) and absolutely being BLOWN AWAY by it.
THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (aka MASTER KILLER, 1978) First-time rewatch in waaay too long. Arrow Blu. still 10/10. “We must put down evil. And you’re evil.” This is my first HD viewing, although I think I saw this on the big screen as part of a Shaw retrospective about 20yrs back. In the '90s, there used to be an Asian World of Martial Arts (AWMA) store in Philadelphia's Chinatown. My friend & I drove down to check it out & wandered into a nearby video store that focused on porn & kung fu. One of the tapes I walked out with was a bootleg of MASTER KILLER. I'm not sure if I'd seen Gordon Liu in something else prior, but this film made him an instant favorite. I was struck this time by how ol' Gord doesn't even start the chambers until about 40min in. And it's not slow. This is a classic for all the right reasons, not least of which its position in the pantheon of Wu-Tang Clan favorites. There's at least one classic sample to be found.
Crippled Avengers (1978) aka Return of the Five Deadly Venoms
It's been a Shaw Brothers weekend at Juneploitation's Portland, OR HQ! Kung Fu flicks are not my usual jam, but the dizzying choreography of the fight scenes in this one kept me amazed and involved. Plus, dismemberment!
Most of the year I forget Kung Fu exists. Then June comes around, I remember how great it is, vow to educate myself and forget by mid-July. This one is probably next on my watch list, especially given Patrick's high praise here!
woot! @patrick....this one is my favorite old school kung fu flick as well!!! my buds hooked me onto the original Five Deadly Venoms in high school but once i found the sequel, i loved it moreso.
First of all, this movie features a fight between Bolo Yeung and Steve James. Furthermore, this movie features a fight between Bolo Yeung and Steve James. In summation, this movie features a fight between Bolo Yeung and Steve James.
Legend of the Drunken Master (1994) Amazing Jackie Chan film with unbelievable fight choreography and great tonal shifts between drama and comedy. Anita Mui steals every scene she is in as Chan’s stepmother. Breathtaking action set-pieces.
great pick JB....this one is in my top 5 favorite martial arts flicks (along side: Iron Monkey, Crippled Avengers, Enter the Dragon). Its also my favorite film from Jackie Chan who i adore!!!
Dude got attacked by like fifty guys in one room, and he broke 43 of their arms one at a time.
This was kind of a black-and-white cookie of a movie. There were parts with awesome fight choreography like a Jet Li movie, and then other parts like Crank 2 with frantic editing and crazy personalities. There were some real comedy beats, and there were also laughable decisions/mistakes/jumps in plot. Even the fights were of two minds... in one scene you could see the coolest flip where he unleashes a record number of kicks before he lands... and in another, he wants to do nothing but break arms like he's popping endless bubble-wrap. A fun time!
Polite Society (2023) dir. by Nida Manzoor
A sometimes surrealistic plot with a charismatic lead, many funny moments, and a good supporting cast. The face-acting was a recurring funny theme. I enjoyed the movie on its own merits even if the fights were not as crazy as other Junesploitation fare.
The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk aka The Legend(1993 Corey Yuen)
I've loved this movie since I originally brought a bootleg from a Korean grocer in Alaska in1994. My favorite Jet Li movie. Its not his best movie. Hero is a better but this one is so fun.
SPECIAL SILENCERS (1982, dir. Arizal)
ReplyDeleteIndonesian craziness that mixes in horror and b-l-a-c-k m-a-g-i-c with the martial arts action. A man named Gumilar has everyone killed who gets in his way of becoming the mayor of a village. His method of murder is quite horrific: pills that sprout roots when ingested. The practical effect of the roots shooting out of the victims is primitive but effective. When a young man (Barry Prima) comes to the aid of the mayor’s daughter, the conflict with Gumilar's henchmen escalates is a sublimely ridiculous finale. Although the influence of Hong Kong martial arts cinema is evident, Special Silencers certainly did not have the resources of those films. The result is an enjoyable low-budget exploitation experience. The transfer on the Mondo Macabro blu-ray is gorgeous.
I'm excited to get my hands on this one.
DeleteI do not think you will be disappointed. It is fortunate that there was source material still in good shape for an HD transfer. So often, film materials in tropical Asian countries are not taken care of or are lost completely.
DeleteFor some reason, the words with the hyphens are not liked by Blogger when they are together.
That's... weird & annoying (about the blogger).
DeleteGlad to hear!
CLAN OF THE WHITE LOTUS (1980):
ReplyDeleteGreat fun, but it all could have been avoided if they’d just let Pai Mei take his bath in peace.
THE SUPER NINJA (1984)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time rewatch on Gold Ninja Video Blu. 8/10 up from 6/10.
I first found this as an EP tape on the Suncoast bargain rack nearly 30 years ago. I thought I was getting a movie my friend told me about in art class: CHINESE SUPER NINJAS (aka FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS). There were some similarities to his description, but this didn't seem right. This was possibly my first dose of Tomas Tang/Godfrey Ho magic. And to be fair, my lower rating dates back to some hideous past in which I thought I would rate things objectively...
Cop Alexander Lo is framed for drugs but partner Eugene Thomas doesn't believe it. Neither does his girlfriend or her dad, who's trying to cure drugs. Lo must face his asshole boss, betrayal, a gold ninja, a red ninja, a camo ninja & many black ninjas. He's a white ninja, of course. Flashbacks to his training with master Jack Long (who also did choreography for this flick) help him get ready for the biggest fight of his life. Along the way we get frantic editing, near-constant action, a saxy sex scene & mood intensification through "borrowed" music cues from CAT PEOPLE, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, PHANTASM & one of the STAR WARS movies.
Also available on Tubi!
Bonus super recommendation:
DeleteTHE SUPER WEAPON
a semi-psychedelic documentary about martial arts that's 78 minutes long.
https://tubitv.com/movies/473924/the-super-weapon
Oh im SO watching this asap. Also...Chinese Super Ninjas is well worth finding. Its such a fun old school classic...top 10 for sure.
DeleteMaster of the Flying Guillotine (1976, dir. Jimmy Wang Yu)
ReplyDeletePretty much non-stop action. The flying guillotine is one of the most memorable weapons in movie history. One of the fighters can stretch his arms to 10 feet in length which I found weirdly creepy. This is probably my second favorite Jimmy Wang Yu movie I have seen after The Man From Hong Kong. What can I say, this is a classic.
NICE! this flick is on deck for me!
DeleteSo late! :'(
ReplyDelete'THE DAWN OF GOLDEN HARVEST' DOUBLE FEATURE!
LADY WHIRLWIND/HAPKIDO (1972, 2-DISC ARROW VIDEO BLU-RAY SET)
These early star vehicles for Angela Mao, directed by Huang Feng with fighting choreography by a young Sammo Hung (who appears on-camera in both features), show how rapidly the kung-fu genre was evolving since 1970's "The Chinese Boxer" started the kung-fu craze of the 70's. Best known in the West as the sister of Bruce Lee's character in "Enter the Dragon," Mao is ironically the weakest part of these two movies with a distracting 'Oh, s**t' facial expression as she takes on waves of baddies. But that comes with the caveat that in less than a year (both "Lady Whirlwind" and "Hapkido" were made and released in '72) Angela's technique, Hung's fight choreography and director Feng's framing of the action improved tremendously.
"Lady Whirlwind" has a not-insignificant problem in that it sets a pace for 80 minutes, then proceeds to cram what appears to a whole last act's worth of action/resolutions in the final 10. I'd rather an action flick be lean than overstay its welcome, but this is ridiculous. There's an interesting wrinkle to the typical 'revenge for my sister killing herself' trope because Miss Tien (Mao) actually has to save the man she wants to fight, Ling Shih-Hao (Chang Yi), by helping him gets his revenge against Japanese heavy Tung Ku (Pai Ying) and the men he commands that left Ling near death three years prior. Ridding Tung Ku would make a lot of innocent people very happy, but Tien couldn't care less. She just wants a chance to kill Ling to avenge her sister. It's only when Ling's love interest, Hsuang Hsuang (Oh Kyung-ah), intervenes that Tien shows an inkling of softness. Whenever Angela Mao is just acting and showing strength (like the opening where she gambles in a crooked casino) she's effortlessly cool. But during the many action scenes her great athleticism and fight choreography (if the distracting extras mugging for attention in the background don't bother you) are betrayed by facial expressions that show fear, concern, concentration, etc. I'm sure I've seen Mao in other kung-fu films, but in this debut feature for Golden Harvest she's clearly green at the 'looking cool while you fight' thing. Still good enough for 3.5 MOUTHFULS OF RED-PAINT-AS-BLOOD SQUIBS (out of 5).
Transferring the location (Korea) and fighting technique (local style over traditional Chinese martial arts) sets-up "Hapkido" with the Japanese occupation of the region (Manchuria and portions of both Korea and China) as the backdrop for a much-improved follow-up to "LW." Siblings Yu Ying (Mao), level-headed Kao Chang (Carter Wong in an early role) and hothead Fan Wei (Sammo Hung) graduate with honors from the Korean school of their master and his head student (rea-life Hapkido masters Ji Han-jae and Hwang ln-shik, respectively). The trio return to China to start their own Hapkido school, but run afoul of the local branch of the Japanese Black Bear School. It's "The Karate Kid" with a body count. Even by the standards of your typical kung-fu action flick, the Japanese baddies in "Hapkido" are both extreme a-hole bullies and over-the-top racist caricatures. Pai Ying returns as an instructor of the Golden Bear school, and it's no exaggeration that by the end of the movie you're rooting for him and his fellow Japanese disciples to die a thousand horrible deaths. Blink and you'll miss small early roles for Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and future Hollywood action director Corey Yuen as students.
The leap in quality from "LW" to "Hapkido" as staggering. Mao still makes weird faces when fighting (which she does with more confidence), but director Feng and action choreographer Hung frame/stage the action to diminish her weakness. Carter Wong, Sammo Hung and Hwang ln-shik joining their sister in epic beatdowns and many-versus-one brawls keeps things lively even though it's a longer movie. Watch them both, but "Hapkido" is the real deal. 5 UMBRELLA STANDS TO DEFLECT SAMURAI SWORD THRUSTS (out of 5).
Better late than never, right?
DeleteOnce Upon a Time in China (1991, dir. Tsui Hark). This was a great re-watch of a Wuxia classic. If memory serves, this might have been my first Jet Li that I saw sometime in the mid-2000s. It an interesting story as it lies at the intersection of the west and east, with the Americans and Brits being the villains in a "newly discovered" 19th century China. Our hero has an internal struggle between the traditional Chinese ways, and the promise of the new world ("where you can't walk without tripping over gold", but in reality we learn they were being made into slaves and wh0res). The fight choreography and camera work is just outstanding. The scene where they're fighting on tall ladders is remarkable. I should make time for the sequels at some point.
ReplyDeleteCome Drink With Me (1966)
ReplyDeleteCrossing a big one from the Shaw Brothers watchlist.
PHANTOM KUNG FU (1978)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time watch. Gold Ninja Video Blu-ray. 7/10.
"I came here to find some damned rebels."
A mustachioed villain with a deadly Palm of Death hunts down rebels who wish to defeat the Ching. Rumors circulate about a fighter he's just killed studying spiritual kung fu are backed up by the reappearance of the fighter after every death. The film is a solid, mid-line kung fu story with a finale that lives up to its title. Some bits from the LIPSTICK score ramp up tension & atmosphere.
Also available on Tubi in a pan&scan version.
Bonus magic-palm recommendation:
DeleteShaw Bros' wild BUDDHA'S PALM from 1982.
Free with English subs on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9hCyEZvCLA
THE MIGHTY 4 (1978)
ReplyDeleteNow here’s some low budget shlock at its low budget schlockiest. An orphan is raised by an evil warlord to be the ultimate fighting machine. Only then does he learn the evil warlord is… evil! This is action-comedy, with a lot of Jackie Chan-style slapstick fighting. It’s all plotless silliness, but it’s certainly not boring. Everything zips along at a quick pace and something’s always happening, which is the best kind of cheapie B-movie.
SHINOBI GIRL (2015)
Super low-budget shot-on-video flick about a lady ninja slicing and dicing her way through corrupt Wall Street types. The filmmakers’ ambition exceeds their grasp with too many characters and unnecessarily complex plotting, but the amateur aesthetic has a lot of charm. There’s a real “Oh boy, we’re making a movie!” feel to this that makes it fun.
Bonus #Universal Monster-sploitation: THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940)
What’s interesting about the Invisible Man series is that we don’t follow characters from sequel to sequel. Instead, we follow the invisibility formula as it exchanges hands each time. This one re-does a lot of gags from the first movie, but Vincent Price is awesome and there’s a sweet action finale.
SHADOW FIST HUNTER (1973)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time watch. Dark Force Entertainment Blu. 8/10.
You know the old saying: just when you think it's safe to munch on a large, circular loaf of bread while hitching a ride in a wagon, watch out for bandits! A dude is looking for his alchemist father but ends up in the middle of a murderous ploy for gold bars that belonged to his dad. What starts off as mildly confusing kicks into action gear for an exciting second half with special weapons, primitive gas masks, a one-armed assassin, plenty of fighting & a jealous rivalry over Pearl Chang with that Asian guy in blackface named Wuhan. The only bad part about SHADOW FIST HUNTER is that Pearl Chang is just the love interest; she doesn't get to display her martial prowess.
Bonus Pearl Chang recommendation:
DeletePHOENIX THE NINJA (aka WOLF DEVIL WOMAN 3)
https://tubitv.com/movies/100003693/phoenix-the-ninja
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
ReplyDeleteI love old school kung fu but have a LOT to catch up on. This movie is widely considered one of the best and i reallllly like it. Theres a very long but super creative training sequence at the shaolin temple. Plus Gordon Liu! (Tarantino is obviously a huge fan of the man and movie...Gordon plays two different rolls in Kill Bill). One quick note of praise for boutique dvd labels...in the past couple years theyve embraced the kung fu genre and released some amazing stuff. In this case Arrow's Shawscope vol 1 and 2 contain INCREDIBLE transfers of movies that many of us grew up on with beyond sh@tty quality on old school UHF stations or bootleg vhs or looow quality vhs/dvd. The transfer on this is beyond my wildest hopes.
Drunken Master II (1994)
ReplyDeleteThis Junesploitation was already full of all-timers before this and wowza. The Keaton/Chaplin comparisons are exhausted by now but what an incredibly entertaining film. Face hurts from giddy smiling throughout. Shame Chan is a shill for an awful government but I'll be shocked if this isn't the most entertaining film I watch this year.
This may be my favorite kung Fu movie but Stephen Chow’s KUNG FU HUSTLE exists. I guess it just depends on the day.
DeleteI need to revisit Hustle, it's been far too long. I used to swear by Flying Guillotine but there's something about the mix of humor and action that you get in Chan/Chow flicks that just works so damn well.
Deleteperfect pick Frank! i got into Jackie Chan in the early 90s just before he broke thru to mainstream america. i fondly remember buying a 2 vhs tape copy of Drunken Master II in chicagos Chinatown for $100 (when i had little extra spending cash) and absolutely being BLOWN AWAY by it.
DeleteTHE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (aka MASTER KILLER, 1978)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time rewatch in waaay too long. Arrow Blu. still 10/10.
“We must put down evil. And you’re evil.”
This is my first HD viewing, although I think I saw this on the big screen as part of a Shaw retrospective about 20yrs back.
In the '90s, there used to be an Asian World of Martial Arts (AWMA) store in Philadelphia's Chinatown. My friend & I drove down to check it out & wandered into a nearby video store that focused on porn & kung fu. One of the tapes I walked out with was a bootleg of MASTER KILLER. I'm not sure if I'd seen Gordon Liu in something else prior, but this film made him an instant favorite.
I was struck this time by how ol' Gord doesn't even start the chambers until about 40min in. And it's not slow.
This is a classic for all the right reasons, not least of which its position in the pantheon of Wu-Tang Clan favorites. There's at least one classic sample to be found.
Crippled Avengers (1978) aka Return of the Five Deadly Venoms
ReplyDeleteIt's been a Shaw Brothers weekend at Juneploitation's Portland, OR HQ! Kung Fu flicks are not my usual jam, but the dizzying choreography of the fight scenes in this one kept me amazed and involved. Plus, dismemberment!
I'm not as well-versed in kung fu as a lot of people (I'm always learning) but this is my favorite kung fu movie.
DeleteMost of the year I forget Kung Fu exists. Then June comes around, I remember how great it is, vow to educate myself and forget by mid-July. This one is probably next on my watch list, especially given Patrick's high praise here!
Deletewoot! @patrick....this one is my favorite old school kung fu flick as well!!! my buds hooked me onto the original Five Deadly Venoms in high school but once i found the sequel, i loved it moreso.
DeleteEnter The Game Of Death (1978)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, this movie features a fight between Bolo Yeung and Steve James. Furthermore, this movie features a fight between Bolo Yeung and Steve James. In summation, this movie features a fight between Bolo Yeung and Steve James.
LADY DRAGON (1992) dir. David Worth
ReplyDeleteRidiculous story. Terrible dialogue. Bad acting. Mediocre Kung Fu. Cool motorcycle chase. Great Cynthia Rothrock hair-do.
I mean, I wasn’t expecting the greatest movie but this was a sloppy tepid mess.
Legend of the Drunken Master (1994) Amazing Jackie Chan film with unbelievable fight choreography and great tonal shifts between drama and comedy. Anita Mui steals every scene she is in as Chan’s stepmother. Breathtaking action set-pieces.
ReplyDeletegreat pick JB....this one is in my top 5 favorite martial arts flicks (along side: Iron Monkey, Crippled Avengers, Enter the Dragon). Its also my favorite film from Jackie Chan who i adore!!!
DeleteA real cool one that I haven't seen in ages. Thanks for reminding me I should revisit it!
DeleteThe Protector (2005) dir. by Prachya Pinkaew
ReplyDeleteDude got attacked by like fifty guys in one room, and he broke 43 of their arms one at a time.
This was kind of a black-and-white cookie of a movie. There were parts with awesome fight choreography like a Jet Li movie, and then other parts like Crank 2 with frantic editing and crazy personalities. There were some real comedy beats, and there were also laughable decisions/mistakes/jumps in plot. Even the fights were of two minds... in one scene you could see the coolest flip where he unleashes a record number of kicks before he lands... and in another, he wants to do nothing but break arms like he's popping endless bubble-wrap. A fun time!
Polite Society (2023) dir. by Nida Manzoor
A sometimes surrealistic plot with a charismatic lead, many funny moments, and a good supporting cast. The face-acting was a recurring funny theme. I enjoyed the movie on its own merits even if the fights were not as crazy as other Junesploitation fare.
The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk aka The Legend(1993 Corey Yuen)
ReplyDeleteI've loved this movie since I originally brought a bootleg from a Korean grocer in Alaska in1994. My favorite Jet Li movie. Its not his best movie. Hero is a better but this one is so fun.