HARD BOILED (1992, BLU-RAY) HARD TARGET: UNRATED (1993, KINO 4K UHD)
It no coincidence that John Woo's last Chinese movie after his early prosperous Honk Kong era (late '70's to early '90's) and the first feature from his American period (early '90's to mid-aughts) both have the word 'Hard' in their respective titles. That's just the way John and his team of Chinese stuntmen rolled back then when delivering the real action goods. ;-)
"Hard Boiled" finds Woo leaving the island at the top of his directorial game with a heroic-cops-vs.-bloodthirsty-gangsters tale that pushes the violence/action quota to bordering-on-cartoony-mayhem extremes. Cool-as-shit Inspector 'Tequila' (Chow Yun-Fat) guns down gangsters by the dozens whenever he isn't playing jazz at a club to relax. With supervisor Tang (Philip Chan) on his case for the recent death of Tequila's partner and the latter's office girlfriend (Teresa Sun-Kwan Mo) getting white rose bouquets from a stranger, things take a turn when new gun-for-hire assassin Alan (Tony Leung) injects himself between the old (Hoi-San Kwan's traditional Uncle Hoi) and new regime (Anthony Wong's hothead Johnny) of mobsters bringing illegal guns to H.K. You know 'Tequila' and Alan are headed for a showdown, but the eventual team-up of these supercops (!) is what we're here for. "HB's" already a winner from the opening teahouse shoot-out that would be the climax of top-tier American action flicks, but here it's merely an appetizer. The hour-long hostage standoff/epic shooting gallery in a hospital full of ̶h̶u̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶e̶l̶d̶s̶ patients and unattended babies with a basement full of hidden arms/explosives has yet to be topped by any action movie (then or now, there or anywhere) as the ultimate display of cinematic balls-to-the-wall badassery with which to close the show. 5 MAD DOGS BRAWLING LIKE ZEROES BUT DYING AS HEROES (out of five).
Doing "Hard Target" seems like the safest pick for many a Junesploitation! day ('90's Action, Revenge, etc.) but I'll use any excuse to rewatch this first crack by an American studio to bring the Hong Kong action template to U.S. cinemas, especially now that the Unrated cut (NC-17 back in '93) is widely available on streaming/physical media. Like the above-mentioned "HB" this one ends on a relentless hour-long pursuit/never-ending action sequence through New Orleans (city and then swamplands) with heroic good guy (Jean-Claude Van Damme looking cool but with acting/English below his latter/better efforts in "Sudden Death" and "Time Cop") protecting a damsel in distress (Yancy Butler) while putting an end to the for-profit-human-hunt-of-homeless-veterans-by-bored-rich-a**holes illegal business of uber bad guys Fouchon (Lance Henriksen, whose literally on fire here! :-D) and van Cleaf (Arnold Vosloo). Unlike the cool teahouse and warehouse action scenes of "HB," though, the first act of "HT" drags... like a lot. I seriously considered skipping to 50+ mins. in when the death of scummy Randal Poe (Eliott Keener) kicks off the Woo spectacle we came to see. That long, self-indulgent and ultimately pointless first third is the main reason this otherwise sumptuous buffet of tasty JCVD/Woo cinematic mayhem "only" gets 4.35 'MICHIGAN BAR 312' PLATES ON NAT'S CONVERTIBLE (out of five).
BONUS HONG KONG ACTION: GHOST IN THE SHELL (2017, 4K UHD)
Yes, it's an American studio-released, English adaptation/remake of a beloved Japanese manga/anime that takes place in a "Blade Runner"-inspired futuristic Tokyo with Japanese culture as its backdrop. But (a) Chinese money (Shanghai Film Group, etc.) co-financed the production, (b) a Chinese actor (Chin Han) is part of the multi-cultural cast playing an important...ish role (Section 9 team member Togusa) and (c) recognizable Hong Kong landmarks (Quarry Bay, Lai Tak Tsuen public housing, etc.) are digitally enhanced and featured often. I've been playing "Cyberpunk 2077" on the Xbox recently and felt inspired to watch "GITS '17" because at times its world building/cyber-enhancements themes feel closer to the CD Projekt Red game universe than Mamoru Oshii's '95 anime.
Like my "Dirty Dancing: The TV Event" review a few days ago, comparisons between OG "GITS" and live-action are unflattering to the latter, especially when key scenes (Major diving from a boat, invisible cloak fight in a shallow water pond, the Spider Tank battle, etc.) are recreated in CG and don't come close to matching the intensity/artistry of the decades-old animated version. Even the ultimate reveal of the origin of who Mayor is/was before she was turned into a super soldier machine with a human 'ghost' (aka spirit) feels like co-screenwriter Ehren Kruger ("Scream 3," anything "Transformers" directed by Michael Bay, the upcoming "F1" Brad Pitt movie, etc.) doing another of his notorious 'dumbing it down for mass consumption' hack jobs. Special effects/production are as good as $110 million could buy eight years ago (!) and the cast ranges from passable (Juliette Binoche, Peter Ferdinando) to not good (Michael Pitt's meant-to-be-tragic-but-comes-across-as-whiny Kuze, Pilou Asbæk's poor man's Batou) with a few inspired choices (third-billed Takeshi Kitano commanding the screen without speaking a word in English as Section 9 boss Aramaki! :-D ). Then hot-off-the-MCU Scarlett Johansson is neither asset nor liability as the protagonist, with the kindest complement I can give her and the movie that they're better than Charlize Theron in the 2005 "Æon Flux" movie... ouch. 3 BAGS OF MEAT FOR HOMELESS STREET DOGS (out of five). 'It's fine' but there's better "GITS" media out there.
Watching Burning Paradise, I could not help thinking about how, barely two decades away from the heyday of Shaw Brothers’ dominance, the filmmaking styles of Hong Kong had change so much. Ringo Lam was one of the influences toward a new form of action cinema there. So was the producer, Tsui Hark.
Burning Paradise is my second encounter this year with the character Fong Sai Yuk. Here he is a disciple at the Shaolin Temple at the time when the new Ching Dynasty is destroying the temple and hunting down the monks. Captured after a fantastic set-piece fight against an entire Ching military unit, Fong is sent to a prison with other monks. This prison is underground, full of dead-ends and countless hidden traps to thwart any escape. The warden, a cruel Ching general with formidable fighting powers, has an assortment of lackeys to put down any attempt at escape.
Fong tries to get out anyway, and there is no shortage of fights. It is fighting with fists, feet, and numerous weapons, sometimes all at once. Firearms even make an appearance. The action gets very heavy toward the end. With so much going on, following everything can be a challenge.
Don’t let the title fool you - this isn’t really a sequel to John Woo’s Hard Boiled (in fact, I’m pretty sure it was shot before that one). What we’ve got here is an action-comedy from the endlessly chaotic Wong Jing.
There are definitely some shared vibes with Hard Boiled: a cop teaming up with a criminal, tons of bad guys on motorbikes, and a final showdown in a hospital where people really love crashing through windows.
Sure, you get John Woo-style shootouts every ten minutes, but deep down this is a broad Hong Kong comedy — loud, goofy, and totally over-the-top. Definitely an acquired taste.
Still, it’s always fun to stumble on early roles from Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs), looking cool and doing his thing before becoming a true superstar.
I've enjoyed all the "Hopping Vampire" films to various degrees but this one's takes awhile to get going with the action. The humor is beginning to feel a little strained but Wu Ma and Anthony Chan go all out with the physical comedy.
Way too many homophobic jokes even by 1980s Hong Kong standards.
NEW KILLERS IN TOWN (1990) Two gifted martial arts students travel from their remote school to the mainland, where they get caught up with a pretty girl and a bunch of gangsters. It’s all the good stuff we love from Hong Kong action. What it lacks in budget and resources, it makes up for with flashy visuals, kinetic action, and eye-popping stunts. Actress Moon Lee gets top billing, and she’s very charming. I’m curious to see what other movies she’s in. The YouTube transfer is all grainy and muddy, though. Hopefully one of those boutique Blu-ray/4K labels can give it a proper restoration someday.
30 days of Georges Melies, day 24: THE MAGIC LANTERN (1903) Two clowns build a magical telescope which they use to spy on people all over the world, and then even more supernatural wackiness happens. This includes a whole lot of dancing girls. Here’s a movie for all the theater kids, in that it has a real old fashioned “Let’s put on a show” vibes.
The mid 80s to early 90s saw a wonderful evolution in Hong Kong Action cinema. By mashing up the classic Kung Fu martial arts/stunt/acrobatics with dramatic Cops vs Mobs* dramas it opened the door to endless options. It also expanded the scope of conflict with regards to set pieces, stunts, combat styles, and weapons. Decades later we are still seeing this evolve and grow. LOVE IT. For today i picked an exceptional example of this mashup.
SPL follows a small group of police officers trying to bring down a mob kingpin (Samo Hung). Things start dark and stay there as the kingpin will eliminate anyone that could get him put away. As such the police team resorts to unethical moves in their mission. One officer, newly joined, questions this approach (Donnie Yen). I dont want to further as if y'all havent seen this one, i HIGHLY suggest it. The fight set pieces are incredibly fast and furious. These include several with actor Wu Jing who is just amazing (knife fights! knife vs baton! you name it). And, obviously, seeing two of the best to do it, Sammo and Donnie, go toe-to-toe is a treat!
One additional note: there are several downright greek tragedy aspects of this movie. This includes a typical "wrap everything up ending" that pulls the rug out in a unbelievable way. This is yet another movie ive watched this month where i was blown away with how they ended it.
(*The idea of mashing up genre's with cops/mob has worked out well in other areas. For example, some of the best Batman graphic novels of the early 80s incorporated mob storylines wonderfully (falcone/maroni). Decades later it was these very stories that "inspired" or in many cases were directly adapted and thus responsible for the gritty "realism" that many such superhero films and shows now have.)
I guess technically this movie has a plot, but it couldn't matter less, because you're treated to wall-to-wall kung fu fights, sword fights, ninja tricks, ninja throwing stars, ninja backflips, ninja eyeliner, teleporting ninjas, toy robots delivering death messages, two extremely awkwardly shot sex scenes, a library of four different sound effects that are used constantly in every fight scene, wonky ADR, a Korean actor with a ridiculous blonde wig, a Garfield phone, and Jean-Michel Jarre's Zoolookologie on the soundtrack. I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of this nonsense.
I watched this on YouTube in what looked like a bad digital transfer of a VHS copy of a VHS copy, but once it ended, I instantly ordered the Blu-ray. Excited to see it again in better quality.
A cop played by Jiu Mou (Lam Wai) wants to catch a criminal, Black Panther, played by this movie’s director, Dick Wei. It gets personal when the killer wipes out the cop’s family. When he finally corners the bad guy, instead of facing up to his punishment, the Triad member jumps to his death. That won’t stop our hero cop, who finds a Taoist priest and goes the whole way to Hell to get his revenge.
In Hell, you can shoot people, which is going to be great when all the people who thought they were following Jesus over the past few years but were in a cult that didn’t follow any of His teachings all die. It’s also awesome news for Jiu Mou, who is fighting ninjas, demons, Dracula and Black Panther, who is working for the Ghost King, a man who runs part of Hell. Also: Hell has a place where you can chill, drink beer and watch women dance.
At least Jiu Mou’s family all get umbrellas and can fly to heaven. Hell looks a lot like Earth, though, and there, everyone has the same problems they had up above. Sounds like Hell, right?
Couldn't agree more on the team of Yeoh & Rothrock. Yes, Madam is one half of the best movie ever made (I really don't enjoy the scenes with the stooge friends, but I'm glad you did!).
I also enjoyed Yes, Madam. Michelle Yeoh commands the screen even in her early days. I also appreciate how the Hong Kong movies like this and Kill Zone are willing to go unexpectedly dark with their endings.
Yes, Madam! (1985) I was originally going to go with A Better Tomorrow, my biggest unseen Woo, but this comment inspired me to switch it up.
This movie's a ton of fun. The fight scenes with Yeoh and Rothrock are awesome. The final fight is probably the best action sequence I've seen this month.
I probably would have traded one or two comedy bits with the petty criminals for more Yeoh/Rothrock beat-em-ups, but some of those gags were funny enough.
Return Engagement (1990, dir. Tung Cho "Joe" Cheung)
A respected gangster boss gets out of prison and tries to 1) go straight and 2) find his missing daughter with the help of a troubled young girl he meets. This is half a genuinely charming drama about that growing relationship, and half an insane John Woo inspired action flick with a body count to rival Hard Boiled. The end battle has to be seen to be believed. Does it involve a battle-truck? You'll have to watch to find out! Highly recommended.
Imagine if DEAD ALIVE-era Peter Jackson had directed a martial-arts/prison/splatter movie and you’ll get an idea of the feel of this film. Nam-Choi, who also directed the Revenge! film I watched, HER VENGEANCE, radically shifts tone here and winds up with a comedic and occasionally wince-inducing winner. Another one I can't believe I haven't previously screened. Call me a sicko, but this is the funniest film I’ve watched this month.
Think I"m only goind with titles in the to-watch purchased bluray pile the rest of the way. Which means I am also going with the newly acquired "Hard Boiled". I love this one.
It's a real challenge to watch a movie a day. I've made an extra effort to stick with it this year and still missed a couple days. Planning out the movies in advance and keeping a balance between quality and crap films has been helpful. I'm prepped to make it down the home stretch with some absolute killers ahead! Finish strong, Junesploitationers!
A comedy farce of mistaken identity and love triangles! A story of triumph where one woman must prove herself in a time when women were disrespected! Lots of great wire-fu fights with Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen!
Michelle Yeoh is a baby-stealing assassin who can turn invisible, Anita Mui is a rooftop-hopping masked superhero, Maggie Cheung is a motorcycle-riding, shotgun-wielding bounty hunter. They start out fighting each other, but eventually join forces to defeat an evil demon wizard or whatever. Everything is awesome. What else is there to say? (Only that I need to follow it up with Executioners asap.)
IRON ANGELS (1987, Teresa Woo) First-time watch, Vinegary Syndrome Blu-ray, 8/10. Yukari Oshima & henchman Hwang Jang-Lee is running a vendetta on cops involved with busting her drug trade, so the DEA steps in on Hong Kong's behalf with enough money to hire the Iron Angels. Moon Lee, Elaine Lui & actor/pop singer Hideki Saijo, as managed by David Chiang, fire buckets of bullets do martial arts & generally give Oshima trouble. The bulk of this film is solid, '80s action without much goofin' off but the finale ratchets things up a few notches. I've wanted to see this for years; I'm glad I waited long enough for a nice Blu. I might've even thought whole movie was as good as the ending if this darn heat wasn't making me so drowsy.
Bloodsport (1988) This is probably my favorite first-time watch of this Junesploitation, even if that is a bit of a cheat since I've seen about half of the movie before. Most reviews of the movie make fun of Jean Claude's insistence on showing he can do the splits, but I don't know, I can't do that, and you probably can't either. It's silly, it's scary (Bolo Yeung is a force of nature), and it's got just enough plot to keep you invested. I would totally go watch some Kumite ass-kicking (it's damn near as theatrical as pro wrestling) if I was cool enough to hear about it.
The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984) I have to admit, I almost turned this off because the copy on Tubi (under the title The Invincible Pole Fighter) looks like a VHS rip by way of a watercolor. My hand hovered over the back button on the remote for a few minutes until I realized that people have had to jump through a lot more hoops to watch Hong Kong cinema that looks a lot worse than this. I'm glad I stuck it out. This is a dynamic family drama disguised in martial arts betrayal and brutal fight scenes.
THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972, dirs. Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh-li)
With MUBI currently having a bunch of Shaw Brothers films on the site, I knew wanted to get to one of those for today. Considering the “action” theme, I also wanted to get away from the historical period “kung fu” movies. This gangster saga set in early 20th-century Shanghai was a perfect choice. Besides the traditional punching and kicking, there are plenty of knives and small axes being swung around in the fight scenes.
Ma Yongzhen is a migrant from the countryside trying to survive and find a way to become somebody important in Shanghai. When he discovers that his fighting skills are superior to those of the hoodlums he encounters, Ma gets a chance to join their ranks when one the leading gangsters of the city takes him under his wing. The weird thing about Ma is that is has scruples, so his new position puts him into having to make uncomfortable decisions. The Boxer from Shantung uses the tropes of a classic rise-and-fall narrative, but it does so with a distinctly Shaw Brothers flavor. As the gang wars heat up, the piles of bodies grow in a surprisingly nihilistic way for the period. The final showdown is a drawn-out slaughter. At over two hours, The Boxer From Shantung is the longest SB production I have watched. While the middle portion takes some patience to get through, the conclusion does make the effort worthwhile.
One the highlights is a sequence of various Chinese fighters taking on a Western wrestler. Though it does not move the narrative ahead, it a very amusing interlude to show more action.
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ReplyDelete'DOING THINGS THE H.K.-HARD WAY' DOUBLE DECKER!
ReplyDeleteHARD BOILED (1992, BLU-RAY)
HARD TARGET: UNRATED (1993, KINO 4K UHD)
It no coincidence that John Woo's last Chinese movie after his early prosperous Honk Kong era (late '70's to early '90's) and the first feature from his American period (early '90's to mid-aughts) both have the word 'Hard' in their respective titles. That's just the way John and his team of Chinese stuntmen rolled back then when delivering the real action goods. ;-)
"Hard Boiled" finds Woo leaving the island at the top of his directorial game with a heroic-cops-vs.-bloodthirsty-gangsters tale that pushes the violence/action quota to bordering-on-cartoony-mayhem extremes. Cool-as-shit Inspector 'Tequila' (Chow Yun-Fat) guns down gangsters by the dozens whenever he isn't playing jazz at a club to relax. With supervisor Tang (Philip Chan) on his case for the recent death of Tequila's partner and the latter's office girlfriend (Teresa Sun-Kwan Mo) getting white rose bouquets from a stranger, things take a turn when new gun-for-hire assassin Alan (Tony Leung) injects himself between the old (Hoi-San Kwan's traditional Uncle Hoi) and new regime (Anthony Wong's hothead Johnny) of mobsters bringing illegal guns to H.K. You know 'Tequila' and Alan are headed for a showdown, but the eventual team-up of these supercops (!) is what we're here for. "HB's" already a winner from the opening teahouse shoot-out that would be the climax of top-tier American action flicks, but here it's merely an appetizer. The hour-long hostage standoff/epic shooting gallery in a hospital full of ̶h̶u̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶e̶l̶d̶s̶ patients and unattended babies with a basement full of hidden arms/explosives has yet to be topped by any action movie (then or now, there or anywhere) as the ultimate display of cinematic balls-to-the-wall badassery with which to close the show. 5 MAD DOGS BRAWLING LIKE ZEROES BUT DYING AS HEROES (out of five).
Doing "Hard Target" seems like the safest pick for many a Junesploitation! day ('90's Action, Revenge, etc.) but I'll use any excuse to rewatch this first crack by an American studio to bring the Hong Kong action template to U.S. cinemas, especially now that the Unrated cut (NC-17 back in '93) is widely available on streaming/physical media. Like the above-mentioned "HB" this one ends on a relentless hour-long pursuit/never-ending action sequence through New Orleans (city and then swamplands) with heroic good guy (Jean-Claude Van Damme looking cool but with acting/English below his latter/better efforts in "Sudden Death" and "Time Cop") protecting a damsel in distress (Yancy Butler) while putting an end to the for-profit-human-hunt-of-homeless-veterans-by-bored-rich-a**holes illegal business of uber bad guys Fouchon (Lance Henriksen, whose literally on fire here! :-D) and van Cleaf (Arnold Vosloo). Unlike the cool teahouse and warehouse action scenes of "HB," though, the first act of "HT" drags... like a lot. I seriously considered skipping to 50+ mins. in when the death of scummy Randal Poe (Eliott Keener) kicks off the Woo spectacle we came to see. That long, self-indulgent and ultimately pointless first third is the main reason this otherwise sumptuous buffet of tasty JCVD/Woo cinematic mayhem "only" gets 4.35 'MICHIGAN BAR 312' PLATES ON NAT'S CONVERTIBLE (out of five).
BONUS HONG KONG ACTION: GHOST IN THE SHELL (2017, 4K UHD)
ReplyDeleteYes, it's an American studio-released, English adaptation/remake of a beloved Japanese manga/anime that takes place in a "Blade Runner"-inspired futuristic Tokyo with Japanese culture as its backdrop. But (a) Chinese money (Shanghai Film Group, etc.) co-financed the production, (b) a Chinese actor (Chin Han) is part of the multi-cultural cast playing an important...ish role (Section 9 team member Togusa) and (c) recognizable Hong Kong landmarks (Quarry Bay, Lai Tak Tsuen public housing, etc.) are digitally enhanced and featured often. I've been playing "Cyberpunk 2077" on the Xbox recently and felt inspired to watch "GITS '17" because at times its world building/cyber-enhancements themes feel closer to the CD Projekt Red game universe than Mamoru Oshii's '95 anime.
Like my "Dirty Dancing: The TV Event" review a few days ago, comparisons between OG "GITS" and live-action are unflattering to the latter, especially when key scenes (Major diving from a boat, invisible cloak fight in a shallow water pond, the Spider Tank battle, etc.) are recreated in CG and don't come close to matching the intensity/artistry of the decades-old animated version. Even the ultimate reveal of the origin of who Mayor is/was before she was turned into a super soldier machine with a human 'ghost' (aka spirit) feels like co-screenwriter Ehren Kruger ("Scream 3," anything "Transformers" directed by Michael Bay, the upcoming "F1" Brad Pitt movie, etc.) doing another of his notorious 'dumbing it down for mass consumption' hack jobs. Special effects/production are as good as $110 million could buy eight years ago (!) and the cast ranges from passable (Juliette Binoche, Peter Ferdinando) to not good (Michael Pitt's meant-to-be-tragic-but-comes-across-as-whiny Kuze, Pilou Asbæk's poor man's Batou) with a few inspired choices (third-billed Takeshi Kitano commanding the screen without speaking a word in English as Section 9 boss Aramaki! :-D ). Then hot-off-the-MCU Scarlett Johansson is neither asset nor liability as the protagonist, with the kindest complement I can give her and the movie that they're better than Charlize Theron in the 2005 "Æon Flux" movie... ouch. 3 BAGS OF MEAT FOR HOMELESS STREET DOGS (out of five). 'It's fine' but there's better "GITS" media out there.
BURNING PARADISE (1994, dir. Ringo Lam)
ReplyDeleteWatching Burning Paradise, I could not help thinking about how, barely two decades away from the heyday of Shaw Brothers’ dominance, the filmmaking styles of Hong Kong had change so much. Ringo Lam was one of the influences toward a new form of action cinema there. So was the producer, Tsui Hark.
Burning Paradise is my second encounter this year with the character Fong Sai Yuk. Here he is a disciple at the Shaolin Temple at the time when the new Ching Dynasty is destroying the temple and hunting down the monks. Captured after a fantastic set-piece fight against an entire Ching military unit, Fong is sent to a prison with other monks. This prison is underground, full of dead-ends and countless hidden traps to thwart any escape. The warden, a cruel Ching general with formidable fighting powers, has an assortment of lackeys to put down any attempt at escape.
Fong tries to get out anyway, and there is no shortage of fights. It is fighting with fists, feet, and numerous weapons, sometimes all at once. Firearms even make an appearance. The action gets very heavy toward the end. With so much going on, following everything can be a challenge.
Hardboiled 2: The Last Blood
ReplyDeleteDon’t let the title fool you - this isn’t really a sequel to John Woo’s Hard Boiled (in fact, I’m pretty sure it was shot before that one). What we’ve got here is an action-comedy from the endlessly chaotic Wong Jing.
There are definitely some shared vibes with Hard Boiled: a cop teaming up with a criminal, tons of bad guys on motorbikes, and a final showdown in a hospital where people really love crashing through windows.
Sure, you get John Woo-style shootouts every ten minutes, but deep down this is a broad Hong Kong comedy — loud, goofy, and totally over-the-top. Definitely an acquired taste.
Still, it’s always fun to stumble on early roles from Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs), looking cool and doing his thing before becoming a true superstar.
Mr. Vampire Saga IV (1988)
ReplyDeleteDir. Ricky Lau
I've enjoyed all the "Hopping Vampire" films to various degrees but this one's takes awhile to get going with the action. The humor is beginning to feel a little strained but Wu Ma and Anthony Chan go all out with the physical comedy.
Way too many homophobic jokes even by 1980s Hong Kong standards.
NEW KILLERS IN TOWN (1990)
ReplyDeleteTwo gifted martial arts students travel from their remote school to the mainland, where they get caught up with a pretty girl and a bunch of gangsters. It’s all the good stuff we love from Hong Kong action. What it lacks in budget and resources, it makes up for with flashy visuals, kinetic action, and eye-popping stunts. Actress Moon Lee gets top billing, and she’s very charming. I’m curious to see what other movies she’s in. The YouTube transfer is all grainy and muddy, though. Hopefully one of those boutique Blu-ray/4K labels can give it a proper restoration someday.
30 days of Georges Melies, day 24: THE MAGIC LANTERN (1903)
Two clowns build a magical telescope which they use to spy on people all over the world, and then even more supernatural wackiness happens. This includes a whole lot of dancing girls. Here’s a movie for all the theater kids, in that it has a real old fashioned “Let’s put on a show” vibes.
SPL aka Sha Po Lang aka Kill Zone (2006)
ReplyDeleteThe mid 80s to early 90s saw a wonderful evolution in Hong Kong Action cinema. By mashing up the classic Kung Fu martial arts/stunt/acrobatics with dramatic Cops vs Mobs* dramas it opened the door to endless options. It also expanded the scope of conflict with regards to set pieces, stunts, combat styles, and weapons. Decades later we are still seeing this evolve and grow. LOVE IT. For today i picked an exceptional example of this mashup.
SPL follows a small group of police officers trying to bring down a mob kingpin (Samo Hung). Things start dark and stay there as the kingpin will eliminate anyone that could get him put away. As such the police team resorts to unethical moves in their mission. One officer, newly joined, questions this approach (Donnie Yen). I dont want to further as if y'all havent seen this one, i HIGHLY suggest it. The fight set pieces are incredibly fast and furious. These include several with actor Wu Jing who is just amazing (knife fights! knife vs baton! you name it). And, obviously, seeing two of the best to do it, Sammo and Donnie, go toe-to-toe is a treat!
One additional note: there are several downright greek tragedy aspects of this movie. This includes a typical "wrap everything up ending" that pulls the rug out in a unbelievable way. This is yet another movie ive watched this month where i was blown away with how they ended it.
(*The idea of mashing up genre's with cops/mob has worked out well in other areas. For example, some of the best Batman graphic novels of the early 80s incorporated mob storylines wonderfully (falcone/maroni). Decades later it was these very stories that "inspired" or in many cases were directly adapted and thus responsible for the gritty "realism" that many such superhero films and shows now have.)
The sequel is as great as this, and feature Tony Jaa
DeleteNinja Terminator (1986, dir. Godfrey Ho)
ReplyDeleteI guess technically this movie has a plot, but it couldn't matter less, because you're treated to wall-to-wall kung fu fights, sword fights, ninja tricks, ninja throwing stars, ninja backflips, ninja eyeliner, teleporting ninjas, toy robots delivering death messages, two extremely awkwardly shot sex scenes, a library of four different sound effects that are used constantly in every fight scene, wonky ADR, a Korean actor with a ridiculous blonde wig, a Garfield phone, and Jean-Michel Jarre's Zoolookologie on the soundtrack. I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of this nonsense.
I watched this on YouTube in what looked like a bad digital transfer of a VHS copy of a VHS copy, but once it ended, I instantly ordered the Blu-ray. Excited to see it again in better quality.
Visa to Hell (1991)
ReplyDeleteA cop played by Jiu Mou (Lam Wai) wants to catch a criminal, Black Panther, played by this movie’s director, Dick Wei. It gets personal when the killer wipes out the cop’s family. When he finally corners the bad guy, instead of facing up to his punishment, the Triad member jumps to his death. That won’t stop our hero cop, who finds a Taoist priest and goes the whole way to Hell to get his revenge.
In Hell, you can shoot people, which is going to be great when all the people who thought they were following Jesus over the past few years but were in a cult that didn’t follow any of His teachings all die. It’s also awesome news for Jiu Mou, who is fighting ninjas, demons, Dracula and Black Panther, who is working for the Ghost King, a man who runs part of Hell. Also: Hell has a place where you can chill, drink beer and watch women dance.
At least Jiu Mou’s family all get umbrellas and can fly to heaven. Hell looks a lot like Earth, though, and there, everyone has the same problems they had up above. Sounds like Hell, right?
YES, MADAM! - 1985 dir. Corey Yuen Kwai
ReplyDeleteMichelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock in their first starring roles and this may be the best new movie I’ve watched this month.
The short hair! The primary color shirts! The badass, go for broke kung fu!
I loved the Three Stooges-thief friends. I loved the three baddies, esp the one it the Groucho Marx fake facial hair.
The ending is genuinely shocking.
We had to suffer thru Lethal Weapon 3 & 4 and couldn’t get one more Yeoh & Rothrock Yes, Madam! sequel?!?!
Couldn't agree more on the team of Yeoh & Rothrock. Yes, Madam is one half of the best movie ever made (I really don't enjoy the scenes with the stooge friends, but I'm glad you did!).
DeleteI also enjoyed Yes, Madam. Michelle Yeoh commands the screen even in her early days. I also appreciate how the Hong Kong movies like this and Kill Zone are willing to go unexpectedly dark with their endings.
DeleteI watched this one in 2023 for Cynthia Rothrock! day! Dug it!
DeleteSame here, zilla! I wish there were more fight scenes with Rothrock and Yeoh, they were so awessome!
DeleteYes, Madam! (1985)
DeleteI was originally going to go with A Better Tomorrow, my biggest unseen Woo, but this comment inspired me to switch it up.
This movie's a ton of fun. The fight scenes with Yeoh and Rothrock are awesome. The final fight is probably the best action sequence I've seen this month.
I probably would have traded one or two comedy bits with the petty criminals for more Yeoh/Rothrock beat-em-ups, but some of those gags were funny enough.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Return Engagement (1990, dir. Tung Cho "Joe" Cheung)
ReplyDeleteA respected gangster boss gets out of prison and tries to 1) go straight and 2) find his missing daughter with the help of a troubled young girl he meets. This is half a genuinely charming drama about that growing relationship, and half an insane John Woo inspired action flick with a body count to rival Hard Boiled. The end battle has to be seen to be believed. Does it involve a battle-truck? You'll have to watch to find out! Highly recommended.
RIKI-OH – THE STORY OF RIKI (1991, Lam Nai-Choi)
ReplyDeleteImagine if DEAD ALIVE-era Peter Jackson had directed a martial-arts/prison/splatter movie and you’ll get an idea of the feel of this film. Nam-Choi, who also directed the Revenge! film I watched, HER VENGEANCE, radically shifts tone here and winds up with a comedic and occasionally wince-inducing winner. Another one I can't believe I haven't previously screened. Call me a sicko, but this is the funniest film I’ve watched this month.
Think I"m only goind with titles in the to-watch purchased bluray pile the rest of the way. Which means I am also going with the newly acquired "Hard Boiled". I love this one.
ReplyDeleteI like your tastes. ✌️😎
DeleteLikewise! I"m up to Tony Leung looking bad a$$ in a library. Might have to squeeze some Wong Kar Wai into the free space day.
DeleteWhere did you get the bluray?
DeleteI think folks are tiring.
ReplyDeleteIt happens every year, and also on the october event. But everytime it takes a while to catch up to all the good suggestions we got during the month
DeleteIt's a real challenge to watch a movie a day. I've made an extra effort to stick with it this year and still missed a couple days. Planning out the movies in advance and keeping a balance between quality and crap films has been helpful. I'm prepped to make it down the home stretch with some absolute killers ahead! Finish strong, Junesploitationers!
DeleteWing Chun 1994
ReplyDeleteDirected by Yuen Woo-Ping
A comedy farce of mistaken identity and love triangles! A story of triumph where one woman must prove herself in a time when women were disrespected! Lots of great wire-fu fights with Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen!
I wish I had time for more movies today...
Heroic Trio (1993)
ReplyDeleteMichelle Yeoh is a baby-stealing assassin who can turn invisible, Anita Mui is a rooftop-hopping masked superhero, Maggie Cheung is a motorcycle-riding, shotgun-wielding bounty hunter. They start out fighting each other, but eventually join forces to defeat an evil demon wizard or whatever. Everything is awesome. What else is there to say? (Only that I need to follow it up with Executioners asap.)
There are SO MANY crazy, amazing Hong Kong movies! Thanks for another one to add to my list!
DeleteIRON ANGELS (1987, Teresa Woo)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time watch, Vinegary Syndrome Blu-ray, 8/10.
Yukari Oshima & henchman Hwang Jang-Lee is running a vendetta on cops involved with busting her drug trade, so the DEA steps in on Hong Kong's behalf with enough money to hire the Iron Angels. Moon Lee, Elaine Lui & actor/pop singer Hideki Saijo, as managed by David Chiang, fire buckets of bullets do martial arts & generally give Oshima trouble. The bulk of this film is solid, '80s action without much goofin' off but the finale ratchets things up a few notches.
I've wanted to see this for years; I'm glad I waited long enough for a nice Blu. I might've even thought whole movie was as good as the ending if this darn heat wasn't making me so drowsy.
Bloodsport (1988)
ReplyDeleteThis is probably my favorite first-time watch of this Junesploitation, even if that is a bit of a cheat since I've seen about half of the movie before. Most reviews of the movie make fun of Jean Claude's insistence on showing he can do the splits, but I don't know, I can't do that, and you probably can't either. It's silly, it's scary (Bolo Yeung is a force of nature), and it's got just enough plot to keep you invested. I would totally go watch some Kumite ass-kicking (it's damn near as theatrical as pro wrestling) if I was cool enough to hear about it.
The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984)
I have to admit, I almost turned this off because the copy on Tubi (under the title The Invincible Pole Fighter) looks like a VHS rip by way of a watercolor. My hand hovered over the back button on the remote for a few minutes until I realized that people have had to jump through a lot more hoops to watch Hong Kong cinema that looks a lot worse than this. I'm glad I stuck it out. This is a dynamic family drama disguised in martial arts betrayal and brutal fight scenes.
THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972, dirs. Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh-li)
ReplyDeleteWith MUBI currently having a bunch of Shaw Brothers films on the site, I knew wanted to get to one of those for today. Considering the “action” theme, I also wanted to get away from the historical period “kung fu” movies. This gangster saga set in early 20th-century Shanghai was a perfect choice. Besides the traditional punching and kicking, there are plenty of knives and small axes being swung around in the fight scenes.
Ma Yongzhen is a migrant from the countryside trying to survive and find a way to become somebody important in Shanghai. When he discovers that his fighting skills are superior to those of the hoodlums he encounters, Ma gets a chance to join their ranks when one the leading gangsters of the city takes him under his wing. The weird thing about Ma is that is has scruples, so his new position puts him into having to make uncomfortable decisions. The Boxer from Shantung uses the tropes of a classic rise-and-fall narrative, but it does so with a distinctly Shaw Brothers flavor. As the gang wars heat up, the piles of bodies grow in a surprisingly nihilistic way for the period. The final showdown is a drawn-out slaughter. At over two hours, The Boxer From Shantung is the longest SB production I have watched. While the middle portion takes some patience to get through, the conclusion does make the effort worthwhile.
One the highlights is a sequence of various Chinese fighters taking on a Western wrestler. Though it does not move the narrative ahead, it a very amusing interlude to show more action.
Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
ReplyDeleteHonestly shocked I haven't seen this one before. Some of the humor didn't work for me, but the fights were good.