- Illinois Smith
- Nov 15, 2003
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Ninety-one? There are ninety other "Tiger Drivers"? Do any involve actual tigers, or driving?
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Speaking of Jimmy Wang Yu, I'm gonna throw out a recommendation for The Man From Hong-Kong.
This is like the polar opposite of those 80s Jackie Chan movies where he tried to enter the American market but ended up in lovely buddy cop movies where he shoots and swears a lot. It's a joint Australian-Hong Kong co-production released two years after Enter The Dragon that features The One-Armed Boxer vs James Bond well, George Lazenby anyhow with fight choreography by Sammo Hung.
outlawvern posted:But what makes this movie great is that it has about twelve times more action than most action movies. Okay, so the hang-gliding scenes may go on a little too long. But it’s a movie with foot chases, climbing up the sides of buildings, motorcycle jumps, various vehicles going off ledges, a van that blows up three times, a chain fight on top of an elevator, a skyscraper rapelling scene, and more. During the car chase Lazenby’s car drives right through a house and keeps going, so Fang has to catch up with him and ram his car so hard it splits in half like a fortune cookie. (that’s not some racial comment, fortune cookie just fits what happens better than, say, wishbone or something.)
You get used to movies where you’re waiting for a fight or a chase to happen, and when it does you get excited but it’s over before you know it. THE MAN FROM HONG KONG does not believe in that type of bullshit. THE MAN FROM HONG KONG believes in fight after stunt after chase after long-rear end fight. I knew I had rented well early on when Fang chased a suspect through the streets, caught up with him in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant, had a long fight involving various cooking utensils and ingredients, then moved to the restaurant where they proceeded to destroy many dinners, tables, chairs and dishes as well as their own clothes. His opponent actually splits the rear end of his jeans and you can see that he’s wearing yellow underwear. And that is long before the fight is over.
That’s my favorite fight but it’s only one of many. There’s also the “kung fu demonstration” at Lazenby’s backyard barbecue where he ends up fighting all of the henchmen and destroying all of the snacks and only has to leave when a bow and arrow gets involved. Or the scene where he sneaks into a martial arts academy at night but for some reason every member of the dojo is there and he has to fight all of them at the same time. They should actually have to pay him for lessons because they get a real workout and get a chance to try out every weapon they have on hand.
I mean, this guy beats up a whole lot of people. At one point one of the cops complains that Australia has a small population and that Fang is working through all of them.
But he’s got some Shaft in him too. The movie takes place over a few days but he meets, falls in love with and beds two different Australian ladies. One of them gets blown up, the other one teaches him how to hang glide.
There are plenty of more artful martial arts movies out there, and where it is more convincing that everybody is hitting each other every time. This doesn’t compare to, say, the best Shaw Brothers movies. But the story of an arrogant rear end in a top hat tearing his way through Australia with no regard for the law, ethics, strategy, manners or common sense is pretty hilarious, and the action is so relentless and down and dirty that you gotta love it.
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Aug 4, 2013 11:53
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Apr 26, 2024 00:44
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- Illinois Smith
- Nov 15, 2003
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Ninety-one? There are ninety other "Tiger Drivers"? Do any involve actual tigers, or driving?
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It's not great, but it's a lot of fun!
The best thing about it is that it pissed Chan off so much it made him go I'LL SHOW YOU HOW TO DIRECT A drat COP MOVIE and finish Police Story later that year.
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Aug 5, 2013 21:24
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Aug 4, 2013 11:53
