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It's not just Shaw Brothers. Ending abruptly was common for martial arts films in general. At first it was weird to me but I love it. It'd be awesome if a movie had the guts to do that nowadays.
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Jan 16, 2022 03:37
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| # ? May 13, 2024 02:43 |
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Arrow's putting out Eight Diagram Pole Fighter in the US in April.
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Jan 28, 2022 16:39
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My girlfriend sent me a link to a twitch channel called Wuxia Central that's nothing but these types of movies. It's good second monitor viewing. The movies are played at random from what she claims is a list of 64 movies but I've no clue where she got that info from. I've watched over the last week and only seen two repeats, although one was less than 12 hours after the previous showing of it. I haven't seen anything real big name yet, but they have fun stuff. Lots of abrupt rear end endings. It's great.
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Jan 29, 2022 19:23
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I think my favorite abrupt ending is in Kid With The Golden Arm. main bad guy has been defeated and blinded in the climactic fight and announces that he will renounce killing and retire to the mountains, and the hero agrees to spare him. Out of nowhere the love interest pops out from some bushes and fuckin impales him from behind. Then the main character kinda shrugs and says “Hey can you finish escorting the treasure from here? I’m going to get drunk for 3 days” and walks offscreen. Credits roll.
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Jan 29, 2022 22:20
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I watched The Deadly Silver Ninja over 20 years ago, and I still remember its ridiculously abrupt ending. The hero and his girlfriend finally kill all the ninjas and are surrounded by their dead bodies. They resume their fighting stance, he looks at her with an audible smirk. Cut to black.
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Jan 29, 2022 23:26
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Why do so many older movies from Taiwan and China have ninja in them? I thought that was more of a Japanese thing.
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Feb 5, 2022 19:53
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I figured it was catering to the American and European audiences
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Feb 5, 2022 22:06
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Anita Mui is so great in Drunken Master II
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Feb 6, 2022 02:42
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Yeah, I would watch a whole other movie of her just channeling Lucille Ball like that
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Feb 6, 2022 03:23
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El Gallinero Gros posted:Anita Mui is so great
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Feb 6, 2022 03:36
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I also love the musical cue when she does one kungfu move against Yuen Woo Ping
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Feb 6, 2022 17:29
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TTBF posted:Why do so many older movies from Taiwan and China have ninja in them? I thought that was more of a Japanese thing. Hong Kong got way into this. Once Cannon Films released Enter the Ninja the ninja craze began in the US and companies wanted to their flicks to sell there. You can see the really abrupt shift with Shaw movies dropping "Actually ninjitsu was invented in China 800 years ago" and stuff like that Then not long after you of course got ninja/Shaolin vs. kinda flicks like Five Elements Ninja, Ninja in the Dragon's Den, Ninja: The Final Duel, etc. That mixing of the two was happening intentionally on the distribution level too. Like you could by multiple VHSes of Sho Kusugi saying "Hi, I'm Sho Kusigi, welcome to the Ninja Theater This is a weapon called sai." [brief historical cultural explanation followed by Sho Kusugi owning some fools with it] "And now I would like to introduce to you, one of the finest Kung Fu films" [a Hong Kong martial world shaolin flick starts playing] There's also the most infamous example of Godrey Ho taking whatever flicks and adding white people ninja characters to them so they'd do $$$ in Europe. Like the unintentional Chinese ninjas and other mish-mash of stuff in Mortal Kombat comes from that intentional mish-mash of stuff in those movies. Neo Rasa fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Feb 6, 2022 |
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Feb 6, 2022 17:59
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Anita Mui is fuckin incredible, taken too soon 
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Feb 6, 2022 18:03
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Yeah, it's really sad, she was only 40. I have a real soft spot for her because watching Heroic Trio on TNT or some poo poo was what got me into import kung fu movies. She's mostly playing it straight there but she's so funny in Drunken Master 2 and Rumble in the Bronx
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Feb 6, 2022 21:55
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Speaking of ninja, I experienced the 1980s US ninja craze as a kid, and watched all those Cannon films. I enjoyed them for what they were, but even as a kid I could see how schlocky they were. Japan made several good ninja films in the 1960s, but I had no idea at the time because nobody had thought it was worth it to subtitle them and make VHS releases for the US market. If I am remembering correctly, a lot of Kurosawa films hadn't even been released over here at the time. Today though you can get a lot of them on DVD. Seventeen Ninja, Castle of Owls, and The Third Ninja are all fantastic. Also good are some of the films in the Shinobi no Mono series. These are all black and white films (although Castle of Owls was later remade in color which you can see in the link above), that are pretty dark in tone. A running theme is about how much it sucks to be a ninja. A great example is Seventeen Ninja, in which the leader of a clan is tasked to steal some papers from a near-impenetrable castle, papers that detail a plot that if revealed, will force one of the Shogun's sons to commit seppuku. The guy's clan has had many of its members killed, he's down to his last sixteen, and he has to sacrifice most of them in order to pull this off. Lots of use of light and shadow, very noir-ish, some pretty neat fight scenes, the themes of sacrifice and the "love is forbidden to a ninja" trope. The ninja are mostly portrayed as the "good" guys and as underdogs, struggling against the Shogunate, and occasionally a "bad" ninja clan that has sided with the Shogunate. Anyway, they are great. I've bought my discs from sites like samuraidvd.com. One slighty more recent US Ninja film that's awesome but not well-known is The Hunted, in which Christopher Lambert is used as a pawn in a struggle between a guy who comes from a long line of samurai and the leader of a modern-day ninja clan. It has an absolutely apeshit crazy set-piece sequence on a bullet train.
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Feb 8, 2022 03:57
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Lumbermouth posted:Arrow's putting out Eight Diagram Pole Fighter in the US in April. I'm excited by this
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Feb 15, 2022 23:34
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Folks, I can't remember if it was this thread, or the physical media thread, but one of you posted a great link to a website with a great selection of region free kung fu DVD's, and I'd be appreciative if it could be posted if it was here
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Feb 16, 2022 02:49
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Neo Rasa posted:Hong Kong got way into this. Thank you! That was very informative!
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Feb 16, 2022 20:20
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Not sure if it's been on there long (I feel like I would have noticed it if it was), but Amazon Prime US currently has Fate of Lee Khan streaming which is a must watch if you love Dragon Inn
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Feb 16, 2022 20:23
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Lumbermouth posted:Arrow's putting out Eight Diagram Pole Fighter in the US in April. Oh hell yeah. This has been at the top of my watchlist for forever but I've never found a way to see it.
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Feb 16, 2022 20:29
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https://i.imgur.com/WJqbPOk.mp4
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Feb 16, 2022 21:44
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RichterIX posted:Not sure if it's been on there long (I feel like I would have noticed it if it was), but Amazon Prime US currently has Fate of Lee Khan streaming which is a must watch if you love Dragon Inn This movie (like all King Hu movies) is great. Criterion Channel had it for a while before Prime, but it looks to be gone there. They do still have Raining in the Mountain over there though, and while that one has a lot less action it is still very good.
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Feb 17, 2022 02:30
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Eight Diagram Teeth Fucker is a must watch for any martial arts film fan.
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Feb 17, 2022 03:23
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Lobok posted:Eight Diagram Teeth Fucker 
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Feb 17, 2022 05:45
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When you finally see it, you'll know.
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Feb 17, 2022 06:04
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Lobok posted:Eight Diagram Teeth Fucker is a must watch for any martial arts film fan. Unreservedly yes! And it's even more impactful for those of us with dental anxiety. 
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Feb 17, 2022 12:03
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FancyMike posted:This movie (like all King Hu movies) is great. Criterion Channel had it for a while before Prime, but it looks to be gone there. They do still have Raining in the Mountain over there though, and while that one has a lot less action it is still very good. I just watched the blu-ray of Legend of the Mountain and it was so good as well, Raining is the only one I haven't watched yet I think.
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Feb 17, 2022 16:01
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RichterIX posted:I just watched the blu-ray of Legend of the Mountain and it was so good as well, Raining is the only one I haven't watched yet I think. I caught the Legend of the Mountain restoration in a theater. Me and the three other people there had a great time.
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Feb 17, 2022 19:42
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Hey guys what's the name of the movie where it begins with two dudes breaking into this place to steal some magical armor (I think) and a guy in a little rowboat on wheels comes out and tries to fight them off?
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Feb 20, 2022 15:17
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Human Tornada posted:Hey guys what's the name of the movie where it begins with two dudes breaking into this place to steal some magical armor (I think) and a guy in a little rowboat on wheels comes out and tries to fight them off? That's Drunken Dragon aka Exciting Dragon from 1985: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k5ESy3Otuw It's a Taiwanese knockoff of the Shaolin/Taoism Drunkard films of Yuen Woo Ping, but I think they make a nice trilogy together
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Feb 20, 2022 17:59
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Dr. Jerrold Coe posted:That's Drunken Dragon aka Exciting Dragon from 1985: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k5ESy3Otuw This is great and totally fits right in but aren't there already like 4 Miracle Fighter movies? I think it would make a nice quintuple or possibly a sextuple?
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Feb 20, 2022 22:34
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Dr. Jerrold Coe posted:That's Drunken Dragon aka Exciting Dragon from 1985: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k5ESy3Otuw That's the one, thanks
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Feb 21, 2022 00:45
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Sgt. Politeness posted:This is great and totally fits right in but aren't there already like 4 Miracle Fighter movies? Well, looks like I have some movies to watch!
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Feb 21, 2022 01:27
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What are some pro watches from that Wu Tang channel? I work overnights and am in the mood to binge some kung fu
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Feb 22, 2022 08:46
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thatfuturekid posted:What are some pro watches from that Wu Tang channel? I work overnights and am in the mood to binge some kung fu Some all time classics: Born Invincible: https://youtu.be/YHfKzrT0eFo Invincible Armour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHM7zIX5Lzo Hitman in the Hand of Buddha: https://youtu.be/XwEXIdrmD1U And other good ones: Duel of the Tough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65j5QCqqLKM (cheesy Korean flick dubbed by Joseph Lai) Four Infernos to Cross: https://youtu.be/pkf9QXtqJwA (ditto, contains the random line "drat she's a sexy bitch!") Fist of Fury 2+3 double feature: https://youtu.be/uGWE1FjwtIU (some great Bruceploitation) The Leg Fighters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjOecR17PPc (Lee Tso Nam directs Hsia Kwan-Li, awesome fights)
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Feb 22, 2022 15:26
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Dr. Jerrold Coe posted:movie recs Much appreciated! I did watch The Flying Guillotine and Master of... on Pluto TV this morning, as I had never seen the former, and Master only once before. The Flying Guillotine rip was straight from an old VHS tape, which on one hand added to the charm, but made it hard to enjoy the locations used. Overall enjoyed it quite a bit though, and love how much it is played straight compared to Master. Usually the more plot driven movies bore me, but this one kept my attention throughout. Master of the Flying Guillotine, of course, is just so good. I forgot how good the fights were, because my mind only remembered the awesome, wacky poo poo.
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Feb 22, 2022 16:20
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The version I first saw also looked like a bad tape recording. I know there was an HD print that came out several years ago but I wonder if before then the crappy VHS quality was what most copies were? I feel like this was talked about in this thread at some point.
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Feb 22, 2022 17:12
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Oh man, I love all the guillotine knockoff/sequels, weird/super weapons are one of my favorite things in old martial arts films: Fatal Flying Guillotines: https://youtu.be/hVXYD8PTTdU Shaolin Death Squad: https://youtu.be/8HujbIjJrug Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue: https://youtu.be/Ww9rEhW9lEw Three great cheap knockoffs with Carter Wong and lots of weird weapons! Mystagogue has some Shaolin Temple death traps too! Deadly Silver Spear: https://youtu.be/F5OgeWt2564 Jimmy Wang Yu with more weapons and a beautiful snowy setting. The Dragon Missile (trailer): https://youtu.be/Bes7xUNEUaI This was the Shaw Bros. knocking off their own hit The Flying Guillotine. Everybody dogs it but I think it's a good flick with a cool alternative to the guillotine! Zatoichi Meets the Flying Guillotine: https://youtu.be/7-rqcU7wAxM Combo knockoff with a great Zatoichi impersonator. Crap quality copy, would like to see this one with a print on par with the actual Zatoichi films.
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Feb 22, 2022 19:19
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Fatal Flying Guillotines interprets the guillotines as some sort of mechanized thing, like drones on a leash. There's an old man who sits on a bamboo platform all day and if you enter into his immediate vicinity he'll sick his guillotines on you. Or something like that, I watched it a few months ago and it didn't leave much of an impression beyond that. I remember liking Dragon Missile in comparison but I remember even less about it. IIRC the Jimmy Wang Yu movie "Killer Meteors" is a ripoff of that, with the titular meteors being some sort of staff that shoots an explosive head? Pre-fame Jackie Chan plays the villain but it's not as interesting as that sounds. Anyways I picked up Arrow Media's Shawscope vol 1 box set. The film lineup is really solid. There's one or two I haven't seen but for the most part every film is a good selection. Uh, and then there's Might Peking Man for some reason. I haven't seen it, maybe the ape does kung fu? Wouldn't be the first time in one of these.
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Mar 7, 2022 00:26
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Mighty Peking Man is pretty good, no goofy ape-fu comparable to A.P.E's shenanigans. Good FX but the film in general feels pretty rough at times. There's a really long writeup here of the production which goes in to some difficulties: http://www.coolasscinema.com/2022/01/celluloid-trails-amazing-colossal.html
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Mar 7, 2022 02:09
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