Right, this is were the fun begins!
Reantimator, being the 'Action Movie Addict' that he is (and, yes, he LOVES referring to him / itself in the third-person!), needs a constant injection of Kung Fu movie greats to keep his CPU running nice and smoothly. So he thought it'd be nice to take a trip down memory lane and dish out the skinny on twelve such movies that any discerning fan o' the Fu should seek out IMMEDIATELY.
I'm not going to waffle on about major plotage, subtext and all that boring stuff. I'm here to spit - and spit I will!
So, in no particular order, here's the first 3...
THE PRODIGAL SON
Now I know I said "in no particular order", and I kinda meant it. But this first entry is, and always will be, numero uno, number one, the tip-topest, bestest and most badass Kung Fu movie you will EVER see. In fact, it'll be one of the best films you will ever see - FULL STOP!
To cut a long story short, it's one of those 'Young upstart wants to learn Kung Fu (in this case Wing Chun) from a martial arts master who refuses to do so until this happens and that happens, and then he agrees to, and then there's...er...loads of fights, bad guys, comedy and that kinda stuff'...and breathe out...PHEW!
This is, by far, Sammo Hung's best movie out of a pretty big list of great Sammo movies. The performances by Lam Ching Ying, Yuen Biao, Frankie Chan and Sammo himself are top notch in every way. The story and screenplay zips along like 'Zippy Zipperton', the camera work and music fit like a snug-fitting glove. And the fight scenes - oh, those beautiful fight scenes - will, sure as heck-fire, wear out the rewind button on your DVD remote and have you coming back for more...and more...AND MORE!
See it...SEE IT NOW!
IMDB
36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN
'The Pops' / Lau Kar Leung's classic film about the legendary figure 'San Te' oozes that Shaw Brothers style and charm that we all know and love.
It centres around the young anti-manchu rebel San Te (here played to perfection by the 'Master Killer' himself - Gordon Liu) who, after being beaten up by Manchus following an attempted uprising, ends up at the Shaolin Temple where he endeavours to learn Kung Fu by going through the '35 Chambers'. (If you want to know what the '36th Chamber' is - watch the movie!)
Other than the fact that this film is great in every single way, the thing that really impresses are those AMAZING Shaw Brothers sets and the mood captured in all the temple scenes. Great performances from Liu, Lo Lieh, Wilson Tong and the uber-prolific Lee Hoi San also make this a must see.
IMDB
ENTER THE DRAGON
This was Bruce Lee's final film and released just days after his death in 1973 and does it kick ass? YES IT DOES!
Lee plays...er...Lee, a Shaolin Temple student who is sent to a martial arts competition to give it's frontman, Han (played with menace by Shek Kin) - a Shaolin betrayer - a piece of his mind. On top of this he's asked to go all 'James Bond' by British Intelligence to take down Han's drug-trafficking and prostitution business.
"Iconic" isn't even the word for this fantastic cross-over movie. Not only have you got Lee looking cool and charismatic as ever, but you've got fantastic support by guys like John Saxon, 'Black Belt Jones
' Jim Kelly, Sammo Hung (who appears in a nice little duel with Lee at the beginning of the movie) and, last but by no means least, Bolo Yueng.
Also worthy of mention is the fact that a whole slew of HK Kung Fu fan favorites make brief appearances. These include: Jackie Chan, Billy Chan, Roy Chiao, Phillip Ko, Mars, Meng Hoi, Wilson Tong, Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah...to name but a few.
In all likelihood you've already seen this movie, but if you haven't...now's the time!
IMDB
Stay tuned for the next three in my twelve-strong list of Hong Kong Fu Flick greats...
Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Reantimator, being the 'Action Movie Addict' that he is (and, yes, he LOVES referring to him / itself in the third-person!), needs a constant injection of Kung Fu movie greats to keep his CPU running nice and smoothly. So he thought it'd be nice to take a trip down memory lane and dish out the skinny on twelve such movies that any discerning fan o' the Fu should seek out IMMEDIATELY.
I'm not going to waffle on about major plotage, subtext and all that boring stuff. I'm here to spit - and spit I will!
So, in no particular order, here's the first 3...
THE PRODIGAL SON
Now I know I said "in no particular order", and I kinda meant it. But this first entry is, and always will be, numero uno, number one, the tip-topest, bestest and most badass Kung Fu movie you will EVER see. In fact, it'll be one of the best films you will ever see - FULL STOP!
To cut a long story short, it's one of those 'Young upstart wants to learn Kung Fu (in this case Wing Chun) from a martial arts master who refuses to do so until this happens and that happens, and then he agrees to, and then there's...er...loads of fights, bad guys, comedy and that kinda stuff'...and breathe out...PHEW!
This is, by far, Sammo Hung's best movie out of a pretty big list of great Sammo movies. The performances by Lam Ching Ying, Yuen Biao, Frankie Chan and Sammo himself are top notch in every way. The story and screenplay zips along like 'Zippy Zipperton', the camera work and music fit like a snug-fitting glove. And the fight scenes - oh, those beautiful fight scenes - will, sure as heck-fire, wear out the rewind button on your DVD remote and have you coming back for more...and more...AND MORE!
See it...SEE IT NOW!
IMDB
36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN
'The Pops' / Lau Kar Leung's classic film about the legendary figure 'San Te' oozes that Shaw Brothers style and charm that we all know and love.
It centres around the young anti-manchu rebel San Te (here played to perfection by the 'Master Killer' himself - Gordon Liu) who, after being beaten up by Manchus following an attempted uprising, ends up at the Shaolin Temple where he endeavours to learn Kung Fu by going through the '35 Chambers'. (If you want to know what the '36th Chamber' is - watch the movie!)
Other than the fact that this film is great in every single way, the thing that really impresses are those AMAZING Shaw Brothers sets and the mood captured in all the temple scenes. Great performances from Liu, Lo Lieh, Wilson Tong and the uber-prolific Lee Hoi San also make this a must see.
IMDB
ENTER THE DRAGON
This was Bruce Lee's final film and released just days after his death in 1973 and does it kick ass? YES IT DOES!
Lee plays...er...Lee, a Shaolin Temple student who is sent to a martial arts competition to give it's frontman, Han (played with menace by Shek Kin) - a Shaolin betrayer - a piece of his mind. On top of this he's asked to go all 'James Bond' by British Intelligence to take down Han's drug-trafficking and prostitution business.
"Iconic" isn't even the word for this fantastic cross-over movie. Not only have you got Lee looking cool and charismatic as ever, but you've got fantastic support by guys like John Saxon, 'Black Belt Jones
' Jim Kelly, Sammo Hung (who appears in a nice little duel with Lee at the beginning of the movie) and, last but by no means least, Bolo Yueng.Also worthy of mention is the fact that a whole slew of HK Kung Fu fan favorites make brief appearances. These include: Jackie Chan, Billy Chan, Roy Chiao, Phillip Ko, Mars, Meng Hoi, Wilson Tong, Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah...to name but a few.
In all likelihood you've already seen this movie, but if you haven't...now's the time!
IMDB
Stay tuned for the next three in my twelve-strong list of Hong Kong Fu Flick greats...
Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Cool! Love the ENTER THE DRAGON trailer: great music!
ReplyDeleteYeah, great stuff from Lalo Schifrin. :)
ReplyDelete