February 15, 2004

Curious, George: Which of these kung fu movies must I see?

The National Film Theatre here in London is having a season of classic martial arts films. They all look cool, but since a villainous gang of roving kickboxers has destroyed my father's dojo, I cannot afford to go to the NFT every night this month. So, would any kungfu-savvy mofites like to suggest two or three of the above films that I MUST see? Although my focus at the moment is on choosing some flicks to see on the big screen, I'm also open to suggestions for ones that don't appear on the NFT screening list, but which are available on video or DVD. (PS: This is my first Curious, George. (Not to mention my first FPP) Hope I'm doing it right...)

posted by jacobw 20 years ago
  • the link to your list is missing... i await it with baited breath. well, with coffee and breakfast bagel breath at any rate.
  • Its not on the list, but try to see Warriors Two. Its absolutely fucking superb, basically.
  • Not sure what's on your list, but I highly recommend Fists of Fury.
  • ok i'm really, *really* tired. totally missed that the link was in the title. well i've only seen one film on that list, enter the dragon, and i know it's sort of standard fair but i really liked it. another that's not on the list but a fave of mine that falls into the m/a category is the bride with white hair. i never tire of it or it's sequel.
  • I'm going to echo one of t r a c y's choices...Enter the Dragon is one of the most superb martial arts flick. It shows a master at the top (and end) of his game.
  • Enter the Dragon is excellent, but it really is the most frustrating film ever. All film you're looking forward to Bruce Lee vs Bolo Yeung, and then its just about to happen, oh yes. But no, Bruce Lee steps aide and lets some bloody rubbish American have the fight, and the fight is just rubbish. Pisses me off every damn time.
  • jacobw : wow, this is an incredible lineup. Things I've seen and would recommend : The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Shaolin Sanshiliu Fang) Dragon Inn (Longmen Kezhan) Enter the Dragon Return to the 36th Chamber (Shaolin Dapeng Dashi) Swordswoman of Huangjiang (Huangjiang Nüxia) Several are documentary in nature, too. What really stands out here is Hong Kong Hero: Sir Run Run Shaw not only did he make a lot of kung fu flicks, he also went on to play a part in producing Bladerunner. I'll be honest. See them all. Lie for a student discount, eat on the cheap, sell blood, beg, borrow, steal, whatever. Our indie theater has a kung fu festival twice a year, four days a month. I'm quite jealous that you get this array of movies to see on the big screen. The only thing that's missing are Jet Li's early stuff, Fists of Legend and the Once Upon a Time in China... series among them. They also coulda shown Wing Chun, another great, and... *trails off into the distance*
  • boo is pretty right on. They all look good.
  • Crippled Masters was suprisingly good. Two karate masters, one with no legs and one with no arms go after the crime boss who maimed them. Not really for the squeamish though.
  • I'm going to recommend a movie that isn't on the list, and I don't even know if it's available -- I saw it at a festival almost a decade ago -- but if you get the chance, don't miss it. The Chinese Feast (review here) is kung-fu with a twist: it involves dueling chefs instead of swordsmen, with the good and bad guys trying to win control of a restaurant. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful this movie is, and an ex-wife who was a professional cook said it was the only movie she'd seen that accurately depicted a restaurant kitchen. And it's by Tsui Hark! What are you waiting for?
  • Bah. None of these films seem to be about Monkey Kung Fu.
  • Well, they could always show a few episodes of this to appease us, homunculus.
  • homonculus : There's an fighter in Wing Chun who introduces himself with much martial bombast and posturing, then his declaration, "They call me... IRON MONKEY" And for a period of time, this little sound bite was my answering machine message. ... Until my wife left a message on the machine. Then it changed.
  • Wing Chun was great. I loved the fight over the tofu. If I remember correctly, after Iron Monkey was beaten he had to refer to Wing Chun as his mother. I never really understood that part.
  • New Michelle Yeow film: The Touch.
  • Or not: Jet Li denies “monk” rumors. Here's an interesting review of Hero: Fascinating Fascism.
  • For a different flavor, check out Le Pacte Des Loups. American Indian kung-fu in prerevolutionary France!
  • Has anyone here seen Iron Monkey? How is it?
  • If I remember correctly, after Iron Monkey was beaten he had to refer to Wing Chun as his mother.I never really understood that part. It's a common trope in martial arts novels where a character hears a claim of seemingly impossible odds, he'll swear that if that claim was carried out (in this case a mere woman actually defeating him), he'd call the claimant mother/father (whichever applicable). Sometimes grandmother/grandfather, even. Or occasionally Teacher. It's sort of an equivalent to "I'll eat my shorts!" kind of thing. Except in this case, since a man's honor in the martial arts world (the Rivers and Lakes, or jianghu) is his word, he has to carry it out and call Wing Chun mom.
  • Iron Monkey is freaking hilarious. Definitely watch it.
  • No, the correct story is that Jet Li is going to replace Tony Shaloub as "Monk". -The North Hollywood Reporter
  • Iron Monkey is freaking hilarious. Definitely watch it. Will do. Thanks!
  • Here's the trailer for House of Flying Daggers.
  • Quite apropos the movie title.
  • Akahige aka Red Beard. The top link gave me a file not found, so I am just chiming in with random kung-fu awesomeness.
  • If I could practice any form for movie kung-fu, it would be the Tai-Chi style from 1:37 - 3:14 here (Kung Fu Hustle, major spoilers).
  • Looking at all these two year old posts; one of my fav kung-fu flicks is Return to the 36th Chamber. But, how come no one mentioned The Street Fighter? Speaking of Sonny Chiba, a really bad-ass B rated Chiba movie is The Bodyguard, he plays himself taking down the yakuza with his fists. In the opening sequence two students in a dojo argue over who is the better fighter: Sonny Chiba or Bruce Lee. And they argue with good old seventies style kung-fu. My mind knows this is delicious.
  • Kung Fu Hustle, a total blast! Iron Monkey, teh pretty good! House of Flying Daggers. Bad, bad, storyline and inconsistent kung-fu physics. Ugh. Zatoichi. Must-see! Really funny in parts. Twilight Samurai. Excellent drama!
  • FPP worthy, Hom! Crippled kung-fu masters, yes indeed, the Black Knight has not fully explored his career options.
  • I thought he joined the Sith.
  • Heh, that's true! On a different note, i gotta say that the Hero sequence with Jet Li fighting Donnie has some really sucky moments in it. Like when one of them is hanging upside down and it looks fake. This is probably my biggest complaint about Zhang Yimou's kung-fu movies. The worst of course is Flying Daggers with a load of hokey fights that don't make sense.
  • I find a cinema bound to realism militates against the poetic, in the main. I'm like a kid, I like colour, movement and sound in my movies, and consider it a phantasmatic space.
  • InsolentChimp, you're bang on with The Bodyguard. It's fucking brilliant. Confusing, perhaps, until you allow your mind go blank, and not be too concerned with details like "plot". That first bit blows and reblows the mind. And all that 70s Times Square squalour followed by what is essentially a fan-boy punchup -- aces! It's made only better by Sonny himself showing up as this Carlos The Jackal moviestar and one man crime unit... Simply fucking brilliant... As an aside, a friend of mine who is married to a Japanese woman, is going to buy a Japanese dog -- specifically, a Shiba inu. He has given me his word that said dog will be named Sonny, to make it a Sonny Shiba Inu. Given how his wife is a huge Sonny Chiba fan, and joyously recalls how she was held aloft as a baby by the great man himself -- a memory which she would have been too young to form -- naming the dog Sonny in tribute should not be a problem.
  • I loves all of Stoneface's (Takeshi Kitano) films. IIRC, his face is half-paralyzed due to a motorcycle accident. That expressionlessness makes him so much more menacing! Jackie Chan, however, is the king of fighting with found objects. *gets excited, grabs nearby coat tree, trips boss with it, spins and clocks the VP in the back of the head, balances on it and slides over tops of cubicles to the front door, pole-vaults onto passing delivery truck, hooks coat tree onto driver's collar, pulls him out of the truck, swings in and kicks the passenger out the other side, drives the truck, slowly realizes horrible, horrible mistake, pulls over, turns off ignition, waits for police*
  • Saw Kitano the other day in Battle Royale II. Not nearly as good as Battle Royale. Not that either is, strictly speaking, a kung fu movie, but the original is definitely a must-see. Even so, my fav for Kitano would have to be The Blind Swordsman.
  • I think my favorite might be Brother.
  • I saw Brother and it was good at the beginning but I felt a little let down near the end. Not sure why though. Have you seen Zatoichi? Now there is a masterpiece!
  • Oops just realized the Captain already said it : "Zatoichi" = The Blind Swordsman. I love the scene where the nephew decides to teach a couple of students his version of stick fighting.
  • Jet Li as the Monkey King? I think I just wet myself. Yup.
  • Needs more fighting.