point already taken 
;D
Chang Chehās 10 worst in my estimation. Some good stuff in some of these, but overall, they donāt stand up to his notably classier flicksā¦
I loved 3 on that list.
Golden Arm, Disciples Of Death & Ten Tigers. Shows what I know. Na Cha was laughably awful!
[quote=āIā¦Iā¦Idiot, post:244, topic:368ā]I loved 3 on that list.
Golden Arm, Disciples Of Death & Ten Tigers. Shows what I know. Na Cha was laughably awful![/quote]
I enjoy some things about those movies, but compared to his classier stuff, they just donāt compare. Itās just my opinion, though. I just think MONASTERY is a lesser effort when compared to others like HEROES TWO, SHAOLIN AVENGERS, SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS. And KID is inferior compared with other venom movies. Itās a huge fan favorite, though. Most fans do hate TEN TIGERS but some love it. With a decent budget, NA CHA could have been something special. It has its moments, too. I have a wide dub of it somewhere.
It gets confusing with a lot of those flick having the exact same plot. I did see Men From before all the others so that ma y have a lot to do with it. I know a lot of Shaws are based on Chinese history & folklore. Can you confirm, being the aficionado you are, that the decolorization during the fight scenes is because of the overly bloody fight scenes.
It is. Censorship was coming down hard in HK around this time and the black and white footage was the way around it. For a long time I thought it was symbolism for the heroes impending doom as Chang also used different color filters to denote an emotion or to represent a flashback. Curiously though, some prints contain those flashes where the screen goes completely red and others donāt have them. Interestingly, the British tape of MEN FROM THE MONASTERY has a color shot of Fu Shengās death scene whereas the HK dvd the shot is tinted red. Usually three different versions of the films were createdāa strong version for export, a slightly less, but still violent version for HK and a stripped down version for other Asian territories like Malaysia. Any strong gore or violence would be seriously toned down or eliminated altogether and sex scenes were cut and extended kissing was either removed or trimmed.
Got a bit of a shock here
I compared the titles you guys gave me and made a list of five titles that looked very promising, then brought this list back to two titles
10 Tigers was one of them, donāt know why, maybe the very title
Ande then Angel Face starts telling itās a lousy movie
But luckily I opted for the other one: Five Elements Ninjas
looking forward to watching it
[quote=āscherpschutter, post:248, topic:368ā]Got a bit of a shock here
I compared the titles you guys gave me and made a list of five titles that looked very promising, then brought this list back to two titles
10 Tigers was one of them, donāt know why, maybe the very title
Ande then Angel Face starts telling itās a lousy movie
But luckily I opted for the other one: Five Elements Ninjas
looking forward to watching it[/quote]
I am honored that my opinion aided you in a decision, Scherp, but donāt take my word for it. You may enjoy the film. Itās just a pain for me to sit through. Even a friend of mine who seemingly likes everything didnāt care for it. It has some imaginative gore, but little else of substance. FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS is no BOXER FROM SHANTUNG, but it is my favorite Shaw Brothers movie. Thereās so much energy in that movie and it has Chang Cheh displaying some wonderfully imaginative comic book brilliance for the last time. Itās gory, goofy and totally over the top and revels in it. Some of the pics I posted at the site should attest to that. There are also some additional pics from it and others on the āShaw & Kung Fu Cinemaā article I have at the site. Up to Part 4 so far on that one.
Some time back I reviewed possibly Chehās best of his Chang Ho productions. Itās noteworthy for the amount of stars that chipped in for this first Chang Cheh charity picture as well as the participation of future mega heartthrob, Andy Lau. Like his Shaw venom movies, SHANGHAI 13 is an amalgamation of past glories, but itās a fun time just for the sheer amount of talent on screenā¦
As always Sherp, it comes down to opinions. I love Apocalypse Joe for probably the same reason others hate it. I think its a good fun SW. Ten Tigers is close to it IMO. If story structure is more important than the cast, fights, costumes & sets (all are great). A lot of Shaw actors are here that arenāt seen together usually. Canāt go wrong with Chinese Super Ninjas but itās the same sort of āenjoy the ride but donāt question the operatorā sort of movie. If one says āheh, those guys canāt actually do thatā then this might not be the film for you. If dissmemberment scenes like this intrigue you, then fasten your seatbelt.
Donāt worry guys, Iāll blame only myself if I donāt like the movie
Like I said I selected a few titles and this seemed to me a good one to start with (not literally of course, Iāve seen some 15-20 Shaw movies, but most of them when I was young)
Hereās three others that are tops for different reasonsā¦
The first is one of the last from Shaw and itās one of the most gloomy, downbeat, violent and gory productions of their catalog. Great cast, too. Based on a (in)famous historical occurrence.
This next one features some dynamite fight sequences and lots of them. Starring future award winning choreographer Tony Cheng Siu Tung (CHINESE GHOST STORY series, HEROIC TRIO), it also sports an awesome score. Wish I knew what the cues were especially the opening theme. Itās used in many martial arts films. Just a brainless kung fu movie with a decent storyline (Two convicts chained together search for the second half of a medal that reveals a secret) to move things from one fight to the next.
This third one is as depressing as the first film above. Another film about constables, it paints a gruesome picture of corruption among the law and what happens to those who try to stand up for justice. A rare co-starring role for Sun Chien, the kicker in the venoms. A definite hidden gem that was unreleased till the dvd hit a few years ago.
Dude, your unstoppable. There are a ton of Shawās in this realm that I havenāt seen. Notes are being taken.
Well in that case, thereās this oneā¦
Itās a basher film that gets totally insane towards the end. I was really surprised by this one. I had never heard of it before other than owning the original poster and I never would have thought it would have been this kind of violent fighting movie. Shek Kin, the main villain from ENTER THE DRAGON has a role as the main heavies here. I often wondered if after Chang Cheh changed the way violence was perceived on screen, if he hadnāt caused the onslaught of directors in his wake to try and top him in the gore and violence department.
And this one I think I linked here before somewhere. Itās a damn fine spaghetti eastern that uses the āman with a harmonicaā music from OUATITW. Incidentally, the Shawās did pay to use cues from existing films as well as the cues from the deWolfe library. Not sure about the indies that did likewise, though.
Man Angel Face is on a roll lately. Glad to see more awesome contributions from ya. I just read your worst ten and Iāve seen 3 of them and while Naval Commandos isnāt the best I did enjoy the war setting as a change of scenery. Ten Tigers of Kwang Tung and Kid With The Golden Arm have special places for me as they were two of the first few Shaw and Venom movies I saw (dubbed versions) and seeing the newer remastered Celestial Pictures versions of both I truly enjoy them a lot more now. Iāve read and talked to others about Heaven and Hell and it sounded like a very bizarre film. I have read much about the rest but Iāll probably not check them out anytime soon.
NAVAL COMMANDOS has some decent moments, I just thought it wasnāt as good, nor as meticulous as SEVEN MAN ARMY which I thought was FAR better. Three Shaw movies that I remember seeing in theaters were MAD MONKEY KUNG FU, STROKE OF DEATH (MONKEY KUNG FU) and MASKED AVENGERS and was intrigued by the last two the most. From then on the SB banner really meant something to me. I did see KID on television but I couldnāt figure out what the fuss was about. At that time, I compared everything to FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS which was my all time fave upon seeing it the first time on tv. KID is fine, itās not one I watch very often. Ditto for TEN TIGERS. The first time I saw it I was underwhelmed to say the least. The restoration did little to improve my enjoyment of it. Itās just mediocre to me, but I understand why some people like it.
I love Mad Monkey Kung Fu as well. Itās on my list to revisit soon.
Saw Shaolin Avengers this morninā and really loved itā¦Flashback structures usually work for meā¦Apparently the same plot from Men from The Monastery so Iāll have to check that one outā¦
When I was younger I didnāt care much for SHAOLIN AVENGERS (THE INVINCIBLE KUNG FU BROTHERS) and preferred MEN FROM THE MONASTERY (DISCIPLES OF DEATH) because I had seen it first on a number of occasions and SHAOLIN AVENGERS was note for note, the same movie at least during the Hou Wei Chien sequence and also the scene where Fu Sheng fights a guy atop wooden poles with giant spikes below. Years later, though, SHAOLIN AVENGERS became the better movie for me and MONASTERY just came off rather sloppy save for a few spots here and there and the end battle is right gruesome and almost made it all worthwhile.