I met Hwang Jang-lee today. He’s seventy but looks about fifty.
That’s awesome, Yodlaf!
Hwang Jang Lee was and is one of my all-time favorites. What a great opportunity!
I revisited two great Sun Chung classics:
Rendezvous With Death
To Kill a Mastermind
Among Sun Chung’s films, I find both of these far more entertaining than Avenging Eagle, which seems to get all the fanfare.
Man you are so lucky! The greatest. Did you ask him if he has a copy of Canton Viper on DVD? 
[quote=“Filmlovr1, post:764, topic:368”]I revisited two great Sun Chung classics:
Rendezvous With Death
To Kill a Mastermind
Among Sun Chung’s films, I find both of these far more entertaining than Avenging Eagle, which seems to get all the fanfare.[/quote]
All classics. Avenging Eagle is awesome too… Hows the picture quality of your To Kill a Mastermind? The DVD I have looks fair…
My DVD of To Kill a Mastermind, I would rate the picture quality as fair to good. Not quite as clear and sharp as some of my other Shaw Brothers DVDs, but pretty good.
It’s criminal that IVL didn’t release a DVD of To Kill a Mastermind, I suppose the best we’ll get for now is the ZiiEagle rip.
There’s loads on there I want.
The Shaolin Plot (1977)
Starring Chen Hsing as an evil Manchu prince(?) who seeks to collect the secret manuals of every martial arts sect in China. He gets them all, except for the Shaolin manual. In order to do this, he must infiltrate the temple to gain access to Shaolin’s off-limits library.
James Tien co-stars as the son of a man whose father was killed for their Wudang/Tai Chi manuals.
Also featuring:
As protagonists:
Casanova Wong
Kwon Young-Moon
Kam Kong
As villains:
Sammo Hung
Yen Shi-Kwan (Jen Shih-Kuan)
Fung Hak-On
Chin Yuet-Sang
I thought this movie would be better, but the truth is, there are long periods where it drags considerably. James Tien, most familiar as one of Bruce Lee’s co-stars in The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, is definitely not leading man material. He worked well as an arch-villain in movies like Hand of Death and Bone Crushing Kid, but lacks the charisma and physical skills necessary to headline a film. In fact, in Shaolin Plot, his character comes across as prissy and stupid. It seems the director either knew that or became aware of it, which is evident during the final battle, and by his absence during a good portion of the film. His comparative lack of charisma and physical skills is surprising, since he was an alumni of the famed Fu Shing Opera School in Taiwan, which produced such stars as Angela Mao, Chia Ling, Chang Yi, Li Yi-Min, Chin Lung, Peng Kang, Robert Tai, and Venoms member Chiang Sheng, among others.
The real discovery here was Korean kicker Casanova Wong, who made his Chinese film debut here.
Chen Hsing was never a favorite of mine, but he works well as the villain here, almost as well as his great performance in The Himalayan. His scenes are quite entertaining in the film.
The Shaolin Plot was filmed all or mostly in South Korea, and utilizes some beautiful location shots.
Overall, I’d rate this movie as a 3.5/5.
[quote=“Yodlaf Peterson, post:768, topic:368”]It’s criminal that IVL didn’t release a DVD of To Kill a Mastermind, I suppose the best we’ll get for now is the ZiiEagle rip.
There’s loads on there I want.[/quote]
I am huge fan of Shaw Brothers k-f&wu xia pia and have almost all what is available in original format, missing handful titles like singapore releases of “black butterfly”&“swordmates” and IVL(or any for that matter) “lady of steel” and “lady of the law”…
I am not sure of what rip I have of “to kill a mastermind” picture quality is decent but it freezes few times at the end of movie.
Gang Master (1982, Shaw Brothers)
I first saw this in a theater the year it was released, and IMO it still holds up well today. The late Austin Wai (older brother of actress Kara Hui Ying-Hung) acquitted himself well in the lead role of an anti-Mongol Chinese patriot who shockingly discovers that he is, in fact, a Mongol who was raised by Chinese. Also stars Ku Feng, Chen Kuan-Tai, Jason Pai Piao, Bruce Liang, Chu Tieh-Ho, etc. I love these old period KF movies.
I also recently rewatched one of the modern-day Hong Kong action-comedies, The Outlaw Brothers (1990), starring Frankie Chan, Yukari Oshima, Max Mok, Michiko Nishiwaki, Mark Houghton, Jeff Falcon, and Chiang Tao. Although still entertaining, I don’t feel it’s anywhere near as good as it seemed when I saw it back when it was newly released. IMO, most of the modern-day actioners of the 80s and 90s have not held up nearly as well as the period kung fu/wuxia films from the 60s, 70s and early 80s.
Man Of Tai Chi - I was quite dubious about this but fancied checking it out, glad I did, it’s actually rather good, Tiger Chen plays the role of a Tai Chi expert who ends up having unlicenced bouts for crime lord Keanu Reeves to get money to save the 600 year old Tai Chi temple which is to be torn down to build apartments on.
Shaolin Martial Arts (1974)
Over the years, this has remained my all-time favorite kung fu movie. Starring Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-Chun, as well as being the onscreen debut of kung fu stars Gordon Liu, Wang Lung-Wei and Leung Kar-Yan. Not the first KF movie to feature training sequences, but certainly the first in which training was very specific and involved a large part of the movie. Also, it is clear that SMA was a direct influence on the training sequences in Kill Bill Vol. 2.
One thing that’s haunted me about SMA is the borrowed soundtrack that is heard throughout the movie. It sounds very much like early-1960s Carlo Rustichelli, it’s also used prominently in Stroke of Death (AKA Monkey Kung Fu, 1979), as well as a number of other kung fu films. It certainly fits and enhances the mood and spirit of Shaolin Martial Arts perfectly.
Ti Lung advert.
During my first year living in Taiwan (1985), I remember seeing Jackie Chan in Mitsubishi TV ads, as well as Leung Kar-Yan advertising a drink, similar to the Ti Lung ad above. Also saw female kung fu star Hsia Kuang-Li (Ha Kwong-Li) in a cigarette ad. Unfortunately, I can’t find any of them online.
Funny ad 
Saw Crystal Fist for the first time last night at the cinema. Outstanding fight scenes and plenty of them! Could have done with a little less comedy but still a great kung fu movie. Right now watching the obscure wu xia Sword with the Wind Bell. Pretty good Roc Tien is awesome as usual and Chiang Sheng plays a pervy sadist who looks like a Mad Max reject.
Hey guys, Morgoth Bauglir here from the kung fu cinema forum. Good to know that there are fans of kung fu here. 
Greetings, Morgoth Bauglir!
I used to post on the Kung Fu Cinema forum as Kungfood several years ago, and I still post on the Kungfu Magazine forum as Jimbo. There are lots of very knowledgeable people here.
Jimbo! Good to see you my friend. Yes the people here know their stuff. I’ve been spending about 10 hours here every day reading the threads. Now I just need to find another job to buy all the movies.
[quote=“kung fu gunman, post:777, topic:368”]Hey guys, Morgoth Bauglir here from the kung fu cinema forum. Good to know that there are fans of kung fu here. :D[/quote]Heh…we used to have sort of disagreement in kfc 4-5 years ago is “the master/3 evil masters” great or not 