Watched RIVALS OF KUNG FU, i’m in a bit of a dilemma whether i like this Huang Fei Hung film or not , it seemed enjoyable enough and has it’s moments but didn’t really have enough fights in it to live up to it’s title.
Today’s Shaw flick was The Twelve Gold Medallions.
Wasn’t too sure at the beginning as this one started off a bit clunky but it got much better as it went along and I wound up really enjoying it. The framing was excellent and the fight scenes, particularly the final ones, were brilliantly shot. According to one of the interviews in the extras on the disc I watched the director (Cheng Kang) tended to leave this stuff to the cinematographer and concentrated on the actors. If so, the camera guy deserves a lot of credit as it is a visual feast. There’s also some nicely innovative blood letting going on too. With claret pouring into cooking fat at one point, some impaling and a bit of face splattering for good measure. Plus the prime bad guy dishes out 17 stab wounds to his daughter; one for every year of her life, as punishment for her disobeying him :o All done in the best possible taste ;D
Seriously though, despite all the red stuff flying about, the story and acting is very good for this type of film and the whole thing is very well put together.
So far so good then Phil?
Definitely 
Next up will be The Delinquent I think.
[quote=“Phil H, post:102, topic:2162”]Today’s Shaw flick was The Twelve Gold Medallions.
Wasn’t too sure at the beginning as this one started off a bit clunky but it got much better as it went along and I wound up really enjoying it. The framing was excellent and the fight scenes, particularly the final ones, were brilliantly shot. According to one of the interviews in the extras on the disc I watched the director (Cheng Kang) tended to leave this stuff to the cinematographer and concentrated on the actors. If so, the camera guy deserves a lot of credit as it is a visual feast. There’s also some nicely innovative blood letting going on too. With claret pouring into cooking fat at one point, some impaling and a bit of face splattering for good measure. Plus the prime bad guy dishes out 17 stab wounds to his daughter; one for every year of her life, as punishment for her disobeying him :o All done in the best possible taste ;D
Seriously though, despite all the red stuff flying about, the story and acting is very good for this type of film and the whole thing is very well put together.[/quote]
Cheng Kang was a meticulous director who took a lot of time writing and shooting his movies which reportedly irritated Sir Run Run Shaw, but his movies most always did very well so he often said little about his methods. He was a great friend of Chang Cheh. Kang directed so many great movies. This film was one of the biggest hits of that year. Cheng Kang is one of the best directors at Shaw’s and one of the most underrated outside of Asia. He is the father to famed choreographer/director Ching Siu Tung.
The cinematographer, Pao Hsueh Li, was also an acolyte of Chang Cheh and assisted in directing some of his films such as MAN OF IRON and WATER MARGIN (both 1972). His solo directorial efforts (both at Shaw and his independent features) are mostly forgettable save for a stray production here and there. He was definitely a better cinematographer than director, imo.
[quote=“Phil H, post:104, topic:2162”]Definitely
Next up will be The Delinquent I think.[/quote]
THE DELINQUENT is a brutal, uncompromising picture. A sort of modern day (70’s) take on Cheh’s classic, BOXER FROM SHANTUNG. Director, Kuei Chi Hung was another protege of Chang Cheh. This film bears Kuei’s stamp more than Chang. His style was very grim and depressing. Some of his movies include BAMBOO HOUSE OF DOLLS, KILLER SNAKES, KILLERS ON WHEELS, SPIRIT OF THE RAPED, TEENAGERS NIGHTMARE: CRIMINALS 5, HEX, KILLER CONSTABLE, BEWITCHED and its sequel, THE BOXER’S OMEN. He moved to America where he was apparently wishing to get directing jobs, but it never happened for him.
THE DELINQUENT has a glaring on screen mistake. In one scene you can see the shadow of the cameraman during a slow motion shot as a character runs towards the camera. I love the ending particularly the final shot and the opening credits are quite creative and sum up the angry atmosphere the film possesses.
Actually, in sticking to my chronological approach The Delinquent won’t be up for a little bit yet. Instead it was time for The Deadly Duo. Another Chang Cheh swordsman flick with David Ciang (who I am beginning to like more and more) and Ti Lung. Despite that line up it is possibly one of the weakest SB film I’ve seen in a while. It has its moments (a nice standing up death scene from Chiang at the end stands out) but on the whole it lacks the power of some of the others I’ve seen recently. It was also one of the shortest. Coming in at only seventy odd minutes. Ok but not great.
70??? It should be a little over 80 minutes.
Checked the disc in my machine again to be sure and it says 78mins. Whether this is a NTSC / PAL thing I don’t know. It is a region 3 Hong Kong Celestial disc that I have.
Oh okay. That’s right then. Only the IVL disc has a horrible new audio remix on it. One of the worst they ever did. The Region 1 disc from media Blasters is the original Mono audio.
Here’s a review for the new MB FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS disc…
[quote=“Angel Face, post:110, topic:2162”]http://www.coolasscinema.com/2010/02/five-element-ninjas-1982-review.html[/quote]That’s my mate Brian’s site, he’s taught me a lot about some of the shaw stuff over the last few years.
[quote=“Angel Face, post:110, topic:2162”]Oh okay. That’s right then. Only the IVL disc has a horrible new audio remix on it. One of the worst they ever did. The Region 1 disc from media Blasters is the original Mono audio[/quote]Hopefully the forthcoming blu-ray will be okay aswell.
Is there a list of what films had these new audio tracks?
Thing is a lot of them i’d never seen before or not seen for years so i wouldn’t have known or noticed on some of them.
Hey, Aarron. I will guess that they all had those bad 5.1 remixes made, they just weren’t used after so many complained about them. I was watching NINJAS last night and there’s an option for a 5.1 audio mix. I turned it on and had to shut it off after about 30 seconds. The IVL didn’t have one of these, only the mono mandarin track.
I’ve got an Australian Siren release of THE ASSASSIN which i have watched an apparently is the original soundtrack, i’ve also got an IVL one (still sealed at the moment) which i’ve been told has also been interfered with)
I’m trying to get all the IVL releases btw, i’m getting there slowly but surely.
Yeah THE ASSASSIN has one of the remixed tracks on it. The Aussie has the original mono. The IVL didn’t really bother me too much. I tried to get me one of the Siren discs, but I think my order may end up being canceled. I think all the Siren discs had the original mono tracks on them.
That explains the poor sound then. Glad to hear it was not just mine. I picked the disc up second hand on ebay and thought maybe it was faulty. The dialogue is very low in places and the sound effects (swords clanging and swishing for example) are really loud. Thankfully when you’re reading subs the voices are not so crucial. 
Watched SONG OF ORCHID ISLAND, i found this easy going and quite enjoyable, a doctor goes to live on an island off Taiwan with a primitive tribe but a witch doctor doesn’t want him there and feels he is a threat, Cheng Pei-pei looks gorgeous in this pleasant film from 1965.
Chinese by and large hate old movies. If it’s more than a few years old, they don’t wanna see it. Celestial did this to make the films seem more “modern” and new by attempting to replace the old foley effects with more newer effects sounds. The new trailers, which most fans seem to despise, attempt to modernize the films, too. Actually I like some of the new trailers. They make some of them look very exciting.
[quote=“Yodlaf Peterson, post:117, topic:2162”]Watched SONG OF ORCHID ISLAND, i found this easy going and quite enjoyable, a doctor goes to live on an island off Taiwan with a primitive tribe but a witch doctor doesn’t want him there and feels he is a threat, Cheng Pei-pei looks gorgeous in this pleasant film from 1965.
[/quote]
This sounds like a good one, Aarron. I must say, if it hadn’t been for you buying these non-action and horror pictures, I may not have bought as many of the dramatic and comedic films myself.
Looking for some advice from you Shaw Bros experts out there.
What is your opinions of The Lady Hermit starring Cheng Pei Pei and Shih Szu?
It’s available on ebay at a reasonable price and I’m tempted.