No explanations necessary. They were all safely tucked up in bed 
Ha Ha, iām glad you took my advice and watched this one without them about ;D
I love the use of Morriconeās Garden of Delights for the start credits aswell, did you notice what kind of camera shots kept pausing for the credits ;D
For the very best in Shaw exploitation.
SEXY GIRLS OF DENMARK The title says it all
SEXY KILLER Pam Grier eat your heart out
FOXY LADIES Charlieās Angels but dodgier!
BRUCE LEE AND I Gotta be the most exploitative Brucesploitation i have seen!
LOST SOULS A nasty little film from the director of MEN BEHIND THE SUN
KISS OF DEATH STD revenger!
Yes, good advice well taken.
I watched THE KNIGHT OF KNIGHTS this afternoon, i enjoyed it but thought some of the fight scenes were pretty basic, this was from 1966 though.
Back to straight Chop Sockey today with The Savage Five. Something of a whoās who of Shaw Bros ensemble cast in this one as the five in question are David Chiang, Ti Lung, Chen Kua Tai, Wang Chung and Danny Lee. With Chang Cheh directing that pretty much covers all the big name boys working at the studio at the time except Lo Lieh.
It also feaures prominant use of a couple of Morriconeās better Spag Western scores. Namely Return of Ringo and Death Rides a Horse. This magpie approach to soundtracks always makes me smile but these were actually used quite well and fitted the film perfectly.
Overall a fun film but possibly not as strong as its total composite parts.
The Spiritual Boxer was viewed this morning. This one is a comedy. Kind of a kung fu Trinity affair where the hero is a lazy trickster with exceptional skill which he only really uses to secure his next meal until he starts helping out the local downtrodden against a local villain. I had my reservations about it but it was actually more entertaining than I expected Wong Yuās antics and monkey impressions were quite well executed. Light hearted fun this one.
Watched THE SHAOLIN AVENGERS, yet another Chang Cheh film iāve really enjoyed, fantastic film with great fight scenes.
Another one with ācolour tintedā censorship in some of the more brutal scenes.
[quote=āYodlaf Peterson, post:148, topic:2162ā]Watched THE SHAOLIN AVENGERS, yet another Chang Cheh film iāve really enjoyed, fantastic film with great fight scenes.
Another one with ācolour tintedā censorship in some of the more brutal scenes.
[/quote]
Ah, love the 'thought weād tame out the blood by ādecolorizationā thing. Saw that recently. I also saw Invincible One last night which is easier to differentiate than itās alternate title Disciples Of Shaolin (that doesnāt sound like 40 other titles). Another brutal fight scene that some felt needed less red in the shot. The story is very piecemeal but still enjoyable as Fu Sheng always dominates the screen with his charisma & martial arts skills. Grandmaster Of Death (aka New Shaolin Boxers) has also been viewed. Another great Fu Sheng performance as a kid with a great heart, awesome martial arts skills & bad luck. It doesnāt help that he is constantly surrounded by people who feel itās a bad thing to rescue girls who are being bullied or raped.
Other titles recently viewed areā¦
3 Evil Masters
8 Diagram Pole Fighter
Challenge Of The Master
Lion vs. Lion
Instructors Of Death (Martial Club)
Disciples Of Death (Men From the Monastery)
[quote=āPhil H, post:146, topic:2162ā]Back to straight Chop Sockey today with The Savage Five. Something of a whoās who of Shaw Bros ensemble cast in this one as the five in question are David Chiang, Ti Lung, Chen Kua Tai, Wang Chung and Danny Lee. With Chang Cheh directing that pretty much covers all the big name boys working at the studio at the time except Lo Lieh.
It also feaures prominant use of a couple of Morriconeās better Spag Western scores. Namely Return of Ringo and Death Rides a Horse. This magpie approach to soundtracks always makes me smile but these were actually used quite well and fitted the film perfectly.
Overall a fun film but possibly not as strong as its total composite parts.[/quote]
Just rewatched this last night & I got to add to Philās assessment. I havenāt seen this in years, years before I would have recognized those scores but they do work really well regardless. Phil leaves out the fact that this is yet another example of SWās influencing other genres. Bandits bully townsfolk who have gunmen on horseback (yes I said gunmen) ride into town, women are raped & a downbeat ending all seem even more familiar when laced with Morriconeās great music. It does suffer from a common flaw sometimes found in Shaw movies: Cast, sets, direction & fights are good but the stories seem throw together. Still, a very good view. Iām glad Phil sparked my interest in this one again.
And the circle is complete. You started me off on these films and now Iām influencing which ones you watch. If this was facebook I would have just pressed the ālikeā button ;D
I watched Raw Passions this afternoon, a quite good murder mystery film from Lo Chen, i enjoyed it but though the other murder film with Ling Po A Cause to kill was a lot better.
Ku Feng was good in his slimy supporting role also. (I didnāt know he was in it initially)
Disciples of Shaolin was my latest Shaw Bros experience as I have reached 1975 in my chronological jaunt.
Interesting to me to see the changes occuring at this time. Clearly a Kung Fu film first and foremost with Alexander Fu Sheng showing some Bruce Leeisms and the storyline having some passing resemblances to The Big Boss. Also noticeable that this is the first I can remember that starts with the solo artist practicing his skills in the studio in front of a plain coloured back drop. Something Iāve seen in later films and which makes it clear that the martial art is at the films core over and above the story almost.
Fu Sheng has a nice laid back style and is very watchable which helps make the film an entertaining ride but I was disappointed by the ending which for me should have ended with Fu Shengās climactic battle with arch villain, Kong Do and not had the vengeance tack on afterwards. A heroic death while defeating the bad guy would have fitted much better.
[quote=āPhil H, post:153, topic:2162ā]Disciples of Shaolin was my latest Shaw Bros experience as I have reached 1975 in my chronological jaunt.
Interesting to me to see the changes occuring at this time. Clearly a Kung Fu film first and foremost with Alexander Fu Sheng showing some Bruce Leeisms and the storyline having some passing resemblances to The Big Boss. Also noticeable that this is the first I can remember that starts with the solo artist practicing his skills in the studio in front of a plain coloured back drop. Something Iāve seen in later films and which makes it clear that the martial art is at the films core over and above the story almost.
Fu Sheng has a nice laid back style and is very watchable which helps make the film an entertaining ride but I was disappointed by the ending which for me should have ended with Fu Shengās climactic battle with arch villain, Kong Do and not had the vengeance tack on afterwards. A heroic death while defeating the bad guy would have fitted much better.[/quote]Is that the one where heās really happy about getting his new shoes?
Yep, thatās the one.
Iāve watched so many sometimes they seem to blend together.
I really enjoyed this one and really felt for him at the end.
[quote=āPhil H, post:153, topic:2162ā]Disciples of Shaolin was my latest Shaw Bros experience as I have reached 1975 in my chronological jaunt.
Interesting to me to see the changes occuring at this time. Clearly a Kung Fu film first and foremost with Alexander Fu Sheng showing some Bruce Leeisms and the storyline having some passing resemblances to The Big Boss. Also noticeable that this is the first I can remember that starts with the solo artist practicing his skills in the studio in front of a plain coloured back drop. Something Iāve seen in later films and which makes it clear that the martial art is at the films core over and above the story almost.
Fu Sheng has a nice laid back style and is very watchable which helps make the film an entertaining ride but I was disappointed by the ending which for me should have ended with Fu Shengās climactic battle with arch villain, Kong Do and not had the vengeance tack on afterwards. A heroic death while defeating the bad guy would have fitted much better.[/quote]
This was Chehās biggest hit in HK. It was a remake of his second biggest HK movie, THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972), which made Chen Kuan Tai a sensation virtually overnight and started a new style of HK Shanghai Bund movies. Something of a test to see how well Chen would be received in a solo film, a sequel (MAN OF IRON) went immediately into production picking up where the first film ended then jumping ahead about 20 years. BOXER has had countless imitations since its release including the Shawās own remake in 1996 under the title of HERO. Cheh revisited the storyline again in 1977 as THE CHINATOWN KID, a somewhat problematic production.
I thought DISCIPLES ending was excellent and wouldnāt have wanted it any other way. Fu Shengās character is seduced by fame and fortune despite being warned by his more studious brother who has been down that path before. At that point, his brother can remain silent no longer and must step in to make things right. The scene where he makes a fist and looks down at it speaks volumes about everything youāve seen about his character up to that point. Fu Sheng wished to possess things while his brother did not. He was wiser, made better decisions and didnāt let material things blind his state of being. Kwan was none of these things. He wanted shoes and his desire for a new pair of shoes led to even more desirable objects that took his attention away from those who cared about him and also were key to his undoing.
I never thought the kung fu dominated this film. There was a lot of it, but it was well balanced with the dramatic elements, imo. The characters are good and well drawn as is the storyline. It differs from BOXER slightly, but the structure remains the same. DISCIPLES (also known as THE HUNG BOXING KID and THE INVINCIBLE ONE) was remade in the 90ās as THE BARE FOOTED KID. DISCIPLES was also very influential as it jump started the āXiaoZiā, or āBoxing Punkā genre of kung fu film (the groundwork of which was laid in 1974 with Chehās excellent SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS) which flooded the market and came into full swing after the release of Jackie Chanās cheap and silly kung fu comedy SNAKE IN THE EAGLEāS SHADOW (1978). Watching Fu Shengās movies from HEROES TWO onward, you can easily see that he was the prototype for Chanās later shenanigans.
If you care to read it, I have a comparison between Chehās three āRise & Fall of a Fighterā movies which also covers his three western influenced films towards the bottom.
Oh, and the usage of a fighter showing off his skills inside a studio set amidst a colored background was seen as early as Chehās swordplay classic, HAVE SWORD WILL TRAVEL (1969). It was probably most famously realized in his seminal trendsetting film HEROES TWO (1973) starring Chen Kuan Tai and Fu Sheng. Chang Cheh did an alternate take on this type of opening sequence with SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS (1974) where both heroes and villains practice their skills in a natural setting.
***Spoiler Alert ***
Hmm, well, I got all the āseduced by fameā stuff but I thought this was all dealt with fine by his dying in the climax. For me, the big brother stepping in to exact revenge was an anti climax and it would have been a tighter ending to have Fu Sheng succeed in killing the bad guy while still sacrificing his own life. That way he still pays the price for his vanity and lust for worldly possessions but we get a structurally more satisfying ending.
This is all opinion of course and a small criticism on a film I otherwise enjoyed very much.
I strangely enough just watched this again as well (I know it as Invincible One) although neither titles really fits. I like this one a lot even though it doesnāt get mentioned enough. Fu Sheng & only Fu Sheng pulls off the affability that makes his characters so likable & believable. This plays out in Grandmaster Of Death as well. The anticlimactic angle Phil points out gives this one a bit of a different feel than most Shawās that just kindaā¦end, very abruptly. Kinda like this post
-Another Iā¦Iā¦Idiot Production
Heroes Two for me tonight.
[quote=āPhil H, post:158, topic:2162ā]***Spoiler Alert ***
Hmm, well, I got all the āseduced by fameā stuff but I thought this was all dealt with fine by his dying in the climax. For me, the big brother stepping in to exact revenge was an anti climax and it would have been a tighter ending to have Fu Sheng succeed in killing the bad guy while still sacrificing his own life. That way he still pays the price for his vanity and lust for worldly possessions but we get a structurally more satisfying ending.
This is all opinion of course and a small criticism on a film I otherwise enjoyed very much.[/quote]
Although I donāt see this as being anti climactic, if it had ended that way, it would have been no different than a thousand other movies. There would have been no need for the Chi Kuan Chun character who was trying to save his brother because he was more wise. That was one of the wonders of Chehās movies. You never know if the hero is going to live or not, or how many will survive the last shot.