I believe it’s mainly the ending where it’s different. Both Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock survive but it then cuts to them both being arrested
There’s not too much difference theme and violence wise, but some scenes are different and extended.
There’s a scene where Cynthia Rothrock bursts into a courtroom after battling it out with Yuen Baio, and telling the judge she found him beside the other mobster Baio intended to kill, only for the judge to tell her she’s mistaken. That scene only appears in the original Hong Kong cut and the Ultimate Cut.
Another good example is a sequence that only appears in the Mandarin cut and Ultimate Cut. It’s after Rothrock’s comic relief partner got her car into a parking violation, she has him and two other cops go through every parking ticket issued in the last 24 hours to locate a suspect. It’s actually a clever humorous scene to have, and gives good insight into detective work.
The only difference theme wise I noticed is that in the Cantonese language, some of minor characters make derogatory remarks to Rothrock’s character. In the Mandarin language this racism doesn’t occur.
Live Without Principle (Johnny To). Wow, this was excellent.
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Honestly, I think everything directed by Johnnie To is excellent. Haven’t seen that one so I’ll have to check it out
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Just watched the latest, just released, Donnie Yen directed and starring flik (his first since 1998’s underrated Ballistic Kiss)
His adaptation of Louis Cha’s seminal Demi God’s Semi Devils… Sakra (2023), it was a beautiful wide-screen print without subtitles but in Cantonese, which I have enough of to follow the story…
Shock horror it was a proper full on Wu Xia flik, the best HK/China flik for years, Yen’ s choreographed action was superb and hopefully the set up sequel is made
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First 10 of the 2023
- Newmeyer & Taylor: The Freshman 8/10
- Tarkovski: Solaris 8/10
- Argento: Deep Red 8/10
- Altman: Nashville 7/10
- Kechiche: Blue is the Warmest Color 10/10
- Moilanen & Vuokko: Viikinki (doc) 6/10
- Murnau: Nosferatu 10/10
- Melville: The Red Circle 7/10
- Pasolini: Accattone 7/10
- Brooks: High Anxiety 9/10
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Yeah that was good. Recently watched a few by PPP but it was a mixed bag for me
Pasolini made some great films but also a fair amount of average stuff.
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‘ACES HIGH’ (1976)
Loved this film ever since seeing it on the big screen in '76.
This is a variation on ‘Journey’s End’…but instead of being set in the WW1 trenches, it takes place in the skies over Europe. Harrowing, engaging, and tragic.
The optimism, patriotism, and enthusiasm of youth, is faced with the horrific reality of one’s own mortality, and an inevitable loss of innocence.
A wonderful story, a cast to die for, and a main theme that lingers long after the end credits have finished rolling…this is a film which. IMHO, is well worth seeking out.
An anti-war film that successfully conveys the message that any conflict is hell, and not an adventure in a ‘Boy’s Own’ comic…
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CENTURION (2010, Neil Marshall)
A British sword and sandal movie, set in Britain in the early second century. It explores the legend of the disappearance of the Ninth Roman Legion. The most popular theory is that they were entirely wiped out by Celtic tribes (in casu the Picts) during a campaign in what was then called Caledonia (and today called Scotland). As a result of the ensuing disarray, Hadrian decided to build a defensive wall to keep the Celtic tribes out of his empire. Marshall respects the theory, but adds a new element to the story: seven Romans survive the massacre and must then try to reach safety, persecuted by the bloodthirsty Picts.
The subtitle of the movie was: History is written in blood. And bloody it is. Some of the violence is really nasty and ugly, but at the same time the bloodthirsty tale is a hell of a manhunt movie, beautifully shot in dark, desaturated colours that create a haunting atmosphere. Although played by a first-rate cast, the characters remain a bit anonymous in the midst of all the murder and mayhem; Olga Kurylenko comes off best as the Pict woman who sets a trap for the Roman battalion: the Romans killed her relatives and tore out her tongue; she lost her soul and only Roman blood can fill the void.
When I first saw it, 10-12 years ago, I didn’t like it that much, maybe I had expected more story, more theory, I don’t know. But this is of course not a history lesson, just an action movie with a historic setting, and as such it works pretty well. Subtle it ain’t, exciting it is.
½ out of 5
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Possession (1981, Andrzej Żuławski)
Finally got around to watching this after hearing so much praise from various places. I managed to go in completely blind which just made the bizarre-ness of this film so much better. Easily one of my new favourite movies.
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Got round to watching The Batman. What a film. I didn’t say a while back but I watched it in my brothers honour because he was a big Batman fan and imagine looking forward to it. I loved almost everything about it; Pattinson was great as both Bruce Wayne and an inexperienced Batman, and I probably preferred Dano’s Zodiac-inspired Riddler to the Arkham version which I never thought would be the case. It was also great to see a Batman film that was actually a detective story especially one that was well written and executed. Im actually looking forward to the sequel and it’s rare I look forward to a modern film.
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I agree. I loved the fact that it was an actual detective story. Pattinson was phenomenally impressive imho. Dano was great, Kravitz was a very sultry Catwoman, and Jeffrey Wright made a really good James Gordon.
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Agreed entirely. I think all of the main six characters were well cast and played. Even the whole emo-Bruce thing worked really well because he’s still young and I think a bit weary of everything.
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‘MAX MANUS: MAN OF WAR’ (2009)
I watched this last night. Very well-made and acted. Based on the true-life exploits of a Norwegian
resistance fighter in WW2.
Thoroughly recommended.
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Watched two films this afternoon. Duel of Fire, a sort of proto-spaghetti western, was interesting and easy enough to follow despite the lack of any English options available to me (dub or subs). After that was the a tad silly, a tad gothic, very atmospheric The Witch’s Curse. Fun peplum goofiness.
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My movie watching has been pretty low this year, here’s the next 10:
- Kotcheff: Wake in Fright 10/10
- Hirokazu: After Life 6/10
- Ashby: Harold & Maude 10/10
- Sirk: All That Heaven Allows 10/10
- Godard: Breathless 7/10
- Oldman: Nil by Mouth 7/10
- Franco: Hot Nights of Linda 5/10
- Johnson: Glass Onion 8/10
- Ivory: Howard’s End 7/10
- Lynch: Twin Peaks -Fire Walk with Me 9/10
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drives me mad what a pixelated mess this hd “restoration” is…
The Windermere Children (2020, Michael Samuels)
A drama, made for TV (BBC), based on facts about a group of Polish child survivors of the Holocaust, who were brought to Britain after they were freed from the concentration camps by allied forces. They were helped to rebuild their lives in a camp near Lake Windermere, in the north of England (Lake District).
The film occasionally lapses into sentimentality and there are also a few superfluous (and completely unnecessary) efforts to equate the children’s plight to that of today’s refugees, but this can all be forgiven. The young Polish actors are wonderful and it’s almost impossible not to be touched by the fate of the holocaust survivors they portray. The ending – the real survivors, now in old age, telling their own story and experiences in British society – is heartbreaking. Recommended.
**** out of 5
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Amuck! (Amadio / 1972)
Is it a giallo? I think so for the woman in peril and murder mystery theme but lacks the high tension of the best from that genre. Some plot turns are a bit ridiculous but it does have both Barbara Bouchet and Rosalba Neri in peak gorgeousness though so a solid 3 out of five film for me.
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