Martial Arts Films

Started by Bruce Lee, March 08, 2004, 08:36:01 PM

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pete

the problem with the genre is that creatively it peaked in the late 70s, and since then it's been like horror movies, just trying to re-hash and recycle, with the exception of Jackie Chan and Tsui Hark, who is still pushing to be innovative.  They were both responsible for the several sudden "booms" in the genre since then, but it hasn't been all across-the-board, uniformly good since the late 70's.
and it's a shame that most of these movies introduced to the US, even the classics, have been heavily edited, dubbed, and cropped.  It really did the genre a huge disservice, so non-genre fans can't even genuflect it the way they do to the spaghetti westerns.  oh well, their loss I guess.
I recommend the following, as a good little survey to cover your bases that you can find on netflix:

a touch of zen
return of the dragon
mad monkey kungfu
magnificent butcher (you'll never seen a more graceful fat guy)
last hurrah for chivalry (john woo's gangsta film before he played with guns)
prodigal son
dragon lord
police story 1
once upon a time in china
dragon gate inn
drunken master 2
hero

and some titles that you really should watch because they're incredible pieces of filmmaking in any standard but knowing my luck on this board will just get ignored again:

pedicab driver
the blade (not the wesley snipes film)
ong bak
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Bruce Lee

all you need is the entire bruce lee collection, then there's no need to see any other martial arts movies.

pete

yeah everyone should order one from your site right?
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Bruce Lee

they certainly should, i'll have to manufacture some first.

my site is a forum.....ie. not seling anything,
www.bruceleeforum.tk/

Pas

Quote from: peteonce upon a time in china
dragon gate inn
drunken master 2
hero

YEESSSSS !!! The final fight in Dragon Inn kicks me in the balls and Hero looks like it's gonna be the greatest thing in a while, all genres together.

Ravi

Quote from: pete
drunken master 2

NOT The Legend of Drunken Master.  I like the first DM film too.

Myxo

Quote from: Bruce Leeall you need is the entire bruce lee collection, then there's no need to see any other martial arts movies.

Actually, to be perfectly honest, I was quite a bit dissapointed with a lot of Lee films. I saw Chinese Connection and Fist of Fury both, and I wasn't at all impressed. I'll admit that Enter the Dragon and Game of Death are both solid, but some of his earlier work is bad B-movie stuff. It's campy, and if thats yer thing, well, you'll like it.. but it really isn't that great.

Hell, Fist of Fury hardly has any fighting for a movie with such a tough title.

Bruce Lee

QuoteI'll admit that Enter the Dragon and Game of Death are both solid

Erm....Game of death is about as solid as water, yeah the fight scene in the pagoda is brilliant but the film on the whole is an utter mess.
Making a mockery of Lee's death, using card board cut outs as stand-ins ?!? its a shambles.
What makes Enter the Dragon more solid than his previous films? it contains crap western actors (just put there for market reasons) that can't fight for shit and take up far too much valuable Bruce Lee screen time.

Big Boss (as its intended name) and the other 2 that follow have revolutionary fight choreography that was a first in its time, they are the Casablanca's of their genre.
Fist of Fury (you'll know it as Chinese Connection) first introduced the nunchaku like never before seen in a movie.
Way of the Dragon (you'll know it as Return of the Dragon) contains what true fans of martial arts recognise as one of the best fight scenes of all time involving Chuck Norris.

QuoteHell, Fist of Fury hardly has any fighting for a movie with such a tough title

Firstly that titled was changed by some dumb ass american, as its The Big Boss.
It has fighting all the way through it, the big pay off being in the end. it might not be as flashy as the rest but it set a benchmark for other movies to follow.

pete

yeah his movies were kinda boring in a long cheesy kinda way, a lot of nationalism was injected in there.  But c'mon, the fight scenes are amazing, once he starts moving you're just like, yeah!  Bruce is never one for complicated moves, he shows off some quick wing chun hands and some high kicks, and nobody can move more crispy, more precisely than he does.  His biggest contribution to cinema is first of all the portrayal of a Chinese actor in hollywood, then it's the way he depicts and stages the fight scenes.
The production value was low on almost all of his films (except Enter the Dragon, which ironically had the least interesting fights) but it also goes to make Bruce Lee stand out even more.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Bruce Lee

QuoteThe production value was low on almost all of his films (except Enter the Dragon, which ironically had the least interesting fights

Enter the Dragon had an extremely low budget for a hollywood film, 700,000 dollars.
The underground cave was made out of chicken wire and mud which kept falling apart.
The guys in the jail were actual bums off the street, the prostatutes were real prostatutes and were paid more per hour than any one else on the film.

Quoteleast interesting fights

This film has two iconic cinema scenes,
1) the underground cavern fight
2) maze of mirrors

I think the fights were quite excellent, not only does bruce look in the best physical shape of his past movies, but he also breaks Jackie Chan's neck :)

Ravi

I think with the people behind ETD were trying for a broader scope with a few other characters besides Bruce, even though it was Bruce's film.  The scenes with John Saxon aren't that interesting, yet he gets quite a bit of screen time.

Bruce Lee

QuoteI think with the people behind ETD were trying for a broader scope with a few other characters besides Bruce

Wrong Im afraid.

Just before Warner finally decided it was safe to cast an asian man in a lead role they sent a telegram to Lee saying that, even though Kung Fu was Bruce's conception their not casting him because he looks ''too chinese'' and instead opted for David Carradine.

Warner were crapping themselves as they thought no american blooded person is going to want to watch an asian outside the 'slanty eyed servant role' so they loaded the film with shit american actors.

Ravi

When were his previous films released in the US, after ETD or before?

Bruce Lee

After.
Bruce was already China's national hero and a record breaker before he was widely known in the west, apart from the Green Hornet.

they renamed 'Way of the Dragon' to 'Return of the Dragon' as it was shown after Enter.
The other titles were pointlessly changed as the americans may not grasp the meaning/concept....which is a lot of bull crap

Pubrick

oh i get it, ur obsessed with bruce campbell.
under the paving stones.