http://www.dragondynasty.com/ (has trailers)
Wiki:
QuoteDragon Dynasty is a joint venture started by The Weinstein Company and Genius Products. The company was created on May 23, 2006 for the sole purpose of distributing films from Asian Cinema on DVD whose licenses are held by or will be acquired by The Weinstein Company. Dragon Dynasty showcases classic and contemporary Asian Cinema, particularly those films which fall under the action and martial arts genre.
Quentin Tarantino, who is well recognized for his passionate interest and broad knowledge of Asian Cinema, will actively work with the Weinsteins in all aspects of Dragon Dynasty.
Wikipedia also has a list of films copyrighted by DD (three Johnnie To's).
I myself stumbled upon the company when I purchased The Protector. Others might have recently purchased their release of Hard Boiled. Others might have been purchasing every title the whole time through the fuck do I know: until now!
It needn't be compared to Criterion, but the similarities are these: pristine prints, hand-picked titles, special features to enhance appreciation of the films (inlcuding commentaries by critics and filmmakers, documentaries, and sometimes two-disc editions), screenings in local theaters to accompany releases, and spine-numbering for collectability.
My opinion is that this is a great portal into Asian cinema new and old and correlates perfectly with my nascent appreciation for non-arthouse Asian cinema.
they got BRETT RATNER doing commentaries for Jackie's DVDs.
I recommend City of Violence though, supremely underrated.
I was two seconds from purchasing Police Story 2 but was so caught off guard from the Ratner quote being on the cover I set it back down.
But what can I do? If anything more people should become interested in Asian cinema so that Ratner can be dethroned as like an expert or qualified filmmaker or prominent figure so these mistakes won't be made in the future. Doesn't it speak volumes about the attention paid to these films that the higher authorities on them, from a typical American point of view, is QT Ratner or The Rza? It's not a question of the validity of these three, and if they were always creditable critics of the films I wouldn't mind, but surely such a diverse cinema is owed an equally diverse pool of admirers. Conversely take film noir, which is a minor segment of American cinema, but has an incredible number of followers and trivialists and theorists. Which is what I think often happens: when films are released outside of an arthouse circuit they are generally treated as entertaining alone, escapism at the most, and then reevaluated from different (sociological, historical, psychological, theoretical) perspectives in the future and redeemed or validated in hindsight as honest expressions of particular social traits or filmmakers' intelligence. It's the non-esoteric fans who become the redeemers and I'd like to do my part in accepting more voices into my discussions to perhaps be a part of a broadening of cinema's voice because filmmaking has always been one global community and I'd be really happy if a global audience grew around it. I don't know what's going on in other places, but America certainly seems predominantly concerned with American cinema.
the criterion versions of hard boiled and the killer both had pretty good commentaries from good scholars. I don't know why they don't just get Jackie Chan to do the commentaries - he can be subtitled if he's not so comfortable. On his DVD "My Stunts" he had one of the most entertaining and insightful explanation of his fight in the first Police Story. he's an amazing filmmaker, which the world has failed again and again to give him credit for. It is too bad that he's so hacky these days, 'cause at his best, he was as exciting as Buster Keaton. The DVDs still have not addressed him as a filmmaker, in my opinion, but I haven't seen the latest batch from Dragon Dynasty. His fights are so accessible that people do not very frequently see just how sophisticated and cerebral they are. Herzog often remarks on how porn and kungfu are very truthful cinemas due to their physicality, and I tend not to see a difference between my admiration for Jackie Chan and for Herzog.
the DVDs for Kill Zone did have an incredible behind the scene featurette that went on the set of the knife fight, which was as good as anything ever filmmed, and kinda detailed the making of it shot by shot.
Quote from: pete on February 05, 2008, 12:26:40 AM
It is too bad that he's so hacky these days, 'cause at his best, he was as exciting as Buster Keaton. . .
Herzog often remarks on how porn and kungfu are very truthful cinemas due to their physicality, and I tend not to see a difference between my admiration for Jackie Chan and for Herzog.
Porn I'd never considered. It's interesting. I see a lot of similarities between some silent films and some martial arts film in form: the physicality, the humor, an underprivileged or underdog protagonist, characterizations (dimwitted and/or oppressive wealthy characters and unfair and/or immoral government employees), themes and situations exploring national identity hometown pride and/or the strangeness of travel, and I never have trouble accepting that the plot hinges on a good vs. evil conflict. My most common reaction to a great physical performance in either: Holy fuck! followed by laughter.
Quotethe DVDs for Kill Zone did have an incredible behind the scene featurette that went on the set of the knife fight, which was as good as anything ever filmmed, and kinda detailed the making of it shot by shot.
What a badass villain. This featurette was for the alley fight?
making of, part one, of the SPL alley fight. (http://youtube.com/watch?v=_x9C5ip0ukE)
the fight (http://youtube.com/watch?v=6U5bvnxgCnk)
I watched Police Story 2 last night and it was awesome. I mention it because it was mentioned in this thread. Those outtakes were AWESOME.
Today they released Stephen Chow's The Royal Tramp collection in a 2-disc special edition.
royal tramp was ok - it relied too much on the viewers' familiarity with the literature. My favorite stephen chow movies are Love on Delivery and Forbidden City Cop. Look for those two in Chinatown or on Ebay.
I didn't like the ending in Police Story 2 - I felt like Jackie took in way too much beating and the payoff wasn't very satisfying. It had so many amazing stunts though, like every other shot was just some physical feat. My favorite Jackie Chan fight of all time was in that movie, [img=http://youtube.com/watch?v=YzS63xl2mjQ&feature=related]http://the playground fight[/img]. the video they posted on youtube seemed to come from a transfer that was significantly brightened.
end credits - theatrical version (http://youtube.com/watch?v=k-vIC6RtEcI)
http://www.celestialpictures.com/level2_story.cfm
I added Celestial Pictures. They're releasing Shaw Brothers films on DVD, and because I know they just donated 400 hundred Shaw Brothers titles to the UCLA research library I know they've got plenty of the films licensed.
I purchased my first one and also spine #1, Heroes Two.
Quote from: w/o horse on June 27, 2008, 01:25:11 PM
http://www.celestialpictures.com/level2_story.cfm
I added Celestial Pictures. They're releasing Shaw Brothers films on DVD, and because I know they just donated 400 hundred Shaw Brothers titles to the UCLA research library I know they've got plenty of the films licensed.
I purchased my first one and also spine #1, Heroes Two.
Where did you buy them, couldn't find any link on the website ? Also, what is the cheapest website for chinese good quality DVDs that are but in the original version and dubbed ? (the whacky ones are funnier dubbed)
Heroes Two and a lot of other Shaw Brothers films are available at DeepDiscount and on Netflix. It looks to me like Celestial Pictures only recently started releasing Shaw Brothers films stateside. Heroes Two was released 4/8/08, The Master 5/13, and Challenge of the Masters is coming out 7/29. They may be the only three. All my usual channels for dvd information are pretty dry on information for the company.
As for cheap purchases, I don't know either. Dragon Dynasty films tend to pop up used at my local dvd stores (I purchased PTU last night for $15 used). They are on DeepDiscount, but you've probably seen that most of them are around $20. At least the newer releases. The older ones tend to be cheaper and Dragon Dynasty has a handful of older titles in their library - The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, My Young Auntie, Come Drink With Me, Heroes of the East, The One-Armed Swordsman, and King Boxer. All my Dragon Dynasty dvds have both English and original language tracks - I've never listened to one in English so I don't know if they are the wacky kind of dubs that are typical or if they attempt something more serious. Probably it's tough to make a serious English language track.
Dragon Dynasty and Celestial Pictures I love because of their great transfers. Otherwise most of the titles I hear about are on some kind of inferior dvd releases, or sometimes a random major US distributor will put them out. Like I picked up a nice version of The Prodigal Son and that's a Fox release.
Are you getting into Asian films now? You know, I started, well, back in February, and I'm amazed at how eclectic and numerous the films are. And sometimes amazing. Seeing The Boxer from Shantung during the LA Film Fest was like this: the film kind of looks like Mary Poppins or something, a lot of bright colors and some obviously outmoded method of producing color (Shaw Scope), and it's early 70s so it's not yet the moral wasteland of contemporary cinema, there's a lot of propriety and tradition involved, so it rests somewhere between conservative and liberal, what with what happens is that Mary Poppins is not a umbrella toting nanny but actually a gang of hatchet-wielding fighters, and Dick Van Dyke gets a hatchet in the stomach at the beginning of this fight, that goes on for like thirty minutes, this intense, ecstatically colored fight that's brutal and beautiful and once of the best theater experiences I've personally had. I recommend you go deep. You'll see there's real treasures.
I don't think shawscope has anything to do with the colors. I am under the impression that most of Shaw movies were printed via technicolor.
You're right. Really my post wasn't very much about Shawscope though.
I'm not shitting on your excitement man, I love shaw bros. just sharing what I know, that's all.
in my mind, shaw movies can be split into three directors and their imitators -
chang cheh: very gritty, theatrical, and bloody, like the One-Armed Swordsman, very revenge-themed. this is the shaw bros that tarantino digs the most. here's a scene from Delightful Forest. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzApAP6v1KM&feature=related)
chor yuen's movies are more out there, with a lot of mystery and a lot of crazy characters/ weapons and very stage-like set design, like the Magic Blade.
trailer for the magic blade (http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZQsi3WrVUI4&feature=related)
lau karleung - which feature very beautiful martial arts, often starring Gordon Liu, and often involves the last days of the Shaolin lineage. lau karleung is a kungfu man's kungfu man - his choreography is still unbeatable in terms of their sophistication, camerawork, and execution. his depiction of martial arts - one that focuses on the craftsmanship and the techniques, and his ability to incorporate them into a story, is also uniquely his. a scene from martial club. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWlLAki99Gw&feature=related)
Thanks for the pointers guys !
I have been into chinese cinema for a while but I've been having a string of bad luck lately with transfers that are so lame that the movie cannot be enjoyed (looked like someone had filmed a theater screen ! Rarescope got me twice with this and then the worst is St-Clair Entertainment)
Though a couple years ago I had bought about 5-6 VCDs in France of the Shaw Bros and was amazed at the high quality. In the batch I had Clan of the White Lotus, Martial Club, Praying Mantis (some guy learns kung fu by watching a mantis in the forest, the mantis itself looks very real yet mechanical, it's really awesoe) and 36th Chamber 1 and 2
In more modern ones I loved Dragon Inn.
I will be picking up One-Armed Swordsman today and let you guys know.
Do you guys have like a set of ''must-have'' to advise me ? Also, I don't like so much the ones that are in modern times so far but feel free to give me pointers towards the really good ones. (I didn't like Hard Boiled all that much, but I liked a Better Tomorrow)
I'm a big lau karleung fan, so Heroes of the East, My Young Auntie, Mad Monkey Kungfu, Legendary Weapons of China and The Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter are all classics to me.
For Chor Yuen, I rather like Death Duel, and I heard Heaven Sword and the Dragon Sabre is great.
I like Chang Cheh, but I can't really recommend a movie right now for some reason - they all kinda blend together for me. Shinwa, a fellow Shaw follower on this board, can probably recommend a ton of stuff.
then you've gotta move either backwards for the King Hu epics or forward to the Tsui Hark and Jackie Chan stuff!
Quote from: pete on July 07, 2008, 08:03:03 PM
I'm a big lau karleung fan, so Heroes of the East
Thanks for all the suggestions
I just blind bought Heroes of the East, Come Drink with Me and One Armed Swordsman. I'll let you know asap
oh for chang cheh, get flag or iron. I'd link you to a youtube scene but I'm afraid of spoiling the movies for you.
it'll be cool to open up some real discussions on kungfu films, 'cause it's something that I think about all the time.
Heroes of the East felt more like a demonstration than a movie, but still was good. It was chauvinistic to death, pretending a single chinese can defeat all the masters of different styles of Japan martial arts, but we got the point that the japanese were too focused on strenght while the chinese were flexible.
I wouldn't say this is what I look for in a martial arts movie though. Gordon Liu's films that I've seen so far, while being impressive, lack the grit to make me stay interested in the story. Even if you want your hero to be wise and merciful, there is a way to make that feel really kick ass and overpower instead of just : ''we don't want blood in this movie''
I assumed that instead of these guys being the Masters of Japan they are just some student in a rival school and it made the movie easier to swallow. Also, that kendo expert, while supposedly having the samurai philosophy, really didn't. If the point of the movie was to show the moral superiority of chinese martial arts (which is said at the end), a realistic expose on the samurai life would've been in order. Anyway no matter.
I look forward to One Armed Swordsman and Come Drink With Me that I will be watching tomorrow night.
Holy shit.
That was awesome. To say One Armed Swordsman is one of the best martial arts film is an understatement, it is one of the best movies I've seen ! it has it all ! Strong themes of betrayal, honnor, clan and all the cool stuff. A PERFECT soundtrack, the best I've ever heard in a chinese movie. Very reminding of Ennio Morricone.
I loved this movie so much it's really inspiring me right now for variations of it.
The only flaw I can find is the kinda-lame-super-weapon of the ennemy.
Pete, what resembles this ??? I need MOAR as they say on porn forums
City of Violence
Fuck I had a good time watching this. I watched the french dub with a friend and we were on the edge of our seat. The kind of movie that you love the story but also you find it so fucking ridiculous you can't help laugh the whole time. There are priceless scenes and quotes in this movie. Also a homage to The Warriors. I said : ''woah that's an homage to The Warriors'' and then we saw the shirt of the guy and it was written on it ''Warriors'' so I was pretty proud to be validated since I'm an insecure jerk.
Good violence, good plot, good characters.... a very good film !
Pete for fuck's sake, I know you hate my review style but you said we'd have discussion about kung fu films man... come on shoot something !
The end of City of Violence is nuts. The final all-out battle, with the consecutive, progressive challenges pieced together with like cigarette smoke wipes and room-by-room mayhem. That's what I most remember about it. And really that's the kind of stylistic carnage that makes Asian actions films have and deserve their reputation.
What did you do about Johnny To? Did you ever see Exiled? Or Election or Triad Election? Exiled is more like City of Violence but Election and Triad Election are these kind of poetic, intimate and moody crime films. I'm not saying To is the Melville of Asian cinema but I'm saying that Election and Triad Election make you think he could have been.
I think I spoiled the city of violence for myself by watching the fighting first - I just could not fucking wait. I like the director Ryoo Seung-Wan a lot - he's one of the two good guys - the younger looking one who wasn't a cop. He's made a few very ridiculously violent films with very involving fights before. I love his boxing epic Crying Fist - which combines Rocky with heartwrenching and backbreaking poverty. I think one thing City of Violence does very well is the male-male relationships - it does not care if it comes off as homoerotic in spots and just kinda goes for them. The Hong Kong movies after John Woo kinda stop going for it, and you can't really forge good chemistry or memorable heroes without going for it with no concern for homophobia. This movie is a lot like old school kungfu movies in that respect.
It is also one of the handful of post-Kill Bill movies that feel the need to fight in a restaurant just to show up Tarantino. The other really memorable post-Kill Bill big budget martial arts movie I can think of is Dragon Tiger Gate (which is a shitty movie with an awesomely spectacular opening fight). But this one just has its own flavor. The choreographer (who plays the cop) Jung doo-Hong has an intense style - as he combines high kicks with mayhem and frantic camerawork. A lot of the climatic battle, even moreso than Kill Bill, relied on camera work and aggressive editing moreso than fight choreography. The feeling is quite immersive. One of the assistant stunt coordinators who shot parts of the outdoor mall fight came to train with my troupe about two winters ago, and that guy was on it. He knew his shit.
My only complaint was that I wish the fights focused on the cool moves a little bit more, instead of honing in on the carnage. The tiny fight in the police station was fun for that reason.
Korean movies though - that's a whole different genre. The way they approach violence, street thuggery, and fighting in terms of aesthetics is very different from the Hong Kong guys. They're like the Russian mob of action filmmaking.
For more stuff like that, but with guns and existentialism, check out A Bittersweet Life. For a very funny and bittersweet Korean indie comedy about thugs and brawling, check out Attack the Gas Station.
Now onto Johnnie To. I love him. He handles violence and friendship with absolute cool. Triad Election (is that the sequel?) is ok, but PTU, Exiled, and Election are masterpieces. He's like if Melville and Takeshi Kitano had a baby.
Wow so many suggestions thanks ! I will check them all out and let you know because that thing about the russian mob of action movies really intrigues me !
PTU, BTW, had an incredibly bizarre atmosphere. Still possessing the swelling tension of similar cop films it took a peculiarly idiosyncratic approach towards building that tension - it's not so much the characters or the plot that advances, but just the tension. It's To's filmmaking that propels the film, and his sequences are the cinematic thundering presaging the final scene. Like as if these people in the film have been burdened with the consequence of being trapped in a maze, To has told them they must make it to the exit, and he films them while they find their way. This is how it feels to watch the film, and also from the commentary I learned that PTU was shot over a number of years without a script and most of the people in the film probably did not actually know what part they were playing in the narrative until they saw the film. So it makes sense it'd feel this way. It's also a successful, truly original film.
Another bizarre To was Running out of Time. This as well begins with a conventional movie setup, the madman on the roof, then that plot element which you suppose will introduce a rivalry and a logical series of cop-bad guy chases actually becomes the starting point for the story troubled, dying, emotionally isolated antihero, the kind you see in so many American Indie films, but much more demented cinematically, because the backdrop here isn't suburbia but a Hong Kong action movie.
I have his Throwdown to watch next. On the front of this dvd case it says "In the world of Judo, failure is not an option" and amidst the description on the rear it says "To's stylish homage to the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa."
The kind of filmmaker who disregards all conventions in pursuit of energetic, original visions is the kind of filmmaker I love is the kind of filmmaker To is.
Kill Zone
Major letdown ... I expected a lot of this one. The story is very complicated and the translation sucked (even the subtitles)
The final fight was cool but I don't feel like I knew any characters and didn't care for them.
Next one is probably Internal Affairs or PTU ...
haha I thought I'd warned someone about Kill Zone...guess not. I did love that knife vs. stick fight at the end though...one of the best ever filmed.
Infernal Affairs is more or less The Departed - except all the dudes get to act real, real cool. PTU has more character in terms of filmmaking and storytelling, you should check that one out. Then move on to Johnnie To's more complicated opuses like Elections then finally Exiled. I heard his new con-artist movie that takes place in the 60s is very good too. but sometimes he goes out of his way to make commercial movies that aren't very good. Don't know why.
Do you hear or know things about Tai Chi Master, either of you? On paper it sounds like a must buy.
I watched The Prodigal Son recently. It was my first experience with a great transfer and horrible subtitles. Horrible, not bad, subtitles. It wasn't a Dragon Dynasty release. There's a sequence in The Prodigal Son that outperforms the rest of the movie - a sequence that begins with a silent intrusion, builds to murder, and culminates in a fiery confrontation. It's amazing.
I'm trying to build an appreciation for the fight sequences based on the level of fighting skill. The problem is obviously that I'm not a fighter myself, so it makes me feel dilettantish. When there's a cinematic sequence with beautiful cinematography or impressive editing I can identify, but when it's two guys (or nine thousand, whatever) fighting on screen and the major focus is simply the fighting it's tough for me to be critical or even comparative.
Tai Chi Master is another title for Twin Warriors, which you might know about.
It is really awesome, I don't see anyone not liking it. About you building your taste for fighting, I think this is one of the better ones. You'll see Michelle Yeoh's movement are so fluid and Jet Li really makes the impossible moves possible. It made me sign up for a Tai Chi class when I saw it as a teen. I don't need to say that I didn't go through with that.
I've not seen it in years but I'd say blind buy is a-ok. If you watch them dubbed, the old release as Twin Warriors is incredibly cheap if you can find it.
it's just something I've been obsessed with since age 3. I feel like I've always known good fighting from bad too - for example I never liked chuck norris or van damme, not even as a schoolboy. I never really dug tai chi master though - the wired stuff really turned me off, and some real hoaky shots. this was one of yuen woping's lesser works. yuen woping loves tai chi - you can see it even in the first matrix, but this one wasn't so good, which was a shame 'cause you know, he just hung Jet Li on a wire for like 30 minutes. The sequel to tai chi master, Tai Chi 2 (I think) starring Wu Jing (aka Jacky Wu) is not a very good movie, but the choreography is much better.
prodigal son was an amazing movie. I'd seen it twice at the revival theaters. both times started out the same way - people guffawing at the dated, hoaky stuff in the beginning, but, after that aforementioned sequence that began goofy, followed by a bloody murder and ended with one of the most beautiful slo-moed shots ever, everyone got serious. it was a very good movie, where the revenge came real late because it spent 90 minutes building up the characters and the pay off came swift but not sadistic. also, the story is real interesting, for once - two over-protected, privileged kungfu boys going through life and martial arts in radically different ways, I really haven't seen anything else like it. it is one of the best movies about martial arts ever filmed.
I think a good DVD is Jackie Chan's "my stunts", a video seminar where he explains his craft. I was very inspired after watching it and it was why I started making martial arts movies. he had some great insights on how to incorporate filmmaking into his stuff. either that or watch some bad fighting and compare it with old skool movies! but it's a visceral thing, I knew kids with down syndrome who'll appreciate Jackie Chan but not Steven Segal...if you don't dig it, maybe it's just not you.
meanwhile rent my movie on netflix!
www.contourmovie.com
I'm surprised you didn't like Tai Chi at all ! I have really fond memories of it... then again appreciation of fighting sequences is secondary to me, I really dig asian movies more for the stories than the fighting, which I reckon is pretty weird.
What's this contourmovie ??? What did you do in it ?
I did all sorts of micellaneous stuff that might otherwise fall under the producer credit but I only got a story editor credit just because there were too many "producers" over its three-year long production. I planned the fights, worked on the otherwise non-existent script, found some actors and composers and just worked on the editing of the fights and shit like that.
it's got a shit ton of fighting!
I'd only seen tai chi master horribly dubbed on dimension vhs, and it was obvious that they'd cut stuff and changed up the dialogue to make it less boring for whoever the fuck they think is watching these movies.
if you like a good story, I think A Touch of Zen is pretty classic, a weird paranormal mystery that turns into a government conspiracy and shit. or 95% of New Dragon Gate Inn, which is about a bunch of rival parties - corrupt officials, revolutionaries, and opportunists, all stuck in one inn in the middle of nowhere in ming dynasty china, and its sleazy sexy innskeeper who treads on the explosive tension. it is really fun, but the ending contained one of the most laughable special effect ever, which ruined an otherwise pretty fun movie (it's still fun, just hoaky.) Jet Li's movie "Fong Sai Yuk" aka "The Legend" (the awful Dimension dubbed release) is one of the best movies he'd done, where he was actually allowed to be charming and youthful, and it contained a very good coming of age (also revolutionary) story.
I really really love tsui hark's movies, especially what he tries to do with the martial arts and action genre after his Jet Li epics (the Once Upon a Time in China series). His movie "The Blade" - a Wong Kar-Wai-esque take on the one-armed swordsman story, almost like him trying to show up Ashes of Time, is a masterpiece - something that is totally frantic and handheld, but it accentuates the information, not hide it. His two follow-ups, Time and Tide and Seven Swords, both all over the place and borderline incoherent, but in my view, completely satisfying with what he's trying to do with the action set pieces.
a training scene from the blade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JMB0BCzljM) (bad compression and hard to watch, but you should get the idea)
Quote from: pete on August 06, 2008, 01:07:08 AM
I did all sorts of micellaneous stuff that might otherwise fall under the producer credit but I only got a story editor credit just because there were too many "producers" over its three-year long production. I planned the fights, worked on the otherwise non-existent script, found some actors and composers and just worked on the editing of the fights and shit like that.
it's got a shit ton of fighting!
I'd only seen tai chi master horribly dubbed on dimension vhs, and it was obvious that they'd cut stuff and changed up the dialogue to make it less boring for whoever the fuck they think is watching these movies.
if you like a good story, I think A Touch of Zen is pretty classic, a weird paranormal mystery that turns into a government conspiracy and shit. or 95% of New Dragon Gate Inn, which is about a bunch of rival parties - corrupt officials, revolutionaries, and opportunists, all stuck in one inn in the middle of nowhere in ming dynasty china, and its sleazy sexy innskeeper who treads on the explosive tension. it is really fun, but the ending contained one of the most laughable special effect ever, which ruined an otherwise pretty fun movie (it's still fun, just hoaky.) Jet Li's movie "Fong Sai Yuk" aka "The Legend" (the awful Dimension dubbed release) is one of the best movies he'd done, where he was actually allowed to be charming and youthful, and it contained a very good coming of age (also revolutionary) story.
I really really love tsui hark's movies, especially what he tries to do with the martial arts and action genre after his Jet Li epics (the Once Upon a Time in China series). His movie "The Blade" - a Wong Kar-Wai-esque take on the one-armed swordsman story, almost like him trying to show up Ashes of Time, is a masterpiece - something that is totally frantic and handheld, but it accentuates the information, not hide it. His two follow-ups, Time and Tide and Seven Swords, both all over the place and borderline incoherent, but in my view, completely satisfying with what he's trying to do with the action set pieces.
a training scene from the blade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JMB0BCzljM) (bad compression and hard to watch, but you should get the idea)
Very cool for Contour!
I'll check out these suggestions !! I own Dragon Inn and love it already, and even like the ending for it's utter crazyness !
I liked that scene....so many movies to watch, great !
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dragondynasty.com%2Fvault%2Fdvdcovers%2FFOL132x187.jpg&hash=761389e956b884faf4bfe5dca5060c95ce4bb493)
Widely regarded as the greatest film of two legendary careers, Fist of Legend teams superstar Jet Li with martial arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping (The Matrix) for "some of the best fight sequences you will ever see" (Dan Mitchell, IGN Movies). In this tribute to Bruce Lee's classic The Chinese Connection (aka Fists of Fury), Li radiates sheer power and coolness as a kung fu phenom living abroad who returns home to avenge the death of his master and save his martial arts school. Shifting effortlessly among diverse fighting styles, Li even fights blindfolded and wields his belt as a deadly weapon. Fist of Legend is essential viewing for any Jet Li fan and "the promised land for kung fu cinema" (HongKongCinema.com).
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dragondynasty.com%2Fvault%2Fdvdcovers%2FTheRebel132x187.jpg&hash=0d74fee17707704ca241938153bb0338ec66ac39)
The biggest box office hit in Vietnamese history and one of the year's most talked-about films, The Rebel is a sweeping martial arts epic set in 1920's, French-occupied Vietnam. Johnny Nguyen (The Protector) stars as an elite double agent tasked with taking down his own country's freedom fighters. But when he meets a beautiful rebel (pop star Thanh Van Ngo), he rethinks his loyalty to the oppressive French regime and fights back against his sadistic captain (Dustin Nguyen, 21 Jump Street). Featuring an acrobatic fighting style little seen in the U.S. and an absolutely gripping story, The Rebel is "an entertaining mix of martial arts and historical drama" (Richard Kuipers, Variety).
When are these coming out friend ?
Fist of Legend Sep 2 and The Rebel Sep 30.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTCpeTBSsd0
Not to hijack the thread, but is this for discussing Chinese action cinema in general or just Dragon Dynasty related films?
This semester I started taking a Hong Kong Action Cinema class, mostly for the professor since I don't know a whole lot about Hong Kong Action Cinema specifically. We meet once a week, so we've only had two classes so far, but holy hell. So far, the features we've watched are Come Drink With Me and One Armed Swordsman.
So far we've seen clips from a lot of the movies already discussed above, and the syllabus looks better and better. Speaking of which, pete, if I post the syllabus (just the upcoming movies) would you take a look at it and suggest some movies that may be missing or just give your opinion on it? Or anyone else who is well versed in the genre for that matter.
haha I once hijacked a class on Chinese cinema for six weeks to focus on the action cinema, and gave the professor my curriculum. I have to say though, I'm partial to the more technical breakthrough in the cinema, especially in terms of the martial arts choreography and filmmaking, and I might not have that much to say about the masterpieces because sometimes I stop watching things with mediocre fights (a bad habit I know!). But before all, pick up my DVD contour from netflix or best buy or whatever!
Walrus post the syllabus.
Coming back from Orange County I stopped at a dvd store that had a bunch of Shaw Brothers films with the Celestial Pictures logo apparently distributed through Image. So that's how I learned that Image also puts out Shaw Brothers films.
I bought this one:
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This is a complete list of all the titles they've released:
QuoteBells of Death, The (Shaw Brothers)
Black Magic (Shaw Brothers)
Boxer's Omen, The (Shaw Brothers)
Cave of the Silken Web, The (Shaw Brothers)
Corpse Mania (Shaw Brothers)
Deadly Breaking Sword, The (Shaw Brothers)
Four Swords (Shaw Brothers Box Set)
Heaven and Hell (Shaw Brothers)
House of Traps (Shaw Brothers)
Human Lanterns (Shaw Brothers)
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (Shaw Brothers)
Killer Snakes, The (Shaw Brothers)
Kiss of Death (Shaw Brothers)
Legendary Weapons of China (Shaw Brothers)
Seeding of a Ghost (Shaw Brothers)
Shadow Whip, The (Shaw Brothers)
Shaolin Intruders, The (Shaw Brothers)
Super Inframan (Shaw Brothers)
Thunderbolt Fist (Shaw Brothers)
Vengeance Is a Golden Blade (Shaw Brothers)
Water Margin, The (Shaw Brothers)
Mine has original Mandarin soundtrack with English subtitles and English dubbed.
We're watching about a dozen clips/trailers each class, other than the feature each class. So rather than type those all out, I'll just list the features.
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Week 1: Come Drink With Me
Week 2: The One-Armed Swordsman
Week 3: King Boxer
Week 4: The Chinese Connection
Week 5: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
Week 6: Drunken Master
Week 7: My Young Auntie
Week 8: Encounters of the Spooky Kind
Week 9: Project A
Week 10: Zu: Warriors from Magic Mountain
Week 11: Peking Opera Blues
Week 12: The Bride With White Hair
Week 13: Hard Boiled
Week 14: Tai-Chi Master
Week 15: Kung Fu Hustle
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Apparently Kung Fu Hustle is tentative for the last day, it was just part of the arc of genres where it's like the primitive, the classical, the revisionist, and the parodic.
Nice. I think that, besides The Chinese Connection, we've talked about those first seven in here.
I'm going to watch your weeks 8-12. Encounters of the Spooky Kind is another film from the filmmaker who made The Prodigal Son, a film I watched a little bit back and found amazing, the post in this thread previously.
Very excited. Thanks.
that's a pretty comprehensive list, but skipping over the new wave phase of the action cinema in the early 90s (when Jet Li made flying through the air popular again), or perhaps Bride with White Hair is supposed to be it?
I'll recommend:
Police Story - this was when Jackie Chan really pioneered putting martial arts in contemporary settings - with heavy usage or props and mayhem and light on classical kungfu stances.
Flags of Iron - just a classic, fast and brutal Shaw Bros movie, with lotsa gut, blood, and machisimo.
Prodigal Son - this is martial arts film at its best - a film that showcases the specific philosophy of a style, but all the while telling a very original and engrossing story about two pampered kids crossing paths. it starts off light, then gets impossibly dark. a real deft mixture of tones and genres, in a way only Hong Kong can pull off.
Dragon Lord - Jackie Chan's weird experiment - a coming-of-age story, with some insane stunts and fights thrown in. Nobody liked it at the time, but I love it.
a few movies they've missed from the 90's -
The Blade - Tsui Hark got mad at Wong KarWai's "Ashes of Time" and went out to make something that was infinitely better. He created a gritty kung fu world and turned Wong KarWai's new wave-inspired monologues into foolish rants. This is genre revision at its best.
The New Dragon Gate Inn - a movie that could've been perfect if it wasn't for the worst usage of special effects at the most pivotal moment.
Drunken Master 2 - in case you've somehow missed it, this has the best fighting ever!
Once Upon a Time in China 1, 2, and 3 - the handsome collaboration between Jet Li and Tsui Hark.
We are watching/have watched clips from Police Story, Dragon Lord, The Blade, New Dragon Gate Inn, Once Upon A Time In China.
We just watched The Chinese Connection today. I'd seen most of it before, but goddamn. Pretty great.
If an LA resident, or other, wants to see Foot Fist Way and The Blade at the New Bev on October 12 with Patton Oswalt in-person pm me and let me know.
Quote from: w/o horse on September 25, 2008, 09:40:48 PM
If an LA resident, or other, wants to see Foot Fist Way and The Blade at the New Bev on October 12 with Patton Oswalt in-person pm me and let me know.
Huh? That is really just barely related to this thread at all. maybe I missed something.
Also, wanted to thank you guys for the lists... I've really stacked my Netflix queue (though some aren't available).... I've really been meaning to catch up on this kind of stuff and the lists are helpful.
the blade! ah I shall try to fly down for this!
From the new blog:
Whereas Woo doubled Vietnam in Thailand and Hung in The Philippines, Tsui Hark, who born in French Indochina, actually shot his war-themed epic, 'A Better Tomorrow 3: Love And Death In Saigon'. Tsui had produced the earlier, John Woo-directed 'Better Tomorrow' films, but, by the time the third was being developed, he and Woo had parted ways, and Tsui took the director's chair himself. In this prequel, we learn how Chow Yun-fat's character, Mark, learnt his gunplay skills from the late Anita Mui, before falling foul of a Vietnamese warlord. The film earned a place in the history books as the last commercial actioner filmed in Vietnam until 'The Rebel', 17 years later. (It's also an upcoming Dragon Dynasty release, along with the previous two films in the 'A Better Tomorrow' series.)
bad news, yo. (http://www.kungfucinema.com/?p=3920)
Quote from: pete on November 25, 2008, 11:02:15 AM
bad news, yo. (http://www.kungfucinema.com/?p=3920)
UPDATE: The Weinstein Company has issued a statement regarding the state of Dragon Dynasty's release schedule and to counter any suggestion that the label is going out of business, something I did not intend to suggest in the following article. In response, I have altered or removed a couple lines that could be described as entirely speculative and potentially misleading.
Citing the general tone of the article and its assessment of Dragon Dynasty, as well as a write up on another blog that shall remain unnamed, Bey Logan, The Weinstein Company's Vice President of Asian Acquisitions & Co-Production denied any suggestion that Dragon Dynasty is "going under" and stated that none of the Dragon Dynasty staff were laid off in TWC's recent cut backs. He went on to address concerns about the label's release schedule and offer assurances that more titles are on the way.
"We have been taking stock, both as The Weinstein Company and as Dragon Dynasty, after our first cycle of business. We now have a very solid idea of what sells, and what does not, in the North American market, and we're adjusting our acquisition and release plans accordingly."
"We have SUPERCOP ready for release. I have already recorded a commentary and shot interviews with Jackie and Stanley for it. We have PROTEGE and JET LI'S THE ENFORCER (aka MY FATHER IS A HERO) ready to go, and I'm recording commentaries for them next week. We have further Shaw titles, further Harvest ones, EMPRESS AND HER WARRIORS, and a bunch of classic Jet Li films to release, and we are still aggressively pursuing titles for acquisition."
Logan's public statement confirms that Dragon Dynasty will be kicking out more titles in 2009. Off the record, he also gave credible reasons for why a couple of the label's previously announced titles have been indefinitely delayed. While this is all reassuring, there is still reason to be concerned about Dragon Dynasty's future in an increasingly uncertain environment.If you can't trust Bey Logan, who can you trust?
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2009-01-13
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2009-02-10
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2009-02-24
weak, weak, alright.
protege's not an action movie though. it's about the drug trade - the business side of it is portrayed brilliantly, but the addicts are somewhat cartoonish.