Question:
Run into a bit of backpay at work, so I was wondering what to splash the cash on next. I have Project A, Iron Monkey, Police Story and the Bruce Lee box set. And have decided that I like traditional kung fu and am not really too keen now on the wire work in Iron Monkey. So what recommendations can you recommend in the traditional kung fu genre? I was thinking of Prodigal Son and Young Master, but as a relative newcomer, I may have overlooked some titles you guys feel are better.
If a title has a Bey Logan commentary on then the better, as the guy is amazing in my book.:notworthy
www.hkfilmrecommendations.tk then click on 'Traditional Kung Fu'.
Not Kung Fu but get THE KILLER! out in 3 weeks
Magnificent Butcher and spooky encounters both have loads and loads of fights (Trad Style).
8.99 at play247 I think too or 9.99 at HKL website
Not much fighting but a great film is Mr Vampire. ( BTW loads of HKL titles are in the HMV sale.)
The Story of Rickys out soon. So if you want to see a splatter kung fu movie, i really recommend this one.
OOoh I'm not sure whether splatter films will be up my alley. I like the hand -to-hand kung fu like you see in Way Of The Dragon and Fist of Fury. I've been having a look at people's recommendations and the HK website and I've got a shortlist of these:
- Magnificent Butcher
- Prodigal Son
- Young Master
- Spooky Kind
- Iron fisted Monk
What are people's views on these with regard to the style of kung fu I like?
Also, is there any news on when the Platinum editions of Snake in the Eagle's shadow and The Drunken Master will be coming out?
Cheers
If you like hand to hand combat Prodigal Son is a must, also Magnificent Butcher should very good. Iron Fisted Monk I did like but lacks some of the polish of Sammos later work. Encounters of a Spooky Kind is a very good movie but the fighting is a little more elaborate.
m_thomp - you have basically listed all the trad kung fu classics available and you can expect those to be more of what you like.
Theres no news on the Platinum editions of Snake in the Eagle's shadow and The Drunken Master.
Young Master is a Jakie Chan film isn't it? Isn't it the one where Jackie gets the seven bells of assorted ***** kicked out of him at the end. If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's quite brutal and shocking.
Most people say the Jakies best traditional Kung Fu movie is Drunken master. I also really like Snake in Eagles Shadow.
Phill
Originally posted by Phill
Most people say the Jakies best traditional Kung Fu movie is Drunken master. I also really like Snake in Eagles Shadow.
Phill
Drunken Master 2 you mean.
Originally posted by m_thomp
- Magnificent Butcher
- Prodigal Son
- Young Master
- Spooky Kind
- Iron fisted Monk
What are people's views on these with regard to the style of kung fu I like?
Cheers
Iron-fisted Monk is CUT. Young Master is not out till December. The other 3 are fine.
All these feature the hand style Wing Chun (?) kung fu you've been watching, and all have a Bey Logan commentary.
- Magnificent Butcher
Great film, one of my favourite Sammo and Yuen Biao films.
- Prodigal Son
As above :)
- Young Master
Another solid Jackie Chan film. I dont think it's as good as his other older stuff, but it's still good.
- Spooky Kind
I have mixed feelings on this. To be honest i'm not too keen on it, although it is certainly above average.
- Iron fisted Monk
Not one of my favourite's i'm afraid.
I would also recommend on HKL:
Snake In The Eagle's Shadow
Drunken Master
Legend Of A Fighter (Excellent and still quite overlooked film with Leung Kar Yan and Yuen Woo Ping action)
and most of all:
Mr Vampire. MV is a truly excellent film, and whilst it's not a kung fu film per se, it is very funny (as in actually funny, not slapstick), extremely well paced and has an amazing performance by Lam Ching Ying. It's one of my favourite HK films.
If you want traditional Kung Fu and dont mind wandering from HKL, then i can recommond:
The Odd Couple: Sammo Hung, Leung Kar Yan, Lau Kau Wing
The Victim: Excellent old school kung fu with Sammo and Leung Kar Yan
Warriors Two: Sammo Hung and Leung Kar Yan
The 18 Bronzemen
36th Chamber Of Shaolin
8th Diagram Pole Fighter
Secret Rivals
Invincible Armour
7 Grandmasters
Hells Windstaff: Hwang Jang Lee :cool:
Should keep you going!
Originally posted by m_thomp
- Magnificent Butcher
- Prodigal Son
- Young Master
- Spooky Kind
- Iron fisted Monk
You can't go wrong with a good Sammo hung film imo. Prod Son, Mag Butcher, Spooky Kind & Fisted monk represent the very best of old school fighting & are excellent places to start so that list is looking pretty damn good to me :).
Just a bump for this. Firstly to say thanks for your recommenadations! I ordered Magnificent Butcher, it arrived on Saturday and it is absolutely fantastic. I watched it twice. That is exactly the style of kung fu I was after, and if this wasn't enough the comedy was spot on! Ha ha I'm just laughing now (although the RSPCA probably aren't) at the drunken chicken. Sammo Hung, what a star!
Think I might plump for Prodigal Son next. However, having read your recommendations and looked at the lists that Shingster produced, I am quite tempted by the Odd Couple. Given that this isn't a HKL title where would I get this from and would the video / audio / subtitling be up to the standard of HKL?
Originally posted by m_thomp
Think I might plump for Prodigal Son next. However, having read your recommendations and looked at the lists that Shingster produced, I am quite tempted by the Odd Couple. Given that this isn't a HKL title where would I get this from and would the video / audio / subtitling be up to the standard of HKL?
First, GET MR VAMPIRE! :D
Odd Couple is good (it's primarily a weapons fighting film btw), but i think The Victim is much better. The UK DVD version of The Victim isn't too bad, it's original languag and widescreen which is about as good as you'll get.
If you want to get Odd Couple or other non HKL stuff, then check out:
www.coolashop.com
www.dddhouse.com
global.yesasia.com
www.hkflix.com
The picture, sound and subs wont be up to HKL standard and in some cases (Mei Ah discs especially) the subs are awful but extremely funny.
If you loved Mag Butcher then I'd certainly recommend Legend of a Fighter because its far better imo. Prodigal Son is vastly over rated but if you really liked Mag Butcher then your bound to get some enjoyment from it.
Cheers Guys, been reading the reviews of the films you recommended, Mr Vampire sounds OK but I'm a bit concerned about the lack of martial arts and the fact that its a horror film. Never really been a big fan of the horror genre in general. So I'll probably give this a wide berth for the time being.
Legend of A Fighter, sounds like a good one but, from the review I read, it seems to suffer from the cropping which has stopped, me getting Drunken Master and Snake In The Eagle's Shadow.
The Victim and The Odd Couple both sound, from the reviews, exactly the type I'm looking for. I did catch a bit of news that seemed to suggest that The Odd Couple rights had been bought by HKL, so I may hang fire on that one. Is The Victim available from Coolashop or DDDHouse? I can't find it unless it goes by another name?
[QUOTE]Originally posted by m_thomp
Cheers Guys, been reading the reviews of the films you recommended, Mr Vampire sounds OK but I'm a bit concerned about the lack of martial arts and the fact that its a horror film. Never really been a big fan of the horror genre in general. So I'll probably give this a wide berth for the time being.
Mr Vampire is superb and Im sure you would love it (as does everybody else). Its not a horror film, its a kung-fu comedy that happens to be more comedy than kung-fu but thats certainly not a bad thing in the case of Mr Vampire. The Kung-fu thats there is excellent, and some might argue more carefully paced than many other old school kung-fu flicks which are straight action.
Legend of A Fighter, sounds like a good one but, from the review I read, it seems to suffer from the cropping which has stopped, me getting Drunken Master and Snake In The Eagle's Shadow.
Legend of a Fighter is such a rare gem that most people are happy just to see it on dvd at all. There isnt a strong enough demand for the film to make HKL go back and remaster a 2.35:1 WS version.
Its this or nothing.
The cropping doesn't really affect LoaF and as far as i know that's the only release of it anywhere. I think the HKL disc is the first UK and DVD release of it. It's a superb film mate.
HKL have the rights to Odd Couple, but i wouldn't hold your breath waiting for it. They have a load of old classic kung fu films, but i'm guessing we'll have to wait for them to release all their Jackie Chan and action films first. www.yesasia.com sell Odd Couple, however i got mine from a forum member, Cirus888 who lives in HK and sometimes offers to get discs for members here :)
The Victim is available at Play. It's a Region 2. There is a US release by Tai Seng but the picture is pitiful and it only has a dubbed soundtrack.
Mr Vampire isn't a horror, it's a blackish comedy basically. You're right in that it doesn't really feature much kung fu as such, but it's a good film as Shingsters poll shows :)
Well I've trotted through the reviews and your opinions and the running order for my next purchases is gonna be as follows:
- Prodigal Son
- Mr Vampire
- Legend Of A Fighter
- The Victim
- The Odd Couple
I'm willing to take a chance on Mr Vampire, as all recommendations I've recieved so far have been spot on apart from Iron Monkey (its good, but I don't really like wirework) Just have to wait til payday now....now, when is it? Oooh next Monday! Hoorah!
I still want to fit in Police Story 2, Young Master and The Killer as well (not seen it, but I liked Hard Boiled, but don't really like any of Woo's Hollywood films.) But they can wait.
i'll post in the right thread next time :dork:
That list is spot on imo, however Encounters Of A Spooky Kind is available nice & cheap at the moment (£8.99 here (http://www.playserver3.com/play247.asp?page=search&adudisc=y)). Not only is it probably HKL' finest hour from a technical standpoint, it's also one of Sammo Hungs best films imo (one of my All time fave HK films), so i'd give that title some serious consideration as well.
BTW, as stated before the cropping on LOAF is barely noticeable, so don't worry about it ruining the film for you. :)
you lot just finally persuaded me to get LoaF. Ive always wanted it, but ive always got the feeling HKL will rerelease it.
well its really cheap so ill just buy it.
Well cheers guys. I'm gonna plough ahead and bag Mr. Vampire today, its jumped the queue over Prodigal Son as I was banking on picking this up direct from HKL, but as I have a couple of orders not yet sent from them (waiting 2 weeks now), I'll hang fire on that one.
Mr Vampire should be here Fri/Sat knowing Play and I'll post my reaction as soon as. I really hope it gets me as enthusiastic as Magnificent Butcher did!
If a title has a Bey Logan commentary on then the better, as the guy is amazing in my book.:notworthy
Answers:
www.hkfilmrecommendations.tk then click on 'Traditional Kung Fu'.
Answers:
Not Kung Fu but get THE KILLER! out in 3 weeks
Answers:
Magnificent Butcher and spooky encounters both have loads and loads of fights (Trad Style).
8.99 at play247 I think too or 9.99 at HKL website
Answers:
Not much fighting but a great film is Mr Vampire. ( BTW loads of HKL titles are in the HMV sale.)
The Story of Rickys out soon. So if you want to see a splatter kung fu movie, i really recommend this one.
Answers:
OOoh I'm not sure whether splatter films will be up my alley. I like the hand -to-hand kung fu like you see in Way Of The Dragon and Fist of Fury. I've been having a look at people's recommendations and the HK website and I've got a shortlist of these:
- Magnificent Butcher
- Prodigal Son
- Young Master
- Spooky Kind
- Iron fisted Monk
What are people's views on these with regard to the style of kung fu I like?
Also, is there any news on when the Platinum editions of Snake in the Eagle's shadow and The Drunken Master will be coming out?
Cheers
Answers:
If you like hand to hand combat Prodigal Son is a must, also Magnificent Butcher should very good. Iron Fisted Monk I did like but lacks some of the polish of Sammos later work. Encounters of a Spooky Kind is a very good movie but the fighting is a little more elaborate.
Answers:
m_thomp - you have basically listed all the trad kung fu classics available and you can expect those to be more of what you like.
Theres no news on the Platinum editions of Snake in the Eagle's shadow and The Drunken Master.
Answers:
Young Master is a Jakie Chan film isn't it? Isn't it the one where Jackie gets the seven bells of assorted ***** kicked out of him at the end. If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's quite brutal and shocking.
Most people say the Jakies best traditional Kung Fu movie is Drunken master. I also really like Snake in Eagles Shadow.
Phill
Answers:
Originally posted by Phill
Most people say the Jakies best traditional Kung Fu movie is Drunken master. I also really like Snake in Eagles Shadow.
Phill
Drunken Master 2 you mean.
Answers:
Originally posted by m_thomp
- Magnificent Butcher
- Prodigal Son
- Young Master
- Spooky Kind
- Iron fisted Monk
What are people's views on these with regard to the style of kung fu I like?
Cheers
Iron-fisted Monk is CUT. Young Master is not out till December. The other 3 are fine.
Answers:
All these feature the hand style Wing Chun (?) kung fu you've been watching, and all have a Bey Logan commentary.
- Magnificent Butcher
Great film, one of my favourite Sammo and Yuen Biao films.
- Prodigal Son
As above :)
- Young Master
Another solid Jackie Chan film. I dont think it's as good as his other older stuff, but it's still good.
- Spooky Kind
I have mixed feelings on this. To be honest i'm not too keen on it, although it is certainly above average.
- Iron fisted Monk
Not one of my favourite's i'm afraid.
I would also recommend on HKL:
Snake In The Eagle's Shadow
Drunken Master
Legend Of A Fighter (Excellent and still quite overlooked film with Leung Kar Yan and Yuen Woo Ping action)
and most of all:
Mr Vampire. MV is a truly excellent film, and whilst it's not a kung fu film per se, it is very funny (as in actually funny, not slapstick), extremely well paced and has an amazing performance by Lam Ching Ying. It's one of my favourite HK films.
If you want traditional Kung Fu and dont mind wandering from HKL, then i can recommond:
The Odd Couple: Sammo Hung, Leung Kar Yan, Lau Kau Wing
The Victim: Excellent old school kung fu with Sammo and Leung Kar Yan
Warriors Two: Sammo Hung and Leung Kar Yan
The 18 Bronzemen
36th Chamber Of Shaolin
8th Diagram Pole Fighter
Secret Rivals
Invincible Armour
7 Grandmasters
Hells Windstaff: Hwang Jang Lee :cool:
Should keep you going!
Answers:
Originally posted by m_thomp
- Magnificent Butcher
- Prodigal Son
- Young Master
- Spooky Kind
- Iron fisted Monk
You can't go wrong with a good Sammo hung film imo. Prod Son, Mag Butcher, Spooky Kind & Fisted monk represent the very best of old school fighting & are excellent places to start so that list is looking pretty damn good to me :).
Answers:
Just a bump for this. Firstly to say thanks for your recommenadations! I ordered Magnificent Butcher, it arrived on Saturday and it is absolutely fantastic. I watched it twice. That is exactly the style of kung fu I was after, and if this wasn't enough the comedy was spot on! Ha ha I'm just laughing now (although the RSPCA probably aren't) at the drunken chicken. Sammo Hung, what a star!
Think I might plump for Prodigal Son next. However, having read your recommendations and looked at the lists that Shingster produced, I am quite tempted by the Odd Couple. Given that this isn't a HKL title where would I get this from and would the video / audio / subtitling be up to the standard of HKL?
Answers:
Originally posted by m_thomp
Think I might plump for Prodigal Son next. However, having read your recommendations and looked at the lists that Shingster produced, I am quite tempted by the Odd Couple. Given that this isn't a HKL title where would I get this from and would the video / audio / subtitling be up to the standard of HKL?
First, GET MR VAMPIRE! :D
Odd Couple is good (it's primarily a weapons fighting film btw), but i think The Victim is much better. The UK DVD version of The Victim isn't too bad, it's original languag and widescreen which is about as good as you'll get.
If you want to get Odd Couple or other non HKL stuff, then check out:
www.coolashop.com
www.dddhouse.com
global.yesasia.com
www.hkflix.com
The picture, sound and subs wont be up to HKL standard and in some cases (Mei Ah discs especially) the subs are awful but extremely funny.
Answers:
If you loved Mag Butcher then I'd certainly recommend Legend of a Fighter because its far better imo. Prodigal Son is vastly over rated but if you really liked Mag Butcher then your bound to get some enjoyment from it.
Answers:
Cheers Guys, been reading the reviews of the films you recommended, Mr Vampire sounds OK but I'm a bit concerned about the lack of martial arts and the fact that its a horror film. Never really been a big fan of the horror genre in general. So I'll probably give this a wide berth for the time being.
Legend of A Fighter, sounds like a good one but, from the review I read, it seems to suffer from the cropping which has stopped, me getting Drunken Master and Snake In The Eagle's Shadow.
The Victim and The Odd Couple both sound, from the reviews, exactly the type I'm looking for. I did catch a bit of news that seemed to suggest that The Odd Couple rights had been bought by HKL, so I may hang fire on that one. Is The Victim available from Coolashop or DDDHouse? I can't find it unless it goes by another name?
Answers:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by m_thomp
Cheers Guys, been reading the reviews of the films you recommended, Mr Vampire sounds OK but I'm a bit concerned about the lack of martial arts and the fact that its a horror film. Never really been a big fan of the horror genre in general. So I'll probably give this a wide berth for the time being.
Mr Vampire is superb and Im sure you would love it (as does everybody else). Its not a horror film, its a kung-fu comedy that happens to be more comedy than kung-fu but thats certainly not a bad thing in the case of Mr Vampire. The Kung-fu thats there is excellent, and some might argue more carefully paced than many other old school kung-fu flicks which are straight action.
Legend of A Fighter, sounds like a good one but, from the review I read, it seems to suffer from the cropping which has stopped, me getting Drunken Master and Snake In The Eagle's Shadow.
Legend of a Fighter is such a rare gem that most people are happy just to see it on dvd at all. There isnt a strong enough demand for the film to make HKL go back and remaster a 2.35:1 WS version.
Its this or nothing.
Answers:
The cropping doesn't really affect LoaF and as far as i know that's the only release of it anywhere. I think the HKL disc is the first UK and DVD release of it. It's a superb film mate.
HKL have the rights to Odd Couple, but i wouldn't hold your breath waiting for it. They have a load of old classic kung fu films, but i'm guessing we'll have to wait for them to release all their Jackie Chan and action films first. www.yesasia.com sell Odd Couple, however i got mine from a forum member, Cirus888 who lives in HK and sometimes offers to get discs for members here :)
The Victim is available at Play. It's a Region 2. There is a US release by Tai Seng but the picture is pitiful and it only has a dubbed soundtrack.
Mr Vampire isn't a horror, it's a blackish comedy basically. You're right in that it doesn't really feature much kung fu as such, but it's a good film as Shingsters poll shows :)
Answers:
Well I've trotted through the reviews and your opinions and the running order for my next purchases is gonna be as follows:
- Prodigal Son
- Mr Vampire
- Legend Of A Fighter
- The Victim
- The Odd Couple
I'm willing to take a chance on Mr Vampire, as all recommendations I've recieved so far have been spot on apart from Iron Monkey (its good, but I don't really like wirework) Just have to wait til payday now....now, when is it? Oooh next Monday! Hoorah!
I still want to fit in Police Story 2, Young Master and The Killer as well (not seen it, but I liked Hard Boiled, but don't really like any of Woo's Hollywood films.) But they can wait.
Answers:
i'll post in the right thread next time :dork:
Answers:
That list is spot on imo, however Encounters Of A Spooky Kind is available nice & cheap at the moment (£8.99 here (http://www.playserver3.com/play247.asp?page=search&adudisc=y)). Not only is it probably HKL' finest hour from a technical standpoint, it's also one of Sammo Hungs best films imo (one of my All time fave HK films), so i'd give that title some serious consideration as well.
BTW, as stated before the cropping on LOAF is barely noticeable, so don't worry about it ruining the film for you. :)
Answers:
you lot just finally persuaded me to get LoaF. Ive always wanted it, but ive always got the feeling HKL will rerelease it.
well its really cheap so ill just buy it.
Answers:
Well cheers guys. I'm gonna plough ahead and bag Mr. Vampire today, its jumped the queue over Prodigal Son as I was banking on picking this up direct from HKL, but as I have a couple of orders not yet sent from them (waiting 2 weeks now), I'll hang fire on that one.
Mr Vampire should be here Fri/Sat knowing Play and I'll post my reaction as soon as. I really hope it gets me as enthusiastic as Magnificent Butcher did!
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