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The New Shaolin Boxers (1976)
-By Will, on February 2, 2018, 7:00 am
The New Shaolin Boxers [蔡李佛小子] (1976)
AKA The Choy Lay Fat Kid, Demon Fists of Kung Fu, Grand Master of Kung Fu, Grand Master of Death, Silly Kid
Starring Alexander Fu Sheng, Jenny Tseng, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Lo Dik, Leung Kar-Yan, Jamie Luk Kim-Ming, Chan Wai-Lau, Shan Mao, Phillip Kwok Chun-Fung, Wong Yiu, Wu Hsiao-Hui, Stephan Yip Tin-Hang, Wong Fei, Lee Ying, Wong Cheong-Chi
Directed by Chang Cheh (with Wu Ma)
Expectations: Excited for another Shaolin Cycle movie.
The New Shaolin Boxers is something of an anomaly in Chang Cheh's informal Shaolin Cycle. It most resembles Disciples of Shaolin, with both films featuring a resonant dramatic core about practitioners of Shaolin martial arts far down the lineage from the folk heroes who survived the burning of the Shaolin temple. The New Shaolin Boxers isn't nearly as effective or finely crafted as Disciples of Shaolin, but I must admit that it is a film that is growing in stature the more I think about it. The key to this blossoming love is how Chang Cheh and Ni Kuang wrote the film to reflect the dual nature of its featured martial art: Choy Li Fut.
Choy Li Fut is an interesting branch of kung fu developed by Chan Heung in the 1800s. He combined two of the five main Southern styles, Choy Gar and Li Gar, with Fut Gar (also known as Buddhist Fist, itself a combination of Choy Gar and Hung Gar), resulting in a well-rounded system that enriches all aspects of the artist's life. Philosophy and similar non-physical teachings are not unique to Choy Li Fut, but it is my understanding that it is more of a focus here than elsewhere. The film opens with Fu Sheng demonstrating Choy Li Fut, while the narrator tells us of its history and the art's lineage to contextualizes the movie's timeline. After this intro, though, the film seems to dive into a standard martial plot without a lot of thought or care paid to representing Choy Li Fut. In thinking this, I was quite wrong; the teachings of Choy Li Fut influence every aspect of the film and its plot.
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Leave a comment 1970s, Action, Foreign, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews, Rating: 3 Stars, Will's Reviews 1976, Alexander Fu Sheng, Chan Wai-Lau, Chang Cheh, Jamie Luk Kim-Ming, Jenny Tseng, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Lee Ying, Leung Kar-Yan, Lo Dik, Phillip Kwok Chun-Fung, Shan Mao, Shaolin Cycle, Shaw Brothers, Stephan Yip Tin-Hang, Wong Cheong-Chi, Wong Fei, Wong Yiu, Wu Hsiao-Hui, Wu Ma
The Shaolin Avengers (1976)
-By Will, on December 8, 2017, 7:00 am
The Shaolin Avengers [方世玉與胡惠乾] (1976)
AKA Fong Sai-Yuk and Wu Wai-Kin (literal translation), Incredible Kung Fu Brothers
Starring Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-Chun, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Lung Fei, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Shan Mao, Leung Kar-Yan, Jamie Luk Kim-Ming, Chan Wai-Lau, Tsai Hung, Lo Dik, Ma Chi-Chun, Weng Hsiao-Hu, Ricky Cheng Tien-Chi
Expectations: Pumped for more Shaolin.
The greatness of The Shaolin Avengers lies in its structure. The film opens with its finale, fading in and out into flashbacks that show how our heroes and villains all came to this particular battle. It could have been told in chronological order and the audience would have similarly understood the characters' journey to the finale, but introducing us first to the final struggle colors the flashbacks in ways that chronological order could not. It may be called The Shaolin Avengers, but I found the structure to remove a lot of the tension inherent in a traditional revenge story. Instead, I pondered the nature of life, how small moments remind you of people or places, and how important preparation is to success. You don't simply wake up bad ass, you must be dedicated and willing to endure hardship so that you can emerge a better, streamlined version of yourself.
The Shaolin Avengers re-tells the stories of Fang Shih-Yu AKA Fong Sai-Yuk (Alexander Fu Sheng) and Hu Huei-Chien AKA Wu Wai-Kin (Chi Kuan-Chun), as previously seen in Men from the Monastery. It removes Hung Shi-Kuan's character altogether, which allows for more time devoted to the early days of Fang before he sought training at the Shaolin Temple. In Men from the Monastery, there is a slight mention of Fang's mother bathing him in rice wine, but here in The Shaolin Avengers we see the circumstances that led to this, as well as the hardship involved with the bathing itself. Hu Huei-Chien's story is virtually unchanged, though, and in comparing scenes — such as the death of Hu's father in the gambling house — they might have even used the same script (or very close to the same script) for these scenes. The main difference is that now the two characters' stories are fully intertwined and dramatically complete, instead of the disjointed, episodic quality that Men from the Monastery has. So you could say that The Shaolin Avengers is essentially a remake of Men from the Monastery, but I hesitate to write that because it seems reductive to classify The Shaolin Avengers as a mere remake.
Continue reading The Shaolin Avengers (1976) →
Leave a comment 1970s, Action, Foreign, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews, Rating: 3.5 Stars, Will's Reviews 1976, Alexander Fu Sheng, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Chan Wai-Lau, Chang Cheh, Chi Kuan-Chun, Fong Sai-Yuk, Hu Huei-Chien, Jamie Luk Kim-Ming, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Leung Kar-Yan, Lo Dik, Lung Fei, Ma Chi-Chun, Rice Wine Bathing, Ricky Cheng Tien-Chi, Shan Mao, Shaolin Cycle, Shaw Brothers, Tsai Hung, Weng Hsiao-Hu, Wu Ma
Out of the Dark (1995)
-By Will, on October 31, 2017, 7:00 am
Out of the Dark [回魂夜] (1995)
Starring Stephen Chow, Karen Mok, Wong Yat-Fei, Lee Lik-Chi, Lo Hung, Ben Wong Chi-Yin, Lee Kin-Yan, Heung Dip, Chow Chi-Fai, Tam Suk-Mui, Hau Woon-Ling, Leung Kar-Yan
Directed by Jeff Lau Chun-Wai
Out of the Dark is a great horror comedy to watch during the Halloween season, but describing it is going to be a little difficult. The film moves at absolute breakneck speed, and if you're not ready the jokes, characters and plot alike will all fly past you before you even have time to notice they were there. I watched the first 15 minutes three times and I noticed new things and developed a better understanding every time. At this point, I've seen hundreds of Hong Kong films but this one really threw me! It is with movies like this where the language barrier hinders enjoyment the most, but if you're able to lock into the groove of Out of the Dark, it's a truly hilarious and transcendent film experience.
Out of the Dark centers around a Hong Kong apartment building and its inhabitants. An elderly resident has recently died, but her spirit is not ready to leave the building just yet. She haunts the apartment she shared with her son and his family, and she's looking for revenge on those that caused her death. Enter Stephen Chow's character Leon (one of the film's references to Luc Besson's The Professional), an odd guy who dresses in all black and talks to a lily plant he carries around in a pot. Together with the building's ragtag security team and a few residents, Leon looks to help the spirit achieve her goal of justice.
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Leave a comment 1990s, Comedy, Foreign, Horror, Movie Reviews, Rating: 3.5 Stars, Will's Reviews Ben Wong Chi-Yin, Chow Chi-Fai, Hau Woon-Ling, Heung Dip, Jeff Lau Chun-Wai, Karen Mok, Lee Kin-Yan, Lee Lik-Chi, Leung Kar-Yan, Lo Hung, Shaw Brothers, Shaw Horror, Stephen Chow, Tam Suk-Mui, Wong Yat-Fei
7-Man Army (1976)
-By Will, on September 22, 2017, 7:00 am
7-Man Army [八道樓子] (1976)
AKA Seven Man Army
Starring David Chiang, Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, Chen Kuan-Tai, Li Yi-Min, Chi Kuan-Chun, Pai Ying, Ting Wa-Chung, Leung Kar-Yan, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Gordon Liu Chia-Hui, Miao Tian, Fung Ngai, Chen Ming-Li, Wang Ching-Ping
Directed by Chang Cheh (with co-directors Hsiung Ting-Wu & Wu Ma)
Expectations: Moderate.
As I mentioned in my review of Boxer Rebellion, Chang Cheh had become tired of making so many Shaolin movies in a row that he sought something fresh to sink his teeth into. He decided on the war film, a genre you don't see a lot in Hong Kong film. Boxer Rebellion was shot second but released first, and it's an atypical war picture that focuses on the boxers who believed themselves invulnerable to the foreigners' guns. 7-Man Army is more a traditional war film that is an opposite in ways to Boxer Rebellion. 7-Man Army is about a small group of men who know exactly how fragile their lives are, but in the defense of their country they have no choice but to continue fighting.
7-Man Army tells a true story set a couple of years after the Mukden Incident, in which the Japanese staged a bombing to facilitate an invasion of China. The events depicted in the film were during the 1933 Defense of the Great Wall, specifically around the Gubeikou area. After a battle, the Chinese took back this section of the Great Wall, but seven men were all that remained of the Chinese forces. Cut off from all communication to their reinforcements, the men dug in and withstood multiple assaults on their position. These brave men were commemorated with a monument on the site of their burial, which can be visited via the Gubeikou Great Wall Kangzhan Memorial Hall (see #3 on the on-site map). There is also a monument on Kinmen Island, off the coast of Taiwan, called the Badu Tower. It's also worth noting that the film's Chinese title (and Wikipedia entry) cites the location as being the Badaling region, roughly 65 miles southwest of Gubeikou. In any case, Chang Cheh is once again fictionalizing a part of Chinese history for the masses, and 7-Man Army is quite successful in this task (despite what Chang says about the film being an artistic failure in his memoir).
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2 comments 1970s, Action, Drama, Foreign, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews, Rating: 3 Stars, War, Will's Reviews 1976, Alexander Fu Sheng, Chang Cheh, Chang's Film Co., Chen Kuan-Tai, Chen Ming-Li, Chi Kuan-Chun, David Chiang, Fung Ngai, Gordon Liu Chia-Hui, Hsiung Ting-Wu, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Leung Kar-Yan, Li Yi-Min, Miao Tian, Pai Ying, Shaw Brothers, Ti Lung, Ting Wa-Chung, Wang Ching-Ping, Wu Ma
Boxer Rebellion (1976)
-By Will, on August 25, 2017, 7:00 am
Boxer Rebellion [八國聯軍] (1976)
AKA Spiritual Fists, Bloody Avengers
Starring Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-Chun, Leung Kar-Yan, Jenny Tseng, Woo Gam, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Li Li-Hua, Sun Yueh, Tsui Fu-Sheng, Liu Wei-Bin, Richard Harrison, Henry Bolanas, Wong Cheong-Chi, Han Chiang, Someno Yukio, Yeung Fui-Yuk, Lam Fai, Chiang Tao
Directed by Chang Cheh
Expectations: High.
Of all the films that Chang Cheh directed over his career, Boxer Rebellion was one that the director thought was among his most successful (in artistic terms). The film's depiction of the Boxer Rebellion and its anti-foreigner sentiment did not agree with the British censors in Hong Kong, so the film was only released in a heavily truncated version (with something like 30–45 minutes edited out) and with the title changed to Spiritual Fists. The film failed miserably under these conditions and this angered Chang Cheh, because as the editor of his memoir notes, "he really poured his heart into Boxer Rebellion." Later in the book, Chang expresses the wish that someone would rescue the film from a "musty closet" so that it may be seen as intended, if for no other reason than to pay tribute to the work of Fu Sheng held unseen within. Chang died in 2002, but if he had lived just another few years he'd have seen his dream realized when Celestial restored and finally released the full version of Chang's epic film in 2005.
I have not seen the edited version of the film, but this restored, original vision is without a doubt one of Chang's finest efforts as a director. He had previously made epic films that brought together large casts and told big, sprawling stories, but not a single one of them is anywhere close to the level of scale and scope seen in Boxer Rebellion. Chang talks in his memoir about tiring of making Shaolin pictures around this time, so once again he looked to craft something new for the Hong Kong market. He set his sights on the war picture, first shooting Seven Man Army (to less-than-satisfactory results, according to Chang), and then following it up with Boxer Rebellion, the highest budgeted Hong Kong film at the time. The resulting film shows a clear influence from its predecessors, with the scale of his epics like The Water Margin or The Heroic Ones, and the intimacy of his Shaolin films like Heroes Two or Disciples of Shaolin.
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Leave a comment 1970s, Action, Drama, Foreign, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews, Rating: 4 Stars, War, Will's Reviews 1976, Alexander Fu Sheng, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Chang Cheh, Chi Kuan-Chun, Chiang Tao, Han Chiang, Henry Bolanas, Jenny Tseng, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Lam Fai, Leung Kar-Yan, Li Li-Hua, Liu Wei-Bin, Richard Harrison, Shaw Brothers, Someno Yukio, Sun Yueh, Tsui Fu-Sheng, Wong Cheong-Chi, Woo Gam, Yeung Fui-Yuk
-By Will, on June 16, 2017, 7:00 am
Marco Polo [馬哥波羅] (1975)
AKA The Four Assassins
Starring Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-Chun, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Phillip Kwok Chun-Fung, Richard Harrison, Shih Szu, Lo Dik, Gordon Liu Chia-Hui, Leung Kar-Yan, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Li Tong-Chun, Carter Wong, Tang Tak-Cheung, Ting Wa-Chung, Chang I-Fei, Lee Ying, Chan Wai-Lau, Han Chiang
Expectations: Very high. New Chang Cheh always gets me excited.
It's fair to assume that a film titled Marco Polo would be centered around Marco Polo, the trader who became a trusted advisor to Kublai Khan, the Mongol leader who completed the conquest of the Song Dynasty and established the Yuan Dynasty. In Chang Cheh's film, though, Polo is merely a small component. He is at the heart of the plot, but he honestly doesn't do much more than glare at some people now and then. This really bothered me, and I spent a good portion of the movie trying to understand why the film might be titled after a character who does so little. I eventually came to a conclusion (which I'll get around to), but it's one that will require a second viewing to fully appreciate. At this juncture, I'd call it an uncharacteristically weak film for Chang Cheh, which is to say that I liked it a lot instead of flat-out loving it. 🙂
Upon returning from a three-year mission, Marco Polo presents a report of his travels to Kublai Khan. Meanwhile, a pair of Chinese rebels make their way into the court and attempt to assassinate the Khan. One is killed, and the other, Zu Jianmin (Carter Wong), manages to escape. Since he is injured and cannot move too quickly, the Khan asks Marco Polo and his three personal bodyguards (Gordon Liu, Leung Kar-Yan & Johnny Wang Lung-Wei) to kill Zu and his allies when he reaches his home. This proves to be a bit harder than anticipated, as Zu's four sworn brothers (Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-Chun, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan & Phillip Kwok Chun-Fung) escape and begin harsh training to improve their martial arts skills.
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2 comments 1970s, Action, Foreign, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews, Rating: 3 Stars, Will's Reviews 1975, Alexander Fu Sheng, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Carter Wong, Chan Wai-Lau, Chang Cheh, Chang I-Fei, Chang's Film Co., Chi Kuan-Chun, Gordon Liu Chia-Hui, Han Chiang, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Lee Ying, Leung Kar-Yan, Li Tong-Chun, Lo Dik, Marco Polo, Phillip Kwok Chun-Fung, Richard Harrison, Shaw Brothers, Shih Szu, Tang Tak-Cheung, Ting Wa-Chung
Five Shaolin Masters (1974)
-By Will, on December 16, 2016, 11:54 am
Five Shaolin Masters [少林五祖] (1974)
AKA Five Masters of Death
Starring David Chiang, Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-Chun, Mang Fei, Leung Kar-Yan, Fung Hak-On, Tsai Hung, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Chiang Tao, Li Chen-Piao, Gordon Liu Chia-Hui, Lo Dik, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Stephan Yip Tin-Hang, Lau Kar-Wing
Expectations: The highest. Chang's Shaolin Cycle is dope.
Like Heroes Two and Men from the Monastery, Five Shaolin Masters tells a tale about refugees from the burning of the Shaolin Temple. Hung Hsi-Kuan and Fong Sai-Yuk ended up in Kwangtung in the south of China, but the heroes of Five Shaolin Masters fled north to Central China. Structurally, the film also takes a page from Shaolin Martial Arts in that our five heroes must train tirelessly to defeat seemingly invincible enemies. And like this suggests, Five Shaolin Masters ends up feeling like a blended version of all of Chang Cheh's previous Shaolin Cycle films.
Due to this repetition of themes and structure, Five Shaolin Masters does not reach the heights of either Heroes Two or Shaolin Martial Arts, though it does come close thanks to power of the action. The complexity and dynamism of the choreography by Lau Kar-Leung and his brother Lau Kar-Wing bring the film's relentless action to brilliant life, culminating in the five stunning, concurrent fights that make up the film's finale. This is pure martial bliss, and I can't imagine a martial arts film fan not getting a huge jolt of enthusiasm from this lengthy section of the film, if not the whole thing.
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Leave a comment 1970s, Action, Foreign, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews, Rating: 3.5 Stars, Will's Reviews 1974, Alexander Fu Sheng, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Chang Cheh, Chang's Film Co., Chi Kuan-Chun, Chiang Tao, David Chiang, Fung Hak-On, Gordon Liu Chia-Hui, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Lau Kar-Wing, Leung Kar-Yan, Li Chen-Piao, Lo Dik, Mang Fei, Shaolin Cycle, Shaw Brothers, Stephan Yip Tin-Hang, Ti Lung, Tsai Hung
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Evan Parra on The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 159 – Ong Bak
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Evan Parra on The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 155 – The Skull Man
cliff on Supermen Against the Amazons (1975)
The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 159 – Ong Bak
The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 158 – Macross Plus
The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 157 – The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 156 – Nightbreed
The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 155 – The Skull Man
The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 154 – It Came From Beneath the Sea
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Flying Guillotine 2 (1978) (4)
The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 148 – Demons (3)
The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 159 – Ong Bak (2)
The Silver Emulsion Podcast: Ep. 149 – Rambo III (2)
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