Reviews
Lei tai (1972)
Good martial arts action with a plot behind it.
Given that this is dubbed and contains a number of stereotypes in it, this isn't a bad plot. I would have rated it a bit higher if the political incorrectness wasn't so obvious, with no comment on whether it is realistic or not.
The dubbing is fairly well done and is not terribly noticeable. Lots of fight scenes and other than being rather one sided in the outcome, the choreography is fairly realistic. Weapons include a scale mail cloak, Japanese and Chinese swords, knives and bayonets on rifles in addition to numerous makeshift items.
Fighters include Japanese specialists in judo, karate and sumo fighting local champions. Character development is reasonable and the invaders are put to rout. No real comic relief anywhere in this movie. Abrupt ending in the cut I saw.
The Weapons of Death (1981)
Martial Arts that is pretty much one fight after another with a thin plot holding everything together.
Cinematography is poor, choreography is weak. Some of the one-on-one fight scenes are good due mostly to the physical abilities of the individuals. Too many characters to get to know any of them. Character development is very weak and shallow. Those with deep 'secrets' spill them without much protest.
There is a very weak plot line that sort of ties it all together. Pretty much any time more than two people get together they start swinging at each other. Not a lot of contact is made, but they swing a lot! We have the Chinese crime syndicate hiring a bunch of American thugs to do a kidnapping. The expected evil heavy is bald and carries a bag full of weapons, only a couple which get used before being defeated by the good guy. There is the typical character that is on the side of the bad guys, but is good at heart. Throw in a hoard of women and a motorcycle gang and a couple of double crosses and you've got it! Weapons include pistols, clubs, bow and arrow, swords of all types, spear (the most interesting one in my opinion!), a mace and claws.
Satomi hakken-den (1983)
The wonderful possibilities of the story are not brought to fruition.
Some wonderful pagentry and costumes, but limited actions. This movie has a lot of really great possibilities for some intense character development, but the majority of these threads are cut before the actors have the opportunity to bring out the full potential. The Eight Samurai are closer to being ninja than warriors, some of them not using typical weapons, the young hero fighting with a pair of kama.
Some intense magic being used. Instead of using the two hours plus to develop characters and help explain some of the magic happenings, things are really dragged out. The last half hour of the film is by far the best, with some good action scenes and a relatively happy ending. Typical of most Japanese films, the majority of the good guys sacrifice themselves for the good of the whole, with some rather surprising aspects.
The sound dubbing is below average on this one, with some drawn out, semi-romantic scenes with 80's pop music thrown in behind them. Most of the special effects, with the exception of the giant 'millipede' are surprisingly good for the era.
Ninja bugeicho momochi sandayu (1980)
Visually appealing, the soundtrack is poor, interesting historical perspective.
Hiroyuki Sanada is once again playing a part with his mentor Sonny Chiba, this time as opposing forces. Basic plot thread is easy to follow and hangs together fairly well. Very typical lot of self sacrificing colleagues to insure that the hero wins in the end, but at what cost!
There are a number of rather impressive fight scenes, and while they were Pretty typical, there was a bit more variety in the weapons that I liked. The pretty chinese girl with her red lacquer nunchuck and the hero with his short sword(s). A few great scenes. The original destruction of the hero's castle while he was a child sticks with me. I liked the battle in the ruler's castle, with the ladies in waiting using their naginta to defend their lord. A number of mysterious strangers that show up at the right time to help.
The use of muskets in many of the battles adds both a thread of historical accuracy, and the challenges of working them into a martial arts based flick. I found the ninja in the correct color of blue rather refreshing over the typical mis-used black. But the camoflage ninja where rather strange, since the pattern looked identical to the recent military designs.
The one thing absent from this compared to many of the genre is the use of magic.
Mang quan gui shou (1979)
Reasonably decent film, above average for the genre
Probably the biggest asset to the film is Bruce Li and Siu Tien Yuen who plays The Blind Master. I really enjoy his comedic additions to the films. A number of pretty Chinese girls in this movie, a cut above the normal. A number of familiar faces in the cast that one will recognize from other movies of the era.
Typical elements: Unusual training methods, high flying leaps and bounds, some weapons work. Magic type fighting with blinding powders. The final death of the villian is an amazingly choreographed fight scene involving a long scarf and the blind man as well as the hero weaving around the baddie. Hey, I said it was amazing, not good!
And it is always interesting to hear the quantities of money being discussed. "You owe us $10,000!" Sort of like hearing "1 Million Dollars" in an Austin Powers' movie.
Fang Shi Yu (1972)
Much better technically than most, some interesting plot items.
The most notable feature of this movie is the spectacular scenery and costuming. This is one of the few Kung fu movies where the majority of the cast wears the pigtail, which made for some interesting observations as well as and interesting weapons related finale. The mother in the movie was pretty enough and young enough to be a sister and was better looking than the 'girl friend' of the plot. Lots of fight scenes but none that were spectacular in my mind.
Typical of the genre is the unusual and strange training method. Some of the expected 'flying' and some less than normal weapons work. I liked seeing some of the more 'normal' aspects of everyday life. The sets/scenery really are a cut above normal and the cinematography is really above average.
Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980)
If you need a laugh, this is the place to get it!
What a hoot! No one could watch this without falling off the chair laughing! There are scenes of one guy supposedly plucking out eyeballs! Talk about huge amount of ridiculous stereotypes with confusion between one fighter and Harry Belafonte by the hotel.
There are scenes from lots of old kung fu type movies as well as an early Bruce Lee movie. There are also some terribly dubbed Bruce Lee interviews with poor voice acting.
There is no plot, just a poorly threaded 'broadcast' by an actor who wouldn't even put his real name on the part! (Or too unimaginative to come up with a name for the part! You have to laugh while watching this one or you are taking life all together too serious!
Fainaru faito - Saigo no ichigeki (1989)
Pretty standard fare, with a few bright spots in it.
Nothing particularly notable about this one. Plot is almost identical to VanDamme's Bloodsport which came out a year earlier, even down to Bolo Yueng as the bad guy and the retrieval of a belt/headband. I see the cityscape training runs as very reminiscent of "Rocky." Actually, the acting was probably better than most of the genre and there are some great thugs being beat up on about three occassions. I would have liked it better if they had resolved that issue before the end of the movie.
The one thing I did find interesting was the complete Naihanchi Shodan Kata (Japanese version is Tekki Shodan) done by the main character on the top of a hillside looking out over the city. And the contrast between the bad guy's wonderful training facilities and the good guy's traditional tools is a good message, showing how hard work overcomes good facilities.
My biggest gripe is the amount of devastation absorbed by the characters in the final fight without dying!
Tian can di que (1979)
Pretty typical kung fu flick with standard elements, but talented handicapped actors.
Let's see, what do we have: Old recluse teacher type, check. Bizarre training regimine, check. Tea house scene, check. Evil bad guy with secret problem, check. Bolo Yeung, hmmm missed on this point, but there is at least one wannabe. Actor with face painted a weird shade of white/green, check.
Unusual items that make this one different? Never seen the butt used with such force before! The use of too handicapped individuals was very different, one with a limited stump of an arm instead of two and one with two fairly useless legs.
All in all very typical of the genre. Fight scenes abound linked together with a bit of a plot. The most interesting part was watching the two heroes work their way around doing daily tasks.
Shôrinji kenpô (1975)
Japanese Nationalism and Samurai values in this Post WWII movie.
One of the nice things is that this movie opens with some introduction to the history of martial arts in China. The movie is put together well and is far from the typical kung fu movie, much closer to the standard samurai flick. There are a wide number of fight scenes in many different locations. This has a bit more of a political message buried in it then most, but lots of things in it that don't make a lot of sense. But the bottom line is that there is an underlying theme of the Samurai to it.
Interesting thing to note is that the American Flag that is prominently shown in one place as being of the American conquerors shows 50 stars instead of the 48 that would have flown there after WWII. Not too much of the ugly foreigners in it, but strong Japanese nationalism.
I'll watch this again, particularly for the action scenes.
Guai quan guai zhao (1978)
Another Kung Fu Romp
Okay, typical Kung Fu Movie with the following classic elements:
1) One-on-one fight with Bolo Yeung - A must have in my mind! I really enjoy finding him under some pseudonym or another and am disappointed when he doesn't appear! 2) Drunk/poverty stricken/opium smoking type Master with the weird and strange training techniques. 3) Bruce Lee look-a-like with: Ripped off shirt, Licking of blood, Side ways glances, Weapon demonstration. 4) Extreme lack of females on screen. 5) European persons as the masterminds of the criminal ring.
6) Synchophant skinny guy kow towing to the foreigners.
The variety of threads tying the movie together give it a bit more plot than most of them do. This came in a set of ten, can't wait to get to the others!
Enter the Dragon (1973)
The classic martial arts film that sets the standards
Bruce Lee at the top of his game. The fact that the majority of this movie was actually filmed in English, rather than being entirely dubbed puts it light years ahead of others like it. John Saxon and Jim Kelly and the sexy Ahna Capri add lots to the film. Lots of great action and more plot than most of the genre. The opening scenes show some great shoalin stuff. It contains the almost mandatory fight with Bolo Yeung. There are a few disturbing scenes that I would very carefully avoid for those with week stomachs, but the fight scenes are very well done. A few flash backs show some good back ground. Great stuff and highly recommended for any martial arts fan!