Born To Fight

Today I decided to go back to Thailand and watch Born To Fight, a movie released in 2004 that I copped around the time Ong Bak came out, but never got around to watching until now. Born to Fight stars Dan Chupong, who played the Crow Ghost in Ong Bak 2 & 3 and was directed by Panna Rittikrai (Ong Bak 2 & 3).

Born To Fight follows the traditional formula of most Thai Action/Martial Arts films in my opinion; shitty storyline with a few good action/fight scenes.

Chupong is Deaw, a cop who looks like he's 18 and involved in the arrest of a major Thai drug kingpin (referred to as "The General") at the beginning of the film. During the arrest his partner is killed, and then Deaw decides to take a trip with his sister, who is a Taekwondo champion.

The trip stops at a small village where Deaw, his sister, and the various other athletes are giving out things to the poor people of the village. Everything is shiny and happy until a heavily armed militia come in and start wrecking shop.

After a few minutes of shooting, yelling and ranting in Thai we soon learn that the militia are taking the village hostage and are demanding The General be released from prison. They take over all the computer and news transmissions in Thailand and demand he be released or they will kill the village on national television.


Deaw, who plans to escape and come back with help, also finds out that these dudes have other plans. He sees that they have a nuclear missile and plan on blowing up Bangkok. WTF?!?!

Deaw, inspires the villagers and his athletic friends to rise up, fight their enemies and save Thailand.

I am trying to give as brief as a plot rundown as possible, because their really wasn't any. The first 45 minutes of this movie was really horrible.

The last half of the movie is semi-entertaining, because you get to see a few of the athletes (who are really Thai National athletes) strut their stuff. Here are a few clips:



(look at the little girl at the 7:50 mark....one of my favorite parts.....)

(Wait for the 5:19 mark, the one legged dude is kind of nice!!!)

Deaw then fights off one of the Militia (played by the dude was injecting himself in Ong Bak) who is about to launch the nuclear missile (Oh No!). The fight is pretty entertaining, and the missile is redirected to land into the water instead of in the city (Yay!).




(I don't think anyone is going to be eating seafood in Thailand after that explosion....)


I was ready to dish out a horrible review for Born To Fight because so many things were wrong with the film. The story line was cheesy, acting was horrible, the score sounded like the start menu to Street Fighter put on repeat for 90 minutes. When the action did start, it was pretty entertaining. The way they intertwined gymnastics, soccer, rugby, etc. into the fight scenes was kind of cool. Chupong does not have great fighting skills when he is on the ground, but the dude does some pretty nasty flips. I give him credit for that.

I give Born to Fight 2 1/2 Fists. It's unique fight choreography saved what very well could have been a terrible film.

Peace & Blessing for now......The Sage......


P.S. I appreciate any new comments....let me know what you think.....I am trying to come up with ways to improve the blog....any advice is welcome....be sure to follow me by clicking "Follow" in the right hand column....

Also follow me on Twitter @KungFuTheater

Eight Diagram Pole Fighter--Buddha's Name Be Praised!!!

Peace & Blessings everyone.....another late review......busy weekend....my sincerest apologies....
I went to my DVD Connect and was going to cop something new to review, but didn't see anything worth getting. So I decided to go back to the classics.

Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (also known as Invincible Pole Fighter) is a classic Shaw Brothers film (directed by Liu Chia-Lang) starring Gordon Liu (of Enter the 36 Chambers fame). In this film Liu plays the 5th of 8 brothers in Yang family, a group of well trained soldiers who are known for their service to the government. They are soon betrayed by Pan Mei, a government official who is conspiring with the Mongolian Army. Peep the first scene right here, with the action starting up around the 2:20 mark.



In this epic battle scene 4 of the 7 brothers are brutally murdered as well as their father. The 4th brother is taken prisoner (and strangely never mentioned again), the 6th brother (played by Alexander Fu Sheng, who tragically died during filming) returns home and goes insane, while the 5th brother takes refuge in the Ching Ling Temple.

The monks at the Temple refuse to take in the 5th brother at first, due to his anger and blood soaked past as a solider. After seeing his martial arts skills (particularly with the quarterstaff), the monks decide to let him stay. Here is a scene where 5th Brother begins his training with the monks. The training starts around the 2:57 mark.



The elder monk does a superb job of showing 5th brother how to to take out the wolves, a skill that comes in very handy later in the film.

As the traitor Pan Mei and the Mongols search for 2 Yang Brothers that they failed to murder, they wind up killing a senior monk from the temple and taking a Yang sister hostage. This leads to 5th brother wanting to leave the temple to get revenge. In this scene, 5th Brother proves to the Abbot that he must leave the temple to save his sister.




5th Brother finds Pan Mei and the Mongols, which leads to a gruesome final fight scene. 5th brother and his sister are severely outnumbered, but the monks from the temple (along with the Abbot) come to their aid. When 5th brother questions Abbot coming to fight and breaking the temple's rules, he replies with the classic line "We're driving away wolves." The monks proceed to take out the Mongols like the wooden wolves they trained on.




After the traitor Pan Mei is dealt with accordingly, 5th Brother bounces from his family and the Ching Ling Temple, stating "I have no home now."

Great fucking movie!!! I give Eight Diagram Pole Fighter 5 Fists. It is a grim and angry film that avoids any humorous elements that were common in many of director Lui Chia-Lang's offerings. The fight scenes are well choreographed and quite bloody, especially the brutal finale. Gordon Liu plays one of his most memorable roles, and Alexander Fu Sheng is missed in the final scene. If not for his tragic death, he would have been side by side w Liu in the classic final fight! Eight Diagram Pole Fighter is a must see for all true Martial Arts film lovers.

Stop slipping & tripping and cop it!!!!

Peace & Blessings.......The Sage....

P.S.----Props to all the new readers........ if you ever want to contact me feel free to hit me on Twitter @KungFuTheater or at SaturdayMorningKungFu@gmail.com

BRINGING BACK THE CLASSICS! THE MYSTERY OF CHESS BOXING!

Peace & Blessings my people......I'm on a three week streak and for the first time in this blog's history, I am posting on a Saturday morning!! Let me pause real quick and brush my shoulder off......Ok now back to our regularly scheduled program......

For this week's review I decided to bring it back to the classics. The Mystery of Chess Boxing is one of my personal favorites. It is also internationally known as Ninja Checkmate. Why it is also called that has always confused me. There is not one ninja or one piece of Japanese fighting style in the whole movie. My only guess was that ninja movies were starting to gain popularity and they were trying to ride that wave.

Instead of going over the whole plot line this week, I'm just going to focus on a character in this flick that to me goes down as one of the greatest villains in cinematic history. He goes by the name of The Ghost Faced Killer.


Played by Mark Long, Ghost Faced Killer is without a doubt the best part of this movie. Traveling the land looking for several clan leaders who conspired to kill him, The Ghost Face Killer spares no mercy on his enemies. Before he attacks them, he always throws his trademark "ghost faced killer plate" to let them know some real shit is about to go down.

Here is a video clip of the first part of the movie. At 2:33 in you will see The Ghost Faced Killer approach his first victim. Peep his laugh while he is choking dude out. Classic material! He also whoops another dudes ass using the 5 elements style around 4:53 in the clip.




Anyone who appreciates a good villain in movies can't front on Ghost Faced Killer. He goes through this movie straight fucking people up like a Chinese Dee-Bo!!!

But, like 99% of most movies, the villain usually meets his demise at the end. Ghostfaced Killer meets up with Lee Yi Min (played by Ah Po, who does his best Jackie Chan impersonation) and his teacher Chi Sue Tin (Jack Long). Student and teacher team up, using double horse style (Chinese Chess Reference) to defeat The Ghost Faced Killer in what goes down as one of the best fight scenes in Martial Arts movie history.



I give The Mystery of Chess Boxing 5 Fists. Great fight scenes with a great villain make this movie one that you have to put on your "must-see" list. I also give this movie props because it helped create this:


and this:

So stop slipping & tripping and go cop this movie if you haven't seen it already.

I'm out to enjoy this wonderful weather......have a great weekend.......

P.S.-----Props to everyone that has made a comment thus far, be sure to click "Follow" in the upper right hand area and you can follow me with your Yahoo, Gmail, or Twitter accounts...

Also you can follow me on Twitter.... @KungFuTheater .....

Peace & Blessings for now...... The Sage

Ip Man 3: The Legend is Born

I may have to change the name to this blog. Three blogs and not one of them was posted on Saturday Morning. At least I am writing 2 reviews in 2 weeks, so I have to give myself some credit!

For this week's review, I had the pleasure of watching Ip Man 3. You may be asking, "Sage, why not review Ip Man 1 & 2 first?" I thought about it, but I just copped part 3 yesterday and was excited to see it. Plus it is really a prequel to the other two films so I think it's a great way to introduce it to all of you.

The Ip Man (pronounced Yip Man) films tell us the story of Bruce Lee's legendary martial arts teacher, a grandmaster at Wing Chun and the first person to teach the art openly. Ip Man 3: The Legend is Born, focuses on his early life and how he became skilled in Wing Chun.

The film begins with Ip Man (played mostly by Dennis To, who was a perfect pick; he has the look and swagger of a young Donnie Yen, who plays Ip Man in the other two films) and his step brother, Tin Chi, joining a Wing Chun school lead by master Chah Wah-Sun (played by the legendary Sammo Hung). At the school they befriend Lee Mei-Wai, a female student who takes an instant liking to the two brothers.


After Chah Wah-Sun dies from illness, Ip continues to learn Wing Chun from his senior Chung So until he goes to college in Hong Kong. While there, Ip gets into a fight with a Westerner and becomes very popular for his martial arts skills. Soon Ip meets master Leung Bik, who is the son of Leung Jan, Chah Wah-Sun's master. Leung Bik is played by Ip Chun, the real life son of Ip Man. As you can clearly see here, Ip soon realizes that Leung Bik can teach him a thing or two about Wing Chun.



Ip Man soon returns to Foshan and reunites with Tin Chi, Lee Mei-Wai and the rest of his peers at the Wing Chun school. Most are impressed by the new style of Wing Chun that he has learned, but his senior Chung So is not happy with his new style, saying that the wild high kicks and low elbows go against the orthodox teachings of Chan Wah-Sun.

A group of Japanese thugs, lead by Chairman Kitano (typical looking Japanese gangster) and his daughter, soon come to the Wing Chun school. After challenging them to a fight, Tin Chi makes short work of them.





Ip Man soon falls in love with Cheung Wing-Shing (played by the beautiful Huang Yi), which upsets his childhood friend Lee, who has had feelings for him all along. Lee soon accepts Tin Chi's marriage proposal. After the wedding, Lee's God Father is murdered shortly after Ip Man is seen escorting him home, making Ip the prime suspect in the murder. Ip Man is soon arrested as the prime suspect. Cheung Wing-Shin lies to the police, saying that Ip Man was with her the night of the murder and he is released from jail.

While looking at their wedding gifts, Lee Mei-Wai learns that it was indeed Tin Chi that was paid by the Japanese to murder her God Father. As Lee attempts to hang herself, Tin Chi stops her and they both try to leave Foshan in shame of Tin Chi's actions. Their escape is thwarted by
Kitano and the Japanese, who kidnap Lee and force Tin Chi to try and kill Chung So (who now has the letter and knows of the Japanese intentions).

Tin Chi and the Japanese show up to the school in full ninja gear, and are about to kill Chung So when Ip Man arrives with staff in hand. This makes for one of the best fight scenes of the film.



After Ip disposes of the Japanese and makes light work of Tin Chi, his step brother reveals that he is actually Japanese and was sent to China as a child as an undercover agent. After revealing all he did wrong and the whereabouts of Lee, Tin Chi commits Seppuku (think Harikiri but in reverse) to end his life.

Ip Man goes to the pier where Lee is being held captive, rescues her and defeats Chairman Kitano. As they leave the pier they notice that the Kitano had been smuggling in children through boxes, possibly to be undercover agents like Tin Chi was.

The movie ends with Chung So telling a new crop of young students how Ip Man saved his life, one of those students being Ip's son, Ip Chun.

I give Ip Man 3 4 Fists. Like the previous installments, this movie has an top notch story with great fight scenes. My only beef with the film is that Sammo Hung and the actor that played Tin Chi (Fan Siu-Wong) were in the other movies as different characters. Fan played Jin Shanzao, bandit turned martial arts master and Hung played Hung Chun-nam, a master that Ip meets in Hong Kong in the 1950s. That's really just a small flaw in my opinion, because this movie is damn near a classic. I think that newcomer Dennis To has a bright future in martial arts cinema.

Peace & Blessings for now.....until next week (hopefully Saturday Morning).....The Sage.......

Ong Bak 3--Verdict on Tony Jaa's Latest Offering...

It's been a little over 5 months since my first review on this blog. Just about 20 Saturday mornings have gone by with no updates! What a shame! Well getting working 2 jobs and getting married can do that to a man! My apologies for the few that have read and supported me, I hope to start doing this blog on a regular basis and hopefully my readers will grow!

I spent this morning watching Tony Jaa's 3rd and final installment of the Ong Bak series. When I first copped the original Ong Bak I was blown away by Tony Jaa's performance. He had the build and swagger of Bruce Lee, the "do your own stunts" craziness of Jackie Chan, and the likability of Jet Li. I was convinced that this was the next martial arts legend. Jaa would follow Ong Bak with Tom-Yum-Goong, also known as The Protector or The Warrior King, which was another flick that was chock full of whoop ass!!

Then came Ong Bak 2. I plan to re-watch part 2 and give a detailed review, but what I can say is that it confused me that it had absolutely nothing to do with the original. Jaa fights his way through modern day Bangkok in the first Ong Bak, and is transported back to the 15th Century for the sequel as a totally different character with a totally different storyline.


Although Ong Bak 3 (which was alos co-written, co-directed and co-produced by Jaa) does continue where part 2 left off, that doesn't save it from being a big hot steamy piece of shit of a movie. I'm not even going to waste your time breaking down the story, because straight up and down it's not worth it! I really don't know what Tony Jaa is thinking, but the man who I felt was the heir to the martial arts throne is making some bad career moves.

When I copped the DVD last night, I expected to be amazed by some next level fight choreographing. What I saw was Jaa trying to flex his feeble acting skills, possibly trying to win a Thai version of an Oscar. The first worthy fight scene (far from classic, but worthy) was not until an hour and four minutes into the movie! The first hour is a bunch of dramatic b.s. that was not worth the $20 plus tax that I invested in this crap-fest. The final fight scene is kind of cool, but again not worth the time and money.

The only joy I really got from watching this movie was that it ended after 90 minutes even though the counter on my PS3 said it was almost two hours long. What came after the credits where some bullshit behind the scenes clips that were in Thai and not really that interesting so I was forced to put them on extreme fast forward.

Another funny thing I want to point out is on the cover of the DVD it shows 2 Tony Jaa's fighting against each other and it says "The Biggest Fight of All is with Himself." This would make the average viewer think that Jaa was going to play 2 characters and have some incredibly shot fight scene where the 2 characters face off. There is a character that resembles Tony Jaa, but it is actually fellow Thai action star Dan Chupong, who does resemble Jaa in a way and returns as the creepy Crow Ghost character that was briefly in Ong Bak 2. I guess they were trying to say that Jaa's character was going to have to find the power within himself to be victorious in this film, but like I said the cover will lead you to believe otherwise.

I give Ong Bak 3 2 Fists.....would have gave it one but the 3 things saved it from being a total shit bomb. 1) The last fight scene was somewhat enjoyable 2) It ended earlier than expected and 3) I give Jaa credit for giving comedic Thai actor Petchtai Wongkamlao roles in his movies.....dude is funny as hell.......





I was trying to find a good clip of the movie, but all I could find was the trailer.....watch at your own risk.....Peace & Blessing for now...The Sage

Due to a hectic-ass Friday, I woke up late and my first real post for Saturday Morning Kung Fu Theater is happening on Saturday Afternoon. I had been doing so good; for the last three weeks I have been waking up at like seven o'clock in the morning while the rest of my family sleeps to have some "alone time" with my wonderful television and a martial arts movie of my choice. I still had the house to myself after 2, so it's all good.

I wanted to start the blog off right so I decided to go with one of my personal top 5 martial arts flicks of all time. "Tai Chi Master" is one of the fist movies I had seen from the "new school" martial arts genre, with the crazy wire assisted fight scenes (popularly known as Wire-Fu). For those who haven't seen it, think puppets flipping all over the place and beating the shit out of each other. I personally prefer the old school joints (Shaw Brothers fans, where you at??) , but I consider this film to be a classic and Jet Li's finest performance. It also stars Michelle Yeoh of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" fame, who my man OG affectionately refers to as "Crouching Cougar Hidden Milf." She is truly one beautiful ass whooping machine.

The story starts off in the Shaolin Temple, where we see two childhood friends, Jun Bao (Jet Li) and Chin Bo (Chin Siu Ho), grow from boys to men in the Temple during the Manchu Dynasty. Even as children it is clearly evident that Chin Bo is a controlling and emotional person, while Jun Bao is a gentle soul who wants to follow the path of righteousness. Even with the opposite personalities, they are the best of friends that are constantly getting into different types of competitions to see who is stronger.

Chin Bo enters a martial arts competition at the Temple that would lead to a promotion within Shaolin. The other student throws something in Chin Bo's eyes to attempt to win the fight. This only pisses Chin Bo off, and he uses no restraint and opens up a shiny can of whoop ass on the cheater. The master refuses to believe that their was foul play involved, and after Jun Bao tries to come to his friends aid, they are both kicked out of the temple. Not before they both have to fight the rest of the students that were at the competition, which to me is one of the best scenes in the movie. If you are a fan of the staff as a weapon, this is a must see! Watch near the end of the scene (5:24 in to be exact) as Chin Bo rides one of the students like a surfboard while fighting!!




After getting kicked out of the Shaolin Temple, both friends are having a hard time adapting to the outside world. They befriend a group of local rebels who like to steal from corrupt government officials and give the $$$ back to the poor. Jun Bao see's the righteous ways of the rebels helping the simple folk, while Chin Bo is attracted to the money, power, and fame that comes with being a high government official. The two friends take opposite paths, Chin Bo leaves to become a Manchu solider while Jun Bao decides to stay and help the rebels.

Chin Bo acts like everything is copacetic between him and Jun Bao, but this is just a front to set up the rebels and help him rise in the rankings. Most of the rebels are killed in an epic scene, Siu Lin (Yeoh) is kidnapped, and Jun Bao barely escapes. Feeling guilty for the death of his friends and betrayed by Chin Bo, Jun Bao goes back to help save Siu Lin and settle the score with the traitor that set him up. Another classic fight scene takes place.



Jun Bao manages to escape with Siu Lin, but Chin Bo proves to be the more skilled fighter in this scene. The weight of betrayal is too much for Jun Bao to bear, and he goes through a spell of temporary insanity. With the help of Siu Lin,Reverand Ling (Yeung Cheung San), and a scroll that was given to him and Chin Bo by his Shaolin Master, Jun Bao learns the ways of Tai Chi and gains his strength, skill and sanity back.

Jun Bao and Siu Lin ambush Chin Bo's corrupt boss on his way to Beijing, and this leads to another classic scene.



Using Chin Bo's boss as a hostage, Jun Bao meets up with his old-friend-turned-nemesis for the climatic final scene. Jun Bao has no choice but to kill Chin Bo, realizing his boyhood friend is beyond saving.

"Tai-Chi Master" is a must see for any martial arts enthusiast. Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh both give top notch performances. The fight scenes are pretty much all incredible. My only criticism is that in some of the scenes you can see the wire (especially on Michelle Yeoh) lifting and dropping the actors during the fight scenes. Also, the copy that I have now on DVD is in English, and the voice overs are kind of corny. I preferred the VHS version I owned back in the day with the subtitles.

On a personal note, I love women that can fight. When I see a woman that can really kick some ass it actually turns me on. "Tai-Chi Master" holds a special place in my heart. Michelle Yeoh and the other female actresses really hold their own in this film.

I am going to be using the Fist ranking method to rate the movies, 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.

"Tai-Chi Master" gets 5 Fists

Welcome.....

I just wanted to say peace and blessings to everyone that is checking out "Saturday Morning Kung Fu Theater." I have always been a fan of martial arts cinema, and have just recently got back into purchasing DVDs at a kiosk at a mall around my way. I also started a personal tradition of waking up early Saturday morning and watching a different movie each week. So I decided to start a blog where I can review and discuss the movies that I watch.

I'm tired as hell so I will get into more detail in a few days......peace for now.....The Sage