It's been more than a minute since I posted a blog entry, and I'd like to thank this damn cold I currently am suffering from and my wife for bringing me back. The cold has me laid up on the couch, and my wife was nice enough to buy me 5 movies yesterday from my Martial Arts connect (thanks honey...I luh you woman!)
So I woke up this morning sick as shit, but also feeling like a kid on Christmas!!! I decided to go with Secret Rivals. I just finished reading the Rza's book The Tao of Wu for the third time, and The Abbott bigs up this movie as a classic. I don't remember seeing it as a kid, so I was especially excited when my wifey brought home parts I, II and II.
The plot of the movies is pretty basic, but interesting enough to hold your attention. Northern Leg (played excellently by John Liu) travels to Korea in search of the man who killed his parents. The person responsible is a feared martial arts expert known as Silver Fox (one of HwangJang Lee's first of many roles), who also is involved in the robbery game. This attracts the attention of a government law enforcer known as Southern Fist (Wong Tao), who is in town posing as a potential bodyguard for the King (who is in cahoots with Silver Fox).
The two heroes do not hit it off at first, since they are keeping their true intentions secret from each other. They are also pursuing the same woman, which complicates things even more. Eventually they realize that although they have tremendous fighting skills, alone they are no match for Silver Fox. In the final scene, Northern Leg and Southern Fist team up and work together to open up a first class can of whoop ass on their foe.
Here is a clip of the final fight scene:
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with Secret Rivals. Although the movie was released in 1976, the story and action have withstood the test of time.John Liu and Wong Tao do an excellent job as "rivals-turned-partners." HwangJang Lee also thoroughly impresses as the menacing villain Silver Fox. The score, like most martial arts films, sets the mood for each scene.
I give Secret Rivals 4 1/2 Fists. It is definitely the type of movie that I am glad is in my collection. I can't wait to watch parts II and III! You should be doing the same!!!
It's been a minute since I posted something up here.....haven't had time to put up a full fledged review, so I decided to hit y'all with a video....Raekwon the Chef of The Wu Tang Clan is dropping a new album this Tuesday March 8th, so I wanted to give it some promotion because they are part of the reason this blog even exists....they definitley helped enhance my love and knowledge of martial arts cinema.....
Anyway....here is the video of the title track, "Shaolin vs. Wu Tang"......dope martial arts theme and animation going on in the video......I actually heard the album too and am interested in seeing who handled the bulk of the production because I love the way they sampled music from some martial arts movies.....
Here is another one of my favorite joints off the album......peep the ill sample...too lazy to do the research but I think it's from Ip Man....definitley from a martial arts flick though....
Drop me a comment here or on Twitter ( @KungFuTheater ) and tell me what you thought...go and cop Rae's album on Tuesday......support that real shit!!!
This week's review is on a 2004 Korean Martial Arts flick called Fighter in the Wind. Now I am usually biased to Chinese Martial Arts Cinema, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this film. For a movie to hold my attention, it has to have a solid storyline, great fight scenes, and a killer score, and Fighter in the Wind does not disappoint in any of those categories.
The story is a based on ChoiBae-dal, better known as his Japanese name MasutatsuOyama, creator of the famous Kyokushin-Karate. Most of the movie deals with the struggles he faced as a Korean living in post-World War II Japan. Bae-dal goes from wanting to be a pilot in the military to trying to make a living on the streets of Japan, but he is always met with Japanese strong arms who take ever chance to beat and embarrass him.
While dealing with a bunch of sword yielding Yakuzas, Bae-dal is saved by Bum Su, a talented martial artist also from Korea. He forms a bond with him, and Bum Su eventually gives Bae-dal a copy of MusashiMiyamoto's "Book of 5 Rings," which details techniques on how to fight and survive.
Soon the Yakuzas come back for revenge and wind up killing Bum Su. Bae-dal eventually goes to the mountains for one of the coolest training sequences I have ever saw. Peep it here. The music is incredible in this scene:
When Bae-dal come back to civilization he has one goal in mind, to fuck up every single martial arts school in Japan! Dude was seriously on a mission! Peep as he enters a dojo and literally KICKS the shit out of everyone!!
Bae-dal is eventually reunited with Kato, a pompous military official who embarrassed him in the beginning of the film. Hearing how Bae-dal has been going to dojo after dojo and taking out master after master, Kato challenges him in what is a great final fight scene. Peep it here:
I was thoroughly impressed by Fighter in the Wind, so I give this movie a rating of 4 FISTS. As I said earlier, I am partial to martial arts films from China, having been disappointed by plenty of releases from Thailand (OngBak 2 and 3). But this movie had it all. The storyline was not a classic, but it was strong enough to keep me interested. The fight scenes were a lot better than I expected, making me want to research more films starring Yang Dong-guen, who played the role of Bae-dal. He was a solid actor, not over-dramatic, and I didn't see any wires helping out the choreography so that is always a plus in my book! Also, I personally always find the score can make or break a movie, and the melodic metal-type sounds found in Fighter in the Wind definitely do the scenes justice.
Do yourself a favor and rent/purchase/borrow Fighter in the Wind. You'll thank me later....
Peace & Blessings,
The Sage
Be sure to leave a comment, positive or negative....they are always welcome.....
Follow me on TWITTER @KungFuTheateror e-mail me with any questions at saturdaymorningkungfu@gmail.com
I'm not gonna front I slept on this show......Kung Faux was a comedy tv series which had classic kung fu flicks with voiceovers from hip hop aritsts....it was pretty funny....here are some clips for your viewing pleasure....
Peace & Blessings! It's been a hot minute since I have done a blog entry, so I want to take the time to thank anyone who has visited the site thus far and to also welcome any new readers. Hopefully everyone is having a great holiday season. I have some well deserved time off from work and my area got hit hard with over two feet of snow; so now is the perfect time to watch some movies and hit you with some reviews. Props to my wife and step daughter for blessing me with some new DVDs for the holiday!
My wife, probably from having cabin fever, decided to watch this week's movie with me. For that fact alone I had to pick a movie I saw before and one that I knew she could appreciate. I decided to go with one of the best movies to come out in this decade, Ip Man (pronounced Yip Man), starring Donnie Yen.
Ip Man is part one in a three movie series that is loosely based on the life of Bruce Lee's teacher.
The movie takes place in the 1930's in Foshan, a southern part of China that was known for it's martial art's schools. While many sifus opened up schools and competed for students, it was known in Foshan that Master Ip Man was the best martial artist in that area. Ip Man is a low key dude who is independently wealthy, so he spends his days training on his own or spending time with friends and family. Many sifus come to his house and ask to spar with him, and he would accept their request only in a closed door session, as not to bring embarrassment to their school.
Ip Man gets even more props in Foshan after he takes down a country bumpkin with crazy skills who comes popping shit from the North (played incredibly well by Fan Siu-Wong). Peep the scene here:
Master Ip truly opens up a calm, cool but calculated can of whoop ass!
After this scene, the movie takes a different turn when Japan invades China in 1937 (the start of the second Sino-Japanse War). Life is changed for everyone in Foshan, even Master Ip and his family. The Japanese military take over his house as headquarters for their men, and he is forced to relocate to a very modest accomodations. Master Ip takes a job working at a coal mine just to support his family.
The Japanese leader in Foshan, General Miura (played by Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), is a skilled karate master who sets up an arena where Chinese martial artists can test their skills against his military trainees. The Chinese get a small bag of rice for each Japanese opponent they defeat. When one of his good friends goes missing after accepting an invite to the arena, Master Ip goes there to investigate. He is enraged when he sees a Japanese solider shoot and kill a fellow Foshan master after he wins a bout against three Japanese.
Ip Man demands a match against 10 men, which makes for one of the best scenes of the whole film. Peep it:
Master Ip's abilities spark the interest of General Miura, who wants to learn more about his skill and to see him fight again.
General Miura eventually finds Master Ip and says he will spare his life if he teaches Chinese martial arts to the Japanese soldiers. Master Ip refuses, and instead challenges the general to a fight. The general accepts the challenge, and the fight is held in public in Foshan's Square.
As the crowd cheers the defeat of the Japanese general, Master Ip is comforted by the sight of his wife and son in the crowd. While the crowd continues to celebrate the Japanese deputy decides to take matters into his own hands and shoots Master Ip. All hell breaks loose in the crowd, and Master Ip and his family are rescued amidst the chaotic aftermath. He survives the gun shot wound and is relocated to Hong Kong with his family. There he will soon open up a Wing Chun school (the focus of the sequel), and his long list of students will include Bruce Lee.
I give Ip Man the classic rating of 5 Fists. Even though it was semi-biographical, it was still great to do the knowledge about the man that taught Bruce Lee. The story line was tight, the fight scenese were top notch (choreographed by the legendary Sammo Hung), even the score was dope! And Donnie Yen has the midas touch, because any movie he touches turns to cinematic gold!
I also conside this a classic because my wife is not a fan of the martial arts genre at all (more of a rom-com type of woman). She usually does not have the patience to watch a movie in Chinese with English subtitles. She was able to successfully watch, follow and thoroughly enjoy Ip Man. As a show of thanks I am making a promise to watch the Sandra Bullock movie of her choice.
This week's blog is about the new Donnie Yen joint entitled Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zen. If you didn't know this movie is a follow-up to the 1995 television series Fist of Fury (which also starred Yen). Both this movie and the TV series were based on the 1972 Bruce Lee classic, Fist of Fury.
I am not going to get into a whole plot summary, but rather tell you how I felt about the film. Donnie Yen to me is like the Denzel Washington/Russell Crowe/Robert Deniro of the martial arts genre. While dudes like Tony Jaa make movies with idiotic story lines that sometimes make no sense, Yen keeps making flicks with action and substance. To tell you the truth, I expected more action in this movie. But the intricate story line kept my attention. And there are more than a few beautiful Asian honeys in it, so that is always a plus!!
During the few fight scenes, Yen does not disappoint though. He also served as fight choreographer for the film and he told the media that he included elements of Jeet Kun Do as a tribute to Bruce Lee, the original Chen Zen.
Here is a small taste of what Yen has to offer:
Yen also stated that he used Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and elements of Wing Chun to choreograph the scenes for this flick.
I am going to give Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Yen Four Fists. Donnie Yen rarely disappoints me (pause) because he knows how to make a kick ass fight scene and always seems to pick the movies with the dopest story lines. This movie could have gotten the Five Fist classic status if it had a few more fight scenes in it, but it is most definitely still a must see. Also through a little research I found out that Zhang Ziyi was originally supposed to play the female lead. That would have definitely given this movie classic status as well. She is fine! That's it for this week, sorry for the two week absence. I have crazy busy. I got some ideas for the next couple of weeks so keep checking back in.
I've been a fan of martial arts flicks since I was a kid, although when I was like 6 I was afraid that Bruce Lee was hiding in my closet and if I got out of bed he was going to jump out and beat the sh-t out of me (wtf?).
In college I got cool with a vendor at a local flea market and started to buy movies on VHS on the regular. I had a good 40 movies, but a lot of them were borrowed and never returned on some "yo where my killa tape at?" type of sh-t.
I am now beginning to rebuild my collection on DVD and look foward to blogging my reviews of each film that I own.
