Favorite movie fight scenes

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Naperville
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#601

Post by Naperville »

James Y wrote:
Sun Jul 11, 2021 2:29 pm
Yeah, I have no doubts that Bruce Lee probably rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. I believe that back in the 1960s, his confidence sometimes came across as arrogance, and maybe he was arrogant. He most likely was; many martial arts people are. He was also young, and Chinese (technically, with a quarter German from his mom’s side). Many Chinese people, but especially non-Asians in the US back then, were probably taken aback and were not accustomed to seeing an Asian man openly exude so much self-confidence and assertiveness to the point of cockiness. Keep in mind, many non-Asians back then (and even now), were used to seeing Chinese men (and Asians in general) being portrayed as subservient. This could also have colored their views of Bruce Lee, possibly even amplifying his level of hubris in their minds.

My Choy Lee Fut kung fu teacher actually saw Bruce Lee demonstrating in person at the Ed Parker International Karate Championships in Long Beach in 1964, and he said that Bruce Lee was extremely fast, and was also very cocky. But he wasn’t the twerp (or the cartoon character) that QT made him out to be.

I recall a story by Bruce Lee’s first American student, Taky Kimura, a Japanese-American whose self-esteem had been at an all-time low ever since being incarcerated in one of the Japanese-American internment camps during WW2. Kimura stated that it was Bruce Lee who told him that nobody was better nor worse than he was, and to hold his head high and be proud of himself. That was the beginning of Taky Kimura gaining his self-esteem. It takes a LOT more than some complete jerk to inspire self-esteem in someone who doesn’t have any.

Jim
[+1]

Without my father who enrolled me into Judo at the age of 9(the start), or Bruce Lee(the visionary) I never would have continued to study martial arts.
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#602

Post by Josh1973 »

James Y wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 3:31 pm
Josh1973 wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 1:44 pm
My favorite fight scene will always be Bruce Lee vs Kareem Abdul Jabbar in Game Of Death.

Hi, Josh1973. Thanks for sharing!

Have you seen the original, extended footage of the fights from Bruce Lee’s original concept of Game of Death? IIRC, they were mostly test shots, and not what Bruce had considered perfect. I think I posted original footage earlier in this thread, but I’m posting it below, too. And this version is several minutes longer than the version of the original footage I previously posted. It’s close to 40 minutes of footage, originally shot in Hong Kong in 1972, for Bruce’s original concept. It was never completed, because Bruce Lee had to stop in order to start filming Enter the Dragon. He had planned to resume filming Game of Death after Enter the Dragon was completed; obviously, that never came to pass.

Josh1973, you probably won’t care to read the rest of this, but I’m putting it up, anyway…

When the “official” version of Game of Death was released in 1979, it was a patchwork directed by Robert Clouse, consisting of filler scenes and a completely different storyline, built around the final fight footage (the only original Bruce Lee footage in that movie, which was three fight scenes). And those three fight scenes were shortened considerably from the original footage; the original, uncut fight scenes in the clip below are MUCH longer. Robert Clouse’s “official” movie even added an inferior fight between Korean Bruce Lee imitator Kim Tai-Chung and actor Hugh O’Brian in the pagoda. Had Bruce Lee lived, and had he directed and completed Game of Death, it would have been a much different movie, and WAY better. There were also more opponents and more levels he’d wanted; Bruce had asked his first American student, Taky Kimura, as well as Sammo Hung and Korean Hwang In-Shik, to also appear as pagoda guardians.

In the original footage, Bruce Lee was accompanied by two allies, played by James Tien and Chieh Yuan (in the black Judo gi). These friends (or allies) basically served as whipping boys, to allow Bruce Lee’s opponents to show off their abilities and win before facing Bruce.

The music in this clip was added much later, possibly by Hong Kong’s Golden Harvest Studio, which produced Bruce Lee’s movies The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, and Way of the Dragon, and which had kept the existing original Game of Death footage in a vault. Also, some of it was redubbed, especially closer towards the end. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s voice, in particular, was completely redubbed in this version. Bruce’s voice was also redubbed after the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scene: the original version is in Cantonese language.

The opponents and their methods:
1). Dan Inosanto: Escrima/Kali, nunchaku, (and some Kenpo Karate at the very beginning).
2). Ji Han-Jae: Korean Hapkido.
3). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “Style of no style”; closest to Bruce Lee’s concept of Jeet Kung Do.

Note: Dan Inosanto had been a student of Bruce Lee (as was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). But Dan Inosanto was also a highly experienced martial artist before he ever met Bruce, and he was the man who taught Bruce Lee the nunchaku.

(From 0:10): Chieh Yuan, James Tien & Bruce Lee vs Dan Inosanto;

(From 12:22): Chieh Yuan, James Tien & Bruce Lee vs Ji Han-Jae

(From 19:41): Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs James Tien; (From 24:35): Bruce Lee vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:

https://youtu.be/3PPs0dKJ6rM

Jim

Thank you for sharing Jim. I do appreciate the biography you shared with me. And sorry I did not reply sooner. I don't come online very often. I really am thankful for the history lesson you shared with me. I get tickled seeing Kareem vs Bruce. Kareem has a huge reach advantage lol.
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#603

Post by Josh1973 »

James Y wrote:
Fri Jul 09, 2021 2:50 pm
The Invincible Armour (1977, Taiwan). Director: Ng See-Yuen. Action directors: Yuen Wo-Ping & Hsu Hsia. Assistant action directors: Corey Yuen, Yuen Biao & Yuen Shun-Yi.

Full movie.

Starring: John Liu, Hwang Jang-Lee, Tino Wong, Lee Hoi-Sang, Philip Ko Fei, Tsai Fu-Kuei, Kwok San-Hing, Corey Yuen, Yuen Biao, Yuen Shun-Yi, Chieh Yuan, Chuan Yuan, Hsu Hsia.

I previously posted the opening training sequence and the final fight on page 8 of this thread, but decided to post the entire movie here. IMO, The invincible Armour was among the best of the independent kung fu films. Independent, meaning films made by smaller film companies other than Hong Kong’s mega-companies like the Shaw Brothers studio, and Golden Harvest.

I rate this movie in my top five favorite independent kung fu films, and not necessarily for the fight scenes, but for the storyline. The Invincible Armour was made in 1977, the era of peak quality in Taiwan-made kung fu films, before comedy kung fu films took over the following year, due to the popularity of Jackie Chan’s breakout films, Snake in the Eagles Shadow, and Drunken Master (1978). In 1976/77, many of the Taiwan-made films had intricate storylines, interesting main characters, intrigue, and even some suspense.

The title “The Invincible Armour” refers to the villain (played by Korean Hwang Jang-Lee) having skill in “Tie Bu Shan” (“Iron Cloth” or “Iron Shirt”), a type of internal and external conditioning that develops “near-invincibility,” as if the practitioner were wearing a suit of armor (but not literally). Except for one secret vulnerable spot, similar to Achilles’ heel. I’ve stated many times that, although such skills were highly exaggerated in the movies, I love the concept of a near-invincible villain, when it’s done right, like it was in this movie. The actual title in Mandarin is “Ying Zhao, Tie Bu Shan,” referring to the arch-villain’s two special skills: Eagle Claw kung fu and “Iron Cloth.”

I’m not highlighting any of the fight scenes in this post. This is a remastered version, in the original Mandarin language, with English subtitles. Although for some reason, part of it has the English dub. If you watch it on YouTube, depending on your device, you will get ads seemingly every 20 freakin’ seconds. :mad: I kid you not.

https://youtu.be/B5OybwQ0Pew

Jim
I loved that movie. As a kid I grew up watching all the old school martial arts films. I use to crack up with their translations. Where you would see dude talking while not moving his lips and vice versa. This movie brings back memories.
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#604

Post by James Y »

Josh1973 wrote:
Sat Jul 17, 2021 3:49 pm
Thank you for sharing Jim. I do appreciate the biography you shared with me. And sorry I did not reply sooner. I don't come online very often. I really am thankful for the history lesson you shared with me. I get tickled seeing Kareem vs Bruce. Kareem has a huge reach advantage lol.

You’re very welcome, Josh.

I always end up writing long-winded posts that I’m not sure anybody actually reads. :)

Even though he was in the NBA, for a man of his height, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had surprisingly good martial arts coordination. Not every athlete with his height can kick like that.

I’m also glad that you enjoyed The Invincible Armour. I also watched lots of English-dubbed kung fu movies back in the day, mostly in grindhouse theaters that used to be located in the downtown area. I also frequented a couple of Asian-owned theaters (one Chinese-owned and another Vietnamese-owned) that showed even more kung fu movies (up to 4 new ones every week), but in original Mandarin or Cantonese language with subtitles. I went to those every week, to the point that the theater owners knew me, and always let me know which movies were coming weeks ahead of time. This lasted up until the time I left here for Taiwan. The subtitled versions bring back the most memories for me because of that time period (late 1970s/ early '80s).

Jim
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#605

Post by James Y »

Leung Kar-Yan Interview (in Cantonese with English subtitles).

Hong Kong actor Leung Kar-Yan was one of my favorite old-school kung fu movie actors. Fans often called him “Beardy,” because back in the day he usually sported facial hair in his films. He has always admitted that he never actually learned kung fu, or any martial arts in his life, apart from what he was shown to do on set; but his natural talent and athleticism certainly made him look like an experienced martial artist. Out of all the martial arts actors who never actually knew any martial arts, Leung Kar-Yan was the all-time best, anywhere in the world.

Here, he mostly talks about working with Sammo Hung, and how difficult and demanding it was. The movie he mostly discusses is Knockabout (1979), which I already posted the full movie earlier in this thread. I also posted only the final fight way earlier in this thread. I don’t know if either embedded vids are still viewable or if they were taken off YouTube, and I’m too lazy to go through the thread and check. Working in kung fu movies in the 1970s and ‘80s was very hard, and injuries were common.

https://youtu.be/mWBwjLBjItg

Jim
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#606

Post by Iole »

This is not a movie clip but TV clip from the show Warrior.

Ah Toy was set up by her business partner to be knocked off.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzRvDf36B5o
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#607

Post by The Mastiff »

Working in kung fu movies in the 1970s and ‘80s was very hard, and injuries were common.
It had to have been. Kind of like professional wrestling. Even if they really aren't fighting for real just the amount of work they are doing as well as the kind of movements make injuries inevitable. The training many of the later star actors had in ( was it? ) Peking opera school was probably worse than army boot camp. Everybody gets something that hurts but hopefully the things requiring surgery are avoided. Hopefully. :)
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#608

Post by James Y »

The Mastiff wrote:
Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:57 pm
Working in kung fu movies in the 1970s and ‘80s was very hard, and injuries were common.
It had to have been. Kind of like professional wrestling. Even if they really aren't fighting for real just the amount of work they are doing as well as the kind of movements make injuries inevitable. The training many of the later star actors had in ( was it? ) Peking opera school was probably worse than army boot camp. Everybody gets something that hurts but hopefully the things requiring surgery are avoided. Hopefully. :)

Yes, many (but not all) of the top actors and stunt men came from Peking Opera (and Cantonese Opera) academies in both Hong Kong and Taiwan. Kuo Chui (AKA Philip Kwok), the lead “Venom Mob” star, actually came from a Taiwanese Opera background. The rest of the top actors came from hardcore traditional martial arts backgrounds. Some, like Lo Lieh, Leung Kar-Yan, etc., had no formal martial arts (as well as no opera) background at all.

Working in kung fu and action movies in Hong Kong and Taiwan during the 1970s and ‘80s was so hazardous that reportedly, starting around the late 1970s and early ‘80s, many of the male actors, if they thought they might want kids later, had their seed cryogenically preserved, in case a serious injury made them sterile.

In 1978, the late Shaw Brothers Studio star, Alexander Fu Sheng, fell eight feet onto his head on the hard ground when a wire suspending him broke. A year later, his right leg was broken in another accident on set. Although he returned to movies a couple years later, he was never the same. That’s why, in his early movies, from 1974 to about 1977, his screen fighting was quite good. When he came back from his injuries, he took mainly comic roles with little to no fighting, and what fighting he did do was nowhere near the level he once was. A few years after his death in 1983 (by car accident), Alexander Fu Sheng’s widow had his daughter, conceived from what he had had preserved at a sperm bank.

I would say that filming kung fu and Asian action movies in the ‘70s and ‘80s was, in many ways, more hazardous than professional wrestling, because there weren’t as many safeguards in place, and they could be on set for hours and hours, including at night. At studios like Shaw Brothers, the reason they used so many indoor stages made to look like the outdoors was that filming went on 24/7. A scene made to look like daytime, complete with trees and artificial sunlight, could have actually been filmed at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m.

Jim
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#609

Post by James Y »

Alexander Fu Sheng tribute video.

I mentioned the late Alexander Fu Sheng in my previous post. He did NOT come from a Peking Opera background. Fu Sheng came from a wealthy Hong Kong family, and had trained martial arts, specifically, Judo and Karate, and reportedly had gotten into lots of fights. He was actually ‘discovered’ by Shaw Brothers talent scouts while competing in a Judo (or Karate) tournament. He joined the Shaw Brothers actors training school at the age of 17, and started appearing in movies by age 18, in 1972. He was trained in Hung Gar Kung Fu under Kung Fu master and director Lau Kar-Leung for about 6 months.

It was quite clear that Alexander Fu Sheng was a naturally gifted. Although he was never the greatest martial artist, he was a very talented one. And that, combined with his tremendous natural charisma, acting ability, and his incredible memory (in fight sequences, he could easily remember sequences of more than a dozen complex movements at a time), Alexander Fu Sheng became one of the most popular stars in Hong Kong, and throughout Asia.

The 1978 movie Snake in the Eagle's Shadow had originally been written with Alexander Fu Sheng in mind as the intended star. That fell through, because Fu Sheng was under contract to Shaw Brothers Studio, who were unwilling to lend him out, and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow was a Seasonal Films production. Instead, Jackie Chan, who was NOT popular, was chosen as Fu Sheng's replacement. It ended up becoming the breakout movie that finally made Jackie Chan a bonafide star.

Sadly, Alexander Fu Sheng passed away from a car accident in 1983, at the age of 29. Eerily, at the time of his death, Fu Sheng had been living in the same house that Bruce Lee had lived in in Hong Kong; and his death came ten years to the month after Bruce Lee died. The attendance at Alexander Fu Sheng’s funeral service was comparable to Bruce Lee’s in Hong Kong.

https://youtu.be/XOY8aIpqfQw

Jim
Last edited by James Y on Thu Jul 22, 2021 9:22 pm, edited 7 times in total.
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#610

Post by James Y »

Iole wrote:
Wed Jul 21, 2021 1:30 pm
This is not a movie clip but TV clip from the show Warrior.

Ah Toy was set up by her business partner to be knocked off.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzRvDf36B5o

Thank you for posting!

Jim
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#611

Post by The Mastiff »

James, thanks for the bio on Alexander Fu Sheng. I knew nothing of that. He always came across as likeable and I generally liked the characters he played in movies. It's always a shame to see people going that young. I wondered why he wasn't in later movies.

Joe
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#612

Post by James Y »

The Mastiff wrote:
Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:11 am
James, thanks for the bio on Alexander Fu Sheng. I knew nothing of that. He always came across as likeable and I generally liked the characters he played in movies. It's always a shame to see people going that young. I wondered why he wasn't in later movies.

Joe

I remember first hearing about Fu Sheng's death the month that it happened. I was working in a Chinese restaurant to save up some money to move overseas. A waitress who was from Hong Kong and knew I liked kung fu movies told me, "Did you hear about Fu Sheng? He passed away. He had an accident."

By all accounts. Alexander Fu Sheng was very well-liked among his colleagues, and I've never heard or read anything negative said about him, other than one person mentioning he sometimes showed up late to the set. His family had wanted him to retire from movies after his on-set injuries. But clearly he loved what he was doing.

It would have been interesting to see how far his film career would've gone, had he lived. Especially since Shaw Brothers stopped making movies in 1985 or '86, and all of his movies were Shaw Brothers, or Shaw Brothers-connected. I could see him doing mostly romantic comedies, as he had already done a successful one, called Hong Kong Playboys, one of his last movies, which was pretty good.

Jim
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#613

Post by Iole »

Discovered this stunt team of Brett Chan, he is nominated for the 2021 Emmy for Stunt/Fight coordinator on the series Warrior. Olivia Cheng (Ah Toy) is in the front row, kneeing


IMG_0707.jpg
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#614

Post by James Y »

Iole wrote:
Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:50 pm
Discovered this stunt team of Brett Chan, he is nominated for the 2021 Emmy for Stunt/Fight coordinator on the series Warrior. Olivia Cheng (Ah Toy) is in the front row, kneeing


IMG_0707.jpg

Very cool, Iole. Thank you for sharing.

Jim
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#615

Post by The Mastiff »

It would have been interesting to see how far his film career would've gone, had he lived. Especially since Shaw Brothers stopped making movies in 1985 or '86, and all of his movies were Shaw Brothers, or Shaw Brothers-connected. I could see him doing mostly romantic comedies, as he had already done a successful one, called Hong Kong Playboys, one of his last movies, which was pretty good.
The Shaw brothers were a fairly good sized chunk of martial art type movies that played here in those days. They still have many fans. Still , the romantic comedies might have a larger audience now. Isn't that what Chow Yun- Fat get his start doing those?
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#616

Post by James Y »

The Mastiff wrote:
Fri Jul 23, 2021 6:04 pm
It would have been interesting to see how far his film career would've gone, had he lived. Especially since Shaw Brothers stopped making movies in 1985 or '86, and all of his movies were Shaw Brothers, or Shaw Brothers-connected. I could see him doing mostly romantic comedies, as he had already done a successful one, called Hong Kong Playboys, one of his last movies, which was pretty good.
The Shaw brothers were a fairly good sized chunk of martial art type movies that played here in those days. They still have many fans. Still , the romantic comedies might have a larger audience now. Isn't that what Chow Yun- Fat get his start doing those?

I think Chow Yun-Fat did some early romantic comedies, starting in the late ‘70s. He also did dramas and some category III (adult-oriented) movies. But I haven’t seen any of those. The first Chow Yun-Fat movie I saw was a drama from the early ‘80s. Of course, he became a megastar co-starring in a few John Woo gangster films, and also the God of Gamblers film series directed by Wong Jing, in the late ‘80s to early ‘90s. Chow Yun-Fat is not a martial artist or a martial arts actor. From what I’ve heard, Chow Yun-Fat is probably the most down-to-earth movie star, especially for a star of his status. He self-admittedly still rides public transportation in Hong Kong to get around, and is very approachable.

Jim
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#617

Post by The Mastiff »

If he isn't trained he must be a really good actor. Some of his sword use in movies is really well done and more convincing than in a lot of movies. I usually will go out of my way to watch a movie he is in because some are really good.
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#618

Post by James Y »

The Mastiff wrote:
Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:00 am
If he isn't trained he must be a really good actor. Some of his sword use in movies is really well done and more convincing than in a lot of movies. I usually will go out of my way to watch a movie he is in because some are really good.

Chow Yun-Fat is an excellent dramatic actor. As I mentioned a few posts ago, there are other Hong Kong stars with zero formal martial arts background who could perform martial arts very well onscreen, the best being Leung Kar-Yan. Lo Lieh, who usually played villains, also looked very good (with the right choreography), and was able to engage in complex fight sequences under director Lau Kar-Leung. But Lo Lieh had no real martial arts ability.

I rate Chow Yun-Fat in the same way. He has enough coordination, and the intelligence to follow directions to look good. For example, in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, he was choreographed by Yuen Wo-Ping, one of the most demanding action choreographers in the business. Yuen Wo-Ping, Lau Kar-Leung, Sammo Hung, Corey Yuen, and Jackie Chan are the most demanding when it comes to action choreography.

I don’t think Jackie will even accept anyone without a lot of training to perform action in his films; and even trained martial artists, if they cannot move with rhythm, Jackie will not work with them. Sammo Hung has made some lesser-trained or untrained people look great. Corey Yuen’s choreography helped make Jason Statham an action star, but his specialty is making non-martial arts-trained females look good in action scenes.

It’s mainly Yuen Wo-Ping, Sammo Hung, Lau Kar-Leung, and Corey Yuen who have made some non-martial arts actors look like experts (or at least passable) in fight scenes. And it’s also the actors’ acting ability, and their (and their onscreen opponents’) ability to “sell it” onscreen. Non-martial arts-trained actors are trained to do enough for their roles, but I don’t count that as actual martial arts training.

Jim
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#619

Post by James Y »

Full Contact (1992; Hong Kong; filmed in Thailand). Directed by Ringo Lam. Action director: Lau Kar-Wing.

I already posted the bali-song knife fight scene early in this thread. But since the subject of Chow Yun-Fat came up, I decided to post the end scene from this movie. I think Chow’s best movies were crime/gangster films. The ones he did for director John Woo were coined “bullet ballets.” As violent as John Woo’s gangster movies were, IMO, Ringo Lam’s Full Contact was less refined, a little less exaggerated, and a bit cruder in some respects. Full Contact is actually my second-favorite Chow Yun-Fat crime/gangster film, after John Woo’s Hard Boiled. Seen without context, this final showdown scene gives little indication of how good the movie is as a whole. The villains are easy to hate, especially Simon Yam’s character.

This final scene is in Cantonese dialect, but with no English subtitles. However, it’s easy to understand what’s going on.

Final showdown: Chow Yun-Fat vs Frankie Chan Chi-Leung & Simon Yam:

https://youtu.be/TjFRTfSxwgk

Jim
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Re: Favorite movie fight scenes

#620

Post by James Y »

Hard Boiled (1992, Hong Kong). Director: John Woo. Action director: Philip Kwok (AKA, Kuo Chui).

FULL MOVIE (Cantonese dialect with English subtitles). I previously posted a scene or two from this movie early in the thread, but I felt the entire movie was worth posting.

Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Teresa Mo, Phillip Chan, Philip Kwok (AKA Kuo Chui), Anthony Wong, Kwan Hoi-San, Stephen Tung Wai, Jun Kunimura, Lo Meng, John Woo, etc.

Hard Boiled is my all-time favorite John Woo-directed movie, and my favorite Chow Yun-Fat movie. When John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat worked together, they created magic, much better than any of the later American movies that John Woo directed. I consider Hard Boiled to be the finest example of the Hong Kong gangster/action films, sometimes referred to as “bullet ballets.” With John Woo, things typically get over the top, such as shooting while diving through the air, so many shootings and explosions it becomes mind-numbing, and guns that magically never seem to run out of bullets. But the character development was vitally important in this movie. There is one 3-minute uncut, continuous shot that follows Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung from floor to floor during the hospital shootout that is an awesome example of not only complex setup and perfect timing, but also convincing acting and dialogue, the combination of which I haven’t seen in any other action movie that featured extended continuous-shot sequences.

Philip Kwok (Kuo Chui), who plays the right-hand man of villain Anthony Wong, was a former original “Venom Mob” member in Shaw Brothers films directed by Chang Cheh in the late 1970s/early ‘80s. He played “The Lizard” in Five Deadly Venoms. Lo Meng, another former Venom Mob member, has a small role in this film. Director John Woo was actually a protege of Chang Cheh in the early ‘70s, on movies like The Boxer From Shantung (1972), the final fight of which is posted earlier in this thread.

I’m not highlighting the action sequences in this post.

https://youtu.be/pVWlRhtPvtU

Jim
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