Favorite movie fight scenes

[James Y]

The Master (alternate title: 3 Evil Masters; 1980, Hong Kong). Director: Lu Chun-Ku. Action director: Hsu Hsia.

I had posted the final fight scenes early in this thread, but that video was taken off youtube months ago. I recently came across some other clips from the movie, as well as another video of the final fight.

As I’ve mentioned previously, the young leading star of the movie, Yuen Tak, grew up in the same Peking Opera school as Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Corey Yuen, and others. Yuen Tak has stated that he preferred working behind the scenes as a choreographer, as he felt he wasn’t leading man material, and didn’t like the way he looked onscreen. Which, IMO, was a strange underestimation of his own abilities. His physical skills and timing were outstanding, and he appeared comfortable onscreen; and when used correctly, he performed extremely difficult choreography better than many leading man martial arts action stars (past and present) who crave the limelight could ever dream of doing. As with many movies from kung fu cinema’s Golden Era, this level and style of choreography, and the cinematography to properly capture it onscreen, is a lost art today.

Opening credits fight scene: Chen Kuan-Tai vs Chui Fat, Yuen Fai & Wang Lung-Wei:

https://youtu.be/QfKQ5OlSgOE

Yuen Tak vs Yuen Fai:

https://youtu.be/Szx3qblL-IY

(From 0:00); Yuen Tak vs Chui Fat; Final fight (From 5:37); Yuen Tak vs Wang Lung-Wei & henchmen:

https://youtu.be/0cIgB2SkiX4

Jim

[James Y]

The Buddhist Fist (1980, Hong Kong). Director: Yuen Woo-Ping. Action directors: Simon Yuen (Yuen Siu-Tin) & The Yuen Clan.

Full movie.

As mentioned in previous posts, director Yuen Woo-Ping was responsible for making Jackie Chan a star. Jackie Chan had been a child actor since 1962, and then toiled as a stuntman and minor actor who was not popular at all, until Yuen insisted on casting him in the 1978 movie Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, and then Drunken Master. Those movies popularized the kung fu comedy genre and made Jackie Chan a star. Yuen Woo-Ping also gave a young Donnie Yen his start in movies in Drunken Tai Chi (1984), which was posted earlier in this thread.

Yuen Woo-Ping and his brothers (The Yuen Clan) made countless movies, and are still active in directing/choreographing to this day. They are most famous in the West as having directed the action sequences in The Matrix trilogy, and Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2.

Leading man Yuen Shun-Yi is a younger brother of Yuen Woo-Ping.

(From 2:00): Opening training sequence, featuring Tsui Siu-Ming & Yuen Shun-Yi:

(From 42:40): Yuen Shun-Yi & Fan Mei-Sheng vs fortune teller (Ta Hsi-Yen):

(From 48:00): Murder plot; (From 50:45): Yuen Shun-Yi & Peter Chan Lung vs hunchback (Shan Kuai):

(From 107:15): Yuen Shun-Yi vs Lee Hoi-Sang:

(From 1:16:35): Final fight: Yuen Shun-Yi (with Chan Siu-Pang) vs Tsui Siu-Ming:

https://youtu.be/7BN9OspLlHY

Jim

[James Y]

Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019; Hong Kong and China). Director: Wilson Yip. Action director: Yuen Woo-Ping (also spelled Yuen Wo-Ping).

The scene in these two clips is set in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1964, during a Chinatown holiday celebration with kung fu demonstrations. The head of a hostile group of karate-trained US Marines comes to challenge the various Chinatown masters.

I haven’t posted a clip of the final fight between Ip Man (Donnie Yen) and marine sergeant Barton Geddes (Scott Adkins), because the latter character utters a racial slur at one point during the clip. Also, if you haven’t seen the film but are planning to, posting the final fight clip will spoil it.

Of the first three masters who accept the challenge, Zhou Xiao-Fei, who plays the female master of Xingyi Quan, is by far the most impressive.

Unfortunately, the first master, played by Lo Meng, loses quickly in comical fashion. Lo Meng is the same actor who played The Toad in The Five Deadly Venoms (AKA, The Five Venoms), as well as acted in several of the legendary Shaw Brothers Studio‘s “Venom Mob“ films. His characters used to be formidable, but nowadays he has become the kung fu movie equivalent of a “jobber” in pro wrestling; he is always scripted to be the loser (or to be more exact, to be squashed) by his opponents to make them look good. I know that Lo Meng is old now, but come on. If you’re still going to cast him in movies, at least let him seem formidable once in a while, instead of being everybody’s whipping boy.

Although Ip Man was a real-life kung fu master, these movies are complete fiction. The real Ip Man never visited the US, and never even met an American person in his life, with the one exception being his most famous student, Bruce Lee, who was born in San Francisco, but grew up in Hong Kong.

Chinatown fight, clip 1: Chris Collins vs Lo Meng, Gao Qiang & Zhou Xiao-Fei:

https://youtu.be/dT8oF9udnxE

Chinatown fight, clip 2: Donnie Yen vs Chris Collins:

https://youtu.be/RdNQpF0Zdlo

Jim

[Buddafucco]

Adam Sandler vs Bob Barker in Happy Gilmore... That's a great fight scene!

El Rey network has been doing Kung Fu Theater for half the day on Sundays. I got hooked a couple months ago and have been DVRing and watching them all through out the weeks. They can be a little to zany and low budget at times but it made them more enjoyable when i started thinking of them as entertaining stories, or tall tales being shown, rather than watching them thinking they're going to be a blockbuster hit kind of movie.

I watched all the Ip Man movies. 4 was fun to see the view of the US military from a Chinese point of view.

I like Gordon Liu fight scenes. He does that peripheral vision stare thing that makes his fights look effortless. If he's in the movie i know I'm going to enjoy it. However, Executioner's from Shaolin gets my vote for the worst movie ending ever! We know what was about to happen with Pai Mei but it was cut off with that message that will forever haunt me!.. I didn't get any closure!
And Shaolin Mantis gets my vote for best mantis style training montage.

[James Y]

I watched all the Ip Man movies. 4 was fun to see the view of the US military from a Chinese point of view.

Hi, Buddafucco, thanks for contributing!

TBH, the way the Americans and the American military were portrayed in Ip Man 4 was about as accurate as most Hollywood/American movie depictions of Asians and/or Asian-American people in general. Meaning limited, stereotyped and one-dimensional.

Personally, I like old-school kung fu and wuxia movies, whether they are blockbuster-level or not. To me, it’s about how much enjoyment I get from a film, as opposed to its budget, or how famous it is. In fact, my favorite kung fu films were not super high-budget productions by today’s standards. I find movies like The Prodigal Son, Knockabout, The Magnificent Butcher, The Victim, Martial Club, etc., to be far more fun and entertaining than, say, the Oscar-nominated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The ones from the 1960s, 70s, through the 1980s to the mid-90s in particular had such a wide variety of actors, performers, directors, choreographers, etc. The talent pool was very deep. It was a period of growth and creativity that will never be equaled ever again.

Back in the 1970s and 80s, seeing these movies in a packed movie theater with enthusiastic, rowdy audiences was also a magical experience that is difficult to convey nowadays. For the past couple decades or so, audiences just don’t respond to movies the way they used to. The only way I can explain it is, if you see the 1985 movie The Last Dragon, the movie theater scene where the audience is watching Enter the Dragon is only a slightly exaggerated version of how watching kung fu movies in the theater used to be. I don’t think that entire scene is on YouTube; it’s the part before the “Shogun of Harlem” shows up.

I agree that Shaolin Mantis was probably the best onscreen Mantis style training sequence. I wouldn’t expect any less from a movie directed by Lau Kar-Leung (Mandarin pronunciation: Liu Chia-Liang).

Jim

[Buddafucco]

I found the movie theater scene... https://youtu.be/xTyc2bcgi2U... Those days are long gone.

This week's movies are...
Come Drink With Me
House of Traps
The Magnificent Ruffians
The 14 Amazons
Flying Guillotine
I watched Come Drink With Me for the second time yesterday. The Golden Swallow was kind of a bad-***. I wish they would have squeezed in another dueling fight scene with her in it. Wiki says Weinstein and Tarantino were planning a remake a long time ago... I don't see that happening anymore.

[James Y]

I found the movie theater scene... https://youtu.be/xTyc2bcgi2U... Those days are long gone.

This week's movies are...
Come Drink With Me
House of Traps
The Magnificent Ruffians
The 14 Amazons
Flying Guillotine
I watched Come Drink With Me for the second time yesterday. The Golden Swallow was kind of a bad-***. I wish they would have squeezed in another dueling fight scene with her in it. Wiki says Weinstein and Tarantino were planning a remake a long time ago... I don't see that happening anymore.

I don’t get El Rey Network, but those are all great movies I saw in theaters back in the day, as well as have on DVD. My favorite out of those is The Magnificent Ruffians.

Hollywood (including Tarantino) should give up any idea of remaking any Shaw Brothers classics. They cannot be remade as well as the originals. Tarantino won’t do it anyway; he claims he’s only going to make a total of 10 movies in his career, and he’s already made number 9. Tarantino only spoofs the martial arts genre, anyway.

Jim

[James Y]

Shaolin Drunkard (1983, Hong Kong; filmed in Taiwan). Director: Yuen Woo-Ping. Action directors: The Yuen Clan.

Full movie.

This movie was a true Yuen Family project. Director Yuen Woo-Ping, and starring Yuen Yat-Chor as the young magician; Yuen Cheung-Yan, playing dual roles as both ‘Grandma’ and ‘the drunkard‘; and Yuen Shun-Yi as the fanged evil magician/arch-villain. All are real-life brothers.

Shaolin Drunkard was an unrelated follow-up movie to the Yuen family’s higher-budgeted mega-hit, The Miracle Fighters (1982), which cleverly combined magic, ingenious devices, comedy, and kung fu. In fact, calling it ‘clever’ is a bit of an understatement. The low-tech effects had an ingenuity and charm that modern CGI cannot replicate. IMO, this is one of the funniest fantasy/kung fu comedies. Also, the English dubbing is excellent, and the voices fit the characters perfectly.

As always, these aren’t all the fights in the movie, just the ones I’ve chosen to highlight.

(From 17:55); Yuen Shun-Yi vs Eddy Ko Hung:

(From 39:35); Yuen Yat-Chor vs Yuen Cheung-Yan:

(From 1:16:20); Yuen Yat-Chor & Yuen Cheung-Yan vs Yuen Shun-Yi & toad monster:

Final fight (From 1:23:55); Yuen Yat-Chor & Yuen Cheung-Yan vs Yuen Shun-Yi:

https://youtu.be/eN0K_5shtSU

Jim

[Buddafucco]

I'm not a reviewer at all but, some thoughts...

The Magnificent Ruffians- I like the Venom Mob movies. The amount of time they spent working together shows in their acrobatics and fighting. They just seam comfortable doing scenes together.

House of Traps- Another Venom Mob movie. A little more Traps than Kung Fu. Fun though. I loved the fact that 30 or so fighters lived in the walls of the house just waiting to spring into action.

The 14 Amazons- More war fighting than one on one battles but still enjoyable. One amazingly funny line stood out to me... Him(?), "Tell me or I'll disembowel you!"... Her(?) "Go ahead, that's the only way you're going to see what Real guts look like!"

Flying Guillotine- The absurdity made up for any lack of fighting. Lots of heads lost in this one... Most decapitations in one movie maybe? lol

This week's list...

The Kid With a Tattoo- I actually just watched this one. Very good. The run down temple was a great fight location, very scenic, though i wish the fight scene there between the main actor and the pole fighter was done in the daytime. I still can't differentiate time periods in China. Before the 70's they still look similar to me so i have no idea when this was supposed to be. 40's, 30's i dunno.

Legendary Weapons of China (i think I've seen this one already)
Valley of the Fangs
The Master
Clan of Amazons
Flying Guillotine 2

[James Y]

The Kid With a Tattoo- I actually just watched this one. Very good. The run down temple was a great fight location, very scenic, though i wish the fight scene there between the main actor and the pole fighter was done in the daytime. I still can't differentiate time periods in China. Before the 70's they still look similar to me so i have no idea when this was supposed to be. 40's, 30's i dunno.

Buddafucco,

A brief rundown of some time periods in kung fu and wuxia movies:

The Kid With a Tattoo was set sometime during the Chinese Republic (1912 - 1949). Most likely sometime in the 1920s or early 30s. Definitely predating the second Sino-Japanese War (1937 - 1945). The same for other period kung fu movies where the characters are wearing Chinese clothing with more modern-looking hairstyles.

The movies where the men have queues (pigtails) is during the Qing (Ching) Dynasty (1644 - 1912). All of the movies featuring Shaolin-trained rebel groups fighting against the ruling Manchus were set during this period. The rebels working to overthrow the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty were trying to restore the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), which of course, never happened.

The movies where the ruling Mongols were the villains were set in the Yuan Dynasty (1279 -1368).

Most of the wuxia/wandering swordsman movies were set further back, sometime during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), or the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279). Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was highly unusual for a wuxia movie, because it was set much more recently, during the Qing Dynasty.

Jim

[Buddafucco]

Thank you! That's going to be a handy reference.
I don't remember which movie it was but, i was thinking it was set in like the 1700's or something and then a car pulled up!
I obviously don't know anything about Chinese history or culture so thanks again.

[James Y]

Thank you! That's going to be a handy reference.
I don't remember which movie it was but, i was thinking it was set in like the 1700's or something and then a car pulled up!
I obviously don't know anything about Chinese history or culture so thanks again.

You’re welcome, Buddafucco.

Jim

[James Y]

Return of the Sentimental Swordsman (1981, Hong Kong). Director: Chu Yuan (Cantonese pronunciation: Chor Yuen). Action director: Tang Chia (Cantonese: Tong Kai).

This is one of the perfect examples of the wuxia genre of film. It is not a ‘kung fu movie’; there is a distinct difference between kung fu movies and wuxia films, even if the characters in the latter possess ‘kung fu’ skills. Wuxia films mostly feature wandering swordsmen/swordswomen, usually dealing with “The Martial World” and “martial clans”; often having complex (some might say convoluted) plots; the characters can often fly or float, and possess other fantastical abilities (much more so than in most kung fu films). Wuxia films are more plot-and-character-driven than fight-driven. And especially in director Chu Yuan’s wuxia films, there is often a dreamlike quality to them.

As mentioned in earlier entries, Tony Liu Yung (Cantonese pronunciation: Lau Wing) is familiar as the only actor to appear in all four of Bruce Lee’s completed martial arts films. He’s probably most familiar in the West as John Saxon’s tournament opponent in Enter the Dragon. He later joined Shaw Brothers Studio and became a bigger star.

I would post more clips featuring Ti Lung, one of my favorites, but surprisingly, not a lot of good clips of him are on YouTube.

Fight scenes: Derek Yee vs Tony Liu Yung; Ti Lung vs Tony Liu Yung:

https://youtu.be/QNCcTNc4OxQ

Jim

[James Y]

Duel of the 7 Tigers (1979, Hong Kong). Director: Yeung Kuen. Action director: Chan Siu-Pang.

Full movie. I already posted only the final fight earlier in this thread, but found this relatively cleaned-up version of the full movie, so I decided to post it, because there is potentially much of interest here to fans of old-school kung fu movies.

Duel of the 7 Tigers was a movie meant to promote Chinese martial arts/kung fu. The Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Association was also behind it, and some of its members are featured. A couple were actually famous teachers and not actors at all, and it clearly shows, especially with Lee Koon-Hung.

I do find it odd that a Hong Kong movie meant to promote Chinese kung fu shows all of the featured Chinese kung fu masters easily beaten and crippled by one Japanese karate villain, played by Philip Ko Fei. Then the crippled masters must combine to teach all of their skills to one man (Cliff Lok), to hopefully have a chance of beating him. The movie actually makes karate look better than kung fu, even though it’s obvious that Philip Ko Fei was not really a karate man. In real life, Philip Ko Fei was a Choy Lee Fut kung fu man (the same style as Lee Koon-Hung).

The fight choreography in this movie clearly went for quantity over quality. Chan Siu-Pang’s choreography lacked the “flow” of other, better choreographers’ work. Philip Ko Fei was one of the best, most versatile all-around performers of the golden era of kung fu film; but he was never a great pure kicker, and the choreography here has him kicking way more than he was accustomed to, which lacks flow and appears awkward. In fact, the slickest performance in the movie was given by Korean superkicker Casanova Wong, in a cameo role.

Leading man Cliff Lok was a solid performer, but was never among my favorites. Although very agile, his movements were very stiff. I would have preferred Philip Ko Fei cast as the lead, and Casanova Wong cast as the Japanese villain.

The Chinese-sounding name (“Si-Man Kwong”) given to the Japanese villain is a Chinese pronunciation of a Japanese name (but I don’t know what it is).

The old Chinese master, Han Ying-Chieh, is familiar as the villain of Bruce Lee’s The Big Boss, as well as for appearances in Dragon Inn, Come Drink With Me, A Touch of Zen, The Invincible Eight, and Fist of Fury, among many other films; he was a former Chinese Opera performer.

Note: Chan Sau-Chung, the Monkey-style master, was the real-life kung fu teacher of this movie’s co-leading man, Pomson Shi (AKA, Sin Lam-Yuk), as well as Shaw Brothers superstar Chen Kuan-Tai. I saw Chan Sau-Chung in person at a tournament, where he was a guest master. He was under 5’ tall. This was the 2nd of only two movies he ever appeared in.

(From 0:17): Opening credits performances: Cliff Lok, Lee Koon-Hung, Chiu Chi-Ling, Chan Sau-Chung, Pomson Shi, Lee Man-Wei, Sharon Yeung, Han Ying-Chieh & Philip Ko Fei:

Monk fight (from 7:21): Chan Sau-Chung vs Chan Siu-Pang:

(From 26:16): Casanova Wong vs Cliff Lok:

(From 1:01:43): Philip Ko Fei vs the masters (in order): Lee Koon-Hung, Chiu Chi-Lung, Pomson Shi, Cheung Kam, Chan Yiu-Lam, Lam Man-Wei, Sharon Yeung, Cliff Lok & Han Ying-Chieh:

Final fight (from 1:23:02): Cliff Lok vs Philip Ko Fei:

https://youtu.be/NRc-5H4PsZA

Jim

[James Y]

Donnie Yen training (plus, footage of his mother, Master Bow-Sim Mark).

I’m posting this as a little break from fight scenes. Some of this is Donnie training; some is him giving demonstrations; some looks to be rehearsing or teaching fight choreography; and some is just goofing off. Donnie looks great doing it all. Some of the clips are from the ‘80s, and some are more recent. Donnie is 57 years old now.

Many Westerners seem to think that Donnie Yen is a newcomer. He appeared and starred in his first film in 1984, his second in 1985. I knew about Donnie Yen and his mom years before he ever appeared in a movie. His mother, Bow-Sim Mark, is a famous martial arts teacher from China based in Boston, where Donnie spent much of his formative years. She was featured in martial arts magazines of that time (late ‘70s/early ‘80s), and I had a book she wrote, “Wushu Basic Training,” which featured her and Donnie modeling the techniques. I learned to do the “kip up” by following the instructions in that book.

I was surprised when I learned that Donnie Yen was going to star in his first film, Drunken Tai Chi (featured earlier in this thread), directed by Yuen Woo-Ping. It was his mom, Bow-Sim Mark, whose idea it was to introduce Donnie to Yuen Woo-Ping to see about getting her son into movies. Donnie has been in over 60 films now, as well as TV series in Hong Kong. It took him until the first Ip Man movie in 2008 to begin gaining recognition in the West outside of hardcore kung fu/Hong Kong action film devotees.

Back when I was young (many years ago), I could easily do the flying double and triple kicks on the heavy bag. Triple front kicks, triple side kicks, flying side kick into turning back kick, and double front kicks into roundhouse kick. The trick is that the first kick is done lightly; the weight of the bag helps to keep you up. If the first kick is too hard, you won’t be able to land the second or third ones. I learned to do them on my own after watching a Korean guy doing them. A single standing (foot planted) kick or jump kick has far more power and focus than aerial multiple kicks; but the latter are a great speed, agility, and coordination exercise, as well as for showing off. . I mention this not to toot my own horn, but to point out that if you’re young and have good speed, agility and kicking technique, the flying double and triple kicks against a heavy bag are not as difficult to do as they might appear.

https://youtu.be/JRug5e92Mng

Here is some footage of Donnie’s mother, Bow-Sim Mark, from a 1981 Boston TV broadcast. Donnie’s younger sister, Chris Yen, is also shown very briefly:

https://youtu.be/tRERljQvwiw

Jim

[James Y]

Shaolin Rescuers (alternate title: Avenging Warriors of Shaolin; 1979, Hong Kong). Director: Chang Cheh. Action directors: Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng & Robert Tai.

Kung fu movies were often given multiple titles. It was called Shaolin Rescuers when I originally saw it in a Chinese theater in original Mandarin language, so I listed that as its primary title.

Another great movie featuring The Venom Mob. Unfortunately, the final fight is not posted on YouTube in its entirety, nor with decent picture, so I can’t post it here. Which is a pity, because the finale is magnificent, especially Lu Feng’s performance as the arch-villain.

This fight, which takes place earlier in the movie, is between a Shaolin patriot (played by Wang Li), armed with double broadswords, fighting against a team of Manchu killers, in order to allow Shaolin patriot Hung Hsi-Kuan (played by Jason Pai Piao) to escape. Wang Li usually played villains, so it’s a bit unusual to see him playing a good guy. The team of Manchu killers is lead by Lu Feng, one of my favorite of the Venom Mob actors, and who played some of the best villains in the Shaw Brothers Studio movies.

Manchus vs patriot: Lu Feng, Tony Tam, Lau Fong-Sai, Yu Tai-Ping & Yang Hsiung vs Wang Li:

https://youtu.be/ohTU3FqF_ao

Jim

[James Y]

The New Shaolin Boxers (1976; filmed in Taiwan). Director: Chang Cheh. Action directors: Hsieh Hsing, Chen Hsin-I & Chen Jih-Liang.

Unfortunately, there is almost nothing on YouTube as far as this movie’s fight scenes go, at least not available to view for free.

The New Shaolin Boxers was the first movie ever to feature the kung fu style of Choy Lee Fut (also spelled Choy Li Fut, Choy Lay Fut, Tsai Li Fu, Cailifo, etc.) as the main style. It is also the best of the very few movies to have done so. Sadly, The New Shaolin Boxers would have been MUCH better had the story been set during the Qing (Ching) Dynasty, during the turbulent times when the art was created, instead of during the early Chinese Republic.

I’ve always been puzzled as to why Choy Lee Fut (CLF) has not been featured in more movies like other kung fu styles; in particular, Hung Gar (AKA Hung Kuen) and Wing Chun. CLF, along with Wing Chun and Hung Gar, were the three most popular southern-style kung fu systems in Hong Kong at the time; and in real life, CLF was the only Chinese system which had some representative fighters who were victorious in the ring against professional Muay Thai fighters in the 1970s. The CLF system was also considered the “arch-rival” of the Wing Chun system in Hong Kong during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. I’m also biased, because CLF is the martial art I finally chose to specialize in 27 years ago, after many years in other arts.

The late Alexander Fu Sheng did a great job onscreen as the young CLF fighter, considering that his main style was Hung Gar. However, CLF and Hung Gar are often considered “sister“ styles, so if someone has learned one well, the other shouldn’t be too difficult to learn, at least superficially, for a movie. The only major kung fu actor whose base style in real life was CLF was Philip Ko Fei, but he rarely performed it onscreen in a “pure” manner.

The only “fights” in this post are the little snippets seen in the trailer. The movie’s best fight is the finale, which is unavailable on YouTube (at least for free).

Original 1976 trailer:

https://youtu.be/1q3hdM2baEo

Movie intro:

https://youtu.be/9pik5yKbk64

Jim

[Buddafucco]

I just watched Five Shaolin Masters.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=84255&p=1397353&hil ... s#p1397353
The final five fights rolled into one scene was pretty great! They would have been good individually but mixing them together made for one amazing fight. There wasn't very much in the way of "movie magic" acrobatics and i think in this case, less was more. And it was nice to see a little actual ending instead of the usual cut off at the last scene.
And on a side note, I've noticed the Shaw Bros subliminal hatred towards the Manchus. They are always the villains. I don't know any Manchus but I've been predisposed to not like them. lol

[James Y]

I just watched Five Shaolin Masters.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=84255&p=1397353&hil ... s#p1397353
The final five fights rolled into one scene was pretty great! They would have been good individually but mixing them together made for one amazing fight. There wasn't very much in the way of "movie magic" acrobatics and i think in this case, less was more. And it was nice to see a little actual ending instead of the usual cut off at the last scene.
And on a side note, I've noticed the Shaw Bros subliminal hatred towards the Manchus. They are always the villains. I don't know any Manchus but I've been predisposed to not like them. lol

Five Shaolin Masters is indeed a classic. It was a part of director Chang Cheh’s “Shaolin Cycle”, or series of films (mostly) dealing with Shaolin-trained rebels in resistance movements against the Manchus. Which really happened in history, though of course, not exactly as portrayed in the movies. Some martial arts, especially several kung fu systems of southern China, had associations with anti-Manchu secret societies trying to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, whose slogan was “Fan Qing, Fu Ming” (overthrow the Qing, restore the Ming). The hand salutation beginning and ending many southern-style sets (forms), with the right fist extended out next to the left open palm, signifies and resembles the Chinese characters for ‘sun’ and ‘moon’. The word Ming is written with the combined characters for sun and moon. There were more hand ‘signals’ in styles like Hung Gar and Choy Lee Fut styles. So political symbolism was intermixed with many southern Chinese kung fu systems.

The Qing Dynasty was mostly disliked by so many, because it was seen as a foreign-imposed (Manchurian) rule. This was before Manchus were eventually absorbed culturally and became Chinese themselves. Also, the Qing Dynasty was corrupt. They forced Chinese to wear their hair in queues (pigtails), and suppressed Chinese scientific development, which made Chinese development become more backward. Of course, there was much more I won’t go into.

Not all movies featured the Manchus in a negative light. If you are familiar with movies featuring the character (and real historical figure) Wong Fei-Hung, who lived in the late Qing era, he was always cooperative with the Qing authorities, and the Manchus were not presented as the enemy. Wong Fei-Hung has been portrayed by actors such as: Kwan Tak-Hing, Gordon Liu, Jet Li (Once Upon a Time in China series), Ku Feng, and even Jackie Chan(!), who played him irreverently (and historically inaccurately) in Drunken Master and Drunken Master II (AKA The Legend of Drunken Master).

Director Chang Cheh’s Shaolin Cycle of films were:
Heroes Two (1974)
Men From The Monastery (1974)
Shaolin Martial Arts (1974) *This is possibly my favorite kung fu movie.*
Five Shaolin Masters (1974)
Disciples of Shaolin (1975) *Another one of my favorites.*
Shaolin Temple (1976)
Shaolin Avengers (1976)

‘The New Shaolin Boxers’ (featured in my previous post) is generally not included in Chang Cheh’s Shaolin Cycle of films. Neither were later Shaolin-themed films starring the Venom Mob. All of the films in the ‘Shaolin Cycle’ starred Alexander Fu Sheng, and all but one (Heroes Two) co-starred Chi Kuan-Chun.

The following video has no fighting; it was a 1974 theatrical promotional short film to promote the movies Heroes Two and Men From The Monastery, as well as interest in the Hung Gar style. It features Chen Kuan-Tai, Alexander Fu Sheng, and Chi Kuan-Chun demonstrating three forms from Hung Gar (Hung Kuen) kung fu:

https://youtu.be/dxaPEm0xShQ

Jim

[Buddafucco]

Shaolin Martial Arts (1974) *This is possibly my favorite kung fu movie.*


Jim

Now I'm excited... this one is in next Sundays line up!