Whats so special 'bout "IRON MONKEY" & "FIST of LEGEND"

[dodger87]

I just watched Fist of Legend and The Iron Monkey and I just wanted to know whats so special about these 2 movies? I know most movies use fast forward in there fight scenes but these two used it to the extreme to where the point they were fighting at superhuman speed and it was so obvious.

And I don't know whether Jet Li was trying to copy Bruce Lee's footwork but it looked nothing like it.

[norther practitioner]

I'm guessing the 93 version of Iron Monkey and the Jet remake of Fist of Legend.. I liked both for what they were... Iron had some very good choreography.. and the wirework was cleaner than a lot of other movies I've seen.. The "fastforward" work in those two haven't seemed too extreme to me.

[Shaolinlueb]

fist of legenmd had good kung fu and some good military style in it.

[dodger87]

NP i'll give you an example, in Fist of Legend when the current head master (just after his father died) was at his father's picture he was challenged by another kung fu master. Watch the fight, you will notice some bits with ridiculous fast forward effects. I don't know whether its just my copy of the movies (VCD from yesasia.com) or everyone else's that has this fast forward effect.

[Chang Style Novice]

So there's some overcranking, so what? The choreography is good, the individual characters have distinctive styles that match their personalities, the fights progress pretty logically and with good dramatic tension, and everything is filmed at a distance and duration that you can actually see what's happening.

That's the big deal.

[dodger87]

I guess if I had seen it when it first came out then I might've liked it more.

[SanSoo Student]

You should compare it with the cr@p coming out now, and then you will like it.

[dodger87]

Actually I watched both those movies straight after Ong bak so I guess my mind was comparing those two movies to ong bak.

[blooming lotus]

there's no comparing Jet Li and Jackie Chan....if you pay closer attention you'll see that while legends in their own rights, they have little in common....Jet Li studied at Shaolin and Jackie in Hong kong..........their basic form / style repetoire is different and so are their apps...........I really don't think Jet Li tries to emulate any aspect of Jackie Chan, but if you do see similarities, maybe that's just something well trained legends have in common...................................

[canglong]

There is enjoyment in the little things like the young Wong Fei- Hung being trained by Dr. Ying and Dr. Yang it was thouroughly enjoyable.;) And as stated already the characters were universaly recognizable also dodger87 maybe you do need to see some more of the less enjoyable movies to appreciate the 2 you mention.

[Chang Style Novice]

Yeah, it's sad that basic competency in depicting wuxia action has become a big deal, but there you have it.

Ong-bak is a fun lilttle flick, of course, but I wouldn't put it in a whole category above and beyond "Fist of Legend" (I'm less enamored of "Iron Monkey" which has considerably more wirework and less distinctiveness among the fighting styles of its characters - in fact, my previous post should only be considered a defense of FoL, not IM.)

[norther practitioner]

there's no comparing Jet Li and Jackie Chan....if you pay closer attention you'll see that while legends in their own rights, they have little in common....Jet Li studied at Shaolin and Jackie in Hong kong..........their basic form / style repetoire is different and so are their apps...........I really don't think Jet Li tries to emulate any aspect of Jackie Chan, but if you do see similarities, maybe that's just something well trained legends have in common


Thats great.. noone was comparing them...


Um, Jet was trained in beijing in wushu, Jackie learned at Opera school with Donnie, Sammo, et al.


Even with the wirework, the footwork in IM was top notch.

[Shaolinlueb]

ong bak is overrated. :rolleyes:

[blooming lotus]

Originally posted by norther practitioner
Thats great.. noone was comparing them...


Um, Jet was trained in beijing in wushu, Jackie learned at Opera school with Donnie, Sammo, et al.


Even with the wirework, the footwork in IM was top notch.

lol.......or bruce lee for that matter..................but who hasn't got a bit-o'-bruce in their style?????:P


did anyone catch round the world in 80 dys yet???.........saw a post shoot interview with Jackie Chan.I think he's gone all superstar prima donna.........IE:- the flamboyant artiste vs the hard working ma ledgend...he lost a little fce in the last movie with digitally enhanced scenes etc and when he made it up to himself he grew an ego......not attractive, and only marginally admirable :rolleyes:

what about Jet Li though....did he get out to temple or is he still doing hollywood???......................


oh.last thing.house of knives....new ma movie, possibly had raves at Cairnes movie festival................check it out if you get the opp.......

[dodger87]

Yeah thanks for telling us BL. Seriously do you even read the thread before you post? No one was even talking about Bruce Lee or Jacky Chan.

[blooming lotus]

yes..occasionally..........


..bruce lee WAS mentioned and Jackie not...........

but check out house of knives if you can get it.

there's another local gongfu flick getting praise..as soon as I remember the name, I'll let you all know :P


it's ??? 20003

later

bl

[yutyeesam]

tangent:

i talked to this wing chun guy who saw fist of legend BEFORE chinese connection, and said he liked FOL better. i considered this blasphemous. but is this the consensus? am i getting that old and cynical?

123

[dodger87]

No way! I loved The Chinese Connection, it beats FOL any day.

[Chang Style Novice]

I haven't seen either in a good long while, but I'd hate to have to choose.

I'd take either of them over "Legend of a Fighter" though, despite liking that movie a lot - Yaskuake Kurata's in that version, too, as the main badass, and it has some other twists, too. Plus Kar Yan Leung as the hero - always a treat.

[cho]

Originally posted by yutyeesam
am i getting that old and cynical?

yes, you are. :D

I grew up with Jackie Chan movies. First time I saw a Bruce Lee flick, I said, "wtf? One punch and the guy falls? Where's the fight?" I read that his bad-assness was revolutionary for its time. I'll admit nobody can shriek like him, when Donnie Yen tried that in his Fist of Fury tv show, he looked stupid.

[yutyeesam]

Originally posted by cho
yes, you are. :D

I grew up with Jackie Chan movies. First time I saw a Bruce Lee flick, I said, "wtf? One punch and the guy falls? Where's the fight?" I read that his bad-assness was revolutionary for its time. I'll admit nobody can shriek like him, when Donnie Yen tried that in his Fist of Fury tv show, he looked stupid.

Yeah, I hear you. When I got exposed to Jackie Chan after Bruce Lee, I was totally wowed, and almost completely forgot about Bruce.

Although, the Chuck Norris vs. Bruce Lee fight is really really awesome. And I don't know how many martial arts movie stars can leave "signatures" with their movements and expression, the way Bruce does.

And quite frankly, I'm feeling a bit of a return to the Bruce Lee style, because all the fast strike block sequences looks little more than fanciful paddy-cakes. I'm starting to understand that "honest expression" stuff he kept talking about (from the standpoint of film). Style and attitude makes so much of a difference, I'm seeing. Like, that trap-backfist thing he does- it's got his name all over it....or when doing a sliding sidekick. Quality over quantity.

ANd yeah, man, I don't know what got into Donnie Yen for his Fist of FUry TV show! My biggest beef with that was the fast forwarded fight scenes! He's a great martial artist- he doesn't need to be undercranked! It totally ruined the fight scenes for me.

123

[Brad]

Jet Li studied at Shaolin
No, he didn't.

[blooming lotus]

yes he did...please see Genes' article from kfm shaolin special 2003

[Brad]

Which article? I've got the thing in front of me. So far the only mention I see of Jet Li and Shaolin is a brief mention of his movie.

[Starchaser107]

crack is wack:p

[blooming lotus]

Originally posted by Brad
Which article? I've got the thing in front of me. So far the only mention I see of Jet Li and Shaolin is a brief mention of his movie.

there's an article about ...whaty is his name???'s school ...tagou shaolin ma academy that goes something like.and as we all know, its' most famous graduate.jet li.......blah blah blah...if you know tagou, it's three steps and a quik jog from the temple and is the most famous and highly reputed school in the world for teaching of shaolin gongfu............


get back to us..........

[Brad]

Nope, no mention of Jet Li in that article. There's an article on the next page, also by Gene Ching, about "Shaolin's most famous pop star" Shi Xiaolong(the little monk movie star kid). Only mention of Jet Li I see in the magazine is concerning his filming of Shaolin Temple jumpstarting the whole Shaolin kungfu craze in the area. I think you're getting a few different articles in the magazine mixed up. Jet Li studying in Taguo would make no sense... no way he did it. The place wasn't built until '78(acording to Genes article). He was competing for the Beijing wushu team, then going right off to film Shaolin Temple. He was there for two years, but he also says:

"The best part about making that movie was...that we didn't have to train anymore! Good-bye to 8 hours a day of mandatory drills and practice. Compared to what we'd gone through for the past few years, making a movie was a breeze! Even though we were waking up at 5 or 6 to get to the set, and shooting from 8 until sunset, this was nothing. This was relaxing. Didn't we have to fight all day? Sure, but this was nowhere near as tiring as wushu class. In fact, after we finished the day's shoot, we'd go out again and play soccer or basketball. There must have been about 30-40 of us young people. It was like we had too much energy."

http://jetli.com/jetli/jet/jet_film_01.php?bw=high