Favorite Shaw Brothers movies?

[jethro]

I still have a lot to see but here are my favorites right now-

Killer Constable
Shaolin Intruders
Shaolin Prince
36th Chamber
Return to the 36th Chamber
Boxer's Omen
Have Sword Will Travel
Shaolin Mantis
Dirty Ho
Shaolin Challenges Ninja
3 Evil Masters
To Kill a Mastermind
Avenging Eagle
Blood Brothers
Shaolin Rescuers
Crippled Avengers
Fist of the White Lotus
Chinese Super Ninjas
8 Diagram Pole Fighter

[Su Lin]

Gaaaaah still so many I have to see! Thank goodness it is coming up to winter so I can hibernate and add more films to my dvd rental list! :D

[jethro]

Good to see you Su Lin:D

[Jimbo]

Shaolin Martial Arts
Disciples of Shaolin
Men From the Monastery
Shaolin Avengers (actually a remake of Men From Monastery)
Heroes Two
Five Shaolin Masters
Shaolin Temple (original Chang Cheh version)
Marco Polo
The Boxer Rebellion
The Kid from Kwangtung
The Treasure Hunters
The Magnificent Ruffians
Martial Club
Executioner from Shaolin
Fist of the White Lotus
Flag of Iron
Dirty Ho
36th Chamber of Shaolin
Buddhist Palm
Five Superfighters
Heroes of the East
Challenge of the Masters
Gang Master
The Kung Fu Instructor
3 Evil Masters (a.k.a., The Master)
Lovers' Blades
Legendary Weapons of China
Kid with the Golden Arm
The Five Venoms
House of Traps
The Brave Archer part 4
Two Champions of Shaolin

[jethro]

Ugh, I was a bit disappointed with 2 Champions of Shaolin. I felt it was just stupid. Showdown at the Cottonmill is a hundred times better. And Flag of Iron I really hated. It was so boring.

[Jimbo]

When I first saw Flag of Iron I hated it, too. But over the years I've come to like it. Not really for the fighting. Quite a few movies I used to not like or found boring that I like more now. Guess it's one of those unexplainables.

Also,some films that seem very popular don't always float my boat. For example, I always thought Avenging Eagles was kinda so-so. I think Return to 36th Chamber is fun but not that great a film. And, some movies I used to think were great I've seen more recently and felt weren't that great. Avenging Warriors of Shaoln (Shaolin Rescuers) is one example for me.

IMO, Showdown at the Cotton Mill is a great film, but it's not a Shaw film. Wu Ma directed it to be like the Chang Cheh Shaolin series, though Tan Tao-Liang would have been out of place in Chang's mid-'70s series. My list would be endless if it included both Shaw and non-Shaw films. :)

One Shaw movie that never seems to get mentioned is Lau Kar-Leung's Spiritual Boxer II from 1979. It wasn't a great film, but I almost forgot how it went. Part 1 was the first true kung fu comedy movie.

[jethro]

Well maybe if they cut abut an hour off of Flag of Iron I would like it:p

You probably know this, but I was comparing Cottonmill to 2 Champions because they have the same story. Everything in Cottonmill was superior. The only thing 2 Champions had on Cottonmill was the great cast. But Chang Cheh didn't do anything special with any of the characters except for maybe Chiang Sheng. CHin Siu Hou's character is completely unlikeable. I hated him, but it seemed that Chang Cheh was trying to make the audience feel sorry for him. Oviously it didn't work. His actions in the final scene were just stupid I thought. Tht movie had a lot of potential, but the director screwed it up majorly. And what about San Te's character. That really ruined the movie for me, along with Pai Mei. He did such a horrible job with everything. One part I did like is when Chiang Sheng rips that guys nuts off. But, it made no sense for him to do that. For me, nothing really made sense.


Now looking over your list, I think it would be safe to say you are not a huge fan of the darker movies. Avenging Eagle was dark, but the storytelling, the acting, and of course the action was what most impressed me. The camerawork in the first fight of the movie between Ti LUng and Fu Sheng is brilliant. THen TOng Gai makes a cameo and fights with a spear against TI LUng. And this is probably D!ck Wei's best role for the Shaw Bros. And what about the restaurant fight? The cast is so awesome that one could forget how great Eddy Ko and Wang Lung Wei are. And what about the finale? Ku Feng just sits there watching all of his guards get killed, and when they all are dead, then he puts on his iron claws. Man Sun Chung was an amazing director! I have to stop typing, just talking about this movie makes me start drooling all over myself!

[CLFNole]

I have like 100 remastered Shaws and to pick the best is really hard. All of my DVDs are kung fu films and there are different styles. One day you can watch a Lau Kar Leung classic like Heroes of the East, another day a crazy Sun Chung movie like Avenging Eagle and then something like Invincible Shaolin from the Venoms. I have even developed a likely for Ti Lung's swordplay movies such as Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Roving Swordsmand, etc...

There are too many good movies to name.

[jethro]

I hear you, but to me there is some that stand out above the rest.

[mickey]

Greetings,

My favs:

Legendary Weapons of China: The resurrection of the Lei Kung character was tops.

Challenge of the Masters: One of the few movies that tried to capture Northern style kicking.

Mad Monkey

The Five Venoms

The Sentimental Swordsman

The Return of the Sentimental Swordsman

Executioner from Shaolin

King Boxer (Five Fingers of Death)

Martial Club

The Incredible Deadly Breaking Sword

Avenging Eagle

The New One Armed Swordsman



mickey

[jethro]

Legendary Weapons of China: The resurrection of the Lei Kung character was tops.




mickey

Is that from Boxer Rebellion?

[Jimbo]

House of Traps was a pretty dark movie. I like some dark movies but certain ones are hard for me to get into. (You should see my non-martial arts DVD collection; very dark stuff). Shaw Brothers made a lot of very dark movies that will likely never see release, partly because some didn't fit into any particular niche, and might be hard to generate interest for. I mean they were very dark films for their time. I saw a few of them that were pretty sick ( more socially depraved and certainly more realistic than Boxer's Omen, but not anywhere near as sick as Icki the Killer or Audition, for example).

There are a number of the Shaw's films I like that weren't on my list because it's hard to think of them all when writing a list spur of the moment. A Slice of Death was one of David Chiang's better roles IMO, and Lo Lieh played a great Pai Mei priest in that one. I even like some of director Chu Yuan's wuxia fantasy films that I once felt bored with. The B@stard Swordsman and Return of the B@stard swordsman were fun films. One non-martial arts Shaw comedy I liked is Hong Kong Playboys.

[jethro]

I will have to check out Hong Kong Playboys. I like a good comedy. I think that is one of only 2 modern day movies Fu Sheng made along with Chinatown Kid.

[Su Lin]

Good to see you Su Lin:D

Thanks :D

I have lots more homework to do now with that list! Seeing that my kung fu classes are being cut though I have more time on my hands :(

[mickey]

Hi jethro,

I as referring to the character played by Liu Chia Liang: Lei Kung. I do not know if this character appeared in Boxer Rebellion; unless Boxer Rebellion is a new title for the movie I saw.

By the way, I saw all of those movies I listed at the Music Palace in NYC"S Chinatown. That was a wonderful time for me. I would be in the audience with a bag full of hamburger bao from the Bamboo Garden and a quart of Tropicana orange juice. The trailers were classic, very much like the trailers for American movies back in the 1950's.

mickey

[jethro]

OK, I thought maybe you were talking about Chu Tiet Wo's character. When you say he was resurrected, what movie was this character in before?

[Jimbo]

Jethro:
I *think* Hong Kong Playboys was possibly Maggie Cheung's fist movie appearance. It also starred Cherie Chung, who I think was hotter back then than Maggie Cheung was. It also co-starred that goofy guy...don't know his name, who appeared in some other comedies and Last Hero in China. I liked the chemistry in this one, not to mention it was Fu Sheng's last fully completed movie appearance, finished before 8 Diagram Pole Fighter. It came out the year he died.

[Jimbo]

mickey:
By "resurrection of Lei Kung", did you mean by the fact that the character in Legendary Weapons resurrected his deteriorated kung fu skills back up to an elite level and rediscovered his true purpose?

[mickey]

Hello Jimbo,

Yes. And it includes Lei Kung's burial under a false identity. The metaphysical subtexts that, at times, appear in Chinese martial arts movies can be quite amazing.

"The Resurrection of Lei Kung" would make a great title for a Legendary Weapons of China remake.



mickey