Jimbo
11-13-2010, 09:53 PM
This is a guide to over 500 kung fu and martial arts movies of the 'golden decade' of MA films. Written by Dr. Craig Reid, this book not only describes all these films, but has all of the alternate titles of each film. Perhaps the majority of these are Shaw Brothers films, but also includes HK/Taiwan independents, Japanese, Korean, American, etc.
Dr. Reid also worked in the KF movie industry in Taiwan and the U.S., and knows and/or has worked with such names as Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Chen Kuan-Tai, Kuo Chui (Phillip Kwok), Robin Shou, and many, many more. He has worked on-camera, as well as a fight choreographer, and was one of the old-school English dubbers of KF films. This gives him a unique insight into the industry.
I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Reid and his wife Sylvia at a signing of his book here in San Diego. I was not aware that he lives and runs a qigong healing center right here in town. He and his wife are some of the nicest people you'll meet, and he gave a talk and Q and A that was very fast-paced, educational, and funny as heck at times. This included some behind-the-scenes experiences working on Taiwanese kung fu movies.
The book is printed on high-quality paper, and contains many photo shots from Shaw Brothers films that have never appeared publicly in print before; Dr. Reid had done work for Celestial on quite a number of their Shaw releases, and subsequently was given access to these images. Along with the movies' descriptions, also included are behind-the-scenes info on the stars, number of minutes of fighting per film, and other rare details of these films. Highly recommended.
Dr. Reid also worked in the KF movie industry in Taiwan and the U.S., and knows and/or has worked with such names as Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Chen Kuan-Tai, Kuo Chui (Phillip Kwok), Robin Shou, and many, many more. He has worked on-camera, as well as a fight choreographer, and was one of the old-school English dubbers of KF films. This gives him a unique insight into the industry.
I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Reid and his wife Sylvia at a signing of his book here in San Diego. I was not aware that he lives and runs a qigong healing center right here in town. He and his wife are some of the nicest people you'll meet, and he gave a talk and Q and A that was very fast-paced, educational, and funny as heck at times. This included some behind-the-scenes experiences working on Taiwanese kung fu movies.
The book is printed on high-quality paper, and contains many photo shots from Shaw Brothers films that have never appeared publicly in print before; Dr. Reid had done work for Celestial on quite a number of their Shaw releases, and subsequently was given access to these images. Along with the movies' descriptions, also included are behind-the-scenes info on the stars, number of minutes of fighting per film, and other rare details of these films. Highly recommended.