The Master (师父) two different films

[GeneChing]

Not sure how this one got by us for so long.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClMnltsFkc0



“The Master ” appearance AFM Haofeng Xu style kung fu eligible praise “amazing” (http://www.iduobo.com/2014/11/12/the-master-appearance-afm-haofeng-xu-style-kung-fu-eligible-praise-amazing-1510.html)

Netease Entertainment on November 12 reported recently , the world’s largest film market exhibition American Film Market (AFM) in Los Angeles grand opening. Once closed film ” Master ” debut overseas markets, the film by director Haofeng Xu carefully crafted ” Legend “, with Liao Fan , Sonja , Jiang Wenli , Chin Shih-chieh and other strong acting school lineup. Exhibition on the American Film Market , the movie “The Master ” in a small area first team notice the initial exposure , the unique martial arts moves , never published kung fu movie “The Master ” real martial arts show some chaotic situation , not only quickly capture the curious media , also received a strong focus on overseas film companies .

Haofeng Xu revolutionized the martial arts movie ‘s first commercial shock attack

The annual American Film Market Exhibition (AFM) to reconvene , the world’s largest film market , is one of three major international film market exhibition . For those interested in Asian films for the international market , is tantamount to a full -color, touchstone . The total producer Miss Li Xia , carrying the movie “Master ” debut overseas and secretly exposure first team notice between turns lore master, swords, death line , wonderful martial arts scenes make overseas film companies refer to ” amazing . ” Although the movie is still tense post-production , but it alone is tough action has passed a strong sense of shock .

“Unfulfilled martial arts “, ” warrior would,” ” Taoist mountain ” and many other fine literary works published, as Haofeng Xu carved a unique personal brand, but also laid a solid fan base . And with ” great master” won the Academy Award for best screenplay , it is allowed to ” martial arts master ” status to consolidate . After several years of accumulation, overwhelmed Haofeng Xu new sail , trying to will a true, strange , subversive of the Republic of China last martial arts show in the world . It is reported that this Haofeng Xu adapted from the novel by its well-polished ” Legend ” can be sold with full exposure in a small range after AFM , then the unique charm of Chinese kung fu film companies and the media to grab the attention and expectations.

Stunning debut sought after by overseas buyers in North America , ” like to see Bruce Lee”

Movie “Master ” to break the traditional Hong Kong-style martial arts action mode, so that overseas film companies on Chinese martial arts have a new understanding. “Very shocked “, ” very much looking forward “, ” rare martial arts ,” many studios highly praised movie. Senior overseas issuer Jeff surprise , said: ” Haofeng Xu director refreshing, overseas buyers movie full of confidence and expectations .” Master ” in overseas markets highly commercial and artistic dual potential, I believe will be the major festivals of all ages. “There are film companies admitted , said: ” The film , let me see the real texture of Bruce Lee ‘s martial arts style “more overseas media excitement , said: .” Berlin Film Festival best Actor Liao Fan , whether from the action, momentum, and even looks all and Bruce Lee very likeness . “

The United States , the total producer Miss Li Xia with Sony Pictures Entertainment , The Walt Disney Company and other famous film production company executives met were movie promotion. Currently, the number of overseas film companies have to ” master” an olive branch , copyright purchase intentions clear . It is learned that the movie “Master ” will be released nationwide in 2015 , as 2015 ‘s most anticipated martial arts blockbuster movie “The Master ” is not only to lock eyes in the domestic market, but also aimed at the future of overseas film markets.

Movie “The Master ” by Beijing Century Media Culture Co., Ltd. Partnership , one IT ( Beijing ) Co., Ltd. ( Youku potatoes Group) , Wuxi Jie Ao Television Culture Media Co., Ltd. , Beijing Culture and Arts Co. glycol Love , thousands and Pictures ( Beijing ) Co. , Ltd. produced the rich can invest . By Haofeng Xu served as director and screenwriter , Zhang Li served as director of the system , Hu Xiaofeng , Xia served as executive producer .

[mickey]

Greetings,

While I do think it is a good thing to showcase traditional styles and their particular strengths, from what I saw about Xu Haofeng's choreography is that it is a little slow and the stuntmen do not sell the moves very well. It harkens the 1970's choreographic style where the stuntman would drop his arms just before getting hit. I do think the Xu Haofeng future movies will improve and possibly set a new standard in CMA film choreography.

The Master trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK02iBnW6g4

Judge Archer trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1LUB1CeLBQ


mickey

[Jimbo]

It was hard for me to tell how reminiscent it is of the 1970s-style choreography, because the trailers (especially the first one) are edited in such a choppy manner. One of the strengths of the better 1970s choreography was high numbers of sophisticated combinations of difficult movements in single, unedited shots, as well as close-ups of subtle details. I will be interested to see if Xu Haofeng can do that with his choreography and performers.

Another thing about the better-quality '70s films was that the performers were expressive and could act relative to this type of film. In other words, actors/performers had distinctive personalities, appearances, and trademark styles of movement, which are not so distinguishable in most of today's MA films/performers.

[mickey]

Greetings,

Jimbo, I knew you would respond. :)

To be more specific, I was referring to those early 70's flicks. Towards the end of that decade there was more sophistication.

In the trailer for Judge Archer there is a multiple opponent scene where the protagonist steps in and strikes with his elbow. The receiver drops his arms just before receiving it. I saw that in the early 70's movies. There is a slowness to the choreography. I believe that time and experience will improve things. Xu Haofeng will have to develop his stunt team. That is all.

mickey

[Jimbo]

I agree with you on many of the early 70s KF films. Especially the 'basher' style films which predominated, that had little or no style. Their movements were sloppy and floppy, kinda like David Carradine but a bit quicker. Like the other Chinese fighters in Bruce Lee's movies. They would leave themselves obviously open, too, like you said.

One thing in the Judge Archer trailer I really didn't like is starting at 1:05, it looks really contrived, like a demo; the guy attacking with the quick left and right elbows doesn't look like he really wants to hit the other guy at all. In that scene, they're not really 'selling' the moves.

[mickey]

Greetings,

Jimbo, I agree with you on that elbow sequence. It leaves a lot to be desired.

mickey

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frRtRuG14Ts

[GeneChing]

Caught this on British Airways while crossing the Atlantic. Watching movies on those tiny airplane seat-back screens ain't at all optimal, but it's better than watching scratchy VHS tapes like back in the day. I was astonished to see this available in the playlist for free.

This is very mediocre. It's about the founder of Choy Lay Fut, which they keep harping on. The story has a lot of opium and foreigner issues - those white devils. The music and drama of it is way overdone and predictable. The production values are decent, but it feels like a throwback, as if the filmmakers wanted to make something that would have popular appeal so they took a huge step backwards to allow the general audience to catch up. Most of all, the choreography is mediocre at best. The Choy Lay Fut only looks faintly Choy Lay Fut-ish, which isn't too ****ing as the Hung Gar in many a Wong Fei Hung (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=478) movie ain't all that Hung Gar-ish, but good choreography can redeem that. But not here. :(

[ittokaos]

Caught this on British Airways while crossing the Atlantic. Watching movies on those tiny airplane seat-back screens ain't at all optimal, but it's better than watching scratchy VHS tapes like back in the day. I was astonished to see this available in the playlist for free.

This is very mediocre. It's about the founder of Choy Lay Fut, which they keep harping on. The story has a lot of opium and foreigner issues - those white devils. The music and drama of it is way overdone and predictable. The production values are decent, but it feels like a throwback, as if the filmmakers wanted to make something that would have popular appeal so they took a huge step backwards to allow the general audience to catch up. Most of all, the choreography is mediocre at best. The Choy Lay Fut only looks faintly Choy Lay Fut-ish, which isn't too ****ing as the Hung Gar in many a Wong Fei Hung (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=478) movie ain't all that Hung Gar-ish, but good choreography can redeem that. But not here. :(

I've been looking for that choy li fut one but that isn't the one we are talking about here. There are 2 films with the same name both out last year it seems. One about fights with butterfly swords and one on a Choy Li Fut master.

http://www.mgo.com/player/trailer/MMV257FEF25698F6311790298C7E64786069?epp=mediadeta ils

^^Is this the one you are referring to Gene?

[GeneChing]

In my defense, I'm still on Spanish time. I've been going to bed around 8PM and then waking up around midnight. Coming back to work after a long vacation ain't fun. It's all catching up to me for sure. :p

[ittokaos]

In my defense, I'm still on Spanish time. I've been going to bed around 8PM and then waking up around midnight. Coming back to work after a long vacation ain't fun. It's all catching up to me for sure. :p

Ha ha no worries. I only noticed it after I was searching for the full movie online.

[GeneChing]

That's really confusing. I'm glad you were watching, ittokaos.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbIyVR0e8-4

Word is this is going to get a limited U.S. theatrical release.

[GeneChing]

The Final Master (https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/the-final-master)

https://cdn.amctheatres.com/titles/images/Poster/Standard/4359_the-final-master_0B3C.jpg

Coming Soon

Synopsis

Determined to pass down his art, the Final Master of Wing Chun is caught in a power struggle with malicious local officials and ultimately must choose between personal honor and his master's dying wish.

Genre Drama
Director Xu Haofeng
Cast Liao Fan, Song Jia
Release Date June 3, 2016

Brought to the U.S. by the good people at Wanda AMC (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69324-Wanda-amp-AMC).

[mickey]

Greetings,

The following scene is from the above subjected film. I find the choreography to be a little different from what I am accustomed to. I am curious as to how this style of choreography will evolve. There is a newness about it. The choreographer seems to de emphasize violence and steps forward towards introducing conflict as ritual, as something we must all go through at some point in our lives. If this is the case, there will definitely be an increasing following for movies choreographed by him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a88A_1PSZ1s


mickey

[Jimbo]

Greetings,

The following scene is from the above subjected film. I find the choreography to be a little different from what I am accustomed to. I am curious as to how this style of choreography will evolve. There is a newness about it. The choreographer seems to de emphasize violence and steps forward towards introducing conflict as ritual, as something we must all go through at some point in our lives. If this is the case, there will definitely be an increasing following for movies choreographed by him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a88A_1PSZ1s


mickey

I agree that the choreography is a bit different. Almost a little like old-school, but not. I recognized Chen Kuan-Tai as his last KF opponent (with the oversized sword-knife). What I didn't like was how easy the opponents he kills die. Too easy and too 'clean'. Like shutting off a battery-powered robot. Even many of the most unrealistic old-school KF movies had more convincing death scenes. But I suspect those types of scenes might be considered 'too graphic' and would be restricted in mainland China.

But at least they are doing something onscreen with KF, and I give credit for that. I, too, would like to see how this choreography style develops over time. Hopefully it'll become more expressive and more natural. IMO, it has more possibilities than the post-Crouching Tiger slow-mo, dancey, floaty, fantasy CGI wirework choreography as seen in so many MA/wuxia-related movies out of China.

[mickey]

Greetings Jimbo,

After taking the time to figure out the movie that comes closet to The Final Master in terms of choreography, I wouls have to say that it was Killer Constable. It was choreographed by Huang Pei Chi and Yasuhiro Shikamura (Lu Chuen). Huang Pei Chi was known for accurate portrayals of weapons usage. He also worked on The Opium and Kung Fu Master. I think he took it up a few notches for this movie. The fight scenes were not incredibly drawn out.

mickey

[GeneChing]

The Final Master (https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/the-final-master)

https://cdn.amctheatres.com/titles/images/Poster/Large/4359_the-final-master_E95F.jpg

Coming Soon

Synopsis
Determined to pass down his art, the Final Master of Wing Chun is caught in a power struggle with malicious local officials and ultimately must choose between personal honor and his master's dying wish.

Genre Drama
Director Xu Haofeng
Cast Liao Fan, Song Jia
Release Date
June 3, 2016

Tempted to split this thread, but it would spoil some of the integrity of the past posts...

[GeneChing]

It's just too amusing to keep this thread together as is.



Xu Haofeng's Award-Winning Martial Arts Movie THE FINAL MASTER Hits U.S. Theaters 6/3 (http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/-Xu-Haofengs-Award-Winning-Martial-Arts-Movie-THE-FINAL-MASTER-Hits-US-Theaters-63-20160509#)
May 9 9:33 2016

http://images.bwwstatic.com/columnpic7/2D9357CA7-907B-C4FA-89B9A5854FBE8A91.jpg

THE FINAL MASTER, from award-winning director Xu Haofeng will be hitting theaters on June 3, 2016 via United Entertainment Partners. The beautifully choreographed action-packed film stars Liao Fan, Song Jia, Jiang Wenli, Jin Shi-Jye, Song Yang and Huang Jue. Before opening in theaters, it will be making its US Premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 28th.

In THE FINAL MASTER, follows a Wing Chun practitioner's ambitious journey to open a martial arts school in the Northern Center to fulfill his master's dying wish of passing down the art. In order to gain the rights to achieve this, he has to send an apprentice to secretly challenge and defeat eight martial arts schools.

Unbeknownst to him is that he is merely a pawn being played in the power game within the martial arts community. In the end, he must choose between what is right and what is expected to achieve his destiny. THE FINAL MASTER is a story of deception, tradition, BETRAYAL and revenge that all culminates to a masterfully choreographed climatic ending.

Watch the trailer below:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndm6JvI9-c4

[GeneChing]

We were offered the opportunity to interview Xu Haofeng, but sadly it came in during the middle of TCEC & KFTCD (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68985-2016-Tiger-Claw-Elite-amp-Kung-Fu-Tai-Chi-Day-May-21-22-San-Jose-CA), so we didn't have the bandwidth to do it.

I should really split these threads now that the English titles are different.


‘Final Master’: Script is as good as the fighting (http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/The-Final-Master-is-martial-arts-action-7957522.php)
By G. Allen Johnson Updated 9:24 am, Thursday, June 2, 2016

http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/46/62/16/10167198/3/920x920.jpg
Photo: United Entertainment Partners
Liao Fan stars in Xu Haofeng‘s fast-paced “The Final Master."

Wing Chun knife fighting takes center stage in Xu Haofeng’s wall-to-wall martial arts action film “The Final Master,” but the deepest cuts come from the games of sexual politics and political intrigue in this unusual, compelling and even humorous thriller.
Take, for instance, the scene in which Wing Chun master Chen Shi (Liao Fan) and his wife, Zhao Guohui (Song Jia), sit on a bench and have a tender discussion about the state of their marriage — all while Chen calmly disposes of 20 challengers from a rival martial arts academy.
Set in the 1930s, “The Final Master” has more meat than the usual martial arts film, and perhaps that’s because Xu is not only a director but also a screenwriter, novelist and martial arts expert. The film is based on Xu’s own novella, called “The Master.”
It can’t have hurt that Xu also was a scriptwriter for Wong Kar-wai in the great 2013 film “The Grandmaster” — talk about learning from a master.
Chen’s plan in the “The Final Master” is to fulfill his master’s dying wish to establish a martial arts school in Tianjin, a port city in northeastern China. In the complicated world of honor among the martial arts community, which in Tianjin consists of 19 schools, Chen can establish himself as a power if he and his apprentice defeat eight of the schools.
Apparently, by any means necessary. Hand-to-hand combat, fights with bamboos poles and lots of knife wielding are on display, although very little killing — defeat is a kind of death itself for these guys — and some female fighters, too.
“The key to martial arts is not to duck,” Chen says at one point. “Because heads are heavier than hands; hands move faster.”
Well, to paraphrase Shakespeare, heavy lies the head that wears a crown, because as Chen gets closer to his ultimate goal, he finds himself becoming a pawn in the Tianjin’s elite martial arts power game.
The fight climax and very interesting resolution cap off an exhilarating two hours of entertainment — and suggest a sequel to come. Hope there is one.

G. Allen Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ajohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: BRfilmsAllen

The Final Master
WILD APPLAUSE
Martial arts action. With Liao Fan, Song Jia. Directed by Xu Haofeng. In Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles. (Not rated. 109 minutes.)
To see a trailer, go to https://you.tube/sm35mEBsqQM

[GeneChing]

I caught this The Final Master (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70512-The-Final-Master) trailer on a Well Go USA DVD and figure we should give it proper face and split it off the confusing The Master (师父) two different films (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68967-The-Master-(%26%2324072%3B%26%2329238%3B)-two-different-films) thread. Still haven't seen The Final Master, only the other Master film.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwd5ynO5g-k