OLD SCHOOL KUNG FU TRAILERS & CLIPS From Klash ACTIONER

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What follows are trailers and clips from "Old School" Martial Arts movies. First up - the penultimate Brucesploitation experience THE CLONES OF BRUCE LEE:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY0uMyg__z4

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISNfeV6ZOrY

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZY8I5U_Em0

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp3sAL3kt88

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This was originally taken from a 16mm TV Spot for Trans-Continental's U.S. release of Asso Asia's DRAGON ON FIRE aka THE DRAGON, THE HERO (1979). With the legendary Adolph Ceasar providing the voice over backed by some very familiar music...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddOViq3uOHY

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Filmark's MARTIAL MONKS OF SHAOLIN TEMPLE was one of the first Dragon Lee titles that formally introduced me to Wong Cheng Li. Tried to recreate the titles as best I could. Pretty sure that most if not all of the trailers on the Saturn VHS releases were edited down from their original length. Love the overdone reverb on John Culkin's voice over and of course more "familiar" music...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6783V1snOI&feature=youtu.be

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5-PATTERN DRAGON CLAWS is another awesome pairing of Wong Cheng Li and Dragon Lee from Filmark - originally released by Saturn in the US as simply DRAGON CLAWS (not to be confused with another Wong Cheng Li title DRAGON'S CLAWS) with an ugly title card covering up its' more illustrious moniker. Unlike the abbreviated trailer on those old videos, here is a more complete version -


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXLYtd7f_bU

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Bruce Le's CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER aka GYMKATA KILLER, an incredible melding of Asian and Euro Exploitation - Former Hercules Brad Harris squares off against Bolo...


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

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Wong Cheng Li and Bolo - Have they ever fought each other onscreen before CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFIaUIfZ404

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Though they have been in the same film, Godfrey Ho's cut and paste NINJA TERMINATOR (1985), CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER may well be be the only time they actually met onscreen...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9StV4DYBxgw

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDE0j8-Rt8c

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Bruce Le & Wong Cheng Li's climactic clash from CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER - A less elaborate, but still effective alternative to their encounter in THE NINJA STRIKES BACK:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2JfAtYcKKY

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RAGING MASTER'S TIGER CRANE was a familiar Filmark title on video store shelves back in the day, courtesy of Saturn Productions under the title MASTERS OF TIGER CRANE. Here's the abbreviated trailer with the original title restored. The font on the title was kind of bland, so I opted to use the logo Filmark used on their promotional materials -


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2xqHwq8tJg&feature=youtu.be

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A re-creation of the trailer for THE DRAGON ON FIRE (1978), released theatrically in the U.S. as ENTER THREE DRAGONS by Serafim Karalexis in 1980. The original was out of sync, badly cropped with the film reversed, as well as having badly mixed audio.

Alan Hawkshaw's "Flashback", used as the title music for BLACK SAMURAI (1977) (and 1970s toy commercials) can be heard in this trailer, but not in the actual film....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NthOrK8dlc

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VpgAZXBElE

[Jimbo]

My personal favorite Godfrey Ho film, by a wide margin, is The Dragon, The Hero. IMO, the presence of John Liu and Phillip Ko was the big difference maker, although I feel that Chan Lau actually stole the show as the 'mad dog'.

Even when he was starring in KF movies in Taiwan and Hong Kong, John Liu lived all the way in Paris, so I imagine that the film, even low-budget, would have to have been worth his time for him to come and be in it. And of course, Phillip Ko was always one of the best performers, and in The Dragon, The Hero, he seemed to be having fun playing the main fighting villain tongue-in-cheek.

My second-favorite Godfrey Ho film is Enter Three Dragons. I even like the bad English dubbing. IMO, it's a great example of horrible acting and unintentional comedy that really works. Even some of the intentional comedy (especially some involving San Kuai as a minor thug) has its moments. It's my favorite 'so bad it's good' guilty pleasure movie.

Back around 1981, a Los Angeles TV station ran a KF movie week, which included KF demos in the TV studio during the breaks. Interestingly, Huang Kin-Lung (Bruce Le) made a rare appearance for a demo and interview. Huang's demo looked pretty good, mostly demonstrating fighting moves on an American martial artist. It looked like Huang slipped a couple times and unintentionally hit his demo partner. During the interview, Huang stated that he originally came from Burma (Myanmar).

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv537qr8Ml8

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPGCTTPRvl8

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB8l-QcK7-U

[Jimbo]

Thanks for that. IMO, Chan Lau stole the show in that one. Even though my favorite performers in that particular movie are Phillip Ko Fei and John Liu, Chan Lau brought a surreal craziness into it. I wonder if it was hard for Dragon Lee to keep a straight face while filming that scene.

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Here's the final battle serialized into three parts. I took a little artistic license with the last part to give Chen Lau a bit more exposure...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et7eHLWoDJ8

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zedl8gDtjRI

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESxtwG5s-Nw

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uaLQgCbyn4

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAuTke8bM58

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ENTER THREE DRAGONS - The Further Adventures of White Tiger & Quick Panther - Hugh McCrory & Alexander Grand (who also appears solo in other scenes with Philip Cheung and Bruce Lai) in footage very similar to when they bothered Dragon Lee in THE CLONES OF BRUCE LEE. IIRC, the same locale was also used to train the Clones...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zOkkkRsydw

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ENTER THREE DRAGONS - Though Alexander Grand had fights in this film with all three "Dragons", he has a bit more of a presence here...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xxj-Xw64QQ

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ENTER THREE DRAGONS - Samuel Walls, who was often mistaken for AMERICAN NINJA's Steve James in ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH encounters Bolo as Bolo...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6kKwNvwWqI

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ENTER THREE DRAGONS - Some of Philip Cheung's fight with Bolo also appeared in IFD's THE BLAZING NINJA (1980)...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJwo5zCddP8

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Bruce Le was quite active back in the day -


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxxUq9dV-t0

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ENTER THREE DRAGONS - While the saga of the three "Dragons" appears to be unnecessarily convoluted, I've often wondered if some of the reviewers actually sat through the film...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olp6WQUOTH8

[Jimbo]

I'm sure that at least some reviewers did not sit through the whole film. IMO, whether you can enjoy this type of film or not depends on individual tastes, but also on how one is able to approach movies. Some may see the title 'Enter Three Dragons' and be unable to get over comparing it to 'Enter the Dragon', or the fact that none of the 'Bruce Lees' bear even a passing resemblance to the real one.

The same with people who criticize KF movies in general for being 'choreographed' and because 'real fights don't happen like that'. Oddly enough, those same people rarely criticize spaghetti westerns ("Clint is such a badass!"), suspense, comedy, horror, European knight, American action, etc. movies to the same degree, if at all. In truth, NO movies are 'real', and even the ones with more 'realism' are fake. For myself, it's suspension of disbelief and being able to simply enjoy a movie (or dislike it) for what it is, and not bemoan the fact that it's not a reflection of real life. Otherwise, it's impossible to enjoy ANY type of movie or entertainment.

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I've often wondered why people who have disdain for a specific genre (or sub-genre in this case) would even want to write about them, unless it's just to vent...

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ENTER THREE DRAGONS - Chang Li is underrated, IMO...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41LPvuqnWpg

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ENTER THREE DRAGONS - There seems to be some confusion regarding Bruce Lai and Philip Cheung aka Chang Yi-Tao who both appear in this... 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUr19kvOXTo

[Jimbo]

I refer to Chang Yi-Tao by his Korean name, Chang Il-Do. Here is a brief clip that someone posted of Chang Il-Do teaching the ax kick at a seminar in Calgary back in 2012. Chang and his friend Hwang Jang-Lee were the invited instructors from S. Korea.

Unfortunately, as you're probably aware, Chang Il-Do passed away at the age of 64 back in 2014.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIRNWp7zYaw

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That was awesome!

[Jimbo]

Hi, ThunderScore.

The same person also posted this from the same seminar. This clip gives a clearer look at Chang Il-Do; here he is with Hwang Jang-Lee:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjggbi2JSpU

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Thx for sharing those, Jimbo! GRANDMASTER OF SHAOLIN (KUNG FU) was another of his titles with Kam Kong -


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSxwm5E0x84

[Jimbo]

You're welcome, and nice clip there, too. I always liked Chang Il-Do much more when he wasn't mimicking Bruce Lee.

Here he is as the arch-villain in the final fight in the Taiwanese movie 'The Super Ninja' (1985 or 86), starring Alexander Lo Rei and Eugene Thomas Trammell:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8XkwCsOl9Q

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Nice! Always been a fan of Lo Rei. Here's THE BLAZING NINJA - Philip Cheung is actually in this film, despite all his scenes in this trailer apparently taken from ENTER THREE DRAGONS -


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qZOqPgWA8U

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF06e3pk2lc

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When Hallmark Releasing Corp. and American International Pictures unleashed THE DRAGON DIES HARD (1974) in the States, the film's opening credits were replaced with those of KARADO THE HONG KONG CAT (1974) aka SUPERIOR YOUNGSTER. The Hallmark edit of THE DRAGON DIES HARD replaced the scenes of Bruce Li as Kato, on the set of "The Green Hornet" with KARADO fight scenes. Perhaps they wanted to avoid any legal problems as well as inject some action into the fairly uneventful proceedings. Hallmark did the same thing when they released BRUCE LEE SUPERDRAGON (1976) passing off scenes of Wang Yu from THE SCREAMING TIGER as "on the set" film production. Regardless, thanks to Hallmark, the English language credits for KARADO have been preserved....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKHPbnbY0RU

[Jimbo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF06e3pk2lc

Lee Hoi-Sang remains one of my favorite performers of the old-school era. In real life, he was a Wing Chun classmate of Ti Lung, and was/is a very good martial artist. He was often directed to make larger (Hop Gar-ish) movements onscreen. He also was one of those performers who was 'beaten' onscreen by almost countless screen fighters who played heroes and villains alike, in movies that ranged from great to not-so-great. Some of the actors/performers/MAists who have either beaten (or helped beat), or otherwise "dispatched" him (while "surviving" themselves) onscreen, include:

Ti Lung
David Chiang
Chen Kuan-Tai
Alexander Fu Sheng
Lo Lieh
John Liu
Hwang Jang-Lee
Ho Chung-Tao (Bruce Li)
Fung Hark-On
Melvin Wong
Norman Chu (Hsu Shao-Chiang)
Chuan Yuan
Gordon Liu
Casanova Wong
Kwan Tak-Hing
Jackie Chan
Sammo Hung
Yuen Biao
Leung Kar-Yan
Derek Yee
Charles Heung
Bolo Yeung
Cliff Lok
Chin Yuet-Sang
D!ck Wei
Tan Tao-Liang
Tony Liu Yung (Lau Wing)
Dragon Lee
Kim Tai-Chung
Wong Ha
Chan Lung
Bruce Liang
Han Kwok-Choi
Ng Ming-Choi
Jason Pai Piao
Mai Te-Lao
Wang Lung-Wei
Yuen Shun-Yee
Huang Kin-Lung (Bruce Le)
Chin Siu-Ho
Damian Lau
Wei Pai
Chu Tiet-Wo
Lau Kar-Wing
Stephen Tung Wai
Lin Hui-Huang
Hsiao Hou
Bill "Superfoot" Wallace

Supposedly, Lee Hoi-Sang was very easy to work with, and he not only looked good, but helped to make others look good as well. Nothing at all like his 'bad guy' characters.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1et9TVhTNUs

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHqvkpZovy8

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Se7Tupghs

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

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoL_C7YfqHw&t=0s&list=PLoIfTiSoZPq7qE5WNBzDgCKKo8ac1RiZQ&index=16

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP0Sh08m32M

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YXtGtLpRsw&feature=youtu.be

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVDL3APrzSA&feature=youtu.be

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFmrscDj5ck

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6E4Ryip1so

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c_1I6vMAL4

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppxly4v9m4c

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i_8Uk95ko8&feature=youtu.be

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fLIigkD3QU

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdNi6rcC9K0

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZfdX1pTsS0

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqLC2QISfl8

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyWQjFB8LPw&feature=youtu.be

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx-gUA-Vf48

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WDHRZucVZU

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGUBXDxk65U

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEzEPVJc8kQ

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWRfeN75df0

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wdCvgJBAxc

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YImOjI5hXs

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQX_rh3NFzk

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yp2HVuyl7k

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj0WgTnAv8o

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgf5kmdrpcI

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He6ES6Ao3sk

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuhYdiO_R3g

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SiWER_X2xs

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wEhsWT5K74