13 regiments- tsui hark potienial come back?

[doug maverick]

13 Regiments --

Tsui Hark is planning an ambitious action film that aims at re-establishing himself. The movie, 13 Regiments (tentative), would see various styles of martial arts in action including kungfu, kendo, judo, freeform sparring, wrestling, et al., in what was billed as the biggest action film in the history of Hong Kong film industry. There are thirteen people: each shoulders a different responsibility and represents one of the regiments. The regiment denotes that the strengths of the thirteen people are equal to that of a hundred people. They travel around the globe to recover Chinese relics, that were scattered throughout the world during the war, and return them to the national museum of China.

The possible lineup includes Donnie Yen and Simon Yam as the leaders of the contingent, with Nicholas Tse, Lam Ka Tung, Michael Miu Kiu Wai, Alex Fong, Zhang Jie, Wei Chen, Ahmulong, etc playing the rest of the members, while Sun Hong Lei is wooed with a villainous role. Simon Yam will be the brains of the thirteen, Donnie Yen will be responsible for charging, attacking, and Nicholas Tse will be the sniper. Given that the audience is tired of seeing the same few actors on the screen all the time, Tsui Hark hopes to introduce a few fresh faces, especially the newcomers from Mainland. Production might begin at the end of the year, contingent on Donnie Yen's schedule.

wu-jing.com

now after the disapointment of 7 swords how many of you are ready for another tsui hark movie?

[GeneChing]

I've always enjoyed Tsui Hark, even his disappointments like Seven Swords. I'll watch it just to see the Donnie fights.

[doug maverick]

i think we all will watch it for that. but **** tsui hark needs to get back on his game. back in the a he was on the cutting edge in hong kong but after andrew lau did storm riders he left tsui hark in his dust. and i wonder why tsui never did a film like that just with better kung fu. the sequal to zu doens;t countcause it was loaded with way more fantasy fighting then kung fu

[GeneChing]

That could be said for many martial arts movie people: Jackie, Jet, Chuck...ok, just kidding about Chuck. Honestly, I don't know of any martial filmmaker that consistently moved me for their entire film catalog, except maybe Kurosawa, but he's quite different. Bruce died young, so he doesn't count. It would have been fascinating to see Bruce grapple with age like Jackie and Jet have had to in recent years. Of course, age isn't a factor in the same way with a director.

I really enjoyed Hark's Zu, not so much for its martial arts and definitely not for the confusing story. I enjoyed his imagery, which is what he's always been good at. I'd almost say that for Seven Swords. There was some beautiful stuff in that film. It just didn't come together in the end. I suppose I'll always have a soft spot for Hark's work and I hope this one comes together better.

[godzillakungfu]

I really enjoyed Hark's Zu, not so much for its martial arts and definitely not for the confusing story.

This why I enjoyed the movie. If the Story could have been a little tighter who knows?

[doug maverick]

was basically jut sevn samurai with less fights and imagination. ad i wished i could've seen more action, thats all it it need to be a classic remake. the only martial arts filmmaker who i can truly say i love at least 95% of his films is sammo hung. sammo i one of the few wo kept delivering good ****, and een jackie except for his american films. but jackie is not just old but bruised as well. jt li one again i say n excuse when it comes to age when u look at his counter part donnie yen, whose the same age and actually did his own stunts and is still good.

[jethro]

I didn't care for 7 Swords, but I loved the 7 Swordsmen TV show. I hope Tsui HArk continues that series sometime in the near future.

[Jimbo]

I think it's very difficult if not impossible for any director to remain completely consistent throughout their entire career. Chang Cheh directed my very favorite M.A. films, but I think he also directed his share of junk, too. Sammo Hung made a lot of great films, but some if his later stuff wasn't too great, IMO. He directed one (was it called Blade of Fury?) in the early '90s that I thought was a disappointment.

As time goes on, talent (performers, directors, cinematographers/effects crews) ages, retires, is replaced, etc., not to mention the audience and its tastes are always evolving. And people just run out of ideas. It seems like Yuen Woo-Ping is a good example of that. I HATE to say this: but even Lau Kar-Leung seems to have hit a roadblock, if Drunken Monkey was any indication.

With Tsui Hark, I get the feeling all he needs is that right project and he can resurrect his moviemaking to another level. But it's harder and harder now, because it seems like almost everything has been done in terms of action; how to present the same things in a fresh light? Especially when action/M.A. films seem to be at the bottom of the popularity ladder, at least in HK?

[doug maverick]

will i wouldn;t say it was at the bottom. donnie yen and jacky wu films seem to be doing good as welkl as steven chows and jackie chans martial comedy films. its just that it looks like people just don;t want to see pop stars doing martial arts. just like we don;t want to see hollywood stars with no ma background do it.

[GeneChing]

I've always felt Sammo was vastly underrated. He's the fat dude, which puts him in a class like Rosie O'Donnell, Queen Latifah or John Goodman out here. I guess in Asia he's pigeon-holed like Kent Cheng. But I've always thought Sammo was extremely talented, not just as an action star, but how he directs and moves a story arc. I must say though, he lost me with Martial Law.

Seven Samurai is my favorite. It's had so many remakes, each a testament to its greatness.

But back OT, I'm down with the new Tsui Hark. I'm down with Donnie and Simon. I'm not that into Nicholas and the others haven't stood out to me yet, but I'm looking forward to the flick. Any idea about when it might premiere?

[jethro]

Sammo is also a great actor.

[Zenshiite]

I didn't care for 7 Swords, but I loved the 7 Swordsmen TV show. I hope Tsui HArk continues that series sometime in the near future.

Yeah, I actually liked Seven Swords better because I had the background of Seven Swordsmen. Biggest disappointment for me has to have been the complete lack of introduction for the swordsmen. I only knew what was going on and the story with the actual swords because I watched the TV show.

The comparison to seven samurai is interesting, and I've been wondering... was Seven Swords of Mt Tian published before Kurosawa made Seven Samurai and could it have been the inspiration behind that film?

[doug maverick]

well i never read the book but from hat i read about it its not really like seven swordsmen, and i doubt kurosawa would've read a book like that. mainly cause i doubt he couldget a hold of a chinese novel growing up during that time and era when he reamed up seven samurai, but then again stranger things have happened.

[Zenshiite]

well i never read the book but from hat i read about it its not really like seven swordsmen, and i doubt kurosawa would've read a book like that. mainly cause i doubt he couldget a hold of a chinese novel growing up during that time and era when he reamed up seven samurai, but then again stranger things have happened.

Guess we'd have to figure out what the popularity and circulation of wuxia novels was in those days. I'm guessing wuxia novels were in Japan. We know for a fact that some of the classics were over there for a long long time. Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms etc.

[Jimbo]

I can't be certain, but I'd bet Kurosawa's Seven Samurai was not based on a wuxia novel. Apart from having seven different warriors who use swords, IMO there is hardly any similarity at all between Seven Swords and Seven Samurai. Maybe Seven Swords was based on it?

In '89 or '90, a movie that was obviously more a remake of Seven Samurai came out; I don't remember the name. But it had the oppressed villagers, the large group of bandits, and a few villagers on a quest to bring (seven) warriors back to train and help protect the villagers. All I know is Lo Lieh was the bandit leader, and Kuo Chui was one of the villagers, and Sammo Hung had a small part at the beginning where he dies fighting the bandits.

Also check out Chang Cheh's Savage Five for some similarity to Seven Samurai.