Are Chinese Kung Fu movies dead?

[mdo7]

I stumbled upon this thread and I wanted to give my input (hence why I register an account). I also want to apologize if I necro-post, but I think you need to know this. I've been a long time Kung Fu film fan, I'm a big fan of the 70's and 80's era but sadly it looks like not a lot of Kung fu or Martial art are coming out of Hong Kong nor Mainland China these day. I know because I've been observing it for many years. Most of the films coming out of China are non-Kung fu genre.

To make this worse, do any of you ever followed Kungfucinema.com? It's now dead last month. Regarding the industry in Hong Kong, some of you on this thread are not exaggerating that the HK film industry (along with it's Kung Fu film industry) has suffered since the 1997 handover to Mainland China. It has been like that for the last 7 or 8 years. I read a recent but interesting article about the lack of Kung fu films coming out these day.

Regarding Hong Kong film industry, I think all of you need to read these:

2004 article talking about the decline of Hong Kong industry

2008 article on the decline of Hong Kong cinema

1997 report-Decline of Hong Kong Cinema before 1997

The glory days of Hong Kong cinema may have died along with kung fu mogul Run Run Shaw

2013 LA Times article on HK film industry

Lack of Successors, Shift to Mainland Chinese Market to Blame for Decline of Hong Kong Movie Industry

Even now as of this year, HK film industry is on life support according to this new report from Variety. Yes, sadly the era of Kung fu film and HK cinema is over or on life support. Hong Kong is now being overshadowed by South Korea thanks to their film industry, their K-dramas along with K-pop all part of the phenomenon called the Korean Wave or Hallyu. I don't know how many of you are fans of Korean TV dramas, but they're getting more attention (both in the US and outside of Asia) then Kung fu film now these day, I'm not making this up:

A little disclaimer: beside being a big Kung fu film fan, I'm also a big fan of Korean pop culture that does include Korean dramas, and Korean pop music.

2004 article-Korean soaps lure unlikely audience

2006 article from Associated Press-Korean Drama Craze Reaches United States and how Hawaii played a big role.

2007 article on K-drama gaining popularity outside of Asia

2012 article-K-drama lead Hallyu

2010 article-Korean drama fever spread amongst US fans

Entertainment Weekly-article report on Korean drama popularity in US

Variety article on K-drama successes outside of Asia

Vox media-Here's why millions of Americans are binge-watching Korean dramas

About 18 million Americans enjoy K-dramas: Korea Creative Content Agency

So yes K-dramas are replacing Kung Fu films. Because of it and their film, Korea has now been acknowledge to be the "coolest Asian country" replacing Hong Kong, and Japan to international audiences:

2006 NPR report on South Korean pop culture dominated Asia

2010 CNN article-'Korean Wave' of pop culture sweeps across Asia

CNN-Is S. Korea the coolest place on earth?

How Korea became the world’s coolest brand

Korea is Asia’s foremost trendsetter: The Economist

So yes sadly, Hong Kong and the Kung Fu film industry is on life support, I don't know if I should use the word dead unless South Korea can make Kung fu cool again.

[Jimbo]

mdo7:

Welcome to the forum. Good post.

I see the Hong Kong martial arts movie industry almost in the same light as the Italian spaghetti western industry of the '60s and '70s. The exception is that HK (and/or China?) still occasionally comes out with productions like The Gallants and Kung Fu Jungle/Kung Fu Killer. But even these were tributes to the old-school KF actors, directors, etc.

Certainly, the market has changed. The big thing for young people throughout Asia for the past several years seems to be dancing, especially synchronized dancing, among other things. Also notice how all the beautiful young female Korean pop stars and actresses look nearly identical? I hear that South Korea is the No. 1 place for plastic surgery, and that virtually all the young starlets have had it to achieve some uniform 'standard of beauty'. When you think of it that way, there is almost a 'Stepford Wives' quality to them.

Some of the best current films out of Asia are indeed from S. Korea, action or otherwise. I tend to run hot and cold with them; some are excellent, even outstanding; while others can be vastly overrated, IMO. At one time I thought Thailand was taking over the torch of HK action cinema and would evolve into something great, but that seems to have sputtered out. Garett Evans and Iko Uwais seem poised to take the top action spot in Asian cinema, but right now, I don't see any growth in Indonesian action/MA cinema outside of them and their team.

Ironically, back in the old-school days, the period films were far better than their modern-day action counterparts, whereas nowadays, IMO, the modern-day action films tend to far outstrip the mostly overdone period pieces. There are some exceptions, of course, such as Kundo, which is a great film.

Donnie Yen is usually far better in modern-day action films than in period MA films, especially over the past decade or so. These days, when he's in a period film, particularly ones set hundreds of years ago, I lack interest in seeing them.

[mdo7]

mdo7:

Welcome to the forum. Good post.

Thank you, I thought people on this forum needed to know that.

I see the Hong Kong martial arts movie industry almost in the same light as the Italian spaghetti western industry of the '60s and '70s. The exception is that HK (and/or China?) still occasionally comes out with productions like The Gallants and Kung Fu Jungle/Kung Fu Killer. But even these were tributes to the old-school KF actors, directors, etc.

Yes, it's sad I missed that era of HK films where it was cool and way over the top. I wish Hong Kong could come up with something that can rival Oldboy or can make something that can rival Roaring Current:

Certainly, the market has changed. The big thing for young people throughout Asia for the past several years seems to be dancing, especially synchronized dancing, among other things. Also notice how all the beautiful young Korean women look nearly identical. I hear that South Korea is the No. 1 place for plastic surgery, and that virtually all the young starlets have had it to achieve some uniform 'standard of beauty'. When you think of it that way, there is almost a 'Stepford Wives' quality to them.

Indeed, the market has changed. Now South Korea is getting a lot of spotlight. SK's celebrities are getting a lot of spotlight around the world, not only because of the film they starred in. The K-dramas (the one that have gained popularity for the last few years) are also giving Korean celebrities fame around the world. That's why stars like Lee Byung-Hun has got into Hollywood.

Regarding plastic surgery, it's true that Korea is ranked high in plastic surgery. It's one of the side effect of the Hallyu/Korean Wave. But not all idols/celebrities get plastic surgery, there are a lot that don't have any plastic surgery at all like Seohyun of Girls Generation/SNSD, and CL of 2NE1.

Some of the best current films out of Asia are indeed from S. Korea. I tend to run hot and cold with them; some are excellent, even outstanding; while others can be vastly overrated, IMO. At one time I thought Thailand was taking over the torch of HK action cinema and would evolve into something great, but that seems to have sputtered out. Garett Evans and Iko Uwais seem poised to take the top action spot in Asian cinema, but right now, I don't see any growth in Indonesian action/MA cinema outside of them and their team.

Ironically, back in the old-school days, the period films were far better than their modern-day action counterparts, whereas nowadays, IMO, the modern-day action films tend to far outstrip the mostly overdone period pieces. There are some exceptions, of course, such as Kundo, which is a great film.

Yes, true. But the point is that Hong Kong film industry and Kung fu cinema is either dead or on life support. Now, HK film industry which used to gain a lot of international spotlights long time ago is now gone. Now it's all about South Korea not because of Korean films, but also K-dramas and K-pop music. Even Japan couldn't export their pop culture beyond anime/manga.

Kung fu cinema maybe dead (unless South Korea can revive it), but the popularity of K-dramas did something good. Before K-dramas, it was impossible to get a 20+ episode Chinese period Kung fu dramas (like TVB for example). Now thanks to period K-dramas, I've seen period Kung fu dramas from HK, and Mainland China got picked up by Dramafever and Viki. Even TVB last year has now started to cash in on the drama fad K-dramas created. Like for example now you can watch these:

TVB's Grace Under Fire (watch it on Hulu or on Dramafever)-it's a 32 episode Kung fu drama and it has Shaw Bros's David Chiang as Wong Fei Hung. It's a must watch for any Kung fu film fan, or if you're a David Chiang fan.

Palace (watch it on Hulu or on Dramafever)-35 episode drama. I've seen clip from the show and it does have Kung fu fighting in this one.

There's a lot more, if you want I could create a new thread (a guide you can say) to help fans of Kung fu film that aren't familiar with TV dramas. So you see we may not have Kung fu films for now, but we got period drama from Hong Kong and Mainland China which does contain Kung fu/martial art fighting. So it'll make do for lack of Kung fu films.

What I like about these TV dramas is that the the plotline/storyline are more complex and complicated then a 2 hour film. That's why I'm glad K-dramas helped/allowed Chinese TV dramas (including the period one) to get an audience in the US. There's a lot of subplot in these TV dramas. As I said, if you want me to create a thread for guide to Asian TV dramas for Kung fu film fan that never watch TV dramas, I can do that.

[Bullworker64]

I have been watching South Korean films on Netflix for several months now. I have, so far, believed that The Divine Move and A Company Man have been the two that have stood out. (The Thieves was good, a much darker Oceans Eleven type film.) The Admiral was entertaining. Recently I have seen several that deal with serial killers, Monster and I Saw the Devil, again, standing out. Martial Arts are used in these films, but are not the main focus. Trends cycle, martial arts in film have faded, but will trend back in the future.

[Jimbo]

The Good, the Bad, the Weird is another excellent S. Korean film.

War of the Arrows is good, but both times I watched it, I fell asleep at certain points. IMO, it's a bit too long and parts of it become repetitive.

I'll have to check out Monster. I agree that I Saw the Devil really stands out.

A Dirty Carnival is a pretty good Korean gangster film, and The Man From Nowhere is outstanding.

Thirst is a pretty decent Korean vampire movie. Odd, because I usually do not equate vampires with Korean cinema.

[mdo7]

I have been watching South Korean films on Netflix for several months now. I have, so far, believed that The Divine Move and A Company Man have been the two that have stood out. (The Thieves was good, a much darker Oceans Eleven type film.) The Admiral was entertaining. Recently I have seen several that deal with serial killers, Monster and I Saw the Devil, again, standing out. Martial Arts are used in these films, but are not the main focus. Trends cycle, martial arts in film have faded, but will trend back in the future.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird is another excellent S. Korean film.

War of the Arrows is good, but both times I watched it, I fell asleep at certain points. IMO, it's a bit too long and parts of it become repetitive.

I'll have to check out Monster. I agree that I Saw the Devil really stands out.

A Dirty Carnival is a pretty good Korean gangster film, and The Man From Nowhere is outstanding.

Thirst is a pretty decent Korean vampire movie. Odd, because I usually do not equate vampires with Korean cinema.

Well you 2 have a good taste in Korean films. There's a lot more Korean film out there. I managed to watch several Korean films for free on Hulu. So I agree they are kinda neat and attractive. There's a lot of interesting Korean film coming out, I don't know which Hong Kong film can hold candle against these Korean films. I mean you can't find a HK film that can rival A Werewolf Boy or Ode to my father. Even the Korean film, The Suspect seem to outdo any recent HK films today (maybe except Wild City, that can probably hold candle against The Suspect).

But for now it seem like Kung fu/martial art film is on life support or not relevent anymore. I'm hoping South Korea could be the one to revive that if Memories of the Sword does well. As I said, we may not have martial art films coming out, but we already have TV dramas that take place in period time which does contain martial arts. I've already mention Grace Under Fire, and Palace in my previous post. I'm glad you brought up Korean because I know couple of K-dramas which has enough martial art fighting scene that might make Kung fu film fans happy:

Damo aka the legendary Police Woman (this is a 14 episode wuxia-style period Korean drama from 2003, it has a lot of martial art fighting in this drama which will remind you of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and some classic Kung fu films. Here's a clip from the show if you are skeptical).

Warrior Baek Dong Soo (This is a 29 episode 2011 period Korean drama which should contain enough choreograph fighting scene. Here's a clip from the show if you need a preview)

Hong Gil Dong (This amazing 24 episode Martial art K-drama from 2013 should blow you away, and IMO the production value seem to be on par with a 2 hour Kung fu film, checkout the clip below):



Bridal Mask aka Gaksital (this is a 28 episode K-drama that take place during the Japanese occupation of South Korea. This is what I would call it the "Korean Fist of fury". This drama does have enough fighting scenes like this one and this one to maybe excite you)

So yes, we may not have a lot of martial art film coming out of Mainland China or Hong Kong, and hoping that South Korea can revive it. But the period TV dramas that contain martial art should be enough to keep us going and probably addicted.