Shaolin Wooden Men

 One of Jackie's more earlier films before his eye surgery.. noentheless very entertaining. Lacks a lot of humor but does perfectly when there is a little bit. Very interesting plot and good fight choreography.

RATING: 9/10

Enter the Fat Dragon

 Sammo Hung's action movie form of a tribute to legend Bruce Lee who he previously worked with in Enter the Dragon. Enter the Fat Dragon's fight scenes are some of the best I've ever seen from Sammo Hung. Amazing how with his weight he is so fluent. The humor is also pretty neat too, as well as the soundtrack.

When I can, I'm watching SKINNY TIGER, FAT DRAGON.

10/10

Bruce Lee is Blood And Steels in ENTER THE DRAGON

 

Starring, written and choreographed by BRUCE LEE

a ROBERT CLAUSE film
Written by    Michael Allin
Produced by    

    Fred Weintraub
    Paul Heller
    Raymond Chow

Starring    

    Bruce Lee
    John Saxon
    Ahna Capri
    Bob Wall
    Shih Kien
    Jim Kelly

Cinematography    Gilbert Hubbs
Edited by    

    Kurt Hirschler
    George Watters
    Peter Cheung

Music by    Lalo Schifrin
Production
companies
    

    Sequoia Pictures
    Concord Production Inc.
    Warner Bros.

Distributed by    

    Golden Harvest (Hong Kong)
    Warner Bros. (International)

Release dates
    

    26 July 1973 (Hong Kong)

    19 August 1973 (United States)

August 1973 (Australia)

 

Synopsis

 Lee plays a martial-arts expert determined to help capture the narcotics dealer whose gang was responsible for the death of his sister. Lee enters a kung fu competition in an attempt to fight his way to the dealer's headquarters with the help of some friends.

Review

Bruce Lee's final film, "Enter The Dragon" was the first movie to be produced by a major Hollywood company, Warner Brothers. So other companies tried to cash in the fame such as National General Pictures, re-relasing The Big Boss as Fists Of Fury like Bryanstron Productions, which in 1974, released Way of Dragon as The Return of the Dragon. This film sure does crap on Return of the Dragon (just a joke. I love both films) or whatever you call it.

Yesterday (January 25, 2023) I went to the home video shop to get some movies. They only had Enter the Dragon on Blu-Ray, resulting in my first Blu-ray. And gosh, do I love this film. If I had the chance I'd rewatch it! (I'll do it another day.) 

The film has some appearances from Sammo Hung (he gets to fight Bruce Lee) and Jackie Chan (he gets to get a butt-whupping by Lee) This film is so amazing I'm doubting it being made by humans. You can feel every single hit through the screen!

Jim Kelly's character dies not long into the movie, but his lines feel natural, and he brings a light hearted feel to the movie, but this isn't a comedy. Just some really good action and dialogue from the actors.

 

Not to mention the funky Lalo Schrifin soundtrack, which got 5 hundred thousand copies sold. Enter the Dragon has a soundtrack that uses a lot of bass and piano, and it has resemblance to Kevin Bassinson's score for Police Story, but this is actually way better. Shih Khen has a wonderful performance as a villian

The choreography by Bruce is the best in all of his movies, and that counts Game of Death II (I've never watched Game of Death.). This film is an absolute masterpiece and you NEED to watch it. I know that whenever an actor's films is really popular like Rumble in the Bronx [Jackie Chan] and Lethal Weapon III [Joe Pesci] It turns out to be crappy. But, trust me. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Enter the Dragon is one of the best movies in the world. I don't care rather it's with piracy, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K, Netflix, WATCH THE GODDAMN FILM!!

Rating: 10/10 (best. bruce lee film. EVER!!!)

Way of the Dragon: The Best of Bruce

 

  

Directed, written, produced by and starring Bruce Lee

Produced by   
    Raymond Chow

     Starring   
    Nora Miao
    Paul Wei
    Huang Chung-hsin
    Tony Liu
    Unicorn Chan
    Chuck Norris
    Malisa Longo
    Robert Wall
    Hwang In-shik
    Jon T. Benn

Cinematography by Tadashi Nishimoto
Edited by Peter Cheung
Music by  Joseph Koo
Distributed by Golden Harvest

Release date (Australia): October 1974

Synopsis

Tang Lung visits his relatives at their restaurant in Italy and has to help them defend against brutal gangsters harassing them. 

Review 

The Way of the Dragon. Hmmm. Not exactly his most popular, but definetly MY FAVOURITE!

 First of all, you can see this film was supposed to be a comedy. Tan Lung asks to use the bathroom in all the first 3 scenes in the movie after he is asked 'anything you'd like?' and I have no idea why but that is too funny to me.Secondly, the casting choice is amazing. All the young boys in the movie play restaurant workers who practice karate. Their line delivery and everything they say feels realistic and natural. This movie is all Lee. He produced it, wrote it, directed & starred in it all perfectly. His character is brave & heroic and that's why he is my favourite in this movie. Thirdly, the action in the movie is like no other. Forget Enter the Dragon, this is way better then this. This movie was the second to have Lee use nunchucks and he does it perfectly in this movie. The fight scenes are clearly choreographed, especially the one with Chuck Norris. Crazy how a man with only 3 words to say and a LOT of chest hair can be intimidating. Lee vs Norris was basically the 1970s alternative to Jackie vs. Urquidez in "Wheels on Meals", except this is less better. But we aren't talking about Wheels on Meals, we're reviewing Way of The Dragon! This film is the best Bruce Lee film I've watched. It might not be THAT realistic, but it ends goodly and doesn't disappoint.

If you have the time or the money, watch this movie ASAP!!

Edit February 2: while enter the Dragon is better, this comes in a close second

Rating: 10/10

 

 

WATCH

 THE WAY OF THE DRAGON

AT

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/movie/way-of-the-dragon/489513539845

 

Burning Fists, Broken Hearts: A Review of Fist of Fury

 

Directed & written by Lo Wei

Uncredited co-writer: Ni Kuang

Composed by & starring Bruce Lee

Produced by Raymond Chow

Starring
Nora Miao
Riki Hashimoto
Cinematography  Chen Ching-chu
Edited by  Peter Cheung
Music by Joseph Koo
Distributed by Golden Harvest

Release date (Australia): July 1, 1973

Synopsis

 A young man seeks vengence for the death of his teacher.

Review 

All I ever hear action cinema fans talk about is how amazing either how good Lee was in Enter the Dragon or how good he was in this movie - Fist of Fury. And I have to say, they are right.

Bruce Lee plays Cheng Zhen, a Chinese Kung-fu student on a rampage to stop the racism in Japan. He kills many people during the process. One of the reasons I live this movie so much is because of how realistic it is. The Japanese in the 20th century were complete jerks. The world isn't all butterflies and toys. Behind the punches and yelling, there is a lesson behind it. The world should be united and not hating each-other no matter the race. The ending is also the most realistic part of the movie, with the main character dying. The good guy always wins right? Well, no. In this movie he kills & hangs at least 6 people, which is illegal, but it was for a good reason!! He gets shot down by the police which are also very unfair to the Chinese residents. And if you just think about 2020, that's pretty accurate to real life. Why is it a rule that in Hong Kong action cinema, the good guy has something bad happen to him at the end? Drunken Master 2, Fei-hung is blind and mentally stupid. The Young Master, Dragon is in a full-body cast. The Big Boss, Cheng-Chao an gets arrested. Urgh.

But enough the sad parts of this movie, can we talk about the action? This movie was one of the first to use the classic Nunchucks that Bruce Lee would go on to use in The Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon & Game of Death. The action is cleanly choreographed, and it might be so fast, but you can see every hit, and it makes you grimace. Mission succeeded! The beginning fight is one of Lee's most iconic fights ever and I see why. Trust me. He beats up about 20 Japanese students all by himself and with little-to-no emotion.

Speaking of emotion, this is a pretty emotional movie, as Lee comes to marry a women but then dies at the end of the movie. This film is one of my highest recommendations, and I guarantee you, you NEED to watch it. 

Rating: 9.5/10

WATCH FIST OF FURY AT 

https://archive.org/details/bruce-lee-fist-of-fury-1972-eng-sub (Cantonese version)

https://archive.org/details/fist-of-fury-bruce-lee-full-movie-in-english-black-belt-movie-night (English dub)

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/movie/fist-of-fury/493677123527 (Original version, Eng subs)

THE WAY OF THE DRAGON review coming soon.

The Big Boss: A Fistful of Reasons to Watch

 This review is the first one to be written in 2024, first written Jan 01.

Directed by 

Lo Wei
Wu Chia Hsiang
Produced by    Raymond Chow

STARRING

Bruce Lee
Maria Yi
James Tien
Han Ying-chieh
Cinematography  Chen Ching-chu
Edited by  Sung Ming
Music by  Wang Fu-ling
Distributed by  Golden Harvest
Release date (Australia): April 1974

 Synopsis

Cheng is a city boy who moves with his cousins to work at a ice factory. He does this with a family promise never to get involved in any fight. However, when members of his family begin disappearing after meeting the management of the factor, the resulting mystery and pressures forces him to break that vow and take on the villainy of the Big Boss.

 

Review 

This movie is unrealistic. Cheng Chao An gets arrested for defeating the Big Boss, police officers are beat up and nothing is done about it, Cheng gets drunk and sees a woman at a dinner as his crush, and one of the Big Boss' men are killed with a saw put in their head. 

Regardless this movie is awesome.

This movie has tons of violence, which is what I was looking for. Sometimes it's really really bloody and violent, but not enough to get it banned in May 1973, but too much to get an M rating.Cheng is a can of whup-butt the whole way through the movie. Thank god he broke the oath he sweared to his mother.  Before watching The Big Boss / Fists of Fury, I would defend Jackie Chan and say he was a million times better then Bruce Lee. And while Chan is still my favourite action star, Lee is amazing too and they both are in their both ways. I highly recommend this movie, no matter which version of it you have. 

Hopefully I get to see more Lo Wei films. I have a way of watching Fist of Fury, Shaolin Wooden Men and Fearless Hyena now!

Rating: 7/10 

 

 Watch the 1983 Cantonese dub of "The Big Boss" at SBS On Demand

Bruce Lee Screenshot Sunday I - The Big Boss

 

One of the (if not the) best intros to a film, with those kick butt scores from Wang Fu Ling and Peter Thomas.

I'll handle this. I only have 15 more minutes in the spotlight of the film until you take over.

Mandarin-exclusive scene: "Some people will do anything for revenge". This was the last scene filmed.

Showing of your Kung Fu skills, ey? Not good enough for a little dragon.

CHAAAARRRGGGGEEEEEE!!!

Mandarin-exclusive scene: The infamous bleeding shot.

I first saw this scene, thought Cheng was grabbing this dude by the belt. I found out he was grabbing him by the.. ow. No witty comment, just an ow.
 

I will get you like your father got my cousins.

A few minutes later, Cheng realises he doesn't need a knife.

He just needs an angry face.

"Karatee and kong foo, the explosive combination that gives you the biggest kick of your life! Fists of Fury! Rated R."

Welp, that's all. Tune in tommorow for the review of my least favourite Jackie Chan film, Rumble in The Bronx. Full review of THE BIG BOSS comes out August 5 this year.

Drunken Master: Must-See, Must Drink

Happy December, folks! 

Starring: Jackie Chan

Yuen Siu-tien

Jwang-lee Hwang

Director: Yuen Woo-ping

 Written by: Siao Lung

Ng See-yuen
   Produced by: Ng See-yuen

Release date: December 31, 2015 (Australia)

October 1, 1978 (Hong Kong) 

Synopsis:

Wong Fei-Hung (Jackie Chan) stars as the mischievous young son of a martial arts school master who is constantly clowning around when he should be learning kung fu. After his comic antics injure the son of a powerful local man, his father enlists the help of his sadistic uncle to teach his son a little self-discipline. This strange man, who has a reputation for crippling his students, tries to teach Fei-Hung a bizarre style of kung fu.

      

Review

I love this movie.

This movie has everything. A bad main character who turns into a pretty likeable one by the middle of the film, usual bad English 80s dubbing, Jackie Chan and his aerobics, and I love it so much.

No matter what version I watch the film I'll still love it.

Normally, I don't like when action-comedies have TOO MUCH comedy like Jackie Chan's First Strike, and Project A, but I don't like the lack of comedy in Die Hard.

 But I think this one stuck to me because the comedy was actually funny, and there was a lot of it.

I think my brain was programmed to love everything comedy.

The film has a lot of wacky moments, but what were you expecting from a film about fighting drunk?

Rating: 10/10

Watch Drunken Master at the 

 English - www.archive.org/details/TheDrunkenMaster1978

Snake in The Eagle's Shadow: The Start of Jackie Chan's Prime

Starring: Jackie Chan

 Yuen Siu-Tien

 Jwang Lee Hwang

Directed by: Yuen Woo Ping

 Written by: Ng See-yuen
Choi Gai-gwong
Tsai Chi-kuang
Produced by: Ng See-yuen
Chen Chuan

Release date (Hong Kong): March 1, 1978

 Synopsis

Chien Fu, an orphan adopted by a kung fu school, is overworked as their janitor while being bullied and abused by the kung fu teachers as a walking punching-bag, with the school's cook, Ah-Wu, being his only sympathizer. Chien befriends an old beggar by offering him a meal and a place to stay. Unknown to Chien, the old beggar is actually Pai Cheng-tien, one of the last surviving masters of the Snake-style of kung fu. Pai is on the run from the Eagle Claw clan, which is viciously killing off all of the rival Snake-style masters, but is ambushed by Eagle Claw student Su Chen and an assassin masquerading as a Christian missionary (Roy Horan), and is injured. After being abused once more, Chien later finds Pai and helps him recover. Pai agrees to give him more lessons, on the condition that he does not call him "sifu" ("master"), since they are friends. The real reason, however, is to keep Chien's connection with him secret from his pursuers.

 

 Review

Snake in The Eagle's Shadow is most likely the earliest action film I've ever watched, and it did not dissapoint.

Chien Fu is an instantly likeable character, unlike Fei-Hung in Drunken Master. The film also has Jackie's classic slapstick humor which is why we love him and his works to this day.

It also has some ridiculous fighting scenes and acting, which is what makes the film amazing.

But what I really love about the English dub of the film is ridiculous sound effects and voice actors, which was so bad it was just funny. 

Jwang Lee also does an amazing job as the villian. He never gives up, and I like that, even if it's for bad purposes.

The casting choice for the film is genius and also the same as Drunken Master, which I review next week!

P.S. There are no eagle shadows in the film, and even if there were, I don't think you'd see a snake in them.

Rating: 7/10

Watch "Snake in The Eagle's Shadow" at the 

English -www.archive.org/details/Snake.in.the.Eagles.Shadow.1978.720p.BRRip.x264.AACPsiX