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

Kung Fu Hustle

 A great mix of cartoony with wonderful action, a great morale, subtle references to Lee's films such as FIST OF FURY and WAY OF THE DRAGON. For anyone who is a martial arts enthusiast, this is the film for you.

10/10

JC & JC collaborate in Hidden Strike

 

 Produced by & starring Jackie Chan

Directed by    Scott Waugh
Written by    Arash Amel
Produced by   

    Esmond Ren
    Hans Canosa
    Joe Tam

Starring   

    John Cena
    Pilou Asbaek
    Ma Chunrui

Cinematography    Tony Cheung
Edited by    Scott Waugh
Music by    Nathan Furst
Production
companies
    
Changchun Film Studio

    XYZ Films
    FilmsHuaxia Film Distribution
    Epitome
    Talent International Media
    Flame Pictures Company

Distributed by Netflix
Release date: July 28, 2023

Synopsis

Two ex-special forces soldiers must escort a group of civilians along Baghdad's "Highway of Death" to the safety of the Green Zone.

Review

Let's talk about the story. The story reminds me of the 1973 classic "Enter the Dragon". But this film is nothing like that.

Let's talk about the two main stars. Jackie Chan & John Cena, what a random duo. This would surely turn out to be a horrible movie, right? Well, no. Chan and Cena have some good chemistry and great lines in the bloopers and the movie.

Let's talk about the action. The action is enjoyable, but really nothing special. It becomes less special when you release Jackie was 64 at the time this was filmed, so all his performances are mostly stunt doubles. This is an average run of the mill one of his movies where the idea of having him in a role is cool but the movie doesn't turn out to be that cool.

The dialogue is pretty funny, I can say that. But I can ALSO say that this movie relies on the dialogue and none of the action, really. There's no cool tricks or kicking, just guns and running and random punching.

I can say the film could have been a lot better but still pretty enjoyable.

Rating: 5.5/10

 

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!!!)

SUB VS. DUB #1: Police Story (Fortune Star's 2010 Japanese Blu-Ray vs. Cinema Group's 1988 American VHS)

Police Story is the 1985 Hong Kong movie that people love so much that it has 2 re-edits and 4 dubs. Today we're going to be looking at one of those re-edits, the 1986 international export dub!

Original version is the Japanese Bluray on the 2010 Fortune Star DVD. I figure since the credits say 2010 on the SBS on Demand version it's the right release. 

Trailers

Export Trailer

1986

Media Asia

International

 Theatrical trailer

1985 

Media Asia

Hong Kong

The Hong Kong trailer - spoils all the big stunts but doesn't actually tell you anything about the movie. Also is way too long, a trailer should be 1 minutes & 30 seconds at max if it's in cinema. Of course, the background music "Hero Story" by Jackie Chan is completely amazing, but it's in Cantonese, and the trailer has no subtitles (this is a DVD version on the video so that's why it does) That might suck if you watched the movie and weren't from China. 7/10

The USA trailer - Gives away the plot in a good, short, sweet way that is easy to understand and that doesn't spoil much at all with amazing kick-butt music by Kevin Bassington. The trailer also shows clips that will make the average viewer hella excited to watch the film. 10/10

VIDEO QUALITY

BLU-RAY

 VHS

 So.. how is it that a VHS released 22 years before a Blu-Ray has better color quality? 

 

SCRIPT 

On the SBS on Demand version, the script adds a bunch of un-needed, unnatural words. The re-release also adds some unnecessary profane words like "b1tch" which actually makes Kevin sound like a jerk and it turn, makes the scenes with May more funnier. The re-dub actually has funnier dialogue, as well. I guess it's better when you understand the language.

In turn - the re-dub script's better.

CUT / SWAPPED SCENES 

The US dub has a lot of cut scenes, so I will list every cut scene here.    

• All the scenes with the agitated Frank (the cop who shoots a mirror). A few seconds of Kevin after one of the scenes.

  
  
  
  

• The photo-shoot scene is cut out, thus resulting in 47 seconds of the film gone.
• In the Hong Kong version during the fake murder attempt, you get more shots of tired Selina. 
• Mars bumping his head on the lights.
  
• Kevin biting his way into the mask.
• 46 seconds in the courtroom are removed.
  
• Koo watching Kevin on the news in his office.
• The entire phone scene. However, a few seconds before this scene (Kevin getting told what to do, asking a question, getting an answer and talking to a cop who works for Chu on the phone and telling him he only has 3 days.) are still there.
• The angry speech Kevin makes in Li's office.  

The Japanese version is 1 hour & 48 minutes.

The original Hong Kong version is 1 hour & 36 minutes. 

The export version is 1 hour and 27 minutes.

13 minutes have been cut out from the theatrical version.

ADDED SCENES

In the US theatrical version, a shot of Selina clicking "record" on the tape recorder is added. 1 second long, which does fix a minor minor MINOR plothole.

 MUSIC

The original score is composed by Lai Siu-tin, and the re-dub score is composed by Kevin Bassington.

Lai-Siu Tin's score - Inspired by the main theme song, and has a lot of re-used tracks. Still a banger and is definetly worth listening too. Especially the tracks with Ondes Martinot.

Bassington's score - A slap-bass synthesizer score that is incredibly 80s and satisfying to listen too. Sometimes a bit of the instruments get a little bit annoying and go on for a while though.

Lai Siu Tin's score: 11/10

Bassington's score: 7/10

COVERS

VHS

 BLU-RAY

The VHS cover is more exciting and summarizes up the film on the back well. 

OVERALL: THE RE-DUB VHS FROM 1988 WINS!!

 

Royal Warriors - Crime, sadness, and some butt-kicking

 

executive producer.............................Dickson Poon

producer..................................................John Sham

director......................................David Chung

starring..........................................Michelle Yeoh

                                                         Henry Sanada

                                                         Micheal Wong

Distributed by.........................................D&B Films

Synopsis

When a Hong Kong policewoman, a Japanese Interpol-agent and an air security officer botch a plane hijacking fempt by a militia fanatic, his veteran friends vow revenge. In order to stop the terrorist attacks and also to save their own lives, the three heroes most team up once again to fight their gun-totting adversaries.

Review

The morning I wrote this, I woke up early today so I could get in my fix on action movies. The first movie I watched was Royal Warriors, which is the sequel to Yes, Madam! The movie met my exceptions.
 

Sure the movie is now missing Carrie, Aspirin (Mang Hoi who portrayed Aspirin directed the action choreography in this movie and won a Hong Kong Film Award for it.) & Strepsil, now bringing a less humourous feeling to the movie. But all the action and scenes with Micheal Wong make up for it! 

This movie is in particular one of the greatest Michelle Yeoh movies ever. If you have an old copy lying around, you need to pop it in your PS3 and watch it immediately.  I recommend watching the film for the shootout and the final fight. You can feel the anger in the three main characters during these two scenes. The acting is natural and great!

Rating: 9.5/10

WATCH

 'ROYAL WARRIORS' 

aka

"IN THE LINE OF DUTY"

aka 

"POLICE ASSASSINS"

at the 

https://archive.org/details/in-the-line-of-duty-2-royal-warriors 

(Tai Seng VHS rip version)

Export Trailer

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

Beyond the Bombs: Supercop 2 - An Action-Packed Exploration of Love, Loss, and Redemption

 

Directed and written by Stanley Tong

Written by Sandy Shaw

Produced by  

Barbie Tung

So Haau Leung

Starring 

Michelle Yeoh

Yu Rong Guang

Emil Chau

Jackie Chan

Release date: December 22, 1999
 

Synopsis 

As a crime wave sweeps through Hong Kong, the police call on Jessica Yang, a rising star in their ranks, to help stop a notorious gang of thieves.

Review 

I will admit, for my first Michelle Yeoh movie where SHE is in the spotlight, this did not dissapoint.

The movie has subtle comedy at times, especially with scenes between Guang and Yeoh. It doesn't have a lot, trust me, but when it does it is pretty funny.

The movie has a very great casting choice, a good score, and good voice dubbing for 1998.

The action may not be as eye catching as you see in the first 3 other Police Story movies, but it still doesn't dissapoint.

And for the people who were expecting a one by one film to Supercop, ehmmm... no. But there are some subtle references, in the dialogue, and even during the fights! 

 

Oh, and yeah, there is a lot of glass breaking in this movie, as is with the first 2 Police Story films with Jackie Chan.

But one thing that does annoy me is the opening credits. The way it goes is this - action scene, credit, action scene, credit, and it goes ON AND ON for 3 minutes. I mean, if you're GOING to put credits in between an action scene, place them as text on the bottom of the screen, or at least dedicate 2 minutes to the opening credits!

Anyways, the film is pretty good, fight scenes are good, dubbing is good. 

Oh, yeah, that Chackie Jan guy is good as well.

 Rating: 6.3/10

Watch Supercop 2 on 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKV6xjtS2r0 (Dimension Films cut from 1999)

From Legal Eagle to Eco Warrior: Dragons Forever - Jackie Chan & Samo Hung take on Toxic Tyrants and Fall for Love

 

Directed by and starring Sammo Hung

Directed by

Corey Yuen

Screenplay by Roy Szeto

Story by 

Gordon Chan

Leung Yiu-ming

Produced by Leonard Ho

Starring  Jackie Chan

Yuen Biao

Deannie Yip

Pauline Yeung

Crystal Kwok

Distributed by  Golden Harvest

Release date

    11 February 1988

 

Synopsis 

 Three successful Hong Kong lawyers are hired by a chemical company of questionable ethics and must eventually make a difficult decision when their employer's motives become clear.

 Review

Petaia's Entertainment World, a channel ran by an action fan who uploads clips from movies starring Jackie Chan, Michelle Khan and Bruce Lee in 4K uploaded the English dub of the extended Japanese release of "Dragons Forever". Knowing this would make for a good review (and it's a goddamn Jackie Chan movie), I watched the film and did not regret it

 Normally, whenever I watch a movie, it annoys me when there's more of something in the film - like more drama then action, or more comedy then drama. In Dragons Forever, there are 22 minutes worth of fight scenes, and I'm not complaining.

The romantic scenes in this movie were actually heart warming and when Johnny and Mei-ling  got back together I was super happy.

The fight scenes were super intense and my heart was beating the whole time.

And, I admit, I gasped when everyone in the factory was looking at Luke. I knew blud was walking out with 5 black eyes after that one (he didn't).

 

The choreography is clean, timed out, and it actually was better then I thought it'd be.

I thought it would be a bit of a boring flick, but nooo, the fight scenes start 3 minutes and 55 seconds in the Japanese release (also, it's a 2 v 4 fight, which is slightly more realistic then most JC fights).

Nobody ever comes to a Jackie Chan film wanting Romeo and Juliet. Then after watching this film, they actually do.

Rating: 10/10

Watch Dragons Forever on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtF0zLUpXO0

 (Extended Japanese cut, English audio)

 

Game, Set, Match, Mayhem: Dragon Lord Takes Sports and Action to the Extreme

 Jackie at his best!

Directed, written by and starring Jackie Chan

Directed by   

    Edward Tang

    Barry Wong

Produced by

 Raymond Chow

    Leonard Ho

Starring

    Mars

    Hwang In-Shik

    Tien Feng

 

Synopsis

 Dragon  is the son of a Chinese aristocrat who is always getting in trouble, and likes to skip his lessons. Dragon tries to send a love note to the girl he likes via a kite, but the kite gets away. Dragon tries to get the kite and letter back which have landed on the roof of the headquarters of a gang of thieves who are planning to steal artifacts from the towns temple. Dragon interferes with the gang's plans and is forced to fight off the gang. 

 

 

Jackie doing a jump!

 

Review 

 

Some legend on YouTube put the Australian English dub of this film from 1983 onto their channel. Being the mega Jackie fan I am [and because of the fact I literally own a blog dedicated to action films), I took time to watch the movie and ultimately enjoyed it.

There are a lot of reasons I love this movie. 

It's very different. This film has Jackie playing.. not as a cop, but the lacking son of a rich businessman. Wow. Not only is Jackie's character different, but one of the major things in the films is different. 

Jackie and his village boys do sports! This is an action sports film. SPORTS. While you might not be used to sports in Jackie's films (considering this is 1 out of 2 of them), you should be because this is amazing. Speaking of the sports, the movie starts off with all the people in Dragon's village CLIMBING UP THE TOP of a goddamn pyramid to get a rugby ball. 3 minutes in the film and we already get an amazing sequence. A seven minute sequence. Then 5 minutes after the end of the sequence, we get a fight scene between Dragon and Cowboy.. over a girl. For 2 minutes. Until everyone starts freaking out because Dragon's father comes in the scene right after Dragon says he's not scared of his dad. Then 15 minutes later we get ANOTHER sports scene. FOR TEN MINUTES. Ever see that in Jackie Chan films? NO. And DON'T bring up Dragons Forever. That's not a sports movie. Still, I kinda feel bad for anyone who got the version of the movie where the rugby match is at the end.

The film was a combo of Mars and Chan. You rarely see Mars fight in films, but when he does, he does an amazing job. Mars is the best stuntman of Jackie and I wish we saw him in more films. Mars plays Cowboy and Chan plays Dragon. They are best friends in this movie and are probably the best duo ever seen in a Jackie Chan film. In the final fight, Dragon falls from the top floor and Cowboy literally breaks his fall by making sure Dragon landed on him. Didn't go too well the first time in shooting. 

 (Jackie is in the black. You can guess who Mars is.)

The subtle comedy was perfectly placed at times and was not too pushy. Some of the comedy is put in during life-defying fight scenes as well. Just goes to show that Dragon really doesn't care. Speaking of the fights, Hwang in-Shik and Jackie fight again, two years after The Young Master (which Dragon Lord was supposed to serve as a sequel to, except Jackie doesn't win by drinking any tobacco water. He wins.. by piling him up in a sack of potatos. Wow. Jackie Chan really got a beating back in the 80s. (Dragon Lord, Police Story 2, Wheels on Meals..) Anyways, back to the comedy, the English adaption writers did a great job. That's sometimes why I prefer the dub over the sub.

The stunt-work on the film was actually amazing and impressed so much for Jackie's third directed film only. Jackie's stunt team did a wild amazing job on this. This is the first film where Jackie started expirementing with stunt sequences. This is the start of the Jacky Chan that we ALL KNOW and love. Just imagine if he didn't like stunt sequences. Just imagine if he never even did them! This blog would only have like 10 reviews.

The American in Jackie & Mars keep showing.

 

 The soundtrack is a bit repetitive, but it is a great soundtrack song and I hate that I can't find it anywhere.

The old 80s dubbing makes the film more enjoyable. It might be horrible, but it sure has that charm. It is way better then the new 21st century dubs of foreign films, which unfortunately was used in the 88 Films trailer for the new Blu-Ray release of Dragon Lord.

Dragon Lord is definetly a great pick, and shows resemblance to the Young Master which I reviewed December of 2023. Just a spolier: no real dragons (or lords) appear in the film.

Rating: 9.5/10

Watch Dragon Lord on 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98x3Eh8By-g (Australian English VHS dub from 1985) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4a1Qv_CZoQ&pp=ygUXRHJhZ29uIExvcmR-SmFja2llIENoYW4%3D (French dub)

 

https://www.bilibili.tv/video/2042296275 (Indonesian dub) 

https://watch.plex.tv/movie/dragon-lord (Miramax 1996 release)

 

 

Ip Man - The Fists of Fury, A Heart of Gold, and a House of Dirt

 

Directed by Wilson Yip

Written by 

Edmond Wong

Chan Tai-lee

Produced by Raymond Wong

Starring    

Donnie Yen

Simon Yam

Lynn Hung

Gordon Lam

Fan Siu-wong

Xing Yu

Chen Zhihui

Hiroyuki Ikeuchi

Tenma Shibuya

Release date: 18 December, 2008

January 2009 (Australia)

 

Synopsis 

In 1930s China, a martial artist loses his home after the Imperial Japanese Army invades the country. With little means to survive, he must find a way to sustain his family.

 Review

Ip Man is a very serious film about horrible crimes the Japanese commited in the time of WW2. Yeah, sure none of it impacts me mentally, but it's still bad.

Anyways, Ip Man's action scenes might not have any life-threatening over the top stunts, but the film does not dissapoint.

It shows a (kinda) accurate description of the life of Ip Man while mixing it with carefully and perfectly choreographed action scenes for this type of film.

 The film makes the biography genre amazing to watch, with amazing writing and great acting. This was the film that introduced me to Donnie Yen and the only reason why Jackie Chan isn't the only action star I watch a lot. His films don't dissapoint to and this is an example of it.

Ip Man is a great film, that might be boring at some times with a dull background score, but the film's contents in itself are amazing.

Yeah, Bruce Lee's amazing.. but do you ever think about who taught him? 
This is the film about his life.

Watch Ip Man at the

https://archive.org/details/ip.-man.-2008.lati (Latin version)

https://archive.org/details/ipman_1 (Tagalog version)

https://archive.org/details/sdlehongkong1-15  (Along with other Hong Kong action movies)

https://archive.org/details/l62h9k62 (Along with other Hong Kong action movies)

https://archive.org/details/film-list (Along with other movies that some random dude on IA likes named "Sam")

https://archive.org/details/sdhongkon41-50 (Along with other Hong Kong movies)

Rating: 7/10

 

New Police Story: Dark, different, daring and great

Directed and produced by Benny Chan

Starring and produced by Jackie Chan

Screenplay by    Alan Yuen
Produced by   

    Willie Chan
    Benny Chan
    Barbie Tung
    Solon So

Starring

Nicholas Tse
Charlie Yeung
Charlene Choi
Daniel Wu
Wang Chieh

 Synopsis

Inspector Chan Kwok-Wing (Jackie Chan) was once the shining star of the Hong Kong police force. But that all changed when his unit was slaughtered by a merciless gang of bank robbers -- and Chan turned to the bottle to drown his grief. Now, a year later, a soused Chan is dragged out of his rut by a new partner, Frank Cheng (Nicholas Tse). Together, they hit the streets to redeem Chan's reputation by going after those responsible for the deaths of his fellow officers. 

 

Review

New Police Story is definitely worth watching. Sure, some of the acting is pretty bad which is rare in a Chan movie.. wait.. Police Story 1. Nevermind. Anyways, the film has little to no funny parts, which is rare in a Chan movie, but it still rocks. The film's fight scenes are amazing and the characters were amazingly casted.

 

The only thing that ticks me off is that they try to make audiences sympathetise for Joe Kwan [the villian] because of how bad his father is.. but no. He's just a jerk. Family or not.

Anyways, New Police Story is very worth your time, and if you DO have time, you should definetly watch it. Darker films don't stop Jackie Chan from making masterpieces. Maybe the comedy is stopping him from reaching his potentional.

Rating: 8.3/10

Watch New Police Story on 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ0fmEUZ3w8 (English dub) 

https://archive.org/details/l64h0k72 (Along with other Hong Kong films)

https://archive.org/details/sdlehongkong1-15 (Along with other Hong Kong films)

https://archive.org/details/lehongkong1 (Along with other Hong Kong films)

https://archive.org/details/Fitoor2016Www.DesiPirates.tkHindiDVDRip720pAAC (Along with other Indian / Hong Kong films)

 

 

Jackie Chan's First Strike might be one of his best strikes

 

Directed and written by Stanley Tong

 Screenplay by

Nick Tramontane
Greg Mellott
Elliot Tong
Produced by Barbie Tung
Starring   
    Jackie Chan
    Wu fChen-chun
    Jackson Lou

Bill Tung

Nonna Grishayeva

 

Synopsis

A Hong Kong police detective, Jackie (Jackie Chan), works with the CIA to track a mysterious woman named Natasha (Grishajeva Nonna). She is suspected of delivering money to a terrorist, Jackson Tsui (Jackson Liu), who is trying to obtain a nuclear warhead from the Russian mob. Traveling from Hong Kong to the Ukraine to Australia, Chan aims to bust up the terrorist plot using his fists as much as his brains, doing battle underwater, on stilts and across mountain tops.

Review

So the movie was not what I expected, in a good way. 

I love this film. It has the same comedy aspect as Project A where it makes me wonder if it was promoted as a comedy-action. However, with First Strike there was comedy for most of the scenes, and even during a hotel chase.

The fight scenes in this movie have no comedy, which is great. Your only focus is on the great moves and tricks and hits from Jackie. The movie also has beautiful views from Brisbane, Australia. I live in Sydney, and trust me, in 2023, it doesn't compare to Brisbane in 1995. 

First Strike is an amazing film. Want to see an underwater fight, a helicopter stunt, ladder fight, hotel chase and Jackie Chan's butt? First Strike's the way to go. 

And no, John McClane from the Movie Forums, this film is NOT BETTER then "Police Story III: Supercop".

P.S. this is NOT the first time Jackie Chan fights for America. Rumble in The Bronx existed 2 years before this film.

Watch "Jackie Chan's First Strike" at the

https://archive.org/details/firststrike19961080ph264ac3dolbydigital5.1nickarad (American cut from New Line Cinema, 1997)
https://archive.org/details/first-strike-fw-reconstruction (1996 Hong Kong cut)

Rating: 8/10