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Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Samwise on January 22, 2003, 06:36:51 AM
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I\'ve recently grown an interest in Hong Kong action. If you\'re a fellow fan, then tell me what movies I should consider a must-see? :D
EDIT: I have The Killer and Hitman, and plan on watching Hard Boiled. But beyond that I don\'t really know what\'s "required watching". ;)
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Young and Dangerous series
The one armed boxer
anything to do with jackie chan < - pre 1994
once upon a time in china series
a chinese ghost story - 1,2,3
etc etc
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The Killer
Hard Boiled
Solitine (sp) its the one where the hit man takes out the bad guys in a dark office block and all you see is the gun flashes through the windows
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Besides the ones already listed...
Dragons Forever starring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah
Basically, most anything that stars any combination of the above brothers...
Wheels on Meals
Eastern Condors
Project A
Also...
Starring Jet Li
Fist of Legend
My Father Is A Hero aka The Enforcer
The Tai Chi Master aka Twin Warriors (I think, stars Michelle Yeoh)
New Legend of Shaolin aka The Legend of the Red Dragon
Try not to get dubbed version as they totally insult the original.
If you\'re looking for cheap VCDs of all these movies, head to NYC\'s Chinatown where you can grab 6 genuine copies for a mere $20...
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Originally posted by Ashford
If you\'re looking for cheap VCDs of all these movies, head to NYC\'s Chinatown where you can grab 6 genuine copies for a mere $20...
Thanks for the advice, but I\'m afraid the plane ticket to the US would make it a fair bit more expensive. ;)
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Hard Boiled is the shit.
Basically anything by John Woo or with Chow Yun Fat in it.
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My opinion, anything post 1990 is crap. 1980\'s had some of the better HK movies.
"The God of Gambler" series is really good. Some stars Chow Yun Fat, some stars Stephen Chao (HK version of Jim Carrey). Mostly about gambling (duh), and guns. There are some that are comical.
The movies that made Jet Li famous in HK/China were his "Once upon a Time in China" trilogy (but I\'m not sure if there\'s a fourth one). It\'s a few stories about the legendary kung fu master Wong Fai Hong who lived during the Emperialism Era when Europeans were trading with China. For more details ask shingoku.
There\'s also "Running out of Time" starring Andy Lau which is about a guy who has cancer is trying to make the most out of what\'s left of his life so he goes around and steals stuff.
A really cute comedy/gangster/action movie is "Gameboy Kids" (I\'m pretty sure that\'s what it\'s called). It stars Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok. It\'s about mafia members who were sent to pick up the heir to the mafia group, but picked up someone who just looked like the heir.
There\'s more on my list, but you specifically asked for action movies. =)
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ooseven, u mean sonatine?
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fia.imdb.com%2Fmedia%2Fimdb%2F01%2FI%2F25%2F41%2F31m.gif&hash=2236b4aac961c66bb7a57ab96c772dac657fda16)
"beat" takeshi kitaro is incredible
his best film is "fireworks"
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fia.imdb.com%2Fmedia%2Fimdb%2F01%2FI%2F78%2F25%2F71m.jpg&hash=84048fcf0ef94afa89688c6952c46b5661a80e29)
both are self directed by kitaro also
i HIGHLY recommend watching these
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Rya...
I own all those movies you mentioned, except the Andy Lau one...
Personally, I\'m sick of seeing him in every friggin\' movie released...
And yes, the OUATIC trilogy is more than just a trilogy...
Jet Li starred in the first 3 but the 4th and 5th starred a different actor. The sixth, my fave, Once Upon A Time in China & America, starred Jet Li, again, which was a collaboration between him and Sammo Hung...
We must have the same tastes...
Are you Chinese, by any chance?
And yes...
Almost all movies from about the time Stephen Chow "retired" and all the big stars went Hollywood, the HK movie industry SUCKED!
More recommendations...
Fong Sai Yuk I & II aka The Legend starring Jet Li
Drunken Master I & II starring Jackie Chan (The prequel has nothing to do with the sequel other than the star)
Some advice/warning...
If you intend to check out HK comedies, know that their style is different from Western comedy. Very heavy usage on dialogue which, when translated to English is not funny at all.
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Ashford, yes I am Chinese, but I\'m so banana-fied I\'m surprised that I can even name the films that I did! I had a little help from my sisters. Are you Chinese?
I think that only Jet Li can pull off the Wong Fai Hong character. Everyone else can never do the master justice! I couldn\'t stand watching the one with Alan Tam! Ugh! That was a horrible movie.
I think Andy Lau is being overused lately. He\'s getting old and it looks like he had plastic surgery. But I still like a couple of the movies he\'s in. I think the HK industry can\'t find another pretty boy as good as him.
The person I really can\'t stand seeing is Jackie Chan. He\'s like so over-advertised! People talk about him like he\'s the only Chinese actor and he\'s just feeding audiences, who aren\'t accustomed to the HK industry, the idea that all Asian people can do martial arts. It\'s such a stereotypical portrayal.
The newer stuff that Stephen Chow does all look lame too. It isn\'t as good as his older works.
And one recommendation that I dare make...it\'s a comedy/romance/mafia (yeah...I love the mafia genre when it comes to HK movies) is "Love Undercover." It stars a bunch of newer actors (Miriam Yeung, Daniel Wu). The lead female is said to be like a Sammi wannabe. Kinda eerie how alike she is to Sammi too. It\'s about a cop who worked lost and found. She was picked to do an undercover case to spy on this could-be mafia boss. She falls in love with the guy and he\'s head over heels for her (oh man! It was so sweet with that rice cooker scene!). SHe has to keep the secret of her identity as a cop and he\'s trying to keep her (as his gf) out of his mafia business.
Another recommendation is "Goodbye Mr. Cool" which is a newer film too. It stars Ekin Cheng and Karen Mok. It\'s a mafia/action/drama. This really up there big boss mafia dude drops the mafia scene for a little bit and comes back. His gf becomes the big boss in his absence to keep his seat warm for him while he was gone. And there\'s her son involved. It\'s not the best movie, but it\'s decent for something so recent.
If I have any more titles I\'ll be sure to bring them up. And to add on Ashford\'s recommendation on where to get VCDs/DVDs...you can also find a lot of movies in SF\'s Chinatown too. Considering that New Year\'s is almost here, there\'s going to be a festival in the first weekend and last weekend of the holiday which means 3 movies for $20!!! Yay! I\'m going on a shopping spree this weekend!
And mm...aren\'t the movies you listed Japanese? O_o Just wondering. =)
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Originally posted by mm
ooseven, u mean sonatine?
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fia.imdb.com%2Fmedia%2Fimdb%2F01%2FI%2F25%2F41%2F31m.gif&hash=2236b4aac961c66bb7a57ab96c772dac657fda16)
"beat" takeshi kitaro is incredible
his best film is "fireworks"
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fia.imdb.com%2Fmedia%2Fimdb%2F01%2FI%2F78%2F25%2F71m.jpg&hash=84048fcf0ef94afa89688c6952c46b5661a80e29)
both are self directed by kitaro also
i HIGHLY recommend watching these
Yeah, Sonetine is on the telly in a week or two, so I\'m definatly gonna watch that. The last Beat Takeshi movie I watched was Brother.
Oh, and thanks for the recommendations everyone.
PS. Teh Chinese r0x0rz. ;)
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Ok, you guys pretty much listed everything.. The Jet Li movies rule, I\'ve practically seen every one of em..
Anyone see Dragon Inn? Good action, very BRUTAL.. :D
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Like mentioned above, Jet Li movies are pretty much all good. Not only does he have the physical skills to pull off the (usually) extremely difficult choriography, but his acting skills are among the best of an action star in the world. With Jet you don\'t have to sacrafice acting for action, like you do with most all of todays action stars.
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chinese, japenese, whats the difference in film culture?
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storm riders was a kewl movie.. liked that one heaps.
http://www.stomptokyo.com/movies/s/storm-riders.html
Also a man named hero was ok. I thought that was a sequel to storm riders... it wasn\'t.
Jet li movies are good. Old jackie chan movies are good too.
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/me vomits
storm riders?
i pray yer joking
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i thought it was kewl...
good effects etc... but that\'s about it.
I find half of jet li movies bogus too.. LOTS of bs in he\'s movies. but kewl to watch none the less.
my mom says i\'m kewl.
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so a movie is cool cause it has good effects?
and you like it heaps?
:confused:
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sure doo... The acting was lame.. but he fighting and effects were kewl. Hense i liked it...
it\'s like the matrix.. acting sucks, storyline sucks.. good effects.
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Rya...
Yes, I saw Love Undercover and was pleasantly surprised at the comedy.
Shaolin Soccer starring Stephen Chow is a movie that will appeal to everyone as it combines soccer and martial arts...
Even more recommendations...
High Risk aka Meltdown starring Jet Li which is a Die Hard wannabe but with martial arts...
The Bodyguard from Beijing aka The Defender starring Jet Li which is a Bodyguard (Whitney Houston & Kevin Costner) wannabe but with martial arts...
Just be warned of that ridiculous final showdown...
Tokyo Raiders starring Tony Leung, Ekin Cheng, and Kelly Chen...
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Here is a great website which lists and reviews almost every HK movie released...
http://www.hkmdb.com
Lists the whole cast of each film and all movies actor/actress starred in...
Be warned of spoilers when reading reviews and descriptions of movies...
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Great, thanks Ashford!
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3 movies for $20?
VCD or DVD?
If VCD, then its a total ripoff...
If DVD, then its no big deal as we have that deal everyday in NYC...
Darn, expensive Cali...
;)
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Meltdown and Defender were letdowns for me....
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yeah, i disliked both of them
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Yeah, I like the jumping around flying fake stuff better.
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Originally posted by mm
chinese, japenese, whats the difference in film culture?
It\'s like an Asian person asking what\'s the difference between English and American film cultures? We all did see how the Koreans reacted to the new James Bond movie. I could have sworn it was made by the English, but they blamed the Americans for making their people look bad.
I personally haven\'t seen any Japanese movies (maybe one...but I forget) so I don\'t know what the difference is. I know that if you compared American films to HK films, you\'ll see that the HK films combine the most unlikely genres.
And another difference that should be pointed out. The difference between HK films and Chinese film is the style that they\'re filmed and the storylines. Again, you\'ve got the HK genre combination thing. I\'ve noticed that Chinese films tend to be about rural people or people from the major Chinese cities (their\'s like a major cultural difference in the cities of HK and the ones in China).
Shaolin Soccer starring Stephen Chow is a movie that will appeal to everyone as it combines soccer and martial arts...
Oh my gosh! I couldn\'t stand that movie! My cousin put that on for us and I could barely stay awake! It was so freakin\' hokey! But then again, I\'m so biased to the 80\'s movies. =P
And speaking of copies of stories...I really good horror is called "The Eye" which is kinda like "The Sixth Sense." It\'s about a blind woman who gets surgery done so she can see, but the eyes that she gets makes her see dead people! :eek: I haven\'t finished watching it yet, but there was one scene in an elevator that was so freaky!
Darn, expensive Cali...
Yeah...it\'s expensive here. =P But then again, being on this side of the nation we get a lot of the imports first. =P I was able to find a soundtrack (I forget what it was though) for Ryu that he couldn\'t find anywhere else. I also found the FFVIII necklaces (both Squall and Rinoa\'s) and bought them at a very good price (only because I don\'t want Ryu to find out. =P). It only took me 5 years to look for them. :rolleyes:
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please dont take what i wrote the wrong way rya, i have been a film buff for almost 15 years now, and my main target is foriegn titles
i meant "to the average viewer", there isnt much difference between chinese and japanese cinema
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True that, if the people look Asian I don\'t think the average Joe Sixpack cares much about the differences... Sad, but true.
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We\'re not average...
;)
We like our foreign films subtitled instead of dubbed...
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Bash me, go for it, but I can\'t watch a subtitled film. I have a limited attenion span and cannot be asked to read and watch all at the same time. I\'ll just take a terrible dubbing instead.
;)
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Originally posted by Ashford
We like our foreign films subtitled instead of dubbed...
So do I. :)
Dubbing sucks major nuts.
EDIT: *bashes LIC*
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*Beats Clip and tosses him out of thread*
LOSER!!!
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Originally posted by mm
please dont take what i wrote the wrong way rya, i have been a film buff for almost 15 years now, and my main target is foriegn titles
i meant "to the average viewer", there isnt much difference between chinese and japanese cinema
Oh I\'m not taking it the wrong way. True, to the "average viewer" there isn\'t much difference, but I think that if someone were to take interest in a certain film industry they should start developing a good habit of understanding that there is a difference early(despite how light or hardcore the following of that industry is).
Example: For a long time I have taken an interest in learning about the English royal familiy and how key players affected the world around them. Now I\'ve started to take an interest in the Danish royal family. To the average viewer, a royal family of Europe is like any royal family in Europe. That might be true on the surface, but there are so many things that make them different. (Did I make any sense at all?)
Bash me, go for it, but I can\'t watch a subtitled film. I have a limited attenion span and cannot be asked to read and watch all at the same time. I\'ll just take a terrible dubbing instead.
Gasps! LIC, you\'re missing out!
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It\'s a low attenion span. I just can\'t do it. I have tried so , so many times.
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Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
Bash me, go for it, but I can\'t watch a subtitled film. I have a limited attenion span and cannot be asked to read and watch all at the same time. I\'ll just take a terrible dubbing instead.
;)
Shenmue 2 must have been hard for you.
:)
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Not made it through, yet. :(
I refuse to! Until I know that Shenmue 3 is comin\' out, I won\'t torture myself with wanting another one, by finishing the second one.
But yes, very hard for me.
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*Beats Clip for not finishing Shenmue 2 and tosses him out of thread AGAIN*
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I take what I said about subtitles back....Why? I picked up one of the greatest films today..
(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.megapathdsl.net%2F%7Edvdaf%2Ft2%2F20012.gif&hash=b85e5f30d8c1ecdf311caa23dc7d8fac6ed5636e)
Audition - Unrated Director\'s Cut
Great film, no dubbing.
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Ohh, I\'ve been wanting to see that. It\'s a movie for children, right? ;)
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Uhm, sure, yeah! It\'s a great movie for the kiddies.
:D
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I just bought 12 new movies...
Well, actually old movies but new condition...
I\'ve gone through 3 of them:
The Prodigal Son starring Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung, Lam Ching Ying, and Dick Wei
You\'ll find these 4 or any combination of them in a lot of movies, together. They also star together in My Lucky Stars and Eastern Condors, both great action movies.
This movie is about a rich, young martial artist who has built a reputation as the greatest fighter in his town but only because his father has paid off all would-be challengers to purposely lose. It\'s until he is taught a lesson by an opera performer/martial arts master that he realizes his low level of skill.
Great action and choreography.
Knockabout starring Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung
2 brothers have made their living through conning others until they meet their match against an old master. Using their lack of fighting skill in an attempt to teach him a lesson, they are easily defeated and become his students.
Great choreography and some good humor.
Yes, Madam starring Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Rothrock, Sammo Hung, and Dick Wei
Michelle Yeoh\'s first HK movie as a cop tracking the murder of her friend. Also, searching for a piece of microfilm, which contains evidence against the killer\'s boss.
Incredible action sequences from both leading ladies and the humor just adds to the enjoyment.
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Oh damn. I\'ve been wanting to see Audition for SO long now.....
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There was a festival in preparation for New Years last week and saw the prices for VCD\'s. It turns out it\'s 7 VCD\'s for $20 at some stalls and some are selling them for $10. =) We\'re not as expense as I had thought. =P