Ivan Drago wrote:Yeah, Jackie was Yuen Lo, then switched to Yuen Lung for films apparently.
When did he become Sing Lung?
Since his birth name was Chan Kong Sang, and he was apparently known as "Paul Chan" in some after-school class he was at, all these different names are confusing
Ivan Drago wrote:Sing Lung was what Lo Wei called him, in 1976, but I think he's usually credited as Chan Lung?
Quoted from his autobiography:
"Finally, Willie [Chan] chimed in. "How about Sing Lung?" he said.
Sing Lung means "already a dragon."
Lo snorted and tried to come up with reasons to dismiss that suggestion as well. After a few minutes, however, he conceded that Sing Lung was as good as we were probably going to get.
I was hoping HKMDB had the credit images for New Fist of Fury but it does not. Not much additional info at HKFA.
EDIT: unless I look at the chinese ideograms for his name which he used 成龍. So I do think New Fist of Fury was the first he used this combination.
Some observations between the two Lady Whirlwind (1972: Huang Feng) and Hapkido (1972: Huang Feng). I'll discuss more what I think of Lady Whirlwind later:
Both have sympathetic Korean character(s) and evil Japanese ones.
A head scissors move is used by Angela is both films.
Hand held camera is used a lot in both. Lady Whirlwind is definitely not shot in HK
I only saw undercranking in Hapkido.
Hapkido takes place in 1934 while Lady Whirlwind seems to not have a time period (yes there is some Japanese characters but no mention of occupation.)
Angela gets to put more emotion in the later film (though sometimes her facial mannerisms remind me of Lo Lieh.)
Angela also gets to display more moves in the later film. The choreography is definitely better in the later film (more full contact, better athletes, more moves).
Chin Yuet Sang's character looks very anachronistic in Lady Whirlwind to me. If everyone else is early 20th century, he seems much older in terms of fashion, but at least he doesn't have fangs.
Sammo, Angela, Jackie and others went on a crash-course in hapkido under Chi Hon Tsoi that year, which probably explains the development of their movies.
bradavon wrote:
but I guess you're more intelligence than me.
Ivan Drago wrote:Chin Yuet Sang's character looks very anachronistic in Lady Whirlwind to me. If everyone else is early 20th century, he seems much older in terms of fashion, but at least he doesn't have fangs.
Sammo, Angela, Jackie and others went on a crash-course in hapkido under Chi Hon Tsoi that year, which probably explains the development of their movies.
Which is why I do not think you can date Lady Whirlwind really (I've been keeping a timeline in terms of era of period HK movies that I slowly work on.)
There is a world of difference between the two films which you especially see if you watch them back-to-back. But it also looks like more budget is in the second and more time was spent on the second film.
I watched Twelve Gold Medallions and Invincible Fist to get some screen caps. Both excellent Shaw Wuxia flicks. I wonder when Chang Cheh dispensed with the positive female characters in his films. His early work had quite a few, as in Invincible Fist with the blind daughter.
I watched Twelve Gold Medallions and Invincible Fist to get some screen caps. Both excellent Shaw Wuxia flicks. I wonder when Chang Cheh dispensed with the positive female characters in his films. His early work had quite a few, as in Invincible Fist with the blind daughter.
That would make an interesting study (well at least for a few of us) to chart the positive and negative and nonuse of female characters in Chang Cheh films. Actually I might need to check to see if that topic has been done and if so how well it has been done.
Funny that Chang's use of the opposite sex sometimes reminds me of John Woo, Johnnie To and Jean Pierre Melville (all three have publicly stated that they have trouble with female characters though I have not read if Chang has said that.)
Also with the positive releases of that Shout Factory set I'm looking forward to their next releases (I know one came out Tuesday here in the states -- the colonies to some of you; but unfortunately I have not found it in the stores which means Amazon to me.)
It would be interesting to chart, though I haven't seen all of his movies, So I couldn't do it. Maybe he had more than I realise... wasn't there a "good girl" in Chinatown Kid? That's a latter day flick.
I need to see more Chang Cheh films. I just checked and I have seen 30 of his films.
I might do a full length review of Shaw Brothers The Price of Love (1970: Wu Chia-hsiang) which was Teddy Robin's first film. Not a particularly good film so I just might skip it instead of watching it again picking it apart, but the good thing about full length reviews is what you learn when you are looking up info.
Seen 54 of his Shaws, and a couple of the latter day flicks.
True about reviews... research is part of the fun and integral, if you ask me. I hate reading reviews where it's obvious that the writer has done zero research, and is just winging it, guessing on stuff, blanking on actor's names etc. This obviously just pertains to longer reviews, not quick takes or off the cuff musings.
Bandits From Shantung 2.5/5 Decent Golden Harvest effort starring Chang Yi as the atypical stranger helping protect a town from the feared title bandits.Sammo appears in another bad guy role,the action is plentiful and it clips along at a fast pace (less than 80 minutes) i remember owning this on a Rank pre-cert VHS
Ivan Drago wrote:Chin Yuet Sang's character looks very anachronistic in Lady Whirlwind to me. If everyone else is early 20th century, he seems much older in terms of fashion, but at least he doesn't have fangs.
Sammo, Angela, Jackie and others went on a crash-course in hapkido under Chi Hon Tsoi that year, which probably explains the development of their movies.
Which is why I do not think you can date Lady Whirlwind really (I've been keeping a timeline in terms of era of period HK movies that I slowly work on.)
The two One Armed Boxer films are a doozy. The first one is set in the Republican Era. The second takes places days later, with characters wearing similar style clothing, but all of a sudden we're in the 1730s!
bradavon wrote:
but I guess you're more intelligence than me.
saltysam wrote:Bandits From Shantung 2.5/5 Decent Golden Harvest effort starring Chang Yi as the atypical stranger helping protect a town from the feared title bandits.Sammo appears in another bad guy role,the action is plentiful and it clips along at a fast pace (less than 80 minutes) i remember owning this on a Rank pre-cert VHS
I was going to review this but you've pretty much said what I was gonna say. Wasn't much of a plot really, even by the standards of this genre.
bradavon wrote:
but I guess you're more intelligence than me.
Masterofoneinchpunch wrote:Both have sympathetic Korean character(s) and evil Japanese ones.
Lady Whirlwind and Hapkido were South Korean co-productions designed to make the Chinese and Koreans look good and the Japanese bad. Very of their time.
Masterofoneinchpunch wrote:Both have sympathetic Korean character(s) and evil Japanese ones.
Lady Whirlwind and Hapkido were South Korean co-productions designed to make the Chinese and Koreans look good and the Japanese bad. Very of their time.
Co-productions probably explain why Seaman No. 7 is the only Jimmy Wang Yu film to be remotely polite to the Japanese.
bradavon wrote:
but I guess you're more intelligence than me.
Ivan Drago wrote: ... The two One Armed Boxer films are a doozy. The first one is set in the Republican Era. The second takes places days later, with characters wearing similar style clothing, but all of a sudden we're in the 1730s!
Both fun films though. I watched both within a few weeks so that was pretty noticable. Ah, the magic of cinema.
On a side note I completely forgot how the queue can be an easy determinent for dating a film (though lack of one does not always mean a non-Qing dynasty especially if the budget is too low for wigs.)
Quite a lot of Chang Cheh Shaws Retro (another note why isn't there a multi-quote button). There is only a couple of directors that I've seen that many films from.
Another Lady Whirlwind/Hapkido note: Lady Whirlwind has several scenes of "super" power, where a character jumps great heights, gets punched to great lengths etc... (some quite awkward in the film) EDIT: Hapkido does have the "trampoline" scenes.
Last edited by Masterofoneinchpunch on 23 May 2014, 19:11, edited 1 time in total.
I stopped caring (too much) about anachronisms in HK cinema a long time ago. It comes with the territory, and as long as it's not too overt, im not really bothered. Im certainly no expert in Chinese dynasties, authentic period garb etc. So on that one, ignorance is bliss. Though there are cases where im not as forgiving.... like Millionaire's Express. Unless it's actually a time travel movie, and im not aware of it, that time setting is all kinds of fucked.
Millionaire’s Express comes with some good news, and some bad news. The good news is that this movie has the greatest cast ever assembled in HK action movie history, and arguably some of the tightest choreo and stunt work of the mid 80's.The bad news… this movie is one big incoherent mess in every other way.
The narrative is all over the place, with an episodic nature that is vexing at best. With this many characters, each demanding their fair share of screen time, the movie jumps around from scene to scene at a frantic pace, introducing new people and plot lines like there’s no tomorrow. It becomes muddled and confusing as to who you should focus on, and who is just there for the hell of it. The comedy ranges from sort of fun, to bad, to cringeworthy, often going into Looney Tunes mode, and while three or four buffoonish characters would be sufficient, ten or twelve is just too much.
However, the worst offense has to be the rampant anachronisms. Seriously, this rivals Fantasy Mission Force. Sammo is no dope, so this was obviously a conscious choice. First off all, where is this supposed to take place? It was shot in Canada, Thailand, and HK but looks like some weird version of the old west. Secondly, when is this supposed to take place? There are people in cowboy gear, trench coats and fedoras, classic Chinese garb, Samurais, Russian soldiers...what the hell!? Is this set in some kind of time warp? Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton looks like American Civil War soldiers, Richard Ng looks like Sherlock Holmes, and people are driving 1930's cars and motorcycles! What in the name of Buddha's ballsack is going on here? Pick a style, a time, a place, and stick with it. This was a real opportunity to make a great period spectacle, like Project A or Pedicab Driver, but unless this is a time travel movie, you should stick to one setting, and work your magic within that frame. You honestly have to wonder what Sammo was thinking here.
Luckily, He roped in a bunch of the biggest names in 80’s HK action, and let most of them cut loose in some fantastic fight scenes, which is about the only recommendable thing about this otherwise misguided effort. Sammo VS Cynthia Rothrock, Yuen Biao VS Dick Wei, Yasuaki Kurata VS Richard Norton, plus Hwang Jang Lee, Yukari Oshima, Wang Lung Wei, Chung Faat, Hsiao Hou and many others, doing their thing. Why this cornucopia of kickass fight action couldn’t have been presented in a more coherent framework, is kinda disheartening. It is really top notch stuff, but you just have to get through a lot of obscure territory to get to it.
With a cast this impressive, and action this good, it’s a damn shame that everything else is on acid. Why Sammo made the choices he made here, is a bit of a head scratcher, and a huge detriment to the film as a whole. As an action showcase, and a curiosity Millionaire’s Express just squeaks by, but that’s it. This had all the makings of a true classic, but sadly trips itself up with its unwarranted wackiness.
I just lost the several paragraphs I had written (not sure what the hell happened). Crap! To recap: Funny review retro, I think there would have been several time travel devices for that film or else they raided the wardrobe of Blazing Saddles and a few other films. I still like the film though. I tend to turn my brain off which helps. I do enjoy the Eastern Westerns.
