Merry xmas folks!

I wish you all a merry xmas!
I gotta work today but tonite i might have time to watch a movie... yeah, no kung fu though..the classic xmas movie ever: Home Alone.

I know that blog updates are rare but I am pretty busy, and watching a movie is a luxury that recently I didnt have. Moreover, my gf doesnt like this kinda of movies...
Lets hope it will get better.

MERRY XMAS!!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

New arrivals!

I have been pretty busy recently.. my dad coming over, my own stuff and my job. Damn, I m tired!
But that`s not the reason I m writing this post... the reason is that I got some new stuff in my collection.
2 posters and 1 VHS.. oh yeah I found a guy with lots of videotapes and he has some really interesting/rare stuff.
Let`s start with one poster.

Massacre in Nanjing (屠城血证)(1987)

 The movie is about the Nanajing Massacre. I didn`t have the chance to watch the movie yet but it`s been released on dvd so, one day I will pick it up.

And now let`s show you my gems. I recently got the luck to buy the original vhs and poster of one of my favorite movie of all the time: Little Heroes (自古英雄出少年)(1983). Here we go:

I am so freakin happy to own those. The movie is just awesome and I was looking for that poster for a long time.
Like them? I sure do!
Cheers!

A pool for all of you!

Here I am with a new post.
It`s not a review because I didn` t have time to watch any movies recently, but it`s a pool.
I put down a list of movies I have here with me and I give the chance to choose the next movie to be reviewed.
Movies are provided with English and Chinese title and poster.
Here we go:

1) 东方美女 Eastern Beauty (1989)

2) 大上海1937 Great Shanghai 1937 (1986)


3) 醉鬼张三 Legend Of The Drunken Tiger (1990)(the trailer I made is still available on youtube)


4)中俄列车大劫案 The train robbers (1995)

 5) 天国恩仇  Betrayal and Revenge (1986)

You can post a comment here or send me an email .
The deadline is in 2 weeks.
Cheers.

Finally... I m back!

I just bought a VPN so I finally can go on youtube and stuff without problems!
I m gonna upload something soon.
Stay tune.
Cheers!

The Little Black Box (黑匣喋血记)(1986)

 

The Little Black Box (黑匣喋血记)(1986)

 

Dir: Huang Zhong-shu

Cast: Han Zhikai,Wen Xitai, Zhang Anji, Tang Junliang
Plot: Eve of the 1911 revolution, the government is trying hard to kill all the revolutionaries. The rebels from Wu Chang send the martial arts master Jin Biao to Guangzhou in order to deliver some important documents. A traitor will try to stop him and get those papers..

Year: 1986
Country: Mainland China 

Trailer (Source Material: Original Mainland Dvd):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qUjlrSJ50M

Notes:  Released in East Germany with the name Das kleine schwarze Kästchen and in Spain on dvd with only Spanish audio, this flick became available recently on dvd in China. A big surprise waited me when I bought the movie: it has English subtitles forced in. Finally, a version with the original dub and accessible to every one. The director just made this action flick, his other works are just not suitable for this blog. On the other hand, Han Zhikai participated in movies like Arhats in Fury (八百罗汉)(1985) and Swords Meet (1988)( 天下第一剑).

Personal Opinion: while back (you can find our first brief review here in the blog, just browse it a little) we saw some scenes from the movie but now I had the chance, thanks to the dvd, to watch the full feature.

The story is pretty classic and simple: the government against the rebels. Most of the Chinese flicks are set during the Qing dynasty and this one is not an exception.

The fighting is pretty good, at least above average, the only thing I didn’t really like was the flying stuff. In my opinion they just didn’t fit there, especially for that stupid sound effect that goes along with them. When the guys (and the girl) are on the ground is price less, but on the air.. damn.

There is plenty of stuff that a martial art aficionado would love but maybe It just didn’t get me.

Overall, the movie is enjoyable and if you are in only for the fights, well, you can FF the dvd.

Deadly Target (刑侦风云)

Deadly Target (刑侦风云)

Dir: Godfrey Ho / Phillip Ko
Cast: Oshima Yukari , Sharon Yeung Pan-Pan, John Cheung, Edu Manzano, Phillip Ko Fei
Plot: The Hk police force and the Mainland police force work together to stop one of the largest arms dealers in Asia.

Year: 1994
Country: Mainland China 

Trailer (Source Material: Original Mainland Dvd): http://youtu.be/vHQk4f9c6XY

Notes:  The movie is considered as a Filipino/Hk co-production by lots of people. On Chinese websites the movie is stated as Mainland production. I don’t know which version is true though. The print I have is the Mainland’s. I will spend some words about the dvd (I will talk about the movie later). The print used was in really bad condition, sometime the video just becomes like somebody peed on it, vintage feeling at its best. The movie was broadcasted on cctv with much higher resolution and quality. I am pretty sure the movie was released in HK on vcd or LD or vhs with English subtitles. Be aware that if you buy the Mainland vers. You won’t have English subs.

Personal Opinion: Here I am reviewing a movie from director Godfrey Ho (famous for Ninja movies) set in Manila. When I bought the movie I did not know anything about it, only that there was Oshima Yukari as one of the main protagonists. Let’s say this straight: the movie is bad. The story is nothing new, the acting is less than average, the action is… pretty decent, I admit that.

Both Oshima Yukari and Sharon Yeung show their skills with weapons and not, but the movie is something you do not want to scream about. I mean ,yeah, you have some good moments (thanks to those 2 girls), you have bullet ballet (cheap special effects), you have stupid comedy (the ladyboy saving the cop? Oh yes!), but the movie just did not take my interest, sometimes I just wanted to fast forward to see how it ended. You wanna skip it? Do it, you will not lose anything. You are a big Oshima Yukari fan? Give it a try, you might like it.

Some snapshots (source: official mainland dvd):

Loyal Hero (侠骨风流)(1992)

Loyal Hero (侠骨风流)

Dir: Hongsheng Li
Cast: Honglin Dong, Fengyi Yang, Honglin Dong, Keming Liu, Jian Zhao, XiaoYi Ding, Haihua Han
Plot:  It’s the end of the Tang dynasty, the country is on fire. Yuchi Gong (Honglin Dong) wants to join the army of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji. Unfortunately, he was disappointed by them and decided to join their enemy, Liu Wuzhou. The brothers Li heard that Liu’s wife and his sister-in law are two rare beauties so they decide to kidnap them.
Yuchi Gong succeed in rescuing them but Liu’s wife dies... The problems are not finished yet, the Li brothers found out about Yuchi’s wife and son and kidnap them..
Year: 1992
Country: Mainland China 
Trailer (edit by me from the original dvd ): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AbvSRuQlV4
Notes:  The movie is released in China on dvd by Gzbeauty. This version does not have any subtitles and so the flick is really hard to follow without some mandarin knowledge. As far as I know, no other releases are available.
The director, Hongsheng Li, started his career with the great Rescued from desperation (绝处逢生)(1985). It seems that his last movie was Loyal Hero, I couldn't find further information about him.
Honglin Dong is not newcomer in this field, he starred in movies like Kung Fu Hero Wang Wu (大刀王五)(1985).
Fengyi Yang is not new too, this beauty starred in Rescued from desperation (绝处逢生)(1985) (her first movie) and Deathat the Carefree Mansion (索命逍遥楼)(1990).
Personal opinion:  I was wondering what to buy next for our collection and I ended up buying this Loyal Hero, I didn't even know what was it about. Did I get lucky or unlucky? Let’s find out.
First of all, the movie is a historical drama set during the end of the Tang dynasty. The movie is full of names of people I ‘ve never heard about (I m pretty bad at Chinese ancient history), but I’ve been told that those people really existed.
I gotta say that most of the time when there was no action on screen , I got little bored from all those dialogues. Well, let’s not waste time on useless drama and let’s go to the action.
The movie is loaded with martial arts sequences; also the cooks can show a pretty damn good kung fu!
Weapons and fists everywhere, some wires but also a lot of physical skills. The fights are at normal speed although some are speeded up a little. I just loved when I saw the girl fight, her skills with the sword were outstanding.
One more thing before conclude this short review, at the beginning (you can see what I am referring to also in the trailer I made) the whole situation is supposed to be scared but the result was kinda of fun (cheap special effect), still pretty weird though.
Overall, the movie is pretty solid, you have martial arts and a little of history. If you just don’t care about the history part (like me), you will have fun with the action stuff.
Some snapshots from the original dvd: