Movie Reviews

Chinese New Year Special: My Top 10 Under-the-Radar Shaw Brothers Films (as of Feb 2015)

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Gung Hay Fat Choy!
恭禧發財

It’s Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year) and Celestial Pictures, owners of the wonderful Shaw Brothers film library, have asked me to contribute something to their big celebration. Yesterday I published a list of my 10 favorite Shaw films, but there’s too many great Shaw films for me to just leave it at that. So I came up with this list, offering up another 10 great films! This one’s more for the seasoned Shaw fan than it is for the newcomer, but who am I to say that you have to start with the genre’s so-called favorites? Start wherever you like!

As with the previous list: Before you send me hate mail and “Why isn’t so-and-so movie on the list?” comments, I haven’t seen a lot of the Shaw Brothers films past 1972 (the year I’ve most recently finished in my chronological series), so that’s why this list steers toward the early years of their color martial arts output. But I imagine a good many fans are the opposite of me and haven’t seen a lot of the early films, so I hope this list is a help. In any case, I’m not trying to say these are the best or anything, just my favorites. With that in mind, here’s my Top 10 Under-the Radar Shaw films as it currently stands (and in no particular order), with links to where you can get ahold of them!

Killers Five (1969)
Directed by Cheng Kang
Reviewed February 10, 2012

One of the best parts of doing my chronological Shaw Brothers series is discovering great directors I previously knew nothing about. Cheng Kang is at the top of that list, and Killers Five is the first of three films of his on this list. I’m a sucker for any kind of movie where a team is recruited for a dangerous mission, and Killers Five is an incredibly entertaining Shaw Brothers version of the tried-and-true formula.

Killers Five is currently only available on an out-of-print Region 3 DVD through Amazon or YesAsia.

Chinese New Year Special: My Top 10 Favorite Shaw Brothers Films (as of Feb 2015)

LA_ChineseNewYear

Gung Hay Fat Choy!
恭禧發財

It’s Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year) and Celestial Pictures, owners of the wonderful Shaw Brothers film library, have asked me to contribute something to their big celebration. I thought that a list like this would provide newcomers to the Shaw films a few places to start their journey, and provide me an interesting picture to look back on as I continue to work my way through more of the Shaw Catalog.

Before you send me hate mail and “Why isn’t so-and-so movie on the list?” comments, I haven’t seen tons of the great Shaw Brothers classics that I’m sure will eventually vie for a place on this list when I do see them. That’s part of the reason I started my chronological series, to eventually see them all. I’m also not trying to say these are the best or anything, just my favorites. With that in mind, here’s my Top 10 Shaw Favorites as it currently stands (and in no particular order), with links to where you can get ahold of them!

The Super Inframan (1975)
Directed by Hua Shan
Reviewed by Uncle Jasper June 17, 2010

The Super Inframan is one of those movies that most people would call campy and a waste of their time. For me, I was in love with it about four seconds into the movie. I’ve never understood why “campy” was considered a bad thing. Whatever, it’s their loss. The Super Inframan is an incredibly fun film, packed with so much imagination and wild visuals that it remains endlessly re-watchable.

The Super Inframan is available on DVD, and digitally at iTunes and Google Play.

Purple Darts (1969)

Purple Darts [紫金鏢] (1969)

Starring Wang Ling, Tung Li, Ou Wei, Cho Kin, Li Kuan-Chang, Lee Fung, Cheung Sai-Sai, Chow Siu-Hing, Tai Leung, Cheung Ching-Fung

Directed by Pan Lei

Expectations: Fairly low.

It’s a shame that Purple Darts is one of the Shaw Brothers films that never received a DVD release from Celestial, because it’s a great wuxia full of fun characters and tense fights. Its story isn’t always the slickest, the characters’ motivations are usually somewhat cloudy and unexplained, there are “important” things that ultimately mean nothing, and the choreography leaves a lot to be desired, but Purple Darts finds ways to make those discrepancies fly away like a slick wuxia hero. It’s by far the best film I’ve seen from Pan Lei, and I’m sad that his final martial arts film for the Shaw Brothers, 1971’s The Merciful Sword, is currently MIA. Maybe it’ll eventually turn up like Purple Darts.

Like many Shaw martial arts films from the 1960s, Purple Darts opens with an infant in peril. Her parents are under assault from four villainous figures of the martial world: Bai Feng the Butcher, Lu Dachao the Bull Demon, Gu Miaozhen the Seducer, and Wang Yizhou The Wind Waving Scholar. Together they seek the Great Mystery Scriptures, a kung fu manual with unexplained power and importance. The infant’s mother manages to smuggle her out through a hidden tunnel, and an old man takes the baby in. Cue the credits! And now, just as in a good majority of these ’60s wuxias, the credits end and the infant is now a 20-something adult in search of vengeance for the crimes against her parents!

The Command (1954)

Starring Guy Madison, Joan Weldon, James Whitmore, Carl Benton Reid, Harvey Lembeck, Ray Teal, Robert Nichols, Don Shelton

Directed by David Butler

Expectations: None.

The Command features an interesting premise for a fairly standard “Cowboys & Indians” western: after the Captain of the cavalry unit is killed, the unit’s doctor is given command of the company until they reach Ft. Stark and a hard-earned rest. But along they way, the cavalry runs into an Infantry Unit escorting a wagon train of civilians through Indian country. The infantry commander requests the cavalry unit to provide support on their journey, so now what was to be a short career in command for Dr. Robert MacClaw (Guy Madison) becomes a test of the doctor’s ability to save lives on a massive scale through strategy and confidence, instead of healing.

This kind of story, where an unlikely hero rises to the occasion, is nothing new (even in 1954, I’m sure), and The Command doesn’t do a lot to separate itself from the pack. Guy Madison has a great presence as the doctor turned commander, evoking the sensitivity of a caring doctor well. The only problem is that he begins the film nearly as confident as he ends it, so his struggle to find strength is more of a red herring than it initially seems. The film is actually more about MacClaw proving himself and earning the respect of the men he’s leading through dangerous territory. This is further complicated for MacClaw with the introduction of the infantry, who apparently have a long-standing rivalry with the cavalry, so the Doc must also convince these infantrymen and their commander that he’s worthy of their trust and respect.

Fearless Hyena Part II (1983)

Fearless Hyena Part II [龍騰虎躍] (1983)
AKA Superfighter 2

Starring Jackie Chan, Austin Wai Tin-Chi, Yen Shi-Kwan, Kwan Yung-Moon, James Tin Jun, Chan Wai-Lau, Hon Gwok-Choi, Dean Shek Tin, Ma Cheung, Peng Kong, Wong Chi-Sang, Pearl Lin Yin-Zhu

Directed by Chan Chuen

Expectations: Pretty much none.

There’s no doubt that the circumstances under which Fearless Hyena II was made are exploitative, but who said exploitation wasn’t fun? Sure, it re-uses scenes from Spiritual Kung Fu and The Fearless Hyena, it has Jackie body doubles, and it has a plot that jumps around in order to make sure that Jackie “I Just Left Lo Wei’s Company to make Good Movies” Chan doesn’t need to be in every scene. It has all of these “problems” and more. But in terms of the bad movies that Jackie made with Lo Wei, Fearless Hyena II is surprisingly one of more entertaining ones. With things like jungle spike traps and two-character team-up attacks, I couldn’t help but enjoy myself.

The story is ~~surprisingly deep, original and heartfelt~~ your standard kung fu movie plot: The Heaven and Earth Devils, two dudes with evil beards and hairdos, are attempting to eradicate the Ching family’s 6-8 Magic kung fu style from existence. Only two Ching brothers and their two sons remain of the family, and even after they have been in hiding for over 15 years, the Heaven and Earth Devils have remained stalwart in their villainous quest. These are some seriously evil dudes. Well, to be fair to the Heaven Devil (the always awesome Yen Shi-Kwan), does say that he’s taking out the Ching brothers to avenge his father’s death. So maybe they’re actually the “good” guys. After all, we can’t judge people solely by their evil eyebrows — sorry, I meant to say maybe-evil-maybe-good-who-can-really-know-the-content-of-a-man’s-soul-from-an-eyebrow eyebrows.

Shaw Brothers on Hulu!

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the Shaw Brothers offerings on iTunes, and now Celestial has expanded its digital footprint to include Hulu! There are a few differences between the films on the two platforms, though. For one, the films on Hulu are available to watch for free, supported by ads (like a good portion of other content on Hulu). On iTunes the films usually include both subtitled and dubbed versions, but on Hulu you don’t get a choice. Or if you do, I wasn’t able to find it! Anyway, every movie I started was dubbed. So if you don’t mind ads and you’re fond of the old dubs, Hulu has you covered! As with any additions that come to iTunes, I’ll do my best to post updates when new films are added.

If you’re an interested fan, you would probably also benefit from liking Celestial’s Shaw Brothers Facebook page so you don’t miss the new announcements! I’m not getting paid for this either, I’m just a big fan hoping to steer more people towards these wonderful films.

Currently up for viewing:
(Click the film title to see the film on Hulu!)

The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

Starring RZA, Rick Yune, Russell Crowe, Byron Mann, Lucy Liu, Dave Bautista, Jamie Chung, Cung Le, Daniel Wu, Zhu Zhu, Gordon Liu Chia-Hui, Andrew Ng, Grace Huang, Andrew Lin, Chen Kuan-Tai, Leung Kar-Yan, MC Jin, Pam Grier, Jon T. Benn

Directed by RZA

Expectations: Low, but hopeful.

The Man with the Iron Fists is a strange movie, without a doubt. But I don’t think it’s bad; it’s more oddly misguided than anything else. What’s weird is that it feels this way based almost completely on how much RZA gets right in his homage to the classic kung fu films of the Shaw Brothers. Yes, “right.” The sets are magnificent and recapture the opulence of Shaw sets beautifully, the wirework is delivered with top-notch Hong Kong skill, and the story is filled with the wide range of colorful characters that any good wuxia demands. The weapons are suitably eccentric, and the battles are all well choreographed (by Corey Yuen), too. If you didn’t know any better, you might think that The Man with the Iron Fists was actually a Chinese production. RZA actually managed to resurrect the spirit of classic kung fu films, but — and this is where the “strange” comes in — the lens we experience all this classic kung fu goodness through is that of modern American filmmaking.

So because the film has so much good working for it, the bad sticks out and demands to be reckoned with in more apparent and frustrating ways than would otherwise be noticeable. The choice to film primarily in English is an expected one, but, at least for me, many of the actors sounded more like ’70s kung fu dubbing than actual actors in a scene. This could be bad acting, poor direction, or it could be by design. If it is intentional, that’s one hell of a bold choice for an unproven, first-time director making what is essentially a large-scale vanity project, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was true. I’m sure RZA grew up watching the dubs that made their way to the States in the ’70s, and as a result has a nostalgic fondness for them. No matter what the reason, though, it’s off-putting, especially to someone like me that has never really grown fond of those iconic dub jobs.