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Flaming_Dragon
Reviews
Tai ji quan (1996)
One of the best martial arts films ever!
Wow, this film was much better than i expected! (maybe even better than Tai Chi Master!) Jackie Wu is Excellent as the lead and Darren Shahlavi(Smith) is very good as the british villain in this his first hong kong movie. Great supporting cast including Sibelle Hu (Jackie's mum) , Yue Hoi (Jackie's dad), Christy Chung (jackie's love interest), Billy Chau (Opponent, Great Nothern kicker), Ji Chun Hua (Smith's Thug) and Taam Chui (Jackie's Cousin). All give good performances especially Ji Chun Hua (Falling down a flight of concrete stairs, no pads!) Darren Shahlavi (Great stunts all round!), Jackie Wu (great fighting, despite the fact he has really bad eyesight!) but the best guy in the film has to be Taam Chui! Not only does he have his own character ( Ah Sung, jackie's cousin) he also doubles for almost everyone in the movie!! He is so physically talented (i think he studied Wu Shu at the same academy as Jet Li and Jackie) that he was obviously hired by Yuen Woo Ping to do the lightning fast jumping kicks and spins that other people simply can't do! He doubles for Billy Chau, Mark Cheng, Yue Hoi and even Jackie Wu at one stage! As Darren Shahavi once said in an interview "that guys the best kicker i've ever seen!" and that's coming from someone as physically talented as Darren! Taam is by far the most talented martial artist in the film (even with a cast like Billy Chau , Jackie Wu and Yue Hoi!) He is even assistant action director too! This film is a top five favourite of mine and is quite simply a classic of the genre! It's full of great acting, superb fights and as always good direction by Yuen Woo Ping. Should be enjoyable to just about anyone and a Kung Fu must see for fight fans everywhere!If you haven't seen it, go see it now!
Bai lian xie shen (1993)
Great, but brutal action film!
This is a very good action film, but it could have been so much better! Ji Chun Hua is fantastic as usual as the lead villain giving a stong and powerful performance! Do Siu Chun is good as the lead (Iron Bridge San), but it would have been much better if his sidekick Taam Chui (Kuang) was the lead for this one (he's a better actor and much better martial artist than Siu Chun!) .Unfortunately this film drags a little at times and Taam Chui's mega martial arts talent is completely wasted! It's a real crime for this guy to be in a film and not bust a move! (his kicks are amazing!) . I'm suprised he hasn't done more stuff, he looks like Jet Li (should appeal) can fight even better and can act! why isn't he more famous? Still this is a great action film, full of well choreographed fights, some good acting (mainly from Ji Chun Hua and Taam Chui) and a good solid story, though not for the Squeamish (some brutal parts!) .Though this film's not well known it's well worth a look and a must see for Kung Fu fans!
Huang Fei Hong zhi nan er dang bao guo (1993)
Great Action movie!
This is another great martial arts movie about legendary folk hero Wong Fei Hong!It's much lower budget than Jet Li's 'Once Upon A Time In China' movies, but is suprisingly good, even better, more realistic action than the once upon a time in china series! Ok , so it is essentially copying the Jet Li films but the guy who plays Wong Fei Hong (Wang Kwan) is a very good martial artist (though he's not as good an actor as Jet!). The main attractions here are Master Eleven (Ji, Chun Hua, the bad guy from from Fong Sai Yuk 2)and the guy who plays Leung Foon! (Taam Chui) With out a doubt these two are very talented performers!Their martial arts skills are unmatched and in particular, i have to say Taam Chui is probably the most talented martial artist i have ever seen!(he puts the likes of Jet Li, Chui Man Cheuk and Donnie yen to shame!)His kicking skills are unbelieveable and there are almost no wires used in the fights!Worth checking out just for Taam Chui(though his talent is usually wasted in this film he gets to show at least some of his awesome skill!).The only films with better action than this are probably 'The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk' and 'Heroes among Heroes'. This ranks among the best i've seen, truly an undiscovered classic of the genre!A must see for Kung- Fu fight fans!