Director Chang Cheh made over a hundred films many of which are hailed, by those who know this stuff, as kung fu classics. Famed action director John Woo was quoted as naming him as a major influence and when you see this classic it's easy to see why; When the action starts, it's breathless, over the top and doesn't stop.A SPOILER FREE SYNOPSIS: Some nasty ninja have killed our hero's martial arts teacher. With the aide of a new teacher and some new fighting buddies our hero takes on the "Five Element Ninjas" (Gold, Fire, Water, Wood & Land).Bottom Line: It's exciting, it's violent and if you like kung fu it's impossible to only watch this movie once. For more Chang Cheh brilliance try 'The Kid with the Golden Arms' or '5 Deadly Venoms'.
Issac Hayes carrying the whole weight of an action film alone? A film starring HIM??? At first I thought it's ridiculous. Well, he is a great singer, but .... Then I watched this film, and twice, and am convinced. He should do that more!! Yes, I acknowledge he cannot act like DeNiro or Pacino, and the story of his love interest is as convincing as love between Josh, Ben, and Kate in "Pearl Harbor." But given a right material like this, his towering physical presence makes up for anything single-handedly.Truck Turner is an ex-football player, and now a bounty-hunter. With his partner Jerry, nothing can stop them. Nothing. If you are disliked by him, pray it ends soon -- because his huge fists are flying to you right in the face! But one day his botched job getting a guy named Gator leads to his being THE most wanted man for the gangsters. They attack him, his office, and his room even, but now it's Turner's turn to pay back!!!Frankly, the film is too violent, and one scene made me cry "Oh, PLEASE! DON'T HANG THAT!" But Hayes is well-cast and credible as a no-nonsense bounty-hunter, and actions are good. But the most memorable is Nichelle Nichols's "madam," whose foul-mouthed acting completely shatters the good old memory of "Star Trek" fans. (Where did our Uhula go? Or, is this what she really wanted to do?) Another impressive point is director Jonathan Kaplan, who sometimes gives strong emphasis to darker nuance of his direction (maybe overdirection, some say) later seen in his Jodie Foster film "The Accused." The fate of Yaphet Kotto is captured in a very bleak way, which reminds us of Christopher Walken in a very violent noir "The King of New York."Though I don't share the enthsiastic praise of other reviewers, "Truck Turner" is a great action film, which is raised higher one notch above than average blaxploitaion films. If there should be a sub-genre like "bounty-hunter movies," this comes to the top alongside with more comical "Midnight Run."If you don't know the details of bounty-hunting and bailbonding, you may not enjoy the film fully. In that case, you might as well see Trantino's "Jackie Brown," in which another icon Pam Grier showcases her great talent as the title heroine.
Zatoichi and Yojimbo fans will love this!Shintaro Katsu has aged and put on some weight, but the Zatoichi wry humor is still there, as is his lightning sword-play.Toshiro Mifune remains his Yojimbo double-dealing self.Together, they are lost souls, trying to survive in a miserable world filled with crooks, scoundrels, and murderers. Try as they may, their humanity keeps peeping through.It is refreshing to have enjoyable story plots instead of the continual escalating into stupid absurdity seen in most sequels these days.
Sure Zatoichi has put on a few pounds. Yeah, he broke his sword & his swordplay is @ a minimum. But the plot is intricate, characters rich and animated, the twists and turns, keeps one wondering who the bad guy really is. Toshiro Mifune is his old self, loud, rude and drunk most of the time. The interaction between these two is a joy to watch. And as usual, some pretty Japanese eye candy to balance it all out. Well worth the investment and IMHO one of the best in the series.
Zatoichi and Yojimbo fans will love this!Shintaro Katsu has aged and put on some weight, but the Zatoichi wry humor is still there, as is his lightning sword-play.Toshiro Mifune remains his Yojimbo double-dealing self.Together, they are lost souls, trying to survive in a miserable world filled with crooks, scoundrels, and murderers. Try as they may, their humanity keeps peeping through.It is refreshing to have enjoyable story plots instead of the continual escalating into stupid absurdity seen in most sequels these days.
Sure Zatoichi has put on a few pounds. Yeah, he broke his sword & his swordplay is @ a minimum. But the plot is intricate, characters rich and animated, the twists and turns, keeps one wondering who the bad guy really is. Toshiro Mifune is his old self, loud, rude and drunk most of the time. The interaction between these two is a joy to watch. And as usual, some pretty Japanese eye candy to balance it all out. Well worth the investment and IMHO one of the best in the series.
I recently ordered this film on DVD,though I have seen it more than once on IFC (Independent Film Channel) and I have always found Kirosawa's films to be reflective of real life situations. People are basically a cross between good and evil, with some variations of extremes between the two. The ronin in this film is like a robinhood type slash heroic type knight who certainly takes advantage of the stupid feud between two dominant houses but also he helps a young couple escape certain doom, however his plans backfire and...well I am not going to tell the whole movie. I think Akira Kirosawa was the best filmmaker that has ever lived, next to Kubrick and I dare say Lynch. If you have never seen this film before you should see it without a doubt, some of the best films are in monochrone black and white so don't let that bother you. This is a humorous and insightful film, dealing with human nature and how ridiculous people look when they go to extremes. It pays to just sit back and be a clearful observer, taking advantage from people guided solely by emotion.
"Yojimbo" may be Akira Kurosawa's most approachable film. On one level, it is pure entertainment. Mifune is perfect as the grubby super samurai. He embodies the anti-hero, the man-with-no-name who is not cultured or pure but still uses his strength on the side of the right. The bad men are clearly bad, and identify themselves as such. The fight scenes are flashy, unlike the realistic sword fights of "The Seven Samurai."On another level, "Yojimbo" shows Kurosawa's feelings about the encroaching capitalism and it's effect on Japanese culture. The businessmen have replaced the outlaw bandits and the villains. In a normal world, the corrupt Yakuza would swarm over the innocent workers and corrupt their children. Here, Kurosawa embodies a force of resistance. A samurai who can pit sword against pistol and out-fight ten men at once. He is a hero.It is precisely these metaphors that lifts "Yojimbo" beyond a simple chambra (swordfight) flick, and make it a Kurosawa movie. I highly recomend this film.
Yojimbo is great entertainment. What's not to like about this rootless ronin, wandering..who knows where? I love the opening scene with Toshiro's mighty back, his face toward the mountain. How oddly Paramount-ish the film is..anybody remember the Indiana Jones scene with Indy's back...Indy looking at the mountain. Spielberg said that, as a kid, he used his own crayola version of the mountain logo (Spielberg means "play-mountain" in German).We know how much he and Lucas loved Kurasawa films..they point to the Hidden Fortress, but, heck, what about Yojimbo? Oh, I think they took a page from Kuraswa's notebook, don't you? Check the two scenes against one another. You'll see.Yeah, It's influential. I won't go into the American Westerns influenced by the film. Let's say this: It's fabulous dark entertainment, and, after viewing other Kurasawa films, perhaps Yojimbo gains a certain depth. One recognizes characters from other films..it's like seeing family members in a whole new light with new skills that surprise you, make you respect them. Ok. Maybe not Toshiro Mifune. He's always cool. I always love him. He's always compelling to watch, even when he isn't really doing anything. There's always the potential for action that thrills.Hey, and what cooler scene in any movie than the dog walking down the street with a human hand in its mouth, then the pan to Mifune, and his reaction?Absolutely priceless.
Akira Kurosawa's YOJIMBO is a samurai movie set in Japan in 1860. That period was characterized by political turmoils and deep social changes. Samurais found no masters anymore and had to survive by selling their wit and their arms if they didn't want to turn into ronins, into mad warriors. In the far country, they could appear as substitutes of the law officers who didn't dare to show up.Toshiro Mifune stars as the no-name samurai who will benefit from the war going on between two gangs in one of these out-of-the-law towns. At this point, if you're an average movie lover, you will have recognized in YOJIMBO several themes used two or three years later by numerous italo-american filmmakers responsible for the revival of the western genre between 1962 and 1970.In fact, while I was admiring the skill of Toshiro Mifune, I couldn't refrain myself from counting the numerous situations borrowed by Sergio Leone in his Eastwood trilogy. Close-ups of the ugly faces of the outlaws, use of the widescreen format in order to film in the best possible way the streets duels, a musical score which haunts your mind and is part of the action, bloody details (the hand in the dog's mouth...) and a great sense of humor.I love Sergio Leone's movies but I think that it's of the utmost importance or simply by politeness to remember that YOJIMBO is the first Spaghetti western and that Akira Kurosawa has practically invented the myth of the no-name stranger.A scene access, colour bars and a trailer as bonus features. Great sound for a great musical score but, unfortunately, a master copy with such defaults as lines or white and black spots.A pre-Clint DVD.
Great buy great condition haven't watched the movie thru fully but so far so good thank you so much
Thank you so much for your awesome review!
We truly appreciate it.
Great martial Arts movie. The 25th Anniversary in DVD is nice to have in my collection of movies for my home theater 🎥 I have Star Wars, The Godfather Trilogy, Terminators, Scarface are just among my collection. A must have if you're a movie buff 💪🎥
Not a great movie. The writing is awkward. The pacing is jilted with many flashbacks to unnecessarily explain each person's motivations for going to Han's island. There's a kind of sexism with the women in the film either being a stand-in sex worker, or being a fridged revenge plot point. BUT despite its 70's, bell-bottoms "cool" style, the true triumph of the movie is that it introduced a real Asian American to America. He not only used his real voice, Chinese accent and all, but he was also this bad ass, take-no-crap, martial arts super-hero the likes no one had seen before. This wasn't Kato, the sidekick to a white guy, or Mickey Rooney projecting a stereotype like in Breakfast at Tiffany's. This was Bruce Lee portraying himself how he wanted to be portrayed. Unfortunately, it could be argued, taking on such a role (and becoming a role-model) is what eventually got him killed. He overtrained, went too high, flew too close to the sun. But for an impressionable young Asian American such as myself, seeing Bruce Lee send people flying with his kicks and punches was nothing short of a heroic feat, not just for himself but for all Asian Americans in this country.
Lo Lieh not only stars in this classic Kung Fu tale. He also directed it. Gordon Liu also stars. Almost the exact same cast from Executioners of Shaolin. But Fist Of The White Lotus a much better movie in my opinion. Lo Lieh (as always) is such a good villain. You almost feel sorry for him in the end. One thing that stood out in this movie to me. Was the amount of wire work. Most old school Kung Fu movies used very little, if any wire work at all. Wire work or not check this movie out.
Just like I said, a very good kung fu film(directed by Lo Lieh and starring Gordon Liu) despite the recognizable 'must get revenge through some unique training' story line. About the choreography, the fights are mostly fast, clean, crisp, and impressive(kung fu fans will know what I'm talking about). As for the DVD, no extras on my Lion Video DVD, but the picture quality is mostly very good and it's in widescreen(its got black bars at the top and bottom anyway). The dubbing is about what you might expect(decent, but not great). Overall, a must add to your collection.
The first and only time I seen this movie was at the tender age of 3. I must say that I was scared as @#*? when my mom, aunt, and I left that theatre. Many years has past since that movie debuted and I still remember the name "ABBY". When you think of Abby, zombie like features, wild hair, disgusting vomit, and a demon possessed woman running toward the movie screen, comes to mind every time. But overall, after 30 years, I think it would be a good movie to watch on halloween.
When I heard that one of the Drunken Master movies was going to be in theaters, my friend and I rushed down to the cinema to watch it. This is actually "Drunken Master II", and it is jam-packed with great action and comedy. I don't think you've seen Jackie at his best until you see that last fight scene.If I remember correctly, this originally came out in 1994, and was a sequel to the 1979 "Drunken Master". It features a redone dubbing that is probably better than the original dubbing available. Jackie Chan did his own voice, if I recall. My one complaint is that this version probably will not feature a subtitled edition (with the original Chinese audio), and the company that did release a subtitled version no longer holds the rights to release it. It is a shame that so many great Asian films are not available in their original, uncut format. Nevertheless, this is still a great film, and a must for any Jackie Chan, Hong Kong cinema, or action fan.
I wasnt expecting much from this one, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. Disapointing, the animation is lacking, and the storyline is virtually non-existent. It vaguely follows the "adventures" of a 15ft invincible man called "Violence Jack", who after being released from a tomb after a series of apocalyptic distasters wreck tokyo, proceeds to go on what can really only be described as a mindless killing spree in a Mad Max-esque world.I can really only recomend the aptly named "Violence Jack" to fans of random gore and, well, violence.
Director Ossie Davis delivers not only a taut police thriller but a film that inserts the concerns of the civil rights movement circa 1970 in a fascinating way. Filmed on actual locations the film just exudes authenticity and atmosphere. For a film that keeps it real I found it interesting that the film's score was composed by Galt McDermott of "Hair" fame(?!). Another minor quibble is that the violence in the film was at times over-the-top. Godfrey Cambridge as Gravedigger Jones and Raymond St. Jacques as Coffin Ed Johnson make an engaging pair. They assume their duty as New York police detectives is to protect their people from predators whether they be black or white even if at times they are at odds with their white captain. Calvin Lockhart is deliciously smarmy as Reverend Deke O'Malley who bilks his congregants out of cash for a bogus back to Africa scheme. Judy Pace is seductively evil as Iris, O'Malley's main squeeze. Redd Foxx is underutilized here as a junk dealer but his character does prove integral to the film's plot.
Some time ago I was in FYE with some money to burn with a friend of mine trying to decide on which martial arts movie I wanted to get: Five Deadly Venoms or The 7 Grandmasters. I had heard both were classics but ultimately I was won over by The 7 Grandmasters because, well, 7 is a lucky number and the quality of the DVD case was well designed. Yeah, I fire with all pistons when it comes to logic.7 Grandmasters was a phenomenal martial arts movie and is now probably one of my favorites. Not only did it provide some awesome martial arts work it has a story and characters you actually cared about. It was a movie that broke the "kung fu movie stereotype" that gets these old school films so little of the respect they deserve.Just like Five Deadly Venoms.The plot of the movie begins with the master of the Poison Clan on the verge of death. His last request of his final student is to search out 5 of his deadliest students and for him to make sure that what the master taught them isn't being used for ill. The former students are The Snake, The Centipede, The Lizard, The Scorpion, and The Toad and yes, they are all named after the respective styles they were taught...each with particular advantages the others don't have. These are totally unique styles with particularly bizarre (and not coincidentally, entertaining) attributes: The Scorpian primarily uses his legs and has a superhuman grip while The Toad is just plain indestructable to name just a few.Since these students were all taught wearing masks the master himself has no clue as to their identities. The final student of course agrees to the mission and our movie begins...What follows is a rather unpredictable, well-directed, and well acted martial arts film.While later, not as well crafted martial arts films poured on cliche after cliche to the point where almost nothing was surprising Five Deadly Venoms swerves and pivots with unpredictability. Compared to the films I was used to Five Deadly Venoms defies convention in a few areas. Here are just a few...1) The hero of the film isn't all powerful.2) There is no MAIN villain...but the ones there are are hardly comical and you will even find yourself hating them character-wise.3) You actually empathize with the emotions of the characters.And I actually watched the DUBBED version.The only caveat I have in regards to the film is that the actual martial arts works isn't over astounding (though there are a few moves I found to be rather surprising) if they are pretty unique (The Lizard's ability to cling to walls is surprisingly well done.). This, all in all, is a really small gripe. The choreograpy in the film is actually very well done and fast paced as opposed to the slow, more methodical style of less impressive movies. The story itself is so engaging that I actually wouldn't care if the fighting was limited to shadow boxing.The point is: if you love martial arts films you owe to yourself to check out Five Deadly Venoms. You won't be disappointed.
First, a disclaimer. I have studied Taoism and Buddhism for many years. I am thrilled to see my dreams of China on the screen: such beauty, such unique characters, such understated tragedy of Hamletesque screenwriting and characters.Those who do not have a special connection to China will still love this movie (if they aren't Joe sixpack who won't read subtitles.) The on-screen letterbox book format made the subs very readable and were very close to the words spoken by the actors.This is an extraordinary movie, a reminder of the secrets of Asia and the beauty of martial arts when danced, not punched, with one's opponent -- the dance that is the art of Tao combined with the warrior duty of the Emporor's dynasty. Women viewers will be stunned by the beauty and strength of these fluid participants in their destiny. I continue to learn more of the language, the landscape I see in my dreams, the words I hear when reading the sacred scripts.The sheer beauty of the choreography is stunning in the mist that is China. Yo Yo Ma outdoes himself in the soundtrack and I will add it to my extensive collection of his work. Even those who don't appreciate the soul of a great Cellist must have this opportunity to dip their fingers in the water of orchestral beauty. I suggest "The Last Emporer" when adding this to yourwish list and reserving a full evening to find your way to the Oriental mysteries--older than any other great civilization--fresh and inspiring to us.
Image quality and sound are great, has two versions of the film and some nice extras.I wish it included a 1080 Blu Ray, but this is great.