Born Invincible - 太极气功 (1978) PLUS ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

36 Styles reaches it's final week and this entry I'm going to be looking at yet another cult classic among fans of old school Kung Fu Cinema and it is none other then Born Invincible. Directed and produced by Joseph Kuo and featuring fight choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping, Born Invincible is a Taiwanese production (Often mistaken as a Hong Kong production) that combines competent story telling and some simply terrific action. It also features the popular "Silver Fox" a character archetype who practices a certain martial arts style and has become so proficient their hair turns white and their body becomes impervious to any sort of attack except they have one weak spot which must be located and exploited if their opponent hopes to defeat them.  

the character has featured in numerous Kung Fu films and has been played by the likes of Hwang Jang Lee, Chan Sing and Lo Lieh. it's with a lot of excitement that I get to review this one because it's a film I've wanted to review for a long time.

When the students of a martial arts schooled intervene during an assault of an old man and his daughter, the masters of the thugs responsible turn up at the school. After killing both the school's master and the old man, the students take a vow to train hard and hope to avenge their fallen teacher.

The first thing that struck me about Born Invincible was the story. While in terms of the plot it was seen-it-all-before type stuff, it was told in a very competent and very well plotted way. There's no scenes that take place that serve no purpose and every story point is hit at the right time and at the right place. Usually one would have to find a Shaw Brothers or Golden Harvest film for this kind of thing but it's wonderful that an independently produced film can actually have something going for it other than the martial arts action. I thoroughly enjoyed the story here and thought it was one of the film's more stronger elements. I suppose this could be put down to the fact that Joseph Kuo was the director. Kuo was a very prolific independent director and producer who gave us such old school titles as The Seven Grandmasters, 18 Bronzemen and The 36 Deadly Styles. Those are some of the more better made and infinitely more watchable indy films made during that era so it doesn't come as a surprise that Born Invincible maintains the same level of quality.

The interesting thing about Born Invincible as that there doesn't seem to be a single protagonist through out. Each time a character steps forward that looks like they are the lead they end up being bumped off and then the film focuses on another character. I liked this aspect of the story because it actually builds Carter Wong (who plays the main villain) as a credible threat and makes the final confrontation between hero and villain in the final reel all the more exciting to watch. Another thing that caught me off guard was how good the acting is among most of the cast. Lung Fei appears in the earlier part of the film as the martial arts school Master and he actually delivers a very good and believable performance and found myself actually caring about this character when he walked into battle with Carter's character. The Old Man played by an actor

Su Chen-Ping puts a lot of effort into his performance so when both he and the master are killed you really feel for the loss of the other characters.

Brothers Jack Long and Mark Long also feature as two of the leads. Both of them show they could be decent actors when given good material to work with and they also get to do a lot of action. Jack Long especially has two stand out fights against Lo Lieh. Everyone who knows their Kung Fu movies will be more then familiar with who that is. After all he did star in one of the most well known Kung Fu movies ever made, King Boxer AKA Five Fingers of Death. I liked these fights especially as Lo uses as a baton with lots of hidden blades to give that extra advantage whenever he fights anyone with bladed weaponry. I love it when a martial arts movie breaks out with the creative weapons such as this as it shows some real imagination was put into it.

I think that's one of the main attractions that makes Born Invincible so popular among fans of the genre. There is a ton of fighting here and all of it is very high quality. I think you would expect nothing less given Yuen Woo-Ping directed them. The first major clash that sees two killers played by Sunny Yuen and Corey Yuen respectively against some stunt guys has the two of them work in tandem with each other and has a very Peking Opera flavour to it which I really liked. The exchanges of technique and weapons movement is something you would expect to see in a final reel fight and not the opening bout and shows that Sifu Woo-Ping will always be regarded among fans as one of the best choreographers to ever work in the genre. I've yet to find a film he was involved with during the 1970s where I thought his fights were lacking or in any way sloppy. I think it's wonderful he's still active in the industry today and hope that he gets to direct another film as it's been a long time since True Legend came out and I haven't seen a traditional Kung Fu film made since that was as immensely satisfying or memorable.

The choreography is very weapons heavy for the most part. Which is good as Woo-Ping knows how to put together a good fight involving props. Sunny and Corey gets some really good fights in, even if they're wearing silly wigs on their heads. They have a tremendous fight with another actor called Alan Chui. Their exchanges of technique are flawless and it leaves wanting to see more which we fortunately do. Chui in particular uses some excellent sword styles. Chui is a stuntman/actor/action director and has been responsible for some of the action seen in titles like Rebellious Reign, Chinese Ghost Story and The Killer. The fact we have such people in the film leads me to believe this is why the fights look as good as they do. You essentially have Woo-Ping and his brother Sunny, Corey and also Alan. Four men who know how to put together excellent fighting so it would to be hard to believe that these talented individuals would give the audience anything that would be considered terrible.

You'll notice I haven't commented on Carter Wong yet. That's because I wanted to dedicate this part of the review to him. Carter Wong for lack of a better word is simply brilliant in this. His performance as the evil Tai Chi Master is so good and he delivers some of the best fight scenes in his career. It's easy to see why Body Invincible is regarded as one of his best films. He has a lot of fights in this and each one features some excellent choreography. He has a great fight with Jack Long in the latter part of the film. His movements don't seem to be based on traditional Tai Chi, it seems the style doesn't really work when it comes to film fighting so it looks like Woo-Ping and co had to come up with a style that would work and just call it Tai Chi. He's also quite intimidating. 

Carter had a look that suited him more as a bad guy then a good guy. I mean, come on, remember Big Trouble in Little China? Exactly, Carter is straight up gangster in this and he delivers some tremendous action. His final fight against Mark Long is great as well. Mark uses a lot of acrobatic techniques to try and locate Carter's weak point. Meanwhile Carter stands there taking hits and gives that really scary death stare. If you like your fights fast, furious, acrobatic and heavy on punching then you'll love what Born Invincible has to offer. 

Born Invincible is a fantastic entry into such a rich and varied genre and if you haven't seen it, you need to. 

To finish off what has been an incredibly fun event month for me, I present you the opportunity to win a brand spanking new 36 STYLES shirt inspired by this wonderful film.

All you have to do is send me an e-mail at chopsticksonfire@hotmail.co.uk with your name, address and shirt size. The closing date is Saturday August 4th, any entries received after that date will be ineligable. The winner will be selected at random and announced the following day. However if you don't feel so lucky then the shirt can be purchased HERE

So ends 36 STYLES SEASON. For me it's been a wonderful time and has given me an excellent opportunity to talk about movies that really are classics. Thanks for taking the time to read my reviews, I hope you liked them. Keep checking back for more reviews, articles, columns and retrospectives right here on Chopsticks On Fire.

Dance of the Drunk Mantis - 南北醉拳 (1979) - FIRST GIVEAWAY RESULT!

We now enter the second week of 36 STYLES SEASON and this time we're going to be taking a look at a film that's often overlooked but does seem to be highly regarded among a few Kung Fu film fans. In 1978 Seasonal films released Drunken Master. Starring Jackie Chan and directed and choreographed by Yuen Woo-Ping it's mixture of broad comedy and intricate Kung Fu action was a massive hit with local audiences in Hong Kong and cemented Jackie's popularity as the number one action star. Shortly thereafter producer Ng See-Yuen wished to make a sequel in hopes of being able to capitalize on the film's success. However Jackie had gone on to sign a contract with Golden Harvest to begin what would be a monumentally successful career with the studio so Ng was forced to find a replacement.

Ng chose Sunny Yuen Shun-Yee, brother of Yuen Woo-Ping who returned as the director. Also cast members such as Woo-Ping and Shun-Yee's father Yuen Siu-Tien, Hwang Jang Lee and Linda Lin Jing returned with Siu-Tien being the only one playing the same character he had played in the first movie, the classic character of Beggar Su. The results are mixed to say the least but what we're left with is worth seeing for sure.

Foggy (Shun-Yee) is a waiter who finds himself getting into trouble with Beggar Su (Siu-Tien) who soon finds out Foggy is in fact his adopted son thanks to his mother (Lin Jing). Foggy tries to get Su to teach him Drunken Fist style Kung Fu but does nothing except ridicule and abuse him. Meanwhile a deadly Drunken Fist expert called Rubber Legs (Hwang Jang Lee) is on the hunt for Su so he can prove once and for all who the King of Drunken Fist truly is.

Now given what had come before, Drunk Mantis had a lot riding on it in order for it to become a hit. It wasn't of course but like all these movies they've now gained a following through various fan circles. I for one didn't really dig it as much as Drunken Master. There's a lot to like here but it just seemed it was lacking in a few things that for me made it's predecessor such a great movie. First of all the film doesn't have a strong as a lead. Jackie Chan effortlessly crafted a performance that combined drama, comedic timing and high physicality and pretty much exuded charisma through out the film. While I respect Yuen Shun-Yee as a performer and for his many contributions to Hong Kong Cinema to me he isn't as strong a lead as Jackie. He can match him move for move but his knack for comedy is limited to pulling silly faces and yelling a lot.

Fortunately he is backed by a pretty solid cast of recognizable faces. As mentioned a few cast members from the previous film return. This time they are joined by Corey Yuen Kwai playing the student of Hwang Jang Lee's character Rubber Legs and Yen Shi-Kwan who plays a sickly looking medicine man who teaches Foggy how to fight. All of them fulfill their roles very well and help elevate what is a pretty average movie.

One thing that really annoyed me and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't ignore it. The comedy. Kung Fu Comedies were common place around this time. While the mixture of the two genres had been started at Shaw Brothers with the likes of Lau Kar-Leung's Spiritual Boxer. It wasn't until Jackie starred in Snake in the Eagle's Shadow that the formula for such a film would prove massively successful. Literally dozens upon dozens of films with elements lifted directly from it were made in hopes of making money. This meant shoe-horning in as many cheap laughs as they could among all the martial arts action. I honestly did not like what as going on here. all of it just seemed incredibly forced. Such as a scene in which Beggar Su and Foggy visit a local bank and get into a little scuffle with the manager played by Dean Shek. Dean Shek does...well, what Dean Shek always does but it could have been a lot shorter then what was left in there.

A few people do find that sort of thing entertaining and I can respect that but I personally find it very grating and just kills the film dead in terms of it's pacing. A good chnk of stuff could have been cut from this but then we would have been left with half a film. Still for all it's faults we are given a generous amount of Kung Fu action to help soften the blow of the many and I mean many "comedic" antics of Sonny Yuen.

Yuen Woo-Ping worked along side Shun-Yee and another of his brothers Yuen Jang-Yeung as well was Yuen Kwai. They throw in some nice ideas throughout. The first fight featuring Sunny sees him go against two fighters using the bizarre styles of Chicken and Duck Styles, respectively. I thought this may have been a sly nod to Snake in the Eagle's Shadow but it's a short yet wonderfully creative action scene. Hwang Jang Lee doesn't do much kicking instead using a style combining the Drunk Fist and Mantis Fist styles. It was interesting to see him use a form which focused more on fist combinations since Hwang is known for his blistering kicking style. He does very well as used expect but I would have liked to have seen him use his legs more considering his character name is Rubber Legs.

There's a fight between him and Siu-Tien midway through the film which sees the two of them exchange drinks and few subtle hand lock techniques which escalates into a full-on brawl. There's a lot of acrobatic tumbling and tables being smashed but really? I thought it was too long. I'm all for complicated looking and lengthy fighting scenes but when it started hitting the 15 minute mark I thought it was a bit much. That sort of thing should be saved for the finale not the fight which signifies the end of the second act. Yuen kwai also has a rather nicely done fight with Linda Lin. Linda shows her incredible flexibility while evading Yuen Kwai's silver spear which then see's her defend herself with a sword. I enjoyed this fight in particular because the choreography was so good, especially Linda who shows off a lot of really good moves.

Yen Shi-Kwan also gets a couple fights in but they're mostly played for laughs as he knocks Sonny around a bit and then agrees to teach him his unique style of Kung Fu. I couldn't quite identify what stlye it was exactly but it seems there were a few techniques derived from classical Wing Chun as it focused mostly on hand to hand techniques with very little leg work. This was a smart idea as it contrasts very well with Hwang's Drunk Mantis Fist style and allows both actor's to do some very nicely done exchanges. That of course leads us to the finale.

It was worth putting up with the rest of the film just to get to this part. We have a straight up classic Kung Fu fight which sees Sunny and Hwang duke it out. I loved how the fight kept going back and forth with each fighter gaining and losing momentum and then forcing themselves to change tactics in order to try and land their punches. Sunny gets to do a few stunt falls but they never really looked as painful as the one's Jackie took. Also he doesn't seem to let himself get knocked around like Jackie did either. I'm not saying Sunny couldn't handle it but I expected the crashes to a have a little bit more impact to them. What we have here though is a damn good brawl that is a worthy follow up to what has come before.

Dance of the Drunk Mantis is not as good a film as the one which came before it but we do end up with some very creative action scenes and a wonderful end fight that is worth checking out. The DVD is easily available and you should do yourself a favor and go buy it as it's one which does deserve the shelf space.

Now then, the moment you've all been waiting for. Time to announce the winner of last week's giveaway. The lucky winner ho is now the proud owner of a Master of the Flying Guillotine shirt is......

RICHARD TRONDSEN

Congratulations Richard! I will forward your information to Raymond of 36 STYLES who will send you your prize in the mail!

For those who lost out don't worry because I will be announcing the details of another contest in which another shirt will be up for grabs.

So that's it for this week, if you would like the purchase the Dance of the Drunk Mantis 36 Styles shirt click HERE!

That's all for now. Be here next week when I will be posting a review for Shaolin Vs Lama!

Music Videos Feat. Jackie Chan, Leung Kar-Yan, Conan Lee & More!

I made these a few weeks ago but haven't posted them up here, some new music video for your viewing pleasure!

Drink & Fight, Jackie Chan!

Battery Feat. Leung Kar-Yan!

Secret Agent Man Feat. Jimmy Wang Yu!

Ninja, Ready To Fight!

That's it for today, new review will be up tomorrow!

Mao March Marathon #4: Broken Oath (1977)

We enter the final week of the Mao March Marathon and this week I'll be taking a look at what is arguably one of Angela's most popular movies among fans. It is of course, Broken Oath!

Angela is Liu Jie-Lian, a woman out to avenge the death of her father. With the help of a pickpocket and an undercover Imperial agent, she uses her deadly skills in Kung Fu to do what she does best. Beat the living crap out of anyone stupid enough to go up against her.

As I mentioned at the beginning, Broken Oath is arguably one of Angela's most popular movies and for good reason. With a plot line that owes more then a little to the classic Japanese revenge movie Lady Snowblood and some tremendous fight choreography from Yuen Woo-Ping, it's easy to see why this is such a big hit with fans. Angela plays the type of character she was best know for. An extremely focused, angry and deadly female who can take a beating as well as give one back. She gives it her all and the end result is a performance that is played with complete conviction and is ultimately satisfying to watch.

Supporting her are, as you'd expect, a group of very familiar faces. Liu Jun-Guk plays the mischievous pickpocket helping Jie-Lian in her mission. He was very likable but it was apparent he wasn't a fighter so he didn't really get to fight anyone. Wang Lai plays Jie-Lian's Godmother and gives a very good performance throughout. Also appearing is Bruce Leung as a super kicking Imperial Agent and Chan Wai-Man as the bad guy out to kill everybody. Also Sammo Hung and Han Ying-Chieh turn up as two bad ass bodyguards who get to kick some serious ass during the run time. Everyone fulfills their roles competently and maintains the same level of quality in the other Angela Mao Golden Harvest productions.

Out of all the movies I've reviewed this month, Broken Oath by far has the most varied in terms of the martial arts action. Yuen Woo-Ping not only gives us a number of traditional empty handed fights but a good quantity of weapons fighting is thrown into the mix. Working along side veteran actor/fight director Hsu Hsia both men show that two heads can be better then one and combine their talents to create some truly memorable action scenes. There's a wonderful scuffle in a forest which we see the introduction of one of Angela's character gimmicks in which she uses scorpions to disable and frighten the enemy. I loved this as you never really saw anyone else use this kind of idea in any other movie at the time and it's just one of many great ideas which were used in Broken Oath. 

One thing is immediately noticeable about the action is the speed in which they are choreographed. During this time while fight choreography was incredibly intricate and well executed, Fast is not a word I would normally associate with it. That's not the case here. The movements are incredibly fast when compared to films such as Hapkido or Lady Whirlwind. Not so fast that it becomes distracting in any way but fast in a way that becomes quite impressive to watch. It doesn't take a genius to work out who might of been the champion of going in this direction. Yuen Woo-Ping was always an action director wanting to try new and interesting things with each film he made. Whether it's with traditional Snake Fist martial arts put together with the completely fictitious Cat's Claw Kung Fu in Snake In The Eagle's Shadow or mixing Tai Chi and Drunken Fist in Drunken Tai Chi, Sifu Woo-Ping was always trying to stay ahead of the curve when it came to action film making.

Speed seems to be the thing which we find him experimenting with here. Putting together a complicated sequence of moves is one thing but to push it that little bit further by making a little bit faster and tighter and it gives it just that little touch of realism. Not too realistic, after all this is a 70's Kung Fu picture we're talking about here but enough so that it makes it stand out from the crowd. There are a number of very well done and very memorable fight scenes throughout. A fight which sees Angela use a Bo staff is very good with some good moves shown throughout. Chan Wai-Man goes up against Fong Yau in a fight which sees Chan dish out some nasty looking blows to the head. I liked this one especially as it showed why Chan Wai-Man is one of the more under appreciated Kung Fu stars of this era. Woo-Ping and Hsu Hsia obviously saw something in him that could be put to great use here and he gets to show some very impressive punching combinations that compliment his hard hitting style.

If you ever talk to fans about Broken Oath one thing they will inevitably say is how Broken Oath has one of the best final reel fight scenes of it's time. Having watched it, I would whole-heartedly agree. Everyone involved and I mean everyone gets to really show their stuff. An excellent scene sees Kuo Cheng-Yu fight a fire breathing Han Ying-Chieh. Kung Fu bad guys always had some sort of gimmick during this time. I think it mostly stemmed from the type of Kung Fu action pictures Shaw Brothers were making at the time. Han's gimmick is that he breathes fire but also wears a pair of steel toes caps. It's a short scene but both men get to make a wonderful Kung Fu fight. Angela uses double short swords against a starknife wielding Sammo Hung and this is why Broken Oath has such a good reputation as a weapons film.

You can see both Angela and Sammo really trying to push themselves to do the choreography justice and it's an excellent fight and reminds me while I prefer more grounded swordplay to that of the fantasy style seen in films such as Swordsman II. Not that there's anything wrong with that style of action. Each type have their pro and cons but to me movies like Broken Oath are more to my liking when it comes to on-screen martial arts. If seeing Angela take on Sammo wasn't enough, we have Chan Wai-Man fight Bruce Leung. Broken Oath is a good example of why Bruce Leung, much like Dorian Tan, was one of the more under appreciated boot men of this era and had the talent to hit it big but for one reason or another never did. Leung's fight with Chan is excellent with Chan using some stiff looking kicks and punches and Leung really showing his knack for fancy kicks.

Broken Oath is a fantastic piece of late 70's Hong Kong martial arts cinema and is a definite must see if you like Golden Harvest or Shaw Brothers movies. Having this as the film to conclude the Mao March Marathon has been wonderful and I can only hope that I'll be able to review more of Angela Mao's films in the future. So that's it. Thank you all for coming onto my blog week after week. Be sure to keep checking for more reviews, retrospectives, columns and articles throughout the coming weeks and months.

Kickstart My Heart, Hwang Jang Lee!

True Legend (2010)

It's been 14 years since fight choreographer extraordinaire Yuen Woo-Ping has taken to the director's chair and True Legend sees Woo-Ping return to form. True Legend is beyond a doubt the most fight packed film I've seen this year. It seems Woo-Ping really wanted to give his audience their money's worth and he certainly delivers.

True Legend concerns Su Can (Vincent Zhao) a high ranking general who is tipped to be Governor of his home province after rescuing a wealthy prince, much to the intense jealousy of his adoptive brother Yuan (Andy On). Five years later Su is ready to open his new martial arts school with his wife Ying (Zhou Xun) and his son. Word arrives that Yuan will be arriving for the opening and Su's father (Leung Kar-Yan also known to hardcore kung fu fans as Beardy) is excited at the prospect of a family reunion. When Yuan arrives it's obvious he is a changed man and he murders Su's father using the forbidden Five Venom Fists technique. Su tries to stop Yuan but is defeated and is forced to go into hiding with his wife. While recovering, Su hones his skills in the martial arts in hopes that he'll be able to rescue his son and re-establish his name.

So the plot is something that's been done a million times over in hundreds of Kung Fu movies but it's never been that big a deal as long as the fighting is convincing and entertaining. Given the talent involved in this film it definitely meets both those demands and surpasses even my already high expectations I had for this particular film. The fights where over seen by director Woo-Ping, who has been involved with martial arts cinema since the early 70's and has worked with top stars such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Donnie Yen and has been involved with big Hollywood productions such as The Matrix Trilogy and the Kill Bill movies. So if anyone was more qualified to put the fights together, he certainly has the credentials.

Woo-Ping gives us a great blend of old-school style choreography with more modern and flashy film techniques but does it in such a way that doesn't distract one from the other. Something most contemporary action films have a nasty habit of doing (See Bourne Trilogy). It also helps that he's jammed in as many fights as he possibly could, it's a safe assumption that you'll be waiting at least no longer then ten minutes before you get to the next action and/or obligatory training sequence. Said training scenes are punctuated by nice supporting roles from Gordon Liu (Pai Mei from Kill Bill Vol. 2) and Jay Chou (Star of the upcoming Green Hornet) who provide our intrepid hero with the motivation to push his skills as a martial arts fighter. It's interesting as it was these particular scenes that were shown in 3D during the film's theatrical run in Hong Kong and it's pretty obvious given how they were filmed and placement of the visual effects but from what I've read the 3D was pretty underwhelming but it's nice to see a veteran such as Woo-Ping experimenting with the technology.

Moving from the top notch action onto the not so bad acting. Leading man Vincent Zhao does a decent job as Beggar Su, while he's certainly not the strongest of actors, he has certainly improved from his embarrassing face pulling he committed in The Blade 15 years earlier. Then again, he has had a long time to hone his craft as he's a popular TV actor in his native China. Zhou Xun by far gives the film's strongest performance, while her character doesn't develop any further then wall flower and damsel in distress, she gives it her all and makes Ying quite a sympathetic character. Villain Andy On, who's on-screen performances have been a bit of a mixed bag ever since he started his film career is surprisingly good, he gives the right level of menace while also giving him a touch of emotion and turns Yuan from stock villain to a man who wants to be ruthless but doesn't want to hurt his family, at least for the most part.

True Legend is one of the most fast paced, action packed and definitely must see martial arts films of 2010 as it offers a great Shaw Brothers vibe while also being able to stand head and shoulders above the recent efforts of a certain Mr. Donnie Yen, who's recent films seem to garner a lot of attention. Go buy the DVD or wait for the Blu-Ray but if you've yet to see this or if this review has convinced you to then what are you waiting for?