The Movie Thread Reloaded

[Bedrockbrendan]

I thought Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame was really good,

That was a great movie.  After I randomly watched that, I watched every Detective Dee movie I could find. 

I enjoyed the sequels (particularly the Young Detective Dee film). It doesn't really have martial arts, but the movie Legend of the Demon Cat kind of gets into the same territory, and I enjoyed that one too

[Omega]

I thought Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame was really good,

That was a great movie.  After I randomly watched that, I watched every Detective Dee movie I could find. 

I got a few of the Magistrate Dee/Zee TV series for Kat way back as she was a mystery writer and she enjoyed it alot. The production values were really high from what I saw of it. Heads will roll.

Also hunted down the old TV pilot Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders.

[yosemitemike]

I have been on a big wuxia watching kick lately.  Tubi has a ton of them.  I was aware of the existence of more comedic slapstick wuxia movies but I had never seen one before.  I can't say that I am fan of them so far.  Maybe it's because I am American but the humor just kind of falls flat for me.  There was one called Treasure Inn that I didn't even make it through.  There was a scene where people square up with the usual flourishes.  Then they start awkwardly slapping at each other.  I get the joke.  The flourishes and stances are usually followed by a highly choreographed kung fu fight but these characters aren't really martial artists so they just slap at each other.  It just wasn't funny to me at all.  I just rolled my eyes.  Oh, we're doing this now.   

[Bedrockbrendan]

I have been on a big wuxia watching kick lately.  Tubi has a ton of them.  I was aware of the existence of more comedic slapstick wuxia movies but I had never seen one before.  I can't say that I am fan of them so far.  Maybe it's because I am American but the humor just kind of falls flat for me.  There was one called Treasure Inn that I didn't even make it through.  There was a scene where people square up with the usual flourishes.  Then they start awkwardly slapping at each other.  I get the joke.  The flourishes and stances are usually followed by a highly choreographed kung fu fight but these characters aren't really martial artists so they just slap at each other.  It just wasn't funny to me at all.  I just rolled my eyes.  Oh, we're doing this now.   

Some are hit an miss lol. I think I tried and failed on that one too

My suggestion is find directors you like (obviously actors too). Lau Kar Leung for example is known for using a lot of real authentic martial arts (though he is also known for humor like you have in My Young Auntie)

Some movies for me the humor lands, some it doesn't (and there is always potentially translation issues too). Polly Kwan can always make me laugh for some reason (in movies like Shoalin Tamo Systique*). My favorite martial arts comedy is probably still Snake in the Eagles Shadow with Jackie Chan (and that may well be nostalgia). Anything by or with Stephen Chow is bound to be good too (Chinese Odyssey is very unusual but extremely funny). The Mr. Vampire movies are also pretty funny (Encounters of a Spooky kind with Sammo Hung is good as well)

Just curious so far what wuxia films have landed with you the most. I may be able to recommend some things based on that

*It is up on the Wu Tang channel. Not the best produced and pretty bad dubs but something about the way she does slapstick works for me: https://youtu.be/vkuAISkK__U?si=WpyUu8YAW7Cq-CvI

[Bedrockbrendan]

I thought Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame was really good,

That was a great movie.  After I randomly watched that, I watched every Detective Dee movie I could find. 

I got a few of the Magistrate Dee/Zee TV series for Kat way back as she was a mystery writer and she enjoyed it alot. The production values were really high from what I saw of it. Heads will roll.

Also hunted down the old TV pilot Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders.

I haven't heard of that pilot or the Dee TV series before (I've seen movies and read a book by Van Gulik). Was it any good?

[Omega]

I have been on a big wuxia watching kick lately.  Tubi has a ton of them.  I was aware of the existence of more comedic slapstick wuxia movies but I had never seen one before.  I can't say that I am fan of them so far.  Maybe it's because I am American but the humor just kind of falls flat for me.  There was one called Treasure Inn that I didn't even make it through.  There was a scene where people square up with the usual flourishes.  Then they start awkwardly slapping at each other.  I get the joke.  The flourishes and stances are usually followed by a highly choreographed kung fu fight but these characters aren't really martial artists so they just slap at each other.  It just wasn't funny to me at all.  I just rolled my eyes.  Oh, we're doing this now.   

Some are hit an miss lol. I think I tried and failed on that one too

Same here. Oddly I like very few of Jackie Chan's comedies. But found Shanghai Hustle to be fairly bemusing for a modern martial arts comedy. I usually lean to the humor being used sparingly rather than the whole theme. One I can not recall the name of now involved three bumbling monks who escape a coup and end up training and becoming masters finally and returning to settle the score in a sometimes humorous way. Which is actually a recurring theme seems.

One I liked but also have lost the name of involved feuding fireworks teams.

 

[Omega]

I haven't heard of that pilot or the Dee TV series before (I've seen movies and read a book by Van Gulik). Was it any good?

1974 Failed US TV pilot. Alot of familiar faces in it.

[yosemitemike]

Just curious so far what wuxia films have landed with you the most. I may be able to recommend some things based on that

I tend to like the more outlandish ones like Tsui Hark's movies better.  I like some melodrama and comedy mixed in with the martial arts action.  Too much of one thing gets boring. 

[Bedrockbrendan]

Just curious so far what wuxia films have landed with you the most. I may be able to recommend some things based on that

I tend to like the more outlandish ones like Tsui Hark's movies better.  I like some melodrama and comedy mixed in with the martial arts action.  Too much of one thing gets boring. 

If you like outlandish, some classics I would recommend are Holy Flame of the Martial World, Bloody Parrot, Web of Death and Buddha Palm. Legendary Weapons of China is another fun one from that era

You likely have seen some of these but I'd also recommend Duel to the Death, Heroic Trio, Tai Chi Master . It isn't over the top but Last Hurrah for Chivalry is really good (the 1979 John Woo Movie), with some melodrama but not too much. Bride with White Hair is also real good (outlandish but leans more on the melodrama). I'd also Recommend Chang Cheh's The Assassin. This is his most well balanced movie in my opinion. It has the violence but also a love story at its core. For sheer body count alone, I would also recommend Golden Swallow (another Chang Cheh movie)

One other I recommend, if only because the idea is so unusual, is Chang Cheh's Marco Polo (this came out way before the netflix show back in the 70s) and it works with the possibility that Marco Polo might have served as an official in the court of Kublai Khan. Richard Harrison actually plays Marco Polo. If you want a really weird movie, Heaven and Hell (also by Chang Cheh) is one of the most compelling but strange martial arts movies I have seen. It is all over the map, and has dance and song, sections with weird minimalist sets, then this quest to break out of hell by four characters (and you get each of their backstories in different parts of history through flashbacks). I recommend it but with he caveat that some people think it is a horrible movie.

Also if you haven't seen it yet Tsui Hark's the blade is quite good.

Magnificent Bodyguards is kind of a strange one too. It is pretty over the top, a very early Jackie Chan movie, and uses the star wars soundtrack in places

If I think of any more I will suggest them

[yosemitemike]

It isn't over the top but Last Hurrah for Chivalry is really good (the 1979 John Woo Movie), with some melodrama but not too much. Bride with White Hair is also real good (outlandish but leans more on the melodrama).

I like a certain amount of melodrama in a wuxia movie.  I think it's an integral part of the formula.  I don't like it when the melodrama takes over the entire movie.  I want a kung fu movie with melodrama not a melodrama with a wuxia backdrop.

I watched The Bride with White Hair but I had it on while running a game so I wasn't paying close attention to it.  I am going to need to watch it again.  There's to much going to half watch it.

[Bedrockbrendan]

It isn't over the top but Last Hurrah for Chivalry is really good (the 1979 John Woo Movie), with some melodrama but not too much. Bride with White Hair is also real good (outlandish but leans more on the melodrama).

I like a certain amount of melodrama in a wuxia movie.  I think it's an integral part of the formula.  I don't like it when the melodrama takes over the entire movie.  I want a kung fu movie with melodrama not a melodrama with a wuxia backdrop.

I watched The Bride with White Hair but I had it on while running a game so I wasn't paying close attention to it.  I am going to need to watch it again.  There's to much going to half watch it.

Bride with White Hair is one of my favorites. The Sequel actually isn't too bad either (not as well done as the first---the first movie is a much tighter film---but the sequel has so much to take inspiration for for gaming).

If you want melodrama the Chinese wuxia TV series can be very good (they are long though, usually like 50 episodes). But with them you will get the whole story (a lot of these movies are based on books, and one of the reasons the plots are sometimes confusing is they are framing one to three novels into two hours, and doing so with an audience that is already familiar with the story because many of them air on television all the time). The 2006 Return of Condor Heroes is really good (that is the second in a trilogy of novels). The 2003 Legend of Condor Heroes is a good one and so is the 1983 Legend of Condor Heroes (that is more stagey but a lot of fun). I like the 2003 Heaven Sword Dragon Sabre (third book in the trilogy) but the 2009 one I think is made by the same production company that did the 2006 and 2003 ones---could be wrong on that but feel like they had more connective tissue. Possible I got some of these dates wrong as I am going by memory. They also remake these all the time. There is a version of Return of Condor Heroes, called Romance of the Condor Heroes that came out in 2014, which had some stunt casting in it, and made odd changes to the story (if I remember they combined elements of other things like The Bride with White Hair to the storyline). I think the 2006 Return of Condor Heroes, even though it comes in in the middle of the story, and is a little confusing at first if you don't know the material, is one of the better entry points (the second story is essentially about the son of the villain from the first, so it can be interesting to start there then go back and learn what happened before Return of Condor Heroes).

There are also the Brave Archer Movies (if you watch 1-3 that is Legend of Condor Heroes). I think the 4th movie was Return, and then I think a different director picked up the story with Little Dragon Maiden. And Chor Yuen did Heaven Sword Dragon Sabre in two movies in 1978 (this  the third book). The Brave Archer movies are a lot of fun in my opinion

This is the opening theme to the 2003 Legend of Condor Heroes (Should give you an idea of the era and type of show): https://youtu.be/jC1rTOLNGBY?si=35QEW_l6V6_S3jBL

This it the opening trailer to 2006 Return of Condor Heroes: https://youtu.be/-2RXciMtQIk?si=1b5418hz71evgD2A

This is the Brave Archer Movie Opening and gives a good sense of the style and scope: https://youtu.be/ApD7jXaOzaM?si=H9XqyqVMtVhPjEut