What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[Markgway]

Does seem bizarre to cut that from an '18' to protect children but that's how the VRA works. They cut vertical wrist slashing for the same reason. Horizontal is absolutely fine. Apparently.

[saltysam]

Bodyguards & Assassins 3./5

Decent historical drama,a little slow but it picks up and the last hour or so is pretty exciting. The HK Blu-ray is Region Locked A.

[saltysam]

Opium & Kung Fu Master 3/5

Decent Shaw Bros movie is really a film of two halves..the first half fairly light hearted giving way to a much darker 2nd half .Some good action and Ti Lung & Chen Kuan Tai make for a good pairing. The BD looks great if a little overprocessed.

[HungFist]

Samurai Princess (Japan, 2008) – 2/5
Tokyo Gore Police writer Kengo Kaji's directorial debut is a low budget gore fest continuing the proud tradition of employing Japanese AV stars in splatter films. Adult entertainer Aino Kishi stars a vengeful beauty – neither samurai nor princess – chasing a villainous cyber punk body artist. Innocent girls are be torn apart and then reconstructed as androids - including Kishi's fellow genre sister Mihiro - all supported by Yoshihiro Nishimura's special effects work. Amateurish visual look, nonexistent financing and mad laughing faces serving as "cool cinema" all drag the pic down, but it does have its merits as well. At 80 minutes the film rarely drags, and the mix of fantasy, history and modern day comes with a couple of fun twists. Action is modest – none bothered to give Tak Sakaguchi a call – but the character gallery features one highlight. The feared guitar man of the deep forests is a character to remember. Kishi on the other hand, while not downright terrible, can keep on dreaming of Sora Aoi type career curve to mainstream fame.

[HungFist]

Sea Wolves (Hong Kong, 1991) – 2/5

"I meant to shoot him in the shoulder. But I missed and shot him in the head."

The 7th In the Line of Duty film is routine Hong Kong action from the early 90's. Being known as a 'girls kick ass' series, it's surprising Cynthia Khan has been made a supporting character in a storyline that follows Vietnamese refugees on a crash course with drug dealers. Simon Yam and Gary Chow play the leading roles. Somewhat entertaining film loses its grip near the end, and does not offer any memorable action scenes. Marginal recommendation for fans of the genre.

[HungFist]

Girlfriend - Someone Please Stop the World (Japan, 2004) – 3/5
Girl romance without sentimentalism or epic emotions, captured in gritty and realisic fashion by Japan's digital-pioneer Ryuichi Hiroki. Not a standout effort on the director's career, but a pleasing little movie.

Kyoshin – Mirrored Mind (Japan, 2005) – 3/5
Sogo Ishii's dive into subconscious is a purely visual affair that hampers a bit with digital cinematography – the rough look works both for and against the breathtaking visuals. Originally made as a short film, the 2005 director's cut corrects the pacing and resurrects the film's true spirit.

[DangerousLeeHandsome]

Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning - 3.5/5
This is one wierd-ass fucking movie. There's absolutely no plot, no character development and barely any dialogue. This movie basicly has no point. But the fight scenes were amazing, especially the finale. I'd recommend Ong-Bak 2 for the fights alone and nothing else.

[HungFist]

Weird, I thought Ong-Bak 2's biggest problem was that it had too much plot... Terrible uninteresting mess of a plot that is. Tom Yum Goong's fun and swift moving elephant mission served its purpose much better.

Ong-Bak 2's final battle is jaw dropping, yes. That alone makes the film worth a view.

[Yi-Long]

I watched Ong-bak 2 a couple of weeks ago, but I'm still not sure what to make of it, to be honest.

It's a better movie than Tom Yum Goong, yet at the same time it was certainly less 'entertaining', it didn't 'wow' me, and I just didn't really care for it all that much. It's good, it's 'original' in a way that it's a Thai kung fu movie, with thai culture and people, it has some nice fights, decent performances, etc etc.

There really isn't much wrong with it, but in the end it doesn't really leave a lasting impression either. There weren't scenes where you were blown away, like Ong-bak and TYG had. It certainly doesn't urge me to rewatch it again soon, as movies like Drunken Master 2 and Fist of Legend did to me.

3/5 I guess. Maybe I'll love it more once the 2nd part of the movie comes out.

[Markgway]

Ong Bak 2 reminded me of Apocalypto.

[grim_tales]

I havent seen TYG yet.

[bradavon]

It certainly doesn't urge me to rewatch it again soon, as movies like Drunken Master 2 and Fist of Legend did to me.

Do you think, part of that is because you watched them as a kid?

[Yi-Long]

It certainly doesn't urge me to rewatch it again soon, as movies like Drunken Master 2 and Fist of Legend did to me.

Do you think, part of that is because you watched them as a kid?

No. It's because the fightscenes are just way better, intense, more interesting, and with a better pacing. Plus the movies themself are also more entertaining to watch.

There are lots of martial arts movies I watched as a kid and don't particularly care (or cared) about, when it comes to rewatching them over and over again. Fist of Legend I can pretty much watch always without it getting boring. Drunken Master 2 is a bit less interesting, but still has a nice amount of replay-value. Hell, even Arahan was entertaining enough for me that I watched it 3 times within 1-2 weeks orso.

[bradavon]

I havent seen TYG yet.

It's pretty good. I preferred it to Ong-Bak but frankly both are only fairly good at best. They really need to spend some time on the plot. I appreciate it's not going to be Oscar worthy but come on, give us something.

I didn't like how the elephant got beaten up. Was that really needed?.

[oldeschool17]

I liked Ong Bak 2 much more than the first one partly because of the setting/atmosphere. It's nothing groundbreaking in plot but is simple enough to identify and follow. Definitely an homage to old kung fu movies. Some of the fighting did kinda drag on but otherwise top notch. I also think I liked this because it was a clear departure from the first version. Im not really excited for the 3rd version because you know exactly the type of atmosphere you will be getting whereas I was pretty much in the dark in terms of what to expect on Ong Bak 2.

[HungFist]

Crazy Family (Japan, 1984) – 2/5
The grandfather of all Japanese anti-family movies, Sogo Ishii's cult favorite often drowns itself in noisy mayhem. Talented cast (Mitsuko Baisho, Taifu Club's Yuuki Kudoh) is partly wasted. The ending is, however, magnificent, and the poor father’s race through downtown, captured with reverse tracking shots, is nothing short of ingenious.

Captured Mother and Daughter (Japan, 1987) – 3/5
Effectively disguised by its title and Roman Porno categorization that came to be when Nikkatsu acquired the distribution rights, this gritty coming of age drama is quite skillfully made. The well written storyline begins when three girls wow a suicide oath. Only one of them carries out the plan, catalyzing the quilt ridden friend’s self destructive journey into the world of misery and abuse. Well acted (Asako Kobayashi and Sabu Kawahara were both awarded at Yokohama Film Fest.) and backed up by a talented crew, but the film could do with slightly less sex on display.

[HungFist]

Gunbuster (Japan, 1988) – 3/5
Hideaki Anno's classic 6 episode mecha anime with recognizable 80's soundtrack and rather gratuitous bathing scene. The final episode – entirely in black and white – is a somewhat unsuccessful artistic experiment, but the ending is wonderful.

[gasteropod]

I thought the ending was done like that because they'd run out of money?

[HungFist]

I thought the ending was done like that because they'd run out of money?

I don't know. I just assumed it was Anno's artistic choise.

Love Exposure again. 4th time. That's 16 hours of love exposure! Couldn't get as much audience for it as I wanted to, so maybe 5th time soon... another screening needed. 5/5 for the film, of couse.. Goes without saying, I suppose. The best Asian film of the decade, I think.

On repeated viewings I've really come to love those great little bits... Koike in the church for the first time, Yoko introducing Koike to her mother, Yoko on the beach at the end of the film, and the little sister... I love her performance.

Still, it's chapters 2 and 3 that are non-stop perfection.

[gasteropod]

I watched Uzumaki earlier and I'm a bit confused about the bit where he's saying 'kagami' means both 'mirror' and 'serpent'. Can anyone explain this? It actually only means mirror, right?

[RickyTheDragonSteamboat]

Zatoichi (2003) - 4/5
I saw this on US blu ray the other day and, despite some negative reviews, I thought it looked pretty spectacular. The only real problem worth griping about is that only the English dubbing is lossless. But I got it for free so, oh well.

[bradavon]

Technically it does look excellent. The problem is, the colours have been completely fucked around with. It's not "supposed" to look like that at all.

[Shingster]

I watched Uzumaki earlier and I'm a bit confused about the bit where he's saying 'kagami' means both 'mirror' and 'serpent'. Can anyone explain this? It actually only means mirror, right?

Not seen Uzumaki in a long time so I can't remember if you see how the word is written down, but it's probably to do with the individual syllables. The final part of the word: mi in this instance refers to the 6th sign of the Chinese Zodiac: The Serpent.

[gasteropod]

That could well be what he was talking about then, cheers.

[HungFist]

Hard Revenge Milly (Japan, 2008) – 3/5
Opening half in the first volume of Neo Action double features, Takanori Tsujimoto’s ultraviolent revenge tale is solid low budget action. Lead actress Miki Mizuno is terrific – an ice cold avenger that it light years away from the typical Japanese pop idols that populate most action films nowadays. The film’s violence is extremely strong and occasionally going over the edge; newborn baby’s mistreatment (burned and smashed into wall) leaves a bad taste in mouth. There is, however, some humor, including the Takashi Miike esque ending. “The best Japanese soundtrack ever” advertising non-sense; the music varies between atmospheric and superficial.

Hard Revenge Milly: Bloody Battle (Japan, 2009) – 4.5/5
An absolute blast of a sequel, Tsujimoto’s bigger budgeted follow up picks up from where the original left off. Chased by assassins Milly travels in post apocalyptic Japan and agrees to help a young woman to avenge her lover. On the enemy side stands homosexual gang leader, his fashion aware brother, and dozens of gas mask wearing hired guns. Visually stylish, excessively violent with gore artist Yoshiro Nishimura’s handwork on display, and featuring jaw dropping action choreography that furiously mixes swords, nunchakus and firearms, Bloody Battle is simply one of the best Japanese action movies in decades.


trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w3hJutIA3c