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

Film Reviews and Release Comparisons
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Shingster
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Post by Shingster »

grim_tales wrote:The commentator is Andrew Staton (sp?) :)
I thought that in one part of the film it looked really stretched. As for language, I think I'm getting confused with "Shaolin Wooden Men" which features Cantonese on the HKL disc but should be Mandarin.
I've never seen the HKL Fearless Hyena release so can't comment on that, but a lot of Jackie's films used cameras with lenses that distorted the image, making it seem a little stretched diagonally.
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Post by grim_tales »

Thanks Shing :)
I thought Andrew's Big Boss commentary wasn't great TBH, OK but a bit boring. Bey Logan was much better. I haven't heard his Fearless Hyena one.
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Post by saltysam »

bradavon wrote:Since when can you speak for the entire Northern population?
who said i did?do you speak in that wurzel like twang?just asking.
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Markgway
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Post by Markgway »

Oi've gotta a bran' new comboine 'arvester!!
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Post by saltysam »

My daughter's mate is from Bristol and at my daughter's 21st last year she sang combine harvester on the karaoke,it was hilarious though it may have been funnier due to me being well oiled at the time :wink:
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Post by bradavon »

My accent is nothing like a Bristol accent, 40 minutes South and it's very different. Go figure!
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Post by HungFist »

Hard Revenge Milly (Japan, 2008) – 2/5
The first part in the Neo Action double. This futuristic revenge flick features some nice gore effects and a ”jaw dropping” climax, but there’s also too much rocknrolla. The ending credits hit the screen after just 40 minutes.

The Masked Girl (Japan, 2008) – 2,5/5
A high school girl is kidnapped and given superpowers by a mad scientist in the second Neo Action feature. Soon after men is suits are following her, and then the ninjas attack. A very clumsy but rather fun and innocent romp that comes with some brilliant wtf moments.
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Post by luckystars »

Watched HKL Fearless Hyena last night. Colours are a bit brown and muddy, but that could be partially down to the Art Direction on this film, being a bit lacking, not to mention the comical costumes!

Picture restoration is a bit heavy handed (frame cuts, and cut-and-pasting of previous frames to mask bad sratches are clearly evident), but the image isn't overly processed and still looks sutiblly filmic and grainy.

Of note the picture does distort in places, due to the lense used(?), but not to the extent of The Young Master.

Subs are of a high standard, FH being notable for having many puns and jokes in the dialog which come accross very well.

Orignial Mono is a bit flat but at least it's there! The sync is a bit off at times but overall it didn't spoil the viewing experience.

Totally agree with Grim, it's a 4/5 movie :)
2010 - The return of the HK movie industry :)
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Post by grim_tales »

I'll watch Last Hurrah or Magnificent Bodyguards next :)
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Post by diceman »

HungFist wrote:Hard Revenge Milly (Japan, 2008) – 2/5
The first part in the Neo Action double. This futuristic revenge flick features some nice gore effects and a ”jaw dropping” climax, but there’s also too much rocknrolla. The ending credits hit the screen after just 40 minutes.
Got myself the Malaysian DVD which has english subs available. Gonna watch it later that evening!
HungFist wrote:The Masked Girl (Japan, 2008) – 2,5/5
A high school girl is kidnapped and given superpowers by a mad scientist in the second Neo Action feature. Soon after men is suits are following her, and then the ninjas attack. A very clumsy but rather fun and innocent romp that comes with some brilliant wtf moments.
If you want to get rid of it, here's a thankful customer. :D
I don't even care if it has subs or not.
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Post by diceman »

Hard Revenge Milly
Meh, not that my hopes were all that high, but that surely was a disappointment. I want my forty minutes back. It's not like they even tried to tell a story, feels more like they had some action-footage for roughly 4 minutes and filled the rest of the time with long shots of people walking from point A to B or just some dull brooding. Gore-Effects were nicely done, sure, even the action was surprisingly watchable, but with no context or background it's just boring. Compared to this movie "Machine Girl" feels like the last half hour of "Transformers". And nothing against a good share of exploitation every now and then, but that tasteless baby-cruelty was as unneccessary as shit on a toast.
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Post by HungFist »

Sukeban Deka II – Legend of the Girl in the Iron Mask (Japan, 1985-1986) – 4.5/5
Seifuku dressed Yukari Oshima’s nunchuku mayhem. Saki vs ruthless girls’ kung fu club. Evil martial arts masters (specialties include the three section staff) released from prison at noon in a western esque story setting. Simply put, Sukeban Deka II has the best start in the history of television. Although it can’t quite retain that quality throughout – there’s a couple of filler storylines in the middle - it is one hell of an addictive series that among all other movie and pop culture references (which range from Red Peony Gambler to Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion) even manages to re-tell the story of Casablanca (1942). Yoko Minamino, Haruko Sagara and Onyanko Club member Akie Yoshizawa star. One the most iconic television shows ever made.

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Post by degeneration »

Appleseed 4/5

Finally got round to watching this one. Remember seeing the trailers for it several years back and thinking that the animation looked quite superb. Well even now several years later I still think the animation looked superb! The film was pretty decent too, with quite a lot of action throughout. I do admit that I don't think I understood the main plot line of the film completely, but i got the general gist of it.

Wasn't in an overly concentrating sort of mood so watched it with the english dub. Went back to a few scenes afterwards to see how the english subs compared and there were some notable differences that while not changing the overall meaning, they did change the outward emotions of the scene.

Good film, excellent animation. Will have to watch the extras on it now...
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Post by romerojpg »

Part 2 is as good, a very different animation style mind you :) but wonderful looking films it has to be said, shame they get bogged down with some silly plotting.
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Post by HungFist »

:x
HungFist wrote: Appleseed: Ex Machina (Japan, 2007) – 1/5
Hong Kong maestros Terence Chang and John Woo in the producer's chair have brought little extra quality to the second Appleseed animation, which, according to my weak recallings, fares very poorly even compared to the 2004 original. It’s a rock and roll scifi actioner with plenty of dull slow-mo gunplay and zero character depth. While far from the worst films the genre has to offer, Ex Machina features no redeeming qualities. It can be watched, but I can’t think of any good reasons to do so.
And I was being easy on that film because just one day before I had seen Vexille...
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degeneration
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Post by degeneration »

Well, I'll be happy to see part 2, cause i did like part 1.

What's Vexille?
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Post by HungFist »

degeneration wrote: What's Vexille?
HungFist wrote: Vexille (Japan, 2007) – 1/5
A prime example of the worst type of animated garbage Japan has to offer. Although the setting – future Japan completely isolated from the rest of the world - sounds interesting, the film achieves nothing. It’s loaded with nerve wrecking slow motion action scenes and fearless heroes and robots that share equal charisma. Worst of all is the loud soundtrack that makes the poor viewer develop suicidal thoughts. The positives of this problem-waste are few and far between; there’s a decent piece of music in the opening credits, followed by a rather exciting ”death star invasion” 95 minutes later.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970472/
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Post by HungFist »

Kimi no yubisaki (Japan, 2006) – 3/5
Real life friends Horikita Maki and Kuroki Meisa star in a 17 minute short film by Tokyo.Sora director Ishikawa Hiroshi. It’s more of an idol product for the two leads – who also releases a photobook together – than an Ishikawa movie, but it does have very nice locations and some beautiful music. The director’s attempt to bring more liveliness into the image by keeping the camera in constant light move is a bit distracting, though. After viewing the film it would be advisable to watch the 3 minute short version which actually works better, at least after seeing the story first in long form.
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Post by HungFist »

The City of Violence (South Korea, 2006) – 1/5
Ryu Seung-Wan hasn’t exactly convinced before, but now he has hit the rock bottom. A relatively simple but ugly action film that painfully moves from one story cliché to another without any sense of style. Almost everything from cinematography to the use of music fails, and even the fights are poorly captured. It’s best to reset yourself after this by watching a 1970’s martial arts film from Japan or Hong Kong. And someone actually said Ryu was trying to honor those films with this modern mishmash.
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Post by tom2681 »

*Logs onto BnB*
*Sees that City of Violence got a 1/5*

Good to see you people are still insane.
I gave CoV a 3/5 back in 2006, and now that I think about it, it was a bit mean.
Between the editing, the choregraphy and the acting (the interaction between Jeong Du-Hong, Ryu Seung-Wan and Lee Beom-Su is hilarious), this has to be one of my favourite modern korean action films.

On par with The Good, the Bad and the Weird.
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Now I'm just "that weird french guy with a cat avatar who comes to BnB once a year for no reason and then disappears again".
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Post by grim_tales »

I thought it was a great little film Tom :D
4.25/5 :)
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Post by HungFist »

Godzilla vs Hedorah (Japan, 1971) – 1,5/5
Our environment is doomed! Godzilla faces a waste monster that shiffs poisonous gases. This is a rather poorly directed budget monter film without ambitious destruction sequences or interesting characters. The lack of the famous Godzilla theme doesn’t help either. Some hilarious highlights are included, but they are quite few and far between. Comes with an important environmental message.

Ijo seai kiroku, harenchi (Japan, 1969) – 2,5/5
Teruo Ishii’s erotic psycho-drama has a terrific start, but later falls a bit short of ingredients.
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Post by APPINESS »

Mind if I join in? This is my first review so be nice.

Iceman Cometh 3/5

I remember watching this on VHS and was really disappointed with it but after watching it a second time I found much to enjoy. The performances of Yuen Biao and Maggie Cheung were very good especially in the more dramatic scenes. However, although I like Yuen Wah, his performance was way over the top. There were some cool moves in the action scenes but I felt they used too many wires and sometimes you could actually see them clearly. The sword fights were also a little tame with too much emphasis on sparks flying. The comedy seemed a little forced for the most part especially when the main cast was not involved. I feel the director is not too good at directing comedy as like in ‘Dragon from Russia’ and ‘Naked Killer’ it falls a little flat like when the scientists find the two ‘icemen’ frozen on top of each other and say something like ‘It proves homosexuality existed in the Ming Dynasty’ and then go on to comment on how AIDS might have existed then. Also the scene where a policeman is interrogating Maggie Cheung and he slaps her up a bit felt out of place. It really took me out of the film. .

The DVD (Joy Sales)

The subtitles were not bad although they did disappear for a couple of minutes in the film. It’s a shame that they didn’t translate any of the written text in the film. The deleted scenes on the DVD were quite good and I thought they would have added to the film. And the interview with Yuen Biao was short and sweet with a few interesting anecdotes about the shoot. Overall, not one of Yuen Biao’s best but I’m glad I picked it up.
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Post by bradavon »

Of course, welcome.
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Post by grim_tales »

Welcome to BnB :D
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