saltysam wrote:though split in two it really should be considered as one movie,no?
One movie or two movies, there's pretty good reasoning for both. It was intended as one film, yes. But then, it was released in two parts, and these two parts are also stylistically different. I'm pretty sure the second part would be different from what it is now if Woo had completeted the entire film (post production) as one. Or maybe he did, I don't know, but to me it seems like Woo changed his approach a bit when he started editing part II.
The main reason for Part 2 being clearly superior is the screenplay, though. Part I had a lot of characterization scenes that more or less needed to be there, but weren't always interesting to watch. Part II could skip this, as we already know the characters, and concentrate on the good stuff. Plus it avoided the complete fuck ups that I was talking about before.
In part 2 I loved the slow-motion scene of that girl evading the arrow that was shot at her.
Also the slow-motion scene where the girl and the guy jump over the fence at the same time. That was very John Woo-like. After so many years of using slo-mo he now really knows when to use that stylistic device.
thelostdragon wrote:In part 2 I found that side story odd with that dumb soldier and the spy girl claiming to be a male soldier. WTF? Very untypical of a John Woo-film.
Actually I rather liked the scenes between Vicki Zhao and Tong Da-Wei. Added a much needed humanity to the blood and thunder.
HungFist wrote:Part 2 was clearly better, with the focus on war strategies and hilarious humor. Part 1 was mostly good but it had some god awful scenes, like the symbolic tiger scene, or the embarrasing love scene.
Clearly you're wrong. The second film was too reliant on lengthy battle sequences. Not sure the humour fitted either given that there was virtually none in Part 1. My biggest gripe - and I still really rated the movie - is that Part 2 didn't build on Part 1 and felt like more of the same only protracted.
saltysam wrote:though split in two it really should be considered as one movie,no?
Technically they're two seperate movies (you wouldn't call The Lord of the Rings Trilogy one movie).
HungFist wrote:The main reason for Part 2 being clearly superior is the screenplay, though. Part I had a lot of characterization scenes that more or less needed to be there, but weren't always interesting to watch. Part II could skip this, as we already know the characters, and concentrate on the good stuff.
Depends on what you class as "the good stuff"? I enjoyed the political intrigue and character introductions of Part 1.
Plus it avoided the complete fuck ups that I was talking about before.
The what?? I didn't have a problem with the tiger or love scenes - and even if I did I wouldn't call them "fuck-ups!"
Well, I never was so interested in Chinese politics. Chang Cheh films also usually put me into sleep whenever they go political, or try something more epic that one man trying to kill everyone with his one arm.
Finally got round to seeing this one. To be honest I wasn't THAT impressed. Most of the scenes seemed rather disjointed and only there to set up the next action scene. The action scenes themselves while undoubtedly impressive, did seem like they were merely a showcase of what Tony Ja can do as opposed to proper film fight scenes. It did get ridiculous how the bad guys just seemed to keep coming out of nowhere, and they came in every shape, size, and fighting background. It was like they were thinking "What type of fighter haven't we shown Tony fighting yet?" and whatever the answer was, was then hired to be put in the film.
I preferred Ong Bak on the whole. Maybe TYG is a 3.5/5 film as the long take action scenes were definitely impressive.
“Name any excitement in James Bond movies, we’ve got it! Plus Chinese kung fu”. Big words, but Stoner was indeed originally to be the greatest action movie ever made. That was before the leading star Bruce Lee had died, before Sonny Chiba had cancelled his participation as a result of Lee’s passing, around the time the unlucky ex-Bond George Lazenby signed his underpaid contract on the basis he would get to star with two of Asia’s biggest action superstars. But when the film was finally completed in 1974, Chiba and Lee were both missing, as was Lazenby’s hair, thanks to the cursed hotel shampoo that proved incompatible with the Australian hairdo. Golden Harvest had tried to compensate for the first two losses by hiring some of their promising new talents, such as Sammo Hung (small villain role) and most importantly, Angela Mao, who was originally scheduled to shoot Sister Street Fighter in Japan around the same time. It was thanks to her cancellation that Japan’s all time greatest on screen female kicker, Etsuko Shihomi, got the role. The rest is Japanese movie history.
Stoner, on the other hand, isn’t such a bad piece of film history either. If nothing else, it’s interesting and entertaining. The dumbass storyline goes something like this: a new drug is turning people (horrible Caucasian cows, that is) into sex maniacs, and two detectives are sent to capture bad guys. Lazenby is one, and Mao the other. Although the two stars only meet each other near the end, the do make a good leading couple. Mao is naturally the tougher action star, showcasing her skills in the terrific finale, but Lazenby doesn’t fare too poorly either. His movie star charisma, and the epic music played every time he and his moustache walk into the frame, really make the film. Also, the man deserves credit for how well he handles the action scenes. Wisely his fighting is kept simple, and he is never suggested to be a master of kung fu. That being said, he is far more convincing than you’d expect, clearly a cut above your typical Caucasian action star.
Really? That sucks, after switching between the two languages I decided Cantonese was my preferred choice as Stephen Chow's other films are in that language and it's a bit weird hearing him dubbed, whereas I don't know the children so it's not quite so bad to not hear their real voices.
If you've seen anything else Johnnie To has done over the last decade you've already seen this movie. As those go it's OK (actually parts of it are well directed) but the script is full of holes and the leading man (Johnny Halliday) appears to be in a coma. Couldn't they have sprung for Jean Reno?
Assault Girls (Japan, 2009) - 3.5/5
Mamoru Oshii upgrades Assault Girls into a feature length film. It's 70's minutes of most entertaining gun pornography with about as much depth as you'd expect from a girls with guns sci-fi actioner. Review to come.
The Woman with Red Hair (Japan, 1979) – 1/5
Tatsumi Kumashiro has always been a bit of film historical curiosity. More film awards than one can keep track of, and a career spent mostly in Nikkatsu pink film; he could have left the studio any time he wanted. But Kumashiro preferred (relative) artistic freedom and continued to make socio critical character dramas in the pink film genre. The Woman with Red is a typical example of this. Firmly falling under the misery-cinema tag, it’s a dull and pessimistic slice of life drama with no likable characters. Acting and tech credits are solid, but there isn’t much visual gloss when Kumashiro spends half of the running time in a small rundown apartment with his two troubled characters. The critics, of course, loved Kumashiro’s work. Junko Miyashita was nominated for the best actress by the Japanese Academy, and Kinema Jumpo named the film as one of the 100 best Japanese movies of the century.
Love Exposure (Japan, 2008) - 5/5
3rd time. Amazing. A serious contender for the decade's best movie. But I've said enough already, so instead I'll just quote others.
"This is cinema at its most daring, outrageous and defiant, and it needs to be seen to be believed"
"Forget everything you've ever seen before and go on a ride you will never forget"
"An epic masterpiece that is going to dominate the filmscape for decades"
"There’s that extremely rare feeling of watching something truly unique unfold in front of your eyes"
"An absolutely fantastic experience, so intense you’ll be still struggling to assimilate it all for weeks after you’ve seen it"
It was shown in theatres over here and is still running in some arthouse theatres. It was released by r-e-m (Rapid Eye Movies) and will soon hit to DVD.
Final Venoms Mob Shaw movie from Chang Cheh is let down by some plodding pacing and a lack of action.The House of Traps itself is interesting but underused.Sun Chien doesn't even get to fight in this one!
Coweb 2/5
Weird title for this new chinese actioner designed to showcase the talents of young female newcomer Jiang Lui Xia. Simplistic plot but plenty of action which unfortunately is filmed in a routine manner and despite the film's many fight scenes none relly stand out as memorable.the girl has talent but needs a better fight director.
