Bullets 'n' Babes

hey,

and the high rating has managed to secure box office the last few years too, including Johnnie To's Election films. Perhaps we can soon see more flicks along the lines GONG TAU AN ORIENTAL BLACK MAGIC soon too.

That's interesting, compared with America where it's the opposite.

Cat-3 martial arts/action films are extremely rare. So much so I can't even think of one off-hand. This is largely because whenever a film is that violent it deserves a III the dist opts to cut for a more commercial Cat II (or IIB post '95). Eg. Black Mask.

Crime Story was CAT III I think, does that count? I guess its not really "martial arts".

hey,

it's interesting too that speaking of Johnnie To, there's little fear over his last few projects about shooting for the III. Although a shot in EXILED was removed in order to secure a lower rating (but was reinstated for the dvd), maybe Media Asia had more to do with that?

The recent Fatal Move is III so it's not just Johnnie To, it seems more open in a way to not fear the rating unless you're making a horror or exploitation flick. And Black Mask really suffers from its lower rating as those cuts are so obvious. The severed hand scene being the worst offender.

grim_tales wrote:Crime Story was CAT III I think, does that count? I guess its not really "martial arts".

That was for the Traid scenes I think?

It's a pity there is still no decent Uncut Black Mask. The Taiwanese DVD looks awful.

Why was EXILED a Cat-III again? I've forgotten. Can't have been for the violence as it was only a '15' in the UK.

Handshake

Triad handshake?

Drunken Master: 4/5

A classic in many ways and an important film for Jackie Chan. Good fun, although slow to build up and Dean Shek is really, really annoying.
Disappointing that the Columbia has no full Cantonese track, switching from Canto/English and back again, sometimes in the same scene.
Columbia must have used an English print but they slapped the "Drunken Master" title card on, it doesnt look right.

I though Dean Shek was hilarious in Drunken Master. Warriors Two, on the other hand...

And we really need a good dvd of Drunken Master. Its absurd that one of the most famous HK movies can't be seen properly due to basic incompetence

What about the HK remaster? How's that?

Canto-mandarin-english* mix

* during non dialogue scenes. Can't be sure it's english, but from what I recall it's the same as Columbia. During some fight scenes (at least the restaurant fight), although there's no actual dialogue, you can clearly notice that the audio source changes. This actually bothered me more than having dialogue in multiple languages.

The HK disc is also cut. Some scenes can be viewed in mandarin if you click enter when a logo appears (will lead to a short pause, and you can't prevent the logo from appearing), but not all.

HK Video is still the only dvd with 100% canto track. The transfer is the weakest of the three, but after all the audio crap with the other releases I really couldn't care less.

HK Video only has French subs right?

Yes.

Shame

I don't mind the French DVDs of various films not having English subs, its having the French subs forced that annoys me

I still think considering Columbia Tristar didn't have a full Cantonese track, they should've put Mandarin in the English bits. That would've been better than using English.

I agree. It wouldnt have been so bad if it was just the opening part that was in English but without warning the track just switches in various places, even if its for a few lines and it really annoyed me.

I personally prefer DM in Mandarin (even though its a cantonese film!) so at the very least, Columbia and Mei Ah should have offered that uninterupted - or HKL should have retained the OAR

Do we know why Columbia Tristar couldn't have used the same track the HK Video DVD uses?

Ivan Drago wrote:I though Dean Shek was hilarious in Drunken Master.

Those words don't belong in the same sentence.

Meh, it took the French to recognise Poe and Jerry Lewis. It's only a matter of time before Mr Shek is immortalised!

Sympathy for the Underdog (Japan, 1971) – 4/5
A sort of transition point between new and old, this was the last yakuza film Kinji Fukasaku directed before he revolutionized the genre with jitsuroku (documentary) style approach. Sympathy for the Underdog is set to modern day Okinawa where a small gang (lead by old school legend Koji Tsuruta) attempt to take over the business from local gangs. Similarly to the 60’s ninkyo yakuza films Fukasaku inspects the themes of honor and social ties within the yakuza. The supporting cast is filled with great actors such as Asao Koike, Noboru Ando and Tsunehiko Watase. The most memorable performance is given by Tomisaburo Wakayama, who plays a local hard edged gangster.

Street Mobster (Japan, 1972) – 3/5
Fukasaku begins his anti-ninkyo revolution with this brutal and nihilistic yakuza film. Bunta Sugawara stars as a criminal who has abandoned the rules of the yakuza. To him honor and respect are nothing more than words. Fukasaku moves the film with lightning speed and often shoots the action with handheld camera. The hectic style is essential for depicting the world in which the characters live, but can also feel a bit exhauting in the long run. Sugawara is expectedly good as the hot headed street punk, and Asao Koike gives good support. The young Takeo Chii can be seen as one of the gang members.