Last 5 years of Asian Martial Arts films in review (2010-14)

[luckystars]

Watched 2 films so far

City Under Siege 5/10
Enjoyable, romantically tinged meta-human action romp, entertains despite goofy story. Benny Chan maintains slick production levels after a somewhat shaky setup, and seasoned vets Wu Jing and Collin Chou deliver credible action performances despite the wire heavy nature of superhuman fighting style here. As does Zhang Jingchu whose short action scenes show convincing ability. Aaron Kwok is Aaron Kwok so don't expect too much from him. Luckily this is very much an ensemble piece - Shu Qi is especially good (and possibly more adorable than ever) and handles the drama/romance scenes nicely. For detractors of typical HK movies, comedy isn't overdone and there's little melodrama to bog the film down. Yuen Wah also appears in a brief non action role.


Reign of Assassins
Review to follow

[Markgway]

I thought City Under Siege was pretty terrible.

[luckystars]

I thought City Under Siege was pretty terrible.

How did u score it by your system Mark. Less than a 2/4??

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Thanks for the input!!

So tell me, what am I missing?? No one gave suggestions yet

Have you seen both Raid's? Now Merantau comes in 2009, but I think that should be watched as well as it concentrates more on silat.

[Markgway]

I thought City Under Siege was pretty terrible.

How did u score it by your system Mark. Less than a 2/4??

1.5/4

[luckystars]

So not much different Mark !



Just ordered the Taiwanese DVD of this

Kung Fu Wing Chun (2010) http://youtu.be/3DvBjLG9K2E

[grim_tales]

Is it based on the 1994 Michelle Yeoh movie?

[luckystars]

Is it based on the 1994 Michelle Yeoh movie?

No idea actually

[grim_tales]

I was just wondering as some Youtube comments were saying it was a remake

[luckystars]

I was just wondering as some Youtube comments were saying it was a remake

Interesting. I've wanted this one for a while I'll review when it arrives

[luckystars]

I rented the Blu which wasn't put out under the Cine-Asia label but the new parent company E1. To be honest I didn't notice anything wrong with it but the specs were Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo.

According to Rewind the languages are Cantonese only:
http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/f ... ?fid=16277
Are you saying that there's a bilingual UK BD release?

Is this the budget release. Did this actually come out?

Yes, that's the one. I got it in HMV for a fiver.

Just got the E1 DVD and it has the same dub as their bluray i.e. MANDARIN

Another online myth debunked

[luckystars]

Reign of Assassins 4/10
TERRIBLE story. Absolutely awful plot premise and twists that Lo Wei would be proud of. Visually the film is horribly over processed with a pastel colour pallet that makes the plastic weapons look even more plastic, and sets and costumes look bland. Michelle Yeoh puts in a standard performance that at least made me want to not totally give up on the film. Initially the fights look more balletic than realistic. It's not til an hour in that we are treated to a really nice 3 vs 1 fight that is worthy of its setting and really harks back to the new wave films of the 90's. I don't think Stephen Tung Wei is necessarily at fault for the (mostly) tepid action. I suspect he wasn't allowed much freedom working within the ridged constraints of the films 'Crouching Tigeresq' visual style. Overall disappointing and a poor effort for a John Woo production.

[Markgway]

Just got the E1 DVD and it has the same dub as their bluray i.e. MANDARIN

Another online myth debunked

I would've bought the E1 BD if I'd known it had the same bilingual (primarily Mandarin) track as the budget DVD.

The review here says otherwise:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bodyguard ... -ray/9551/

"There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Cantonese LPCM 2.0. For the record, E1 Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature."

Do you have a different E1 BD edition?

[luckystars]

No I rented the E1 BD and it was mandarin. I remember noting Donnie being dubbed into Mandarin. Shame his appearance in this seemed a rush job