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

[Godzooki]

Red Cliff 5/5 - Epic in every sense of the word.

Kung Fu Hip Hop & Shamo 1/5 - Both of these movies are stinking bags of Wank!!

[grim_tales]

Where/how did you see Red Cliff, Tigger? Sounds great

[tom2681]

He probably downloaded it from the same source as me.
It's been available for a couple of days now.

[bradavon]

Any idea when it's getting a cinema release?

I always regret it when I've not seen a film I end up loving at the cinema and opt to watch in on my TV instead. Hence I can wait.

[Godzooki]

Where/how did you see Red Cliff, Tigger? Sounds great

What Tom said, the pq is aces and the subs are perfect.

[Godzooki]

Any idea when it's getting a cinema release?

I always regret it when I've not seen a film I end up loving at the cinema and opt to watch in on my TV instead. Hence I can wait.

I hear ya but what you should remember is that in the west we will only get the 2.5hr spliced version of the movie.

Red Cliff in the East is a 2 part affair and the first part i have seen comes in at over 2 hours alone and i can look forward to another 2hours worth of this early 2009! Cant wait to buy this on Blu!

The film is slated for an early 2009 release in US and EUROPE.

[bradavon]

Thanks. I didn't realise we were getting such a heavily cut version. I'll likely wait for the BD then.

2009! That's some delay.

[HungFist]

Dokaben (Japan, 1977) – 3/5
Norifumi Suzuki's baseball-karate comedy. Probably a 1:1 copy of the manga, as the humour and characters make everything Suzuki has done before look "intelligent" (and that is saying a lot). Lots of very funny scenes, but obviously not everyone's cup of tea.

Shiofuki Ama (Japan, 1979) – 1/5
Utterly worthless pearl diving film without pearl diving. Some idiot at Nikkatsu came up with an idea to set 95% of the film indoors.

Time Adventure: zeccho 5-byo mae (Japan, 1986) - 1,5/5
Probably the first and last Meisaku roman scifi film. Some excellent wtf moments that help you to ignore the boring parts in the beginning but later the burden becomes too heavy.

[HungFist]

Asia-Pol (Japan/Hong Kong, 1966) – 3,5/5
Jimmy Wang Yu, with both hands still intact, stars as a secret agent in this highly entertaining camp adventure. His mission is to take down an organization smuggling gold from Hong Kong to Japan. Taking place in both countries the film features a great multinational cast. The most notable actor aside Wang Yu is the legendary Japanese action star Jo Shishido as the head of the crime organization. Obviously a lot of influences have been taken from Nikkatsu’s stylish action and yakuza films. This is only natural as the pic is, in fact, a co-production between the Shaw Brothers and Nikkatsu studios, with most of the crew being Japanese. A lot has also been borrowed from the James Bond films. The sunsets, casinos, gadgets and femme fatales are all included. The storyline doesn’t always make perfect sense but that shouldn’t bother anyone. Wang Yu, playing a Japanese character for once (instead of beating them to death as usual) is perfect in the lead role. Also notice that despite the seemingly obvious connection to You Only Live Twice (1967) Asia-Pol was made already before. The Hong Kong release was in summer 1967, but the Japanese audiences saw the film already in 1966.

The Delinquent (Hong Kong, 1973) – 2,5/5
Good but not great modern day film from Chang Cheh and Chih-Hung Kwei. Graceful old school choreographies have been thrown to trash bin and replaced with brutal street fighting (although still courtesy of Liu Chia Liang and Tang Chia) and hectic cinematography that isn’t too far from Kinji Fukasaku’s yakuza films of the same era. Frankie Chan’s score accompanies the action rather succesfully. Storyline and character fates are typically black, to the extent that near the end it starts feeling a bit too much. The main character’s motives can be understood in the beginning, but later he becomes quite dislikable. But the film’s got a few surprises in its back pocket, too. The amount of female characters is higher than one, and one of them actually gets topless. Usually in Cheh’s films you only have half naked men and close ups of their oiled muscles. I guess this was Chih-Hung Kwei’s doings here. Looking at the film, it seems like Cheh’s contribution may not have been awfully huge, although it’s hard to know who exactly directed the film and how much of it

[Markgway]

I thought Asia-Pol was crap. I wonder if the Japanese version is any better?

[HungFist]

Whoa, who could someone not love it? I liked it so much I'm gonna buy Interpol next.

IMDB states "Language: Japanese | Mandarin | English | Taiwanese". I don't recall such bunch of languages being spoken on the mandarin track. It would be fun to see the original JP version. Do you know if it's a different cut or just the language?

Unfortunately the film hasn't been released on R2J and probably won't be (Nikkatsu is very lazy at releasing their classic titles). Any other country is likely to get the mandarin version only...

[Markgway]

Whoa, who could someone not love it? I liked it so much I'm gonna buy Interpol next.

Haven't seen Interpol. Has to be better though.

IMDB states "Language: Japanese | Mandarin | English | Taiwanese". I don't recall such bunch of languages being spoken on the mandarin track. It would be fun to see the original JP version. Do you know if it's a different cut or just the language?

Asia-Pol was a co-production between Shaw Bros and Nikkatsu. The director prepared two versions - one with Wang Yu in the lead role for the Chinese market and one with Jo Shushido in the lead for Japan. He thus had to shoot numerous scenes twice - once with each actor in the frame. The supporting cast remained the same (and probably should've been paid for two movies -lol). Everyone spoke their own language (ie. Mandarin or Japanese). The JP edit is called Asiapol Secret Police. Was available on VHS (no subs) though I've never seen it.

[HungFist]

Damn. Thanks.

[Lourdes]

"SFLV" - 3/5
I'll upgrade this, it may be really pretentious (sets, makeup, wardrobe music) but I'll accept it as part of the trilogy and was quite into it come the ending.

"Three Resurrected Drunkards" - 1/5
I couldn't see the point of this, perhaps demonstrating that the Japanese and Koreans have a problem with each other. I got bored.

"Always - Sunset on Third Street 2" - 0/5
I gave it a good 6-7 minutes.

"Mute Samurai"
If you're into chambara I guarantee that you'll love it, personally it's not my sort of thing.

--
Eva, you asked me about these when I posted comparison topics. I can give you my thoughts now.

"Beck" - 3/5
Though there is no doubt that this series does contain themes and scenarios that are strong conventions of the genre it manages to be quite different. For one thing it can be rather more serious than you expect from anime, it doesn't verge on adult or anything anything as strong as live action coming of age dramas but there are satisfying interludes where it does come close. To the English speaking viewer there is a real detraction, there is an awful lot of Japanese people speaking and singing in Engrish, sometimes pretending to be American which is more painful still.
I'm not quite sure what I think of it on the whole, I watched all but the last two episodes in one sitting (don't ask) so for me it felt like a pleasant experience. Had I seen it in bits I suspect I would have given up before midway, at 26 episodes it's at least ten too long and much is repeated throughout the series. It's not bad apart from the Engrish and length but I don't really think I'd recommend it as anything more than something to try, and to its credit it is still better than 99% of other series.

"Last Exile" - 2/5
It starts off quite promising, completely exceeding anything Gonzo - and in fact anything by most studios. Sadly though after about seven episodes and the initial burst of story it loses all momentum as it goes to filler and nonsensicalness, then the plot begins to rapidly progress without you being filled in on any details such as the settings, background, story etc so you haven't the faintest idea of what's happening. Throw in an out of the blue series of love triangles and a decline in quality and you have me switching it off before the end of disc 4.
Such a shame, I believe it could have been really good and I really liked the opening.
As an aside the English dub is very good, exact same feel as the Japanese and some familiar voices. I've noticed that the main weakness of English dubs isn't always the poor voice actors, most of the fault lies with translating the script without sufficient rewriting. Lots can be stripped and more language can be made more natural.


I shall try that Mushishi soon.

[tom2681]

"Always - Sunset on Third Street 2" - 0/5
I gave it a good 6-7 minutes.

Ouch.
Just curious: what did you think of the first one?

[grim_tales]

The Streetfighters' Last Revenge: 4/5

Still very enjoyable, but I thought some of the disguises were a bit silly at times and I'm not sure the spy thriller elements of the film were as satisfying as the pure action. Still some impressive action though from our badass anti-hero I can't believe it, after being stabbed/shot etc at the end by rights he should be dead
Were there any more Streetfighter films?
I loved the moment when Chiba rips out a guy's intestines :twisted:

[HungFist]

The Streetfighters' Last Revenge: 4/5

It's a very under-rated film, indeed. Great action, great cast, great jokes.

Were there any more Streetfighter films?

Karate Warriors is sometimes considered a half-sequel. There's no direct connection, though.

And of course there's the excellent Sister Street Fighter series.

[Lourdes]

Ouch.
Just curious: what did you think of the first one?

'Sentimental' overacted drivel but I watched the whole thing, 2.5/5 or so. This second one goes with "hey we all know the characters now so let us exaggerate them and overact five-fold!!!!!!!!"

[tom2681]

Thanks.
Can't wait to watch it now, since it's "more of the same".

[HungFist]

Big Bad Sis (Hong Kong, 1976) – 3/5
Hong Kong pinky violence? Almost. A female factory worker gets molested by her lesbian colleague. To her rescue comes ’Fearless Ying’ who beats the attacker and rips off her shirt. The victim and another girl, both hugely impressed by Ying’s performance, decide to hook up with their new role model and lear how to defend themselves from perverts and other unfriendly persons. The film works best during the first half, which is clearly the more outrageous part. All girls explain their tragic past in hilarious flashback sequences. Soon they get in crash course with local gansters. It’s time to kick ass. And they do, but not quite as effectively as you’d hope. Very describing is Chen Kuan Tai’s participation in the final fight; it’s nice to see Big Brother Cheng back, but these girls ought to be able to take care of themselves without male help. A good try, and a fun movie, but they still have something to learn from the Japanese.

[gasteropod]

One Missed Call: 2/5

Derivative, not scary, confusing. Surprised that Takeshi Miike directed this. It's just Ringu mixed with Phone, except those two are scary and this one isn't.

[saltysam]

Challenge Of The Masters 2/5

One of the lesser SB productions for me.curiously ininvolving despite the talent on show.

[HungFist]

Seven Swords (China / Kong Kong / South Korea, 2005) – 3/5
I watched this with low expectations but it turned out pretty good. The pic looks fantastic from start to finish and never gets boring. The first half goes too fast, though, it’s only around the halfway when you start getting any grasp of the characters. The rest is works both character and action wise, although the last few minutes are pretty poor. It would be interesting to see Hark’s original, uncut version, although I doubt the extra minutes (or was it hours?) would make this a Seven Samurai or anything close.

Kuikomu ama midarekai (Japan, 1982) – 1/5
One very cute topless girl in this incredibly worthless Nikkatsu film. I still can't understand why make a ama film without any diving scenes. Or storyline. Some nice landscapes don't help much. Had to watch in 4 or 5 parts, and fast forward the last 15 minutes.

[bradavon]

Re: Seven Swords: I'd settle for a coherent narrative, let alone Seven Samurai. The cuts severely hurt the film.

[gasteropod]

I watched Ringu and Ringu 2 back-to-back this evening. I've always been a big fan of the first one (which is the scariest film I've ever seen), but when I first saw Ringu 2 on TV many years ago, all it did was confuse me and left me very dissatisfied.

I've only now revisited it, and now I can appreciate it. Unlike most sequels which are just more of the same, this one is actually clever and focuses on something different; it actually progresses the story and has a point of existing. I still got chills from it at certain points, but it's certainly not as scary as the first one. I think if the fantastically chilling soundtrack were taken advantage of more in the sequal (I think it was underused, whereas on the first film it was used perfectly), then it would have been significantly scarier.