Ask Mike: Brian's (older) HK movie thread

[Mike Thomason]

Per...

I suspect I'll finally be able to read your thoughts on a lot of older films that I'm certain you've seen, but for which I've been hesitant to ask for commentary due to their age.

Ask away! If I've seen it I'll throw my two cents worth into the arena -- if not, then with luck we'll inspire those that have seen certain undiscussed titles to pitch in with their thoughts.

I await the first film with bated breath...

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Well I'm not Brian but I'll start with some very, very common films:

I definitely would like to here your opinion on earlier Jackie Chan films like Drunken Master and Police Story (please feel free even to mention any pre-80 Chan films).

Looking forward to your web site.

[Mike Thomason]

I definitely would like to hear your opinion on earlier Jackie Chan films like Drunken Master...

Strewth! Yuen Woo Ping's old classic is such a distant memory for me these days! I was never, ever a great fan of the martial arts genre, but I did watch a lot of the "accepted classics" in my formative Hong Kong movie viewing years (late eighties); I even have a copy of Drunken Master on VHS somewhere boxed away in the archives. It's probably going to offend quite a lot of people, but the only real memory I have of that particular film is the recent parody of Jackie's training sequence that the Twins undertook in Protege de la Rose Noire (2004)!

Police Story, on the other hand, I'll come back later on and share a few thoughts about -- I'd only ever seen the truncated English dubbed version until the turn of the nineties, and then I finally saw the original 106m HK theatrical version, which was quite a different film indeed! Anyways, have a few things to do (inclusive of update some stuff on the Asian movies watching thread) and then I'll get back to this half of the question. As for earlier Jackie films...well, can't say Jackie really came into his own for me until Crime Story (1993), which was the film that finally won me over with him. I did try to go backwards into the past but, as my affections don't lie within kung fu films, I never managed to get through any of his pre-DM outings as they grated on me badly, as well as felt horrendously dated and "hammy" to boot.

Please...don't hurt me...

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Looking forward to your thoughts on Police Story. I will ask more on your opinions after that .

I will put Crime Story (1993) higher on my list of films to watch.

Please...don't hurt me...

hee hee

I cannot explain why I watch certain martial art films (and many times like them) (there's a lot of films I'm not quite sure why I watch and like ).

[cal42]

Is this where we try to stump Mike with as many old, obscure HK films to see if there's any he hasn't seen ?

Incidentally, I was surprised at Police Story being considered "old" - until I realised it's getting on for 22 years old now .

[Mike Thomason]

Looking forward to your thoughts on Police Story. I will ask more on your opinions after that .

Okay, after what seems like forever, here's some vague thoughts on Jackie's Police Story...

Believe it or not, I have never been a fan of either Maggie Cheung or Brigitte Lin -- both actresses never engendered or endeared themselves to me in any way, shape or form. I always felt both were very much "one note" performers, capable of perhaps only one predominant characterisation but rather flat outside of those personas. Accordingly, Chan's leading ladies in this one did zero for me.

Chan exhibited growth, as the film was contemporary as well as a far cry from the stilted, clunky old formulaic kung fu films he had featured in until the mid-eighties (though, unsurprisingly, he was still post-synched by another voice actor, infrequently doubled by members of his stunt team, and more reliant on wire-work than most people are willing to acknowledge even to this day). The three major action sequences (the shantytown opening, bus chase and shopping mall finale) are all iconic of both their genre and Hong Kong cinema as a unique entertainment artform, as well as a testament to Chan and his stunt team being that they still hold up almost 100% today as genuinely thrilling and exhilirating. And the comedy relief is never particularly overbearing or heavy-handed...

...however, I am more a fan of the second and fourth film (or is that fifth? First Strike is somewhat considered an unofficial fourth film in the series, though it's a dreadful film by anyone's measure) in the series -- I particularly like Police Story Part II and New Police Story. Part three just felt like a cheap Police Story knockoff, per many films of the period, to me...

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Chan exhibited growth, as the film was contemporary as well as a far cry from the stilted, clunky old formulaic kung fu films he had featured in until the mid-eighties (though, unsurprisingly, he was still post-synched by another voice actor, infrequently doubled by members of his stunt team, and more reliant on wire-work than most people are willing to acknowledge even to this day). The three major action sequences (the shantytown opening, bus chase and shopping mall finale) are all iconic of both their genre and Hong Kong cinema as a unique entertainment artform, as well as a testament to Chan and his stunt team being that they still hold up almost 100% today as genuinely thrilling and exhilirating. And the comedy relief is never particularly overbearing or heavy-handed...

I know that in Police Story I he did not do the stunt with the motorcycle through the glass (during the glass story segment). I'm not sure what other ones he didn't do in the first film (I believe he did all the major ones). I can't currently remember (nor found while searching) when Jackie first started using his own voice either.

I think Police Story II is underrated while I wasn't that fond of New Police Story but I will eventually give it another try so I can do a review on it.

Next basic question: what are your feelings on John Woo's HK oeuvre?

[Brian Thibodeau]

Not to downplay oneinchpunch's most recent question, but I'm very much looking for some thoughts on all of the following, which I picked up last night on VCD (among others that I'll list in the scrounge thread shortly).

HORROR SCHOOL (1990)
EYE FOR AN EYE (1990)
COP BUSTERS (1985)
CRAZY ROMANCE (1985)