New Wave or Old school

[pjshimmer]

I find it common for most westerners in general to like old school (60s to 80s) kung fu movies better than new wave (90s to present day) martial arts films. The explaination is usually that earlier productions were made mostly without any wire. That is just the opposite for new wave movies, where wire is perhaps a must. I am very curious - which type, old school or new wave, do you prefer? Old school can perhaps be best characterized by Shaw Bros and the venoms, while Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh represent the new wave catagory well.<br><br>I will tell you right now that there is no comparison between the two. One is 100% more superior to me than the other. Can you guess which one I prefer over the other?<br><br>Yup, you guess it - new wave it is. If you have seen some TVB kung fu series (period Chinese), you'd know they probably all fall into the new wave cat. Being one of the biggest lovers of kung fu series (90 minutes in a movie is simply not up to my demand), it is logical that I love new wave kung fu better. The key that best defines and divides kung fu movies between old school and new wave is TECHNOLOGY, or the wire technique. I'm not sure when it was first used, but most Shaw Bros productions lacked good usage of such, which is why I don't really like them a whole lot. I feel actors such as the venoms and Fu Sheng are not the type of people who really lived in old Chinese dynasties. But then again people like the characters in Storm Riders probably didn't take place either, but still, there is just a love for flying and supernatural power inside of me, which old school movies really lacked. But anyway getting to the point once again - which do you prefer?<br><br>To help you understand more of my perspectives, go see the recent bottom half addition to my original review of Once Upon a time in china 1: http://www.hkmdb.com/db/movies/reviews. ... ay_set=eng<br><br>Thank you 4 ur time. Any input is appreciated.<br><br>

[subgum]

I like the old school stuff. I am increasingly more appreciative of a good story.<br>some of my favorites are:<br>5 Deadly Venoms<br>Unbeatable Dragon<br>Slice of Death<br>Fists of The White Lotus<br>Masked Avengers<br>nothing like a good old plot based on revenge!<br><br>subgum

[PAUL MARTINEZ]

Well as a Westerner I feel like I must answer. It's a tough call. But after carefully looking at what my all-time favs are I would have to say New Wave. Although I still love the old Shaw Brothers stuff.But with films like DM 2, Fist Of Legend, Iron Monkey, Even Bullet In The Head. How can you compare?<br><br>

[pjshimmer]

I've always considered the plot/storyline in a movie much more important than the action. There are many period pieces without any good action but have excellent stories (i.e. One-Armed Swordsman, 12 Deadly Coins), which I love nevertheless. And then there are those who have good action but really messed up plots (i.e. Butterfly Sword, ONce Upon A Time in China II, Fist of Legend, in my humbled opinions at least), which I dispite. I know some people who rate a movie solely based on its martial arts action. I am a big fan of the genre, but I will never dislike a movie just because it lacks good action. However, to me, lacking a good plot is something that no other element can make up for.<br><br>

[xiaoka]

<br>most older HK 'kungfu' flicks are pretty bad as far as production quality and story go, and personally, I don't even like the martial arts that much.<br><br>Most newer stuff we see is either all strings or all computers and camera tricks... which is fine if the plot and acting are good. I enjoyed Man Called Hero and most of Jet's newer stuff.<br><br>But you don't watch these for the martial arts either... half of the actors aren't even martial artists (if I hear one more person say that Michelle Yeoh is a 'kick-ass martial artist, I think I'm going to gag, she, just like Zhang Yiyi are just dancers who did a few months of training for these movies... not the same as a martial artist). <br><br>OK... to my point - I like the /middle wave/... by this I mean eraly 80s productions out of China, where they just grabbed a bunch of wushu athletes and made a movie around them.<br><br>If you want to see some top quality REAL Chinese martial arts, with no wires, no camera tricks, this is the place to go. I'm talking like entire minute long fight sequences without a single cut (you just can't get that s**t anymore).<br><br>Things like Shaolin Kids, Shaolin Temple, and my personal favorite 'Southern Fist King' (aka 'Southern Shaolin Master') - really show case chinese wushu... not some actor w/ two weeks of training and a wire on their butt.<br><br><i><b>-Xiao Ka</b></i>

[pjshimmer]

What I was saying was the stories in OUATIC 2 and Fist of Legend were boring and messed up to me. They weren't typically bad, but I didn't like them a bit. And yes, they certainly did screw up the story in Man Called Hero. But still I prefer Man Called Hero to OUATIC 2 + Fist of Legend.<br><br>