I've been doing a Jackie Chan (and Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao) marathon lately. There should be around 45 movies overall. I've seen most of them before, but this is the first time I will have watched them in chronological order, all the while reading Jackie's two biographies again. There are a few movies I had never seen, mind you, like all the Lo Wei stuff. I'm watching from New Fist of Fury until the mid-'90s, before he went to Hollywood and I lost interest. Anyway, I already talked about it in the Hong Kong movie thread but figured I'd continue here.
I finished his Lo Wei period. I've been wanting to watch those for years now, even if I expected the worst. I had fun overall. My favorites were easily Shaolin Wooden Men, Dragon Fist, and Fearless Hyena. I'll admit, I couldn't finish Half a Loaf of Kung Fu and Spiritual Kung Fu. Obviously, since I'm a fan of these guys, I like humor in my kung fu flicks, but this was just too much even for me. I tried, I really did, haha, but these two movies made me rethink my entire marathon and why on earth I was even doing this. :P
Anyway, I watched the two Seasonal movies too (Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master). After watching The Iron-Fisted Monk, they didn't quite impress me as much as they had 20 years ago (The Iron-Fisted Monk is such a strong debut for Sammo Hung as a director and a bona fide star), but even so, Drunken Master is still really strong, and I could see why this, more than anything else from back then, made him a real star. But so far, Sammo Hung has made a stronger impression on me early in their careers (having watched Iron-Fisted Monk, Warriors Two, Knockabout, and Odd Couple, with only Odd Couple being average).
I also watched Fearless Hyena for the first time. It's not quite on par with Drunken Master (and it's essentially a retread of Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master), but it's still a fun movie, and you can tell Jackie learned a lot from Yuen Woo-Ping and the Seasonal gang. Up next, The Magnificent Butcher (more Yuen Woo-Ping!), I remember really loving that one back in the day.
Oh, my two daughters really wanted to watch a Jackie Chan movie with me (they've seen a few clips on YouTube and watched some episodes of the cartoon), so I decided to show them the Karate Kid remake. I remember it being okay, mostly because of Jackie Chan's performance. Well, it turns out it was perfect for them after all! It made a strong impression on my youngest one (the 3-year-old), especially when Jackie comes to the rescue of the main kid and beats the living daylights out of those bullies. Omg, she was giggling the whole time, so happy she was that these kids got what they deserved. I think I've made a fan out of both of them, haha. They were ready to rewatch it as soon as the credits rolled. I didn't have much interest in his Hollywood years, but now I'm thinking of looking into what might be suitable for them. Maybe Around the World in 80 Days? Or The Tuxedo? Those looked horrible, but they might just be the right getaway for younger kids. Anyone have any recommendations? I'm going for Hollywood mostly because they are also in English.
I didn't have much interest in his Hollywood years but now i'm thinking of looking into what might be suitable for them. Maybe 80 days around the world? Or the Tuxedo? Those looked horrible but they might just be the right getaway for younger kids. Anyone have any recommendation?
Shanghai Noon is probably his best Hollywood film, yes even better than Rush Hour.
Forbidden Kingdom is also a blast, plus ya got Jet Li in it as well.
Shanghai Noon is probably his best Hollywood film, yes even better than Rush Hour.
Forbidden Kingdom is also a blast, plus ya got Jet Li in it as well.
Thanks, I was thinking about those, I saw them both back when they both came out, didn't love them but then again, I'm not looking for me this time. I think Rush hour is a bit too violent but Shanghai noon could be a good pick. Forbidden kingdom even better. I'm wondering how violent Rumble in the bronx was too, it's just before his Hollywood days but I remember liking that one.
Is it me or is Panda Plan quite hard to come by for those of us that need to import abroad?
Usually, eBay, Wowhd or Rarewaves would stock American releases but all I'm seeing are a couple of bootleg releases on eBay and nothing else.
I was hoping it might get a release in the UK but no sign of anything yet.
Well Go USA has been shipping these in fewer numbers from what I can see. Panda Plan, 100 Yards, Eye for an Eye 2, and Customs Frontline are in stock at very few online retailers. Even their tentpole 4K releases often end up out of stock. Locally, Walmart doesn't even carry the bluray copies of their releases in store anymore, only the DVDs.
Apparently The Myth is getting a 4K Remastered release in Japan? Could later get a 4K release from 88 Films down the line.
Wouldn't mind. I've been looking at the HK blu or the Cineasia blu since we never received this in America on bluray, but a 4K from 88 would be good if they did one.
Have to start remembering that these early to mid 2000s films are now 20-25 years old. They are as old now as many of the later Shaw Brothers films or the Golden Harvest stuff was when DVD really took off. Some of them deserve updated releases just as much as the Golden Harvest stuff.
I'm continuing my Jackie, Sammo, and Yuen marathon and I’m now right after Dragon Lord. Jackie is about to reunite with his brothers and start making movies with them again, beginning with Winners and Sinners. If I were to judge their careers so far, Sammo is pretty far ahead of Jackie at this point.
Jackie Chan's path up until now (before he would really find his footing with Project A) has been quite uneven. We have his subpar Lo Wei projects (although I have to admit I quite enjoyed Shaolin Wooden Men and Dragon Fist, two good low-key martial arts movies), his Seasonal movies with Yuen Woo-Ping, and finally the three movies he directed (Fearless Hyena, The Young Master, and Dragon Lord). I'd only rank Drunken Master and The Young Master as truly great movies, with The Young Master being his masterpiece up to that point. Heck, while I enjoyed his two collaborations with Woo-Ping, I'd still rank higher Woo-Ping's The Magnificent Butcher and Dreadnaught, the other two movies he did after with Hung and Biao.
As for Sammo, what an absolutely incredible start for him! I already mentioned how good his first two movies were (The Iron-Fisted Monk and Warriors Two), but since then I’ve also seen Knockabout, The Magnificent Butcher, Encounter of the Spooky Kind and The Prodigal Son, with the last two being in the pantheon of greatest martial arts movies of all time!
Sammo was on fire back then. I know Jackie ends up dominating most of the rest of the '80s, but man, Sammo was just as significant to the genre. Also, two of my favorite Jackie Chan movies from the rest of the '80s (Wheels on Meals and Dragons Forever) were really Sammo Hung movies!
Dragon Lord really feels like the end of an era. With Winners and Sinners and Project A, the three brothers would be jumping into more modern settings and the classic martial arts movies would be pretty much over for them (until Jackie’s sequel to Drunken Master a decade later, if I’m not mistaken). Speaking of Dragon Lord, what a disaster this movie is. It’s really fascinating reading Jackie’s 1998 biography while doing this marathon and seeing why Dragon Lord was such a misfire on nearly all fronts. He acknowledges how drunk on his own ego he was while making that movie and how badly he treated everybody. And it all shows on screen. This is one of those vanity projects where nobody was willing to say no to an artist. After how great The Young Master was, it’s no wonder Dragon Lord bombed so hard, to the point Jackie ran back to his brothers afterward.
Here are my top 8 movies of this classic martial arts era from the three brothers (from New Fist of Fury until Dragon Lord, 21 movies overall, althought I'm not counting Half a loaf of Kung fu and Spiritual Kung fu, since I couldn't finish them):
8- Drunken Master (7/10)
7- Dreadnaught (7/10)
6- Warriors two (7/10)
5- The Iron-fisted monk (7/10)
4- The Magnificent butcher (8/10)
3- The young master (8/10)
2- Prodigal Son (9/10)
1- Encounter of the spooky kind (9/10)
So overall, 3 movies directed by Woo-Ping, 1 directed by Jackie and 4 by Sammo. This marathon has made me intrigued in seeing more of Yuen Woo-Ping's 80's movies, mostly before he did the Tiger Cage and In the line of duties movies. Any recommendations? I don't think any of those are available on blu ray over here, if I'm not mistaken.
So overall, 3 movies directed by Woo-Ping, 1 directed by Jackie and 4 by Sammo. This marathon has made me intrigued in seeing more of Yuen Woo-Ping's 80's movies, mostly before he did the Tiger Cage and In the line of duties movies. Any recommendations? I don't think any of those are available on blu ray over here, if I'm not mistaken.
The Miracle Fighters is the only one I've seen (that's from the 80s and not Tiger Cage) but it's absolutely incredible.
I've started the second important phase in Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao's filmographies, their modern phase. I watched Winners and Sinners, Project A, Wheels on Meals, My Lucky Stars, Twinkle Twinkle My Lucky Stars, Heart of Dragon, Police Story, Millionaire Express, Armour of God, Righting Wrongs, Eastern Condors, Project A 2, and Dragons Forever. I love how different this period is from their previous years, which were all classical martial arts movies. There's a huge shift in styles and it makes for two very different eras in their careers.
And it all started with Sammo's Winners and Sinners and wow, what a start that was! I've never loved the Lucky Stars movies (and was reminded why with the other two sequels) but that first one is REALLY good. The humor is better, the stakes are more real, and Sammo and the other Lucky Stars are all pretty charming in this one.
But more importantly, there's a big shift in how Sammo Hung choreographs his action scenes; it's all much more real, faster, and better, in my opinion, and it all started here. Putting Winners and Sinners into perspective as to when it came out, it is such an important martial arts movie. I loved it, but of course, the two movies that came next are even better (Project A and Wheels on Meals).
Project A is just as good as I remembered (Project A, Wheels on Meals, Dragons Forever, and the Police Story trilogy were always my favorite martial arts movies back in the day) but it's Wheels on Meals that stomped me this time. It's easily my favorite of the three Dragons movies and while the humor doesn't always work, all the characters are fun. Sammo really knew how to use his Peking Opera brothers, even more so than Jackie Chan, in my opinion. All the fights are memorable and holy shit, that last fight between Jackie and Benny the Jet is even better than in my memories. It's so frigging intense and well done.
Going through all these modern movies, I'm realizing that I now slightly prefer Sammo over Jackie, especially as a director. I mean, I still love Jackie (and Yuen) but there's something so nice about how generous Sammo is to all of his co-stars. He always makes sure everyone gets to shine. Case in point with Eastern Condors, a movie I barely remembered but that I absolutely loved this time and a huge part of this is how great Yuen Biao's character is in this. I'd even go as far as saying it's probably Biao's greatest role (at least, so far in my marathon).
I'd say my three biggest surprises this time were probably Winners and Sinners, Heart of Dragon, and Eastern Condors, three movies I didn't remember liking much but that I absolutely loved this time. As for disappointments, probably Armour of God (and the two Lucky stars sequels, where the balance between characters and action isn't as strong as in Winners). Armour of God is fine but way below Jackie's other movies around this time (Project A 1 and 2, Police Story 1 and 2). There's also way too much of Alan Tam in this one, I feel like if Jackie wanted to put humor, he should have just done it himself rather than relegating it to an annoying side character.
Up next, I'm mostly excited for Pedicab Driver, which I've never seen. I waited 20 years for a good Blu-ray to come out but since that never came, I caved last week and ordered the Warner Archives DVD (which is stuck somewhere in the US). I also just got the newest 4K edition of Miracles from 88 Films, a movie I haven't seen in nearly 25 years and which I barely remember anything. Beautiful set and I'm so looking forward to dig into this one.
Looking back, it's just crazy how many good movies the three made between 1978 and the early '90s. Watching Dragons Forever (the last movie I watched so far), it was pretty sad knowing that this was mostly the end of their collaborations. They'd all go their own ways after this and both Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao's careers would take a big dive soon after. Still, what a way to go Dragons Forever was. It's not quite on par with Wheels on Meals but it's still a wonderful movie from the three of them and easily in my top 10.
Goddamn, I just watched On the Run for the first time. I knew going in that Biao’s martial arts wouldn’t be front and center, so I wasn’t expecting much in that department—but holy crap, what a fantastic neo-noir film!
I was genuinely surprised by how incredible the music, ambiance, and cinematography were. It totally pulled me in. I loved everything except the very ending. What was up with that tacked-on text spelling everything out instead of showing it? Maybe it was added later to make sure the audience understood that the main characters wouldn’t just get away with murder?
Still, that aside, I thought it was surprisingly good—I'd even put it on par with Righting Wrongs. Both have pretty downbeat endings, haha.
Hopefully this gets the 4k limited edition upgrade like the Jackie Chan are currently getting! I'm surprised nobody bothered to release this in North America.
I've watched a few more Hong Kong classics over the past few days. I quite enjoyed Miracles and Iceman Cometh—Yuen Biao was absolutely on fire around this time, with Righting Wrongs, On the Run, and Iceman Cometh all showcasing him at the top of his game. But nothing could have prepared me for Pedicab Driver.
I had been putting off watching Pedicab Driver for close to 25 years. For the longest time, it was only available online in terrible quality, and when Warner Bros. finally released a DVD in 2016, I decided to hold out for a proper Blu-ray release. Well, nearly a decade later, with no better option in sight, I finally caved and picked up that DVD.
Over the years, I've probably seen between 200 and 250 Hong Kong martial arts films—there have been so many great ones. Off the top of my head, some of my favorites include the Police Story trilogy, Wheels on Meals, Project A, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Heroes of the East, Crippled Avengers, Enter the Dragon, the first two Once Upon a Time in China films, and countless others.
But last night, Pedicab Driver might have become my favorite of them all—or at the very least, it's now firmly near the top. It’s that good. Pedicab Driver feels like the culmination of everything great about Sammo Hung’s incredible career: heartfelt drama, hilarious comedy, blistering martial arts choreography, and unforgettable characters, all blended with expert craftsmanship. By the end, I was literally in tears—not just from the emotion, but from how frigging badass and beautiful the film turned out to be.
It honestly boggles the mind that this masterpiece flopped at the box office and essentially marked the end of Sammo Hung’s big-budget directing career. Between Pedicab Driver and Eastern Condors, Sammo proved he wasn’t just a great martial arts star—he was one of the greatest action directors of his generation, if not the greatest.
If you haven’t seen Pedicab Driver, do yourself a favor and track it down immediately. It’s a criminally underrated gem that deserves to be seen, celebrated, and cherished. You absolutely won’t regret it.
Great write up of Pedicab Driver, I still haven't seen it as I too have been holding out for a blu-ray release, clearly to no avail it seems though..
I have hovered over buying the WAC DVD for some years now but still hold out in hope that Warner themselves (who don't seem to give a damn) or maybe someone like Plaion in Germany (who have been releasing some Warner titles like First Strike and Showdown in Little Tokyo) might be able to give the film a worthy HD release.
I had been putting off watching Pedicab Driver for close to 25 years. For the longest time, it was only available online in terrible quality, and when Warner Bros. finally released a DVD in 2016, I decided to hold out for a proper Blu-ray release. Well, nearly a decade later, with no better option in sight, I finally caved and picked up that DVD.
Thank you for your sacrifice. Blu-ray announced in 3-2-1....
Well, I wrapped up my 45-movie marathon with Drunken Master II—things definitely take a sharp downturn after that, in my opinion. What a ride it’s been! I feel like Sammo Hung peaked with Pedicab Driver, and Jackie Chan hit his high point with Drunken Master II. Funny enough, both of them go head-to-head with Lau Kar-leung in those films—gotta love that coincidence.
I did check out two more Sammo films after Pedicab Driver—Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon and Encounters of the Spooky Kind II—but the drop in quality was so jarring that I had to call it quits after those.
Anyway, here’s my top 15 from the bunch. Out of the 45 films, I thoroughly enjoyed around 35. The ’80s were truly a golden era for the Three Dragons.
15- Eastern condors (09/07/1987): 8/10
14- The young master (09/02/1980): 8/10
13- The Iron-fisted monk (25/08/77): 8/10
12- Winners and sinners (07/07/1983): 8/10
11- The Magnificent butcher (19/12/1979): 8/10
10- Police story 3 (04/07/1992): 8/10
09- Police story 2 (21/08/1988): 8/10
08- The prodigal son (22/12/1981): 9/10
07- Dragons forever: 9/10
06- Encounter of the spooky kind (24/12/1980): 9/10
05- Drunken master 2 (03/02/1994): 9/10
04- Police story (14/12/1985): 9/10
03- Project A (22/12/1983): 9/10
02- Wheels on meals (17/08/1984): 10/10
01- Pedicab driver (24/02/1989): 10/10
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