5 comments about Return of the Deadly Blade.

1. Featuring a Who's Who in kung fu films, with stars like; David Chaing, Hwang jang lee, Lo lieh, just to name a few. This story deals with a young man trying to get revenge for his father. He takes the name of the man he searches hoping it will bring him out in the open. the young man even uses his targets weapons as well (the deadly blades). challenging every fighter he can hoping that he can finally get a chance to heal his inner hate and kill teh man responsible for stealing his father. Spectacular sword play, and a showcase of weapons that you will not soon forget (Steel rings, Saw Blades, Spear unbrella, Fans, etc.). I recommend this film not only for the amazing cast but also for the great choreography and story.

   Also the DVD has some very interesting extra features including selected fights from each of the movies stars, and a photo gallery, along with some other ver nice added goodies.




2. The Return of the Deadly Blade....1981

   First lets start off with the extras on this DVD. This is part of the WuTang Hidden Treasures collection out out by Ground Zero. It has the same ill opening graphics As Fury in the Shaolin Temple, and Shaolin King Boxer. This DVD lacks the Nice interviews with the stars but it still has the small bio for the stars and pretty Good video fight clips from all of the stars. It has the Wu Tang video for "Da Mystery of Chessboxing" and a wu interview with PaPa Wu who I ain't never heard of before.

   It also has two more questions about Martial Arts that are answered by an Abbot And a Tai Chi master. The questions were what are the difference between internal And external styles and what is the conflict between martial arts and fighting...as I recall.

   For the movie....It seems to be an uncut version of the original. It plays as a fullscreen Version that is in pretty decent shape. (I'd give the quality at about a 3.95 out of 5). This seems to have been a copy from a video with good sound and very few major Blemishes. (There are some minor artifacts.)

   The open has "dumb" fight sequence with Wang Jang Lee fighting Norman Tsui Siu Keung Which is mad nice. This is a hand to hand fight, but then the story breaks into what you would Expect from the title, which was David Chiang weilding the deadly blade. As the movie Played one could get the feeling that this was some kind of prelude to "Duel To the Death" Which also stars Tsui Siu Keung, but this movie had comedy of sorts provided by Yausaki Kurata of all people. Wang Jang Lee's performance was alright and clearly Not the best. Probably because this is a David Chiang vehicle.

   Overall this movie was better than Shaolin King Boxer and Fury from the Wu Tang releases, However, I wouldn't say that this was one of those over the top movies. It was good As it had a storyline but with all of the great stars it fails to be a movie that makes you Say Damn! Maybe because I fail to see what is so great about swordplay movies. Swing a sword, watch them die. Swing a fist and see several different ways to watch them Fall...ten times better!

   Definitely on for the collectors box especially if you are a fan of swordplay movies.

   Overall this movie is a 3.95 out of 5 stars. The DVD for quality and extras is a 5.




3. At first glance you think this is a classic Shaw Bros. film.It isn't,but it's just as good,if not better than most.The array of weapons and styles is too numerous to mention.The extra features are also too numerous to mention.I also recommend the Wu Tang Clan's latest releases such as Shaolin Drunkard,Kung Fu of 8 Drunkards and Revenge of the Patriots.



4. Some of the fighting scenes were pretty decent, but if you are not into "exotic" Kung Fu stunts, fire flying through the air, people flying through trees and doing other outragous acts, than this is not the flick for you. Some of the stunts were totally unbelievable. I'm sorry, but I've seen better kung fu flicks than this. A rating of a "3" is too much. At times, I wasn't sure if I was watching a kung fu flick or something I would see at a circus. The overdubs were kind of crappy and if you don't pay attention very closely, you will get lost with the references to the past then flipping to the present.
   
   Most of the fighting scenes took place at night - it was just that kind of movie and everything about this flick just appeared to be dark all around. I'm sorry, I'm just not into "kung fu experts who fly through the air with the greatest of ease." I've just started to learn to live with them jumping off of roofs!
   
   Personally, I'm not into all of that SCFI nonsense. If you're a fan of than stuff, then you'll love this one. But, if you are into straight up real Kung Fu try watching, "The Evil Masters", "The Leg Fighters", "Ninja Checkmate", or the "The Five Venoms." These are true classics that display fighters with skill you can actually see!



5. I very much enjoyed this movie but found it a little too weird to call it a great kung fu movie. also there is really no hand to hand so don't freaking buy this and then say it has no kung fu, cause I just told you that.
   
   The opening fight scene is the closest to kung fu you are going to get. Norman Chu defeats hwang Jang Lee and the movie starts. David chiang is gonna go around killing everyone to cause trouble and make it known that a true swordmaster is around these parts. he is doing this beacuse he has heard about the return of the deadly blade. Some guy in a wheel chair proves the toughest opponent in a quick match that leaves david wondering who this guy is. Then you have the lonely winner (yusuaki kurata) who is on the run with a huge price on his head for raping a lady. So him and chiang meet up and kurata kind of follows him and when they like sit down for lunch, people will show up and throw a rope around kurata's head and get into a huge brawl. Unfortunatley, there is no real kung fu. Kurata pulls out a few kicks, but no real good stuff. But some very good sword fights, and fun action all around. And the fire master was really cool. Also the ninja fights were great. But without a widescreening, the fights seriouosly suffered.
   
   So all in all, a ton of fights, and a bunch of the TOP shaw brothers stars in this. GReat flick and look out for the final fight, not better than any of the others, but another unique one. Now that is the understatement of the century.
   
   So the dvd qhality is pretty poor but watchable. And the extras are a major attraction to buy this. Between 4-6 clips of 5 or 6 guys. I will name all teh guys and we will count.
   
   Hwang-5 OR 6 CLIPS I HAVE NEEVR SEEN BEFORE!!!!!!!! Now I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE Hwang fan and this was a nice pleasent surprise. I would never buy any of these, so thank you wutang clan.
   There is one where Hwnag is trying to run away and a fighter comes up to him and says "Give me the formula". Great.
   
   Kurata-3 really good clips and one of his greatest kicking dispays of his career.
   
   Bruce Leung-2 freaking awesome bruce clone movie clips, and 2 more good ones also.
   
   Norman Chu-5 decent fights, one had him rippign through a whole army like "Hero", of course not quite as high budget. Btu actually decent for it's time.
   
   David chiang-weird one where Chiang is fighting a guy wearing a devil's costume he must have stole out of my trash can halloween 15 years ago. His clips were the worst but were still very enjoyable.
   
   Lo Lieh-only four clips but a good one where he is fighting Lee yi-min, and the rest are pretty funny. One is a Bruce Lee clone movie where "bruce" looked white, black, and chinese all mixed together.
   
   And I have to say that I had never seen ANY of these. WOW!!!!!!

3 comments about Fist of Fire - Swords of Death.

1. This every Martial Arts movie fan's ultimat collection, every movie on here is good, including 'The Street Fighter movies. If you like Martil Arts films this is for you.



2. As retro kung foo movies go, this is a great collection. For most of these, its not that the action is great, its more that the acting and action are pretty bad so you can sit back with your buddies and go, "That dude is awesome!" This set is great for this in terms of quality, but on this count your best bet is Master of the flying guillitine.
   In terms of looking for genuinely good kungfoo stuff, like Drunken Master or the Magnificent Butcher, this will mostly let you down, although some of the movies, espiecially Fighting Ace, Kung FOo fo Sale, and Monkey FLoating Fist (something like that) do a pretty dang good job.



3. I have watched 2 of these movies, so I'm just posting this for now to call out the other 2 for giving false reviews. Master of the Flying Guillitine isn't on here. Fighting ace is though. To the other guy-Sonny Chiba is not on here.
   
   I will write a review on this when I have seen all 10.
   
   
   Kunfu for sale-pretty good
   Lightining kungfu-wrong, it's actually Killer Constable(one of the greatest movies ever, seriously).
   
   Killer Constable needs no explaining, if you don't like this movie, contact me, and I will explain everything that happens, but I trust that you will figure it out.
   
   BOOMING 5.1 sound is also on these DVD's(At least on the double-sided Kung fu for sale and lightining kung fu are outragasely loud) There are is also different sound coming from different speakers. Truly Amazing. Every once ina while a 2-channel dvd will give sound to all 5 speakers, but it's all one sound. This DVD actually maximizes the speakers better than any movie I HAVE EVER SEEN.
   
   So Yeah I would give this collection a 100/100 if it were possible.

1 comments about Angel Force.

1. In 'Angel Force', Ah Mun(Moon Lee Choi Fung) portrays an HK cop who travels, with some black ops commandos, to Thailand to rescue a gweilo(Foreigner)bureaucrat from a drug kingpin. 'Angel Force' is flawed, forgettable, and nothing special. Also, too many of the music cues in the film sound like porno music. The jungle warfare scenes make this film feel like a poor man's Rambo. However, its decent performances and solid action(staged by Yuen Bun) help the film pack a good punch. Also, I, personally, enjoy watching the sweet, petite Moon Lee shooting and beating the crap out of men twice, or triple, her size. Well, on screen, at least. Now, on to World Video's DVD. The World Video DVD is pretty lackluster(as with most World Video DVD's): the 1:85 letterbox format is shown in a 1:33 full screen version, there's no theatrical trailer, no restoration, no subtitles, and a lame collection of video spots with cheesy techno music over them, etc. In the DVD's favor, it's watchable in Cantonese, Mandarin, or English(although, they're all labeled "German" for some odd reason), and the budget price is nice. 'Angel Force' may not appeal to all, but action junkies may enjoy it.

4 comments about Training the Modern Jumper DVD.

1. I got this book for my girlfriend who is interested in showing jumpers. She has read it from cover to cover. It's packed with information and ideas and overall gives a good overview of the sport and provides the average horse person with enough information to get started.



2. While I'm not intent on producing Grand Prix showjumpers, I found this well-written book immensely helpful in giving me guidelines, ideas and inspiration for training my own young horse who I ultimately hope to event. It isn't a step-by-step recipe book on 'how to teach your horse to jump', but it's packed full of information, diagrams and photographs on every aspect of training a jumper from evaluating their potential, to jumping training, to keeping the horse healthy and sound. No stone is left unturned, and I was very impressed with the amount of bookspace devoted to correct flatwork training.
   
   It's a very readable book, especially to an amateur rider like myself. This book also includes photos that, for instance, demonstrate the less than perfect jumping poses (or, 'how not to do it') in amongst the examples that paint the perfect picture. 'Bad' examples are not always included in books even though they are just as essential in making understood a point, and it's refreshing to see these included! I also really liked the chapters on evaluating a horse's potential and maintaining soundness - good education for me and with great diagrams and photos.
   
   Definitely a book that deserves to be added to your equestrian bookshelf!



3. The author has a sympathic,kind,knowledgable plan of training with the emphasis on the individual horse's needs in mind. Conformation,prospect selection and getting the right start are discussed. Jumper flat work is defined and described vs.classical dressage. Many useful exercises are described to improve the horse's ability to become a more ridable jumper.
   The jumping exercises are well planned and well written.
   A very useful book,with nice photos and a helpful sections on problem correction.
   I most enjoyed the obvious love and respect he feels for his horses.



4. This is a must have for serious jumper riders/trainers. Gives very useful advice over fences. Not much detail on flatwork, but stresses how important it is. There is a huge difference in how they prepare horses in Germany versus in the US. I think if more trainers in the US used even some of the ideas in the book (I also have the book) and the dvd they would have fewer training problems and better balanced horses. Great DVD!

No comments about Yojimbo.

1 comments about Legend of the Condor Heroes (The Complete TV Series) 3 DVD Boxset.

1. This is a great series and I recently got the DVD boxed set. I first got into this series by watching the Condor Hero Series recently put out in Taiwan in 2006. After speaking with several friends, I was notified that the original Condor series (Legend of the Condor Heroes, Return of the Condor Heroes and The Golden Sword and Dragon Sabre) done in the 1980s was even better. While Return of the Condor Heroes is the most popular of the trilogy, this series does a great job in presenting background information about the various characters in "Return".
   
   These series are based on the martial arts novels by Louis Cha aka JinYong, who is the number one martial arts novelist in Hong Kong. The character development is deep and the most of the plots are tied up to a good conclusion. The pacing is balanced and does not feel hurried. The series creators also did a great job in adhering to the basic plot of the novel. Obviously it would have been impossible to fit everything in the novel into the series, but the general gist in portrayed. The special effects are obviously a little outdated, but its still amazing to see how advanced they were for the times. I would highly recommend this series to anyone.

2 comments about The Three Swordsmen.

1. I'm usually a Jet Li/Yuen Woo Ping fanatic, but I figured I could do with a change, so I got this to see some sword play, as opposed to my usual fill of straight up fisticuffs.

   The film was alright, but if you haven't seem them already, I'd suggest seeing 'The Swordsman 2' or 'New Dragon Gate Inn' before seeing this.

   My major gripe with this movie is with the format, this is basically another bog standard VHS->DVD conversion. The picture is grainy, the sound is so so, and the subtitles are white and imbedded in the picture, as opposed to being selectable. As is always the case with these types of subs, there are sections in the movie where they're unreadable!

   To sum up, if you've 'seen everything' and feel like a change, go ahead and give this movie a spin, but if you've already got/seen the VHS version or like your Hong-Kong action without the tongue-in-cheek, I'd give this one a miss.




2. If you gonna get good action movie titles from Brigitte Lin ,buy - Dragon Inn,The East is Red(SwordmanIII), Swordman II, The Bride With White Hair(skip the part 2) , The Dragon Chronicles The Maidens of Heavenly Mountains, Deadful Melody, and for Zu: The Warriors From Magic Mountains - I find myself falling asleep not because of the plot but of age. If there is a remake of this movie by Yuen Wo Ping as martial art director with Brigitte Lin is gonna be a hit(it is my wish)

   Anyway, With The Three Swordmen, you have to force yourself to watch to the end just to understand the plot. The martial art action is not so .......If you want my opinion, you can skip this one; unless you want it just to collect DVD.

No comments about A Bittersweet Life.

1 comments about Buddha's Palm and Dragon Fist.

1. Chi Kuan Chun is sent to look for a killer. Kuan Chun is a student at Shaolin and Lee I Min is mad that Kuan Chun was chosen to go. The rest of the movie is nonstop fights and comedy with Lee I Min playing jokes on Kuan Chun. It does get serious at times, but there is too much fighting to have a good plot. That's right, TOO MUCH FIGHTING! But I am not complaining, no sir. The fights are the reason I watch these movies. If the fighting wasn't good, then I would have a problem, but luckily the fights are very good. And overall the movie is above average with lots of good comedy. So turn your brain off and enjoy.
   
   The choreography is done by the main villain of the movie Suen Shu Pau. I am guessing Robert Tai also had a hand in the action because I spotted him in the movie. The fighting is very dance like and it is so much fun to watch. There are too many fights to go over, but I will tell you that the final fight is the best. It is fast and furious and 8 minutes long.
   
   3.5/5
   
   I rarely do this, but this DVD gets a 3 star rating instead of a 4 because of the poor picture quality. But don't worry, it is still watchable.

No comments about Shadow: Dead Riot (Uncut) [Blu-ray].