No comments about Uechi-Ryu Karate Advanced Katas & Applications- Seisan and Sanseiryu- Presented by Henry Thom.

3 comments about Jackie Chan: Triple Punch Collection.

1. Okay, first of all, I was tricked by packaging when I first started my Jackie Chan collection. Trying to own every movie he's ever made in the shortest amount of time (I have since learned better), I bought 36 Crazy Fists because it touted Jackie as actually being in the film. NO! Jackie is NOT in the film, he was the action coordinator. Do not fall into the trap I fell into. The main actor, though, Tony Leung Kar Fai, I believe, did act rather Jackie-esque in the comedy department and the stamp of Jackie is vaguely on the film, but he's not in it. As for Fantasy Mission Force- well, in Jackie's own words about the premise: "If it sounds ridiculous, that's because it IS." He did the movie a favor to someone who had helped him out. Big mess that included the Triad. Yes, this is one of those movies Jackie would rather not have you see nor really admit he's been in. He shows up halfway through the film and somehow turns into the hero of the film, even though he's an overalled bumpkin. But he knows how to fight! There are Nazis, vampires and zombies, I think. It was all very confusing. You'd be better off injecting LSD directly into your eyeballs; you'd get the same effect. Horrible, awful movie. So do Jackie a favor, learn from my mistakes and wasted money and just skip this one altogether. Of course, if you're doing what I'm doing, which is to collect ALL his movies no matter how crappy they are, then you'll eventually have to bite the bullet and this to your collection. Hold off as long as possible. As for Young Master... well, that one was really good. I definitely recommend Young Master. Some great action in that one. Also features Yuen Biao. Vintage Jackie. **Three stars ONLY because Young Master in included**



2. First things first: only one of the three movies on this DVD ("The Young Master") actually stars Jackie Chan. The others where either had action choreography done by him ("36 Crazy Fists") or have a short cameo ("Fantasy Mission Force.")
   "Young Master" is an enjoyable movie, similar in tone and style to his relatively early "Drunken Master" period. The first half has its lulls, but the second half picks up with some terrific action and comedy.
   "36 Crazy Fists" actually has footage of Jackie doing choreography tacked on at the beginning, adding sleaziness to this hilariously bad epic. Obviously intended as a rip-off of "Drunken Master," this is truly awful, but it's entertaining in an odd sort of way.
   Chan apparantly did "Fantasy Mission Force" as a favour to Jimmy Wang-Yu, who helped get him out of a contract. This is a completely wild, insane movie, full of Amazon women, odd references to American movies, a singing hobo, and even vampires! It's wonderfully stupid in every conceivable way, although, truth be told, the final battle between Jimmy Wang-Yu and Chan is relatively exciting.
   Like most DVDs that try to cram three movies on them, this looks pretty atrocious. "Fantasy Mission Force" and "36 Crazy Fists" are both panned-and-scanned, and they look very claustrophobic. "Young Master" is in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, making it the best looking of the bunch. It still, however, looks smeary, faded, and fuzzy. As an extra feature, there is an average Jackie Chan biography, as well as some "film facts" in the form of liner notes.



3. Young Master-
   
   This is the cut version of Young Master, but still a good movie. The English dubbing is very memorable. I suggest getting the Fortune Star version, but this is still not a bad deal. This is my favorite kung fu comedy, and my favorite Jackie Chan movie. Actually, it is one of my favorite comedies from any genre. The kung fu is also tops. Whang In-sik is scary good as the villain. The only way Jackie can defeat him is to drink some opium water or something and turn into Superman at the end. This is one crazy movie. It also stars the guy with the claw from Enter the Dragon, Lily Li, Fung Hak-on, Lee Hoi Sang, Wei Pai, and Tien Feng (Bruce Lee's master from The Chinese Connection).
   
   5/5
   
   Picture quality is not bad. Just don't go into this expecting it to be perfect by any means.
   
   
   
   The 36 Crazy Fists-
   
   This is not a very good movie, but it has a really fun final fight with Yen Shi-kwan. Fung Hak-on and Tony Leung Siu Hung also have a couple good fights. The best part about this movie is that there is a behind the scenes making of that is played at the start. There is footage of Jackie Chan choreographing the action, and this stuff is even better than the movie itself. It must have been a promotional featurette or something. There is an announcer explaining that because of his contract, Jackie could not appear in this movie, and he hopes that you can forgive him.
   
   1.5/5
   
   Picture quality is bad, but still watchable.
   
   
   
   Fantasy Mission Force-
   
   During the late 70's Jimmy Wang Yu must have run out of ideas, because all of his movies started becoming complete trash. Jackie Chan was a superstar at the time this movie was made, and even he can't save it. There is also a young Brigitte Lin on hand and Adam Cheng has a cameo, but sadly Jackie Chan is the only good thing about this movie. The story is unforgiveablely bad, and only 1 or 2 action scenes are good. I can't say enough bad things about this movie. It starts out like it might be fun, but ends up taking a nose dive halfway through.
   
   1/5
   
   Picture quality is bad but watchable
   
   
   All in all, not a bad 3-pack, but only worth buying because it is so cheap.

3 comments about Myths and Logic of Shaolin Kung Fu.

1. One of the best documentaries I have seen on the shaolin temple and the shaolin life style. This documentary touches on the art of kung fu as well as chi gung and chi. Great DVD.



2. Suitable for viewing by beginners and advanced martial artists alike. The producers definitely got a look inside the temple and the training that goes on there -- a look that is rarely given to outsiders. While this well-produced documentary gives a brief and skimpy outline of the history of Shaolin & martial arts in China, what it does best is show what the current state of training is like at the temple. Typically, boys enter the temple training at age 4 or 5 and within 5 years of training (at the most flexible, adaptable age) are already incredibly skilled. Also clear is the Chinese professional sports approach -- also adopted in their olympic and other sports programs -- of starting with thousands of applicants and winnowing it down to the best performers. From this DVD you get a good look at basic training, and could even try to learn some of the basic forms (which are presented VERY quickly) of Shaolin, which are difficult to find from authentic sources elsewhere. Fun to watch, well done, and a good martial arts documentary.



3. This is a rather amateurish documentary wherein the 50-minute running time is filled out by repeatedly showing the same footage over and over. Some of the footage is impressive, but you will not learn much about Shaolin from watching. I would say there is about 30 minutes of footage, which is dragged out to a 50-minute film by showing the exact same demonstrations over and over ad nauseum. Further, the title of the documentary is nonsensical, given that neither the "myths" nor "logic" of Shaolin are really ever discussed. Aside from a couple impressive demonstrations of martial skill the film has little to recommend. Unfortunately it also contains misinformation, as when the narrator claims (without referencing any particular study) that scientists have found empirical evidence for the existence of "chi." This claim is actually not true. Scientists have tried for years to find empirical evidence for the existence of chi, and never have. It is generally concluded by scientists that it doesn't exist, and that "chi demonstrations" amount to little more than parlor tricks. Some of these stupid tricks unfortunately appear in this documentary. For example, the film shows people who have supposedly mastered the "iron skin technique," rendering them "impervious to attack from bladed weapons." Note that when this claim is made it is never backed up. We are never treated to footage of people trying to cut someone with a sharp knife to no avail. Rather we are shown the old trick where a dull spear is placed on the throat and pressed until the shaft bends or breaks, or of someone balancing himself on a large spear placed at the abdomen. As Penn and Teller demonstrated in Bull$i#t, anyone can do this trick. You don't have to be a Shaolin monk. It's an old carnie trick, plain and simple. Also, when the kid is "smashing" bricks with his hand, pay attention to how he lifts one end ever so slightly before hitting it. This is also an old trick anyone can do. Same with the placing of boards against stones on the ground, etc. I do not mean to say that Kung Fu is nonsense but am rather pointing out that most traditional martial arts unfortunately contain a large amount of charlatanism, and that some of this rubbish appears in this film. I witnessed this firsthand when taking lessons in Wing Chun. The instructor fancied himself a Chi Gung expert and would incapacitate students without laying a hand on them. They would feign an attack and he would wave his hand over them, or some such nonsense, and let out a grunt, and they would, having been operantly conditioned to do so through repeated demonstrations in class, obediently fall to the ground and twitch around. When asked if they "felt it" they would say, "Oh yes." One day a kid off the street came in and asked for a demonstration. The teacher said the kid wasn't ready (meaning, he hadn't "learned" how he's supposed to respond). The kid was persistent and the teacher gave in. When the teacher shot his chi, or whatever, the kid of course said he didn't feel a thing. The teacher said he would need training. Tell that to someone attacking you with a knife!

1 comments about Big Box of Kung Fu, Vol. 3.

1. Amazon, you dope! Vol. 4 contains the films listed above, not
   three! Big Box of Kung Fu Vol. 3 contains Return of the Chinese
   Boxer, The Bloody Fists and Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple! GET IT
   RIGHT!
   
   THE RETURN OF CHINESE BOXER
   
   The story is about this Princess who is on a misson to
   assassinate some samurai! But she runs into trouble when a
   Kunoichi and some other samurai fighters try to intercept her
   mission! Along comes the bad ass Jimmy Wang Yu to stop all these
   people from killing her! The movie was awsome! Though the story
   was non-sensical, it still was great! The movie has some
   influences towards Master of the Flying Guillotine but very
   little! And Wang Yu dirrected this film too! The picture quality
   is good! Though the movie does suffer from degration and
   scratches, the colors look good!
   
   BLOODY FISTS
   
   This one is about this Japanese fighter who is going around
   beating up Chinese fighters! That's it! This one is a bit
   boring! The fights weren't anything special and supposively Yuen
   Wo Ping choreographed the fights in this movie but he's not
   credited at all! Therefore it could be a lie! But who knows! The
   picture quality is descent with the usual white speckles and
   stuff but overall it's watchable!
   
   Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple
   
   Another one of those depressing Shaolin movies where the Monks
   are treated like poo poo! Only some escape and are on a mission
   to protect the red robe from the evil Manchus! This one I liked!
   I always love watching Shaolin kung fu demostrations in these
   films! The fights were great! The picture is descent though it's
   a bit faded!
   
   All these movies are in widescreen! Holy Robe has imbedded
   Chinese and English subtitles and is in Chinese! The others are
   english dubbed! The DVD's play fine without hiccups or technical
   issues!

No comments about Encyclopedia of Goju Ryu Karate Vol 5.

5 comments about The Restless (Standard Edition) DVD.

1. The RESTLESS(aka: Jeong-Cheon) is the latest in South Korea's foray into the Fantasy- epic-romance/WUXIA Swordplay genre. This fantasy-adventure can definitely charm the viewer because it looks amazingly beautiful. The set designs are superb and the action is very entertaining.
   
   Jung Woo-Sung(Musa the Warrior) is Gwak Yi, a former Chuyongdae(Royal Demon hunters) who after an encounter with demon-hybrids to protect a village, unexpectedly finds himself in Mid-Heaven, a pseudo-Buddhist holding where deceased souls gather to wait 49 days for their eventual reincarnation. There, Gwak Yi meets So-Hwa(Kim Tae-hee), a heavenly deity who is assigned an important task. So-hwa must deliver the so-called "Holy Stone" to the "Pool of Reflection" in order to prevent evil-doers from upsetting the balance between Earth and Heaven; if they succeed no one will be reincarnated. Noble and fearless, Gwak Yi enlists in Son-Hwa's cause immediately but he has his own hidden motivation.
   Son-hwa is a dead ringer for Gwak Yi's former love Yon-Hwa, who he failed to protect from an untimely death. Actually, they are the same being, Son-hwa is a "Chuneen", whose a deity with no recollection of their past life on Earth. This complicates matters for both Gwak Yi and Son-hwa even further when Gwak Yi's former comrades(led by Hur Jun-ho)as a "Chuyongdae" are the ones who threaten the stability of Mid-Heaven. Meaning that in order to help Son-hwa, he must once again send his former comrades(to whom he owes a debt of honor) in the earthly plane to suffer a second death.
   
   People who love SFX-laden epics will no doubt embrace "The Restless". There is plenty of action and they are very enthralling, thanks to the top-notch visual effects and awesome fight choreography. Highlights include a cool forest fight, and the very awesome epic finale, where Gwak Yi takes on about 10,000 demonic warrior spirits all by himself.(Azumi and Casshern, eat your hearts out!). The CGI effects are well-done and is sure to impress PS3 fanboys. The set designs are awesome and stunning.
   
   The story itself is not very original, but quite bearable. It is about Love and Hate, promises and loyalty, good and evil. The costumes and set designs may remind audiences of Tsui Hark's "Legend of Zu". The film's main WEAKNESS may be that the plot/characters may have a difficult time connecting with some viewers. The two leads do a decent interpretation of their characters. Jung Woo-sung suits the character of Gwak Yi, while lovely Kim Tae-Hee fills the screen with her charisma.
   
   I bought the KOREAN (region-3) 2-disc Special Edition when it came out a month ago. Korean released dvds have such good presentation, which is why it's no wonder they're expensive. Great DVD from CJ Entertainment.
   Take note that dvds made in Taiwan(like the unofficial ones circulating in Amazon)may be compressed in a way that may freeze in most stand alone players. They are encoded with no region coding to fool U.S. players.
   PICTURE: 2.40 ratio Anamorphic Widescreen. The video transfer is phenomenal, sharpness and detail is awesome. Colors are very vibrant and the flesh-tones are very good. No complaints.
   AUDIO/Subtitles: 5.1 Dolby Digital-Ex and DTS-ES Korean Language track. The sound is POWERFUL(especially on DTS), the channels are very nicely separated. English Subtitles are well-timed and translated.
   EXTRAS: Music video, commentary, "making of", Behind the scenes, trailers and more.., unfortunately there are no subtitles in most of the docos.
   
   CLOSING REMARKS:
   The Restless may not be wholly original but it is a very well-made feature. You can really tell that they spent most of their budget in the visual effects, costumes and set designs. It is worth seeing and is quite entertaining. Fans of Wuxia Swordplay epics will definitely embrace it for the action, if not, for it's beautiful visuals.
   
   RECOMMENDED!



2. The plot of the film is not really a strong one (nor original for that matter) but a good one never the less. There will be times where you are left scratching your head hoping for an explanation for certain things but they are not harmful or have a great impact to the plot so it is forgivable. But what truly saved the film more for me and for some people who agree with me is the graphics and the landscape of Midheaven. And the action sequences even though there are not many, they don't disappoint. The biggest scene stealer would have to be the protagonist vs. 5,000 to 10,000 demon soldiers. The acting is a bit stiff and the female star of the film (Kim Tae-Hee) really needs to learn how to have more than just two facial expresions (wich are only just a surprised expresion or a sad expresion). She has shown promise but she has long way to go. This film is more for the WUXIA fan freaks including my self and in no way should it be compared to Crouching tiger (overhyped film) or Hero. It should be compared with films like The Duel, The Storm Riders, and mainly Bichumoo. So in closing, the story could have been executed better but the graphics deffinetly makes up for it. And the movie is not really a martial arts film so don't compare the film with them. See it only if you are into the WUXIA Asian fantasy genre.



3. The copy I bought was titled "Joongcheon" with English subtitle. It's visually beautiful. It also has some substances in the plot but overall it's not a good movie. It's because relationship between the 2 main characters are not touching at all. The fighting scenes are not good as in other Korean-made movies such as "Shadowless Sword" or "Warrior".
   
   It's worth watching once.



4. Warning: Spoiler Alert!!!
   
   The story...
   
   This is just a general collective that I gathered from watching this movie. There wasn't a lot of really descriptive dialogue, so if I have one or two (or ten) things off key...blame the lack of explanation.
   
   As far as Fantasy films go, I thought that there was a good general idea behind this one; a lone demon slayer named Yi Gwak finds himself in "midheaven", a spirit world of sorts, where he's caught in a conflict between "evil spirits" and "reapers".
   
   The evil spirits are a troupe of demon slayers whom Yi Gwak was formerly associated with in the human world. And the reapers, I would describe as "Valkyries" of sorts who bring human spirits into midheaven.
   
   The strange coincidence about the conflict is that the evil spirits were Yi Gwak's friends and allies before their deaths in the human world. They're lead by Master Ban-Chu, who Yi Gwak formerly held in high respects.
   The reapers on the other hand, (also known as "Chuneen"), are lead by a spirit with the appearance of Yi Gwak's former wife, Yon-Hwa, who, upon becoming a reaper, has lost all of her worldly agonies and memories.
   
   So it's kind of a moral struggle or so to speak. Should Yi Gwak align with his brotherly band of demon slayers, or the amnesiac spirit of his wife?
   
   A few bad notes...
   The lame-factor ensues here when Yi Gwak discovers that his friends have all turned evil for a seemingly unknown reason. I'm given the impression that they mindlessly follow the orders of their master, Ban-Chu, with no questions asked.
   
   Yon-Hwa, who goes by the title So-Hwa (now that she's a Chuneen), is basically the victim of the conflict. So-Hwa's master asks her to carry a special stone that has the power to open a portal between the spirit world and the human world, and So-Hwa herself states that she's only a pupil, and that she's unfit to carry out such a task. Lo and behold, she really is unfit!
   
   Throughout the entire movie, So-Hwa is being rescued by Yi-Gwak! Somehow I was lead to believe that the Chuneen were not an easy opponent, but apparently...they suck at everything they do!
   It's their job to keep midheaven safe, and at the start of the movie, we see them failing to do so when midheaven is overrun by demons! So-Hwa, who's the absolute wrong person for the task of carrying such an important relic, is nearly taken out during every single fight scene in the movie! Fortunately enough, Yi-Gwak is always there to rescue her. Cliché cliché!
   
   A few more nit-picks...
   Bad Chemistry...
   My biggest complaint is that we're lead to believe that Yi-Gwak and So-Hwa are supposed to have some kind of romantic relationship together...it's blatantly obvious that they're supposed to fall in love, despite the fact that So-Hwa has no memories of him...
   Unfortunately, as another viewer mentioned, the actor and actress who play Yi-Gwak and So-Hwa had absolutely NO chemistry together.
   
   Bad Costumes...
   This is usually the last thing that I look at when I'm watching flicks such as this...But for some reason, the costumes all seemed really out of place, even for a fantasy movie. Yi-Gwak was the only character who accurately dressed the part of an untidy demon slayer. Yon-Swa on the other hand was dressed in what looked like...some kind of wedding dress. One of the evil spirits from Yi-Gwak's former demon-slaying troupe wore almost the exact same dress in a different color. And if I didn't have a high def t.v., I would have thought that the bad guy who was wearing a silver mail was actually wearing sequins.
   
   My last beef with this movie is that it was really hard to watch without raising my eyebrows every time So-Hwa snarled her lip. Yes...throughout the entire movie, she was crossing her eyes, and snarling her lip.



5. The last Battle of this spiritually powerful Martial EPIC has the hero taking on a literal army of dark spirit-demons to reach the one he loves. The emotion of this film in the manner that the characters interact MAKES THE MOVIE outstanding. That awesome last battle makes you believe one man alone can stand for something higher against staggering odds....and prevail. The Restless is, hands down for plot, martial skill and special effects one of the greatest Action films of all time.

No comments about Escrima Kadena de Mano Basics.

1 comments about Midnight Angels.

1. It wasn't long after when this film was released that countless sequels were inspired but had little to do with the original. To capitalize on the success of Angel there were many films with the title "Angel" in them ("Angel Force", "Angel Terminators" and "Killer Angels" just to name a few)but this one was the start of it all; the girls with guns genre. Hong Kong turned out many of these films and had a rabid cult following that is still going strong. The best years from this genre were 1988-1995.

   The orignal title for this movie when it was first released was "Iron Angels" which later became "Angel" for video release. It stars two of the greatest Girls with Guns actresses, Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima (Cynthia Luster). Moon plays a part of a special group of undercover operatives called The Iron Angels. When police destroy an opium field, the druglords seek revenge by methodically killing off the police force one by one. That's when the Iron Angels are called in.

   What I really enjoyed most about this film is the final fight between Moon & Yukari. One of the most brutal and vicious fights ever. I've never seen two actresses plummel each other like they did here. That scene alone makes this video worth buying.

No comments about Japan Karate Association Shotokan Kata Series Vol 5.

1 comments about Turbo Jam Learn & Burn.

1. An awesome place to start! This DVD is a good workout on its own, and also a great introduction to the Turbo Jam series. The instructor keeps you motivated WITHOUT being obnoxiously perky, and the moves are shown from several different angles so you can understand what you're supposed to be doing.
   
   Be sure you try this one BEFORE you try any other Turbo Jam DVD -- this is the one where they teach you the basic moves that are used in the other ones, so it will make the others much less confusing. And learning the moves with the proper form (as explained on this DVD) is important -- if you're not doing the correct tuck for the ab ones, you're not getting the full workout.
   
   Don't assume that because it's the introduction it will be any less of a workout -- I considered myself to be in fairly good shape (not fat, walk several miles a day) and this still had me worn out at the end -- muscles I didn't even know I had were sore!