No comments about K1 Kick Boxing: Europe.

5 comments about Fist of the White Lotus.

1. After reading the many great reviews about this flick, just like any other old school kung fu lover, I rushed out to buy it " Fist Of The White Lotus". Sadly, only one guy got it right in his review, and he gave it a 1 star. I agreed with him, the fight scenes did not feel anything like realistic old school kung fu,,infact it seemed more mechanical, and staged. Yeah,,Old school kung fu is usually staged and mechanical, but this one was too transparent and up in your face. I expected big things from this flick, but I think it fell really short!! The story/ plot was really well put together, but a movie has to be consistent with the fight scenes. The most upsetting for me was the way this tough as nails Lotus got killed in the end,,this guy was so glorified throughout the movie,,and to die the way he did, was just too plastic and stupid!! I walked away from this flick very dissapointed, and would not recommend it to anyone!!



2. I have to majorly disagree with "beckbwoy" on this. This is one of the greatest kung fu movies ever! The first time i saw this it was a horrible full screen vhs copy. Well now there is a region 1 remastered lettereboxed version of this. It is as good as remastering job that could have been done. The picture is crystal clear and I promise if you watch it with this beautiful picture, you will not be dissapointed. Not all of the red sun releases are remastered, but this one is , and it is absolutely dazzling.
   
   The movie kicks off with an awesome opening of Pai Mei standing on the ruins of the Shaolin Temple and he has Gordon Liu(tiger stylist)and his friend(a crane stylist) coming at him. They kill him in a fantastic battle and the next thing we know we are in the future a few years. Johnny Wang (Lung Fei) is the governor and is being ordered to release the shaolin monks in prison. Not happy about this at all, he goes to speak with his uncle, Lo Lieh(pai mei's brother). Now, there are some holes in this. Lo Lieh is playing Pai Mei, but they are gonna say he is Pai Mei's brother? Well, so what, it works for me and with Lo Lieh's unbelievable acting job, I wouldn't want him to have to play another type of character. He is by far the best Pai Mei. So because tiger and crane killed his brother, he is gonna go ahead and help his nephew in extinguishing the monks before they have a chance to rebuild and be strong. From here on there are all types of crazy ambushes from the while lotus clan and this causes Gordon to learn all that he can to kill Pai Mei(that's what we will call him even though I just explained he is playing another character). Pai Mei first goes and lets Gordon know that he is unstoppable and there is nothing you can do about it. But there is so much more to it. The way he just walks through all these people swinging swords at him was breathtaking! Lo Lieh was not a wushu athlete or nothing but has some of the best screen fighting skills ever. He is so smooth at playing Pai Mei, you will want to buy all of his movies. And with Master Lau Kar Leung doing the fight choreography, I guarantee you will see some of the funnest kung fu ever put to screen.
   
   It is really cool how Gordon just can't get a firm punch on Pai Mei, so he has to listen to his pregnant wife about learning the soft style. I will make sure I don't give anything away but you will not be disappointed by this. I loved the ending, not quite as good as Executioners of Shaolin, but only the very ending, this movie though is way more up-tempo and has a lot more fighting. Overall becuase of the use of the wind machines and the 2 bonus fights we get between Lung Fei and Gordon, I liked it better than Executioners.



3. this movie seems to be overrated. It's good but not that good. the ending was dissapointing



4. this is a top 10 film no doubt because of its great display of hun gar fist technique choreographed by no other than the legendary lau kar leung aka liu chia liang and demostrated by the legendary gordon liu his brother who learned the style from their father and the legendary lam sai wing aka the magnificent butcher who sammo hung portrays in the movie the magnificent butcher and it is directed by the late great lo lieh who plays the dastardly priest pai mei. this also his directorial debut and it is an impressive one at that. he mixes great kung fu with some great comedy nontheless. this movie has some great talent like kara hui ying hung, ching chu (who plays gordon liu's brother) wang lung wei, wilson tong (in the beginning as priest pak mei). but they are underused and is there for there acting talents which makes it clear that the show belonged to gordon liu and lo lieh who perform well against each other in every film theyve been in together. the fight scenes are quite crisp and exquisite just like you would expect from the lau bros. gordon liu only displays tiger and crane fist from hung gar it is clearly no match for priest white lotus. so kara hui teaches him the women's style to at least compete with pai mei's weightlessness which consists of premature soft attacks reminiscent of how a disciplined female fighter battles. the best fight scenes is with gordon liu and pai mei's swordsman hands down those 2 fights was top notch. so pick up the red sun version and if you can where ever you are get the CELESTIAL PICTURES release because they are soon coming to north america well some of them are already here but get those 2 versions.



5. Be carefull of what version you buy, I bought 2 with the same problem... the DVD would not spin right and the movie kept skipping. Look for the remastered version called "Slice of Death"

No comments about Judo Marc Verilotte -D.

5 comments about Koshen Judo Old School Pre WWII Japan (Grappling) - 2 DVD Set.

1. I think this DVD is a lot of fun. I get a real kick out of seeing a bunch of tough middle-aged guys still pounding out the groundwork. It's also cool to see an older style of judo and get a sense of the range in judo--particularly in pre-war judo.
   
   While I enjoyed this a lot, there are some things you should be aware of before you plunk down any money. First, there's no English language track or subtitles. on the other hand, the Japanese in the explations uses a lot of judo terms. If you're a judo player whose taken some Japanese, this might not be a big deal. It's also generally clear what the person demonstrating the technique is doing. I personally don't think this lack is so big a deal.
   
   Second, there are no chapter divisions. On my dvd player this means fastforwarding if I want to skip to a certain section. For me this is a definite annoyance, even though it probably shouldn't tick me off me as much as it does.
   
   Third, the blurb above makes this sound like it's a showcase of Kimura Masahiko's judo. It's not. The focus is really on kosen judo in general. They use a lot of demonstrators on the dvd. I hadn't heard of them, but someone who was more into judo history might have.
   
   Fourth, although the blurb says it's in color, it's mostly in black and white. I couldn't care less about this, but if you do you should know.
   
   Having said all that, I enjoyed this dvd a lot. If you're interested in pre-war judo or in judo's groundwork practitioners, this dvd is great.



2. It's simply unbelievable to view these Judoka at ages ranging from 60-80 (?). This goes to prove Judo practice does not need to end after 40. The speed and agility displayed is fantastic. A MUST SEE for everyone with an incling of interest in Judo.



3. a must have for grapplers,along with Kimura are many greats,only thing ,that suked,was the copy right protection will not let this dvd play on some dvd players/ps2....but worked well on my computer.



4. Unfortunately they failed to mention there's no english dialogue or subtitles. While the techniques are interesting english would have been a big help in understanding certain moves.



5. Exactly what I expected as far as knowing state of the art video equipment wasn't available during this time.
   
   I've seen one of Kimura Sensei old Black and White videos before but wanted more so I could play it over and over to learn and teach the techniques.
   
   The quality is fair and some techniques are repeated in slow-motion.

5 comments about Return of the Dragon Pack: Enter the Game of Death/Bruce Lee: The Star of Stars/Dragon Lives Again/.

1. Take a look, it is a Chinese fake. That is NOT Bruce Lee. It is Bruce Le. A pathetic scamming of a great Chinese-American!



2. What can I say...? The only plus signs about this particular 2-pack are the fact that it features one of my childhood fav's, Enter the Game of Death(which, in my opinion, outshined many of the other attempts to present Bruce Lee's true vision for Game of Death) and the Bruce Li film is HOTTT because for the most part he's being HIMSELF and the subtitles and original language give it a certain authenticity that an english dubbed version wouldn't have. What left me P.O.'d was the quality(ie, Enter the Game of Death looked like it filmed during an earthquake and the plot structure wasn't there until Bruce Le got to the Tower of Death...before that, Bruce fights Bolo Yeung in the forest, then they're in the ring and Bruce breaks the guy's neck, then they "fight to the death" by the tower? Gimme a break.) The other films were BRUCE ploitation at worst and not worth mentioning.My advice...save your money and get a hold of Chinese Connection 2, the Fist of Fury Legacy, Exit the Dragon...Enter the Tiger, & Game of Death II.



3. First things first: this quadruple feature does not, I repeat NOT star Bruce Lee. The films included star a host of amusingly sub-par Lee imitators that sprung up after his death (Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Leung, Dragon Lee).
   "The Dragon Lives Again" is an unforgettable movie that was the reason I ordered this disc. The premise: Bruce Lee (Leung) is in hell, where he becomes the enemy of a group of famous characters (James Bond, Zatoichi, Dracula, The Exorcist, The Godfather, Emmanuelle) that want to overthrow the emperor of the underworld. Along the way, he befriends the One Armed Swordsman and...Popeye the sailor! A veritable cornucopia of copyright infringements, this is just about the most enjoyably bad Bruceploitation movie you'll ever see.
   "Bruce Lee: The Star of All Stars" ("Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger") tells the story of one of Bruce Lee's pupils (Li) who wants to unveil the truth about Lee's death. His quest sees him meeting Bruce's mistress, getting tangled with the mob, and even engaging in some Bruce Lee-inspired comedy relief moments.
   "Enter the Game of Death" is the best movie on the set. A shameless ripoff of Bruce Lee's uncompleted "Game of Death," it's packed to the gills with surreal and exciting fight scenes. Though Bruce Le is no Lee in charisma, his fighting skills are decent and the action scenes are among the best in a bruceploitation movie. Also starring Bolo Yeung.
   I didn't watch Dragon Lee's "Mission for the Dragon." Sue me.
   These two double-sided DVDs from VideoAsia are absolutely horrible. "Enter the Game of Death" is widescreen, but it has a jittery picture that makes it nearly unwatchable. "Dragon Lives Again" is in severely cropped and faded full screen that makes the already lacklustre fight scenes that much worse. "Bruce Lee: Star of Stars" is actually in its original Chinese language track...but the subtitles are faded and constantly run off the screen, making the action sometimes impossible to follow! Argh!
   The only special feature is something called "InstaAction," which allows you to watch the movies' action scenes skipping past all that pesky plot.



4. BRUCE LEE THE STAR OF STARS, better known as EXIT THE DRAGON, ENTER THE TIGER- Bruce Lee has died and his brother played by Bruce Li starts investigating his murder. This movie is complete nonsense but it tries to be serious. The fight scenes are nonstop but none of them are good. Lung Fei, Kam Kong and Chang Yi all have lengthy fights, and I was expecting a lot more from a cast like that. There just isn't much put into the fights. It is sad. This movie is a big disappointment.
   
   Rating- 2/5. Picture quality is washed out but partly widescreened. It is watchable.
   
   
   
   THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN- First of all, you may not believe anything I say about this movie, but I swear it is all the truth. Bruce Leung Siu Lung (from Little Superman) plays Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee is sent to Hell after he dies. It is explained that he doesn't look like Bruce Lee because when you go to Hell your face and body change. Huh?!
   
   Before going over the story and all the crazy characters, I should point out that this movie doesn't make any sense. I don't think it is supposed to make sense, it is just a lot of campy fun. One of the first people Bruce meets in Hell is Zatoichi (the blind swordsman). He escapes death from Zatoichi, and then is confronted by a guy named Clint Eastwood (no, not the real Clint Eastwood). James Bond is also there to challenge Bruce, along with a bunch of guys dressed in skeleton costumes. Bruce Lee actually gets defeated when he tries to fight them. Surprising to say the least. A white haired master played by Simon Yuen helps Bruce recover from his injuries. Now we find out that some guy called The Excorcist (played by Fong Yeh) is trying to become the king of the underworld. Along with James Bond and Clint Eastwood being on his side, he also has The Godfather, Emmanuelle and Dracula to help him out. Confused yet? Well you should be. So how will Bruce ever defeat all of these people? Well, Cheung Lik plays the One-Armed Swordsman and he teams up with Bruce. Popeye the Sailor (played by Eric Tsang) also helps Bruce fight the villains.
   
   So basically the rest of the movie just has Bruce and his pals fighting the bad guys. The fights are not very good, but that doesn't matter. This is as bad as a movie can get, but still a lot of fun.
   
   1.5/5. Picture is full screen but doesn't affect the movie very much. Picture quality is watchable.
   
   
   
   MISSION FOR THE DRAGON, aka RAGE OF THE DRAGON- Dragon Lee and Carter Wong fight it out to the death in this crappy kung fu movie. The kung fu is decent at times, but there is nothing special about it. The movie itself is completely mindless and doesn't make any sense. The only reason to watch this is for the sound effects they use in the final fight. I have never heard anything like it before. It kind of sounds like a Nintendo game.
   
   0.5/5 Picture quality is watchable.
   
   
   
   ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH- I can usually watch even the worst picture quality, but this is completely unwatchable. The picture shakes like crazy and you can't see anything. Too bad, because I was looking forward to this movie.



5. This DVD is available as part of the Ultimate Dragon Collection (Grindhouse Experience.) That is a 10 film set that packages this DVD (same cover and all) in a cardboard box with 2 other DVDs.
   
   Currently that set is selling for $19.98 on Amazon. So for $2 you get two extra discs of Bruce Lee knock offs.

No comments about Embrace the Moon: Tai Chi Chuan (Full).

1 comments about Ultra Kick.

1. This is a great DVD for kids to learn martial arts and have fun doing it! Mike Hope makes it easy to learn as he guides you step by step on how to do all these great power kicks and moves. Plus there is a martial arts action movie too! You'll learn, laugh and have fun with Ultra Kick!

2 comments about The Face Behind the Mask.

1. I like Showdown at the Cottonmill almost equally, but the picture quality was way better in this.
   
   Now the dvd case does a lot of "video asia" type pumping up of the film, BUT IT IS ALL TRUE!!!!!!!! The director is a mentor/director of jackie Chan, and Jackie Chan does appear in this movie. I WILL EXPLAIN.
   
   So the movie takes a page form "the Lost Swordship" where it starts by showing the members of this clan taking out other fighters from other clans. Don't get it, well sorry, these are Ku Lung movies. Very good made up storylines that produce fight after fight after fight. So first Yuen Hua, then a girl, then Lo Lieh go around takign out top fighters. Then the movie begins with a party in their mansion with their master to celebrate their victory. A masked assasin shows up and it is JACKIE CHAN HIMSELF!!!!!!!!!!1 I didn't believe it when I read it on the back of the box, but it is true. You can tell by his acrobatics and movement that IT IS him. He is the best fighter in the movie. Also proof that this is him is that the movie is from 1974, the time when Jackie was totally unknown except as a stuntman which explains the mask. SO JACKIE IS IN THIS AND SHINES BRIGHTLY!!!!!
   
   And if you wanna know how truly brilliant this film was for it's time, let me elaborate. In Jackie's scene where he pulls out a sword, "hero", jet li's movie actually copied this! And then Jackie can use his sword as a bow and arrow! I haev already watched this movie 5 times becasue of tons of little parts like that.
   
   Now the story has all types of betrayal and will finally solve itself in the end for you . The only thing I can think of to improve this movie would be to have the master played by a better martial artist. He was extremely slow btu was a good actor. But the weapon work and choreography is what gives this movie a 5. The movie comes close to rivalling say "return of the one armed swordsman" in terms of action. I can't really think of a movie that is frmo 74 or before that comes close to matching the uniqueness of this flick. At least in kung fu cinema that is.
   
   Like I said the story is brilliant, and the comedy is perfectly done. Put in great acting, great music, and a superb directing job, you have a "true" old school classic. Thsi didn't take a week to make.
   
   Special features are unfortuately nothing except a trailer of the movie and the same olsd rarescope trailers. Somebody bvetter have an update of Ninja's in Ancient China and 3 Famous Constables pretty soon.



2. I rate this film a 3 star effort no fabulous sword lighting techniques in this film a good story and 2 great stars Lo Liel and Yueh Hua.

No comments about Raised in the Ring.

5 comments about Eighteen Secrets of Kung Fu.

1. This film's title would lead one to believe that the movie is full of great weapons-based fight scenes in true martial arts movie style. Not quite. Sure, there are some (excellent) weapon-fighting sequences early in the movie, but they are short and have nothing really to do with the actual "plot" of the movie. But you know what? It doesn't even matter! This movie is a classic because it doesn't care about the title, the script, or even the acting! All it cares about is kick-butt kung-fu fight scenes. All your favorite stereotypical martial arts types are here: the main character who has people attacking him everywhere he goes for no apparent reason, the young actor dressed as a venerable kung-fu master, the two guys who always fight together against their opponents, and some of the worst editing you'll ever see (Watch the main character's outfit get dirty as he falls down and magically become clean again as he's getting up to resume fighting.). All that being said, you will also find some of the absolute coolest fight scenes this side of Sonny Chiba's "The Street Fighter." I honestly can't recommend this movie highly enough. It is a prime example of the chop-sockey movie and will remind you why you love them so much.



2. this movie is awesome. the other reviewer to this point has said it best, but let me add, if you are a true kung fu, scene splitting, super-sound effect loving, 14,000 intricate move loving person, you gotta have this one...



3. All I have to say is this is pitiful.Any two year martial artist can do the whole movie with some student friends.This is the kind of movie that makes you say " this is the kind of stuff that people like back then ", or who could have made this junk.The editing is terrible.You can see that it was geared to an American audience that knew nothing of real martial arts.I say spend a few dollars on this only, and I mean only if you are around a bunch of "frat" friends and want to end a weekend with the biggest laugh of the week.I assure you you won't be disappointed.



4. This is a fight filled flic with some great styles brought together in a great film. One man caught up in something greater then he ever believed is forced to fend off an onslaught of attackers and killers. Before he finds out the reason he loses many family members, and is forced to fight back using his 18 secret styles. Amazing.



5. To cover up for a story that was uninteresting, the producer and director knew that they must do something to save such a bad script. They did!! They filmed some of the best and fastest fight scenes in the Ocean Shore Catalog.

   The story seemed to be about a man who was on the run and who was always being hunted down for no apparent reason. Villian after villian is hired to kill this guy but there is no way for them to match his high skills as he defeats them easily. Enter in his master who only begins to teach him kung fu after he has already beaten several other men. (made no sense...it never seemed that he needed to be taught when he already appeared to be very very good!!!) The master teaches him about the 18 weapons of kung fu...which he never really used.

   Overall don't watch this movie for a plot or story..there is none. Watch it for the great fight scenes!!! (4 stars for fights 2 stars for the plot)