5 comments about Supercop.

1. It's just like all the jet li movies, but the dubbing isn't near as bad, not good, but certainly exceptable. I would like to see the full version, only if there are more fights, there were really not very many in this. As a whole, I would call this Jackie's best modern day film. And oh yeah, michelle yeoh is the shiznit. NICE STUNTS JACKIE, YOU HAVE TOPPED YOURSELF AGAIN.



2. This arguably one of his best! Incredible! Haven't seen a Kung-fu movie this good since Legend of the Druken Master or even Twin Warriors!



3. This movie is a bit different than the 'typical' Jackie Chan movie. It has IMO a more solid and more sincere story than the other movies.
   Especially the first part of the movie playing in mainland China is different. In this part, Michelle Yeoh as Chinese officer is a bit overdone, however the prison break is a really remarkable piece of JC cinema. The following part of the movie features a resort type adventure with typical 'early JC' slapstick components. The last part of the movie plays in Malaysia and contains non-stop action, which some never seen before stunts including a bike ride on a train plus a helicopter landing on the same train.
   All in all a very entertaining JC movie, featuring different Asian locations and a high tension, super action sequence at the end. Watching the 'making of' is also recommended because it really shows the difficulties to perform the stunt sequences for this movie. The only drawback of this movie are some overdone and a bit ridicoulos slapstick scenes. I can recommend this movie for JC fans who want to watch a slightly different JC movie than usual.



4. Basically the 3rd movie in the Police Story series (First Strike is the 4th and last), Supercop has very little connections to the 1st 2 Poilce Story movies, which were very closely related. Jackie Chan returns as Kevin Chan, and his girlfriend Mei is still played by Maggie Cheung. I have seen Supercop numerous time, and each time its like watching it for the 1st. The story is better than many Chan films, and the action and stunts are easily amongst the best.
   
   The story, takes itself a little more seriously than some Chan films, say compared to Mr. Nice Guy or Rumble in The Bronx. The humor is more of a minum because of that, but there's still a funny couple good moments. I think the plot is interesting and suspensful, taking advantage of Kevin Chan playing an undercover agent throughout the movie. His sidekick, or should I say boss, throughout the film is played by Michelle Yeoh, also undercover along side him, and gives an equally great performance in the film. The dubbing is far better than most films, and if you prefer Jackie Chan's own English voice, he provied his own dub in Supercop.
   
   The action is used sparingly throughout the beginning of the film, making everything run a little slow. But the movie begins to progress more and more nicely throughout. The finale is huge. 15 minutes of straight all out action from fights to some of, if not, the best stunts ever done. Chan jums on and hangs from a helicopter ladder over the city, and Michelle Yeoh hangs off the side of a van for dear life and steers a motorcyle right up ontop a moving train. Its all real and its must see.
   
   Fan or no fan of Jackie Chan, this is just an all out great movie. No its not recognized as a masterpiece, but in a slightly smaller world this is A++ entertainment.



5. Maybe I'm bias... of course with the 2 Miss Malaysias - the ravishing Datuk Michelle Yeoh (that's a Malaysian Dame equivalent) and Ms Samantha Schubert and the KL skyline well 5 Stars. Malaysia Boleh!

1 comments about Sword of Doom 1966.

1. As a person well versed in the Japanese "Samurai movie" I found this one to be a nice departure from the status quo but not without it's shortcomings. For those who've yet to see it, a hint; pay close attention to the first five minutes of this movie for the events that transpire there hold greater significance than one is lead to believe.
   
   Tatsuya Nakadai's portrayal of mentally unbalanced Ryunosuke Tatsue is engrossing yet at times his acting appears wooden. Those initiated in this form of film making will happily find all the genre`s staples fixed also in this example; strong character-driven plots, multi layered social/political and historical relevencies and, not to mention, finely choreographed and filmed sword-play (as the movie progresses the fighting becomes evidently more graphic and larger in scale.) Despite these pros the movie finds occassion to suffer from a mild malidy of multiple plot string juggling which seemed to struggle with proper execution and emphasis. Whether this was due to writing difficulties or mediocre editing is unclear but none the less the movie still managed to find it's way home. Of course this movie includes the incomparable Toshiro Mifune (Japan's John Wayne) and although his role is somewhat limited the minutes he spends on the screen are the most poweful and compelling in their quiet perfection. And, once more, Toshiro Mifune's only action scene is the stand-out of the whole movie!
   
   Overall, despite it's occasional labored and enigmatic storytelling, Sword of Doom meets all the requirements of an excellent Samurai genre film- akin to it's many brethren from the golden era of period film production in Japan.

No comments about TKO.

5 comments about TaeBo II: Get Ripped Basic Workout.

1. 
   Let me be clear. I never bought these type of videos before because I always thought they were kind of dorky! But this one is actually great! I had read the previous review carefully before making a decision to purchase and two things definitely held true. 1) Do not try to skip ahead and purchase the intermediate routines if you have never done this before. Some people think just because they already have a descent exercise program going that they don't have to start out with the basic workout. If you skip, YOU WILL BE LOST!!! There are a lot of moves that you have to get use to in the first program. And you will need to get these down first because in the upcoming tapes, the moves get really difficult. And at first its hard getting use to switching routines which Billy will do on a dime. So keep your remote near you to stop the program and rewind. (That's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.) But, as people in previous reviews have written, YOU'LL GET USE TO IT! Get this tape down packed before moving on. 2) YOU WILL SWEAT!!! Its a great workout even though it only lasts for a little over 20 minutes. For those who have a exercise program, what I do is go through the routine twice. You will love the burn. And his tape is not boring. I use it mainly as a alternate Cardio day to burn calories with my 3 weight lifting days to total and round out a solid four day workout week. It is a great buy.



2. This is a great workout. I initially bought thr Get Ripped Advanced workout and after I embarassed myself to no return, I decided to start with something a little easier. I am very pleased with this workout. It is not so easy that you will breeze through it. After a few workouts, I have yet to finish the tape without stopping a bunch of times. (Which Billy says is OK). The only problem that I can find is that Billy loses count a lot. He will say one more set and you sometimes actually end up doing three more sets. You can look at that as a plus though; you are going the extra mile! At the beginning of the tape there are commercials of some sort, which I fast foward through. I dont know if you can skip them on a DVD player however. Either way, I am VERY pleased with this workout and would highly recommend to beginners of all ages.



3. I bought the Tae-bo "Get Ripped II" Basic series last week, and I love it. Tae-bo "Get Ripped II" is now my primary workout program with a little yoga here and there. I found the pace a little fast in the beginning, but since then I have eventually learned the moves and can now match the pace.
   
   I use the shorter 8-minute version as either a lighter workout (later in the day), or when I haven't got the time in the morning for the longer 20 minute workout (which is closer to 30 when you factor in the warm-up and cool-down stretches).
   
   This is a great workout for anyone who is really, really serious about losing weight and staying in shape.
   
   I highly recommend it!
   *****



4. I bought this DVD almost three years ago. These were the first two Tae Bo workouts I ever did. At that time I was fat and unhealthy and depressed. Tae Bo helped me pull myself back up. There is something about the music and the moves (and Billy!) that pulled me in so that I WANTED TO WORKOUT!!! I found myself arranging my day around my workout. Now I have become a lifelong exerciser and am addicted to kickboxing. You have to love the workout or you won't do it, and for me Tae Bo is easy to love because it is so fun.
   
   After I had been doing these two Basic workouts for a couple of months, I started the Get Ripped Advanced (awesome workouts!!) and then later I got the Advanced Live 1-12 workouts off eBay (even more awesome!!). Now I have about 30 or so Tae Bo workouts. I cannot say enough good things about Tae Bo. It changed my life.
   
   I see these workouts as a great starting point for someone wanting to get fit. If you have never had any martial arts instruction, consider getting the Instructional workout first so you will have good form and not hurt yourself. Otherwise, have fun!



5. Yeah, this is a pretty good work out. It makes you sweat. The 8 minute work out will make you have a heart attack if you are not careful! I liked how there were heavy people and older people along with the super in shape people. I suspect that this work out has good results. I myself have only done it three times, so I wouldn't REALLY know. But after those three times, I felt fantastic! It's worth a shot.

5 comments about Bloodmoon.

1. this movie was ok. what irritated me was the editing... it was kinda bad. it was confusing the fighting scenes.. but if u like gary daniels... buy this flic



2. Wait, one more stupid line from the movie. "Ken were cops, we don't do this".
   
   First off if you do not like martial arts movies then this will not be worth your time. If you love Jean Claude Van Damme and all the great b-action movies like 'No Retreat, No Surrender' then you will absolutely love this flick and it will become an instant classic for you. It is actually from the same film company that discovered Jean Claude and did all the 'No Retreat, No Surrender' movies. The owner of the Seasonal Film Company(Ng See-Yuen)actually discovered old school stars like Jackie Chan and Hwang Jang Lee and produced their first successful movies. So when I saw Tony Leung Siu Hung and Ng's name on the back of the box, I had to have it. VERY rarely are American martial arts movies good. Sometimes they end up being a great movie but the fight scenes will be limited and only average. 'Bloodmoon' is the exact reverse. It has spectacular fight scenes, it's badly directed, and it's filled with enough cheese to at least laugh at the stupidness of it sometimes. There is even that part where they go to a strip bar and we get to see surgically enhanced women.
   
   The movie stars out by ripping off 'Beverly Hills Cop' with an Eddie Murphy clone playing the cop. The only thing that makes this character different from Eddie Murphy is that he loves kung fu. This is a down point of the movie since he is certainly not the worst actor but the script could not get any worse. The really good thing though is that he can seriously fight. I thought it was a stunt double at first glance since his first fight is in the dark, but even in the light this guy was doing some amazingly tough choreographed fight scenes. One is a 3 on 1 fight with the killer. If they did double for him at all they fooled me. Then there is a woman fighter who is very good and you will for sure notice the stunt doubling for her. You have to watch for when Rob Van Damme(a wrestler) gets thrown through a window, they show a close up of his double for about 5 seconds. Personally, it was my favorite part of the movie. So Gary Daniels joins this unfunny Eddie Murphy type of cop to find a killer. This guy goes around killing a bunch of tough people. Luckily he doesn't just kill quickly but challenges them and we get these amazing fights scenes. The first fight was awesome but when he stuck his fingers into the guys chest to kill him, I thought for sure this movie would end up being a waste of time. Then you have that one part where the killer posts his murders on the internet and they try to track him down. Of course now the computer geek is saying "OK, he's in Bejing, wait, he's in Berlin, no, he's in Moscow". This may sound like a bad movie and it is but the amount of fights and the quality of them is what makes it good. All great fights and most of them are extended going 5 minutes or so. For a die-hard martial arts movie fan like me it just does not get better than this. The fights are brutal and I have to say that they are some of the best I have seen in a while. There is unfortunately a bit of wirework with the wires clearly seen but that is to be expected from a movie of this type of budget.
   
   Now like all great martial arts movies every actor needs to be somebody who actually looks good fighting on screen and the villian needs to standout as the baddest mother on the block. Darren Shahlavi gets the job done nicely and his steel tipped boots are a nice touch. There is actually metal on the whole bottom of his boots and up the whole heel. He really gets to show off his sklls and how many great kicks he has.
   
   Now I will say it once more so people don't get confused by my 4 star rating. This movie is a cheesy cop drama with a few good comic moments and it has some truly great fight scenes. So it is not for everyone and I warn you all that this movie has one of the stupidest endings of all time. "Ha ha ha ha, this is the endgame Ken". No not the ending sequence fights and Gary Daniel's race to save his family, that was bad, but the very last moment of the movie. It is the finest of cheese that you will ever find in a film.
   
   I have to once again mention how great the fighting was and how great of a job that director/action director Tony Leung Siu Hung did. His choreography and editing of the fights is about as good as it gets. Now I just have to see the other American martial arts movie he directed which is called 'Superfights' and my life will be complete. Seriously, the movie is called Superfights.
   
   I will warn you right now that this DVD from the Weinstein Company is sub-standard. Big surprise huh? Well of course it is not a surprise. These are the same people that edited down every Jet Li and Jackie Chan movie and not only cut it up but never offered their DVD's in the original Asian language. So luckily this is actually an American movie and we don't have to bother with the bad dubbing, just the bad acting. The DVD is presented in full screen and the picture quality is average. The first 2 fights were a bit blurry but it seems to clear up from there. Good sound quality.
   
   There are no special features except filmographies.
   
   One more bad line-"Don't worry honey, daddy's gonna save us".
   
   Just one more line I promise. It does not have anything to do with the movie but you'd think that it would-"Did you notice there's blood on the moon tonight?" the masked killer asks in a dark voice as he has his leg extended in the air showing off his devastating martial arts skills.



3. blood moon is a martail arts film pact with all kinds of action
   lots of martail arts moves most of the chacters are national champions
   in different compiations in wwe/ecw superstar rob van dam makes an
   aperances as a tough man champion named dutch.



4. From the same guys that brought you the super-cheesefest "Superfights" comes another low-budget, high cheese quality martial arts action flick - Bloodmoon. This time around, Gary Daniels is onboard and so are some incredible fight scenes that make this a pleasant improvement.
   
   As Bloodmoon begins, so does the cheese. We are introudeced to a goofy villain in a goofy costume, only known as "The Killer". Also introuced, is a ridiculously looking red moon, supposed to be "The Bloodmoon" which The Killer fancies with dialouge "Did you notice there is blood on the moon tonight?" Supposedly it occurs when he is about to destroy one of his victims. Ok, so the cheese is plenty. If you can deal with it, we are also introduced to a smashing good fight at the beginning, only one of very many throughout this film. A fight, like all rest, that goes on for minutes and can compare with the final showdowns in many movies. Each fight throughout the movie gets better and longer. The choreography is amazing, again from the same guy that choreographed Superfights, Tony Leung.
   
   In addition to the great and improving fights, 1/2 way through the film, the story begins to take itself seriously, and finally gets quite interesting till the end. Unfortunately, the end is honestly one of the stupidest finales I have ever seen, and its not the fight I am referring to. The final fight, is around 8 minutes in lenght. For comparison, that is about the length of the roof-top fight in Jackie Chan's "Who Am I?", arguably one of the best fight scenes ever. Though not as entertaining as that scene, this is one of the better fights I have seen. Obviously, the duel is between Gary Daniels and Darren Shahlavi (The Killer). I am not familiar with Darren Shahlavi, but he presents himself in Bloodmoon with excellent martial arts skills as if he had been doing this for quite some time. Gary Daniels, on the other hand, has earned a good repuation with many action films such as Ring of Fire, City Hunter, Rage, Riot, Firepower, and White Tiger to name a few. A Gary Daniels fan will definetly want to add this to their collection.
   
   I honestly have to give a 3-1/2 stars for this film overall. Its the action that holds the spotlight here. The low production of the rest of the film, makes it suffer, but not nearly as bad as Superfights. The actors and story give a lot more effort this time around. Cheese is the name of the game here. Expect it to come, or you will be too distracted to enjoy the wonderful choreography all around it.



5. I first saw this film at a very young age and could never find it in my later years. I finaly found it watched it and it still held my attention. the bad guy has some awsome kicks in this 1980's film. He is a bit of a creep but a great fighter. I liked this because the star, gary daniels took some serious beating along with his co star, that is something you dont normally see in any kind of movie. This is a collectors item

3 comments about Analysis of Shaolin Chin Na DVD (1st Edition YMAA) Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming.

1. Groundfighters! Pay Attention!
   
   These chin na techniques can be adapted to any fighting style, and learning to use 5 or 10 of them reflexively WILL be a lifesaver when the time comes.
   
   Great DVD quality and design.



2. This is the first video in a comprehensive Chin Na video series by the renowned master of Chinese martial arts, Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming. The video first instructs essential power and speed training, and gives the basic concept of Chin Na, which means 'Sieze and Control' in Chinese. This is followed by demonstration of over 80 Chin Na techniques by Master Yang performed on one of his disciples, Ramel Rones. The video was produced in the 1980's, and was a major force in introducing the subject of Shaolin Chin Na to the USA, long before grappling was a popular trend.
   
   The DVD is remastered and is far superior to the VHS edition. The demonstration is at slow and regular speed, and shows subtle variations for these effective techniques. Master Yang did not speak in these early videos due to his difficult 'Chinglish' accent, but the teaching is clear and concise.
   
   There is an additional Glossary of Chin Na terminology segment on the DVD that is quite helpful, which you can scroll through alphabetically, or sit and and read while classical Chinese music is played.
   
   Thank you to Master Yang for cataloging these ancient techniques that have nearly been lost, even in China, and which are the root of the more modern arts of aikido, and more recently, hapkido.
   
   After this DVD, move into the deeper, personal instruction in the Chin Na In Depth 12-Course, 3-DVD series, in which Master Yang instructs over 100 Chin Na techniques. In this series, which was filmed more recently, you can see that his ability to teach in English has developed greatly during his worldwide seminar tours, and his English instruction is flawless. He revisits some of these techniques from the Analysis DVD, teaching them in extreme detail - showing each technique multiple times, and with several variations, and often allowing students to demonstrate, in order to show corrections and fine tuning for common mistakes.
   
   Through all of this vast training, it is vital to refer back to 'The Analysis of Shaolin Chin Na' DVD, which gives an excellent overview of the art of Chin Na, and instructs the essential fundamental speed and power training that is the key to effective and quick Chin Na.
   
   Much respect for Dr. Yang for this exhaustive research and teaching!



3. Very learnable and easy to execute, especially if you have had prior training in joint-locking. I would highly recommend it in police or correctional use where use of force is limited and these locks if applied correctly can end a conflict quickly. I know by experience by using them in a correctional setting. One just has to pick out the techniques that are the easiest to execute and as all moves dictate, have to be in the right position to execute. And they have to be practiced religiuosly with your collegues before you will become adept as all boxing or martial arts techniques are if one is honest with himself. There are no shortcuts in being able to execute any techniques. They must become instinctive and second-nature. But these are very good techniques.

5 comments about Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 48 - Payback.

1. St. Pierre, Baroni, Tanner, Hughes, Mir, Syliva are all featured on this card. Plus the main event is 2 legends of the octagon colliding for the second time in their careers, Kimo and Shamrock! There are some good matchups on this UFC, although I think everyone was surprised the final match ended so quickly.



2. At this UFC event, we see George St. Pierre display a slightly more aggressive style against Jay Hieron. It becomes very apparent that St. Pierre is the future of the middleweight division, as one of the most well-rounded fighters the UFC has seen.
   
   Matt Serra fights Ivan Menjivar in a fight that is boring, for the most part.
   
   We then see the always underestimated warrior Evan Tanner in his rematch with Phil Baroni. Their first bout stirred up quite a bit of controversy, due to the referee stoppage of the fight. This time, Tanner wins far more decisively, although Baroni seems "out of sorts". Good fight.
   
   Matt Hughes v. Cheruto Verissimo. Verissimo was making a name for himself as a top contender at this time. In this fight, Hughes powers out of a number of submission attempts by Verissimo. The fight is actually rather boring, for a Matt Hughes fight. It goes to a decision.
   
   Frank Mir takes on Tim Sylvia. Mir displays his strong submission game - and Tim Sylvia displays his "I don't know when to quit" game, as he is taken out of UFC competition for a few months due to a stubborn will. Frank Mir is a well-rounded fighter and basically a likeable fighter. I look forward to seeing more from him in the UFC.
   
   In the main event, Ken Shamrock squares off against Kimo Leopoldo. These two fighters' UFC careers date back to UFC 1 (Shamrock) and UFC 3 (Kimo). It's amazing to see them here in UFC 48, still in great shape and still essentially top-notch fighters. The result is somewhat shocking, but the fight is certainly worth seeing - if for nothing else than to see these two UFC legends face off so many years later, after having been there since it all began.
   
   This is another solid UFC event. The bonus material, as usual, is made up of behind-the-scenes footage that any fan will appreciate.



3. UFC 48 is one of the worst events I've ever seen. The main event is a fight between two old tomato cans that don't belong on a kotc card let alone a ufc card. The co main event features a fat, chicken-legged champ who's not even ranked in the world top 5 taking on a Jiu-Jitsu fighter with ZERO cardio. You can tell that all these guys have very little skill compared to the guys in Pride and sometimes are akin to fat barroom brawlers.
   
   Pride FC is the top organization in the world. Sadly, the UFC is far behind.



4. Just terrible and not worth the money. The fights are horrible and the fighters have very little skill. Puchase PRIDE instead where the best fighters in the WORLD come to fight.



5. i was expecting kimo to win, but got knocked out insstead, all of the other fights were great and action packed. if you like action, or just a collector of the UFC like me, pick this 1 up.

5 comments about The Secret Rivals (Enter The Silver Fox).

1. Secret Rivals & Secret Rivals 2 may be the two best independant kung fu films ever made. Starring two great martial artists, Wang Tao and John Liu, in the hero roles and one of the greatest kickers on screen kickers, Hwang Jang Lee, in the villian role. The fights in both films are excellent with the second film having even more action then the first! Also Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fight director, Yuen Woo Ping, directed the fights in the second film. The DVD's look very good as they are both widescreen. If you're a martial arts film fan, these two films are musts for your collection!



2. This movie was okay, nothing special about it. I'd watch it again if I was bored.



3. (...)
   In this movie Ng-see yuen wanted to make a movie that was unique. And that he did. There is a lot of focus in this movie in concentrating on leg fighting. There is also a very large emphasis on HARD HITTING. Don Wong Tao is the best he has ever been in this one.



4. DEFINATELY TOO AMAZING,,,,THEN AGAIN I'M A JOHN LIU FAN SO NO MATTER WHAT HE DOES,,,,HIS PERFORMACE TO ME IS USUALLY GOLD!!
   
   Be that as it may,,this flick is a classic, the performace of an absolute lifetime,,,,check him out in Invincible Armour,,,now that is off the charts!!



5. this is a collectors item
   the silver fox makes this movie worthwhile to watch over
   and over again

No comments about The Patriotic Knights.

No comments about Samurai Swordmanship Vol. 2: Intermediate Sword Program by Masayuki Shimabukuro.