Paid Members Surf Digby Posted December 9, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) Remo Williams: The adventure begins. A cop has his death faked and forced into a secret goverment task force to take down those above the law. I genuinely like it, and not in a ironic way. To the point where I want to track down an old pal VHS copy of it's UK release title "Remo: unarmed and dangerous" because it's cooler. To prove that the internet can be a great thing, I have now aquired the DVD of "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (and ends immediately afterwards)". Â "Unarmed and Dangerous" is definately a million times cooler and considering no sequel was ever made, it wouldn't have hurt for them to use that subtitle. Â It's a little slow moving compared to more modern fare, but is definately still enjoyable cheesey, rather than naff cheesey. The script is sharp, there's some impressive stuntwork (much of which Fred Ward does himself) and it has one of the most rousing theme tunes of any action films. It's like the Police Accademy theme on steroids and a diet of steak cooked on an open fire. Â Â In a second argument as to why the internet is great, I've also watched "Magnificent Scoundrels". I saw this back in '96 or '97 at a triple bill of HK movies, where it brought the house down, and I've always remembered it as the best of the Chow Sing Chi. Back then, getting hold of a copy in the UK was nigh impossible (I did try), but with Ebay and Edited December 9, 2011 by bAzTNM#1 Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Galt Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 While on the topic of Hong Kong, last night I watched Armour of God and thought it was really terrible. The first and last action scenes are great but the stuff in the middle was like the lamest romantic comedy I've ever seen. The audio options are shit too; you can only have either all Cantonese or all English but a lot of the characters in the film speak one or the other so there's always someone speaking the wrong language. Definitely the only HK Jackie Chan film I've seen that I don't think I ever need to see again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Surf Digby Posted December 9, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) You might hate Dragons Forever then. A blinding finale, but incredibly naff romcom stuff in the middle that's only slightly lifted by Yuen Biu's performance as a paranoid neurotic. Samo's flirting face is something to behold, though. It's like a drunken, lust filled Terry Scott. Â You might also hate Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars. A blinding opening and finale, but incredibly puerile romcom stuff in the middle. Whoever scripted the English dub was probably hours away from suicide. Â You might also hate Pedicab Driver. A blinding finale and fight with The Pops, but the middle is taken up with - admittedly darker and more depressive - romantic stuff. Â There's possibly a lot more HK classics that you're going to hate. Â Regarding the language options, everything prior to Police Story 3 was shot without sound and redubbed afterwards, so people on set would speak in whatever language they wanted to. Edited December 9, 2011 by bAzTNM#1 Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Total Package Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Jackie Chan is great and while its not the first, the 2nd movie Operation Condor is probably my most watched Chan movie, really like that film, I swear I used to watch it almost every weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Surf Digby Posted December 9, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 9, 2011 For "choreography involving set pieces", Operation Condor is probably one of Jackie's finest works. Some serious precision work going on there. Â That said, if you don't like actors speaking multiple languages in a scene, it's going to kill you. Chinese Jackie, German Ada, Japanese Mimoko, American Bruce, etc.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Thunderplex Posted December 9, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 9, 2011 What also needs remembering is that the bits in Jackie Chan and most other Hong Kong movies that we find a bit irritating are made prinipally for the Chinese culture, who find it frigging hilarious. A lot of the script is lost in translation, where as the action speaks for itself. It's a shame that the english language distributors don't try to spruce the scripts up a bit to make the dialogue more english appropriate. Â I still watch the original police story at least once a month. Just amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Surf Digby Posted December 9, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 9, 2011 You need to see the Bollywood re-interpretation of the bus stunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Galt Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 When was Once Upon a Time in China made because my DVD of that has Cantonese and English on the same audio track, it looks far less weird than in Armour of God though I did wonder if it was meant to be 100% one or the other because there's times when Jackie is talking to May and there's nothing to suggest there's more than one language going on. And, yeah, I've seen loads of HK films that have really maudlin romantic bits in but I think the pacing of Armour of God is what threw me off the most. The opening scene sets it up to be more action adventure than it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patiirc Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) While on the topic of Hong Kong, last night I watched Armour of God and thought it was really terrible. The first and last action scenes are great but the stuff in the middle was like the lamest romantic comedy I've ever seen. The audio options are shit too; you can only have either all Cantonese or all English but a lot of the characters in the film speak one or the other so there's always someone speaking the wrong language. Definitely the only HK Jackie Chan film I've seen that I don't think I ever need to see again. Â Biggest budget HK film at the time if memory serves, its in Jackie's Biog if memory serves. Â I quite like Armour of God, but havent seen it in an age. Armour of God Operation Condor, really is a fantastic film. Wonder what a Jackie Chan thread would throw up as his best film? Â Â EDIT: currently struggling through Sunshine on More 4. It's well, a bit shit isnt it? Edited December 9, 2011 by patdfb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator Frankie Crisp Posted December 9, 2011 Awards Moderator Share Posted December 9, 2011 Biggest budget HK film at the time if memory serves, its in Jackie's Biog if memory serves. I'm not relying on your memory, pat, if you can't remember what you typed four words earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patiirc Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Biggest budget HK film at the time if memory serves, its in Jackie's Biog if memory serves. I'm not relying on your memory, pat, if you can't remember what you typed four words earlier. Â Fair does, I'm knackered. Definitely on a different planet today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vice Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Spaceballs  I like Mel Brooks, but this really is a weak effort. The self-referential stuff is mildly amusing, but the rest of it just isn't funny. The gags are either poor or completely unsubtle - knowingly, but even that becomes irritating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Surf Digby Posted December 9, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 9, 2011 When was Once Upon a Time in China made because my DVD of that has Cantonese and English on the same audio track, it looks far less weird than in Armour of God though I did wonder if it was meant to be 100% one or the other because there's times when Jackie is talking to May and there's nothing to suggest there's more than one language going on. And, yeah, I've seen loads of HK films that have really maudlin romantic bits in but I think the pacing of Armour of God is what threw me off the most. The opening scene sets it up to be more action adventure than it is. The first OUATIChina was 1991, Police Story 3 was 1992. They were made by different production companies though. Â The opening sequence can almost be classed as a seperate film. Originally the film was to be directed by Eric Tsang, who brought in the typically inconsistant serious/slapstick mix of HK films, and got rid of Jackie's trademark mop of hair. When filming resumed following the accident, Tsang was no longer available, so Jackie took to directing. He dumped all but the opening sequence (supposedly about 3/4 of Tsang's filming had been completed), and grew back his mop to cover the scarring. Â Biggest budget HK film at the time if memory serves Operation Condor was the biggest budget HK film for a long time, not the first Armour of God. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Thunderplex Posted December 9, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted December 9, 2011 You need to see the Bollywood re-interpretation of the bus stunt. Â Tried googling, but no joy. Do you know the name of the Bollywood film? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patiirc Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Biggest budget HK film at the time if memory serves Operation Condor was the biggest budget HK film for a long time, not the first Armour of God. Â I thought the first Armour of God had a budget of around $15 million, and the 2nd one had a bigger one than that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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