My list is as big as anyone else's so far - and if I were to treat it with strict wuxia criteria, it would be what... 8 movies long? 6?
So my suggestion, if anything, would just be to make this the SCFZ "Fist, Palm, Knife, Sword, Pole, Spear Genre Poll", to include all Chinese/HK/Taiwanese martial arts movies. Or keep it as wuxia on the surface but treat it as the former. (Or keep it strictly wuxia and the final list will be 15 movies long )
At any rate, pedantry over genres inevitably involves the stuff of my nightmares - art criticism - so I'm inclined to avoid it as much as possible... but I do think it's important in polls to have everyone on the same page, so it's not just a mess with all voters voting by different criteria.
nrh wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:56 pm
putting spl 2 or eastern condors on the list on the other hand is kind of like putting zebraman a samurai film list because it's japanese and has action in it.
Eastern Condors is a direct transposition of many of the classic 'period kung fu' - dare I even say wuxia - characters and themes into a modern setting. Perhaps "what would happen if you set a group quest wuxia film in the aftermath of the Vietnam war" is a kooky idea, but that pretty much seems to be the idea. Some of the absolutely pure heroes are turned picaresque - there's no saint-like David Chiang leading the way - and there are some guns and explosions. But 90% of the action is still kung fu, including showdowns with ridiculous villains straight out of the old Shaw Brothers esoteric; the band of outcasts and criminals and parochial farmers and local seditious elements is straight out of a just-short-of-classic political wuxia thriller with an evil governor; the tragedy of some of the group falling before reaching the end goal and begging the others to carry on... I mean, it's not like Sammo forgot every kung fu film he'd ever seen, watched First Blood a few times, and decided to make an American testament to big biceps movie. Anyway, it's a fascinating flick!
At the very least, I think it would be an exaggeration to say that these movies that are, or at least feature, reactions toward wuxia or more traditional kung fu movies are a completely and utterly distinct genre therefrom, with nothing in common except the term "action". When you watch Come Drink with Me, Warriors Two, and Hero, there is still something of an odd chain carrying through there, with all the people involved in each acutely aware of the traditions they're following up on.
raining in the mountain (king hu, 1979)
dirty ho (liu chia-liang, 1979)
a touch of zen (king hu, 1971)
the fate of lee khan (king hu, 1973)
the assassin (hou hsiao-hsien, 2015)
eight diagram pole fighter (liu chia-liang, 1984)
green snake (tsui hark, 1993)
come drink with me (king hu, 1966)
the sword (patrick tam, 1980)
legend of the mountain (king hu, 1979)
tier 2: 11 -- 20
swordsman and enchantress (chor yuen, 1978)
dragon inn (king hu, 1967)
the valiant ones (king hu, 1975)
the 36th chamber of shaolin (liu chia-liang, 1978)
the blade (tsui hark, 1995)
the enchanting shadow (li han-hsiang, 1960)
ashes of time redux (wong kar-wai, 1994)
a chinese ghost story (ching siu-tung, 1987)
the sentimental swordsman (chor yuen, 1977)
return of the sentimental swordsman (chor yuen, 1981)
tier 3: 21 -- 30
perils of the sentimental swordsman (chor yuen, 1982)
executioners from shaolin (liu chia-liang, 1977)
return to the 36th chamber (liu chia-liang, 1980)
zu: warriors from the magic mountain (tsui hark, 1983)
the swordsman (king hu/tsui hark, 1990)
once upon a time in china (tsui hark, 1991)
once upon a time in china ii (tsui hark, 1992)
once upon a time in china iii (tsui hark, 1993)
a chinese odyssey: part one -- pandora's box (jeffrey lau, 1995)
a chinese odyssey: part two -- cinderella (jeffrey lau, 1995)
tier 4: 31 -- 50
one-armed swordsman (chang cheh, 1967)
golden swallow (chang cheh, 1968)
the deadly duo (chang cheh, 1971)
five deadly venoms (chang cheh, 1978)
the crippled avengers (chang cheh, 1978)
the prodigal son (sammo hung, 1981)
shaolin mantis (liu chia-liang, 1978)
my young auntie (liu chia-liang, 1981)
disciples of the 36th chamber (liu chia-liang, 1985)
intimate confessions of a chinese courtesan (chor yuen, 1972)
killer clans (chor yuen, 1976)
the magic blade (chor yuen, 1976)
clans of intrigue (chor yuen, 1977)
clan of the white lotus (lo lieh, 1980)
the legend of fong sai-yuk (corey yuen, 1993)
detective dee and the mystery of the phantom flame (tsui hark, 2010)
young detective dee: rise of the sea dragon (tsui hark, 2013)
detective dee: the four heavenly kings (tsui hark, 2018)
journey to the west: conquering the demons (stephen chow, 2013)
journey to the west: the demons strike back (tsui hark, 2017)
i'd love to have your ballot here, evelyn, even if it's just a handful of films that you like. better to have small, enthusiastic ballots than just fill the list with the usual suspects.
"Most esteemed biographer of Peter Barrington Hutton"
Well, in that case, I'll see if I can come up with ten favourites at least. Outside of Wong Kar-wai in my youth, I've only started exploring Hong Kong movies in the past 12 months or so, so I still don't have much to choose among. But from what I've seen and enjoyed, HK cinema already promises to be a life-long love.
working on this. perfect excuse to cram in some wuxia goodies, which i hadn't done in quite a while. considering picks is tricky. don't want my list to be merely a shaw bros greatest hits, but also don't want to go too far out of the genre. vengeance is top five cheh for me, but don't think i can include it cuz it's more a badass kung fu crime flick, right? idk
HKKF month is over for me, so I might watch some in general, in the future, but nothing in particular for this poll. Let's get this one going (and I'll turn my list into a valid one soon), and then looking forward to the future editions too
)
but I do think it's important in polls to have everyone on the same page, so it's not just a mess with all voters voting by different criteria.
