Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Page 1 of 2)

I loved this flick when I saw it in the theater, but the more I see it, the less I enjoy it. It's one of those flicks that was such a huge hit when it came out that it got really overplayed and over exposed. I honestly found the Kung-Fu vs Karate conversation more entertaining than the movie

You guys started talking about Jet Li / Jackie Chan and all these other martial arts stars. I'd be interested to get your takes on the three films that were made that are all based on the same story. The fight in Ip Man where he squares off against the Karate students has been done in two other films that were more loosely based on the same story. I'll link to all three of the fight scenes: (I apologize for being unable to find a hilariously dubbed version of the first one)

1) Ip Man - Donnie Yen's version of the fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g6jc_9OzhI
2) Fist of Legend - Jet Li's version of the fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpvuCbrJ_JI
3) Fist of Fury - Bruce Lee's version of the fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFXTeQWXjo

It's like a little mini history of Kung Fu flicks. By seeing three different takes on the same scene / story you can see the sort of stuff that was popular. The Lee flick has him using weapons and showing off, the Li flick has him just go in and pound on people, but without really seeming to 'hurt' anyone too much. He comes off as kinda stiff and unemotional to me. The Yen version is just so quick and brutal. He's hobbling and possibly killing people in his version. Lee is also probably causing a lot of damage with his little nunchaku (that's what the people on youtube call them, so that's what I'm callin them...), but everyone seems pretty much OK at the end. Li's version...  forget it. He doesn't really seem to be hurting anyone aside from maybe a couple of bruises. It's weird, tho, cause an earlier scene in that flick has him definitely breaking bones and fucking people up, but the fight where he's supposed to be avenging the death of his master, he lets them all off easy. Very odd.

You guys should watch US Seals 2. It's the most awesomest movie ever. I'd suggest doing a commentary, but the film's awesomeness can't really be analyzed. It simply is. The fight choreography was done by a guy who's been a stunt double for Jackie Chan. I repeat: A stunt double for Jackie "I do my own stunts" Chan. Apparently when Jackie Chan doesn't feel like throwing himself off a building onto a bus while on fire, he calls Andy Cheng. The flick was also directed by Issac Florentine, who's directed some fairly fun little action flicks (tho I've only seen a handful of them) and several Power Rangers episodes, and who apparently wrote his own IMDB bio... wait, what movie are we talking about again?

Oh yeah...  Crouching Tiger... It was pretty decent, I guess. If you're only gonna do one martial arts movie, you totally should have done Ip Man.

I just read through this post and it makes me sound like I'm some kind of cracked-out, obsessed freak who watches too many B-Movies and has no other sort of life. Sorry about that. I swear I'm not on crack.

Don't forget The Ice Harvest.

I don't.

The correct spelling is forbideen.

What do you mean there's no such thing as "judo chop!"? ...What have I been DOING for the past five years then?!

Oh, and interesting commentary. Funny to see it from someone who doesn't like kung fu or martial arts flicks. And, Teague, seriously, check out Kung Fu Hustle. It's right up your alley, or at least the closest thing to right up your alley in the kung fu genre.

^ Black belt is very interesting.  I liked it a lot.

This was an interesting commentary, a lot of good information.  I did karate for the majority of my young life, so it's interesting listening to hear you guys discuss all of the different martial arts and your experiences.  My training was very focused on practicality and real world fighting skills, so I've rarely been able to impress anyone with how I look when I fight.  My master always said that we'd fought poorly if we took more than 2 hits before ending the fight.

Last edited by requiem1394 (2010-06-28 17:11:02)

My master was referring to a fight in self-defense.  As in, someone attacks me (someone without training), and I should be able to end things quickly.

Sparring matches and tournaments were completely different.

Fair enough.  If I couldn't win a fight, I wasn't supposed to be stubborn and put my own safety on the line.  Like you guys said in the commentary, if a guy has a gun, knife, or I don't think there is a good chance to win, I would get the hell out of there.

I take that to heart generally, though.  I've been in situations that could have become fights very quickly, but I have always managed to either talk my way out or simply get away. 

Man, I really need to get back into it.  Ever since I moved, I haven't found a dojo I liked.

I was glad to hear some of you are Avatar: The Last Airbender fans, as it will make that eventual commentary well informed (if you guys do Mystery Men, someone had better be familiar with the Flaming Carrot comics). I often ignore adaptations of stuff I love, and Airbender has the potential to suck so badly...
(if the movie is at all good, it will probably flop so we'll never see the other two films, so it's lose-lose)

Depends on what you're referring to. The characters actually grow and change, there's an actual well thought out plot with a beginning, middle and end... It's not a monster of the week show, if that's what you're asking (like Ben 10 tended to be). I do think the show doesn't hit its real stride until season 2 when Toph and Azula show up, but season one sets up oh so many things that pay off later. You have to give it a few more episodes at least.

(Avatar may also have the distinction of being the only kids show where it's acknowledged that one teen couple is screwing like rabbits when the camera's not on them)

Time will be the main problem with the movie. They're taking 22 episodes and compressing it down to two hours. Yes, there's a lot of fluff to take out, but assuming we're getting most of the first two and last two episodes, that doesn't leave much room for any real "growth". Original films based on series tend to be better then compilations.
(in anime, there are a few cases where 26 episode series have been edited down into one movie, and it's best to ignore those. OTOH, the original Gundam was compressed into three 2 1/2 hour movies with a new ending and is great so it's all in how you do it)

I love A:TLA almost despite myself, because I have my own martial arts fantasy story involving the manipulation of the elements (though I have 10 instead of 4), and including a hero who is the "last of his kind," which I came up with before AIRBENDER, but which will inevitably be compared to and probably considered a ripoff now that AIRBENDER beat me to it. Then again, most Western fantasies are variations on LOTR, so hopefully the differences will speak louder than the similarities.

I agree that the martial arts in A:TLA are well-conceived and animated. The styles are recognizable and it's clear what's going on. I especially enjoy what they do with Toph, and in the credits she specifically had her own advisor to the animators. That's a show done right -- though the finale is a bit rushed and has one hell of a deus ex machina that they might have at least hinted at before the very end...

If I trust M. Night to get anything right, it's the visuals. The guy has apparently never spoken to or observed other human beings, based on how he writes and directs his characters, but he sure as hell knows how to frame a shot. Most people don't know how to shoot action, but as far as it goes, the initial teaser is promising, interviews make it sound like he has the sense to just get out of the way and SHOW it, and ILM's work in the trailers looks incredible.

But I don't trust him to get the emotion, story, characters, or tone at all right, and I expect the dialogue to be abominable. I'm trying to go in knowing that, overall, I will be disappoint.

But it's tempered by my feeling that there kind of isn't a way to get this flick right no matter who did it. It's a story I don't think you can condense meaningfully into two hours. So at least we get one that'll look damn cool.

I'm pulling for it to succeed, even with my distaste for MNS, because KUNG FU RED needs all the martial arts hits it can get this summer. It's riding on SCOTT PILGRIM, too.