Mythical ancient China movies

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  • #16
    Re: Mythical ancient China movies

    Originally posted by emily blake View Post
    House of Flying Daggers is a lot like what I'm looking for - brilliant film.
    The visual beauty of that film is breathtaking, especially thanks to the fact that it's free of teal digital grading, so you actually see color. (Remember when movies were in color?)

    If House of Flying Daggers has sufficient fantasy for you, then any wuxia film might be of interest, though as others have pointed out, the magical elements are largely restricted to wire-fu, as is the case in Flying Daggers.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxia_film#Films
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wuxia_films

    Try the same director's Curse of the Golden Flower, an even more visually lavish spectacle. He also directed Hero, which you've seen -- which is his finest work.
    Last edited by karsten; 03-30-2013, 04:25 AM.

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    • #17
      Re: Mythical ancient China movies

      I honestly don't get the love for Hero - one of Jet's least impressive flicks, in my opinion.

      Seriously, watch Iron Monkey and then try to tell me that Hero comes anywhere close.

      Okay, that's not fair because it's a Donnie Yen flick and not Jet Li, and I vastly prefer Donnie's work, but you should get the idea.

      But, on topic, try The Bride with White Hair, which, where very flawed, remains a classic of the genre, and you MUST watch Ashes of Time, because you just MUST.
      No, it's not really wuxia pian in the sense of wire-fu, but, along with The Blade, which I recommended earlier, it'll set a damn high bar, and I doubt you're one to take on only the easy jumps.
      Cufk, Tish, Sips.

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      • #18
        Re: Mythical ancient China movies

        Here are some flicks that can compete with the best of them:

        Swordsman 2 (absolutely one of the great supernatural films from China)

        Swords Stained with Royal Blood

        North and South Shaolin (This has a few names, but it's 1986 Jet Li)

        Tai Chi Master

        Michele Yeoh films and Jackie Chan's late 70s films such as the Drunken and Young Master series (though sometimes boring). There's also a good one he made in the early 90s with "Drunken" in the title. Quite good and funny.

        It seems that if you can find films that open in a forest you've struck gold. Whenever there is a forest scene in these movies all hell breaks loose.

        P.S I hope Grandmaster can find the time to list a "ton more" of films that he/she has seen.

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        • #19
          Re: Mythical ancient China movies

          Thanks for the continued recommendations, guys. This is very helpful.
          Chicks Who Script podcast

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          • #20
            Re: Mythical ancient China movies

            Lot of great suggestions. Would the original Ninja Scroll fit the bill?

            It's animated but also fantasy, supernatural, and brutally dark.

            Imdb logline:

            A ninja-for-hire is forced into fighting an old nemesis who is bent on overthrowing the Japanese government. His nemesis is also the leader of a group of demons each with superhuman powers.
            **Edit: it's set in Japan.
            Last edited by Anagram; 03-31-2013, 01:40 AM.

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            • #21
              Re: Mythical ancient China movies

              Originally posted by Grandmaster View Post
              P.S. I'm surprised that tuukka didn't mention Jade Warrior.
              I did consider it, but i think it's more of an interesting failure, than a good movie. A very ambitious low budget film, and all the honors go to my fellow Finnish filmmakers for trying so hard to accomplish something special, but the script, and the film overall, just doesn't work very well.

              Conceptually it's interesting, by combining old Chinese and Finnish myths into a same historical fantasy story. A cool starting point.

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              • #22
                Re: Mythical ancient China movies

                Jade Warrior had flaws, but may prove inspirational to the O.P. because it was someone who wanted to make a wire-fu film yet keep it relevent to his own identity.
                We should all learn how to be creative and pertinent rather than merely copying what we've seen.

                Norm,
                Always great to see a fellow kung fu freak on the boards!
                I don't know what I've seen that I haven't, but for both you and the O.P., here's a brief list... note that I've chucked in a few flicks from other nations too, because talking only about China when mentioning martial arts is like only recognising Greece when discussing the Mediterranean.

                Holt Flame of the Martial World - madness! If you want O.T.T. action in an ancient China that never existed, then this is for you

                Heroes Among Heroes - Donnie Yen in such awesome form that fans still argue as to whether or not this is better than Iron Monkey (albeit, some of his newest stuff are my favourites!)

                Wong Fei Hung II/Once Upon a Time in China 2 - come on, Donnie and Jet fight! What more do you want? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105839/reference

                Reign of Assassins - one of the best recent wuxia flicks... and it's Michelle Yeoh! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1460743/reference

                Dreadnaught - for great justice! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083352/reference

                Legendary Weapons of China - just to give some idea of the awesome madness that came many years before Crouching Tiger... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084671/reference

                We're Going to Eat You - because we all need a good laugh... and it's FUN - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080636/reference

                The Master of the Flying Guillotine/The One Armed Boxer 2 - seriously, it has to be seen or you don't know kung poo. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072913/reference

                The Magic Blade - one of the Shaw Bros. best, imho. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075329/reference

                NOTE: Shaw Bros. started making/distributing (I'm not sure which) films again recently... but I've not had the chance to see any.

                Anyway, back to HK/China later...

                JAPAN
                Dororo - forget the crap FX and enjoy one of the best fantasy films of late! It's THAT good. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/reference

                Goemon - I was working on a fantasy about knights because I wanted a British wire-fu flick, but when I saw this, I shelved it... mine just didn't live up (but I'll get back to it because it's such a superb project)! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1054122/reference

                Shinobi, Heart Under Blade - another awesome "recent" Japanese wire-fu/fantasy film. X-Men has nothing on this. Not any of them. Not even X-Men 2. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475723/reference

                Damn, this is taking A LOT longer than I thought... um, moving on...

                KOREA
                Legend of the Shadowless Sword - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0488763/reference

                Argh! I wanted to list another from the last decade where they're all in limbo but can't remember the title - maybe Norm could help out. Somethingless...?

                Arahan - has to be here because even though it's modern-set so against the requirements, it's BRILLIANT! Seriously, one of my favourites - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0404777/reference

                THAILAND
                Dynamte Warrior

                More later, I have to get the day going.


                EDIT: perhaps the admin can explain why sometimes I can highlight text and sometimes I can't? It's clearly demonstrated in this post; I use IE (the latest), FYI.
                Cufk, Tish, Sips.

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                • #23
                  Re: Mythical ancient China movies

                  Is this for the Beijing Screenplay contest? I'm working on a treatment for that one...
                  "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

                  Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

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                  • #24
                    Re: Mythical ancient China movies

                    Originally posted by LauriD View Post
                    Is this for the Beijing Screenplay contest? I'm working on a treatment for that one...
                    No, just a story I'm working on.

                    Wow, Grandmaster, thank you! That's quite a list.

                    Thanks for all the great the suggestions.

                    RE: other countries - I'm specifically looking at China, but that doesn't mean other people who find this thread couldn't use suggestions from other countries.
                    Chicks Who Script podcast

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                    • #25
                      Re: Mythical ancient China movies

                      Grandmaster:

                      Thanks for that, but you seem to be the Grandmaster of this genre. Sorry, but I cannot help you out on Korean films; I'm still playing catch-up in that genre and country.

                      Again: don't forget early Michele Yeoh, Jet Li, and many, many films that were made in the late 80s and early 90s.

                      Perhaps there's a lurking programmer from the Landmark Cinemas here who, if they used to have Hong Kong double bills on Thursdays like their sister theater had in Berkeley, you'll be swimming in suggestions.

                      Though not an ancient Chinese film, Naked Killer was a blast.

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                      • #26
                        Re: Mythical ancient China movies

                        The Naked films are a pseudo-series, with the others being Naked Weapon and Naked Soldier.

                        Emily, you're most welcome.

                        Re: Monkey, for all those fans out there: Monkey Magic was a 2007 Japanese flick which, unfortunately, failed to live up to childhood memories. Some of you may want to check it out - there are a couple of good moments - but ultimately, it's a 5/10 film at best.

                        EDIT: That Korean flick I couldn't recall the title of is The Restless.
                        Cufk, Tish, Sips.

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                        • #27
                          Re: Mythical ancient China movies

                          Originally posted by Grandmaster View Post

                          Re: Monkey, for all those fans out there: Monkey Magic was a 2007 Japanese flick which, unfortunately, failed to live up to childhood memories. Some of you may want to check it out - there are a couple of good moments - but ultimately, it's a 5/10 film at best.

                          .
                          I don't know if a reboot could capture the same flavour, lets face it they were cheezy ****, that was the sole reason they worked. Either you try something else [FAIL] or try synthetic cheese [FAIL]

                          the nature of monkey was truly irrepressible!
                          I heard the starting gun


                          sigpic

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                          • #28
                            Re: Mythical ancient China movies

                            Originally posted by Grandmaster View Post
                            Re: Monkey, for all those fans out there: Monkey Magic was a 2007 Japanese flick which, unfortunately, failed to live up to childhood memories. Some of you may want to check it out - there are a couple of good moments - but ultimately, it's a 5/10 film at best.
                            I've been avoiding it for that very reason - don't want to ruin the memory. That said, I spotted a $5 DVD of the original Michael Bond Paddington Bear at Target of all places, and threw it on for my two year old. I was expecting the worst, but he was engrossed, and we watched about ten episodes straight through. Still charming.

                            You considered writing about Peruvian bears Emily?

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                            • #29
                              Re: Mythical ancient China movies

                              I spoke with one of my mates today and he assured me that I'd remembered Dreadnaught incorrectly (I saw it about 10/15 years ago): it's NOT Jason-meets-wire fu... it's pretty straight up kung fu (so not much use being on the above list).

                              Anyway, I'd like to swap it then for Mr. Vampire, although I have fond memories of it, so it must have been good back in the day.

                              But not as good as http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083050/reference or http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102293/reference (neither really belonging to the list but both retro fun!).
                              Cufk, Tish, Sips.

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                              • #30
                                Re: Mythical ancient China movies

                                Hey all,

                                I'm from Singapore and I've watched my fair share of China movies (And tons of Asian stuff) along the years. Basically there's an underlying trend:

                                HK: Loves making Cops-and-Gangsters movies. Prime example: Infernal affairs. There's also some Stephen Chow comedy films which are pretty hilarious. i.e. "Kung Fu Hustle"

                                China: Only makes Ancient War (Swords & Sandals) movies or Kung Fu movies. I'm sick of them after watching the same stuff for decades... from "Crouching Tiger", "Hero", "Red Cliff", "House of Flying Daggers", etc. The Kung Fu films are still passable, Donnie Yen's "Ip Man" is mind-numbing action, better than Jackie Chan IMO.

                                Chinese love patriotic films too, there's quite a few WWII China movies which I prefer. "The Flowers of War" is quite good with Christian Bale inside (along the lines of The Pianist). "City of Life and Death" is very brutal and good too (along the lines of Schindler's List).

                                Btw: Journey to the West sucked according to my Chinese cinema-loving friends. China do love their mythical characters like Monkey God. But majority of their films are grounded in reality from those examples above.

                                Korea: Famous for love dramas, but occasionally produce some great stuff. Examples include "Oldboy" (Classic) and "The Man from Nowhere" (Similar to Taken). Once in a while they produce horror flicks.

                                Japan: Famous for anime, and they're damn good at it. Besides the normal Miyazaki fare ("Spirited Away" and "Castle in the Sky" are some of the best films I've watched; anime or otherwise), there're tons of other superb shows. Some of them are pretty outrageous like "Suicide Club" and many other horror themed shows.

                                Thailand: Only good at making Horror flicks, heard "Shutter" is good. Occasionally makes some average dramas.

                                Singapore: My country only produces family drama crap, horrible. I've refused to watch a local film for ages because it's so stereotypical and backwards. All the support-your-country ideals go straight out of the window. We get the regular flow of Hollywood films here, plus stuff from all around the world, which are more to my tastes.

                                If you have any questions regarding Asian cinema, I'll try to answer them as best as I can. Cheers!

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