IP MAN

IP MAN

                The story of Ip Man takes place in China and occurs during their war with the Japanese.   Ip Man is the best martial artist in all of China, and so he ends up using those skills to his benefit during the war. 

                This movie is full of action, and the character it depicts would go on to train such names as Bruce Lee in real life.    This is not only an important piece of martial arts history, but an important piece of world history as well.

The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge

The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge

                The third movie in the series, the second sequel, we find ourselves with some violence still, yes, but it seems overall like this movie is more about the sex and nudity than the violence.    The plot is about… I don’t know a microcassette or something.

                I also find this movie amusing because when it first starts, you don’t get the credits right away, but then eventually they do come on and end with Sonny Chiba saying that people call him “The Street Fighter”.   This leads to the movie titled and copyright information, which makes me think the movie is ending every time.  

                Here’s to hoping the Sister Street Fighter gets better.

The Return of the Street Fighter

The Return of the Street Fighter

                This movie isn’t as violent as the original, which was probably something most people were upset about, but it still has its moments.    There is one scene in particular when Terry is being seduced by a woman and then he ends up fighting her naked.    That kind of pushes the bar to some limit- or at least seemingly did in 1974.  

                This is still a movie not to be missed because of the Sonny Chiba character, but it’s not as good as the first.

THE STREET FIGHTER (1974)

THE STREET FIGHTER (1974)

                Presumably, this is the role that Sonny Chiba is best known for playing.    At least until being cast in Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill”.    The story centers on Chiba’s character being a sword for hire, but when the Yakuza double crosses him he ends up defending the girl they hired him to kill.

                But I’m also willing to bet that you’re not watching this movie for the plot.   No, you’re in this for the ultra violence.    You’re watching this because you know it was the first movie to ever receive an X rating for the violence (no nudity here, folks).     This is quite possibly the first movie where a guy rips another guy’s heart straight out of his chest.    My wife was in the room with me but not really watching this, and at one point she looked up and said “Ah!  Right in his eye!”

                If you want your martial arts movies served with a lot of blood, then this is for you.

Stroke of Death (Shaw Brothers)

                This movie didn’t have a plot that I followed very easily, but I did enjoy all of the martial arts work in it.    In fact, I’m pretty sure that this movie is where the female wrestler MsChief got her finishing move from, as it can be seen in this very movie.

Ninja, Demon's Massacre

                This movie is hilarious, though not a traditional martial arts movie by far.    Most of the people in this seem to be Americans, but they’re dubbed as British and our main star Max is Australian.   This movie has some crazy sound, characters off screen when they’re talking and just all around the qualities of a b movie.    For that reason, I will not give this a lengthy review, because I don’t really see it as a martial arts film.

                The one thing I do want to say about this film is how annoying it is that every time Max seemingly dies, he somehow reveals that he knew about their plan to begin with.   Oh, like he knew they’d hit him with knives in the shoulders and thighs?   What if they hit your face? 

                But yeah, this movie is just bad.   I bought it because the back of the video said it was $59.99 (slightly higher in Canada) and the front said it was on sale for $9.99.   Granted, I only paid a dollar for it, but I had to see what kind of video tape sold for $60.

Fong Sai Yuk 2 (Jet Li)

                This isn’t too much different from the first one.  It has minimal plot, but much action.   In the beginning there is a great scene involving sparklers and other fireworks.   Toward the end, the mom is now in danger of being hanged so she must be saved by constantly putting benches under her to stand on.   I like seeing all of the benches kicked around and the way that they have to move to try and keep the mom from dying.   It’s such a great end scene, even if the plot is kind of stale.   You’re at least getting some good action in the two Fong Sai Yuk movies.