right, as i'm sure mystic will agree.. its time for the rest of you to stop suckin on hollywoods teat of shit, and give something else a go. in here, anyone who wants to ask a question, get some advice, talk about a film, link to a review etc.. they can. newbies/senseis both encouraged, the more people we can get contributing to this thread, the better in all honesty. i'll keep a database of review links on this post, and i'll update it when anyone adds anything. please, please. i dont care whether you get your flicks, whether its bought on dvd, or downloaded from the best site in the world, or from a bittorrent source... give something a go.

Reviews:

...ing - Korea 2003 - Romantic Comedy - 9/10 - pHo
...ing - Korea 2003 - Romantic Comedy - 10/10 - Mystic Slippers

Discussions:

...ing Includes Photos/Trailer/Links

Ichi the Killer

Natural City Includes Photos/Trailer/Links

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Last edited by pHo on 03-01-2004 at 09:23 AM

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The chinese ghost story series is some of the best martial arts/sci fi action I have ever seen.

Check out the general in II I wouldnt mess with him

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"The Killer"

Directed by: John Woo
Starring: Chow Yun Fat



i'm too lazy to write a review, but its a great move. Here is one by nixflix.com,

"The Killer" marks probably the best Yun-Fat/Woo team up as star/director, respectively. After the runaway success of "A Better Tomorrow," the two men became international sensations, and "The Killer" solidified their reputations for all time.

"The Killer," while being more of the same ol same ol -- balletic gunplay and the ever-present theme of loyalty and trust -- is a superior film that continues to be the benchmark for all Hitman-Gangster films to come after it, in Hong Kong and everywhere else. Unlike his character in "Hard-Boiled" (another Woo/Yun-Fat collaboration), Fat's character is a hitman, and Danny Lee, the "buddy" in this cop-buddy flick, is the relentless cop who pursues him. The premise is relatively easy to follow: after blinding a cabaret singer during a botched hit, Chow spends the rest of his life trying to make amends for the mistake. Besides falling in love with the singer (Sally Yeh), Chow also learns the value of having a friend you can trust with your life, even if that friend is wearing a badge and has a gun pointed at your head.

If there is one over-arching theme in all of Woo's movies (even his American productions) it's the unflappable belief of brotherhood and loyalty through thick and thin. Critics have often scoff at Woo's notion of "brotherly loyalty," but love it or leave it, this is a Woo trademark, and a familiar theme in many Asian films. Take the Chinese Confucius' theme of filial piety (putting one's loyalty and obedience to one's family over all else) that is prevalent in all Asian life.

In Woo's movies, the "family" can be anything -- the bond between partners, between friends, or the family of a gang (as in "Once a Thief") or between a cop and his would-be target as is the case in "The Killer" and again in "Hardboiled." It's all about friendship and loyalty and how one goes about keeping the ties that bind without getting killed in the process. Woo's movies are about walking that tightrope.

In "The Killer," after he blinds the singer, Chow sets out on a struggle of epic proportions to get enough money through any means necessary to take the singer to America where she can get corneal implants (I have no idea if this would actually work, but there you have it). Saving her sight would in turn redeem him for not only blinding her, but for all his crimes of the past. She is his salvation, and no one knows it more than him, even if he never says it out loud. In that sense, his blinding her is the best thing that's ever happened to him. Or at least, to his soul.

The loyalty theme in "Killer" actually involves what could be called a "friendship" triangle. In one corner is Chow, the cold-blooded hitman; in the other, Danny Lee as the cop pursuing him; and in the third corner, Chow's broker (the man who arranges his hits). After being betrayed by the mob and his own broker, Chow sets off to rid the world of the mobsters, but not before getting his money. The money becomes the symbol of his crusade, and getting it means everything to him -- even at the cost of his own life, if need be. And in true Woo fashion, that obsession takes its toll on everyone involve.

"The Killer" astounds with its heavy dose of style and substance. Although things do get a bit out of hand toward the end (the final shootout at a church comes to a mind), the film maintains an even level of coolness and kinetic action. For sheer bloodbath, bodycount, and flying bullets, "The Killer" has yet to be topped by any director, Asian or otherwise.

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i believe this is one of the best john woo movies ever..

its so good, theres a Criterion edition, and its worth a shit load of money....perfect condition would be $125+ for the dvd...

its a 9.5/10 for me...

best hk action film out...(even though its old)

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Agreed, try some movies from different contries.
As far as asian movies go try these:

Ichi the Killer - Japanese, Kill Bill style was a copy off of this.
Very graphic, most sick movie ever.
Must see.

Battle Royal - Same Director as Ichi, Takeshi miike. Very good
Check it out on imdb

Infernal Affairs - Very good chinese movie about undercover cops.
Might remake in america with some big named
actors.

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heh battle royale was not directed by miike the director of BR (Kinji Fukasaku) died during the production of the sequel.

infernal affairs looks cool. if i like first one (which im sure i will) i'll probably end up ordering that big I.A. II+III boxset , altho i hear the 3rd is the worst of the series.

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Alot of Chow-yun fat films...Hard Boiled anyone?

A better tomorrow

Ring series

Police Story

Drunken master 2

Audition

Ichi the killer

Battle Royale

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Here's a review of Hard Boiled...
Story: Chow Yun-Fat is the badass cop Tequila. During an arms raid at a tea house, his partner is shot and killed right before his eyes. Although Tequila immediately blasted the murderer, it just wasn’t enough to satisfy him. Now he is dedicated to ending the ring of weapons smuggling that is escalating in town. Also involved is a fellow cop undercover as a triad. Once they team up, no criminal is safe and the bloodshed culminates in some of the most amazing gunplay sequences ever captured on film.
Review: It is almost impossible to review Hard Boiled and at the same time avoid the bottomless anus-bowl of cliches that surround it. I’m sure it’s been described as “a high octane thrill ride”, and even on the box it says Hard Boiled is “an action fan’s dream”. This is all true, but plain and simple it is just a damn awesome movie. I am at a loss for bad things to say about it. Not many movies get me as pumped up as Hard Boiled does. It uses an arsenal of well executed techniques to draw the viewer into each and every action sequence. Woo also manages to craft these explosive scenes so that he actually makes you feel stupid if you miss something cool. There are many small and beautiful things going on during all of the crimson waterworks that you may not notice the first time through. One image that really stuck out to me was during the first action scene in the teahouse. There is a shot of someone getting blasted in the leg. The bullet goes through a table first, so you get this foreground picture of the table’s leg busting in two as the man’s leg snaps right behind it. It is really fantastic in that it was totally unnecessary.

Speaking of cool, Chow Yun-Fat is just a straight up shaolin playa. He was made for the “bullet ballet”. Hand-crafted by the movie gods and then issued out to John Woo. Surprisingly, he pulls off all the right moves and then turns out to be a great actor as well. This is why all of the scenes between shoot-outs aren’t dull. I actually cared about Tequila and whether he survived. I even cared a little about his relationship with his girlfriend, and that wasn’t even played on that much. Every scene is a necessary piece to the film. Unlike most movies, I didn’t really feel like there was any filler.

Style is, of course the essence of a John Woo film, and I personally think that this is close to, if not his best. It’s certainly my favorite. Even the opening of the movie which simply shows a drink being mixed in a smoky jazz bar, has such a finesse to it, that you are immediately sucked into the world. In a way, this start to the film is almost dreamlike. You see Tequila performing jazz, and it seems like an unconventional introduction. Whereas most movies would like to introduce you to the character in a way that shows you he is a police officer (or whatever else the occupation may be), Woo opens the film showing Tequila as a human being with an interest aside from work and killing. I just thought this strayed away from the norm and was very refreshing. I say if new film-makers wanna copy John Woo’s style, they should try and focus on the more subtle aspects, instead of leading people to believe his only influence is jumping sideways in slow motion.

I could write an entire review solely on Hard Boiled’s theme music if there wasn’t someone to stop me and if people would actually be able to sit through it. While I can say that a lot of films have great soundtracks with tons of classic tunes, this one doesn’t. That’s because all it needs is one sac-busting song to play throughout the whole thing. If I made an action movie, I would have to shoot John Woo and burn all the copies of this movie so I could use the song myself (I guess I could buy the rights but this sounds more fun). Whenever this song came on in the movie, which was about every ten minutes, I knew something incredible was going to happen. And the song never failed me once. Hell, I use the damn thing on my answering machine. I’m sure if I slapped that song in a gay porn, J.D. Nguyen would be all eyes.

So a couple thousand buckets of blood, countless empty clips, and an hour and a half later, it should all be over. The dust should have settled by now. But an epic action flick can’t be complete without a jaw-dropping 20 minute finale of non-stop mayhem. I won’t even go into the masterfully crafted Hospital war zone scene too much, but lets just say no one is safe, and even newborn babies are targets. Woo doesn’t screw around, and when he ended this movie, he made sure that it was complete.

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I'm buying Natural City, Il Mare limited edition box set and ...ing limited edition set in a week or so.

Just thought i'd share.

Oh and if you want a great comedy movie, try Curry & Pepper. The wallet scene is one of the funniest scenes i've ever seen in a movie.

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http://www.kfccinema.com/ Is a great site to keep up on Asian movies A great one if you havent seen yet is 'Musa' which I really enjoyed. Some of the fighting scenes are really great

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fyi...

a lot of hkflix's recommendations really suck ass...

i bought stormriders and legend of zu a long time ago..

and they said "Breathtaking special effects, visuals, etc..etc..."

but the movie just sucked ass...


Also fulltime killer, which was another recommendation of theres..but it sucked ass too...

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Hahaha Legend of Zu DID suck ass XD I never finished it

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Here ya go.

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i can't post right now, so mystic is doing this for me. -pHo

"my new purchases! us$ is like.. worth next to nothing at the moment, so very very cheap for us brits from www.yesasia.com ! (another plug, im not getting ANYTHING for advertising them, but they rule so much!)

...ing boxset (£15/$28) [ Link ]

See my review for lots of pics of this awesome 2DVD binder boxset!

Friend (£15/$27) [ Link ]

i paid £23 for this in my local store, i really wanted it cos i love the tin style (like my akira r1) and its supposed to be a great movie. i'll review when watched...





Il Mare (£11/$20) [ Link ]

brand new korean version of this film.. less than half the price of the japanese disc, and a MUCH better looking set.. uk kids... look at that price! this is BRAND NEW. just came out, and its a 2 Disc special edition, and i'm sure its using magnets to hold it closed. what a bargain!





again, review up when i've watched it. buy kr dvds today!
"

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I like asian films, the hollywood stuff has never really had a huge interest to me. Most of the ones i have watched i don't remember the names, either it was something on tv or the odd dvd i found at the local videoezy/blockbuster. I don't see a great deal of asian films due to lack of information so this thread is great Will definately check out some of those.

I think the last asian movie i watched and enjoyed was called Seunlau ngaklau (Time And Tide)... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251433/
Action scenes were nice, nothing real special about it, but it kept my interest to watch it through AND enjoy doing so

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i watched ...ing tonight. i'm so glad i did, thanks pHo and Si for forcing me to watch it.

what an incredible movie.

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yea

friend is suppose to be a good movie,

has really good reviews online..

its suppose to be "touching."

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has anyone seen a movie called Sonatine ? I believe it was a Beat Takeshi flick. A friend of mine mentioned it a few months back, but no luck finding it locally (or available for dl). I just want to know if it's worth all the work.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Rubberman
has anyone seen a movie called Sonatine ? I believe it was a Beat Takeshi flick. A friend of mine mentioned it a few months back, but no luck finding it locally (or available for dl). I just want to know if it's worth all the work.

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ong-bak

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quote:

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Originally posted by Rubberman
has anyone seen a movie called Sonatine ? I believe it was a Beat Takeshi flick. A friend of mine mentioned it a few months back, but no luck finding it locally (or available for dl). I just want to know if it's worth all the work.

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Have taken delivery of Ichi the Killer Dutch version...uncut.

Well worth hunting out...I got from a store in London

Highly reccomended.

Am going to watch Boiling Point tonite..Beat Takeshi.

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