Korean old school Kung Fu movies

[MG Lerox]

I noticed that guys on this forum don't actually enjoy talking about Korean M/A films :sad:, anyway i would like to see some fellow fans in this thread and to exchange several words with them. I pretty much like all Korean old school Kung Fu movies, i like Kim Tai Jung, Han Young Cheol, Dragon Lee, Hwang Jang Lee and rest of the gang. Also i have large collection of cool images and stills that i'm going to post in near future also large number of cool info so if anyone is interesting in talking about those films, be my guest :smile:

[ching li]

I know what you mean. I love old school korean martial arts film, my favorite actors are Benny Tsui, Elton Chong, Mike Wong, Han Yong Cheol, and of course Dragon Lee and Hwang Jang Li. I am very interested in talking about the old school korean martial arts movies, I just wish I had more information about the actors

[Hwanginshikfan]

I love korean old school stuff I am big fan of hwang in shik casanova wong hwang jang lee
and dragon lee :bigsmile:

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Count me in on this, Love all types of Old Skool Kung Fu, even Korean....

[One Armed Boxer]

I have to admit I'd love to see more of the old-school Korean kung-fu movies, in their original language, as frankly my knowledge about them is nowhere near the level I would like it to be.

However I love the performances of every actor that's been mentioned in their various HK or Taiwanese movie roles, so to see them performing in a completely native Korean production would be a real pleasure....MG Lerox, cough cough....hurry up with 'Miss Please Be Patient'...cough cough!

I think the main problem with the lack of knowledge about these movies is that Korean movie fans fall into 2 categories....the people who are aware and enjoy the old-school movies and stars that are being talked about here...and the people who only became aware of the Korean scene in the post-'Shiri' period...and often it is rare to find someone who has an interest in both.

But I'd definitely count myself as someone who likes both the newer Korean output as well as having a keen interest in the old...I look forward to reading more about the old-school scene because I could certainly do with the eductation...and MG Lerox seems to be the 'go-to-man' for thie subject!

[ShaOW!linDude]

I certainly doubt I'll be of any contribution to this thread but I'll be keeping tabs on it so as to learn more about this subject.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Armless Swordsman,
nuff said....

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Armless Swordsman,
nuff said....

[prinnysquad]

I like the Korean old school stuff. The stars mentioned in the various posts are great; I particularly enjoy watching HJL and Casanova.

It always amuses me when I look at the vengeance video gold thread, and read ironfistedmonk's mini reviews - loads of them say things like 'more Korean rubbish' and I sit here thinking 'I enjoyed that!' :bigsmile:

[MG Lerox]

Good to see that Korean action cinema is still in action, i noticed that you guys are very curious about those movies and actors, just tell me what you would like to know the most and i''ll try to give you best possbile answer from my side.

@OAB

Miss Please be Patient will come soon there are quite few other guys that would like to get film but they are not so strong with money at the moment so they asked me to wait for some more, but no worries movie is at safe place.

[ching li]

Good to see that Korean action cinema is still in action, i noticed that you guys are very curious about those movies and actors, just tell me what you would like to know the most and i''ll try to give you best possbile answer from my side.

@OAB

Miss Please be Patient will come soon there are quite few other guys that would like to get film but they are not so strong with money at the moment so they asked me to wait for some more, but no worries movie is at safe place.

There is so much I would like to know, but mainly, MG, do you have any info on Benny Tsui? That guy is fantastic on screen, but information is zero on him. I think it is possible he could have been acting under various names, Seo Byeong-Heon, Ha Hu-Seong, and Ha U-Seong. I am positive that is him who starred in Sogwon(1980) aka laughing fist, but the credit was under Ha U-Seong, also 12 martial arts(1978) credited under Ha Hu-Seong. Those movies are incredible. My other favs are Masters of tiger crane where on KMDB credited under Seo Byeong-Heon as well as 7 star grand mantis and Shantung chinese restaurant. In the incredible shaolin thunderkick, he was credited under Ha U-Seong. I assumed he practiced taekwondo in real life and his kicking skills is off the charts. Any info you have would be so very awesome, thanks so much for any help you can provide.

[odioustrident]

Woman Blacksmith has some high end stuff going on. A lot of these Korean films are light on the intricate shapes or handwork, but this film definitely delivers on all counts imo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF8PMa_zyqE

[MG Lerox]

There is so much I would like to know, but mainly, MG, do you have any info on Benny Tsui? That guy is fantastic on screen, but information is zero on him. I think it is possible he could have been acting under various names, Seo Byeong-Heon, Ha Hu-Seong, and Ha U-Seong. I am positive that is him who starred in Sogwon(1980) aka laughing fist, but the credit was under Ha U-Seong, also 12 martial arts(1978) credited under Ha Hu-Seong. Those movies are incredible. My other favs are Masters of tiger crane where on KMDB credited under Seo Byeong-Heon as well as 7 star grand mantis and Shantung chinese restaurant. In the incredible shaolin thunderkick, he was credited under Ha U-Seong. I assumed he practiced taekwondo in real life and his kicking skills is off the charts. Any info you have would be so very awesome, thanks so much for any help you can provide.

Hey mate

Thats very tricky question because as you mentioned info on Benny Tsui is zero. It is possible (actually i'm pretty sure) that he starred in some more Korean movies under various names. Similar thing happened to Kim Tai Jung because there is actress Kim Tae Jeong those two have very similar name in Korean and much confusion was made, so until this day as probably biggest fan i'm not able to comfirm in how many movies Kim Tai Jung starred, same thing probably happened to Benny. Anyway if it is from any help to you i can tell you that you don't need to suspect if that is him in Sogwon (1980) it is for sure that he starred there along side his mate from his all movies Eagle Han. I', sorry because i don't have more info about him, i was trying to get some for a long time but nothing, anyway research goes on and if i find any more info you will know it.

Next question please :xd:

[ShaOW!linDude]

Woman Blacksmith has some high end stuff going on. A lot of these Korean films are light on the intricate shapes or handwork, but this film definitely delivers on all counts imo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF8PMa_zyqE


That's a really cool clip.

On a side note, I did not see a single woman blacksmith in there.:tongue:

[ching li]

Thanks MG, for the info. Question # 2, Han Yong Cheol aka Charles Han I heard is from the U.S. and was recruited to be the next big star, by director Lee Doo Yong. The guy is fantastic, but unfortunately he too had a short movie career as it seems judging by his filmography and once again no information about him. I was wondering did he return to the U.S. and maybe teaching martial arts over here? What happened to him? I also wondered if he was supposed to star in Kill The Shogun (1975) which the lead actor looked alot like him and was director by the director who used him as his lead actor.

[MG Lerox]

Thanks MG, for the info. Question # 2, Han Yong Cheol aka Charles Han I heard is from the U.S. and was recruited to be the next big star, by director Lee Doo Yong. The guy is fantastic, but unfortunately he too had a short movie career as it seems judging by his filmography and once again no information about him. I was wondering did he return to the U.S. and maybe teaching martial arts over here? What happened to him? I also wondered if he was supposed to star in Kill The Shogun (1975) which the lead actor looked alot like him and was director by the director who used him as his lead actor.

This question is much easier :bigsmile:

Han Young Cheol was born in Korea but toward war problems etc his family was forced to move to U.S. In early 70 there was audition for movie "Manchurian Tiger" that movie was considered to be first movie about real TKD. Namely Hwang Jang Lee and some other dudes showed up on auditions but suddenly only Han was good enough to impress director. He stared in quite few action movies (about 8) during '70s until his last made movie "Strike of Thunder Kick Tiger" from 1981. I really don't know if he was suposed to star in Kill the Shogun but as far as i know actor from the movie is not him but as i said i could be wrong.

Now i'm not sure where is he at the moment, but last time when i saw him (little less then a year ago) he was in Korea at some meeting with Dragon Lee, Hwang Jang Lee and Casanova Wong. As i said i dont know where is he at this moment but i know that he is well and probably in Korea.

Here is recent picture of him, hope you love it. He is 56 now and still looks great!

http://postfiles1.naver.net/20110119_48/hcr333_1295394144153aMsea_JPEG/%C0%CC%B5%CE%BF%EB.jpg?type=w3

Next question please :smile:

[ching li]

Thanks MG. Great info, very much appreciated. Unfortunately the picture of him didn't come out, even when I tried to refresh it.

[MG Lerox]

Hope it works now:

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt296/lauslee/CharlesHanrecentpicture.jpg

[ching li]

Ok, I see it now. He looks like he maybe a teacher; Thanks for sharing your hardwork on getting this information, MG. Much appreciated.

[silver hermit]

i have been bitten by the korean old school bug latley, ever since i found a shop that was closing and was selling off its tapes. there are some real hidden gems i have never heard of. but i hope to network with more korean fans of old school.

[ching li]

MG, would you happen to know the name of the guy that starred in a couple of dragon lee's movies, I first noticed him in Dragon's Snake Fist, he was Yuen Qiu aka Phoenix kim's character's brother and lead bad guy's son, I also saw him in Enter the invincible hero, he was the snake style fighter in the red suit, and he was also in Secret Ninja, Roaring Tiger, he was the guy dragon lee fought at the contest to win the older guy's daughter's hand in marriage. This fellow has awesome kicking and fighting skills in general. His biggest role seemed to be that in Dragon's Snake Fist, the young leader of the crane fist school. I was wondering if he may have starred in other movies or whatever happened to him?

[MG Lerox]

Hi

Guy that you are talking about can't be none other then Kim Ki-Hong, he is the guy who took a role in Dragon's Snake Fist, Enter the Invincible Hero and Secret Ninja, Roaring Tiger and later starred in several other Korean movies. As far as i know he was born on 22. August in 1962, and he is a real martial artist, not actor he just appeared in several movies. From what i heared he used to take some Kendo lessons beside TKD.

http://flkcinema.com/IFeed.asp?ImageID=990

[ching li]

Awesome info, MG. Thanks again for sharing, I thought he was a real martial artist, he skills are great and I am familiar with this actor, but the guy I was talking about I guess was just a bit player, but his martial arts was fantastic. This guy was the new teacher of the crane fist school in Dragon's Snake fist and Kim ki-hong played one of his students. This fellow also played the son of the bad guy in Dragon's Snake fist, who was played by Choi kyu min. It seems that kim ki hong and this fellow whose name I do not know, did star together in those films with dragon lee.

[MG Lerox]

Is this guy unknown actor that starred in Enter the Invincible Hero, Secret Ninja Roaring Tiger and Dragon's Snake Fist?

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt296/lauslee/UnknownKoreanactorno1.jpg

[ching li]

Yes, MG, that's the fellow I am speaking of? I can't look him up because I don't even know his name?

[MG Lerox]

Well i though he was Kim Ki-Hong but now not sure, there are quite few actors that are on top of my head now, but i'm really not sure who this guy could be. Sorry.

[ching li]

No prob, MG. I figure he was probably a bit player, but it is a shame because his martial arts skills were fantastic; he could have gone far in the movie business

[MG Lerox]

Yeah thats for sure, he was probably real martial arts expert that made several appearances in movies just to make some money, but he could defenetly be a big star.

[ching li]

Oh definitely, I am sure he was a real martial arts, those skills of his were perfection.

[MG Lerox]

Anything else that you guys would like you know :tongue: ?

[ching li]

Now this fellow I am about to speak of, seems to be a bit active today, but unfortunately I can't read korean, so I don't know what the articles say. He starred alongside dragon lee in 5 pattern dragon claws, he was the student who committed suicide because of the guilt of his misdeeds to his school; he was best showcased in Mantis Vs. Falcon Claws, as the guy hired to get the princess back. Another top fighter, I don't think he ever got a starring role, what a serious pity, but he mostly starred alongside Kwak Mu Seong. I do have his name though: Mun Jong-geum. There is info on him so it seems but it is in korean only.
I wonder if he is still involved in movies today? Possibly what is his background?

[MG Lerox]

Hi

Mun Jong-geum was born in North Gyeongsang Province of Uljin in 1958. He was one of many Bruce Lee inspirated martial artists. I'm not sure what style he practiced but judging pictures that i saw i think that he did some wrestling. In '90 and early 21st century he used to produce and direct some movies. Today he is chairman in Korea.
I saw some recent pictures of "him", but i need to be sure if thats him.

http://imgmovie.naver.com/mdi/pi/000000541/PM54168_114310_000.jpg

[MG Lerox]

Could this be him along side Fedor?

http://www.mooye.net/data/mooye_net/mainimages/200605/80_b.jpg

[ching li]

Once again, MG you are on the money, my friend. Yes that's him. I thought he may have been a businessman of some sort now, because I see pics of him very well dressed and saw one pic where it seems he was at a tournament with Dragon Lee. He probably got some practice with Taekwondo as well, he too had awesome kicking technique. Thanks for the info, buddy.

[MG Lerox]

I'm glad that i helped you, if there are any more things that you would like to know, be my guest.

[ching li]

Thanks again MG for the information you are providing. Have you heard of the movie, Shaolin Water Seller (Sorimsa muljangsu)(1982) it stars Huh suk do and kuk jeong suk? It seems like a rare one, but as I mentioned previously I can't read korean, but it seems the actor Huh suk do is now a make-up artist? Kuk jeong suk was definitely one of the best female on screen fighters, do you have perhaps anymore information on these two actors?

[MG Lerox]

This time i don't think that i would be able to help you much :squigglemouth: I know for that movie and i'm pretty much sure that i have it somewhere im my archive. Anyway all i know about Huk Suk is like you said make up artist. He used to act in few martial art movies, but he is different type of actor, he used to act in dramas, comedies etc. About Kuk Jeong suk i really don't know anything, when it comes to a female Korean character i usually pick Chui Ching-Nga.

[ching li]

MG, you actually have this movie: Shaolin Water Seller(Sorimsa muljangsu)(1982)? I've been looking everywhere for this movie

[MG Lerox]

Like i said i'm not sure, but i think that i might have it. I'll check and let you know.

[ching li]

Ok, cool. Thanks again MG

[loempiavreter]

Anything else that you guys would like you know :tongue: ?

Anything similar to something like To Kill A Mastermind, i.e. something with nice exotic weaponary and other gadgetry and badass villains or villain group/gang/crew/firm/mob/posse?

[MG Lerox]

Here are some Korean movies that you must check out:

Martial Monks of Shaolin Temple / Dragon Lee, Hwang Jang Lee, Martin Chui Man Fooi!
Fist of Death / Kim Tai Jung, Eagle Han, Bruce Cheung, Chen Shan (CAMEO) - movie is pretty bad but it have good cast
Wild Panther / Chen Shan, Eagle Han
Tomb for a Strong Man Wang In Sik, Charles Han
Manchurian Tiger Charles Han, must check!
Canton Viper / Bobby Kim, Hwang Jang Lee
Sout Shaolin vs North Shaolin / Ca Sa Fa classic!
Five Pattern Dragon Claws / Dragon Lee, Hwang Jang Lee
Shantung Chinese Restaurant Benny Tsui, Eagle Han
Seven Star Grand Mantis Benny Tsui, Eagle Han
Kill the Ninja / Bobby Kim
Secret Envoy / Not a masterpiece but Hwang and CaSaFa!
The Strike of the Thunderkick / Charles Han
Blue Butterfly the Amazon / Kim Ki-Hong

GANGSTER STUFF

Emperor of Underworld / Dragon Lee, Hwang Jang Lee
Bloody Mafia / CaSaFa
Nationwide Constituency all 3 parts
Chongro Blues / Dragon Lee, CaSaFa

There are few more from 2000-2011 but i'm not so good in that part.

You gotta see mentioned films!

[prinnysquad]

Canton Viper / Bobby Kim, Hwang Jang Lee


Has anyone subbed this yet?

[MG Lerox]

Has anyone subbed this yet?

Not sure...

[prinnysquad]

I'd love to see a cleaner print with English subs! The copy I have is blurry and Korean language only. :neutral: Classic kicking from HJL though!

[MG Lerox]

I'd love to see a cleaner print with English subs! The copy I have is blurry and Korean language only. :neutral: Classic kicking from HJL though!

Hwang Jang Lee is good as always hehe :smile:

[monkeygift]

MG, you actually have this movie: Shaolin Water Seller(Sorimsa muljangsu)(1982)? I've been looking everywhere for this movie

Shaolin Water Seller:

http://i54.tinypic.com/16aeixj.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/miew7q.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/15d5e0g.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/6zq55j.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/nbrd3p.jpg

[MG Lerox]

-Note, error happened

Just want to let you all know that guy for which i claimed that is Han Yong-Cheol, actually is director Lee Doo Yong. I want to apologise myself, since the history of Korean films is big mistakes are often.

Once agains i'm really sorry because of this error.

[ching li]

As much as I looked at the picture, I just couldn't see Han Yong Cheol, given he is older now, but still that pic did not look much like him. I would love to see how Han Yong Cheol look nowadays. I know he was incredibly handsome! back in his hey day.

[monkeygift]

As much as I looked at the picture, I just couldn't see Han Yong Cheol, given he is older now, but still that pic did not look much like him. I would love to see how Han Yong Cheol look nowadays. I know he was incredibly handsome! back in his hey day.

here you go:

http://i51.tinypic.com/ddf480.jpg

[MG Lerox]

As much as I looked at the picture, I just couldn't see Han Yong Cheol, given he is older now, but still that pic did not look much like him. I would love to see how Han Yong Cheol look nowadays. I know he was incredibly handsome! back in his hey day.

Thats why error was caused. Guy really looks like Han Yong-Cheol but thats not him that is that director who discovered and used him in many movies. I must agree with you that he was really handsome and that he probably looks cool now. I'll check out with some of my contacts and try to seek out his recent photo.

[ching li]

Thanks for posting that pic again, monkeygift, I couldn't refresh it from the older post. I know han yong cheol was also much taller than that man on the pic.

MG, it would be interesting to find a pic of yong cheol in the present; I wonder if he's back in the US now?

[MG Lerox]

Those days I'll send few mails and see what I can do, for now here is bonus picture of him from the past:

http://postfiles2.naver.net/data29/2007/9/29/193/pm00024359_damdorang.jpg?type=w2