How about 5 best Golden Harvest films 1971-1980?

[stormybman]

Anyone dare pick the 5 best Golden Harvest films to come out between '71/'80, that you feel could rival a top Shaw film during same era?... List and comment...plz.

[Chinatown Kid]

Way of the Dragon
Fist of Fury
Knockabout
The Young Master
Warriors Two


Prodigal Son just missed being on that list because it came out in 1981.

[stormybman]

My selections, in no particular order are as follows...

1.) Warriors Two

2.) Hapkido

3.) Fist of Fury

4.) Hand of Death

5.) Last Hurrah for Chivalry

My choices are based on story, action, set pieces, acting, and choreography. I must admit two other selections, Young Master, and Iron Fisted Monk, came to mind, and are right there...

[Chinatown Kid]

I like Hapkido and Last Hurrah for Chivalry as well but didn't care much for Hand of Death even though I'm a big fan of Tan Tao Liang. My picks were based mainly on the quality of action.

[stormybman]

Hand of Death is special in that it's one of the few GH productions that had an ensemble cast that played out against the odds, much like Chang Cheh films at Shaws.
I'm talking heroes teaming up for the cause like The Savage 5, 5 Shaolin Masters, and others. GH later had Sammo's Eastern Condors, however, they never really did that with traditional kung fu films,except for Hand of Death, not with the ensemble talent available at the studio at the time. Imagine a film with Sammo, Jackie, Carter Wong, Bruce, James Tien, Pai Ying, Alan Tang, Wang Yu, and Angela Mao, all together, in an action piece like the Dirty Dozen, or a HK equivelent...? What's interesting is all this talent was available at the studio at the time, circa 1972. Woo could have pulled it off.
After all, John Woo's mentor was the great Chang Cheh!...
And it shows!

Cheers!

[stormybman]

Here's another 5 to go...

1.) When Tae Kwan Do Strikes
(also known as Sting of hte Dragon Masters)

2.) Lady Whirlwind

3.) The One-Armed Boxer
(many forget it's a GH film)

4.) Iron Fisted Monk
(Sammo's directorial debut, later semi- remade as
Warriors two)

5.) Broken Oath

These films were decent productions that didn't set the box office ablaze at the time, ( although Lady Whirlwind did great box office, GH reps. keep Angela Mao in the dark about her success, especially abroad ), however, in retrospect, the fare very well on 'old school' lists as memorable, particulally for Sammo's choreography. He did a lot of off camera work, and his experience showed considerably when he started directing his own films.
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[Chinatown Kid]

I do have a soft spot for When Taekwondo Strikes being that I practice TKD. The fights were pretty good for the early 70's and Angela is really cute. Also a big fan of Whang In Sik and liked his performance in the film. Have to say I was letdown by Jhoon Rhee though, he didn't look to hot in his fight scenes.

[stormybman]

I'm not certain if you're aware of this, however, after the success of Bruce Lee's first 2 films the HK producers were really lining up authentic Martial Artists to star in their kung fu films in the early '70's. Master Jhoon Rhee was recommended by Lee himself after speaking about learning his kicking techniques from Sifu Rhee. GH execs. elected to hire him, and deliberatetly minimized his skills onscreen because he was a very slight man and not the most camera friendly action star. Lee even had to argue to get him billed in the credits as the leading star, throwing his clout behind sifu Rhee and this lead to more problems with him and the studio.
If you notice,for a lead, he spends half the film bound by chains and never really ditches the handycap even by film's end. His skill was so head and shoulders above everone else this was a way of hiding the fact: observe his speed and timing in his battle scenes, the power is there! Also, this was his first time doing action of this kind before the camera and it didn't take long for him to catch on, unlike a lot of other TKD experts who came later: Tan Tao Liang, Don Wong Tao, John Liu and others.
On a subsequent note, Bruce Lee spoke to Sifu Rhee the day before he died. He called him to inform him of the changes he argued for: Getting Sifu Rhee top billing, and to also let him know the film was finished, edited, and ready for release. I'm certain had he lived, this would have definately been a fighter we would have seen onscreen again, in one of Lee's future projects.

[stormybman]

....And one more thing, stay away from my woman, Angela Mao, or there'll be hell to pay!!!

" You wanna die huh?! " :D

[Chinatown Kid]

:lol I heard that! I sure would like to see a current photo of what Angela looks like these days, after see retired from the industry she seemed to go into seclusion and disappeared.

That's intersesting info on Grandmaster Rhee, I know he is the real deal in TKD and do not doubt his real life skills. Never realized the studio was trying to hold him back in the film and not showcase his full potential but it makes sense now that you said that. He didn't really get a chance to do a whole lot in the film, maybe it was because they didn't want him to overshadow Angela who they were really pushing to be a star at the time. He probably could have done alot better if he had been given the chance at more film roles.

It's funny about Don Wong Tao, I heard his background was in TKD but in most of his roles he never seemed to really showcase it, instead performing Southern Kung Fu styles in most of his roles. about the only time I really saw him showcasing his kicks was in Slaughter in San Francisco with Chuck Norris. That film is a cheesy favorite of mine. :p

[stormybman]

Last i heard, Angela, oops, my WIFE, excuse me, was living in New York, of all places, raising a kid and totally shocked at Americans who were able to point her out of crowds. Apparently, there's much truth to her having no clue of her box office success in the U.S., Raymond Chow kept her completely oblivious.
The mid-'90's produced documentary Top Fighter 2 had a retrospective look on the female Kung Fu stars, including : Chia Ling, Polly Kwan Shung Ling Fung, Michelle Yeoh, and Angela among others, and it showed them current as of production, placing all around the time of '94-'96. Check it out.
Angela is about 52 right now, give or take a year.
Trust me, as with most of those exotic beauties, she STILL LOOKS FINE AS H@#!!!!
:p

[Chinatown Kid]

Yeah I guessed she would probably still look hot, never would have guessed she would end up in New York though! Suprised she's raising a kid at this late an age as well but guess she must have waited late to have a child.

[The Dragon]

C'mon people... is there any love out there for GH at all?
No one but me and CTK? This ain't cool.

:(

[TheGrimReaper]

In no particular order:

The Iron-Fisted Monk
Knockabout
Fist of Fury
Young Master
Warriors Two

[Milkyway]

Way Of The Dragon
The Big Boss
Fist Of Fury
The Contract
The Private Eyes

[Markgway]

I posted a poll in the GH forum designed for a similar purpose and have struggled to attract votes. :(

[WhiteTiger1]

1st 5
Warriors Two
The Magnificent Butcher
The Prodigal Son
The Iron-Fisted Monk
Last Hurrah For Chivalry

Honorable Mention
The Young Master
Knockabout
The Big Boss
Duel to the Death
Manchu Boxer:D

[CrazyFrog]

Magnificent Butcher
Warriors Two
Iron-Fisted Monk
The Young Master
Prodigal Son

Ain't no surprise as alot of it is due to Sammo (with help from Yuen Biao and others, of course!)

[ironfistedmonk]

Fist of Fury
Warriors Two
Magnificent Butcher
Last Hurrah For Chivalry

and

Iron Fisted Monk :D

[The Dragon]

Well, it's a start... Would it be too much to ask for elaboration? The thing is, everyone talks Shaws, and I do as well, but, let's have some open dialog about the second studio...

[AlbertV]

My favorite GH films from that era are:
1) Fist of Fury
2) The Big Boss
3) Broken Oath
4) Knockabout
5) Way of the Dragon

[jkl]

well there aint much love for Golden Harvest studios here i have to admit but then i aint no Shaw Bros fan myself either but fist of fury and way of the dragon will always get my vote

[David Rees]

Lots of favourites but these spring to mind.

Fist Of Fury
Broken Oath
Warriors Two
Magnificent Butcher
Young Master

[Yang Wu Liang]

Hmmm, at the moment I'll pick

Bandits From Shantung
Fate Of Lee Khan
Shaolin Plot
Last Hurrah For Chivalry
The Sword

I'm not saying they're the best, just my favourites. :p

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Hard to just pick five from that golden era....

ONE ARMED BOXER
HAPKIDO
WHEN TAEKWONDO STRIKES
BROKEN OATH
MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER

Also...

LADY WHIRLWIND
FIST OF FURY
WAY OF THE DRAGON
THE TOURNAMENT
IRONFISTED MONK
WARRIORS TWO
KNOCKABOUT
LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY
THE SWORD
YOUNG MASTER

See... I couldn't name just five!

[The Dragon]

I supported this co. for a long time, until I realised what a treacherous bastard ole' Chow is. The people who were apart of the productions mentioned in this thread all pretty much went on to good careers with other companies, either indies or of course, Shaws.