Dragon Tiger Gate - Donnie Yen

[Sleepman]

whatever happened to Dragon Tiger Gate with Donnie Yen, does anyone know when this film is coming out?

[Chen Zhen]

7/28/06 = theatre release.

[limubai2000]

I don't know how but there is a boot floating around already...

I won't be getting it as it will be showing on the big screen in the Philippines when I go there in Septemeber!!!!

[Elhcay]

Nice, entertaining summer flick. Nice, elaborate sets. Some dizzying camera-work. Simple, logical story about fighting for justice, with a nice touch of romance between Donnie Yen and Li Xiao Ran (She's the general's daughter in Seven Swordsmen).

Choreography is nice, but camerawork and editing, which are perhaps in some ways exploratory and perhaps to add to a comic-book style feel, make the fight scenes hard to make out at times, with too much close-ups, odd angles, and quick cuts. Nicholas Tse did some nice fanciful footwork in the opening, but the guy is probably a double. You don't see the face most of the time. Donnie moves are lightning-quick and crisp and did some nice exchanges against the main villain who is masked in the finale, but it's a shame that the fight is a little too short.

Wished that Xing Yu and Li Xiao Ran had more screentime.

[The Running Man]

I would have been more excited about this movie if it wasn't for Donnie and Shawn Yue's hair.

[Chen Zhen]

word is Yuen Wah completely stole the show with his brief scene. other reviews ive read say that the plot, dialogue and characters are paper thin and that the action is really the only saving grace.

ive never been a fan of the way donnie shoots his action with the closeups and all that, but he seemed to have been improving on it with SPL and twins effect...seems like hes back to his old tricks. well i still want to see it for myself..

[GwaiLoMoFo]

other reviews ive read say that the plot, dialogue and characters are paper thin and that the action is really the only saving grace.
:lol News flash!!! ;) You just described 90% of the films in this genre!! :rollin

[Chen Zhen]

maybe so, gwailo, but i expect more from Wilson Yip.

[limubai2000]

According to the trades the sequel is greenlit and will be in theaters summer 2007 with the original cast returning.

[JinMode]

a new review can be found here: www.lovehkfilm.com/review...r_gate.htm (http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/dragon_tiger_gate.htm)

[chen lung]

I'm surprised no-one mentioned it but that poster is very 'Hot, Cool and the Vicious':p !!

Nice job too;) .

[Tosh]

Chen Lung, you are right! Now if this movie has as cool of an opener, it be worth the price of admission.

[Dragons Forever]

Hi all,

It's been a long time...:rolleyes

I watched DTG the week it came out. This film is pretty bad >: I was so disappoionted after watching it.

The plot is crap. You don't feel for any of the characters and there are so many questions about the past that was never answered.

I thought only Shawn Yue's character had a good moment when conversing with Yuen Wah, but that was about it.

I thought Yuen Wah was alright in the film, but I wouldn't say he stole the show.

The fights was nothing special, though they were OK enough to keep you entertained.

The romance was a load of Bull :evil

2 out of 5

[Liu chung liang]

sup man... :D
is it that bad? so much for donnie yen. he did a good movie to ummm now what? he hit rock bottom with a bad movie?
i still wanna check out this title for myself though, even if you say it sucks lol.

[Yi Long]

Donnie always makes about 1-2 good movies every 10 years orso...
This movie already looked gay from the get-go. Just look at Donnie's wig for @#%$'s sake...
Plus you shouldnt cast non-martial artists in a supposedly martial arts action flick... unless they can really REALLY fake it.

[JinMode]

some hated it, others liked it. I'll see it, no matter what.

[chen lung]

Donnie's wig?

I think that is his real hair... was like that I believe during an interview for 'Stormbreaker'.

[500Fan]

I saw it in Hong Kong last week, and I liked it. No, it's not a fabulous movie, but it was entertaining (at least, it wasn't as bad as Ultraviolet, which I rented despite a friend's warnings not to, should have listened to him). I thought Donnie looked great with half his face covered by hair :lol Nic, too. I didn't expect a well-written story, so I wasn't disappointed. I'll probably get the DVD when it comes out, but I'll bet it won't be as fun on a small screen.

[sammofan]

Can someone tell me if the fight action in this is better than the stuff in House of Fury? (If it's worse than I may give this a miss)

[Chen Zhen]

the action in House of Fury was pretty good.

[sammofan]

I found the action in House of Fury boring but I know that some people thought it was good ("it's Yuen Wo Ping it must be ok!") So I wanna know how Dragon Tiger Gate compares to it.

[Chen Zhen]

well House of Fury is nowhere near YWP's finest work. a few of the fight scenes i didnt really dig...but the finale caught me offguard...especially considering the capabilities of the popstar cast. still the best popstar movie i've seen, and better than most films of the time, action wise.

cant realy answer ur question...yet...my copy is still downloading :)

[Chen Zhen]

just skimmed through a few of the fights..

will have to watch the full movie, but the fights were exactly what i suspected. donnie went back to the stuff i hate from him, close ups and flailing arms. thats not to say there isnt some good choreography in there, cuz there is, but after all of donnie's hype, i cant say that this flick blew me away action wise. it was fine, with a few standout moments. personally, i'd take house of fury over DTG. donnie had some great moves tho. and the scene with yuen wah was dope.

[Chen Zhen]

********SPOILER ALERT********** (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPlkDbS-mfw)

[Chinatown Kid]

I wish Donnie would keep up the great work he did like in SPL or go back to his great 80's style fights like in Tiger Cage 2 and In The Line Of Duty 4. What the hell happened to Micheal Woods and Salvetti? :lol

[dager in the cotton]

what great work on SPL those fights sucked big time , he did not arrange those great fights in Tiger cage etc,
Donnie has great kung fu, but he hasn't found it yet, just like Yuen Biao in Dreadnaught,
lets hope he disovers it before its too late

[The Running Man]

Donnie has great kung fu, but he hasn't found it yet, just like Yuen Biao in Dreadnaught,

The man's like in his mid 40s. If you don't think he's discovered "it" yet then just move on to someone else man.

[BKarza]

Choreographers do the actual action movements. Action directors do that plus the directing of angles and such.
Notice the names associated with the action. ItLoD4 for example. Shun Yi, Donnie and Cho Wing are all choreographers but not the AD. You'll notice, or not, that each of those 3 has a different style but all within the kickboxing stlye. You think Woo Ping told them to do that? No. He let's them bring their thing to the table. He oks what he does and doesn't want and shoots it.
Watch Tiger Cage(1) and tell me Woo Ping didn't let Donnie do the moves for that. In all of his crew, only Donnie moves and does moves, like that. He didn't arrange his end fight in Tiger Cage 2 huh? Alright.

[Chen Zhen]

im positive that donnie works mainly on his own scenes, rather than other ones...cuz in tiger cage 2 and itlod4, all the scenes without donnie involved had a completely different feel...for example, robin shou vs david wu (TC2) didnt feel like any other fight in the movie.

hey bkarza...i dont suppose u can tell what Kuo Chui did in TC2?

[BKarza]

First time in my life I'm ever hearing that Kuo Chui was involved. Where did you see his name listed?

So, I looked around and low and behold, his name is there on many sites. I can't see him working with their crew with his background. He hadn't done any kickboxing based stuff. I just don't see it. Going to have to research the crap out of this one.

[Chen Zhen]

i suspect Kuo Chui had a part of the gunplay...wasnt much of it, but it was there...judging by his work in hardboiled. but ur right, ive never seen any Kuo Chui kickboxing, altho i think he choreographed one or two yukari oshima flix.

btw, if on a film theres more than 1 listed AD, is it more common that each of them direct/choreograph different action scenes separately, or they work on the same scenes together. i know some stunt teams definetely work together when listing more than 1 AD ie Yuen Kwai/Yuen Tak, Yuen Woo Ping/Yuen Shun Yi/Yuen Cheung Yan, Sammo's stunt team..

[BKarza]

I know he did M. Yeoh's fight in Tomorrow Never Dies but that was nothing at all to write home about. It wa the first time I had seen him do that type of action. Prior, it was all period martial and gunplay.(of course, John Woo had tons to do with how that came out)

[Chen Zhen]

apparently John woo was behind like 80% of the gunplay in Hardboiled and even the Killer (i think CST was the "official" AD on that film)...perhaps he was more of a stunt coordinator.

[JinMode]

im positive that donnie works mainly on his own scenes, rather than other ones

that means he did less for Yuen's Clan as a whole. he stated once that he contributed as much as Yuen and his brothers on the choreography for the films he did. if Yuen let Donnie bring his own ideas to his fights then it can't be counted as huge contribution on Yuen's choreography process in general.

apparently John woo was behind like 80% of the gunplay in Hardboiled and even the Killer (i think CST was the "official" AD on that film)...perhaps he was more of a stunt coordinator.

hey, this might prove the point (taken from HKfilm.net):

"There has been some dispute over to exactly what John Woo directed on the movie. Some people say that the film's action (stunt) director Ching Siu Tung, not John Woo, was responsible for the film's explosive action sequences. In Hong Kong, the action director (aka action co-ordinator) often takes total control over the action scenes. Darryl Pestilence offered this response through a post on alt-asian.movies: "Ching was brought in at the behest of Tsui Hark - who did everything within his power to see that The Killer never got made. Chow Yun-Fat got the film made, going over Tsui's head and straight to the money men at Golden Princess - Film Workshop's key financier and the film's distributor. Chow had a contract with Golden Princess and he was worth more to them than Woo or Hark combined. The Killer was a project that Film Workshop [Tsui Hark's company] owned, so Woo was bound to them. It was the last film he and Tsui made together. Their relationship was shot to sh*t by their fight over creative control on A Better Tomorrow II - a film in which Tsui and Ching Siu Tung do some of the choreography on. As a part of Tsui's requirements, Woo worked with Ching on The Killer, but the majority of the action was overseen by another action director. Ching's contributions were more than likely watered-down in the editing room, conforming them to Woo's standards. Look at Ching's gunplay in utter sh*t like Wonder Seven and later with Blacksheep Affair and I rest my case. Ching was washed up after the popularity of the wire-fu genre died out and his ability to direct a gun fight is questionable. Woo blocked the shots and oversaw the editing. They [Woo's action directors] gave him the mayhem and he decided what would be overcranked, undercranked, shot medium or wide, and how much coverage would go down - not the action directors, who, like a composer, oversaw what the actual stuntmen were doing. What ended up on the screen was 90% Woo, and like a good director, he knew what to keep in the film. The silly argument falls more into the reality that the action directors brought the pyrotechnics and pratfalls into the work, but how they were photographed was strictly Woo. Look at the 'directorial' efforts of his action directors: Phillip Kuo Choi, Ching Siu Tung, and Stephen Tung Wai - and I think we've proven they had little to do with the 'style' Woo has become synonymous with.""

[Chinatown Kid]

what great work on SPL those fights sucked big time

I sure as hell beg to differ, I think the fights looked great and Donnie hasn't looked that good in quite a while imo. And I think he was definately involved with the fight scenes in ITLOD 4 and Tiger Cage II, his signature style is all over the fight scenes he was in, especially his bouts with Micheal Woods.

[BKarza]

Woo knows what the f he wants. Look at The Killer, HB, Hard Target, BT2, Bullet in the Head, Once a Thief and Heroes Shed No Tears. They are all signature to him. How he shoots, his angles, explosions, all of it. He knows what he wants. His ADs give him the body reactions and falls and the physical setups and execution. The look and what is to happen and how is him. Tsui Hark is that way as well. Some directors let the AD go off and do his thing as there is that sure trust. Others are specific to a vision and are right there or much more hands on before that 2nd unit goes off to shoot.

When you have a big crew, you are either all putting in pieces, or one may do most. Donnie did his stuff and Cho Wing did his stuff under Woo Ping. Shun Yi, Cheung Yan, Guk Hin Chiu(Jet double post Hung Yan Yan, and Yuen Clan, Tung Wei contributor) all do their thing as well. One of the best examples is this. On the dvd for Shaolin Intruders, it mentions all of the ADs and what they did on that movie. One did the weapons. One did the hand to hand stuff. One did the acrobatics and handled the stuntmen. Often times, it breaks down like that. One would only be guessing how much Shun Yi and Woo Ping are actually doing and how much the others are. I remember seeing some BTS stuff about the 1st Matrix movie. Shun Yi was on set but the stuntmen were actually coming up with many of the moves. They usually, if not always go uncredited.

[Yakuza954]

From what I've seen, action directors/choreographers have a much larger influence when the director is less familiar with action and/or wasn't an action choreographer once himself. If you check out all the stuff Jackie, Sammo, and Yuen Woo Ping direct, it all has their disctinct action style, no matter who the other action directors/choreographers involved are. Same goes for Woo.

[Chen Zhen]

u beat me to the punch yakuza...i was just going to mention that. great point.

[Chinatown Kid]

I agree that the Director usually has the final say so and is essentially the head man in charge. I feel when it comes to the individual stars though such as Donnie Yen, Jet Li, etc. that the director or probably more so the actual fight choreographer works with that particular star on the fight scenes together so that the star can showcase their particular talents and skills(such as particular moves that they preform well or are known for) to the upmost. I guess what I'm trying to say is Jet Li doesn't fight like Jackie, Donnie doesn't fight like Tony Jaa, etc. no matter which Director or Choreographer they work under all though the Director or Choreorapher can influence the over all style of the fight scenes. But it's true that some choreoraphers can bring out and showcase the talent of a star better than others.

[dager in the cotton]

maybe you saw a different film, coz the film I saw was awful, i was really looking foward to the fight when doniie would fight jackie , but it was a terrible a dissapointment,tell me one good bit in that fight, the only bit i htought looked half decent was when Jackie knifed up that guy.
Donnie can only suggest to Yuen I can do this kick and tha kick etc just like Hwang and John liu ,it takes brains and Imagination to trnasport that raw talent to the Film negative,

the most important quality for an action director is Imagination

[Chinatown Kid]

Hey man, if you didn't like the choreography I'm not gonna argue with you, more power to you. But that doesn't mean everybody else feels the same way as I liked it. I thought the fight between Donnie and Jing Wu(Jackie?) was fast paced and exciting, what didn't you like about it and what were you expecting? I also thought the bout between Donnie and Sammo was great with alot of techniques being put together like punches, kicks, jujitsu locks, throws and holds which showed imagination. I like more grounded fight scenes like these than the wire-enhanced Iron Monkey style stuff but hey, that's just me. What you look for in a fight scene may be different and that's quite alright too. ;) And sure the fight choreographer has a great deal to do with the success of a fight scene but don't you think it takes skilled performers to make that action choreography come to life? Jet Li or Donnie is gonna look a helluva lot better under the Yuen's choreography than say someone like Keanu Reeves. What I'm saying is the skill of the actor/martial artist has alot to do with it too imo.

[JinMode]

I didn't like the fights in DTG that much (except the weapons fight and the last fight between Donnie and the main villain) but SPL is easily the best he has done. whatever caused the fights to be average (mostly bad) in DTG remains a mystery to me (maybe a different editor or something) but I hope Donnie will keep doing stuff similar of that in SPL in the future.

[Chen Zhen]

it humours me when ppl list donnie alongside YWP, sammo, jackie, etc as one of the 'elite' action directors in HK..please. to this day, i can count on 1 hand how many donnie choreographed scenes i was actually pretty impressed with. i agree with d1 ma (in the other DTG post), his best work IMO was that alley fight in twins effect, followed closely by the final 2 fights in SPL. the alley fight had more creativity than the majority of donnie's other work and it was shot exceptionally well. im really starting to think SPL and Twins Effect were flukes...or maybe that Kenji guy (AD of Versus) had more to do with the action than donnie will give credit for, i dunno. cuz i cant think of a single other donnie choreographed movie that's impressed me, action wise. i suspect that donnie can only shine under 1 setting...with a particular cast and setting. i dont think hes diverse like the other ADs.

[The Running Man]

to this day, i can count on 1 hand how many donnie choreographed scenes i was actually pretty impressed with. i agree with d1 ma (in the other DTG post), his best work IMO was that alley fight in twins effect, followed closely by the final 2 fights in SPL.

I've said this before also about the fight in Twins Effect. It's criminally under rated. I think as soon as people started to pounce on that movie because it had the Twins in them, others just followed suit and didn't bother to actually say anything good about it.

The first time I saw that fight I was totally impressed. Almost seems very Tiger Cage 2-like in many ways.

And I also thought he did a great job on the last fight in the movie, considering neither of the Twins were martial artist.

[theportlykicker]

I've always liked that alleyway fight too, though the only memory I have of it at the moment is when the vamp crawls away in really bad cgi fashion. I need to watch it again!

[dager in the cotton]

Twins was alright the best bit for me was when the Twins were fighting on the roof with that Teddy,
I just saw DTG and its pretty bad , I thought Shawn Yee was pretty good, Donnie went out of his way to downgrade him self as usual (He's in charge of the fighting and he looks worst than the others who are far lesser Martial artists than him)

[Chen Zhen]

i disagree. donnie's 2 fights (first part of the finale with donnie, and the weapons fight) were the 2 best parts of the movie.

[Chinatown Kid]

I get the feeling dager is not a member of the Donnie Yen fan club! :lol

[JinMode]

I thought Shawn Yee was pretty good, Donnie went out of his way to downgrade him self as usual

Shawn didn't much beside using his nunchucks which was lame. Nic, however, impressed me in the first fight (I'm sure it was a double most of the time).

[Liu chung liang]

Saw it. Wouldn't watch it again. |I I almost fell asleep on the flashback scenes.

The movie didn't stink up that much, the end fight was ok. I like how they ended it closing the comic book, just to remind the viewers that it's fictional etc. etc.
The main story is simple, it goes like... 2 brothers Dragon (Yen) & Tiger (Tse) defending their school Dragon Tiger Gate, along with a Turbo (Yue), who wants to join the academy.
Who is the master of the DTG school? a very old Yuen Wah. We get some side stories, and one of them is a crappy love story. I say it's more like a drama, because it doesn't play out like a love story. We see Donnie with a bad actress killing time, and then it flashes back to them when they were kids. This is where you start to find the film more lame. We see Donnie as this kid. Right? and well :lol he still has that same hair style even as a kid haha. It reminds me of Final Fantasy 7, a rpg game. You only see @#%$ like this in a comic book or a video game. For this film, I found the actresses doing a bad job. And it's usually the guys who can't act very well. Some of the sequences they did, it looked like the females weren't really giving an effort. Because of this, and how the movie moves along... you don't really care about the characters. The only thing you might actually care about is Dragon's issues, and his connection with Tiger I guess.

DTG is shot like how you would see it in a comic book. I'm sure you know what I mean. I didn't mind that, but for the fight scenes, especially with Donnie's fight in the beginning. It looked so bad. I've seen better in certain Wuxias. I know it's from a comic book, but at least try to make the fictional fight look believable.

I like how Nicholas Tse fights in Gen-X Cops, but for DTG he stunk. At least in the end fight, he gave a better fighting performance, unless he was doubled.

Someone said Chen Kuan Tai is in the film. I didn't see him. Who does he play?

Anyway, for this movie. It sucks, but the thing is... if you watch it with a kid's point of view or if you're someone who loves comics and video games. You might enjoy it... a little. I think if the movie was a japanese anime, it could possibly be better. The movie is forgettable. I don't recommend it. I really did wanted to enjoy it, maybe because it's directed by Wilson Yip, but sorry.

Dragon Tiger Gate did well in the box-office? I heard that it did. Hard to believe, maybe a lot of kids went to see it.

......... They are going to make a sequel to this :x and I think it's a bad idea.

[Riceboy2000]

This film was decent. The first half was nothing special, but I think as soon as it got to Yuen Wah the fights were better. From then to the end they kept me entertained.

Oh and Chen Kuan Tai is the triad boss with white/gold hair (I forgot) that got killed in the park.

[Beat TG]

I have yet to see it in its entirety. but as far as action goes, it sucked mostly. the best fight IMO is the second half of the last fight.

[Linn1]

as I loved the comics.

[limubai2000]

Wow lots of bad word of mouth on this one amongst the community.

I saw it on the big screen with burnt subs in the Philippines last week. I liked it for being a popcorn comic film and it was better in some ways than some of the recent US comic book films.

I did like the fighting style of the characters that I'm assuming DY adapted from the comic, I'm referring more specifically to the stances which I thought were unique, I thought that gave it some decent flair. The fight scenes weren't great and they weren't bad either. I did like the first big bust em up in the beginning.

The film was slow at times and felt like it was dragging during some of the subplots but I've seen far worse.

I wasn't expecting alot so I wasn't letdown like alot of other folks appear to be. I thought House of Fury was better but again I think alot of folks here hated that.

[Liu chung liang]

hmmm i said they were defending the school... i dunno, we find out that donnie's character left the gates long ago in the beginning. the movie is kinda like about gangs, and this plaque that's important because it has the power to demand the full cooperation of this one evil organization. then @#%$ happens and the DTG master gets killed, and the guyz take revenge. so it's pretty much about 2 gates, 1 good, 1 evil. the guyz get injured by the main villain named something i forgot, and the girl who plays chen kuan tai's daughter i believe, takes tse and yue to this one master who heals them and teach them these new techniques it looks like. donnie is like elsewhere in the woods maybe, and i don't know what he's doing. he lays on the ground, then later his so-call lover gives him medicine. next thing that happens, tiger and turbo are training. but the way they shot this scene, it didn't look like a training sequence haha. they did it with a lot of fade-ins and fade-out, and with a lot of cuts. they cut to dragon as well, but it doesn't look like dragon is training. he's like under water. very strange. it's still cool though LOL, because it looks like a scene from a video game. after this, our heroes go take revenge and we see the final fight.
dragon wong helps tiger and turbo after them two get their asses kicked. he doesn't pop up till then. donnie fights the main villain and beat the guy without help. he then goes back with his brother, and joins the gate again... it goes something like that.

i was watching it eating popcorn as well... sorry but it really bored me out. i didn't really care about dragon and tiger's past or the stupid love story between dragon and the main villain's adopted daughter. thats who she is right? i forgot. i didn't even care when yuen wah was getting beat to death.

our main heroes looked good, but not everyone else. the guyz look 'cool' or 'cute' or whatever and the sets looked great i suppose. everything looks nice, but has nothing going. i didn't even notice Chen kuan tai. man i thought he looked more like Ng Man Tat hahahaha. he looks really bad with that colored hair man... seriously lol.

2 scenes i like from the movie:

1. shawn yue turning music on his nokia cell phone. the film is promoting nokia cell phones LOL. everyone has a nokia cell in the movie haha. anyway, yue ask yuen wah to practice with him, then they fight. yue loses and comes back later with something to say. as this ends, wah lets him join the gates by letting yue do chores. small scene but i liked it.

2. is during the love story moment HAHAHAHA... yep. we see a flashback of them 2 lovers, then after that donnie's bitch says she's there to kill him or something. next scene, we see... it looks like she dropped dead into the pool where they were at. then they cut to donnie with him in one of the dragon stance and wind is blowing in his hair. i like this scene because it made me picture it as a japanese animation, and i've seen scenes like these in animes before.

i guess you can say the movie is decent. just don't compare it to SPL. if you're a fan of the comic 'dragon tiger gate' you might actually like this film.

[dyenboy]

I think the alley scene in spl was way better than the final fight with sammo..

I think after watching spl, since it was the last movie donnie came out..tat dey were expecting alot more in dtg..

I was wondering if anyone like the wall fight in seven swords..cause if u didn't..u can't tell me u have seen that fight in any other movies..

I think donnie is very creative in his movies..he does alot of fight scenes that you have never seen before..yea sometimes his shots are a little close..but I think thats his intention..maybe he was tryin to focus on a certain movement..who knows..

anyways...awaiting for the release..

[The Running Man]

I was wondering if anyone like the wall fight in seven swords..cause if u didn't..u can't tell me u have seen that fight in any other movies..

I actually wanted to bring that fight up into discussion one day for a while now and I just kept forgetting. That is, IMO, the most under rated fight of the year and the single best moment in that lousy film.

And it lasts just a minute long in a movie that is about 156 minutes. :|

But yeah, thanks for bringing that one up. Funny how two of the best fights in the year involve Donnie Yen in an alleyway.

[BKarza]

The wall fight in SS seems like parts of movies that I've already seen. If you've ever seen Treasure Hunt with Chow Yun Fat, there is a pole fight between Kuo Chui/Philip Kwok and Gordon Lau/Liu. If you have... Of course there is the alley fight from the end of Martial Club.
To me it just came off as rehash of the OUaTiC gimmick stuff.(OUaTiC 1/ladders...OUaTiC2 the table alter OUaTiC3 oil on floor fight/lion dance fight on the wood tower)

[limubai2000]

That is, IMO, the most under rated fight of the year and the single best moment in that lousy film.

I just watched SS today and I'm inclined to agree. I can't believe Tsui produced such a horrible film. I don't think the director's cut can save this piece of junk.

[The Running Man]

The wall fight in SS seems like parts of movies that I've already seen.

It isn't about how many things new you see...but how it's all put together.

I just watched SS today and I'm inclined to agree. I can't believe Tsui produced such a horrible film. I don't think the director's cut can save this piece of junk.

And here's the kicker...Tsui Hark announced not long ago that IT is his director's cut. :|

The shorter UK version actually makes it less embarrassing and a better film to my surprise. Although not a better film to the point that it's actually "good".

[Sleepman]

I have to say the only two movies ive seen of Donnie Yen i like were Hero and Iron Monkey, i havent seen him in any other films that i like, Wing Chun was kind of cool
but yeun wo ping i wish he wold stop with the maniacal paced kung fu scenes.

I am ordering Dragon Tiger Gate tommorow from DDDHOUSE or whenever it is i am able to access the site
it seems i am unable to get to it today,

Dragon Tiger Gate there are more editions of this than for any movie i have ever seen including the bootlegs
on ebay i think i counted 7

[academy]

And here's the kicker...Tsui Hark announced not long ago that IT is his director's cut.

Wow, for real? I guess my disappointment on that film will stay.
Strangely on IMDB boards, people seemed to hail SS, even calling the present cut version "perfectly enough".

I saw some of the fights of DTG on youtube, good but not great.

[Beat TG]

i havent seen him in any other films

You should check out 'Drunken Tai Chi', 'Tiger Cage 1-2', 'In The Line of Duty 4', 'Legend of The Wolf' (you might not like this movie) and 'SPL'. All those are great movies.

[tigerstyles]

got this yesterday watched it straight away,.. realy enjoyed it some outstanding fights/ set peices... Donnie done some great work with these two guys,.. great Nunchaku battle at the end.. the comic style and costumes stoodout! great bootwork and weopon work from some of those badguys...

go get it.. better than SPL for action.

[Chen Zhen]

DTG better than SPL in action? ya right...

to each his own...but theres no contest there. there were only 2 fights in DTG i thought were better than avg. SPL owns DTG in every way. imo of course.

[WongFury]

i watched it yesterday i thought... meh! to certain scenes... i liked a couple of Donnie's fights like when he started fighting off the gang in the resturant..when he started it off then meh!...then i like how then final fight started off at the begining with all the handwork..after that it was ok..it would have been better if the two had been going out on each other, in other words no matter if Donnie won the fight it would have been better if he would have known after the fight he has been in a real fight if you know what im saying..he was beating the guy like he would beat on the average henchman. but i guess thats Donnie for you another seagal..

[Chen Zhen]

good point. i dont like how shawn yue and nick tse get pummeled against the villain, then donnie walks in and kicks the guys @ss, no problem! it woulda been more convincing had donnie had some more trouble beating him...essentially a more even fight.

[Liu chung liang]

with the comic book video game anime cartoony stereotypical approach... it should had not been a surprise that yen beat the last boss by himself. in the comic world, it's more fake. anyone using the name dragon, it's obvious they're suppose to be powerful lol.

the movie is nothing really.... i don't consider it a Must See.

[Beat TG]

Just came back from watching the whole movie. In conclusion, Donnie's choreography design isn't as great as SPL but it wasn't a complete waste of time. After seeing the fights again on a ripped version of Deltamac dvd, I was more impressed with what I saw.

Camerawork is great most of the time, featuring clever shots of hand-to-hand combat (fists, palms, elbows, knees etc), if only the overloadance of it could've been somewhat limited then those damn close-ups wouldn't be all over the place (Donnie's way of action choreographing has its ups and downs but I still respect his talents). The fight in the stadium had the longest shots though and had impressive weaponwork in there too (featuring the best camerawork and editing)! I also liked the first half of the last fight, in which the hand-to-hand combat are properly showcased and also had some good special effects to add extra cream to the fight (and in the other scenes as well). The rest of the fights were quite ok but nothing compared to the ones I mentioned.

As a whole movie, it was good but could've been done better. Yip's direction to most scenes, the music, the cinematography and some special effects are at top while everything else is all part of the weak side (story, acting, editing in most fights).

3.5/5

[Linn1]

as I just saw the DVD. Having seen the comics, they actually did a VERY good job recreating stuff from the comics onscreen. Which is largely what's talked about above ie the training scenes. Those were straight out of the comics, video game look and all. I know what you mean about the hair guys, but then all the comic fans would complain that they didn't look right. But trust me, the hair drove me nuts too because on a living person it looks nuts. I wouldn't compare it to SPL, because the point of SPL was to be gritty and realistic, which is exactly counter to the point here. Comic or not, it's silly how Donnie just bitch slapped the villian to oblivion during the final fight. After the other two had such problems, Donnie with just some extra internal energy could do whatever he wanted to to the bad guy. It would have been much better, and truer to the comic, if all three teamed up on the badguy after they got beat up.

First time in my life I'm ever hearing that Kuo Chui was involved.

He's in the film. If you watch the tea house fight, after "Donnie" has flipped down the hall and hit the idiot into the air, Kuo Chui is the middle face in frame when the gang with sunglasses line up in profile. He gets hit by Donnie soon after.

[Tosh]

He's in the film. If you watch the tea house fight, after "Donnie" has flipped down the hall and hit the idiot into the air, Kuo Chui is the middle face in frame when the gang with sunglasses line up in profile. He gets hit by Donnie soon after.

I, for the life of me, can't believe they'd have Kuo Chui in it and not give him a better part, the guy is a legend, he should get the props Chan or anyone else in the business has gotten over the years>: he was just as talented as anyone. I haven't seen the movie, is he a fight Choreographer?

[Linn1]

I had no clue he had anything to do with the film until I was watching it and I nearly jumped up when I saw his profile. It's hard to miss with that chin! : ) You also see him in the Production diary bit on the DVD in the first fight, but I think he was too hard to spot with all the other sunglassed thugs in the actual film. I haven't looked to see if he had a hand in the fights, but I would think so as well. It makes little sense to use him as just a thug.

[BKarza]

"First time in my life I'm ever hearing that Kuo Chui was involved.



He's in the film. If you watch the tea house fight, after "Donnie" has flipped down the hall and hit the idiot into the air, Kuo Chui is the middle face in frame when the gang with sunglasses line up in profile. He gets hit by Donnie soon after."

That was me in reference to hearing about Kuo Chui being involved with the Tiger Cage 2 action. It had nothing to do with Dragon Tiger Gate.

[Linn1]

now that is something else! :rollin

[Hardz]

Much better than I expected.
Excellent use of colours and music.
Nice sets and very enjoyable action.

The only thing that I didn't like was the falling through the layers of contrete at the very end...way over the top compared to the rest of the film.

Donnie should have beaten the guy in a way similar to the Yeun Wah scene.

Still.... excellent entertainment.

[David G Rees]

Yeah good film, looks very good and the fights were well done, apart from the end when the reliance on cgi spoilt it for me just a bit.
Great to see Yuen Wah and Chen Kuan Tai on screen again...:)

[Sleepman]

just got it, thing came with freaking tattoo;s 6 not five
bookmarks a glossy hard case. it's on a DVD-9 disc around 7g

[Simon Wyndham]

I've stayed off forums for quite some time apart from occasionally sticking my nose into the KFC forums very occasionally.

For those that don't know me. I love the films of Lau Kar-leung, and anything with Hwang Jang-lee in it. So there's your base from which to judge what type of choreography I like.

I didn't like Donnies 80's stuff too much apart from Tiger Cage 2. I didn't like his massive undercranking towards the 90's, although I thought Legend Of The Wolf was daring as an experiment and he deserves credit for that.

I usually hate wire fu, although in the last few years I have come around and now enjoy films like OUATIC. In between the wired sections there is great genuine skill going on.

So, now for DTG and SPL
I have now watched DTG twice in two days. I liked it THAT much! I do not understand why there is such a backlash against this film. I didn't find that there were too many close ups or confusing choreography at all. I thought it was a good balance. I love the way that Donnie is now portraying skills at combat speed while still making them look good. It is refreshing instead of the old 1-2-3-4 style rhythm.

From what I can see in the making of on the DVD the actors are doing most of their own MA movements.

As a comic book brought to life with fantastic fights I loved this film. I had a big grin on my face all the way through it. IMHO anyone who didn't enjoy this needs to lighten up. A lot! Sorry if that offends, but I think people are taking things far too seriously, especially considering how utterly shite HK action films used to be for storyline and acting!

DTG was a true comic book martial arts movie made with astounding production value and IMHO would hold up (and indeed piss all over) any Hollywood movie out at the moment for entertainment value.

If I only had one criticism of it, it is that the main fighting villain reminded me a bit too much of Darren Shalavi in Blood Moon!

Now for SPL. The choreography in this was pure genius. Nothing more needs to be said. Whoever disagrees seriously needs to go back and watch it again and examine those fights in detail. They were utterly astounding, and as far as I am concerned Donnie has now pushed HK choreography up a notch.

[BKarza]

The famous SW has returned! Most folks don't care about nuances and things that make something great, to you/me. They either like something just because it stars someone they like. Or because it was choreographed by someone they like. Does it mean it was good?
I've learned that that people like what they like, even if they can't explain why.
The close ups were not a problem. That is something that certain folks look for. The choreography was not confusing either. Most of it is anti-Donnie stuff. If DTG starred Jet and Woo Ping did the action the exact same way, what do you think the response would be?
In retrospect, the 90s were about fluff and no substance. As a result, much is hard to watch anymore. It also contains what amounts to some of the best's, weakest work.
Man every now and then I miss the Bootmaster's Page.

[Chen Zhen]

had the film starred woo ping and jet, i wouldve sed it was disappointing. i dont think the action is bad, i found it average at best with few standout moments. still didnt like the closeups. generally i dont like donnie yen action...but i loved SPL and Twins Effect 1....i believe in credit where credit is due. im a big Yuen Kwai and Yuen Woo Ping fan...but i'll be the first to admit that the action in a movie like Twins Effect 2, for the msot part, is crap..same goes with Iron Monkey 2.

[Sleepman]

i just watched it and i do not see how people can become so critical of it - if you
want to take donnie yens place go ahead, i mean youll be 20 years behind but look
at it this way if you do make it you would have made it to your 40th45th50th birthday
by then you will be bald almost totally useless and have forgotten about your comments
49 years and 364 days ago but hey give it a shot!

personally love the movie = great with what they had to work with, guy in a mask etc.
spectacular stuff. 7 out of 10 kicks to the groin.

[Beat TG]

The action was lovely, but I think Donnie should improve his camerawork more. When that's done, I won't complain anymore.

Watching SPL and then later DTG made me realize that Donnie is working with different crews so not only does he have to work on his style but also with people who are good at camera placements, editing etc.

[BKarza]

He is resposible for the camera placements. He chooses them. What do you mean improve his camera work? That's what he wants to do. It's not a mistake. If he did straight static shots, would that then be improving? His style is his own, based strongly on anime and DBZ. He doesn't shoot like Sammo, Woo Ping, Siu Tung, Yuen Kwei, Jack, etc.
Believe it or not but some people actually want to go out and do their own thing. Sammo did it with the blur cam in Ashes of Time and then with less actual choreography and more camera movement starting with Don't Give a Damn up into OUaTiC&A. Yuen Kwei started to do a lot of handheld wackiness and heavy edits that did what they did to his action in the late 90s into the 2000s.
Just because you may not like what and how he does what he does, doesn't mean he's making mistakes that only you are aware of. It just means that you don't like it. There's nothing to improve upon. I don't like when Yuen Kwei does twisty, twirly things with the camera. Is he making a mistake? No, that's what he wants to do and how he wants to shoot.

[The Running Man]

I think people got spoiled with SPL. DTG is more of Donnie Yen's style of action.

[HAZ74]

This is the first movie that I'm going to judge based on its cover. It looks like they were going to a rave & then a kung fu movie broke out. Does Donnie fight with glow sticks?

[dyenboy]

well said BKarza..

Donnie yen got where he is by doing what he HAS been doing..and getting alot of work..so the majority of the people love his actions scenes..

i am a very big fan of the work..the worst movies he has done was iron monkey 2 and crystal hunt..otherwise..i loved his movies..

i think some people are tryin to compare him to yuen woo ping and others..and too be honest..all different styles..all have their flaws and strength..

[CASSANOVA72]

I really enjoyed this not as much as SPL but for a comic book adaptation it was entertaining. Plus you don't often see big budget kung fu so if this is any indication of what's to come bring it on!

[luckystars]

Strictly an event movie. A couple good moments (Yuen Wah's slipper vs nunchucks stood out, fun montages of the heroes training). Just about watchable without getting *too* restless, but not much to revisit.

3 out of 5.

[Simon Wyndham]

I've watched it twice, and I'm about to watch it again.

It's great!

[The Running Man]

Honestly, this movie sucked. Story was ummm....I don't know where it was. It just came out with stuff from it's ass.

I really love though how the movie towards the end, pulls a character from nowhere who teaches each of the guys new moves through the process of movie convenience by showering them with random Chinese characters while they attack at the air in slow motion which ends with a shot of Donnie Yen waking up and hitting his palm in the air which had me rolling on the floor it was so bad. Then after hyping up these new moves, making the audience feel like the badass is with them, these dudes get their asses handed to them on a shiny new silver platter by the Mummy Return's Chinese cousin (who's the bad guy in the film).

Then Donnie Yen comes and slap boxes him to death.

Jeez...only thing good about the movie was Kenji Kawai's score (who always rocks).

[luckystars]

RM that was BANG ON!! :D

You summarized my *exact* thoughts when viewing! :)

[Simon Wyndham]

pulls a character from nowhere

Which was actually a cameo by the guy who did the original comics.

The film was great. It based on a comic book. It is rather hilarious when people are complaining about the comicbookness of the films styling as a result.

Anyone who hasn't seen this film, ignore the naysayers.

[The Running Man]

Which was actually a cameo by the guy who did the original comics.


Yeah....and?

How does that improve the fact that the character he plays is introduced totally out of nowhere and totally for convenience of the film which ultimately means nothing in the end since the character get whooped real nice?

The film was great. It based on a comic book. It is rather hilarious when people are complaining about the comicbookness of the films styling as a result.


Bad characterization, poor development, and weak structure are not requisites of comic books. Have you ever read comic books? Comic books wouldn't have survived so long if all of them suffered from those things.

And on the film front, defending those "flaws" as if it's on purpose is quite naive. Spiderman 2 was a movie that was based on a comic book and it is far better than this movie because it didn't have any of those flaws present in this movie.

A bad movie is a bad movie.

If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if this is just a poor adaptation of the comic because that's what it feels like. And if it is a 110% perfect adaptation of it, then I guess the comic sucked as well.

[Simon Wyndham]

How does that improve the fact that the character he plays is introduced totally out of nowhere and totally for convenience of the film

Why is any character in any film there if not for the convenience of the film? She was told to take the characters there if anything happened to them.

A bad movie is a bad movie.

Of which this isn't.

Its pure popcorn entertainment. I've spent most of my HK film watching career watching films from the mid-70's - mid-80's. Nearly all of them without exception suffer from shitty scripts, bad acting, and extremely poor production value. Yet people enjoyed them to the hilt.

DTG is a hark back to those films, but with brilliant cinematography and lighting, and very high production value.

While I liked the Spiderman films, and to a lesser degree the latest Superman film, I didn't find any of them anywhere near as entertaining as DTG.

Have you ever read comic books?

Yes. I find them silly and overrated and I find the stories just as shallow as a popcorn movie.

[The Running Man]

Why is any character in any film there if not for the convenience of the film? She was told to take the characters there if anything happened to them.

Who was never mentioned anywhere in the film before and then suddenly this character exists that can fix her problem just like that. That's something purely for convenience of the film and not good storytelling.

Its pure popcorn entertainment.

Popcorn entertainment does not equal bad storytelling and poor character development.

I've spent most of my HK film watching career watching films from the mid-70's - mid-80's. Nearly all of them without exception suffer from shitty scripts, bad acting, and extremely poor production value. Yet people enjoyed them to the hilt.

I certainly take a stand on you calling ALL of HK films bad movies like you just did and wouldn't be the only one that would take offense. People enjoyed them because they were good movies...not cause they were bad.

If you see ALL of mid 70s and 80s HK films as bad then that's your problem and it seems you don't really know a good movie then.

DTG is a hark back to those films, but with brilliant cinematography and lighting, and very high production value.

It's only a hark to bad movies...not ALL of 70s and 80s HK cinema which you just called bad.

While I liked the Spiderman films, and to a lesser degree the latest Superman film, I didn't find any of them anywhere near as entertaining as DTG

Alright...so you like bad movies. :b

Yes. I find them silly and overrated and I find the stories just as shallow as a popcorn movie.

That statement says that you obviously have not really read any comics to a real degree (certainly none of the good ones).

[Beat TG]

overall, the movie was quite ok but it's nothing to rave about. I enjoyed most of the fights though.

[Liu chung liang]

this thread is going to hit 100 soon lol.

right, nothing to rave about. nice to hear everyone's thoughts on the film. i still say it sucks. i give it a 2 1/2 or 3 out of 5, only because if you're a fan of the comic, and you think that they did a some what decent job then ok.

don't compare DTG to the spiderman movies, because it's not even a good enough movie to equal to this hollywood successful film. i really like spiderman 2, and in my opinion it's hell of a lot better than the gate lol.

[dyenboy]

k..finally saw this movie..and dun care wa anyone thinks..i liked this movie..over the week i had off..i watched it three times so far..

yea..there were some parts are kinda lame...but didn't care..the movie is purely a popcorn movie..i was entertained the whole time..

probably gona watch it more..

[Beat TG]

the finale is the best part in the whole movie, lots of great GCI destruction and some neat shots of great choreography.

[ggblue]

The movie script is so-so, but I liked the fight scenes on the baseball field and in the end with Donnie Yen. :D

I'll watch those scenes again and again!

Oh, and the hair? The style was cute and youthful looking. :b Besides, Donnie was supposed to resemble a character from a comic book, so I think that he looked great for the role!

[The Running Man]

the finale is the best part in the whole movie, lots of great GCI destruction and some neat shots of great choreography.

Man I need to watch the movie again.

I need to watch that "GCI destruction" that I missed the first time around. :p

[Chen Zhen]

this movie was boooooring

save for that fight on the baseball field..and BITS of the finale, i find this movie dull

[Beat TG]

Donnie's part in the final showdown and the CGI were done good, otherwise corny.

[Iron_Jinon]

that is terrible movie,kept me yawning more than about anything I have seen lately...before final only good scene is where shibumi kills teacher of tiger...final has some nice action&special effects.But when Dragon Wong shows up you are expecting good duel but no,he takes care of shibumi in almost world record time.
I took it to 2nd hand shop without bothering to check extras on disc#2:rolleyes:

[Milkyway]

a good mix if wires, special effects and ground-based choreo is always nice (didn't mind Donnie beating crap outta the villain... that is until they went diving underground!;)).

[Drunken Monk]

I finally got around to seeing this last week. Despite all the negativity surrounding it I was sure I'd love it. I was very wrong. I don't hate it but, wow, it's pretty annoyingly boring in places. Even the fights bored me in places.

[The Running Man]

Tai Seng put out a US 2 disc release of it in November.

Really good stuff.

[Milkyway]

apart from Meyer's commentary (is it even good?), how does it compare to the HK disc?

[SimonMW]

I love it! I really can't understand the negativity.

[The Running Man]

apart from Meyer's commentary (is it even good?), how does it compare to the HK disc?

Yeah it's very good. Anamorphic, DD 5.1 and DTS Cantonese tracks and a Mandarin DD 5.1 track. Biggest deal about the release is that they retranslated and improved all the English subtitles for the film and extras.

Plus, it includes a pretty well done English dub.

[SimonMW]

but the script wasn't.

I could say that about every single action film ever made. Particularly with regard to 70's HK films! ;-)

[doug maverick]

donnie lied to us on this one. i remeber reading an interview where he said they were going for a sin city feel. imagaine sin city but a kung fu film with that same noirish style fgucking awesome. what happened to that donnie you would have had a better flick. this flick goes to the bottom of my favorite donnie films. cause although the melkodrama was corny the fights were fucking hot.

[The Running Man]

I thought the film looked visually very much like a comic book.

[Jay Stone]

If anyone's interested, Tai Seng is releasing Dragon Tiger Gate on HDDVD February 25th I believe. I ordered it from Amazon. Never seen it, but if it does well, hopefully we'll get more HDDVD releases from them...

[doug maverick]

if they do a part two they should get rid of shawn yue he's useless. get rid of the melo drama shit thats also useless and just stick to kicking ass.

[wudangimmortal]

does donnie yen use wing chun or the main villain at the end? both their styles look like wing chun is used a bit