Opium and the Kung Fu Master....

[WHITETIGERNY]

Kudos to Celestial for a job well done.

Finally a clean print to watch.

Never saw the camcorder copy, if there was one, but this beats the Korean pre-record hands over.:smokin

[magicpoe]

Does the Celestial DVD have the original trailer? Thanks

[fabhui]

Yep - The original trailer is included on the disc. Just got through watching this one with the missus and really enjoyed it!

[sevenhooks]

Good news re: the trailer.

Seems that makes 2 of the new releases that have em (someone here said Brothers 5 has one too I believe).

If anyone here can report back on the other new titles:
Black Lizard, Full Moon Scimitar, 5 Superfighters, etc., and let us know if the original trailers are included on those as well, we'd all be grateful!

[magicpoe]

Thank you for the trailer confirmation. Maybe the other releases will have them also.

[CLFNole]

I have always been curious about the facination with the trailers. What's up with that? Just like from a "purist" angle same with everyone who has the hangups with the soundtracks.

[sevenhooks]

Yeah, screw the soundtracks.
While we're at it, let's just CG-in some young new stars onto the faces of all those old Shaw stars.
Let's face it, these films need to be brougt up-to-date as much as possible.

[gfanikf]

Bah we can even make them whiter like the cover of Shaolin Soccer!

[Ivy Ling Po]

Sad to report that there are no original trailers for Black Lizard & Full Moon Scimitar.

Just sat through Black Lizard and found it an overkill of suspense. Plot was full of the usual twists and turns and somehow it was a case of "haven't we seen this before countless times?" syndrome.

Pan Ping-chang was not big enough a star to be the heroine and she did not change clothes the whole movie!

[CLFNole]

Personally I care most about the quality of the video compared to the sound. Sound is important but I have always been more concerned with the quality of the kung fu and the overall story. The acting is generally overdone to begin with. I just wish more had cantonese audio as I can follow it a lot better than mandarin.

But still what's with the trailers that everyone wants the movie to have the original trailer? Just curious.

By the way no CG for me.

[sevenhooks]

But still what's with the trailers that everyone wants the movie to have the original trailer? Just curious.


A lot of us saw these films in the theaters and remember the trailers fondly.
It's also interesting to see how Shaws tried to sell a specific movie to audiences upon it's initial release.
So yeah, part of it is nostalgic, part of it you can put into historic context (the marketing), and also they're just cool!
I really don't think its that hard to fathom why people like the old trailers.

[CLFNole]

Nothing fathom, but when you have the movie restored in such a good quality compared to the crappy bootlegs that were around for years I just wondered what the big deal behind the trailers was.

If you like them great, no offense was meant so there is no need for the sarcasim.

[sevenhooks]

I'm sorry, how was I being sarcastic?

[PaulyOne]

I agree, its interesting to see how these films were marketed, and, in some cases, there are scenes in the trailers that are cut out in the original film or shortened, which is very cool to see.

[magicpoe]

Ivy Ling Po,

Thanks for the update on the other trailers.

CLFNole,

I'll summarize my thoughts, in no particular order, on the Shaw Brothers trailers below:

1. In some instances they include scenes not found in the final cut of the movie.

2. As sevenhooks wrote about in an earlier post, they have excellent nostalgic value but more than that it's a piece of Shaw Brothers history that, speaking for myself only, I've only been able to experience with these releases.

3. When I watch these trailers I can only imagine what it must have been like to watch these films for the first time in an actual theater and using the trailers as a tool to decide whether or not to see an upcoming film at the theater.

4. It's a little disappointing to think of the original trailers we've missed out on seeing. Examples, the Brave Archer trailers, Chinatown Kid trailer. Maybe one day those will see the light of day.

5. As sevenhooks said, they are just cool. Nothing like a set of old, grainy trailers to set the mood for a good movie.

[Ivy Ling Po]

I am one of those who love the original trailers as that's how I anticipated the new releases in the cinemas back then. The folks back then went early to catch the trailers.
The new Celestial trailers are worthless in my books.

[fusheng007]

The original trailers do set the mood and the nostagic tone. The New Trailers don't do justice to old films. New One Armed Swordsman new trailer is utterly horrible. The original trailer(available on the French DVD) is excellent and the new French trailer is an improvemnt over the Celestial 1min preview.




Does Disciples of Shaolin have original trailer??

[Markgway]

Does Disciples of Shaolin have original trailer??

Yes.

[magicpoe]

Excellent. Thanks for the word on that one.

Think I'll need to make a new trailer DVD.

That leaves 5 Superfighters. Anyone know?

[CLFNole]

I never knew the trailers had scenes the actual movie didn't. I have always been more interested in the quality of the video to replace the grainy bootleg copies I had for years.

Can anyone give examples of trailers containing scenes that were not in the actual film?

[fusheng007]

Godfather from Canton contains a scene cut from DVD but was in actual theatrical film. It's nudity scene.

In Mighty Pekin Man, Evelyn Kraft's breast can be seen on the trailer whereas in the actual film, we see above her breasts.

[Iron Boat]

Opium and the Kung Fu Master, is this film finally out? If so, man that took forever

[fabhui]

Been out since last week

[sevenhooks]

Even better than I remember.
Great, fun flick.
And truly one of the last great kung fu movies from Shaws along with 8 Diagram Pole Fighter and perhaps a scant few others.
It's stuff like this that make me further lament the premature closure of the studio when there was obviously still so much talent and vibrancy left there.

:\

[Man from WAZ]

Just got "Opium" and "Superfighters". Latter one has sadly NO original trailer and surprisingly also no new trailer (which doesn't bother me much though).

[sevenhooks]

Latter one has sadly NO original trailer and surprisingly also no new trailer (which doesn't bother me much though).


Yeah, I thought that was strange too.
Could care less about the new trailers though.
Would be nice to see as many OG Shaw trailers as possible on one compilation disc ... which I'm sure has already been done by at least one quick thinking fan.

[tino]

Just watched Opium and I think its very good. The acting was superb and the fights were well done. When Ti Lung busted into the warehouse and did that flip kick I was thinking Street Fighter the video game lol. It felt like the movie just flew by (time flies when you are having fun) and I enjoyed it much. 9/10

[Isfahani]

Not bad for end-of-the-line SB. It was nice to see Ti Lung facing off with Chen Kuan Tai, but for once, finally, I could have done with far less 'dumbass student' mischief episodes.

Also, for quite a while now these SB releases are looking less and less hi-fi, I was noticing some really bad artifacting or whatever you call it in the TL-CKT fight especially during the darker-background scenes... and it's all over Sing Jai's "Out of the Dark". Looking like a high Q VCD in places.

Depressing, but I have to balance it out with being able to see this and many other films in decent quality/original language + subs and correct aspect ratio.

[monk sante]

Opium and the Kung Fu Master is a true classic!

2 Thumbs way up! 8)

[TheRover]

A Great film and a must be have for any Kung Fu Film Fan. I great to finally own on DVD.

Peace The Rover..........

[june]

Was Opium a continuation / spin-off of The 10 Tigers of Kwangtung? I can't remember Ti Lung's name in 10 Tigers. In Opium he was a member of the Kwangtung Tigers. Ummmmmmmm

[sevenhooks]

Ti Lung played the same character in both films... the leader of the 10 Tigers.
That's pretty much the only connection between the films as far as I can tell.

[CLFNole]

Actually its not the same character. In opium he plays Tit Kiu Sam or Iron Bridge Three. This character was in Ten Tigers but it was the character that Ti Lung fought with, the guy with the grey hair who was very strong. The name used in the movie was Tieh Chow San, which is the mandarin pronunciation of Tit Kiu Sam.

Tit Kiu Sam was a famous old style hung gar sifu who is created for bringing the Iron Wire (Tit Sien Kuen) set into the system.

[sevenhooks]

Interesting. I figured it was the same character / "leader of the Tigers" as that's the way they seemed to sell it on the original trailer.

[sevenhooks]

This character was in Ten Tigers but it was the character that Ti Lung fought with, the guy with the grey hair who was very strong.

You talking about the guy that played "Brass Head" in Kid With The Golden Arm?

[sikmao]

yep! "brass head"! that's Yang Hsiung/Yang Shun who plays Tit Kiu Sam, in 10 Tigers, & the guy that gets a taste of Sun Chien's "iron foot", in "Crippled Avengers"! :)

[june]

Let call this the "UNOFFICAL" sequal to the 10 Tiger of Kwangtung.

[CLFNole]

There has always been an arguement as to who was the No. 1 of the 10 Tigers, which is likely due to one style trying to say its better than another.

Tit Kiu Sam (Hung Gar) was said to have been the #1 because he was the oldest. It had nothing to do with his ability.

Others say Wong Lan Yum (Hop Gar) was the #1 as he set up a stage in Kwantung and took on all challengers and never lost.

In fact I have never seen the name of the character than Ti Lung played as being one of the 10 Tigers. The list I have seen differs slightly from the movie and could be due to different name translations.

Anyhow the 10 Tigers never got together and righted the wrongs of society, they were just well known sifus in Kwantung. They didn't have get together meetings and such like the movie would have you believe.

[teako170]

Thank you for that articulate and poignant critique! 8o

Btw Kara, what is the name of this grad school you attend? ;)

[tino]

Kara, did you really see the movie? ha ha :rolleyes

[peringaten]

i saw this and sucked.What did you suck?

[jmungus]

What did you suck?

sucked on the opium pipe :smokin puff puff pass kara :b

[kermit]

What did you suck?

The coffin mushroom?

[bubbabgone]

... and now, for something completely different.

[tino]

Kara picks her nose and wipes, yikes! Is that a picture of your baby? I hear that they eventually lose that body hair. :p

[peringaten]

Yes. and suckedOk then... disregarding the whole 'porangutan'/booger/hat episode...

Why did you suck when you saw this movie? What was wrong with it?

[HAZ74]

Yeah, the first 15 minutes was cool, & the rest was ehh, except for the fights.

Kara is my new favorite poster.

[peringaten]

Kara is my new favorite poster.Well, if you like meaningless negative cursory summations of a flick...the rest was ehhNever mind...













Only joking :p - this thread's funny. I actually kind of prefer porangutan to my current moniker. Oh yeah, and Haz - watch Holy Flame already!

[GwaiLoMoFo]

Finally saw this one and thought it was top notch. Its been a while since Ive watched a good Kung Fu film that had a story with meaning. A rare Fu film with heart. Great fights, good acting, good story.... a good MOVIE.

[teako170]

{spoiler}

I felt it started out a bit slow, then came a lion dance and I'm thinking this is going nowhere but then... when that family commits suicide, the story dramatically picked up! Good film. I have two questions about the movie though.

(1) Why, when you smoke opium, must you always lie down?

(2) Why, when you have great fighters like CKT & Ti Lung, must the director use such a cheesy device like undercranking??

[HAZ74]

what do you mean? i didnt sucked on anything but i burnt that stupy hat porangutan! i wipe my boogers on you! blaaaaaa

The best thing ever posted on this board. Kara Hui, where are you?

[Chinatown Kid]

Teako I'll take a shot at your questions, for #1 I'd say it must be some pretty strong high grade stuff that makes you pretty F'd up where you can't stand. :b For #2 I'd say the Director thinks he is enhancing and making the action better with the undercranking but instead makes the fights come off as too cartoony. Just my 2 cents. ;)

[peringaten]

The best thing ever posted on this board. Kara Hui, where are you?
Maybe Kara's sleepy?

[Tosh]

Maybe Kara's sleepy?

:lol I had to read that post like 50 times before I realized just what the F he was saying:lol I thought English must not be his first language, but it says he's from the US (or at least living here).

I have this one coming soon, as usual I'm late to the punch with these movies.

[The Amazing Psychoper]

Can someone tell me what "i burnt that stupy hat" mean???

[peringaten]

Can someone tell me what "i burnt that stupy hat" mean??? An allusion to the hat Wang Lung Wei is wearing in my avatar.

[The Amazing Psychoper]

Oh, I see... Boy that's one weird reply!!! I'm not english speaking (primarly) so I thought there was some subtelty that I didn't get... But after reading it a couple of times I realised that's it's just really badly writen... I mean, WTF!?!