Great Shapes movies with no Comedy

[daTOAD]

seems like all the classic shapes flicks have comedy. can anyone give me some great choreographed kung fu films with no comedy...at all? thanks.

[daTOAD]

Rebellious Reign is all i could come up with.

[will91XingYu]

7 Steps of kung fu with Ricky Cheng and Chang Shan has no comedy at all really. Another one is Shaolin vs Lama with Lo Rei for me its one of personal all time favs.

[Morgoth]

Shaolin vs Lama is kung fu comedy at its finest IMO, and 7 Steps also has a decent amount of comedy.

Killer Constable isn't shapes, but there is no comedy in that movie (except maybe a couple seconds). I am having a really tough time right now thinking of shapes movies with no comedy, but there has to be some.

[Morgoth]

I have to admit I have never been 100% clear on what shapes are, but Shaolin Martial Arts from 1974 only has a teeny bit of comedy and it is a damn good movie.

[Iron_Jinon]

^same applies to "disciples of shaolin"...

[Monk Sante]

"Eagle's Claw" - Wong Tao, Chang Yi and Chi Kuan Chun all deliver the goods!:cool:

[TheManInWhite]

There's not much comedy in The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious and Shaolin King Boxer from what I recall. Yeah, you'll find it hard to find these types of films without some kind of humor in it.

[daTOAD]

I forgot about Eagles Claw- think ill watch tonight.

"I have to admit I have never been 100% clear on what shapes are, but Shaolin Martial Arts from 1974 only has a teeny bit of comedy and it is a damn good movie. "

its a term invented by the U.K. fans i believe and it deals with the Choreography built on movements like shapes and speed. 1977 or 78 was when this style was introduced[ i think]. before that i think the term for the Choreo was "Bashers"[Bruce Lee type choreo] also a U.K. terminology.

[Morgoth]

There's not much comedy in The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious and Shaolin King Boxer from what I recall. Yeah, you'll find it hard to find these types of films without some kind of humor in it.

There is only a little bit of comedy in SHaolin Kingboxer, but the comedy that is in there is hilarious. Chan Wai Lau always gets a laugh out of me. He is Slasher Pete's friend in the movie.

I forgot about Eagles Claw- think ill watch tonight.

"I have to admit I have never been 100% clear on what shapes are, but Shaolin Martial Arts from 1974 only has a teeny bit of comedy and it is a damn good movie. "

its a term invented by the U.K. fans i believe and it deals with the Choreography built on movements like shapes and speed. 1977 or 78 was when this style was introduced[ i think]. before that i think the term for the Choreo was "Bashers"[Bruce Lee type choreo] also a U.K. terminology.

So would a movie like SHaolin MArtial arts be considered in between a basher and a shape movie?

[BaronK]

What is a shape?

[Morgoth]

Watch a guy named Phillip Ko sometime. You will see all types of shapes.

[ironfistedmonk]

I love the terms basher and shapes, I think shapes originates from dancing, people are said to be throwing shapes on the dance floor when they are busting some moves

[FrankyLau]

bashers are kicks and punches..very simple choreographed..or not flashy

Shapes are where u can distinguish the styles of kung fu..like hung kuen (Pops) or animal kung fu..drunken fist,mantis,monkey etc u name it

the first shapes movie is breaking from opression which was also Gordon Lius first film as the lead...I think this was from 72-74 not sure when exactly...
Gordon was using tiger and crane style in this...
Also the old black and white Kwan Tak Hing movies already use shapes..
on utube u can see a fight between Kwan Tak Hing using drunken fist against Yuen Hsiao Tien using monkey fist...:D

[The Dragon]

I don't recall if Shaolin Drunken Monk had comedy, but it had shapes... :confused:

[kungfood]

I thought shapes meant the kung fu animal forms. Example: Fu Ying (Tiger Shape), Hok Ying (Crane Shape), Lung Ying (Dragon Shape, etc.). Prior to that, of course, during and following the Bruce Lee era was the typically sloppy basic punch/kick/screaming with comparatively poorly-trained performers.

In such a case, I figured the first actual 'shape' movie was likely Heroes Two from 1973 or '74. Heroes Two, Shaolin Martial Arts, Disciples of Shaolin, Five Shaolin Masters, etc., are movies that have no actual comedy. They have bits of light-hearted impishness from Fu Sheng, but it's very subdued in comparison to the later kung fu comedies, and like most of Chang Cheh's Shaolin series, there is always the looming of upcoming tragedy (heroes often dying). These and the rest of Chang's Shaolin series are my personal fave KF films.

Jackie Chan's Dragon Fist has zero comedy in it, and IMO it's a pretty good old-school KF movie, too.

36th Chamber of Shaolin doesn't actually have comedy. Some parts are possibly unintentionally funny (training scenes with San Te as a stumbling novice), but just because there may be lighter scenes doesn't made the scene comedic.

The John Liu film Mar's Villa has no comedy and is a good movie.

[Senor Quack]

I also prefer my "fu" will little to no comedy. There are many good ones. I'm not sure if all of these qualify as "shapes", especially if the term means the film must have animal styles. Some classics:

Iron Monkey (original with Chen Kuan Tai) - very dark film
The Victim - Beardy classic
Invincible Armour - not much comedy that I recall - great film
The Green Jade Statuette - I wish I had this in widescreen
The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter - Gordon Lui/Pops/Philip Ko dark classic

These are the ones that come to mind at the moment. On a tangent, one I'd recommend that DOES have comedy, but that actually works for the film (IMO) is The Loot aka The Bloody Tattoo with David Chang. Great movie.

[Endsang]

the first shapes movie is breaking from opression which was also Gordon Lius first film as the lead...I think this was from 72-74 not sure when exactly...
Gordon was using tiger and crane style in this...

Challenge Of The Masters? I think that was his first lead.

[daTOAD]

Perfect example "Shapes" movie is Budha Assainator[but has too much comedy-still super tight]. Same thing with The Victim. Without the Sammo comedy it would be a perfect movie IMO.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Check out Writing Kung Fu. It is just what you are looking for daTOAD. Not a great movie, but its dark and has some great shapes from Bolo. It was recommended to me by Linn and rdenn because I am a huge bolo fan, and I was not disappointed by his performance. I don't know of a good version, but only get the Videoasia version if it is the only choice you have.

[JustinB]

I'm not sure about comedy, but Shaolin Heroes with Doris Lung has one of my favorite "shapes" fight scenes. The last-half of this clip shows a bit of the fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ibq_Litfmc

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Heroes of Shaolin is a really good dark movie. Very touching story.

Edit: whoops, I just watched the clip, and I misread the title of the movie you gave. That clip was good. I never thought doris Lung could pull off the one hand style.