Dorian Tan (1947 - )

[Squid Lips]

Anyone interested, here is a little video I cut together about 7 years ago and actually gave it to Master Tan. Thankfully he liked it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2g29SyjzQE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2g29SyjzQE)

[tino]

What movie is the 4th clip from where he's fighting the guy with the pony tail? Thanks

[Squid Lips]

Hey Tino, that is the finale to the John Woo film Hand Of Death (Countdown In Kung Fu) where he takes on James Tien.

[Monkey King 2000]

Squid Lips which of his films would you recommend. I have only seen The Hot, the cool and the Vicious which I was not a great fan of. Is hand of Death worth picking up? I thought John Woo's other MA film the Last Hurrah for Chivalry, was probably the best Wuxia film I have ever seen. I also like all of John Liu's seasonal films and so I was surpised I did not get on with the Hot... which film is he in that you like the best and which has the best action from him? Please let me know if these films are in your video.

[Squid Lips]

Hey Monkey,

Well, one of my favorites, even though there are those put off by the goofy comedy, is The Leg Fighters. Has some great kicking action and training scenes. There are clips (notably the first and last one ) in the video.

But Hand Of Death is fun to watch and I rank in my top 5 of Tan's films. It has a young Jackie, Sammo and of course John Woo behind the camera. His form is great in it as well. There is a great 2.35 print out on DVD (used in the video several times).

Master Tan actually told me that his favorite of his own films was the very first one he did, Hero On The Waterfront. It is readily available on DVD too.

Secret Of Shaolin Poles is also not bad, though his role is more supporting.

[morgoth]

Challenge of Death is highly recommended.

[Squid Lips]

I agree that Challenge is good, but since Monkey wasn't "hot" on HC&V I assumed he would not be super keen on the sequel either. But, he might give it a try.

[Chinatown Kid]

I also liked Tan in Showdown at the Cotton Mill, The Boxer's Adventure, The Tattoo Connection, Conspiracy of Thieves, The Himalayan, Bloodied Treasury Fight, and Scorching Sun Fierce Winds Wild Fire. Definately one of the screens best kickers ever with beautiful form.

[Monkey King 2000]

Thanks all, I have actually seen Secret Of Shaolin Poles, did not actually realise that was him! I watched it a while ago. Also I forgot about Cotton Mill, both very good films. I think I will give Hand of death a go, I was just put off my one review that said "Where Hand of Death falls flat is the fight scenes. With the exception of Chang and Chung, the scenes are static and slow". I will have to do some research on the other films mentioned.

[morgoth]

Hey Squid Lips, I know Challenge and Hot Cool and Vicious are similiar, but I recommended challenge of Death cause I liked it a lot more han Hot Cool and vicious. Ya gotta love the Spider style.

[Squid Lips]

True, Da Spider is pretty cool!

[kungfood]

That's a cool vid.
Does Tan Tao-Liang still run his Taekwondo school in Monterey Park? I read somewhere that he returned to Taiwan, but wasn't sure if that's true. I remember seeing him and some of his students at the 1993 Tat Wong Internationals in San Francisco. They were very good.

[AlbertV]

That is an excellent video you made Squid.

According to actor/martial artist Michael Worth, Tan did return to Taiwan. Michael had written a role for Tan for his martial arts western Ghost Rock, but he was in Taiwan and ill, so he was unable to shoot the film. I'm not sure if Tan has returned or not.

I loved the extra on the Rarescope Showdown in the Cotton Mill DVD where Tan and Kam Kong were doing a TKD demonstration in Taiwan in 1975.

[kungfood]

AlbertV:
Thanks for the info.
I also liked that little extra on the Cotton Mill DVD. That part also had that mid-'70s type music if I remember right! :)

If Tan ever came back, it would be cool to see him in a (well-made) American m.a. film, be interesting to see how that left leg of his still powers out those perfect kicks.

[Tantheman]

Well, it had to happen sometime with this username. Dorian Tan in my view is one of the best things that happened in the post-Bruce Lee golden age of the Kung Fu film. Whatever film you see him in he is constantly watchable, and his charisma and energy are unbridled. As for his martial arts mastery, it is up there with the best. He is a known superkicker, and his kicking approaches the greatness of grandmaster Hwang Jang Lee. You guys all know this I guess, so how about a discussion of his best and worst movies. My picks for top 5 best are:

Revenge of the Shaolin Master - Yuen Woo Ping choreographs the best action Tan ever performed, constant battles not one disappoints

The Himalayan - Some of the best training scenes ever between Angela Mao and Tan, and Sammo choreographs a peach of an end fight with Mao and Tan taking on Chen Sing

Hand of Death - Woo directs Tan, Jacky, Yuen and Sammo in a fast moving old skooler with nice choreography

The Hot, The Cool and the Vicious - Wong Tao and Tan team up to take on a magnificent Tommy Lee and one of the best two on one fights ever filmed

Blood Treasury Fight - A great cast including David Chiang and Chan Wai Man, and one of the most inventive final 20 minutes of any Kung Fu movie

Other Sweet picks:
Tattoo Connection
Leg Fighters
Flash Legs
Showdown at the Cotton Mill

Worst:

Hero of the Time
Snake and Crane Secret

Ones I want to see:

Boxer's Adventure
The Revenger
The Heroes
Hero Of Chiu Chow
General Stone
Kung Fu Emperor

Anyone seen the ones I haven't got, an opinion?

[gravedigger666]

Most of those unseen.cotton mill is nice,tattoo connection average.Hand of death is shaolin takes revenge as it`s best.It takes quite a lot kicks to wear samo and other thick manchu down at the end:)

[AlbertV]

The Revenger is not a bad film. It has Ti Lung in it. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I plan to see it again sometime this week.

Two movies I didn't see on the list which were a slight better than average IMO were:

Scorching Sun, Fierce Wind, and Wild Fire - Tan teams up with a masked Angela Mao to bring justice. Tan does some nice combos in the film.

The Eight Escorts - a band of eight warriors must bring a gold bouillon through a mountain full of bandits. Chan Wai-Man is the villain and also has a young Danny Lee.

Godfathers of Fury was not one of Tan's best. He played the villain and he doesn't get any action until the end and when he finally fights, he doesn't really do anything impressive. John Chang (Snake in the Monkey's Shadow) played one of the heroes.

Last, but not least, Tan worked on a B-movie, Breathing Fire, coming up with the story and was executive producer. He based the storyline on his film Shaolin Deadly Kicks but set it in L.A. and his students Jonathan Ke Quan and Eddie Saavedra played the brothers who must stop the robbers. Tan used the alias "Delon Tanners".

[Tantheman]

Cheers for that AlbertV. I forgot about Scorching sun, fierce wind and wild fire I want to see that too. Saw some footage on youtube, looks good. Can you tell me where you got it?

Breathing Fire was one of the first Kung Fu movies I saw back in '96, when I was 14. My dad didn't let me watch it all cos of the violence. I haven't watched it since. I didn't know Johnathan Ke Quan was Tan's student, sweet! I plan to rewatch that one on a special occasion for the extreme nostalgia it will create.

An honourable mention should also go to:

Challenge of Death - Sweet sequel to The Hot, the cool and the vicious with sweet spider kung fu by Chang Yi

[Chinatown Kid]

I am just as big a fan of Tan Tao Liang as I am Hwang Jang Lee. Some of my favorites of Tan are:

The Hot, the Cool, and the Vicious
Showdown at the Cotton Mill
Bloodied Treasury Fight
The Leg Fighters
The Boxer's Adventure
The Conspiracy of Thieves
The Tattoo Connection

Alot of people don't like The Tattoo Connection because of the exploitativeness matter of the film and the scarcity of the fights but it's one of my favorites of Tan. What fight scenes Tan are in are great imo and he really gets to show off his flashy kicks begining with the gang and their leader Lee Hoi Sang right at the start of the film. Also when he roughs Bolo and Chiang Tao up, and of course his bouts with Jim Kelly and Chen Sing in the finale. Also I love the whole "Your one of Liu's men, the one they say can kick like a mule." thing.:cool: Also I liked to see Tan in this film's modern(well 1978) setting, the only film other than The Dragon/The Lizard/The Boxer that features him in one.

The Boxer's Adventure is also a great flick in a similar vein to Incredible Kung Fu Mission. Tan gets a bunch of men together to go on a mission with him and gets ample opportunity to display his fine kicks. Crash released this film on DVD in widescreen and very good looking pick quality, I'd definately recommend picking it up.

Conspiracy of Thieves is another good film where Tan gets to display his kicks amply. He plays a guy that goes undercover to bust an evil leader of a gambling den. Got my copy at Flashlegsrare a couple years ago.

In closing, while Hwang Jang Lee may be more versitle in the use of both right and left legs, I think Tan has more beautiful form in his kicks and is more flexible.:)

[gravedigger666]

Before you are gathering lynch mob I admit I have not seen that many TTL movies but from what I have seen he is not equal to HJL.As kicker might be equal but not on screen energy.Hwang really displays awesome hate and energy,he is one who is not just truly great martial artist but good actor too and he never lets down.If you see on credits HWL is in movie,you are guaranteed movie will not be bad.

[ironfistedmonk]

Tan Tao Liang is alright but I find he lacks the charisma of the other superkickers HJL and John Liu. I'll add to those movies already mentioned Secret of the Shaolin Poles choreographed by the Liu Bros and for something a bit different to his normal roles Heroine of Tribulation where Tan plays an evil white haired fox.

I quite like Snake Crane Secret but find Hand of Death a bit dull

[Tantheman]

Chinatown Kid, I'll definitely be picking up Boxer's adventure, thats the second recommendation I've got. Conspiracy of thieves sounds good also, I'll see about that.

Ironfistedmonk, I think Tan is really underused in Secret of the Shaolin Poles, thats why I didnt include it, despite the fact I think its a good movie. He has like 2 secs of action! Heroine of Tribulation sounds interesting, do you know where you can get it?

[ironfistedmonk]

Heroine of Tribulation is one you'll have to trade for if you want a copy, Tan only really turns up for the end fight, it's more of a Polly Shang Kuan film but worth checking out for some colourful characters

[WalkOn]

I'm a huge fan of Tan's since the first time I saw him on film! The first movie I saw of his was The Tattoo Connection on the old NYC cable network WHT in the early 80's. He has great screen presence with oodles of charisma!

My TTL favorites, favorites in no particular order, are:

The Leg Fighters (Incredible Death Kick Master) - loved this bootwork showcase! Great cast too.

The Hot, The Cool and the Vicious - Nuff Said

The Boxer's Adventure is an underrated treasure to me. Great cast with Meng Fei, Blackie Ko Sho Liang (RIP), Jack Long and I didn't remember that was Chan Wei Man! Now I have to see it again. I really enjoyed everyone's performance. Blackie Ko has a great Bruce Lee moment that left quite an impression! Must See. Tan is ultra cool and his charisma is at its highest.

Tattoo ConnectionTan looked great in a modern setting and this flick quite enjoyable. Nice catchy 70's theme song "Diamonds". lol

The Heroes (Unforgiven Shaolin)- Starring Ti Lung, Tan Tao Liang stole the show with his short but emotionally intense performance.

Challenge of Death - I don't remember this film too well but I do recall Don Wang's kicks looking sharp and Tan's ofcourse, but I couldn't get past the spider style of Chang Yi's. Must be me, because I know most people appreciate it.

Revenge of the Shaolin Master - I saw this in the movies too, but I'll have to see it again. It didn't leave that great of an impression, but with the overwhelmingly great reviews about it, I have to see it again.

I wish he went on to do more classics with different stars and directors.

[AlbertV]

Cheers for that AlbertV. I forgot about Scorching sun, fierce wind and wild fire I want to see that too. Saw some footage on youtube, looks good. Can you tell me where you got it?


I used to rent kung fu movies at a local video store when I lived in New York and when they closed, I was able to get some of the films they were getting rid of and Scorching Sun was one of them. It is the Ocean Shores video version I have on VHS. So I've had it for over 10 years now.

[Tantheman]

Another one to look out for is Tornado of Pearl River, a pretty early effort. The opening fight is superb, but unfortunately as the film progresses the action quality goes down. Still Tan puts in a good martial and acting performance, and its worth a watch

[thedirtytiger]

Someone said Heroes Of The Waterfront DVD was readily available. I have been looking for many years for this one, who released the DVD ? Are we talking proper legit release or dem dodgy boots ?:p If it is legit then I want it !!!!