SamuraiDana
09-16-2008, 10:29 AM
Question about print quality: I’ve been going to Chinatown stores (NYC) to pick up a lot of the Golden Harvest films on DVD and VCD, the ones in the Fortune Star Legendary Collection line distributed by Joy Sales. I bought the VCD for HAPKIDO (1972, per IMDB), starring Angela Mao, Sammo Hung, and Carter Wong. It’s widescreen and subtitled, which makes it a vast improvement over the bootleg English dubs I previously had in my collection. But the print used for this transfer is easily the worst I’ve ever seen in any of the Fortune Star releases. Splices, scratches, choppiness at reel changes. Color values change from shot to shot. Every other shot is washed-out (i.e. overexposed). Subtitles are burnt-in, white-on-white and sometimes unreadable. And reviews of it on the web refer to a 2006 HKL R2 release in PAL that was made from a decent master. Why wasn’t that master used for this release?
Question about the content: I believe this was Angela Mao’s first full-fledged starring fighting role. Anyone know if that’s true or not? IMDB is short on release dates for her films. I consulted a book, “Kung Fu: Cinema of Vengeance,” by Verina Glaessner, published in 1974, that insists HAPKIDO was released in 1970, which would put it before many of Angela’s other films. I’ve seen Angela’s first film, ANGRY RIVER, also out on Fortune Star VCD, but I don’t consider her role in it a full-fledged fighting role like this one.
I also believe this was Sammo Hung’s first good-guy starring role, too. He played small part villains in a bunch of films around that time, but this one’s the first, I’m sure, in which he got to be a hero and participate in solo fight scenes with multiple opponents. He beats up Bruce Leung twice. And beats up Lam Ching Ying once.
Question about HAPKIDO’s role in kung fu film history: I believe this one has an important place following THE CHINESE BOXER and FIST OF FURY (THE CHINESE CONNECTION) in establishing the model for so many kung fu films to follow of setting up rival schools and developing conflicts between them as the structure from which the kung fu fights flowed. Now, was HAPKIDO the first Hong Kong film to emphasize an actual martial art, in this case Hapkido, as the basis for the conflict?
Just curious.
Question about the content: I believe this was Angela Mao’s first full-fledged starring fighting role. Anyone know if that’s true or not? IMDB is short on release dates for her films. I consulted a book, “Kung Fu: Cinema of Vengeance,” by Verina Glaessner, published in 1974, that insists HAPKIDO was released in 1970, which would put it before many of Angela’s other films. I’ve seen Angela’s first film, ANGRY RIVER, also out on Fortune Star VCD, but I don’t consider her role in it a full-fledged fighting role like this one.
I also believe this was Sammo Hung’s first good-guy starring role, too. He played small part villains in a bunch of films around that time, but this one’s the first, I’m sure, in which he got to be a hero and participate in solo fight scenes with multiple opponents. He beats up Bruce Leung twice. And beats up Lam Ching Ying once.
Question about HAPKIDO’s role in kung fu film history: I believe this one has an important place following THE CHINESE BOXER and FIST OF FURY (THE CHINESE CONNECTION) in establishing the model for so many kung fu films to follow of setting up rival schools and developing conflicts between them as the structure from which the kung fu fights flowed. Now, was HAPKIDO the first Hong Kong film to emphasize an actual martial art, in this case Hapkido, as the basis for the conflict?
Just curious.