The Secret Rivals

[HAZ74]

Hi,

Just saw the soulblade DVD of this. I know its well regarded, but aside from a couple fight scenes, this flick was kinda flat. I expected better from the direction & the actors. Has anyone else seen this & the "not bad, but not great, either."? The extras were amazing, though.

h

[Lei Kung]

One of my all time favorites. Anything particular you didn't like about it? This is a bootmaster classic.

[Markgway]

I wasn't impressed with it either. The sequel was slightly better.

[falkor]

What kicking films do you regard as being superior to Secret Rivals? If possible, could you please tell us your Top 3 or Top 5 favourite kung fu flicks?

[morgoth]

One of my top 15 favorite movies ever. Corey Yuen was bringing some new stuff and it was still a little rough around the edges.

Hey Haz-I remember a while ago you said you were going to see Shaolin Temple Strikes Back(MArk Long, Chang Shan), did you ever see that?

[morgoth]

And best kicking films, I have to put Death Duel slightly ahead of Secret Rivals. Not saying Eagle Han is a better kicker but it was amazing watchign him in that movie. He may be even mroe limber than John Liu! Plus when DOn Wong Tao jumps out of nowhere to kick the baddie, it is WAY better on death Duel with the full impact.

Leg Fighters was also better IMO, but only because of how unique it was and how effectively it was used.

[chen lung]

I didn't like it as much as the sequel.

[HAZ74]

I dunno. It was a really good bad movie. The fighting was nice, but I need more. If all its gonna be is an acrobatic display, I may as well watch the cirque to soleil. Give me some decent cinematography. Put on act, emote. Make me care about what's happening. I just saw Bells Of Death. No where near as good in terms of fighting, but that movie looked cool & the lead was bad ass & I was happy to watch the bad guys get beat. As per request, here are some movies I've seen recently liked:

Yellow River Fighter
Touch Of Zen
Vengeance
The Shaolin Temple (Jet Li)
Fist Of Fury
Crippled Avengers
The Buddhist Fist

Those are the kinds of movies that gripped my imagination. Secret Rivals could have been so much better. Its not like the had poor locations. That 60 foot tall buddah statue was wicked. And there's like one lousy shot of it. Dude might as well have been training in a parking lot. I don't know why this movie has a good rep. If this is good, then a movie like "The Burning Temple" is the height of cinematic excellence. lol

[morgoth]

Hey HAZ, I can't send you a message and I don't know if you saw my post. Have you seen Shaolin Temple Strikes Back? I remember a while ago you said you were going to see it and I have never heard that many opinions on it.

Also, you have to realize how old Secret Rivals is and the fact that it brought a somewhat new type of style. Not perfect or anything, but still good.

[killer meteor]

I prefer Invincible Armour to Secret Rivals. Much more dynamic and fun

[morgoth]

I didn't like Invincible Armour near as much. It was very good and was a bigger production, but hwang was not right for that role. Still, the whitehaired mutants fight with Phllip Ko is one of the coolest things ever and the music is the sh!t.

[HAZ74]

Hi,

Had no luck with Shaolin Temple Strikes Back! My shop sold the last remaining copy before I could grab it. I got High Risk & Fist Of Fury 1991 today for 10 bucks each cause a store is closing up. Didn't Secret Rivals come out in 76-77? That's not that early.

peace

h

[morgoth]

Look for the double movie disc of it that comes with Shaolin Blood Mission. Not good picture quality, and you won't really be able to follow the story, but it is dirt cheap. And Blood Mission is a good version and Hwang(Silver Fox) shows off even more in that classic.

You may really like Shaolin Strikes Back though, so it is probably best to get a good version. See it any way you can though. Chang Shan is the baddest man on the planet!

And BTW- I thought this movie took a big turn from what was being made in 1975 and before. I am sure some other people noticed it. Like I said, not perfect, but always nice to see the start of something new.

[Chinatown Kid]

Secret Rivals deserves credit for being I believe the first Superkicker movie of the time featuring two legfighters(Liu and Hwang) pitted against one another that started a trend. The choreography looked rather sloppy at times but overall pretty good and action packed. Wong Tao looked good as well with his southern styles and also with the nunchukas. The sequel was rather similar with Tino Wong replacing Tao, I prefer Wong Tao over Tino so I favor the first film over the sequel. I think they improved even better with Invincible Armor which looks much more polished overall with better choreography imo.

[morgoth]

Secret Rivals is definitely not a great film, I just love how raw it is.

[Markgway]

I tend to see good Kung Fu as the icing on the cake rather than the filling, which is why I'm so harsh on many of the films you guys love. It's not that I didn't appreciate the action, just that I need more to engage me. It's a matter of perspective if you will.

[morgoth]

Totally understandable Markgway, I don't mind watchign a good drama, but I am a HARDCORE action junkie. Literally 99% of the movies I watch are action flicks. Except I am probably one of the rare peope who watches a movie, and I really don't care about having a good story, it is just a bonus for me:D

[Lei Kung]

Is there an aka for Shaolin: The Blood Mission. I got this in the VA 10 pack and it was definitely the gem. Even the picture and sound far excelled the rest. The box didn't even say anything about Hwang Jang Li. And yes, I thought Invincible Armor topped Secret Rivals, another of my all time favorites. Yuen Biao even had a cameo.

[morgoth]

It is FOR SURE a gem. I loved it. Possibly the baddest ass Hwang has ever been:eek

Don't know any other names of it.

[Linn1]

I love the movie. But I think the hype, and the fact that it was the first of it's kind goes against it. It depends on WHEN you see it as well. If you're watching nothing but 80s kung fu films, and then see something from the mid-70s, it's going to naturally have slightly less of an effect on you.

[Yakuza954]

I saw the old Ground Zero version and fell asleep. I then saw the new SoulBlade release and found it alright and watched it all the way through. So in that case the viewing quality of the movie was a major factor in how much I ended up liking it. Still though.. not even one of my favorites from the era. There are also A LOT of Wong Tao/Hwang Jang Lee/John Liu movies I prefer over it.

[Markgway]

Is there an aka for Shaolin: The Blood Mission.

I think it's a Korean co-production as there are Chinese actors in the cast.

[jadebadger]

What's the best (cheapest) way to get Soulblade releases in the States?

[tigerstyles]

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/2836/middle1171363705mx5.jpg

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/897/middle1171363665ls8.jpg

[jadebadger]

Err, am i supposed to "read between the lines" there? Is there some hidden message? Is Timmy trapped in the well?

Soulblade, is that you?

[SunChien2004]

I preferred part 2 over this one, as it had more action and less of "Master of the Jump Punch" Wong Tao, lol, jk.

Part 1 was ok, but I have to fast forward through all the slow parts, don't watch this one very often.

[Chen Zhen]

i agree with mark, this film didnt do it for me. its ok...i thought 2 was better in almost every way.

[morgoth]

I thought part 2 was OK but I would never watch it again. Just didn't do anythign for me.

[falkor]

I count 4 people who agree with me--makes 5 in total--that Secret Rivals is a classic, but about 7 fans reckon it's average and the sequel better!? This is quite surprising, as most people I've met in my circle during the last 13 years of collecting rated it very highly indeed.

As Linn and others have pointed out, Secret Rivals is one of the first superkicker films of the shapes era, produced in 1975. Therefore, it's also one of the earliest shapes films, which is why the choreography is not as good as Invincible Armour etc. However, if you compare it to any other shapes film from the same time, it should rank quite high.

I'll try and explain the reasons why I think it's classic... The Korean style locations are a real eye opener. There is good character development between Wong Tao, John Liu, the woman and the boy. The film contains romantic scenes between Wong Tao and the woman accompanied by a moody soundtrack (also used in Heroic Ones). Hwang Jang Lee plays his trademark Silver Fox character. All this helps create a certain type of unique atmosphere and escapism in Secret Rivals.

Secret Rivals also features everything you'd expect from a true martial arts film about martial arts, ie. training scenes and a tournament. It also features styles: Southern Fist and Northern Leg vs. Crane and Taekwondo. The choreography is the best you can get for a 1975 film, and I recall no dull moments whatsoever throughout the 90 odd minutes of top entertainment.

Secret Rivals 2--made 2 years later--contains longer, improved fight scenes, including interesting weapons. However, the fight scenes are not paced very well, and everything geared towards the end fight, leaving the first 2 thirds of the film rather dull and boring without the same romance, character development and atmosphere as part 1; in my opinion, Secret Rivals 2 has superior fight scenes compared to part 1, but is inferior as an overall film.

Of those who feel Secret Rivals is merely average, how many of you watched the English dubbed version and how many watched the subtitled version? Again, I'm quite shocked by all this somewhat negative feedback to tell you the truth, but everyone is entitled their opinion and everyone's opinion is different... I suppose that what makes the world interesting.

[SunChien2004]

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, I don't care if I watched it in subs, I'd still not be too crazy about part 1. Hell, the subtitles would probably put me away from the film.

Still preferred part 2 over it, that's my view on those 2 films.

[morgoth]

Agreed Falkor, but just to add a little bit.

I liked 1 a lot more than 2 because it did have that new type of style which was the first of it's kind, but it also had feeling and emotion. Part 2 was one of the most mindless movies I have ever seen. It seemed to be made for a 3 year old. I almost it off the movie off when Liu and Tino Wong fought the leg and fist specialists.

And I love cheesy movies but part 2 wasn't even fun for me. When they are fighting the leg and fist guys and Liu tells him and Tino to switch, I couldn't even crack a smile.

1 final note, I promise so sorry falkor:b

I didn't find anythign superior in part 2. The spinning knife things were kind of cool but I got tired of them early. Took way to long for Hwang to finally lose them in the last fight.

[falkor]

I liked 1 a lot more than 2 because it did have that new type of style which was the first of it's kind, but it also had feeling and emotion.
That's a more better description of what I was partly trying to get across when I said "atmosphere and escapism" (I'm never good at finding the right words).

Part 2 was one of the most mindless movies I have ever seen. It seemed like the movie was made for a 3 year old.
Well said again... your interpretation and explanation is spot on with how I feel about part 2 in terms of it's story.

[dager in the cotton]

I agree with Faklor in part , the charaters were good, esp fox , the locals were great , althought hey had been seen in countless Chinese films even before this. they made better use of them i this film, johns leg trainig was unique, although his kicks could not match Bruce liangs kicks in Call me Dragon & Little Superman which were filmed a year or so before Secret.
Hwang was the real driving force behind this film, yes pt 2 was better for crisper fights and loads of them . but for me the best of the bunch was Death Duel of kung fu.

[HAZ74]

Hi,

I checked out King Hu's Raining In The Mountain this weekend & that was really great. I couldn't help thinking that if the dudes from secret rivals would have been in it that it would have been perfect, provided that they could act a little. That movie was gorgeous. Serect Rivals was like a home movie in comparison. The locations are not given much room to shine. There was a romantic rivalry that didn't help forward the plot. I liked the kid, but the bad guys were pretty generic & the guy who's parents were killed didn't seem very tortured. As far as films go, this was a very amatuer effort. And I wouldn't say this because it contains martial arts cliches. I LOVE those. Give me a tournament, give me training scenes, give me revenge. Give me craftsmanship, though, too: Acting, direction, shot composition. And I don't need a film to be complex. A simple plot can do me just as well. There are no doubt documentaries & training films that I could watch if all I wanted to see was excellent kung fu. I don't think I'd watch Secret Rivals again. Maybe it was well regarded for its nostalgia factor or because it was rare once upon a time. Five stars for some of the action. one star for everything else.

[Tosh]

Well, I liked the first one better, I think Falkor summed it up pretty well why, it's just an all around better movie, that last fight in the 2nd one is great though.

[Squid Lips]

Saw this on Ebay.... Death Duel LD....

my.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyeBay (http://my.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyeBay)

[Lei Kung]

I agree with falkor assessment of part 2. It seemed like a ripoff of the first one with more fights thrown in, typical bad sequel, but not awful. Part 1 is the only movie I have ever lost, ever. I opened it one day and the disc was gone and I have no idea who I lent it to. Looks like I'll be getting the Soulblade release from what everyone says. I had the Crash version before. I'll never forget the scene where Silver Fox makes his grand entrance to the theme of 007. Is the Soulblade release subbed or dubbed?

[jadebadger]

Again, anywhere in the States to buy Soulblade releases, or is it cheaper just to buy from the UK?

Thanks!

[Linn1]

they have it for around $20.

[jadebadger]

Rats, they only got SR II, for $24.

Thanks though!

[Senor Quack]

Jadebadger...try blahdvd.com where I got mine:

Secret Rivals - Soulblade DVD (http://www.blahdvd.com/blah/DVD_Product.aspx?productid=DVD-SB004-VB)
Price is 12.99 pounds sterling, with free shipping. At current exchange rates that's about $25.50 U.S. (not too much more than the CDWow rate quoted).

I didn't realize the exchange rate was so poor at the moment! I bought this disc for the same price (12.99 pounds) several months ago but at that time it came out to only $19.00!!!

[jadebadger]

Thanks for the info. Yikes! Maybe I'll wait til right when the tax return hits and try to sneak that one past the wife. not that her haircuts don't cost twice as much. :o

[Chen Zhen]

falkor has some great points. i guess SR1 didnt do it for me cuz at the time i was watching too many late 70s/early 80s shapes films. the action in 2 was quite superior, but i agree that the story and heart and all that in part 1 was better. i just couldnt get into the action, save for the nunchaku fight.

[Chinatown Kid]

Chen you need to see Slaughter in San francisco, Wong Tao does a Bruce Lee(kinda) and gets to kick Chuck Norris's ass! Good early 70's cheese....

[The Dragon]

One of the first films to focus on the 'Two against one' formula and set a new standard with choreography geared toward an unconquerable villain. Hwang Cheng Li worked in this role and made John Liu and Don Wong look great. All three were superb onscreen fighters and the formula was copied hundreds of times.

...Rarely exceeded.