So... does anyone like.... KUNG-FU????!!!!

[R4L]

In all seriousness. I'm an intermediate in kung-fu movies, but lately I haven't been able to find any decent films.

Bruce Lee doesn't count, because I find his movies to be extremely boring. I'm more of a Jackie Chan person any day. His fights are choreographed brilliantly, and all at an extremely fast pace (I'm looking at you Dragon's Forever, Wheels on Meals, Drunken Master...)

I've seen a little Jet-Li... nothing great though. Hero is good though, besides being completely unbelievable with it's fighting scenes. They were still awesome and beautiful though. I'm currently going through some of Issac Florentine's movies, and still nothing too impressive, besides Undisputed II, which was amazing. Ninja is OK. Cheesy as all hell, but the fighting is decent.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm more of a Jackie Chan/Sammo Hung fan. Hap-kido is one of my favorite kung-fu movies with Sammo Hung. Mainly for long, fast scenes. I could name a dozen movies I love off the top of my head. However, I CRAVE MOOOOOOORRREEEEEE!!

So, this is mainly a discussion on the topic, and a place to suggest other movies. Would love to hear if anyone else shares the same crazy passion for these movies!  

EDIT: Also, because it's about 7 AM here, and I'm bored.

[Babar]

We have our own resident warrior Barbarian, who almost featured as one of the kung-fuing mini-bosses in a Jackie Chan movie. He hasn't been online in about 3 weeks, though.

As far as movies go, I have absolutely no knowledge of "styles" and stuff, and I usually enjoy kung-fu as a backdrop to comedy (with movies like Shaolin Soccer and Kung-Fu Hustle).

[R4L]

We have our own resident warrior Barbarian, who almost featured as one of the kung-fuing mini-bosses in a Jackie Chan movie. He hasn't been online in about 3 weeks, though.

As far as movies go, I have absolutely no knowledge of "styles" and stuff, and I usually enjoy kung-fu as a backdrop to comedy (with movies like Shaolin Soccer and Kung-Fu Hustle).

Haven't seen Shaolin Soccer, but I have seen Kung-Fu Hustle, which is one of my favorites.

And that's amazing, to almost work with Mr. Chan himself!

[Calin Leafshade]

I consider myself to be a Martial Arts movie fan.. theres just something about them.

My favourite is Jet Li's Hero which i wholeheartedly recommend to the entire world without exception. Fucking ace. It does come under the heading of "Wire Fu" but the cinematography is absolutely stunning. Ditto Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

[kconan]

  Donnie Yen (also in "Hero") is quite good, a handful of his movies are worth a look like "Dragon Tiger Gate" and "Flash Point" provided you can ignore the cheesy plots and focus on the action.  "Kill Zone" was also a fun martial arts flick; Sammo-Hung is in that one as well.

  Tony Jaa is pretty amazing, though his movies are very cookie-cutter in terms of plot even by the standard of the genre.

  As for women, the lead in the movie "Chocolate" is flat-out awesome, though I haven't seen anything else she has done.
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1183252/

[Igor Hardy]

I'm a massive martial arts fan as well. Also of the more fantasy version of the kung fu world from the wuxia films.

Of course Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Tiger are just cheap (I mean visually expensive, but cheap in spirit) versions for the masses.

I also love when martial arts show up in adventure games :

http://www.hardydev.com/2009/04/01/top-7-martial-arts-fight-scenes-in-adventure-games/

I especially recommend Barrier by AJA.

[Stupot]

One of my favourite martial arts films is Iron Monkey.
It's kind of in a similar vein as Crouhing Tiger, but I think it was earlier.  Just an all round good yarn.

Also, how about Ip Man and Ip Man 2?  (not kung-fu per se, but both great films)

[Mouth for war]

I used to train Wing tsun actually so yeah Kung-fu is my cup of tea...Huh?!?! you got a problem? I'll kick all your asses Can't believe you don't like Bruce Lee movies though! Enter the dragon gives me fond childhood memories

[selmiak]

have you seen Born to fight already? If not, do so! Then maybe some ong bak and stuff...

[Ghost]

Kung Fu Panda. Seriously. It's totally a Kung-Fu movie, and not a bad one to boot. And Jacky Chan does voice acting for the monkey.
(Oh damn, I can see this backfire.)

[R4L]

I heard both Ip Man movies were good, just haven't gotten around to watching them.

have you seen Born to fight already? If not, do so! Then maybe some ong bak and stuff...

Haven't heard of it... and I have Ong Bak on this laptop. I'll definitely give it a whirl!

I used to train Wing tsun actually so yeah Kung-fu is my cup of tea...Huh?!?! you got a problem? I'll kick all your asses Can't believe you don't like Bruce Lee movies though! Enter the dragon gives me fond childhood memories

It's not that I don't like them, I just prefer fast paced combat.

One of my favourite martial arts films is Iron Monkey.
It's kind of in a similar vein as Crouhing Tiger, but I think it was earlier.  Just an all round good yarn.

I'll watch that on Netflix tonight! Iron Monkey, I mean.

I'll be back tomorrow with my thoughts on some movies if I can actually watch them. I can watch Iron Monkey right now, and Netflix has Ip Man. I'll get around to watching Ong Bak sometime too.

I recommend Hapkido if you can find it on the internet. It's got an early Sammo Hung, a young Carter Wong, and the awesomely sexy Angela Mao, kicking ass. The story is actually not bad either IMO. Here's an IMDB link.

EDIT: Also, 12 Swords is epic, so is 13 Assassins, which obviously follows Seven Samurai (or is it Seven Swords?) in the same spirit. Drunken Master is a classic as well.

[R4L]

Sorry to double post. Just didn't want to have a huge post clustered.

I watched Ip Man 2 last night, and it was pretty awesome.

[monkey0506]

I don't watch them often, but I can definitely vouch for Shaolin Soccer, and most of the Jackie Chan stuff I've seen is pretty good.

Kung Fu Hustle is on G4 right now, so I'm checking it out...and so far...I'm liking what I'm seeing.

Oh, also, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist!

[Babar]

Oh, also, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist!

Yeah, I was going to mention that, but does it really count?

[R4L]

I'm not sure lol. I don't think so, since it's more comedy then anything.

[monkey0506]

I've got nothing against subtitles, but if I was going to watch a foreign film, there's a good chance that I'm going to watch the English audio version wherever available.

And let's face it, audio dubs of kung fu films are notorious for being hilariously bad. That was one of the very motivations for Kung Pow! And then add in the fact that most of Kung Pow is just clips from other existing films...

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist! is a bad audio dub of a remix of several other films, with connecting original film recorded, and high utilization of special effects to create continuity and additional footage.

So in what regard does it not qualify? Because I could point out a dozen kung fu films without trying that are guilty of exactly the same things.

[R4L]

I've got nothing against subtitles, but if I was going to watch a foreign film, there's a good chance that I'm going to watch the English audio version wherever available.

And let's face it, audio dubs of kung fu films are notorious for being hilariously bad. That was one of the very motivations for Kung Pow! And then add in the fact that most of Kung Pow is just clips from other existing films...

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist! is a bad audio dub of a remix of several other films, with connecting original film recorded, and high utilization of special effects to create continuity and additional footage.

So in what regard does it not qualify? Because I could point out a dozen kung fu films without trying that are guilty of exactly the same things.

I just meant that it's more of a novelty. Like Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, etc... just poking fun at the genre.

[monkey0506]

I have to disagree with you there, in that I don't think Kung Pow is of the same nature as Scary Movie or Disaster Movie. Those films are single purpose: they spoof the genre in question.

Kung Pow has a duality of genres in that it is still just as functional as a kung fu flick as it is functional as a comedy. It uses the exact same mechanics, and most of the actual fighting sequences are taken from existing kung fu films. Yes, it was created for the sake of comedy, but you can't look at a film such as Shaolin Soccer and tell me that comedic value is an automatic disqualifier, even though it was a clear goal of the production from the start.

Kung Pow is closer to the nature of the Simon Pegg and Nick Frost films such as Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. Films that have equal quality in their face-value genre as they do in the parodic/comedy genre.

Scary Movie, Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, etc. do not make any serious attempt at fulfilling the needs of the stated genre, as they are exclusively spoof films. Kung Pow does not fit this category.

Now I haven't see Kung Pow in several years, but I'm surprised that you would even try and lump it in with those films. Sure, it's a goofy little spoof of a movie, but it is still totally functional in the kung fu regard.

Edit: I'm probably coming on a bit strong with this defense about Kung Pow being a kung fu film in its own right. In any case, the film has been mentioned, we're all aware of it and what it is (or isn't). So this is getting a bit off-topic. Not trying to derail your thread, but I didn't have much to add.

Does the Jet Li film "The One" count? I recall enjoying that.

[Stupot]

While we're on the subject of comedy/spoof, I just thought I'd interrupt to recommend Black Dynamite to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.  It is one of the funniest films I've ever seen and has more than enough Kung-Fu to qualify for this thread.

[selmiak]

Kill Bill is more of a revenge movie, but there are some kung fu homages in it especially in Vol.2. If you don't know it already you will like it