what are the "essential" Chinese movies (e.g. To Live, Raise the Red Lantern, etc.) (1 Viewer)

[James_M]

The Essential (mostly action) Chinese Movies:

A Better Tomorrow - John Woo. Chow Yun Fat. Guns. And they even have a good story to back them up.

Autumn's Tale - Chow Yun Fat, light romance in New York, almost no action

Drunken Master II - Jackie Chan's last greatest film is hard to find outside the raped dub version by Disney.

Enter the Dragon - 'nuff said

Fist of Legend - Hard to find outside a raped dub version by Disney. But Jet Li and Yuen Woo Ping's best.

Fong Sai Yuk - Jet Li shows off his charming personality on wires

The Killer - John Woo and Chow Yun Fat will never reach the height of this movie again.

Prodigal Son - great showcase of Wing Chun

Shaolin Challenges Ninja - Fantastic displays of Chinese vs. Japanese martial arts

Shaolin Temple - Jet Li's first movie displays incredible wushu skills

 

[Sam_K]

The latest movie of Zhang YiMou is "Hero". It has just been nominated for Oscar's Best Foreign Picture. It is the most beautiful and artistic movie I have ever seen. No DVD out yet. Don't know if it is released in US yet.

Another is "Infernal Affairs" from Hong Kong. DVD just came out this week. Great movie.

 

[Rick Deschaine]

I definitely agree with;

In the Mood For Love.

 

[VincentY]

just saw "Shaolin Soccer". i must say, it is not for me. it's sort of slapstick humor coupled with modern day coupled with fantasy kung fu coupled with "indiana jones"-type special effects.

gosh, this dvd, along with The Chinese Feast (which i saw about a week ago), are so very disappointing for me. i guess now i know that i'm into slapstick humor, in any language.

overall, maybe i'm more into the zhang yimou's dramas. "To Live" (aka Lifetimes) was just so very effective for me.

thanks though for the suggestions. please keep them coming!

 

[Yue-Keen Fan]

Another is "Infernal Affairs" from Hong Kong. DVD just came out this week. Great movie.

Sam_K, it was not only a great movie. It has a good story line, great cast, great acting and a great looking DVD release.

The DVD is a 2-disc release and it includes a Cantonese DTS 5.1 track, anamorphic and has an alternate ending.

 

[VincentY]

i just got the Farewell My Concubines dvd. somehow, i had to wait for it even though i thought it's been out in dvd for a while. this version is the director's cut and widescreen (according to the website at least, we'll have to confirm by looking at the actual item - something i've learned from numerous inaccurate website descriptions).

 

[VincentY]

finally found and got Xiu Xiu - the Sent down girl. it isn't available on the usual dvd etailers.

i'm still struggling with whether or not to bother with buying a region-free dvd player. the 520 will be superceded by the 600, and who knows what the 600 will be like in terms of quality control and performance? heard some decent things about malata, but also there are a good number of postings re: the build quality/service problems. yet, the others don't have xy scaling/zoom (like the jvc).