Kung Fu Battles Compilation?? (1 Viewer)

[Fred Bang]

Hi,

i 'm looking for some kind of Great Kung Fu battle compilation. Do you guys know if one exists? It would be great to have the spectacular battles from Drunken Master, Twin Warriors and other classics without having to buy each and every separate DVDs. (I personnaly find the non battle segments of these movies rather boring)

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

I don't think there's anything that specifically covers what you're looking for, but there are a couple of documentaries that come close. One is THE ART OF ACTION: MARTIAL ARTS IN THE MOVIES, a made-for-cable doc hosted by Samuel Jackson that features a good overview of the history of the form, with a few clips from early silent pictures and plenty of stuff from 60's and 70's Shaw stuff, through 80's Jackie/Samo stuff to some of the 90's stuff, including bits of Jet Li pictures, and, somewhat incongruously, too much footage from CROUCHING TIGER. It's reduced to $6.00 at Deep Discount:

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=COL008476

Better, in my opinion, though older, is the Fred Weintraub produced documentary THE DEADLIEST ART: BEST OF THE MARTIAL ARTS FILMS from 1990 and hosted by ENTER THE DRAGON'S John Saxon. This feature length doc consists largely of footage from Golden Harvest (the studio that financed it), so you get plenty of highlights from work by Angela Mao, Jackie, Sammo, Yuen Biao, Bruce Lee, Cynthia Rockrock (her HK and US films) and several others. Unfortunately, the last several minutes devotes too much time to wanna-be-but-never-were direct-to-video gweilo "martial arts stars" who toiled in Robert Clouse's latter day garbage, but all in all, a decent documentary. Sadly, I can no longer find the region-free HK DVD of this. I suspect it's out of print, so you'll probably have to wait until Fox reissues in on DVD over here, or grab this VHS version:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...video&n=507846

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I'd suggest Ultimate Fights.

http://www.lasersedge.com/item_detai...27840&tMedia=1

Not all Kung Fu, but it's well represented. Contains scenes from Legend of Drunken Master, Rumble In The Bronx, Black Mask, Fist of Legend, First Blood, Timecop, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Snatch, Gladiator, Crossing the Line, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Blade, Scarface, The Killer, The Players Club and They Live.

 

[Citizen87645]

You might also want to give "Ulitimate Fights" a rental. It might not suit your tastes though.

Some of the best documentaries on martial arts I've seen (and not that I've seen all that many) have aired on the Discovery Channel. Not sure if they have VHS tapes available, but I'm holding on to my off air recordings as long as I can.

 

[Raphael]

"BEST OF THE MARTIAL ARTS FILMS" is a Region 0 disc that contains a lot of vintage footage from around the 80's, nearly all Hong Kong productions. You'll get a lot of Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, and Yuen Biao. The video footage itself is rather spotty, but you get a lot of bang for the buck and only a few stinkers in an otherwise great 90 minutes.

Unfortunately, HKFlix.com which normally stocks this disc, states that it's out of stock. Try finding it on e-Bay, because it's definitely worth a look if you want a fights compilation.

 

[Sean Moon]

I would like an ULTIMATES fight DVD as well, but there is so much to choose from out there, and some of the best stuff does get kind of thrown to the side and ignored in favor of the more well known and popular stuff.

I am looking forward to getting a DVD burner soon, so I can just make my own little greatest hits disc. Every few nights at my place we swap discs every ten minutes or so just watching fight scenes from movies. Right now, the stuff I would recommend hunting down to be amazed are coincidentally, all Jackie Chan. Wheels on Meals, which has one of the best fights ever. It features Jackie vs Benny the Jet Urquidez. AMAZING.

Who am I? is from late 90s featuring Chan vs two guys on a roof, one being Ron Smoorenberg, an amazing TKD artist.

But the fight that has me the most in awe is YOUNG MASTER, which was released by Fox back in May for only like $8 or so. The final fight in this film is 17 minutes long...13 of those minutes Jackie only touches his opponent twice. He is too busy getting his ass handed to him. Just amazing to watch.

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

This is the same film as DEADLIEST ART mentioned in my post above. I actually have the RO disc from years ago. Sad to see it's not longer available at the usual sites.

 

[Fred Bang]

Thanks for all the replies. Could you guys point me to the best fights ever? I'm no expert, but here is mine (for the moment):

1- The first battle in HERO. (Amazing)
2- The all-weapons fight in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
3- Every battle in Twin Warriors
4- The last battle in Drunken Master
5- The "ladder" battle in JACKIE CHAN'S First Strike

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

The battle on top of the flaming posts at the climax of Yuen Woo-ping's IRON MONKEY (94) is particularly fun.

The battle between Cynthia Rothroch, Michelle Yeoh and a house full of goons at the end of Corey Yuen's YES MADAM (1985) is another classic.

The running forest battle between Donnie Yen and a village full of attackers in Yen's LEGEND OF THE WOLF is pure exhilaration

The final swordfight between Damian Lau and Norman Tsui in Ching Siu-tung's influential DUEL TO THE DEATH.

The battle with Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Joyce Godenzi and many others in the Ken Adam-style underground lair in Sammo Hung's EASTERN CONDORS (1987).

Jackie Chan vs. Benny Urquidez in the dining room (?) in WHEELS ON MEALS (1983/4)

Jet Li and Colin Chou in the kitchen in Corey Yuen's BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING (1994)

You can find most of these movies super cheap (and legit) from Hong Kong retailer www.dddhouse.com

I'll post others as I think of them.

 

[Alex Prosak]

How about the final, ladder battle in Once Upon a Time in China I.

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

Good one, or Jet's final battle with Donnie Yen in ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 2. Two excellent real-life experts duking it out.

 

[Ted Lee]

i just recently saw another documentary called chop socky.

http://www.ifctv.com/ifc/what?CAT0=4...0A8EC&AID=7287

it was pretty similar to the one hosted by samuel jackson. they mention a lot of the same innovators, movies, etc.

 

[Citizen87645]

Here are my favorites that haven't been mentioned yet:

1. Fist of Legend - Pretty much all the battles are incredible and at times brutal.
2. The Prodigal Son
3. Shaolin Master Killer - Favorite battle is when San Te battles the monk with the twin butterfly swords.
4. Snake in the Eagles Shadow
5. Drunken Master