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I enjoyed this kung fun movie which was more sword fighting than hand-to-hand. The plot was coherent, the sword fights were creative and entertaining, the story moved along at a good pace, and it actually had a proper ending. Too many kung fu movies throw up the ending credits the second the final fight is over. This one took a couple of extra minutes to wrap the story up. Lo Lieh also pulled one of the best moves I’ve ever seen in a sword fight when his sword was broken.
This movie must have been remastered because the color and lighting were vibrant. The outdoor sets were well done, especially the kiln scenes. Given it was a Shaw Brothers movie the indoor sets had enough wooden furniture and walls to be broken to bits during the fight scenes. Unlike some kung fu movies the acting was natural and not over the top. Lo Lieh, Li Ching, Wang Hsieh, and Chen Yan Yan did admirable jobs of conveying their parts.
There were no snakes in this movie, despite the title, except for the sleazy human kind. People did lose body parts during the fights-a forewarning if you are very squeamish.
Valley of the Fangs was an entertaining way to spend 90 minutes on a Sunday night.
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Lo Lieh is trying to find his master who was betrayed by his own brother. Besides betraying his brother, Carter Wong is busy manipulating a tournament to select the next chief so that it will end in his favor. Lo Lieh goes for the twofer and attempts to find his master and stop Carter Wong. There are double crosses, double-double crosses, twists and turns and of course a lot of fighting. Killer from Above does inject a little levity into all the death and betrayals.
The biggest drawback to this movie is the camera work. It’s like the director figured out some tricks he could do with the camera and threw in a lot of ridiculous shots: the swirling shot, upside-down shot, rapid close-ups and the like. Fortunately, he seemed to tire of them after the first quarter of the movie and settled down for the rest.
I’m always pleased when a kung fu movie has a plausible plot and follows through fairly logically and the twists and turns make sense. In that, this movie succeeded. Above all, Killer from Above has a great cast-Lo Lieh, Carter Wong, Lung Fei, and Cliff Lok. I grade Kung Fu movies on a different scale because these movies were for a specific audience 40-50 years ago. Killer from Above may not be an award winner but Lo Lieh and Carter Wong were entertaining, the fights were good and the story was engaging. If you enjoy kung fu movies, it’s not a bad way to spend 90 minutes.
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Were the bad guys drug dealers, counterfeiters or just bad guys in general?
The music ranged from Lethal Weapon rip-off riffs, to organ music from a 1950’s Dracula movie, to music your brother wrote in the basement on his cheap sound effects keyboard, to literally an Anne Murray country song.
The lighting was awful. If Donnie Yen is in a fight scene, the audience should be able to see him at work. At other times, the director kept using shots either super close-up or shots looking up the actors’ noses.
The only redeeming qualities for me were Donnie Yen (always!) and Roy Cheung. Donnie excels at playing the quiet, brooding good guy. Roy Cheung’s charisma came through even this script. Both were way better than the material they were asked to bring to life.
If you are a fan of bad 1990’s cop flicks or a Donnie Yen completist, this movie may be up your alley. For others, you may want to skip this one.
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This review may contain spoilers
I grade Kung Fu movies on a different scale, they were for a specific audience 40-50 years ago. This movie with Billy Chong was entertaining. He's the real deal, not just someone who looks like a fighter. The fights came fast and furious from the opening scenes to the last, more creative and acrobatic than bloody and brutal. The brief love interest was dropped as the fighting increased. This movie could have used more charismatic characters and even a modicum of character development or insight. As delightful as the fight scenes were it did start to feel like one too many drum solos. If you enjoy kung fu movies this one is worth giving a try to watch Billy show different fighting techniques. He's quick and agile and fun to watch, just don't expect much story to go along with his fighting skills.
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"Godzilla -- I was hoping I would never hear that name again"
The Return of Godzilla wanted to be a direct sequel to the original Godzilla from 1954. It was a stepping stone to the more modern Hesei era. Darker in tone, with endless political discussions it failed at being a bad good movie or a good bad movie and fell into the abyss of mediocrity.The threat of WWIII loomed over the beginning of the movie when a Russian sub was destroyed by an awakened Godzilla. Thinking it was the Americans everyone was on standby for world annihilation. Fortunately, the Japanese, who had been hiding the fact they knew Godzilla was stirring around once again came clean with the rest of the world and disaster, at least for the moment, was averted.
Serious does not have to be a synonym for boring. I wish that had been the case with this movie. Political discussion, urgent diplomacy, and the threat of nuclear disaster could be enormously thrilling if written and acted well. Again, not the case. With all the time spent on the humans it would have been nice if the main characters had been developed. Again, not the case.
By the time the big guy showed up stomping on the city I was almost on his side if it would stop the self-important discussions. This Godzilla still had the awkward look from the 70's era which was fine when there was an element of humor and it was aimed at kids. This Godzilla was supposed to be the world destroyer though and he wasn't very menacing looking even with the new razor-like teeth.
The action scenes lacked energy as well. I found myself wondering how many people went AWOL when they were assigned tank or helicopter duty in the useless task of shooting conventional and even laser weapons at Big G. There were a few call back scenes from the original Godzilla, but that seemed cheap as the original Godzilla actually had some depth to it.
The only version I had to watch was a badly dubbed version which didn't have much bearing on my rating. I'm used to dubs with Godzilla and kung fu movies. In this one the Russians sounded like they were from Scotland, the Americans all sounded like they were from the state of Texas and the Japanese accents ranged from British, Texan, and from Boston (city in the state of Massachusetts).
The trick to finally drive Godzilla away was fairly bizarre given the serious nature of the movie and quite frankly by the end I think he was just as anxious to leave that mess as I was to finish the movie.
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"Prison made me want to draw more!"
Utamaro and His Five Women told a fictionalized account of the famous Japanese painter who was arrested for not following the censorship laws in 1804 and was manacled for 50 days. The title stretches the premise thin as most of the women were far more involved with other men.Koide Seinosuke is furious that Kitagawa Utamaro has disparaged the art haven he works for and challenges Utamaro to a duel. Utamaro instead challenges him to an art duel which Seinosuke loses causing the young man to leave his art school and his fiancé whose father runs the famous school. He begins to follow Utamaro and experiences the floating world from an artistic perspective as well as a carnal one. Utamaro is utterly devoted to his artwork. Unlike others around him he is not consumed with love affairs that drive them to break hearts and even murder.
I’m always keen to learn about historical figures and Utamaro was an artist who works have survived through the centuries. He also heavily influenced the Impressionists in Europe. His incarceration shone a light on the detriments of censorship and artistic restrictions. While the film did focus on his compulsive need to be inspired by beautiful women and to paint, it strayed into obsessive love amongst his circle of friends. Two different love triangles developed which ended in tragedy.
Utamaro and His Five Women was an imaginative glimpse into the master’s work near the end of his career. I wish they would have explained more about his arrest and life which were glossed over. The melodramatic relationships were less enthralling to me as they showed the destructive nature of unrestrained desire. Okita’s desire was to experience love like Utamaro’s obsession with art, passionate to the point of death. Other women in the film thought of her as a role model while I viewed her as a cautionary tale. Seinosuke became a prisoner of his physical desire, something his artistic endeavors failed to live up to. Within this torrent of hormonal cravings or perhaps in spite of them, Utamaro found the inspiration for his paintings.
21 June 2025
Note: I could not find a restored version of this film. It could be quite blurred at times making it difficult to see the action or who was talking.
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This review may contain spoilers
Full disclosure, the eight-year-old in me cannot not watch a Godzilla movie when it comes on. I can always find some entertainment value in these kinds of movies, until today.I'll start with the good. The miniatures were amazing as always. The houses, cars, trucks, and trains were spot on. Godzilla was a little thin, but not the worst I've seen. Kong finally falls for woman who is not a blonde. Unfortunately, Fumiko spent most of her time unconscious while in Kong's hand. That's it. That's all I've got.
Now the bad. Whoever designed Kong had obviously never seen a gorilla. Or maybe it was a great costume to start with but was accidentally mauled by a pack of dogs and the production company was over budget and didn't have the money for a new one. The crowd overlays made the people look like blue ghosts. Kong can be controlled by a drink made out of the berries indigenous to his island. The locals get him drunk every night until he passes out to keep him under control. mmmmkay. The ending was an ambiguous mess.
Now, the really bad. I know that this movie was a product of it's times (1962) and we cannot retroactively go back and fix it. Having said that, seeing the islanders portrayed by Japanese actors in black face and curly wigs was a horrible sight for my modern eyes. This is not to disparage the Japanese, 1962 was a bad time where I live if you weren't white. Just to throw salt in the wound the company men on the island seeking Kong and the magical berries handed cigarettes out to the islanders to win them over---even the kids!
All of these movies are dated, but this one more than any other that I have seen does not hold up---at all.
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