Reviews

Lady of Steel was the first of two Shaw Brothers films Cheng Pei Pei made in 1970. While Pei Pei shone like a jewel the action and story were rather lackluster.

Fang Ning and Chao Hsiung stop at an inn on their way to delivering one million taels of silver to flood victims. The nefarious bandit Han Shi Xiong not only robs them but murders Fang and his family. Chao manages to escape with the youngest Fang daughter. After he dies in the woods, Priest Xuan Zhen takes Ying Qi in and teaches her martial arts. This was before the invention of the training montage which means Ying Qi ages in a matter of seconds and has also become an accomplished swordswoman. She desires revenge against Han but first she’ll have to deal with the Jins who have invaded. On the way to the Flying Dragon Fortress with her letter of introduction she ends up in a fight with a beggar clan who is threatening Wei Tong Ming. She jumps to his defense not knowing he was in league with Han. This pits her against the Beggar leader until she realizes he is the good guy and Wei is the bad guy. Wei also discovers her secret and tells Han who is now called Cai Yi and is duplicitously working with the righteous leader of the Flying Dragon Fortress! From there Ying Qi must face double crosses, multiple ambushes, and wear several disguises until she finally uncovers the truth and acts on her revenge.

Cheng Pei Pei had the opportunity to show off some of her acting skills as she dealt with treachery and took on several different personas. Yueh Hua was a supporting character who only showed up briefly when Ying Qi needed him. Huang Tsung Hsun and Lee Wan Chung made for devious villains. The standard revenge plot was thin and redundant more often than not. Although there were many fights, for the most part they were rather dull. They used the swipe and fall style of choreography with the assistance of some wire work. Cheng Pei Pei and Yueh Hua had a flirty fight in the beginning. Her fight with Lee Wan Chung during a fireworks display had some colorful flashes as the fireworks wrote out “longevity.” There were a few moments of inventiveness in the finale, but even those times were few.

Through no fault of Cheng Pei Pei’s, Lady of Steel wasn’t bad, it was just the kind of lukewarm film I’ll forget very soon because it didn’t have anything memorable going for it. Her next film, Brothers Five, had well choreographed fights and more charismatic characters if you need a better Pei Pei film to watch.

13 Dec 2023

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girl action with political critique and good fight choreography

Sukeban Deka The Movie functions as a epiloque to Sukeban Deka 2, bringing back the beloved characters of the series with better acting on the actresses side, specially Yoko Minamino, who finally blooms as a great actress (far more convincing than in the series...). The movie brings a recurring dilemma of Japanese media until now: an old and traditional generation vs a new and rebellious youth - the main villain is an obvious reference to right wing politicians that flerts with military.

it's a genuinely good watch, filled with action, some mystery and social critique. The direction is vivid, the weight of the story is much more connected to the Sukeban Deka context of the original story and the fight scenes... It actually had GOOD COREOGRAPHY! Not just some clips of playing yoyo on enemies...

A true improvement from the Sukeban Deka 2 series.

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the whole film is about someone who have seen himself as a character in the play of Nagata

Even i was really waiting for a happy ending like marriage or both changing to the better but even the ending was like that i really apparecaited it was dam realistic. I was quite enjoy this piece of art i really felt i was watching a play where I can see myself both ans Nagata or Saki. Maybe all the time we were like Saki in the public watching this play trying to figure out how this toxic relationship will end and if both of them will survive or not without the other. Nagata was such unique character we really can feel that he was not the right men for her,but we still always trying to give him a chance to chabge.Saki was the classic japanese girl who is ready for everything for her lover but she reach the point of autodestruction she cannot sacrifice herself more than that. Their relationship was really rare to be seen in movies or dramas or whatever this is the realisim the truth of being into a relationship is not all about kiss or sex is about loliness, obsession and facing struggles.The part that made me really appreciated the whole movie was the ending its a goodbye messages and also a dream that will never happen.

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Despite flaws in writing / characterization, entertaining action movie with beautiful filmmaking

This action movie has a pretty simple and straightforward premise carried by some beautiful filmmaking and solid acting. It is pretty short but delivers efficiently and brutaly on the action side.

The story is very predictable (even the endingwas super obvious while satisfying) but it is enteraining and well-paced. I wish the characters would have been more developped as well as their respective background but the writing did not really focus on building them. That's why the protagonists and antagonists seems pretty caricatural.

Fortunately, the acting convinced me much more than the writing of the characters. Jeon Jong Seo is quite good in the action sequences and Kim Ji Hoon is adequately playing this repugnant villain.

The biggest asset of the movie resides in its filmmaking, there are really a lot of beautifully filmed scenes and the saturated colors of the decors are working superbly bringing the story together. It gives an indie feel but with big budget at the same time, with some strong artistic choices. The music did not leave a strong impression on me but was okay overall.

I would recommend this movie to people looking for an action movie and who enjoy revenge trope. It could have been much better in terms of scenario and characterization but it has a nice pace and with very pleasant for the eyes filmmaking. Be mindful of the triggers as it is very violent and includes a lot of problematic and traumatic elements.

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Ending was rushed, but otherwise great!

==Breakdown==
Background plot - 50%
Romance - 45%
Misc comedy - 5%

Background plot - Excellent
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Good, not great

The last 15 minutes felt incredibly rushed, and that made me sad because up to that point this movie was SOOOO GOOOOOOD!!! This would've been best as a 4 part miniseries rather than a 1.5 hour movie. Also, the ML and his smoldering eyes were everything.
Overall, the world building and the story were fantastic and the chemistry between the two leads was lovely.
I do want to note that the script/dialogue was pretty good, but there weren't many words spoken. Most of the movie was comprised of acting without words. Lots of action, longing stares, and inner monologue. If inner monologue and a very abused heroine are a turn off for you, this one might be hard to watch.

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A GREAT SACRIFICE, STILL WITHOUT OFFICIAL EXCUSES

"A nation should not meddle in the affairs of other nations. Do you believe the US will abide by this pact? If it does, the civil war in Korea is not a problem. If it goes to war, it will undermine China's internal security."


"The great war" starts with the decision of Chinese central government to enter the "War in defense of Korea against US aggression" , with the great deeds of the heroic volunteers of the people in war to resist aggression and help North Korea, after the US and South Korean attack on Chinese territory too. This is the first film in a trilogy that adapts a series of 3 novels.
To be closer to the volunteer soldiers of the 1950s in terms of physical fitness and mental temperament, the 300 actors who played the roles of the soldiers underwent rigorous military training for a month, with war scenes shot with 8 cameras simultaneously by multiple sides.
To better adapt to the physical condition of Premier Zhou who worked all night and did not sleep during that period, Liu Jin who played him also changed his work and rest schedule.
Zhang Ziyi collected a lot of data and also visited elders who had served as simultaneous interpreters at the United Nations, and took English classes to practice British pronunciation.
The war to resist US aggression and help Korea was the founding battle of New China.
The film adopts a narrative strategy that develops at an internal and external level, of politics and war, first the USA and Russia, then Korea.
On a broader level, the film represents elements that have never been depicted before, such as Chinese representatives and their impassioned speeches at the United Nations General Assembly, to also make China's voice heard.
Actor Wu Xiuquan, representing the Chinese delegate, raising his hands at the United Nations General Assembly, exemplifies a relationship between national dignity and individual life, giving a frontal blow to the invaders on the battlefield.

Another praise that I would like to give to the film is the figure of Mao Zedong's son, Mao Anying played by a very good Wei Daxun, one of the Chinese martyrs of this war (where China emerged from 38 years of civil war and an aggressive foreign), who died on the battlefield while sending telegraphic messages and various communications and who was buried in Pyongyang.
The topic of the movie is something that deeply interests me, and i am happy that i t shows with great impact that Chinese victims are all aged between 18 and 30.
It's one of those films that makes me love China even more and their patriotic spirit to the maximum, ready to sacrifice and fight, because without a homeland there is no home.

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Wonderful and depresding at the same time

puh, what can I say about this. I felt so depressed after watching this and liked it at the same time.

I would have liked, that the pair would end up in a kind of happy end. But - and that was my feeling from the beginning - they are to different and it would be to unbelievable.

At first he wanted to help her because of her disability. After he realized her pretty face he got more and more interested in her life and lost interest in his current sex benefitted friendships.

After they open up to each other, they live together. He helped her currently with her disability, but you see: he is pretty, tall, well educated... During this time, there are so much unlucky undertones in the behavior of both.
The moment he was happy to see the negative pregnancy test.
The permanent sad eyes of her.
The depressing living area. The kind she is related to him.

At the end, there is a scene, where both visit Scotland- and while I felt happy for them, it left me in disbelieving. ...and it was truly only her fantasy, because he moved on in the meantime and would marry another woman. This is like the world goes round, but it is so sad.

The actors are all very good and the film is slow, but at the same time rushed. There are no unnecessary scenes and we know about the situation within a few sentences.

I enjoyed watching it, but wouldn't watch it again, because it left me depressed. If I give my living time to films, it should cheer me up with magical and unrealistic love stories.

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Someone pass the tissues

This is quite a disturbing film, made worse with the knowledge that it is a true story!
It is incredibly heart-wrenching and I feel like it just sticks to you, even after it has ended; it is almost cemented in my memory.
Some scenes seemed too real/almost unnecessary for me though. Thinking about how the child actors must've felt whilst filming somewhat graphic scenes... This leads me to something I truly commend. The child actors in this movie were incredible! They yanked at your heartstrings and showed true pain, fear, and anger. I cannot get over how well they played their roles, especially having not only to play abused children but deaf children as well. I feel like they all portrayed their characters well.
Similarly, you do boil with anger at the main culprits' sick, twisted views and actions. Obviously, they too played their roles well, considering how rage-inducing it was to watch them. To think that they represented people who actually did these things to children.... and how they looked down on the kids and saw them as less than human, simply because of a disability..... disgusting!

All in all, it truly is a gut-punching sad and uncomfortable film.

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Good action but underdeveloped story

I know nothing of what this is based on, I watched it because I'm quickly becoming a fan of Mackenyu so no regrets on that front. I wish every Japanese live action movie had this level of VFX, which was decent (and loads better than FMA, for instance), and fighting choreography - not necessarily *that* quick a pace, because it does hamper the credibility, but the realness of it – minus the blood/bruises. (Feed us whump damn it! Yes I know it’s PG-13 but like… bloody noses??)

Liked:
- the opening, it's very Wonder Woman in its slow mo god action
- Mackenyu, literally star of the show (he is Very Pretty)
- the action, as mentioned, it doesn't have that fake layer that often cuts short my immersion in Japanese productions
- most of the cast: lol, hello Boromir (we knew Sean Bean was gonna Sean Bean right?), hello Wo Fat and Dr Jean Grey
- knights had their magical girl transformation moments lol (feels very Power Rangers and other Japanese superhero shows I don't watch but entertaining ish)

Disliked:
- plot/story, very little explanation of the world, the powers, background for most of anything
*which later has me !?!?! about Seiya not being covered in bruises or injured at all despite his numerous beatings, was it ever explained Cosmo can, idk, HEAL!? (Except for when Guraad steals it by murdering kids, I guess)
- dialogue, it's cheesy/cliche/not very inventive 95% of the time though it has some quips that, even though predictable, were enjoyable, the rest of the time it's meant as info dumping/relating but not very artfully done
- the set up for romance, just because people touch an item at the same time doesn't mean they fall in love ok?? I'm glad it didn't happen but I fear that if a sequel were to follow, it would, and it's unnecessary
- costumes, like breast-shaped armor? Really? 🙄 Doesn't actually work then but FINE, if it's the ~only~ way we know Marin's a woman, er mah gerd. Similarly, the knights' armors were. Ehh. Low budget detail work I guess, what I've come to expect in CGI heavy productions
- some casting choices, I guess? Idk what it was about Sienna that had me :/ but ehh. Also these names... idk man, for Guraad I wouldn't expect a very white looking person? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Nero's voice, why are you talking Like That?? And a few others who keep to that low register, unnecessary~~ y'all not Batman
- lack of time with characters not Seiya, it just made it very hard to believe his reactions:
*assuring Sienna she wouldn't destroy the world because he "just knows" like, my dude, you've literally spent less than 48hrs with her??
* "I let her get taken. I failed." Sorry, it was never all that cleared you were fully, 1000% on board with protecting/guarding her?? Just that you had her back, maybe!?
* lol when Nero says "that's not your friend anymore" idk dude, they were BARELY FRIENDS?? Ahem.

Smaller pet peeves:
- escape the mansion with Seiya to go talk on... a pier?? Okayyyy, forget that there were literally armed guards there and presumably other safety measures to stop her leaving the mansion? No? RHOKAY, I know they just needed to not be at the mansion for the villain arrival but, eh
- why are the guards wearing sunglasses indoors (in the DARK)?? Are they Special sunglasses?? Y'all were gonna get your asses kicked anyway
- hah, of course everything gets blown to smithereens except Guraad, who has neither strength nor ability to hold herself in place like Seiya (Nero has, miraculously vanished, but hey at least he lost his shirt too!), make it make sense

If you want a decent movie with a solid plot, don't watch this. Do skip through this for Mackenyu's action scenes, but otherwise, give it a pass and watch something better.

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"It will be invincible!"

Brothers Five was a Shaw Brothers extravaganza featuring Cheng Pei Pei, Lo Lieh, Chang Yi, Chin Han, Yueh Hua, and Kao Yuen. Unlike some of the SB movies with visibly break-away sets and cheap costumes, the sets, costumes and scenery were all high quality for the genre.

Yan Hsing Kung (Cheng Pei Pei) is on her way to the Tenglong Villa aka The Flying Dragon Villa when Kao Wei stops the driver of her carriage from whipping the horse and man who rented it to him to death. Turns out he is one of the 5 Kao brothers (#4) who were separated when they were young after their father was murdered by the current owner of Tenglong. Each brother has a horizontal scar across his hand so that they would be able to recognize each other. Yan’s father had saved the boys with each one of them going to a different place to live. Yan has been searching for them to bring them together. Brother #2, Kao Hao, had become a blacksmith with no martial arts skills but could swing a mean hammer. He enters into a fight with Tenglong men and heads to the Villa for personal revenge. Brother #1, Kao Chih, a scholar from Shaolin, runs afoul of Tenglong minions in town and also makes his way to the villa. Outnumbered and outmatched the two brothers are saved when Yan intercedes. Brother #3 owns an escort service which is ambushed on his way to the temple to meet up with Yan. Yan was only to stop one brother from attacking Tenglong Villa by himself which became repetitive, even comical after a while. Finally, #5 Kao Hsia, turns out to be a flamboyant thief who robs from the rich. Now the band is all together and introduced to each other. The five are not skilled enough on their own to take down Lung and his Golden Sword. Much to their amazement, Yan has a secret manual that describes the Invincible Five Tigers as One move! What luck! There are exactly five brothers!

The cast was amazing. The heroes and villains, with the exception of Kao Yuen, gave strong performances. Lo Lieh was a delight as the impish thief. Cheng Pei Pei was charismatic as the woman who fulfilled her father’s vow to find the brothers, reunite them, and point them in the direction of Lung to avenge his old friend’s death. Tien Feng as the Big Bad could always be counted on to turn on the menace. Wang Hsieh and Ku Feng joined him as creative weapon carrying baddies.

Sammo Hung had a tiny part as one of the escort members. He also choreographed the fights along with Simon Chui. Many of the numerous fights were filmed at a distance and involved large numbers of men fighting one or two heroes. For 1970 the sword fights looked quite good and I liked that they weren’t move two steps, cut, edit, add another sequence. You could see some misses and the actions could be slow at times, but overall, the actors were required to remember complicated choreography while fighting in large groups, in long unedited shots, with a variety of weapons being used. Copious amounts of blood also flowed, not Chang Cheh amounts, but enough to make it look realistic. Cheng Pei Pei is one of my favorite female kung fu actors. Not only could she move well and sell the action, she could also act which was not always common in this genre. I loved that she came to the men’s rescue on more than one occasion. Chang Yi was the strongest fighter of the heroes even if his acting wasn’t as strong as Lo Lieh’s. Lo had a particularly funny and heroic encounter when he first visited the Villa. This cast was huge, and the number of recognizable stuntmen from the credits was staggering. Most of the fights were large groups and the stuntmen sold the action-flipping, flying, and getting slammed to the ground. Trampolines and wire work were utilized with the wire work not always appearing fluid. The weakest element of the fights was the Invincible Five Tigers as One skill. It was laughably bad, as in I laughed hard when they finally used it.

Brothers Five would have gone down as one of my favorite old kung fu movies except for what seemed like a counterintuitive reason---the fights were too long. As each brother was introduced, each had to fight a gang of men in long drawn-out battles. After the second fight it began to wear thin. Clocking in at around 100 minutes, the majority of the time was used for these protracted fights. Had they trimmed the fight scenes I would have rated this much higher. The cast alone was like catnip to me. For fans of old martial arts films, this is definitely one to try. Even with the redundant fighting at the villa’s gate it was an entertaining movie.

12 Dec 2023

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a simple but rewarding watch

i know most people like blockbusters but this was a solid 10 stars for me just because of its simplicity. it was beautiful, nostalgic, sweet and funny. there's no flaws. the pacing is perfect, the soundtrack is gorgeous, the cast were wonderful in their acting and each character was developed beautifully and emotionally. and although the characters are so realistic, they almost feel like anyone you could know, they still maintain such a simultaneous uniqueness that makes them so refreshing. it doesn't always have to be a heroine with a tragic backstory to get you crying, sometimes it's a sweet small town romcom <3

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Korean Beauty And the Beast?

If the goal of the film was to demonstrate how many people treat others as less than human, then the film succeeded in its goal. If the goal was to demonstrate that we should treat everyone with a level of love and respect as human beings, the film comes up a bit short.

Kim Sun Yi is a young, and rather sickly girl, living in a very small, rural village with her mother and sister. We can see her life is rather mundane, and she finds small pleasures in writing until she comes across a South Korean experiment gone wrong.

Enter Cheol Su, a young man in his late teens who has been locked up and used in some kind of backward experiment with animal and human DNA. Initially, all Sun Yi sees is a wild animal who eats like one and largely behaves like one. Her mother takes the boy in, and cleans him up, even though she’s unsure of what to do with him.

Sun Yi is initially disgusted by Cheol Su’s lack of table manners until she finds a book about how to treat dogs. She uses this book to train Cheol Su to only eat upon her command. We find that Cheol Su can understand Korean, due to the professor who was raising and experimenting with him. Whenever Cheol Su does something correctly, he gets a pat on the head, much like a dog.

Seok Ji Tae is the town rich boy and thug. He owns the house that Sun Yi’s family is living in. He’s a largely uninteresting and rather cliched villain of the story, which tends to play out like a Korean version of “Beauty and the Beast.” Of course, Ji Tae attempts to brazenly demand Sun Yi’s affections and becomes violent when he doesn’t get them, making him a far greater monster than Cheol Su could ever be.

The film is a touching one and the performances, especially by the film’s two leads in Bo Young Park and Song Joong Ki are especially poignant. However, the chemistry goes little beyond the affections of two people, but rather a woman and a man she perceives as an animal (even if a benevolent animal at that); like a beloved pet.

The story would have been better served had Sun Yi begun to see Cheol Su as a person, and yet she’s never really one hundred percent sure. In the end, she says that she doesn’t care if he’s a monster. It would have been more powerful if she had told him that she knew he was a human being and not a monster. His violent actions are always done to protect her as well as those around her, but she’s unable to truly see past his animalistic qualities.

In the end, despite living alone, we see just how wrong Sun Yi was about Cheol Su. Just because a person doesn’t speak, doesn’t mean that they can’t, and perhaps she learns something about how to treat others. This film had the potential to be so much more than it ended up being.

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Overall... it's just okay.

Unfortunately, it was a bit on the mediocre side, if not leaning towards bad. The movie had the potential to be an engaging murder mystery but it messed up by revealing everything too soon and by being predictable imho. There were some visually appealing shots (the pool scene!!!) but I don't think that makes up for the rest of this mess.

Oryo was great as always and such a dreamboat... However, the chemistry between him and Miyazaki Aoi was seriously lacking. The supporting characters were rather uninteresting, except for the role portrayed by Yoshida Yoh, who stood out as magnificent and fabulous whenever she appeared on screen. Her charisma is simply unmatched.

Overall... it's just okay.

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nothing new under the sky

I didn't expect it to be a movie, thought it was a drama. relieved it was just a movie, would have been so disappointed.

that's just another palace intrigue. the story isn't as unique as I thought while reading the synopsis. I think they tried to tell a story to complex for the movie duration. so it ends up with a lack of depth. I would have loved being told about how these matchmakers learned how to do their work.

I didn't like the actors. there is just something odd about how all the movie was bring together.

this is just bland, and coarse. I don't recommend.

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Social Class Struggle but cool

Snowpiercer is dystopian, futuristic, sci-fi film. Directed by Bong Joon-Ho who explores the social class structure of a society now bound to living on a train around the world that never stops. We enter the train at the very back where life resembles living in the slums. Curtis Everett and some others are tired of living in such terrible conditions and proceeds to set out to reach the front of the line.
This movie is so creative in terms of discussing issues of social class. The way the society has developed is quite realistic in my opinion and I think the idea of such a futuristic world is not entirely implausible. There is definitely elements of brainwashing used by those in charge for the purpose of maintaining complete control over the people on the train and avoid resistance.

The ending of the movie is really unique there are some startling aspects about the train that we learn about through the course of the movie. We also learn more about the outside world and its condition.
Overall a great movie I have re-watched several times and highly recommend!

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