The Asian movies thread!

[Barkworm]

This thread is to discuss and recommend Asian life action movies. Since we already had a whole thread about Casshern at the other boards my first recommendation is Jackie Chan's "Drunken Master II" from 1994. Anyone who has the slightest interest in martial arts movies should check it out.

[ThirdMarioBro]

I need to check that out. Still trying to find a movie better than Battle Royale. Martial Arts movies are the only ones that seem to come close. That, and I just like Jackie Chan.

[Barkworm]

Don't expect a deep story though, there's probably no scene without a fight or some stunts.
"Battle Royale" is great, I've read some reviews saying it was a senseless violence fest but I guess those people didn't get it. I try everything possible to avoid the second part, what I heard about it sounds absolutely horrible.

[ThirdMarioBro]

I saw the second one. It was absoulte crap. I could understand if it couldn't recapture what made the first one special, because it was, but they didn't even try in the slightest. Complete utter crap.

[Anarky]

Best asian movie I have seen to this date must be Shark Skin Man and Peach hip girl. Very funny. I think I'm going to get the DVD sometimes soon...

[ThirdMarioBro]

What were they about?

[Anarky]

it's actually one movie. It's about this one guy who steals Yakuza Money and then runs off, chased by the Yakuza, he meets this one girl, who is also running. Only that she is running from her Uncle (or something). The two join forces...

it's really weird, and there is this guy in white leather who is sniffing after people.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Yakuza and white leather huh? Sounds good to me. :D

[Voltron]

Godzilla! Gamera! Ultraman!

Drama! Action! Suspense!

[愛]

I've seen a fairly good amount of Asian movies in my day. Blue Light, Verses, Suicide Club, Battle Royale I and II, My Sassy Girl (Korean), Madeline (Korean), and a few various Chinese movies. Let's not forget the Godzilla movies. Oh man, are those great.

[Barkworm]

I never got into the Godzilla movies. I guess you need a certain kind of humor to enjoy them.

[愛]

Hey, to each his own. The bad dubbing just cracks me the hell up. That, and the rubber suit is so great. It makes for a more realistic movement, if you catch what I'm saying. The newer movies are still good, but they put a lot more into it, and it doesn't feel as old skool. I hear Final Wars is incredible, though. I can't wait for it to come here.

[Barkworm]

I just realized that I forgot two essential words in my last post. "...certain kind of humor". :lol: Well, it was too early in the morning...

[愛]

Gotcha.

Well, I just saw another Japanese movie tonight called "Last Present" starring Natsumi Abe (the plagiarizer) and Rika Ishikawa ("Charmy" from Morning Musume). It was about these two girls named Kyoko who were involved with this guy named Yoshiro. Yoshiro was hit by a car and killed, but he left a tape for one of the Kyoko's. He wanted to show her something, but he left too many loopholes. So they go searching for clues as to what it was. This all took place during the Christmas season, so it was an emotional movie. It even got me a few times. Normally, emotional films aren't my style, being a man of violence and all, but some of these movies really convey a powerful message weaved into the story.

[azure turtle]

I guess I'm in the minority who liked Battle Royal II. It certainly wasn't as good as the first movie, but I thought it was decent. The first half of the movie was my favorite, where the students learn of the new program. The second half resembled a poor war movie, so the cheese factor was high. Ah well.

I love watching martial arts movies! Hero just came out on DVD, and I really enjoyed that one. The fight scene between Jet Li and Donnie Yen was incredible. My other favorite Jet Li movies are Fist of Legend and the Once Upon a Time in China trilogy. For Jackie Chan, I really liked Drunken Master and the Young Master (has some very funny fight scenes).

[Voltron]

I never got into the Godzilla movies. I guess you need a certain kind of humor to enjoy them.


I love those movies. Some aren't that great, like Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla vs. Megagurius, but the older ones are timeless classics. Especially the one where Godzilla has to figure out the mystery of whose impersonating him. The ideas the east comes up with.

[That Matt Guy]

You guys really should watch Uchu Kaisoku-sen if you ever get the chance. Clumsy invaders from Neptune are thwarted by hero Space Chief and a nondescript group of microshort-wearing Japanese kids.

http://img110.exs.cx/img110/3706/spacechief3ky.jpg

[ThirdMarioBro]

In other words, a Godzilla movie in spandex. :lol: :lol:

[That Matt Guy]

Space Chief has got to be the worst interplanetary hero EVER. He didn't even do anything about the Neptunian threat until half of Japan was blown to pieces. I love these old movie posters though.

http://img95.exs.cx/img95/7817/princeofspace7al.jpg

[GK Punk]

That looks like a gay Meng The Merciless.

[That Matt Guy]

That poster is from Yusei oji aka The Prince of Space. Basically another wimpy looking hero takes out some ridiculous looking aliens.

[Brodie]

Everyone should go see The Returner.

[Ookami Blue]

Anyone here see Uzumaki?


THAT is an odd movie....


Good but odd....

http://www.mandiapple.com/snowblood/uzumaki.htm

[Dr. Doom]

Shoalin Soccer abd Volcano High are both fantastic.

[愛]

Oh man, Volcano High was amazing. Even the MTV version was entertaining. Great Korean movie.

[Barkworm]

I don't know, Volcano High had its moments but the fight scenes were too crummy IMO. I haven't seen Shaolin Soccer though, that movie looks hilarious.

[Dr. Doom]

Oh, it's fantastic.

Keep in mind, I'm no asian movie buff, those are some of the only asian movies (not released here and not anime) that I've seen.

[愛]

I don't know, Volcano High had its moments but the fight scenes were too crummy IMO. I haven't seen Shaolin Soccer though, that movie looks hilarious.

Always shooting me down... :cry: I liked it. Mostly because it had rappers for the voice dub.

[Naminé]

I really want to see Casshern, Cutie Honey Live. Oh, and Ju-On and the Ring also (the sequels) -- heh, all Japanese movies. There's also this Filipino movie called Feng Shui I want to see. I think the only asian movies I've seen are The Eye, Shaolin Soccer. :P

[愛]

Oh my God, Casshern. Wow. I mean, like...wow. Definitely worth a snag. I love that movie so much.

[Dr. Doom]

Always shooting me down... :cry: I liked it. Mostly because it had rappers for the voice dub.

I saw the improted version with the humerously inaccurate, punctuation-less translation.

[Barkworm]

Always shooting me down... :cry: I liked it. Mostly because it had rappers for the voice dub.
Aww. As I said the movie definitely had some good scenes and it was very funny but the fight scenes kinda ruined it for me.
And yes, everyone should watch Casshern. EVERYONE!!!

[Naminé]

If I can figure out how to get it. :P

[愛]

Well, it was licensed by...Dreamworks? So it's coming here at some point. You can also buy it now, but it would be in region-2, so you couldn't play it on your standard DVD player. The day it comes out here, it's mine. No questions asked.

[Barkworm]

There is that disgusting rumour that Dreamworks wants to remake it. No... just no...

[愛]

I wouldn't be able to handle that. I'd cut my throat before that happens. We always screw this stuff up. Godzilla, anyone? We just can't capture the magic that Japan tries to convey. No chance in hell.

[Barkworm]

There's a tiny chance that they let Kiriya do it. It wouldn't be the first time a Japanese director was allowed to make his own remake.

[愛]

Hm...that's tolerable, then. Kiriya does amazing work. His videos for his wife, Utada Hikaru, are proof of that, no doubt. As long as he has some influence, I guess it can't be THAT bad. I will always love the original, though. Man, what a film.

[Barkworm]

Yeah, it was awesome.It's coming to American and German theatres next year BTW. Although I hate to watch dubs I'm going to see it since I want to see it on the big screen.

[Spitfire]

I just bought the DVD of Hero. I tried to watch it dubbed but I got mad with-in the first 5 minutes because the dub dialog didnt match what the sub titles at the bottom which had what they were really supposed to be saying so I was reading the sub titles anyways. Needless to say I watch it with sub titles and not in English lol
Anyways I was wondering if anyone has seen this? When I first saw previews to it it looked like a lame overblown action movie but when I went to see it in theaters I was blown away. It had a great story and the action, though pretty much unrealstic, was perfect. The best part is that all of the fighting takes place with-in stories that two characters are telling one another. So no matter how outragous it looks it doesnt matter because its being told in a story. And a great story at that! Its such a awesome way of telling it. You get to hear 3 different versions of the same story told 3 different ways. Plus there are stories told with-in the stories. Each story has a different color theme which I thought was really neat. Anyways I really liked it
Did anyone else see it?

[damnhooligan]

I bought the DVD a few weeks back, without hearing anything about it, save for the cast: Tony Leung, Jet Li, Maggie Cheung and Donny Yen. The who's who of Hong Kong cinema.

Beautiful film making and wonderful acting, even though the story is a bit convoluted in places. I had to exercise a bit of patience when it came to the plot, but all in all, it was worth it.

[Barkworm]

I was a little disappointed when I saw it, I had expected the Martial Arts scenes to be better. It's still a great movie though.

[Wes]

Hmm... trying to go with films nobody's mentioned yet. Naked Blood (http://www.scary-crayon.com/spectare/nakedblood/) (WARNING: There are some pretty graphic scenes in the Scary-Crayon summary/review... in addition to spoilers galore) gets my recommendation, if only for that one scene. Moon Child (standard, non-summary SC review pending on that one), starring Gackt of Malice Mizer and Hyde of L'arc~en~Ciel is fantastic, too. Kairo's being remade by Wes Craven, but honestly I wasn't too keen on the Japanese film version... and has anyone seen The Quiet Family? Excellent Korean black comedy that was later remade into a musical by Takashi Miike (the guy responsible for Ichi the Killer, which I'm shocked nobody's mentioned yet -- IMHO, it's hardly worth the hype and praise it's garnered from others). How's that?

Aaaand I hope everyone has a happy new year!

[XERO]

I always thought Jackie Chan's Project A was a really awesome martial arts movie.

Not only because of the fancy fight scenes and crazy stunts, but it also featured Jackie's two 'brothers,' Samo Hung and Yuen Biao. Those guys rocked! 8)

[Shadow Leonardo]

yes I'm a kaiju(japanese monster) fan I love Godzilla I have most of his movies recorded. I can't wait till Godzilla:Final Wars as Peter Griffin would say "Freakin Sweet"!

[愛]

I managed to secure a Casshern DVD. I watched it again, and now I'm chain watching it. It is simply incredible. The story is straight-forward until near the end. The movie is visually stunning. The characters are well-developed, and the music soundtrack is simply amazing. It's definitely one of my favorite movies of all time.

Simply put: this movie is a masterpiece.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Sounds interesting....

[Barkworm]

Describing the story of Casshern as straight-forward is maybe a little misleading. :lol:

[愛]

Well, definitely not in a bad way. I never got lost for the most part. The point of the movie was clear as day to me until near the end. Then I was like, "...okay, what the hell." But it's still a masterpiece. I can't describe the movie any other way.

I'm watching the movie as I post this. I've had it on repeat for a while now, with few interruptions to watch Suicide Club and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.

[Barkworm]

It really is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I always get a kick out of the thought that it didn't cost more than 6 million US-$ (at least that's what most internet sources say) and looked so incredible.

[Spitfire]

I saw House Of Flying Daggers last weekend. That movie blew me away! Really good but not as good as Hero. I love the story though and the characters are really neat. DVD worthy

Ai do you need a special DVD player to watch the Casshern DVD?

[愛]

Well, the DVD I have is Region-Free, but if you straight up buy it off a website like YesAsia, it'll be Region-2, meaning you'll need a special DVD player (or a DVD player on the PC) to play it. You'll need to do some modifying for the PC DVD player, though. It comes with excellent English subtitles, though.

[Spitfire]

So what your saying is I need to get a burned copy that is region free? Maybe I should just hope that it is dubbed and brought over here. The dubbing will suck but I can always watch it with sub titles like I do with Hero
Why do they do the stupid region stuff? It makes buying forgein movies diffcult

Thank You

[Kid Icarus]

Diffrent regions have diffrent frame rates and technical stuff like that, or at least that's how it was explained to me.

I wanna see that Flying Daggers movie... wasn't it made by the same guy who did CTHD?

[愛]

It's coming here. Dreamworks bought the right to it. The nature of its presentation is unknown, though. It might be dubbed, it might even be remade like what Barkworm said. I don't know. If it is redone, I'll buy the original. If it does come here in its original form, I'll be buying it and throwing my burned copy out, or give it to someone.

And it's true, the framerates are different. Since my copy was originally region-2, the framerate sometimes jaggers a bit. It's not noticeable by the normal person, but someone like me who plays a lot of games takes notice.

[Barkworm]

I wanna see that Flying Daggers movie... wasn't it made by the same guy who did CTHD?
No, that was made by Ang Lee. Flying daggers is from the same director as Hero (Zhang Yimou).

[Spitfire]

If they re-make it, the world is over. Theres no way Amercian movie studios could make the movie as good as it is.

Trunks it is made by Yimou Zhang who made Hero, which I thought was better then CTHD but thats just my opinion.

Ang Lee did CTHD and he also did Hulk*Ewwwww* He did The Devil's Ride too which people think influenced Resident Evil 4. But I think RE 4 is obviously influenced mainly by "VIllage Of The Damned"

[Kid Icarus]

I think RE4 was influenced by Shinji Mikami's need to scare the **** out of everyone. Again.

[Spitfire]

Sadly its not scarey, well not to me anyways hahaha

You guys should see Devil's Ride Ive read its good I think Im going to rent it. And Im going to rent Village Of The Damned again

[DrSpengler]

I'm a huge Godzilla fan. Just 4 DVDs away from having a complete set. :)

But aside from Godzilla, I just watched Ju-On last night.

It's a MUCH better version than the Grudge. It had better scares, a less confusing plot, and a better ending.

I wasn't expecting the Japanese version to be better. I thought the American version of the Ring was superior in every way to Ringu. But Ju-On really was more entertaining. All the goo scares in the Grudge were taken directly from Ju-On. Unlike the American version of the Ring, there was no originality to it.

So as a big horror movie fan, especially of haunted house flicks, I enjoyed it a great deal.

[raphael_is_cool]

Twin Warriors is my favourite Asian film. So awesome

I'm hoping to see Infernal Affairs, sounds like my sort of film

[HorseTechie]

Twin Warriors... yes! I also can't wait to see House of Flying Daggers too. Looks wild. 8) Saw the Grudge (and the Eye)... creepy. I think the Grudge was a tad better this time. The Ringu was the better of the other two.

Been though a bunch of Japanese samurai movies last fall, some good... some bad. "Seven Samurai" is the best, hands down of course. Newer ones we liked was "Samurai Fiction" and "Red Shadow". Those two were connected to each other. Red Shaow was like a sequal of the ninja in Samuari Fiction. Very amusing. There were also Onmyoji, Gojoe, and Taitachi (Legend of the Blind Swordsman).

Since hubby is Korean, there's a bunch of good Korean movies worth seeing too. My husband's favorite is "Freinds" (Chingu). It's about four guys who grew up as tight friends, got thru highschool, and then break off on their sepaerate ways in gangs and college and as drug dealers. But no matter what life dishes out, they still do what they can to still together.

There's also "My Friend, My Boss". It's another one focused on the mobster gangs, but over a high school. Dramatic, has a good many fight scenes, but also has some funny moments too.

A newer one "Going Home". More of a life drama that could be considered a "chic flick". A young spoiled boy learns how to love and understand his 'mute and dumb' grandmother. I thought it was cute. :)

Last but not least... "The Brotherhood of War" (Tae Guk Ki) "A drama about the fate of brothers forced to fight in the Korean War". The trailer looks so awesome. Hubby has heard that it was a very popular hit in Korea last year too (like Saving Private Ryan or Passion of the Christ big). Unfortuantely, we have not seen the English version relaesed over here yet. He said it would cost about $35 if he were to buy the Korea version now. So we wait. Rrrr... :ohwell:

[ThirdMarioBro]

I want some gorey Japanese slashers and ninja slashers. Any recomendations?

(don't say Battle Royale ;) )

[Barkworm]

I've never seen it but I think Ryuhei Kitamura's "Versus" should be interesting for you then.That movie is supposed to have zero story and nonstop gory katana and gun action.

[愛]

Oh man, Versus is a QUALITY movie! There is practically no story at all, and 2 hours of violence....really graphic violence at that. I highly recommend it.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Thank you *runs to ebay*

Nothing beats a good ole fashion slasher.

[HorseTechie]

Oh god... yes. Versus is all that. I was like... "This is a stupid movie... when does it end?" :P It has a sequel too, I think. Primus forbid! :lol:

[愛]

How...dare you call Versus a stupid movie. Man, that movie is great. That guy running the prisoner over? He was so happy with himself! That movie was an acid trip and a half.

By the way, Ichi the Killer is at Best Buy for $12. I recommend getting it to Asian movie fans.

[TerranigmaFreak]

Ah, House of Flying Daggers. It brings back such wonderful memories... wonderful memories of me ripping a movie to tinny little pieces. House Of Flying Daggers is without a doubt hands down the worst movie I've seen in a long time. I'll post a review a little later, let me fill you in on another disappointing movie first.

Godzilla Final Wars. Now I haven't seen the movie myself but I am an active member of a Godzilla forum, and this movie is causing a huge Final War within the Godzilla community. Most of the well respected members(they're insiders) hated this movie. This is causing a huge flame war that's still going on right now. There are people who are utterly pissed off by this movie, and people who loved it. I haven't seen it, but even before the reviews came in, all my worst nightmares were coming true. Not a good sign for when I do get my hands on the movie.

Now comes my House Of Flying Dagger review...

THE REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS!!!!

The movie I'm talking about is House Of Flying Daggers. Let me ask you, is this movie a comedy? I certainly laugh out loud during many of the "so bad it's funny" scenes. Whether it's the ultra lame "kung fu" to the hilarious special effects of the flying daggers. Is this a softcore porno flick? Well there's the mandatory rape scene shoved into every movie. This movie is like Power Rangers with sex.

The plot is predictable at best. They used every cliche you can possibly think of. Bath scene, dude's gonna peep and get found out? Check! Plot twists you can smell from a mile away? Check! Random crap shoved in to the story which has no real revelance to the main story whatsoever? Check! Two dimensional characters with the IQ of a turnip? Check!!!

Please keep in mind that I'm watching this on a bootleg DVD. I have no clue whether the subtitles are the same as the real one. I'm just using the names of the characters I see on the sub. Oh and one more thing, the subtitles lose the charms of the hilariously bad dialogue. The comedy is more obvious when you understand Mandarin, and that's where most of the hilariously bad dialogue comes from.

Mei - I was really hoping I would be spared of 2 hours of misery. Hey, at least I knew Zhang ZiYi wasn't bad to look at. When the opening text scrolled across, I thought this movie might actually be good. Of course then Zhang ZiYi appears looking like a constipated chimp cross with the Joker, I really wished the movie was over. Mind you, the make up was kinda traditional, but then Zhang ZiYi just looks really funny in that get up. The scene wouldn't be as ridiculous if she didn't put on a singing performance worthy of Ashley Simpson. Where's William Hung!? He could be singing "She bangs! She bangs!" in many scene during the movie. Of course the plot twist involving her being blind could have been smell from a mile away. What gave it way? Besides the fact that she ran through a forest without slamming head first into a tree? Or the fact the she could go solo even after Wind boy left her? Sorry, I forgot to leave my brain out the door when watching a movie.

Wind Jin - I have no clue what's his name in english. It's sometimes Wind, sometimes Jin. Playboy who gets played and falls in love for real... My advice, stick to Onimusha. NEXT!

Leo - Why is it translated to Leo is beyond me. He would have been cool, had they not shoved a plot twist into it that has absolutely no impact on the story whatsoever. Oh look, he's actually a part of the flying daggers. Go figure. The fact that the lady wanted to personally kill him partically gives it away. Did you for one second think he was gonna really die? Yeah whatever he loves Mei, jealous of windboy and fights him. Yawn. If there was any real character development, I would have actually cared. Since there's no character development, you just somebody dies and let the movie end already. Thank god somebody does die.

The overall plot is just crap. It's a lame ass love story dropped in a historical setting. The corrupted Tang dynasty was falling apart, you'd think there's an epic struggle, instead we get Zhang ZiYi getting banged left and right. Seriously, none of the government thing even matters in this movie. It's just a lame ass love story that shallow as it is predictable.

They try to be clever like telling Leo to return with a dagger in his shoulders to prove that he was attacked. Yeah well, obviously the government would believe you if you had trek 3 days with a dagger in your shoulders and not once did you bother to try and remove it(and it makes the final battle even more silly).

How did those soldier with the swords end up in the bamboo forest? Not the first scene, but during the final battle. They probably felt the flying dagger guys' chi. Or maybe the planet a spidey tracker on one of them.

Commander: Suppress your chi men. We're approaching the hideout of the flying dagger guy. We'll surround them first, then we transform into Super Sayians at all once!

You call it martial arts, I call it wire work. If I wanted to watch a martial arts movie, I would have at least like to see some real martial arts, not this laugh out loud Power Ranger stuff. Watching the martial arts scenes was like watching a circus being performance using CGI. You'll have to excuse me while I laugh at the dagger time animation. Somebody didn't tell the Chinese guys that the Matrix was dead.

I don't know what was more hilarious, the soldier battle in the field of flowers, or the bamboo javelins. You can see the wires on the soldiers when they slide down the bamboo. Hey, it's kinda like spiderman, except they shoot webbing coming out from their ass.

My advice, watch this movie when you're drunk. Or watch Power Rangers when you're drunk, it makes no difference. Except it's in Chinese.

[Demented Utrom]

Shaolin Soccer was a good laugh.Hitting soccer balls with Matrix moves.A pretty decent comedy.It used tons of GCI for just a comedy movie.

[Barkworm]

I finally saw Shaolin Soccer and it's totally hilarious. If you like Asian goofball humour, this is for you.
I also saw Jackie Chan's "New Police Story", which was not as good as I hoped it to be but still very good.