MovieChat Forums > Bulletproof Monk (2003) Discussion > This is getting old...

This is getting old...

posted 22 years ago by Anonymoo-2
9 replies | jump to latest

No, not the fact that Bulletproof Monk is a HK-inspired American flick. That isn't really a bad thing. Off the top of my head, I can name at least a couple dozen recent American and European movies that draw tons of influence from HK cinema.

I've been waiting for this movie with baited breath, mainly 'cause Chow Yun Fat is so freakin' awesome. And to get to see him do even a LITTLE BIT of martial arts in not just one, but TWO movies? Count me in.

What's getting old is this whole "Matrix/Crouching Tiger ripoff" BS. Just 'cause somebody's seen a few MA movies that've been released in the US, doesn't make 'em knowledgeable on the subject.

You can take a boxing class for one day, and you still won't be able to box as well as somebody who's been trading punches all his life. You'll be amazed just HOW MANY Hong Kong movies have wirework, intense CGI-riddled fight scenes, and people getting kicked through walls. It was being done back in the day with cheap special effects, and it's still being done today, with MUCH higher budgets.

So, technically, is every kung-fu movie released a ripoff of old Shaw Bros. flicks? Is every fight scene a carbon copy of the late and insanely great Kwan Tak-Hing's extensive serial Wong Fei-Hung movies?

Kevin Smith was right. People do use the internet to bitch about movies. Funny, that.

[–] 22 years ago

[deleted]

[–] illeatyourdog 22 years ago

I dont beleive that many movies can be compared to the Shaw brothers movies becuase those involved actors that were intensly trained in martial arts and, from what I have read about them, there is no wire-fu or anything, what u see was actually done( well Legend of Drunken Master, as well as many other Jackie Chan movies can be compared since he rarey uses wires or CGI) . Not to mention that the Shaw brothers, again based on what I have read about them, were extremely violent and gory which American martial arts movies, at least, tend to be a bit on the tame side when it comes to violence. And you should really include Bruce Lee becuase he was the guy who brought HK martial arts into the American mainstream and the classic scene where he takes on like 50 people, has been done time, and time again in countless martial arts movies both American and Asian. It is almost a requirment that for an actor to be taken seriosuly as an martial artist, he must take one an army fighters with nothign more then nun chucks , sticks, or a bo heh.

[–] Anonymoo-2 22 years ago

Funny thing is that a lot of Shaw Bros. movies were FULL of wire-fu (trust me, I have a couple dozen of 'em), and most actors relied on stunt doubles to take hard falls and do the fancy techniques (ever notice that it's always to the actor's back when he does something really cool, or his hair's in the way?) As for them not being too violent... in one, I saw the hero lose BOTH his arms, and continue fighting with his feet, with blood spilling everywhere. What was even more hilarious is that after he killed the bad guy, his master reconnects his arms with "Healing Qigong." Heh.

About Bruce Lee as a heavy influence on modern martial arts flicks... hell yes. While not the undefeated master everybody thinks he is, Bruce left a massive impact on how we view martial arts--fights aren't these beautiful things where somebody attacks you, you do fifteen blocks, and end up in a stance. Bruce put that idea, that fights are UGLY and HARSH, into his movies, and that's what made him so amazing. Without him, we probably wouldn't have any Jackie Chan, Jet Li, or (God help me, I'm actually gonna say it) Steven Seagal.

And yes, sadly enough, in order for an actor to be taken seriously as a martial artist, he has to take on an army and win. UNARMED. Something that NOBODY can do. Oh well, that's what makes movies so fun!

[–] bananaman2000 22 years ago

Saying that the Shaws Brothers films were all Martial Arts films and very bloody is a vast generalization. They did make other genres besides Martial Arts. They did everything! They even owned Amusement parks! Yes, some of the movies were incredible bloody, especially the movies directed by the late Cheng Cheh, John woos mentor. But other Martial Art films, like King Hu, who was the David Lean of Martial Arts films, sometimes had very little fighting. King Hu's film, Touch of Zen, was in fact the inspiration for a lot of Crouching Tiger.

[–] DeRaiLer 22 years ago

Your right about all the whiners saying its like the matrix. they act like the matrix is the friggin bible. get over it, it was eye candy for 2 hours, nothing more!

No, No! I'm not a vampire. I'm a driving instructor from Johannesburg!

[–] onekarta 22 years ago

A driving instructor? From Johannesburg? I haven't heard a Young Ones reference in years!!! Thanks!

[–] DeRaiLer 22 years ago

You busted me, onekarta! Oh the shame.......

No, No! I'm not a vampire. I'm a driving instructor from Johannesburg!

[–] Inu_Ranma 22 years ago

The matrix did have a decent, original, and surprising plot as well...

[–] public_enemy 22 years ago

Original and surprising?

No way!