Post by brutalis on Feb 13, 2020 9:10:38 GMT -5
Long before there was the Marvel Movie Universe or the DC Movie Universe on the big screen for us comic book lovers, there was early super heroic derring do up on the the big screen delivering thrills, action and fights galore. But it wasn't coming from Hollywood. Rather it was the Martial Arts craze delivering the goods. The biggest and baddest company providing the very best in Martial Arts Kung Fu thrills was coming from the SHAW BRO's. Imported from Hong Kong to theaters across the USA in the mid 70's you could find your super hero action up on the silver screen with Chinese Martial Artists doing the spectacular and exciting fights which comic books could only dream of. They were capable of doing things you only saw superheroes doing and doing it with style, flair and all kinds of acrobatics that take your breath away when watching.
Shaw Bro's was showing Hollywood how to make fun, action packed and exciting heroic style movies. The heroes in the Shaw Bro's all embodied what we comic book readers already knew and loved: strong moral ideals, standing up for the little guy, never backing down from evil doers and only fighting when you absolutely had to and doing it with honor. True Super Hero ideals embodied in the discipline and skills these Martial Artists trained hard for.
The actors becoming living weapons and showing their heroic skills handing out justice to evil lords and villains everywhere. From such Directors as Chang Cheh, Lau Kar-Leung and Yuen Woo Ping giving actors with names you could never remember or pronounce like Chiang Sheng, Sun Chien, Philip Kwok, Lo Mang, Wei Pei, Lu Feng, Wang Lung-wei, Ku Feng, Chi Cheng, Kuan Tai Chen, Alexander Fu Sheng, Ti Lung, Lo Lieh, Jimmy Wang Yu, David Chiang, Bolo Yeung, Gordon Liu, Phillip Kwok, Yuen Wah and others their moment of hero worship. The names you may not know, but perhaps the movies you remember and watched: One-Armed Swordsman
, Return of the One-Armed Swordsman
, Have Sword will Travel
, The Chinese Boxer
, King Eagle, The Deadly Duo, 5 Fingers of Death
, Heroes Two
, Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
, Five Shaolin Masters
, Flying Guillotine
, Black Magic, Shaolin Temple
, The Brave Archer
, China Town Kid
, The Deadly Mantis
, 36th Chamber of Shaolin
, The 5 Deadly Venoms
, Invincible Shaloing, Crippled Avengers
, Shaolin Rescuers
, The Daredevils, Magnificent Ruffians
, Kid With the Golden Arm
, Ten Tigers from Kwangtung
, 2 Champions of Shaolin
, Flag of Iron
, Rebel Intruders
, Masked Avengers
, House of Traps
, Five Elements Ninja
, Ode to Gallantry
, Shaolin and Wutang, Shanghai 13, Heroes of the East
, Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Clan of the White Lotus
, Legendary Weapons of China, House of Traps
, Eight Diagram Pole Fighter
and Opium and the Kung Fu Master
. These movies were weekend highlights for us eager young comic book readers in bringing the action from art drawn pages to full blown life.
And some of the best of these movies were from Chang Cheh and a group of men he brought together in 1978 through 1984 in order to crank out multiple movies quickly, efficiently and professionally superior to what other companies were creating. I am talking about a rotating group of men who most know as taking their name from their 1st movie together: The VENOMS! This group of actors was in constant flux over the years as fighters would come and go and new recruits being added, but the "team" worked together and are now world renowned and famous to millions. Every single movie they worked on together was never linked together like Marvel or DC do now, instead the unifying factor was that you would see the same faces and fighters in different while yet familiar roles. Shaw and the Venom's were there 1st creating something special that has evolved into a format we enjoy today with our live action comic book movies. It was wild watching and learning about these stunningly skilled artists while seeing them perform in differing character modes. I grew up following the Venom's every weekend at the Drive-In, watching with my dad and brothers the all night marathon viewings of their movies back to back to back until the sun rose all summer long on Friday and Saturday nights. Then in the 80's and 90's you could find these movies on cable stations across the USA, normally with titles like Kung Fu Theater, Black Belt Theater or some such derivative naming. Whichever form your 1st experience was with these phenomenal actors, I guarantee you quickly had no choice but becoming a fan!
So folks, did any of you ever see these Chinese Super Heroes up on the big screen or television screen over the years? Many of the movies were all imported here and readily available on DVD/BluRay. Do yourself a favor and check them out if you have never seen them, or take a moment to re-watch and re-live some early Super Hero action done Old School before CGI came around. You won't be disappointed!
Shaw Bro's was showing Hollywood how to make fun, action packed and exciting heroic style movies. The heroes in the Shaw Bro's all embodied what we comic book readers already knew and loved: strong moral ideals, standing up for the little guy, never backing down from evil doers and only fighting when you absolutely had to and doing it with honor. True Super Hero ideals embodied in the discipline and skills these Martial Artists trained hard for.
The actors becoming living weapons and showing their heroic skills handing out justice to evil lords and villains everywhere. From such Directors as Chang Cheh, Lau Kar-Leung and Yuen Woo Ping giving actors with names you could never remember or pronounce like Chiang Sheng, Sun Chien, Philip Kwok, Lo Mang, Wei Pei, Lu Feng, Wang Lung-wei, Ku Feng, Chi Cheng, Kuan Tai Chen, Alexander Fu Sheng, Ti Lung, Lo Lieh, Jimmy Wang Yu, David Chiang, Bolo Yeung, Gordon Liu, Phillip Kwok, Yuen Wah and others their moment of hero worship. The names you may not know, but perhaps the movies you remember and watched: One-Armed Swordsman
, Return of the One-Armed Swordsman
, Have Sword will Travel
, The Chinese Boxer
, King Eagle, The Deadly Duo, 5 Fingers of Death
, Heroes Two
, Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
, Five Shaolin Masters
, Flying Guillotine
, Black Magic, Shaolin Temple
, The Brave Archer
, China Town Kid
, The Deadly Mantis
, 36th Chamber of Shaolin
, The 5 Deadly Venoms
, Invincible Shaloing, Crippled Avengers
, Shaolin Rescuers
, The Daredevils, Magnificent Ruffians
, Kid With the Golden Arm
, Ten Tigers from Kwangtung
, 2 Champions of Shaolin
, Flag of Iron
, Rebel Intruders
, Masked Avengers
, House of Traps
, Five Elements Ninja
, Ode to Gallantry
, Shaolin and Wutang, Shanghai 13, Heroes of the East
, Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Clan of the White Lotus
, Legendary Weapons of China, House of Traps
, Eight Diagram Pole Fighter
and Opium and the Kung Fu Master
. These movies were weekend highlights for us eager young comic book readers in bringing the action from art drawn pages to full blown life.
And some of the best of these movies were from Chang Cheh and a group of men he brought together in 1978 through 1984 in order to crank out multiple movies quickly, efficiently and professionally superior to what other companies were creating. I am talking about a rotating group of men who most know as taking their name from their 1st movie together: The VENOMS! This group of actors was in constant flux over the years as fighters would come and go and new recruits being added, but the "team" worked together and are now world renowned and famous to millions. Every single movie they worked on together was never linked together like Marvel or DC do now, instead the unifying factor was that you would see the same faces and fighters in different while yet familiar roles. Shaw and the Venom's were there 1st creating something special that has evolved into a format we enjoy today with our live action comic book movies. It was wild watching and learning about these stunningly skilled artists while seeing them perform in differing character modes. I grew up following the Venom's every weekend at the Drive-In, watching with my dad and brothers the all night marathon viewings of their movies back to back to back until the sun rose all summer long on Friday and Saturday nights. Then in the 80's and 90's you could find these movies on cable stations across the USA, normally with titles like Kung Fu Theater, Black Belt Theater or some such derivative naming. Whichever form your 1st experience was with these phenomenal actors, I guarantee you quickly had no choice but becoming a fan!
So folks, did any of you ever see these Chinese Super Heroes up on the big screen or television screen over the years? Many of the movies were all imported here and readily available on DVD/BluRay. Do yourself a favor and check them out if you have never seen them, or take a moment to re-watch and re-live some early Super Hero action done Old School before CGI came around. You won't be disappointed!
