I hope you've enjoyed this week we've spent enjoying Hong Kong and what it has to offer to the world of cinema!
I adore films from this part of the world. They are so unique, so confident in what they are, and so enjoyable! They made their movies for their people, and gave them all the emotion, humor, and action they could for the price of a ticket! Because of that, we get some pretty cool, crazy, awesome stuff!
We started with a classic Jackie Chan, Operation Condor (1991), a classic Chan filled with humor
and insane, non-wire fighting stunts all done by himself. This film was also dubbed, the Hong Kong non-dubbed version impossible to find (unless you're from Europe, or, like, um, Hong Kong). It is how I first saw it, and despite the dubbing, I fell in love with Jackie Chan.
- Did you like this movie? Why or why not?
- Did the english dubbing bother you, or were you ok with it?
- Enjoy this film in comparison to Operation Condor? Did you like it better in the actual language, no dubbing, but with subtitles, or not?
- Did you like the wire-fu fighting or Jackie's no-wire fighting better? Why?
Forbidden Kingdom (2008)! An American made Kung Fu movie, but one where you can tell the Pacific Rim was a love letter to Japanese monster movies.filmmakers LOVE Hong Kong cinema. This movie is essentially a big love letter to Kung Fu movies, like Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim is a love letter to Japanese monster movies.
- Do you think it is cool that people from other countries try to mimic another country's style? Why or why not?
- How did you like this movie? Did you feel like the American writer and director did a good job making a Hong Kong film?
- Of the three films we watched for our week in Hong Kong, which one did you like best?
Maddi
ReplyDeleteI liked Operation Condor. I liked it because I love how funny it was! Jackie Chan is the best. The english dubbing didn't bother me because i thought it made it more funny, and I have only seen Jackie Chan in English dubbed movies.
I liked Tai-Chi in comparison to Operation Condor. Like I said earlier I thought the english dubbed version of Operation Condor was great but I don't think I would have liked it in Tai-Chi because that movie is more serious.I think the subtitles were great for Tai-Chi. I liked Jackie's no wire fighting more than wire fu. But they were both great. I liked jackie more because it amazes me that he does all that himself.
Forbidden Kingdom
I think it is really cool that people from other countries try to mimic another country style because it is fun to compare and contrast to the actual thing. I think it shows how well they know that country. I think the writer and director did an ok job. I thought the movie was great but it didn't feel like a Hong Kong film to me. The fighting was great and all, but that story plot I felt like I have seen a million times. I like Operation Condor the best!
I'm glad to hear that you feel Forbidden Kingdom's plot was kind of cliché. I totally agree. Discount Shia Labeouf wasn't a great addition to the movie, and is what brought most of the moop to the film for me.
Delete-Lily
Lily
ReplyDeleteOperation Condor was pretty rad. I love seeing what Jackie Chan's renowned for. His own stunts, heavily utilizing objects in the set during fight scenes, and adding in a lot of humour at what would likely be thought of as inappropriate times to a U.S. audience. E.g. the multiple times where female nudity was used as a distraction or segway into a fight scene. I didn't mind the dub for the most part, though I wish Jackie wasn't the only one with a Chinese accent.
Tai-Chi Master is probably my favourite out of the three that we watched. The Wire-Fu in it wasn't super over the top (like some of the stuff in Forbidden Kingdom, where it's sometimes downright silly) and I felt really added to the fight choreography. I still have a preference for non-wire fighting, but this wires done right. The film plays out almost like a fantasy video game. Seeing the two main characters from when they're young, and watching as they grow up and go their separate ways, only to meet in a big final battle.
I have a mixed opinion of Forbidden Kingdom. I think it's super rad that two Kung-Fu movie legends meet up for the first time in it. I also really dig a lot of the other casting, how so many of them are very prominently Chinese, -especially- in their accents. Pretty much everyone had a nice and sometimes thick Chinese accent, which really helped with my suspension of disbelief and immersion. I really like the fight scenes where Jackie is the star, because of my aforementioned enjoyment of what he does in fights. Lastly, it's super neat that it was made in the U.S., but exemplifies things about Hong Kong so well.
However; the fact that it uses a helpless, ignorant, wanna be loser as a main character that grows into an overwhelmingly awesome badass by the end of the movie irks me. I feel it's cliché, and weakened the film overall. Another thing that I dislike is Sparrow constantly referring to herself in the third person. There's no reason for it other than to make her seem mysterious. People don't talk like that. Not even in Chinese. I have a moderately neutral opinion of it's inclusion in the film, but it alone bothers me, is the ridiculous wire-fu used with the Monkey King at the beginning of the film. It makes sense because Jason's a dork, and it was his dream, but blech. I didn't find it humourous, I just thought it was dumb. Lastly, I freaking hate that the Witch born of Wolves does that thing with her hair. Similarly to the Monkey King's wire fu, it's ridiculous and dumb and blech. I wish they had chosen to do a lot of things differently with this movie, and I think a lot of things would have been a lot better if this movie wasn't aimed at a fairly general audience, but rather older teens/adults.
On that note though, perhaps it's wide audience range is part of it's Hong Konginess. They like feeling every range of emotion in a single film as it's the most cost effective way to see movies there; perhaps a similar facet of their cinema culture has to do with age barriers as well.
Hi its Kat :3 ʕ◑ᴥ◐ʔ
ReplyDeleteHong Kong Week Questions
Jackie Chan Operation Condor:
1. Yes i did like this movie :) it was very comical and funny and really gave a look into Jackie Chan's fighting techniques.
2. The english dubbing didn't bother me that much i was mainly too focused on the comedy and the movie to pay attention. But at times the dubbing did make me laugh, because it was sometimes way off from what the actors were actually saying.
Tai-Chi Master:
1. In my personal opinion i liked this movie better than Operation Condor. But thats just my personal opinion, because i like more of the serious and intense movies. When the movie like Operation Condor has dubbing, it is easier to follow along, but personally, i like the subtiles. It really shows where the movie comes from and gives it a more realistic affect to hear the original language.
2. I am kind of caught between these two. I love the no-wire fighting, because it shows a more realistic affect for the movie. But I also love the wire-fu fighting, because it adds a kind of element to the movie that is almost like defying gravity. It adds almost a magical effect as well, because it looks like the fighters are so focus and well trained in fighting that they can float and leap long distances while fighting.
Forbidden Kingdom:
1. I actually think that this movie was very good at portraying the original Kung Fu movies but with a little bit of an American twist. But this is just one movie. I find it great that different culture want to collide and make movies, but not all of them are that great. As i witnessed yesterday, when we watched a Russian movie trailer that was trying to be a block buster. Some movies like this seem liked they're trying too hard in copying the other country, or it seems like they haven't done much research on the other countries typical movies. So yes its cool, but they're not always good.
2. Yes I feel the writer and director did an amazing at making a Hong Kong film. You can defiantly tell that they were prepared when they made this movie.
3. My favorite out of the 3 films for this week was, Tai-Chi Master, but Forbidden Kingdom came as a close second. I just liked the suspense and the story line that Tai-Chi Master showed. It was an amazing story and at the end I just wanted to watch it again. But when Forbidden Kingdom ended i also wanted to watch it over and over again.
-- OPERATION CONDOR --
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of fun watching this film. It was filled with quirky dialogue, and really well choreographed fight scenes. Jackie Chan is a great kung fu artist and stunt man, and it was a real treat to see him perform.
The dubbing didn't really take me out of the film, but it was a bit annoying at times. If you're going to dub a film, I think that you should at least take the time and care to make it as good as it can be. But overall, I thought this was a fun, Hong Kong infused adventure movie.
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-- TAI-CHI MASTER --
This film was a really great drama/action film with some awesome wire-fu segments that added even more fantastical elements to this film.
Both this film and Operation Condor are great kung fu films, but I kind of liked Tai-Chi Master more. The inclusion of the actual language really made the experience a lot more enjoyable. It added more layers of immersion and atmosphere.
I like both fighting styles equally. The wire-fu is awesome if it fits the tone of the film. I wouldn't want to see it in films like Operation Condor. It really helps in films that focus on folklore or ancient culture, but feels out of place in other films.
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-- FORBIDDEN KINGDOM --
I think that mimicking another country's style can be a good way to expose that culture to other people, if it is done with respect. If they filmmaker(s) take enough time to really make the film a good representation of the culture they are borrowing from, I think that it is ok. Other than that, I don't like people trying to copy things entirely. American re-boots of foreign films are really unnecessary and makes Americans look unintelligent.
I thought this film was good, but some parts really took me out of the experience. Mainly because some of the performances fell apart around the 2nd act. Other than that, I really enjoyed the fight scenes and the landscapes were really beautiful. Jackie Chan played his character really well. So did Jet Li. It was also really nice to see both of those performers fight. They both had their own styles and they flowed really nicely together.
If I had to choose a favorite film out of these three, it would probably be Forbidden Kingdom. Mainly because the fight scenes in this film were really enjoyable, and there were more of them. Also the fight scenes included more people and more weapons in Forbidden Kingdom. I'm not saying that the other two films are bad, just that the fight scenes weren't as satisfying for me.
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- Taylor Stoddard
I totally agree with you on wire work, It seem to add a fantastical side to the fighting the you can't really have with just normal stunts, I feel like the normal stunt make it feel like it is more grounded in reality, where wiring give you a sense that you are watching an epic story blown a little out of proportion.
Delete~Elizabeth Cotton
ReplyDelete-Operation Condor
I liked this movie a lot, it had the spastic genre change that most foreign films have and I enjoy that quite a bit. Jackie Chan brought a lot of comedy and his fights were way rad. The english dubbing wasn't too bad and it didn't bother me too much, but i would prefer to see it in the original language.
Hey, it's Taran.
ReplyDeleteOperation Condor
At first, I wasn't really sure about this movie after the opening. But the film definitely got better as it went on, and I eventually decided I really liked it. The fight scenes were especially well made, and were super intense. There was a lot of comedy in this film, in the fights and a ton of situational comedy. The english dubbing definitely bothered me a little bit at first. I eventually started to enjoy it, and the dub actually gave the film a little bit of extra charm.
Tai-Chi Master
I thought this movie was really good. It gave a good but slightly predictable storyline. I think the whole relationships between the two main characters was pretty well developed. Also they did a great job in incorporating comedy in such a dramatic story. I probably liked this equally as much as Operation Condor. I always like watching movies in their original languages, and this was no exception. For the most part, I enjoyed this movie, minus the slight predictability.
Operatio Condor
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree at first the dubbing I thought was awful, but I learn to find it hilarious. your comment leaves me wandering how different it would be if there were subtitles.
-Maddi
Hey sorry forgot to hit post when we did this I guess. TO THE QUESTIONS!!
ReplyDeleteOperation Condor: If there were a list of top 100 movies I had, this would still be VERY far from the list. Don't get me wrong, I liked this movie, but I liked it for it's quirkiness not for it's storytelling. It was overall a fun movie, but I just couldn't get into it. I think part of the reason I liked it was because it has one of my favorite stunt guys in it: Jackie Chan.
The dubbing was only okay because it added to the quirkiness of it, but if there wasn't quirkiness all over the film the dubbing would have bothered me a lot.
Tai-Chi Master:
Now this one DOES go in my top 100, maybe even my top 25, because it is that good. I loved this movie with the subtitles, because I feel like when it's dubbed you lose a big part of the performance that the actors gave. It's just.... beautiful! *sheds single, manly tear*
I can't say I liked the real stunts or wire fu better. I liked them both! I feel like it really depends on the movie for if you should use wire fu or normal stunts.
Forbidden Kingdom:
I do think its cool for countries to try to mimic a style. Maybe they can bring something to it the original country couldn't, or maybe the mimicking country will gain a new aspect of filmmaking.
I loved this movie. Maybe its because I saw it when it came out, but I did love this movie. I feel like the American writer and director did a great job. They used elements of both American and Hong Kong writing styles to tell this story, and it ended up working in harmony, only boosting both elements!
I liked Tai-Chi Master the best. I found it to just be a truly amazing movie.
kat.
Deleteyea this movies definatley really really good :) i honestly loved it and honestly i think that the movie would be worst if it was dubbed over.
Jovanie Silva
ReplyDeleteOPERATION CONDOR
- I really loved this movie. I thought it was really fun, exciting adventure that, was full of crazy stunts, funny slapstick and I felt like it was a homage to the old adventure flicks from Hollywood. It was awesome.
- The dub didn't bug me at all, I felt like the voice actors knew what the tone of the movie was and the delivered there best performance they could. Plus, Jackie Chan did his dub in this movie so, I like it
TAI CHI MASTER
- I thought that this movie would be kind of ruined with the dub. I feel like it would take away from the actors performances, It would muddle the seriousness of the tone of the movie, and, it would have just felt weak,
- I liked a lot of the wire work of the movie, I think it made them look a lot swifter and stronger, which the were supposed to i guess, and it added this, more epic tone than most fights in non-wirework would have felt. But, some of them felt REALLY unrealistic and that kinda took away some of the tone of the movie, I think wirework is good, but in moderation.
THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
- I like that other countries try to mimic other countries work, there are some really good films that come out of these attempts. For example, a lot of really good movies came out of the hollywood new wave, which i think was clearly trying to mimic the french new wave. and i think a lot of low budget action movies are trying to mimic what mexico did in the 50's and 60's. So yeah, i think mimicking is okay!
- I liked this movie a lot, but I can say this movie is formulaic. I feel like the writer and director definitely know their kung fu movies,and i think that this movie follows every step on making a kung fu movie. It just didn't wow me like other kung fu movies did.
FAVORITE
- It is really hard but, i have to go with OPERATION CONDOR. It was a good blend of comedy and action, the fight scenes where amazing, and I was just good.