Happy Chinese New Year. Have you ever thought about watching Shogun's Assassin (1980)? It' an edited and compiled version of the first two films in the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance and Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx. The title character, Ogami Ittō, is played by Tomisaburo Wakayama. Samurai cinema.
nobody should be allowed to make a dragonball movie, if its live action, dragon ball is just piece of media that needs to stay animated. It would look horrible in live action
When Donut died and said “What are you prepared to do”, that was a take of Sean Connery’s death in “The Untouchables”, where he said the same thing as he was dying.
I've found that most Stephen Chow movies translate pretty well in terms of his jokes "landing" He is constantly pulling from both Western tropes and Chinese tropes that you can catch most of his references. I mean even his earlier work, which is not intended as much for foreign distribution, are very funny. He's a treasure as a director, writer, and actor!
I agree. Those moments where the landlord originally tells the man to change back to Chinese, and also, when he tells Stephen Chow's character to write in Chinese because he couldn't read the character would ha been great if they translated it how it was originally written, in my opinion that is.
But the "bad" guy wasn't really bad, just mad, (driven insane to become the perfect martial artist). He wanted to find and fight people more powerful than himself, so when he is beaten he humbles himself. Don't forget he did it for nothing. It's a common way to test yourself and actually find out if you really are as good as you think you are, and is your technique any good against different forms. That's how Bruce Lee developed his own fighting style.
@@Cheepchipsable He was more than willing to kill people for a challenge and he didn't exactly humble himself when he uses the flower weapon as a sneak attack... twice. That's what makes him the bad guy. The ending has a buddhist theme showing there's some hope in everyone but he was clearly portrayed as a bad guy, just with different motivations than money or power like the boss.
Coolie is a phonetic translation from Cantonese from the turn of the century when the British took over Hong Kong. The actual English translation would be Long Shore man or Dock Worker. Oh George, your comment of “that guy is a actual martial artist”, everyone who remotely fights in this movie was a legend of martial arts movie. “The Beast” was the craziest get. He was to be Bruce Lee’s replacement after he died. He had since he retired and publicly said he will never act again. Even the bum who rips off the kid is Yuen Chong-yan. Yuen woo ping’s brother and helped choreographed this movie. The joke is he taught Stephen “sleeping king fu” as beggar so in a similar fashion.
I saw this at the theaters and had to see it after Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer got such raves. It was just so funny and original. What is so fun about Chow is he uses CGI to do some fun and funny stuff, but the martial arts and so many scenes are still just beautifully filmed. I wish more of his films would get releases in the states (or North America...sorry Canada).
george: it would also just drive me crazy to watch a movie where i can clearly read the lips of the actors speaking my own tongue, but hearing a different language.
Seriously it's like I can't understand so subtitles are necessary for me I love this movie so I've seen the dub and regular with subs and the natural voices of the actors in this movie make it sooooooo much more immersive
I love this film cuz not only does it have it own identity… but plays on movie clichés and established film tropes from eastern and western film--with parody, and it uses/pays tribute to a lot of western and eastern films…. Here that’s a remake of the flood of blood scene from the 80s film The Shining, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name and starring Jack Nicholson; Shelley Duvall; Scatman Crothers; Danny Lloyd
It goes a lot deeper when you look into it. The Kung Fu styles go through so much Kung fu cinema history. The first three masters are using real martial arts styles, but they get beaten by “fantasy style” martial art styles that come from existing fantasy martial arts movies. (Basically I’m trying to remember stuff I heard years ago so I’m not doing it justice. This movie has a lot more under the surface)
In case anyone is wondering, "What are you prepared to do?" is the line delivered by Sean Connery to Kevin Costner as he is dying in the movie The Untouchables. And, thank you for sharing a wonderful reaction, and the Chinese translations which added to my enjoyment.
The dvd version I have translated the legendary tragic couple as Paris and Helen of Troy, I thought that was so good, and really gets across the fact that that trope is a pretty universal thing across cultures.
The most ironic line in the movie was when the crocodile gang leader goes out of the police station and says "I'd do anything but be in the movie business. Not a single soul in movie theatres on Sunday!" Because he's a cameo by Feng Xiaogang, one of the most well-known movie directors in China.
It's one of my favorite films, one of the best I've seen in my life. As I understand, one of the funny things about this movie is the different accents and dialects (in chinese) the characters have. So, in the Spanish version, the characters also have different spanish accents, like andalusian, gallaecian, catalan, argentinian, mexican, basque, madrileño, etc. It's so funny. It's also interesting to know it's based on real events; that gang of axes truly existed and it was troublesome.
One of my favorite movies and despite the over-the-top comedy, some of the scenes like with the mute girl still bring a tear to my eye. Also love they used the "Zigeunerweisen" as background music for the chase and when he's in the traffic light box.
I love how George laughs way more than Simone because he knew the nuances of the language and the humor that are not out in the open. This is like me introducing Indonesian films to my foreign friends lol.
I strongly recommend Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as another film to watch. It's yet another type of HK martial arts movie; where Ip Man is the serious historical biopic and Kung Fu Hustle is the comedic parody, CTHD is the classical, mythic, almost fairy-tale wuxia film. It really doesn't get enough love from RUclips reactors.
totally agree on these.. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House Of Flying Daggers, Hero to name a few and if they do want a more in-depth into asian cinema i think any film by Wong Kar Wai like Chungking Express and In The Mood For Love will be good
George is literally the ONLY reactor I've seen of this movie, that understands the blades and fists that come from the musician's instrument are metaphors for the audience. Bravo.
My all-time favorite martial arts movie! I can binge watch it all day and never get tired of it. The way I heard it, the landlady threatening the Axe leader at 17:45 was an homage to Bruce Lee.
Also When the main character comes out of his cocoon to become the 'Kung Fu Master' butterfly, He is dressed like Bruce Lee. To become a Kung Fu master, is to become Bruce Lee.
One of my favorite movies. It is a lesson in Zen, like many Eastern movies have. Buddhism = contentment, Confucianism = humility, Taoism = harmony. These are the three main religion-philosophies of Zen which are typified in this movie. I'd heard that the actress who plays the landlady was a student of Bruce Lee. She had shown up with another at the audition, from what I'd heard, and the producer of Kung Fu Hustle literally begged her to be in this movie.
the actress of landlay, Yuen Qiu, was not Bruce Lee's student but she and the actor of landlord, Yuen Wah, studied in the same Peking Opera school with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung they had hard physical and fight choreography training of Peking Opera performence as kids some of their classmates become successful action stars, stunt performers, movie directors and fight choreographers in China/Hong Kong film industry
I imagine they added the "Hustle" for the Western audience so as to differentiate it from the David Carradine TV show "Kung Fu" that was originally supposed to star Bruce Lee until the production company screwed him.
@18:53: they go through quite a few famous movie lines-- the “what are you prepared to do” was said by Sean Connery in the 80s Film The Untouchables, starring him, Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro(as Al Capone)
Your subtitles are still WAY better than the ones on my DVD. Thankfully a Cantonese ex was able to translate the parts the subtitles didn't catch when we watched it together
In the movie, the two assassins hired by the Axe Gang play an instrument called the "guzheng." This traditional Chinese instrument produces sound waves that can be used to harm or even kill people. However, director Stephen Chow visualized these sound waves using specific imagery of knives and swords. For instance, quick musical notes represent sharp blades, while muffled notes resemble blunt weapons or fists. Through this visualization, the director emphasizes the varying skill levels among three characters: the coolie, the tailor, and the noodle chef. The coolie has the lowest skill level, evident when the assassins play the guzheng four times, cutting a tree branch, a basin, a cat, and a street lamp. The coolie remains oblivious until the very end, turning around too late, unable to perceive the sound waves, and ultimately losing his head. The tailor's skill is slightly better than the coolie's, able to recognize the sound waves only when they are very close, reacting urgently to evade. The noodle chef, with even higher skill, can see the sound waves from the beginning and adeptly uses weapons to counter and dodge them. The landlady possesses the highest skill level, able to clearly see the entirety of the sound waves.
'Rumble in the Bronx' is a great Jackie Chan film to start out on. 'Legend of Drunken Master' is great, too, but loses a bit of story if you don't watch the original 'Drunk Master' to really get the moves of Drunken Boxing in memory. God, so many good Jackie films.... I need to go watch some again, if only for the various epic stunts and scenes they pull off.
one of the greatest films from hong kong cinema! Its HUGE in India as well, i saw this when i was a little kid, and it shaped my imagination so much. Steven Chao is how i was introduced to Kung fu and Hong Kong cinema! LOVE IT!
Back to Fall 2004, before its release, I contributed an article in a book titled « I Love Stephen Chow » published in Taiwan. My author name is my RUclips name. This book was kind of a warm up for this phenomenal movie.
We actually use the word Koolie (Kuli in Swedish) to signify the lower end of the laborer scale... Like, doing menial and grueling tasks day in and day out...
I didn't know at that time but I recently watched another RUclips video that commented all the references, it's incredible how many Chinese tv programs and movies are quoted here, and also a big chunk of western movies. This one is a master piece. About the "heart" of the movie... I'm pretty sure that Stephen Chow had such a hard time when he was growing up, just like Jackie Chan, Samo Hung and Yuen Biao had, basically they entered the martial arts study to avoid starvation, so when he portrays this guys living homeless I can feel he's being sincere about that. Just look at the Pig Alley housing, all that little details are from someone that has witnessed poverty. Thanks for sharing this, Guys
you should react to "Shaolin Soccer " from 2001 and "KUNG POW!" ENTER THE FIST (2002) too, epic funny movies xD "The good the bad and the weird" From 2008 is nice too!
This is like the third video recommended to me about watching Kung Fu Hustle for the first time. It is such an awesome film that I have watched it the most number of times. I cannot believe that there are people out there who have not watched it
Everything about this movie is Great! I Really appreciate the movie once the Harpists play The Deadly Melody and then every thing that happens after it. The Mystical aspect of the movie is wonderful and adds so much flavor to it. The English dub is good too, its not cheesy bad, I think they put extra effort into making it good quality. Another really great movie that should be on your radar is Shogun Assassin 1980.
The line "What are you prepared to do about it?" is quoting a death scene in the movie The Untouchables. He also said "this could be the end of a beautiful friendship" - paraphrasing the end of Casablanca, "Tomorrow is another day" is also the last line of Gone with the Wind. "With great power comes great responsibility" - Spiderman... That whole scene is just movie quotes.
Oh, PLEASE watch 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' at some point soon. In my top five favorite films of all time with beautiful cinematography, fantastic fight sequences, and a beautiful love story at the heart of it. Directed by Ang Lee and stars Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, and Zhang Ziyi.
Even without the (not so) subtle Chinese jokes I have missed this movie was still amazing when I saw it the first time. They same goes for his other movie Shaolin Soccer (there pun in this movie about Shaolin Soccer I believe, where he stomps on the ball?). There are a lot of good high quality movies coming out of China these days.
FYI : Coolie Is actually "Kuli", I believe it originated from an Indian/Hindi word. Roughly translated to porter, or somebody who's job is carrying heavy stuff for other people. Widely seen across Asia. Helping with Loading/Unloading process on warehouses, cargo truck, dock, port, store, wet market, etc.
My guess is they changed the title (adding "Hustle") because _Kung Fu_ was a relatively popular TV show from the 1970s, and American audiences would have mistakenly believed there was a connection that didn’t exist.
I'm glad that in this version they actually used "Yang Guo" and "The Little Dragon Maiden" in the English subtitles for the names of the landlady and landlord. In the original theatrical release it was "Paris" and "Helen of Troy," which lost a huge amount of the subtext (apart from being, as was also mentioned in the release, "famous lovers"). "Traduttore, traditore," as the Italians are want to say.
It entirely loses context by giving names no one in the theater would be familiar with. Thus with the comparison of the relationship, it gains context, not loses it. They also do things like not correctly translate the landlord saying he can't understand the one dying guy's English, which George comments on, but they actually do mention that on the dvd subs. Actually both times he asks why they didn't translate something right, it was actually right on the real subs.
Fun fact: There are a ton of Hong Kong legends in this movie (the three martial arts masters are, for example.) But one of them, Wah Yuen (the man who plays the landlord) is in a class of his own. He was one of the Peking Opera House's "Seven Little Fortunes," who are uniquely talented people who learned in that school. One of his fellow Fortunes/classmates is Jackie Chan.
"In his autobiography 'I am Jackie Chan,' Chan related a story from his youth where he and his fellow Peking Opera Students (including Yuen Wah) were forced to do hand stands for hours on end. One time they were doing them and then the master yelled "Stop!" and all the boys dropped to the ground, except Yuen Wah. The teacher and students went over to see why and found he had fallen asleep, while maintaining a perfect hand stand."
Wow, I’m probably super slow to realise but Simone, are you a critter? The “making my way” intro was so specific and I think that’s a grog tshirt? Love your work guys!
'Coolie' was used in British India to refer to low-paid non-white labourers. It's quite an offensive term today, though also not used very much. For future movies, how about The Heroic Trio? The most comic book-y superhero movie - the trio in question is Anita Mui, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Chung, which should be reason enough. Or Dragons Forever, if you want to dip into Jackie Chan. It has more Yuen Wah too, enjoying a cigar very much.
Hail to Stephen Chow. This film IS live action Anime. The generous trope catalog of East and West. The blood is next to the greatest Smiles Of Buddha. This is how you do adaptation. On second viewing: Look for the Buddha in every step of ‘this’ heroes journey. It shines on every miss step… there is no escape. Destiny Wills It.
Interesting: "Coolie" is an English expression for specifically low skilled Chinese workers. So... Probably a slur about Chinese immigrants working the railroads etc in the 19th century?
Coolie originated in India though the exact etymology has been obscured by time. It was first used by the British to mean laborers in India and then they started to use the term in all their colonies.
😎😎😎. The cigarette lady, (shown in the bonus track of the DVD) brought her friend to the audition, (they had a camera running for the audition so you saw it), and she sat there smoking with curlers in her hair and just didn’t care. Director Stephen Chow asked her if she ever did anything and she said yeah but it was when she was young, (turns out she was one of the kung fu white bikini bathing suit girls in a Sean Connery 007) and Steven asked if she knew any martial arts, and she said yes kung fu, and right on camera lifted her leg straight up in the air with a freaking cigarette still dangling from her mouth, all true. Her friend did not get the part. :(. And that’s how she came to be in the movie
Happy New Year! This movie is hilarious, I remember when I saw it the first time, I had no idea how broad of a comedy it was going to be! Love it....and I love your thumbnail!!!
I'm not sure if I prefer this or another Stephen Chow film, Shaolin Soccer, but both are brilliant, if somewhat bonkers! I'd love to see what he'd do with a remake of Big Trouble In Little China come to think of it... PS - Loved your intro video on the Popcorn In Bed awards thing, I'm guessing George had a lot of fun editing that together!
Shaolin Soccer isn't as zany but has a similar style as KFH. It also has a more classic, linear, heroes journey, storyline. Just as fun but a more cohesive film overall.
I remember the first time I watched this one with a good friend of mine. I honestly thought he would die laughing when they were in the car and that guy sets his hair on fire. Miss you T.
The guys in black suits are the Matrix stunt team and *the Beast* was played by Bruceploitation actor Bruce Leong. Oh... all the masters are former chop-saki film stars and the land lady was in "The Man with the golden Gun" as one of the Karate girls that saves Bond.
Just love this film, so much fun. Best line is 'Who is throwing the handles? The slum landlady with the leathal slipper played one of the two young girl fighters in the James Bond film The man with the golden gun.
The line (said in English, no less) "What are you prepared to do?", is from the film "The Untouchables". It was Sean Connery's character's last words before dying.
It’s glad to see someone know something about Chinese or its culture giving more elaboration for this movies to non-Asian in this reaction or review. Because of the culture gap, many detail, implications, metaphors are missing, but Gorge gave good notes and made the movie more understandable to the westerners. I heard so many people in this reaction clip saying yin-yang, a philosophical concept in Chinese view, but only Taiji, the true name of the full concept, in this clip. It really warms my heart.
the fight between stephen chow's character and the axe gang at the end is definitely a matrix reference, with the overhead shot and the guys flying into the air, definitely a reference to Neo fighting all the clones of Agent Smith
Iron Monkey and/or Drunken Master II. They both have Wong Fei Hung... as a little boy and as an adult. The real Fei Hung was in his 40s when he fought in the Japanese Invasion of Taiwan, as part of the Black Flag Army. Or the Ten Tigers of Canton, about local heroes, including Fei Hung's dad and some of his friends, including the one who allegedly taught Fei Hung the drunken fist style, featured prominently in the Drunken Master films. I would also recommend 5 Deadly Venoms.
I'm glad you all are reacting to some more Chinese films. I discovered them when I was high school age (not just 80s action flicks either). And to be honest, I'm kind of disappointed there aren't more reactions to Asian cinema on YT. South Korea was producing amazing movies decades before _Parasite._ Japan was the anti-Hollywood all the way back in the 1950s. And I'm slowly coming around to the opinion Zhang Yimou is the best filmmaker not named "Stanley Kubrick."
In fact locally in China, , Zhang Yimou is not so highly regarded. People find his constant use of big scenes and human tactics tiresome, and his early films are instead hailed as masterpieces.
Coolie originated in India though the exact etymology has been obscured by time. It was first used by the British to mean laborers in India and then they started to use the term in all their colonies.
Regarding the word "coolie" - it is a word in English, but it is not used much these days as it is considered offensive. In a colonialist context it meant either "native labourer" or simply "native". For some reason I've only ever seen it used to describe Asian people, either in British India or the far East.
George's Weather Girls reference was hilarious, it's too bad Simone didn't react to that! I loved this movie, and I know the western audience took to it in general. Every once in awhile at a comic convention, I'd see someone dressed up as the landlady. That actor who portrayed the scary marital arts criminal at the end used to be in a lot of Chinese kung fu TV shows back in the 80's I guess if you're looking at Jackie Chan movies, maybe Rumble In the Bronx. It was shot in Vancouver, maybe you can try to identify background locations too! :p
So a fricken fun film, always a great laugh to watch! absolutely love the cartoony feel they gave it and one of my all time favourite movies :) You DEFINITELY need to watch Jackie Chan movies, I absolutely adore that man! Police Story would be a wonderful place to start!
I hate how people miss near the end when the two say he could've been a dr or lawyer when that's what they said about their kid that died AND when he spent his money on the palm manual, that's what he said he was saving for.
LANDLADY was in a James Bond Film as a young teen. The Man with the Golden Gun. The bad guys took Mr Bond to their karate school and he broke out then the girls got there and started fighting all the students of the bad guy's school
There is another movie starring Brigitte Lin that features a magical lyre/harp; that scene with the two blind assassins may have been a callback to that.
Notice that the leader of the 1st gang and his dame are the only ones speaking Mandarin. After the whole gang got wiped out by Axe gang, everyone spoke Cantonese. This represents the Chinese cinema industry's shift from Mainland China (Mandarin) to Hong Kong (Cantonese).
Actually, the earliest version of the axe gang appeared in 1972 film, "Boxer From Shantung". That film had two versions for the reboots. One from 1997, another from 2014.
it seems like the american and canadian English subtitles were different, cause the american version preserves that joke where the landlord says "why don't you speak Chinese?" and it's one of my favorites anyway this movie kicks ass and i never get tired of it
At the end, where the protagonist defeats the Beast, the protag was so humble and willing to teach the guy how to do the Buddha's palm, even with all the things he did, that the Beast got moved by such kindness and became more humble, acknowledging the protag as his master
@18:45 you mentioned something about the translation and said he spoke english. I played it back and could hear it after a couple times. The translation says "This could be the end of a beatiful friendship!" but the actor is speaking english and says "What are you...preparing...to do?!"
oh yeah, Happy Chinese New Years~
Happy Chinese New Year.
Have you ever thought about watching Shogun's Assassin (1980)?
It' an edited and compiled version of the first two films in the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance and Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx.
The title character, Ogami Ittō, is played by Tomisaburo Wakayama.
Samurai cinema.
Actually it is Lunar New Year. It does not belong to the Chinese people... :-D :-D :-D
Kung Hei Fat Choi, guys
Happy New Year!
Hollywood Upstairs Medical College, my primary care physician went there. Hi everybody!
Happy New Years to you too :) If i may suggest a Movie: Arahan (2004)
The fact Stephen Chow wanted to make a Dragon Ball movie and no one let it happen, will forever be a crime in my eyes. 😂😭
😢damn this makes the approved one even worse. At least the new animated ones are cool, my son gets excited and loves them haha head chala my bro!
Well, Stephen Chow made a "Journey to the West" movie in 2013, so that kinda counts as a dragon ball movie
@@TheDancerMacabreyeah too bad it sucked
Source?
nobody should be allowed to make a dragonball movie, if its live action, dragon ball is just piece of media that needs to stay animated. It would look horrible in live action
When Donut died and said “What are you prepared to do”, that was a take of Sean Connery’s death in “The Untouchables”, where he said the same thing as he was dying.
"The Untouchables" is a movie you should add to your watchlist.
his whole death scene is full of call backs like that
Should be no surprise, any movies that Stephen Chow starred in always had parodies from classic western movies.
In the german version he says "I can't get no satisfaction".
You realize they're addons from subs. They can put in w.e they want.
I've found that most Stephen Chow movies translate pretty well in terms of his jokes "landing" He is constantly pulling from both Western tropes and Chinese tropes that you can catch most of his references. I mean even his earlier work, which is not intended as much for foreign distribution, are very funny. He's a treasure as a director, writer, and actor!
The actor movie and the lawyer movie are both hilarious and incredibly clever writing.
I agree. Those moments where the landlord originally tells the man to change back to Chinese, and also, when he tells Stephen Chow's character to write in Chinese because he couldn't read the character would ha been great if they translated it how it was originally written, in my opinion that is.
I haven't seen much out of china, but this movie was legitimately hilarious. It's like a real life anime, but good.
The "I will teach you" always gets me because its an Open Palm technique. So to learn it he will have to become good, like the hero had to.
beautiful!
But the "bad" guy wasn't really bad, just mad, (driven insane to become the perfect martial artist). He wanted to find and fight people more powerful than himself, so when he is beaten he humbles himself. Don't forget he did it for nothing.
It's a common way to test yourself and actually find out if you really are as good as you think you are, and is your technique any good against different forms.
That's how Bruce Lee developed his own fighting style.
@@Cheepchipsable He was more than willing to kill people for a challenge and he didn't exactly humble himself when he uses the flower weapon as a sneak attack... twice. That's what makes him the bad guy. The ending has a buddhist theme showing there's some hope in everyone but he was clearly portrayed as a bad guy, just with different motivations than money or power like the boss.
Coolie is a phonetic translation from Cantonese from the turn of the century when the British took over Hong Kong. The actual English translation would be Long Shore man or Dock Worker.
Oh George, your comment of “that guy is a actual martial artist”, everyone who remotely fights in this movie was a legend of martial arts movie. “The Beast” was the craziest get. He was to be Bruce Lee’s replacement after he died. He had since he retired and publicly said he will never act again. Even the bum who rips off the kid is Yuen Chong-yan. Yuen woo ping’s brother and helped choreographed this movie. The joke is he taught Stephen “sleeping king fu” as beggar so in a similar fashion.
Also, don't forget the Landlord (Wah Yuen) is also a classmate of the Peking Opera House alongside Jackie Chan.
The irony is most of them are martial artists while "The Chosen One" is not a martial artist.
I saw this at the theaters and had to see it after Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer got such raves. It was just so funny and original. What is so fun about Chow is he uses CGI to do some fun and funny stuff, but the martial arts and so many scenes are still just beautifully filmed. I wish more of his films would get releases in the states (or North America...sorry Canada).
I'm glad you watched the subtitled version and not the dubbed version. You wouldn't think that there'd be a difference, but the subtitled is better.
george: it would also just drive me crazy to watch a movie where i can clearly read the lips of the actors speaking my own tongue, but hearing a different language.
@@CineBingeReact damn that sounds completely maddening.
@@CineBingeReact Although you did watch the version where the subtitles were just the dubbed dialogue. The original subs are better.
@@obato76 he knows
Seriously it's like I can't understand so subtitles are necessary for me I love this movie so I've seen the dub and regular with subs and the natural voices of the actors in this movie make it sooooooo much more immersive
I love this film cuz not only does it have it own identity… but plays on movie clichés and established film tropes from eastern and western film--with parody, and it uses/pays tribute to a lot of western and eastern films…. Here that’s a remake of the flood of blood scene from the 80s film The Shining, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name and starring Jack Nicholson; Shelley Duvall; Scatman Crothers; Danny Lloyd
It goes a lot deeper when you look into it. The Kung Fu styles go through so much Kung fu cinema history. The first three masters are using real martial arts styles, but they get beaten by “fantasy style” martial art styles that come from existing fantasy martial arts movies.
(Basically I’m trying to remember stuff I heard years ago so I’m not doing it justice. This movie has a lot more under the surface)
In case anyone is wondering, "What are you prepared to do?" is the line delivered by Sean Connery to Kevin Costner as he is dying in the movie The Untouchables. And, thank you for sharing a wonderful reaction, and the Chinese translations which added to my enjoyment.
The dvd version I have translated the legendary tragic couple as Paris and Helen of Troy, I thought that was so good, and really gets across the fact that that trope is a pretty universal thing across cultures.
The most ironic line in the movie was when the crocodile gang leader goes out of the police station and says "I'd do anything but be in the movie business. Not a single soul in movie theatres on Sunday!" Because he's a cameo by Feng Xiaogang, one of the most well-known movie directors in China.
It's one of my favorite films, one of the best I've seen in my life. As I understand, one of the funny things about this movie is the different accents and dialects (in chinese) the characters have. So, in the Spanish version, the characters also have different spanish accents, like andalusian, gallaecian, catalan, argentinian, mexican, basque, madrileño, etc. It's so funny. It's also interesting to know it's based on real events; that gang of axes truly existed and it was troublesome.
You unlocked a memory attached to this movie lol! I meant my childhood memory lol
One of my favorite movies and despite the over-the-top comedy, some of the scenes like with the mute girl still bring a tear to my eye.
Also love they used the "Zigeunerweisen" as background music for the chase and when he's in the traffic light box.
I love how George laughs way more than Simone because he knew the nuances of the language and the humor that are not out in the open. This is like me introducing Indonesian films to my foreign friends lol.
I strongly recommend Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as another film to watch. It's yet another type of HK martial arts movie; where Ip Man is the serious historical biopic and Kung Fu Hustle is the comedic parody, CTHD is the classical, mythic, almost fairy-tale wuxia film. It really doesn't get enough love from RUclips reactors.
Oh, yes, heartily seconded, by all means!
totally agree on these.. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House Of Flying Daggers, Hero to name a few and if they do want a more in-depth into asian cinema i think any film by Wong Kar Wai like Chungking Express and In The Mood For Love will be good
Yeah, there’s been about two or three reactions and they were floored.
Hero is the other HK jaw-dropper they need to see.
@@tempsitch5632 Hero is such a gorgeous movie.
@@WolfHreda Would have been incredible on a theater screen.
George is literally the ONLY reactor I've seen of this movie, that understands the blades and fists that come from the musician's instrument are metaphors for the audience. Bravo.
My all-time favorite martial arts movie! I can binge watch it all day and never get tired of it. The way I heard it, the landlady threatening the Axe leader at 17:45 was an homage to Bruce Lee.
That little nose itch/swipe was definitely a Bruce Lee trademark.
Her cracking her knuckles while clenching her fists is a direct reference to Bruce Lee
Also When the main character comes out of his cocoon to become the 'Kung Fu Master' butterfly, He is dressed like Bruce Lee.
To become a Kung Fu master, is to become Bruce Lee.
Aye, it's copied from Way Of The Dragon
One of my favorite movies. It is a lesson in Zen, like many Eastern movies have. Buddhism = contentment, Confucianism = humility, Taoism = harmony. These are the three main religion-philosophies of Zen which are typified in this movie. I'd heard that the actress who plays the landlady was a student of Bruce Lee. She had shown up with another at the audition, from what I'd heard, and the producer of Kung Fu Hustle literally begged her to be in this movie.
the actress of landlay, Yuen Qiu, was not Bruce Lee's student
but she and the actor of landlord, Yuen Wah, studied in the same Peking Opera school with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung
they had hard physical and fight choreography training of Peking Opera performence as kids
some of their classmates become successful action stars, stunt performers, movie directors and fight choreographers in China/Hong Kong film industry
She used to appear in 007 as a Bond girl. It is said that she gained more than 20 kg of her weight in order to appear in this work.
The ending of this movie is one of my all time favorites 😍 I really love the final scene!
I imagine they added the "Hustle" for the Western audience so as to differentiate it from the David Carradine TV show "Kung Fu" that was originally supposed to star Bruce Lee until the production company screwed him.
The audience can easily feel what it means to tell a story with pictures, convey feelings with appearance and express realm with music, it is amazing.
@18:53: they go through quite a few famous movie lines-- the “what are you prepared to do” was said by Sean Connery in the 80s Film The Untouchables, starring him, Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro(as Al Capone)
Your subtitles are still WAY better than the ones on my DVD. Thankfully a Cantonese ex was able to translate the parts the subtitles didn't catch when we watched it together
In the movie, the two assassins hired by the Axe Gang play an instrument called the "guzheng." This traditional Chinese instrument produces sound waves that can be used to harm or even kill people. However, director Stephen Chow visualized these sound waves using specific imagery of knives and swords. For instance, quick musical notes represent sharp blades, while muffled notes resemble blunt weapons or fists.
Through this visualization, the director emphasizes the varying skill levels among three characters: the coolie, the tailor, and the noodle chef. The coolie has the lowest skill level, evident when the assassins play the guzheng four times, cutting a tree branch, a basin, a cat, and a street lamp. The coolie remains oblivious until the very end, turning around too late, unable to perceive the sound waves, and ultimately losing his head.
The tailor's skill is slightly better than the coolie's, able to recognize the sound waves only when they are very close, reacting urgently to evade. The noodle chef, with even higher skill, can see the sound waves from the beginning and adeptly uses weapons to counter and dodge them. The landlady possesses the highest skill level, able to clearly see the entirety of the sound waves.
There are lots of brutal comedies, sometimes parodying the brutality of other genres. You might like Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz.
'Rumble in the Bronx' is a great Jackie Chan film to start out on. 'Legend of Drunken Master' is great, too, but loses a bit of story if you don't watch the original 'Drunk Master' to really get the moves of Drunken Boxing in memory. God, so many good Jackie films.... I need to go watch some again, if only for the various epic stunts and scenes they pull off.
I thought Police Story but yeah good recommendations as well.
Eagle in snakes shadow is also good
one of the greatest films from hong kong cinema!
Its HUGE in India as well, i saw this when i was a little kid, and it shaped my imagination so much. Steven Chao is how i was introduced to Kung fu and Hong Kong cinema!
LOVE IT!
Back to Fall 2004, before its release, I contributed an article in a book titled « I Love Stephen Chow » published in Taiwan. My author name is my RUclips name. This book was kind of a warm up for this phenomenal movie.
We actually use the word Koolie (Kuli in Swedish) to signify the lower end of the laborer scale...
Like, doing menial and grueling tasks day in and day out...
9:05 "how though?" The rod is made of full natural magnets
Crouching tiger, Hidden Dragon is an amazing beautiful film... a must see (for anyone).
Not sure if y'all are familiar, but the actor who plays "The Beast" is Chong Li from Bloodsport
I vote for Drunken Master 2 aka The Legend of Drunken Master from Jackie Chan. Then go for a weapon-based martial arts film w/ Jet Li's Hero.
I didn't know at that time but I recently watched another RUclips video that commented all the references, it's incredible how many Chinese tv programs and movies are quoted here, and also a big chunk of western movies. This one is a master piece. About the "heart" of the movie... I'm pretty sure that Stephen Chow had such a hard time when he was growing up, just like Jackie Chan, Samo Hung and Yuen Biao had, basically they entered the martial arts study to avoid starvation, so when he portrays this guys living homeless I can feel he's being sincere about that. Just look at the Pig Alley housing, all that little details are from someone that has witnessed poverty. Thanks for sharing this, Guys
you should react to "Shaolin Soccer " from 2001 and "KUNG POW!" ENTER THE FIST (2002) too, epic funny movies xD
"The good the bad and the weird" From 2008 is nice too!
This is like the third video recommended to me about watching Kung Fu Hustle for the first time. It is such an awesome film that I have watched it the most number of times. I cannot believe that there are people out there who have not watched it
Everything about this movie is Great!
I Really appreciate the movie once the Harpists play The Deadly Melody and then every thing that happens after it.
The Mystical aspect of the movie is wonderful and adds so much flavor to it.
The English dub is good too, its not cheesy bad, I think they put extra effort into making it good quality.
Another really great movie that should be on your radar is Shogun Assassin 1980.
The line "What are you prepared to do about it?" is quoting a death scene in the movie The Untouchables. He also said "this could be the end of a beautiful friendship" - paraphrasing the end of Casablanca, "Tomorrow is another day" is also the last line of Gone with the Wind. "With great power comes great responsibility" - Spiderman... That whole scene is just movie quotes.
Oh, PLEASE watch 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' at some point soon. In my top five favorite films of all time with beautiful cinematography, fantastic fight sequences, and a beautiful love story at the heart of it. Directed by Ang Lee and stars Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, and Zhang Ziyi.
Hopefully: Maybe Shaolin Soccer is on the cards now?
Immediately came down to comment the same. God of Cookery would be good as well.
Even without the (not so) subtle Chinese jokes I have missed this movie was still amazing when I saw it the first time. They same goes for his other movie Shaolin Soccer (there pun in this movie about Shaolin Soccer I believe, where he stomps on the ball?). There are a lot of good high quality movies coming out of China these days.
His shaolin soccer was also pretty awesome.
In Jamaica, Jamaican people of Indian ancestry are called Coolie
The guy who played the Tailor is Chiu Chi Ling. He’s a grandmaster of Hung-Gar Kung Fu. Look up a picture of him when he was young.
George has the best shirts on the planet.
“Hey, thanks little girl! Did you go to Hollywood upstairs medical college too?” Lol love it
FYI : Coolie
Is actually "Kuli", I believe it originated from an Indian/Hindi word.
Roughly translated to porter, or somebody who's job is carrying heavy stuff for other people.
Widely seen across Asia. Helping with Loading/Unloading process on warehouses, cargo truck, dock, port, store, wet market, etc.
Waiting for "Back to the Future - Part 3"....
My guess is they changed the title (adding "Hustle") because _Kung Fu_ was a relatively popular TV show from the 1970s, and American audiences would have mistakenly believed there was a connection that didn’t exist.
I'm glad that in this version they actually used "Yang Guo" and "The Little Dragon Maiden" in the English subtitles for the names of the landlady and landlord. In the original theatrical release it was "Paris" and "Helen of Troy," which lost a huge amount of the subtext (apart from being, as was also mentioned in the release, "famous lovers"). "Traduttore, traditore," as the Italians are want to say.
In the Spanish dub they were called Romeo Kung and Juliet Fu.
It entirely loses context by giving names no one in the theater would be familiar with. Thus with the comparison of the relationship, it gains context, not loses it.
They also do things like not correctly translate the landlord saying he can't understand the one dying guy's English, which George comments on, but they actually do mention that on the dvd subs. Actually both times he asks why they didn't translate something right, it was actually right on the real subs.
Fun fact: There are a ton of Hong Kong legends in this movie (the three martial arts masters are, for example.) But one of them, Wah Yuen (the man who plays the landlord) is in a class of his own. He was one of the Peking Opera House's "Seven Little Fortunes," who are uniquely talented people who learned in that school. One of his fellow Fortunes/classmates is Jackie Chan.
"In his autobiography 'I am Jackie Chan,' Chan related a story from his youth where he and his fellow Peking Opera Students (including Yuen Wah) were forced to do hand stands for hours on end. One time they were doing them and then the master yelled "Stop!" and all the boys dropped to the ground, except Yuen Wah. The teacher and students went over to see why and found he had fallen asleep, while maintaining a perfect hand stand."
Wow, I’m probably super slow to realise but Simone, are you a critter?
The “making my way” intro was so specific and I think that’s a grog tshirt?
Love your work guys!
'Coolie' was used in British India to refer to low-paid non-white labourers. It's quite an offensive term today, though also not used very much.
For future movies, how about The Heroic Trio? The most comic book-y superhero movie - the trio in question is Anita Mui, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Chung, which should be reason enough.
Or Dragons Forever, if you want to dip into Jackie Chan. It has more Yuen Wah too, enjoying a cigar very much.
Hail to Stephen Chow. This film IS live action Anime. The generous trope catalog of East and West. The blood is next to the greatest Smiles Of Buddha.
This is how you do adaptation.
On second viewing: Look for the Buddha in every step of ‘this’ heroes journey. It shines on every miss step… there is no escape. Destiny Wills It.
The landlord you could say performs a water form of tai chi we use in pushing hands. Literally just go with the flow while remaining grounded.
Interesting: "Coolie" is an English expression for specifically low skilled Chinese workers. So... Probably a slur about Chinese immigrants working the railroads etc in the 19th century?
Coolie originated in India though the exact etymology has been obscured by time. It was first used by the British to mean laborers in India and then they started to use the term in all their colonies.
@@edwardsighamony That's right
😎😎😎. The cigarette lady, (shown in the bonus track of the DVD) brought her friend to the audition, (they had a camera running for the audition so you saw it), and she sat there smoking with curlers in her hair and just didn’t care. Director Stephen Chow asked her if she ever did anything and she said yeah but it was when she was young, (turns out she was one of the kung fu white bikini bathing suit girls in a Sean Connery 007) and Steven asked if she knew any martial arts, and she said yes kung fu, and right on camera lifted her leg straight up in the air with a freaking cigarette still dangling from her mouth, all true. Her friend did not get the part. :(. And that’s how she came to be in the movie
Please watch "Short Circuit" (1986)! One of my favorite childhood movies!
Happy New Year! This movie is hilarious, I remember when I saw it the first time, I had no idea how broad of a comedy it was going to be! Love it....and I love your thumbnail!!!
I'm not sure if I prefer this or another Stephen Chow film, Shaolin Soccer, but both are brilliant, if somewhat bonkers!
I'd love to see what he'd do with a remake of Big Trouble In Little China come to think of it...
PS - Loved your intro video on the Popcorn In Bed awards thing, I'm guessing George had a lot of fun editing that together!
Shaolin Soccer isn't as zany but has a similar style as KFH. It also has a more classic, linear, heroes journey, storyline. Just as fun but a more cohesive film overall.
@@rodentnolastname6612 ruclips.net/video/gYsPIwS_rUc/видео.html and we all know how disturbing this is😂
I like Shaolin Soccer MUCH better. Because it has a plot.
I remember the first time I watched this one with a good friend of mine. I honestly thought he would die laughing when they were in the car and that guy sets his hair on fire. Miss you T.
That landlady (Yuen Qiu) was 24 when she played a schoolgirl helping Bond in The Man With The Golden Gun.
The guys in black suits are the Matrix stunt team and *the Beast* was played by Bruceploitation actor Bruce Leong.
Oh... all the masters are former chop-saki film stars and the land lady was in "The Man with the golden Gun" as one of the Karate girls that saves Bond.
Just love this film, so much fun. Best line is 'Who is throwing the handles?
The slum landlady with the leathal slipper played one of the two young girl fighters in the James Bond film The man with the golden gun.
17:44 The finger across the nose (not shown in the reaction) was a nod and tribute to Bruce Lee, in case anyone didn't know.
The line (said in English, no less) "What are you prepared to do?", is from the film "The Untouchables". It was Sean Connery's character's last words before dying.
His friend always reminds me of Patrick star from spongebob ❤️😂😂😂
It’s glad to see someone know something about Chinese or its culture giving more elaboration for this movies to non-Asian in this reaction or review. Because of the culture gap, many detail, implications, metaphors are missing, but Gorge gave good notes and made the movie more understandable to the westerners. I heard so many people in this reaction clip saying yin-yang, a philosophical concept in Chinese view, but only Taiji, the true name of the full concept, in this clip. It really warms my heart.
Thank God Kung-Fu Hustle is getting the recognition that it deserves. Im suprised that only few western people knows about this movie.
the fight between stephen chow's character and the axe gang at the end is definitely a matrix reference, with the overhead shot and the guys flying into the air, definitely a reference to Neo fighting all the clones of Agent Smith
Bill Murray said that in his opinion this is one of the greatest comedies
Iron Monkey and/or Drunken Master II. They both have Wong Fei Hung... as a little boy and as an adult. The real Fei Hung was in his 40s when he fought in the Japanese Invasion of Taiwan, as part of the Black Flag Army. Or the Ten Tigers of Canton, about local heroes, including Fei Hung's dad and some of his friends, including the one who allegedly taught Fei Hung the drunken fist style, featured prominently in the Drunken Master films. I would also recommend 5 Deadly Venoms.
I'm glad you all are reacting to some more Chinese films. I discovered them when I was high school age (not just 80s action flicks either).
And to be honest, I'm kind of disappointed there aren't more reactions to Asian cinema on YT. South Korea was producing amazing movies decades before _Parasite._ Japan was the anti-Hollywood all the way back in the 1950s. And I'm slowly coming around to the opinion Zhang Yimou is the best filmmaker not named "Stanley Kubrick."
In fact locally in China, , Zhang Yimou is not so highly regarded. People find his constant use of big scenes and human tactics tiresome, and his early films are instead hailed as masterpieces.
There is plenty of great Hollywood cinema nobody is reacting to on YT and you expect them to go international? Good luck with that.
Coolie originated in India though the exact etymology has been obscured by time. It was first used by the British to mean laborers in India and then they started to use the term in all their colonies.
Regarding the word "coolie" - it is a word in English, but it is not used much these days as it is considered offensive. In a colonialist context it meant either "native labourer" or simply "native". For some reason I've only ever seen it used to describe Asian people, either in British India or the far East.
George's Weather Girls reference was hilarious, it's too bad Simone didn't react to that!
I loved this movie, and I know the western audience took to it in general. Every once in awhile at a comic convention, I'd see someone dressed up as the landlady.
That actor who portrayed the scary marital arts criminal at the end used to be in a lot of Chinese kung fu TV shows back in the 80's
I guess if you're looking at Jackie Chan movies, maybe Rumble In the Bronx. It was shot in Vancouver, maybe you can try to identify background locations too! :p
The knife throwing bit is my favorite part of the movie.
So a fricken fun film, always a great laugh to watch! absolutely love the cartoony feel they gave it and one of my all time favourite movies :)
You DEFINITELY need to watch Jackie Chan movies, I absolutely adore that man! Police Story would be a wonderful place to start!
18:44. Thank you. I didn't know that was English all this time.
I hate how people miss near the end when the two say he could've been a dr or lawyer when that's what they said about their kid that died AND when he spent his money on the palm manual, that's what he said he was saving for.
LANDLADY was in a James Bond Film as a young teen. The Man with the Golden Gun.
The bad guys took Mr Bond to their karate school and he broke out then the girls got there and started fighting all the students of the bad guy's school
“What are you prepared to do!” is a reference to a Sean Connery in the Untouchables.
Such a great 'throwback' modern kung fu flick. One of my favorite martial art films.
There is another movie starring Brigitte Lin that features a magical lyre/harp; that scene with the two blind assassins may have been a callback to that.
Notice that the leader of the 1st gang and his dame are the only ones speaking Mandarin. After the whole gang got wiped out by Axe gang, everyone spoke Cantonese.
This represents the Chinese cinema industry's shift from Mainland China (Mandarin) to Hong Kong (Cantonese).
The use of music in this movie is really excellent. Good use of music really makes movies and tv series for me.
Actually, the earliest version of the axe gang appeared in 1972 film, "Boxer From Shantung". That film had two versions for the reboots. One from 1997, another from 2014.
it seems like the american and canadian English subtitles were different, cause the american version preserves that joke where the landlord says "why don't you speak Chinese?" and it's one of my favorites anyway this movie kicks ass and i never get tired of it
At the end, where the protagonist defeats the Beast, the protag was so humble and willing to teach the guy how to do the Buddha's palm, even with all the things he did, that the Beast got moved by such kindness and became more humble, acknowledging the protag as his master
I had slightly different subtitles when watching this version, so maybe there are multiple versions of subtitles.
Just started the reaction and you're already repping the Critters. Glad to see it
I was thinking "Iron Monkey" from 1993 with Donnie Yen would be a great entry for your next Hong Kong martial arts film!
Lmaoo the “what are you prepared to do?” Homage to the untouchables.
@18:45 you mentioned something about the translation and said he spoke english. I played it back and could hear it after a couple times. The translation says "This could be the end of a beatiful friendship!" but the actor is speaking english and says "What are you...preparing...to do?!"
they did have a bigger budget for this film, because Shaolin Soccer was so amazing.
FUN FACT: the 10 rings in MCU's Shang Chi was actually inspired from this movie..
the landlady was in the Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun she played one of two schoolgirls who beat up a load of martial artists after bond
Oh, my god! Saw the thumbnail, had to watch this :)
And I didn't catch that she was wearing a Strongjaw Ale shirt until the end XD
Fun fact: The landlady was in a Roger Moore Bond movie, The Man With The Golden Gun
One of my favorite movies chocked full of awesome, memorable n lovable characters! The lady landlord is PERFECTION!!!
Such a huge heart too!!!