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@@haroldnecmann7040 Michelle Yeoh is one of the Ravagers who paid respect to Yondu. You probably did not see Dave Bautista as Drax because he mastered the ability of standing so incredibly still that he became invisible to the eye.
@@MatthewGhirardi Written by Haofeng Xu, director of some of the best martial art movies today, I really hope people bring more attention to his body of work some day.
I actually saw legend is born before the donnie yen films thinking it was a prequel, but even after learning it wasn't I'm still surprised at how good a movie it was. They really did a good job of focusing on keeping the story smaller and more personal as opposed to trying to mimic the main series more grand scale.
That movie was terrible, and i'm pretty sure it was done merely because ipchun (ipmans real son) didn't like donnie yens interpretation of wing chun i.e he'd fight fight fight then suddenly it wasn't wingchun anymore i.e donnie wasn't following it orthodox like. However this movie tries too hard and the story is all over the place eg japanese boy raised to be chinese, where does he have the time to learn japanese style moves and if he knew it why use wingchun to assassinated the instructor exposing himself i.e he used chinese kungfu to kill? also at the end i'm sure the finishing move he uses at the end ISN'T traditional winchung and there was no way ipman could break out of a grappling move using any known style (even bruce lee bites people who use armbar techniques)
It’s crazy how Dennis To not only plays Ip Man, but he also plays minor and supporting characters in Donnie Yen’s first 2 films. Once you find him it’s crazy not to notice him
I knew his face is familiar. He was one of the group whose leader (played by Louis fan) challenged kung fu masters, then lost to Ip Man in the first movie. Then he played as one of the Master Hung's student in the second movie.
The Final Fight is actually one of my favorite, if not my favorite, kung fu movie of all time. As someone who’s done martial arts for more than 40 years, and who has found that the philosophies involved and embodied are ultimately far more important to me than my ability to fight, I find that the Final Fight is far and away the best representation of kung fu as I’ve come to understand it-indeed, as all of my teachers have tried to teach it to me. Sure, even at almost 50 I can “hold my own” in sparring and the occasional “real world” confrontation. But, in truth, even in these, it’s the ethics and the profound understanding of connections and why not to fight that enables me to be an effective, calm, and even caring combatant. Which is also, I have found, how kung fu carries into the rest of my life. This might sound trite to say at this point, given all the discourse around martial arts philosophies, but it’s all true. And so, again, the Final Fight is an absolutely vital, important, and gorgeously expressive film about what the martial arts are really about.
I agree. Final fight is a beautiful film, filled with dirt messages than beat his as$. It's actually my fav of the IP Man series of films. Anthony Wong does a fantastic job portraying a wise elder of martial arts.
Anthony Wong actually studied from a Hong Kong Southern Shaolin Kung Fu Eagle claw school but he is nowhere close to Donnie which his mom is famous for opening a Wu Shu and Bagua school in Boston.
I think for the many people who have mentioned the movie The Grandmaster, in my opinion it's less of an Ip Man movie and more of a Wong Kar Wai movie that just so happens to center around the Ip Man character. I think that's an important distinction to make
I think it’s also not really a kung fu movie, per se. But more of a ballet in which the dancing is choreographed as “fighting” using Chinese martial arts movements. Which is not a knock for me-particularly as all good fight choreography should really be ballet in terms of how it’s expressing themes, character arcs, dialogue, etc. But The Grandmaster really leans so hard on the ballet side that to call it a kung fu movie rather misses the beautiful point of the film.
It doesn't even center around Ip Man. After the "who will rule kung-fu" battle its just "Stare at Zhang Ziyi looking forlornly I to the camera in various settings and once in a blue moon Tony Leung wanders by saying revenge is bad."
@@jeffmiller6025 Two out of three of the movies featured here aren't kungfu movies either (crime thriller vs biography). Also, the OP is grasping at straws.
I actually have not seen any of the movies reviewed, but I found the reviews themselves to be so … kind. In a world full snark, there is a warmth and compassion to them that I really appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to make them.
The first Ip Man movie is good, but you have to realize most of it never happened. After that, they get more and more ridiculous. Ip Man was a real person, and people should learn about the real man.
I loved Anthony Wong’s version! So different and the action worked for me despite him not being a martial artist because the story and drama was so well done.
Yeah, Final Fight shouldn't label as 'the other ip man movie', if you don't include the big fight for the action gene pace for a movie, Anthony Wong's Ip Man is more human than Donnie's Ip Man, and I absolutely love this version more.
I really like the fact that The Legend Is Born has the likes of Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Ip Man's own son - Ip Chun - in it. It's amazing how Ip Chun can move like that at his age.
And he also said how disappointed the film performed at the box office because he put so much into the film as an actor and that it’s actually a good film.
The Final Fight was my favorite. I like how they used real TV shots of Bruce Lee, but never referred to Bruce by his name. Anthony Wong was amazing in this film. Respect.
There seems to be a fine line with tension that we must walk. Whether action or drama there has to be at least the the perception of the possiblity of loss. Or else, we end up with a machine fighting/dialoguing through it all with an ensured sense of victory/rightness.
I found it weird how they came up with the whole secret spy brother plot for "Legend is Born". It reminds me of some of the old low budget OUATIC knockoff (Wongsploitation?) movies that took liberties with the story, like having Fei Hung's father be murdered by a Japanese swordsman. But it's also very interesting that the secret brother in that movie has the same given name as the rival Wing Chun fighter from Ip Man 3 and the spinoff. Is there some real life association between Ip Man and someone named Tin-chi? I was also surprised when To's next Ip Man movie ended up not being a sequel to his first.
Actually, Wong Fei Hung might be a good video essay subject too, seeing as he is allegedly the single most portrayed film character ever. I particularly find it fascinating how his portrayal by Kwan Tak Hing was at one point the definitive idea of the character, where people always pictured Wong as an older man in a blue suit and cap performing Hung Gar, even when the likes of Gordon Liu and Jackie Chan portrayed him differently. But then Jet Li's portrayal completely supplanted that in the cultural consciousness, and after that people always pictured Wong Fei Hung as a man in his prime, in a white robe and queue, doing Changquan/Taiji. And then after decades of constant portrayals of the character, movies about Wong Fei Hung almost completely stopped being made, to the point that for the last almost 25 years, you could count them on one hand. That seems worth exploring.
I remember watching some non Donnie Yen movies, and indeed, they were good. That said, I never thought of them as rip-offs or bootlegs, simply because anyone can make a film about a historic figure (Ip Man, in this case).
"a fight is a conversation" is why I love fighting. When it's no longer about the win, but about perfecting the dance with your new partner. Sometimes that's raw and violent as two mountains refuse to fall and instead, hold each other up and fight for the middle ground the winner is no longer about who falls, but who falters first, and there's pride in that (and brain damage, possibly). A fight can also be a beautiful, calculated dance that is somehow still unpredictable. As two fighters surgically pick each other apart and get lost in the meta, the constantly evolving game of rock-paper-scissors. The winner is no longer decided by who can't endure the fight, but the one who can't continue it.
Anthony Wong is always a win. I remember seeing a copy of The Final Fight at a shop somewhere and thinking back to seeing him on the cover. Now I need to find it.
I just came across most of these Ip-sploitation films over on Tubi. Was going to give some of them a watch, but thought I'd seek out any info you may have on them since I enjoyed your other Ip Man content in the past. Now I actually look forward to checking some of these out.
"The Grandmaster" with Tony Leung and directed by Wong Kar Wai is another great Ip man movie with different style ....kinda surprised that beautiful movie wasnt mentioned here
I think he's talking about the lesser known ip man movies, and considering the names attached to the grandmaster, the fact it has oscar noms and that it seems to be pretty acclaimed as far as i know, it also doesn't capitalize on the donnie yen movies, so that's probably why he didn't mention it
@@ar-yj8lb Not just lesser known, but also ones trying to ride the coattails of the Yen films by featuring similar style action. The Grandmaster definitely doesn't fall into that category.
I watched The Final Fight a long time ago when it was still on Netflix, and to be honest, I remember really liking it. I remember it being a better send off for the character of Ip Man than Ip Man 4. But that could just be nostalgia talking since I haven't seen the film in literal years and only saw it the one time.
Thanks for the perspective on the Anthony Wong iP Man movie , now I need to rewatch 😂 btw fun fact , Anthony Wong agreed to the movie as a lost bet when he was drunk 😂,
We need a historical epic movie about Real life Ip Man, how he works as a Policeman and during WW2 he even works as a Chinese spy to fight Japanese invaders. Ironically, his real life weapon of choice was the firearms and his main primary skill was the marksmanship, while Wing Chun was his secondary skill set.
The IP man - Superman video is when I subscribed. The pure insight and understanding made me think "this guy is onto something" haven't been disappointed yet.
9:49 and especially 9:53. The Rolls-Royce shown is either a Silver Cloud (1955-1958) or Silver Cloud II (1959-1962), which may or may not be period-correct as I did not see the movie. HK productions tend to be quite lax at getting the correct props, I still remember the Daimler DS420 (1968-1992) was used in HK movie and television productions as a stunt for any car built "some time in the past" dating back to perhaps the 1920s.
I just rewatched this video this morning…. A few times. When I saw it when it was published back in early March, I didn’t watch it closely enough. I thought it was about Ip Man movies that’s all. I completely agree with everything you say. And this video is incredible - my god. I am a narrative specialist but video editing I never got into. I’d love to work with you.
Eric Tsang is in the Anthony Wong one? I just watched Infernal Affairs for the first time, and that sure made seeing them together feel a little weird! lol
i've seen these too and was a bit confused when i saw them but i remember them so you could say they left all left a good impression. people do retellings of existing stories every single time so i don't think it matters when they do it, i'm just glad they didn't try to be a 1:1 copycat or try to re-imagine iconic moments that just won't work very well if the original source is a different medium
Seen all the films in the video with the exception of the 2nd Dennis To film. By then I think I was either burned out on IpMan films or didn't find the plot of said character being a vigilante at all appealing. That said, I did very much enjoy Dennis To's first IpMan film for alot of the reasons you mentioned in the video, as well as IpChun portraying the 2nd master sifu in the film. But IpMan Final Fight i absolutely loved. It was such a different and more realistic approach to a character that has often been portrayed as larger than life. Anthony Wong really did an amazing job as both an actor and even in his fight choreography given his limitations and age. Not sure if tru but I heard Mr. Wong was drunk at a bar when he was offered the role and quickly regretted after he accepted lol! Great video.
So far have only watched the Anthony Wong's movie. I'm a big fan of his acting skills and I liked what he brought to the role. Now, I gotta say that the release of so many Ip Man movies was a nightmare for cinephiles in Brazil. The first movie with Yen was named as O Grande Mestre (The Grandmaster) - maybe if it were released in the 1990s, people would recognize the name of Ip Man because martial arts were very popular back then in Brazil. So, what is the name of the movie about Ip Man Wong Kar Wai released a few years later? So, it received the same title as Yen's here. Then the second movie with Yen is released and some start to refer to the move as simply Ip Man 2. Fine. Then what happened? Ip Man: a Legend is Born is released in Brazil with some people calling it Ip Man 3. And The Final Battle is referred to as Ip Man 4. All these movies were released by different distributors and none were released in theaters - maybe Kar Wai's one because of his cult status.
Anthony Wong used to practice but maybe didn't keep up since getting sick in the late 90s. He's since recovered but not sure if he got back into training.
I’ve always seen the other Ip Man films similar to Wong Fei-Hung films. There are ones everyone knows about and others completely under the radar. There’s also plenty more Ip Man films too. I watched one about him and his master when he was in high school and some bad guys held his high school hostage or something. Completely out of the blue, but some great action scenes.
Thank you for giving me new lenses for these films. I watched the 2013 Ip Man and was so bored by it as I was expecting an action packed film. I might revisit the film with new perspective.
Broo i remember watching those movies and thinking "This franchise makes no fucking sense at all" HAHAHAHAH I love them all, specially oldman ip men one. Ip-xploitation, just like Fei Hung-xploitation, gave us many great movies! xD
Great review. I found it weird that there was so many Ip man movies. I thought the whole point was to tell the true story of the man who lived but now it feels like he's some myth or legend and had lots of different stories. I never considered watching them but after your review I would watch them for what they are an action pack story
FYI, Anthony was once 大圣劈挂 school master, just his acting is more shine than his MA, which why most of his projects didn't involve MA. It's a kind of north china kung fu that is invented with Monkey kung fu as foundation. (not founded by him, he learnt it when young)
Fun fact. The Donnie Yen Ip Man movies are the original clone. They put those movies together after WKW announced he was doing Grandmaster. But WKW working slow meant another movie beat him to market.
this is one of those episodes where you're like "oh i recognize like three guys in that one ip man offshoot reboot. i need to watch that. i love those guys."
i know this is non related to the video. i’m vietnamese, i do not like vietnamese cinema, like at all. but recently i got dragged by my family to watch “The House of No Man (Nhà bà Nữ)”. saying i was blown away was an understatement. it’s hilarious, most of the satire hits. this movie encapsulates one of the most accurate depiction of vietnamese households, family conflicts, domestic violence, etc. how could a domestic violence be funny? it’s funny to me because i can relate to this. it’s a social commentary on culture and progress. at the end of the day, it’s a movie with a great message.
i loved ip man final fight! i really liked how it portrays hong kong city life. my main critique is that the climax is a fight between ip man and the mafia (the final fight of you will) which i don't think was needed. but still i like it a lot!
I don't see these movies as a knock-off. As odd as it seems, I don't think there is an ownership of the character "Ip Man." He's a folklore hero, so everyone has the same right to make a movie based on their interpretation of "Ip Man."
I think because they're using the same title?, so it's kind of capitalizing on the donnie yen movies a bit and doesn't really try to make it seperate, also isn't Ip man a real person?, he's not really a folklore hero
@@ar-yj8lb I just checked, google said Folklore hero can be real or not. The lore part is the made up story I guess. About the title, I'm not too sure if Donnie Yen's production ever tried to trademark the title, but I'm not too sure it will be accepted either, as it is basically a person's name
@@MrWillypanda88 I'm mostly saying that by using the same title, even if they're allowed to, they're not really trying be their own thing, The Grandmaster is a movie also about ip man, but it feels like it's trying to seperate itself from the donnie yen films,
I don't know if I can call some of these knock offs per se. I have some insight, as I have links to a few of the folk behind most of these Ip Man movies. The biggest link between these films is producer Checkley Sin Kwok Lam. He was a student of legendary Shaw Brothers director Lau Kar Leung, having first started training under him in the early '90s. Checkley Sin is also an extremely rich investment banker, who wanted to get into movies like his Si Fu Lau Kar Leung. His initial thought was to make a Hung Gar Kuen movie, as the style Lau Kar Leung practiced & taught, however LKL was quite sick with cancer at the time (eventually passed in 2013), & Checkley didn't wish to make a movie about the style without his Si Fu's involvement, so decided to focus upon Wing Chun as another style he practiced from Ip Man lineage. The genesis for the initial Ip Man film with Donnie was his idea. He knew at the time that Wong Kar Wai already had rights on production of a story on Ip Man, so they met to discuss & ensure consent without stepping on toes, following which Checkley Sin then began production on the first movie. He did not learn directly from Ip Chun (instead another Ip Man disciple), however Ip Chun was brought in, alongside other students of Checkley Sin (to whom he taught wing chun & hung gar), to assist with the wing chun direction, these were Leo Au Yeung who assisted with some choreo, & trained some actors such as Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (the general in the first film) in martial arts, Marvel Chow, who helped train Donnie & others, & Dennis To, who was at the time Checkley Sin's top student. Checkley provided Donnie's main training in Wing Chun for the role. Photos with Ip Chun were more promotional. Following the success of the first movie, he decided he could put some more focus on Hung Gar Kuen (as a style he originally intended on film) in the second Ip movie, hence Sammo's character in Ip 2 as a hung gar kuen si fu & the scenes with Dennis performing hung kuen in the ring demos & street fight scene. Meanwhile as the first film was such a success, Checkley took his monies & invested in creating a huge movie studio in Fo Shan called National Arts. His initial picture to be produced as they were building these studios was Legend is Born, hence why he drafted his top student Dennis To in to play the young Ip Man, as well as numerous other players involved in the Donnie movies. He also asked Donnie to do a very small cameo to link the two films, but this did not work out. I believe there was some small falling out over this, hence Checkley stepping away from further official Donnie sequels. As an aside, apparently the cost of getting the steam engine scenes into the studio for Legend is Born were actually one of the biggest single investments in a Hong Kong production ever (despite the studio being in Fo Shan, & despite the rest of the production looking lower budget). Following this he produced a couple of other movies at the studio such as Woman Knight of Mirror Lake, also with Dennis To; after which he asked Dennis to sign a 15 year contract exclusively with his studio. As Dennis was now quite a big star, & a brand ambassador in Hong Kong for Pizza Hut & watch companies etc, he was not really happy to sign for such a long period. This led to a very unfortunate falling out. Dennis To was very publicly kicked out from the lineage. He had also learnt Lau Kar Leung's martial arts but was forbidden from promoting them. Dennis had some troubles finding work following this; he personally joined a choy lay fut lineage & other savvy producers then snapped him up to capitalise upon his Ip Man roll, result in sub par productions like Kung Fu League & Ip Man: Kung Fu Master. Checkley then decided to focus on the older Ip Man film with Final Fight. Some may not realise, but Anthony Wong is a student of martial arts, having trained in Tai Shing Pek Kwar. This is a style made famous by Shaw Brothers actor Chen Kuan Tai (star of Boxer From Shantung, the original axe gang movie), & also practiced by Checkley Sin; he & Anthony Wong are kung fu brothers in this style. This film was also shot at National Arts studio, at great expense to build a large film set to recreate mid-20th century Hong Kong. Many of the same folk behind the initial 2 Ip films & Legend is born were involved in this production. After this, the intention had been to start a new film series akin to Ip Man, but instead now focused on the father of Lau Kar Leung, Lau Jarm, who was a star of the original black & white Wong Fei Hong movies of the '50s & '60s. Unfortunately, Checkley Sin then lost an eye & became extremely sick due to a virus. With a very long recovery time, movie production took a back seat. Eventually his political aspirations took over (he recently ran for premier of Hong Kong). National Arts studios now hosts tv productions & is loaned out for movies, as well as doubling as an entertainment resort. Shame, as I was up for seeing a Lau Jarm series take flight. Who knows, maybe one day... Can't keep on with just Wong Fei Hong, Huo Yuan Jia & Ip Man...
I just finished the hole saga. I´m agreed with you that the new superman movie have to get inspiration from those movies. Thank you so much for the recomendation.
You forgot The Grandmaster, with Crushing Tiger, Hidden Dragon actress Ziyi, where he is an Kung Fu conference, there are great actions scene, mostly made by Ziyi, but the movie try to be at both sides of the fences, trying to imply that Ip Man fall in love of other woman, meanwhile being faithful to his wife.
Ip Kai-man (葉繼問) but almost prophetic that the translation is ''Ip'' even that his life began to be popular in 2008 all Ip man in the end is a great IP by chance in life.
I have developed my own kung-fu character called nut crusher man--his only moves are nut shots. I have tried it on all my friends and he is undefeated.
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You should do a video about the history of bruceploitation because this year will be the 50th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death.
no ones going to click on your nord vpn link you uncle tom
Michelle Yeoh and Dave Bautista were also in GOTG 2
@@ellieeliandelliot7439 where? Don't forget Michael Rosenbaum in gogt
@@haroldnecmann7040 Michelle Yeoh is one of the Ravagers who paid respect to Yondu. You probably did not see Dave Bautista as Drax because he mastered the ability of standing so incredibly still that he became invisible to the eye.
I like how not mentioning "The Grandmaster" implies a dedicated video for it. It really deserve it's own video.
After all, The Grandmaster is directed by Wong Kar Wai, one of the best arthouse directors working today
watched that one as a kid expecting another kung fu movie, but was then bored and confused.
I’m surprised it didn’t get a mention. Hope the implication is true.
@@MatthewGhirardi Written by Haofeng Xu, director of some of the best martial art movies today, I really hope people bring more attention to his body of work some day.
Wong Kar Wai had the idea before the Donnie films. It was just his typical shooting style meant his film took a lot longer to complete.
I actually saw legend is born before the donnie yen films thinking it was a prequel, but even after learning it wasn't I'm still surprised at how good a movie it was. They really did a good job of focusing on keeping the story smaller and more personal as opposed to trying to mimic the main series more grand scale.
I did too.
Oh that was the one where IpChun does a guest appearance as Leung Bik?
That movie was terrible, and i'm pretty sure it was done merely because ipchun (ipmans real son) didn't like donnie yens interpretation of wing chun i.e he'd fight fight fight then suddenly it wasn't wingchun anymore i.e donnie wasn't following it orthodox like. However this movie tries too hard and the story is all over the place eg japanese boy raised to be chinese, where does he have the time to learn japanese style moves and if he knew it why use wingchun to assassinated the instructor exposing himself i.e he used chinese kungfu to kill? also at the end i'm sure the finishing move he uses at the end ISN'T traditional winchung and there was no way ipman could break out of a grappling move using any known style (even bruce lee bites people who use armbar techniques)
The movie title in Chinese is literally “Ip Man Prequel” 😂
It was marketed as a prequel when it first released.
It’s crazy how Dennis To not only plays Ip Man, but he also plays minor and supporting characters in Donnie Yen’s first 2 films. Once you find him it’s crazy not to notice him
as i remember he is one of the minor villains in the 1st movie
I knew his face is familiar. He was one of the group whose leader (played by Louis fan) challenged kung fu masters, then lost to Ip Man in the first movie. Then he played as one of the Master Hung's student in the second movie.
The Final Fight is actually one of my favorite, if not my favorite, kung fu movie of all time. As someone who’s done martial arts for more than 40 years, and who has found that the philosophies involved and embodied are ultimately far more important to me than my ability to fight, I find that the Final Fight is far and away the best representation of kung fu as I’ve come to understand it-indeed, as all of my teachers have tried to teach it to me. Sure, even at almost 50 I can “hold my own” in sparring and the occasional “real world” confrontation. But, in truth, even in these, it’s the ethics and the profound understanding of connections and why not to fight that enables me to be an effective, calm, and even caring combatant. Which is also, I have found, how kung fu carries into the rest of my life. This might sound trite to say at this point, given all the discourse around martial arts philosophies, but it’s all true. And so, again, the Final Fight is an absolutely vital, important, and gorgeously expressive film about what the martial arts are really about.
I agree. Final fight is a beautiful film, filled with dirt messages than beat his as$. It's actually my fav of the IP Man series of films. Anthony Wong does a fantastic job portraying a wise elder of martial arts.
Anthony Wong actually studied from a Hong Kong Southern Shaolin Kung Fu Eagle claw school but he is nowhere close to Donnie which his mom is famous for opening a Wu Shu and Bagua school in Boston.
I think for the many people who have mentioned the movie The Grandmaster, in my opinion it's less of an Ip Man movie and more of a Wong Kar Wai movie that just so happens to center around the Ip Man character. I think that's an important distinction to make
I think it’s also not really a kung fu movie, per se. But more of a ballet in which the dancing is choreographed as “fighting” using Chinese martial arts movements. Which is not a knock for me-particularly as all good fight choreography should really be ballet in terms of how it’s expressing themes, character arcs, dialogue, etc. But The Grandmaster really leans so hard on the ballet side that to call it a kung fu movie rather misses the beautiful point of the film.
It doesn't even center around Ip Man. After the "who will rule kung-fu" battle its just "Stare at Zhang Ziyi looking forlornly I to the camera in various settings and once in a blue moon Tony Leung wanders by saying revenge is bad."
@@jeffmiller6025 Two out of three of the movies featured here aren't kungfu movies either (crime thriller vs biography). Also, the OP is grasping at straws.
I actually have not seen any of the movies reviewed, but I found the reviews themselves to be so … kind. In a world full snark, there is a warmth and compassion to them that I really appreciated.
Thanks for taking the time to make them.
The first Ip Man movie is good, but you have to realize most of it never happened. After that, they get more and more ridiculous. Ip Man was a real person, and people should learn about the real man.
I feel completely the same way about this video.
I loved Anthony Wong’s version! So different and the action worked for me despite him not being a martial artist because the story and drama was so well done.
I need to watch that one..Anthony Wong is a top tier actor.
Apparently Wong Chow Sun/Anthony Wong did train in some martial arts DaiSing Pek Gwar
Final Fight was fantastic. Easily my favorite outside of the first Donnie Yen
Yeah, Final Fight shouldn't label as 'the other ip man movie', if you don't include the big fight for the action gene pace for a movie, Anthony Wong's Ip Man is more human than Donnie's Ip Man, and I absolutely love this version more.
If you enjoy Anthony Wong, check him out in his music video he did a few years ago with Namewee. ;-)
ruclips.net/video/rRwxfYlgG-M/видео.html
I really like the fact that The Legend Is Born has the likes of Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Ip Man's own son - Ip Chun - in it. It's amazing how Ip Chun can move like that at his age.
It wasn't actually him. In the fight scene he was doubled
Seeing Anthony Wong face off Eric Tsang reminded me of them facing off each other in the Infernal Affairs movies. It was great.
To be honest, i myself consider "the legend is born" as a prologue and "the last fight" as ending! These two movies are soo good to make me feel that!
I love how there all these different movies and each has it's own flavor. I especially like the biography movie
Your unique perspective and film choices make every video a treat to look foward to.
黃秋生 once said he actually likes the character he played in this movie. He spent so much effort to do this.
And he also said how disappointed the film performed at the box office because he put so much into the film as an actor and that it’s actually a good film.
@@vangmx a more realistic ip man movie i 'd say
Which name have you written in Chinese, if I may?
@@vgjunkie8386 Anthony Wong according to Google Translate
The Final Fight was my favorite. I like how they used real TV shots of Bruce Lee, but never referred to Bruce by his name. Anthony Wong was amazing in this film. Respect.
Your videos are always a joy to watch.
I grew up watching a lot of martial arts movies in the 80s.
There seems to be a fine line with tension that we must walk.
Whether action or drama there has to be at least the the perception of the possiblity of loss.
Or else, we end up with a machine fighting/dialoguing through it all with an ensured sense of victory/rightness.
Ip Man with Anthony Wong was so great ! He such a wonderful actor.
My favourite ip man interpretation still Tony Leung in the Grandmaster 2013
Amazing drama with GREAT action
It was actually my first Ip Man movie, and it led me to the Donnie Yen series, really liked it, and the side characters were interesting as well.
@@Offbeaten You are AWESOME for this
Dennis To actually appeared in donnie yen's ip man 2 as a disciple. That's kinda like he time traveled to watch and learn from his older self lol.
Pretty sure you can spot him in every one of those movies in a fighting role. Part of Fan siu Wong's crew in the first one for sure.
I found it weird how they came up with the whole secret spy brother plot for "Legend is Born". It reminds me of some of the old low budget OUATIC knockoff (Wongsploitation?) movies that took liberties with the story, like having Fei Hung's father be murdered by a Japanese swordsman.
But it's also very interesting that the secret brother in that movie has the same given name as the rival Wing Chun fighter from Ip Man 3 and the spinoff. Is there some real life association between Ip Man and someone named Tin-chi?
I was also surprised when To's next Ip Man movie ended up not being a sequel to his first.
Actually, Wong Fei Hung might be a good video essay subject too, seeing as he is allegedly the single most portrayed film character ever. I particularly find it fascinating how his portrayal by Kwan Tak Hing was at one point the definitive idea of the character, where people always pictured Wong as an older man in a blue suit and cap performing Hung Gar, even when the likes of Gordon Liu and Jackie Chan portrayed him differently. But then Jet Li's portrayal completely supplanted that in the cultural consciousness, and after that people always pictured Wong Fei Hung as a man in his prime, in a white robe and queue, doing Changquan/Taiji. And then after decades of constant portrayals of the character, movies about Wong Fei Hung almost completely stopped being made, to the point that for the last almost 25 years, you could count them on one hand. That seems worth exploring.
I remember watching some non Donnie Yen movies, and indeed, they were good. That said, I never thought of them as rip-offs or bootlegs, simply because anyone can make a film about a historic figure (Ip Man, in this case).
"a fight is a conversation" is why I love fighting. When it's no longer about the win, but about perfecting the dance with your new partner. Sometimes that's raw and violent as two mountains refuse to fall and instead, hold each other up and fight for the middle ground the winner is no longer about who falls, but who falters first, and there's pride in that (and brain damage, possibly). A fight can also be a beautiful, calculated dance that is somehow still unpredictable. As two fighters surgically pick each other apart and get lost in the meta, the constantly evolving game of rock-paper-scissors. The winner is no longer decided by who can't endure the fight, but the one who can't continue it.
I love the 1st and the third one. It's amazing to see a Ip Man struggling, old but wise and human.
11:27
Not only this movie has Anthony Wong, but also Eric Tsang?!
I loved their performance in Infernal Affairs, sheesh, might as well check it out.
2:08 You forgot to mention Ip Chun there. Respect Ip Man's son.
Could you a video on the Wong Fei Hong character as portrayed in movies?
Anthony Wong is always a win. I remember seeing a copy of The Final Fight at a shop somewhere and thinking back to seeing him on the cover. Now I need to find it.
I just came across most of these Ip-sploitation films over on Tubi. Was going to give some of them a watch, but thought I'd seek out any info you may have on them since I enjoyed your other Ip Man content in the past. Now I actually look forward to checking some of these out.
"The Grandmaster" with Tony Leung and directed by Wong Kar Wai is another great Ip man movie with different style
....kinda surprised that beautiful movie wasnt mentioned here
I think he's talking about the lesser known ip man movies, and considering the names attached to the grandmaster, the fact it has oscar noms and that it seems to be pretty acclaimed as far as i know, it also doesn't capitalize on the donnie yen movies, so that's probably why he didn't mention it
@@ar-yj8lb Yea I think you are right, thx 👍
@@ar-yj8lb Not just lesser known, but also ones trying to ride the coattails of the Yen films by featuring similar style action. The Grandmaster definitely doesn't fall into that category.
I watched The Final Fight a long time ago when it was still on Netflix, and to be honest, I remember really liking it. I remember it being a better send off for the character of Ip Man than Ip Man 4. But that could just be nostalgia talking since I haven't seen the film in literal years and only saw it the one time.
Loving your channel, very clean and well thought out.
Thanks for the perspective on the Anthony Wong iP Man movie , now I need to rewatch 😂 btw fun fact , Anthony Wong agreed to the movie as a lost bet when he was drunk 😂,
We need a historical epic movie about Real life Ip Man, how he works as a Policeman and during WW2 he even works as a Chinese spy to fight Japanese invaders. Ironically, his real life weapon of choice was the firearms and his main primary skill was the marksmanship, while Wing Chun was his secondary skill set.
The IP man - Superman video is when I subscribed. The pure insight and understanding made me think "this guy is onto something" haven't been disappointed yet.
Amazing as always. For me, Legend is Born gets boring at the Last looooooong fight scene that doesn't seem to be over. Too much minions to fight
I bet Ip Man would say "I never knew I could do that" in some movie fight scenes that he's name was attached to.
Man... your insight is just spot on... Thank you for all you do.
Holy hell, I always thought Legend is Born and Final Fight were an actual prequel and sequel to the Donnie Yen series...
9:49 and especially 9:53. The Rolls-Royce shown is either a Silver Cloud (1955-1958) or Silver Cloud II (1959-1962), which may or may not be period-correct as I did not see the movie. HK productions tend to be quite lax at getting the correct props, I still remember the Daimler DS420 (1968-1992) was used in HK movie and television productions as a stunt for any car built "some time in the past" dating back to perhaps the 1920s.
I watched The Legend is Born a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. I am surprised you didn’t speak about the Wong Kar-wai film.
I was thinking that, but I later learned that Wong Kar Wai had the idea of the Ip Man movie before the Ip Man franchise
I just rewatched this video this morning…. A few times. When I saw it when it was published back in early March, I didn’t watch it closely enough. I thought it was about Ip Man movies that’s all. I completely agree with everything you say. And this video is incredible - my god. I am a narrative specialist but video editing I never got into. I’d love to work with you.
Great essay. You've earned yourself a new sub.
11:56 reminds me of them in Infernal Affairs!! Could you make a video on the Infernal Affairs movies?
wong kar wai also directed one called the grandmaster
So this is basically "we have Ip Man at home" but it's kinda fire?
Turns out, Mom's a great cook and when she said there's McDonald's at home, it's fire.
Eric Tsang is in the Anthony Wong one? I just watched Infernal Affairs for the first time, and that sure made seeing them together feel a little weird! lol
Subscribed just for the"ip-splotation" line
These movies have left a significant cultural impact. These action stars will forever be remembered for their crafts.
7:01 just noticed a finger touched the camera lens. Probably from the film crew themselves.
The final fight is much closer to ip man real life than donnie yen’s movie. The cinematography is also a lot more beautiful.
I'm a simple man
I get an Accented Cinema Notification
I have to watch
i've seen these too and was a bit confused when i saw them but i remember them so you could say they left all left a good impression. people do retellings of existing stories every single time so i don't think it matters when they do it, i'm just glad they didn't try to be a 1:1 copycat or try to re-imagine iconic moments that just won't work very well if the original source is a different medium
I've watched Legend is born and Ip Man - The Final Fight without realising it was a knock off, they were always a fun watch for young me :D
Seen all the films in the video with the exception of the 2nd Dennis To film. By then I think I was either burned out on IpMan films or didn't find the plot of said character being a vigilante at all appealing. That said, I did very much enjoy Dennis To's first IpMan film for alot of the reasons you mentioned in the video, as well as IpChun portraying the 2nd master sifu in the film.
But IpMan Final Fight i absolutely loved. It was such a different and more realistic approach to a character that has often been portrayed as larger than life. Anthony Wong really did an amazing job as both an actor and even in his fight choreography given his limitations and age. Not sure if tru but I heard Mr. Wong was drunk at a bar when he was offered the role and quickly regretted after he accepted lol!
Great video.
So far have only watched the Anthony Wong's movie. I'm a big fan of his acting skills and I liked what he brought to the role.
Now, I gotta say that the release of so many Ip Man movies was a nightmare for cinephiles in Brazil. The first movie with Yen was named as O Grande Mestre (The Grandmaster) - maybe if it were released in the 1990s, people would recognize the name of Ip Man because martial arts were very popular back then in Brazil. So, what is the name of the movie about Ip Man Wong Kar Wai released a few years later? So, it received the same title as Yen's here. Then the second movie with Yen is released and some start to refer to the move as simply Ip Man 2. Fine. Then what happened? Ip Man: a Legend is Born is released in Brazil with some people calling it Ip Man 3. And The Final Battle is referred to as Ip Man 4. All these movies were released by different distributors and none were released in theaters - maybe Kar Wai's one because of his cult status.
Anthony Wong used to practice but maybe didn't keep up since getting sick in the late 90s. He's since recovered but not sure if he got back into training.
I might need to check some of these out - Ip Man is a series I really enjoy
There is also The Grandmaster and Ip Man: Crisis Time and also, a Kevin Cheng series
I own Legend is Born on DVD and I enjoyed it as a film doing its own thing beside the mainstream Donnie Yen Ip Man movies.
Great reviews , as usual.
I’ve always seen the other Ip Man films similar to Wong Fei-Hung films. There are ones everyone knows about and others completely under the radar.
There’s also plenty more Ip Man films too. I watched one about him and his master when he was in high school and some bad guys held his high school hostage or something. Completely out of the blue, but some great action scenes.
Thank you for giving me new lenses for these films. I watched the 2013 Ip Man and was so bored by it as I was expecting an action packed film. I might revisit the film with new perspective.
Broo i remember watching those movies and thinking "This franchise makes no fucking sense at all" HAHAHAHAH
I love them all, specially oldman ip men one. Ip-xploitation, just like Fei Hung-xploitation, gave us many great movies! xD
Great review. I found it weird that there was so many Ip man movies. I thought the whole point was to tell the true story of the man who lived but now it feels like he's some myth or legend and had lots of different stories. I never considered watching them but after your review I would watch them for what they are an action pack story
You forgot to mention that in the young ip man film, his actual son Ip Chun stars as one of the masters... wich is a very cool data
Very good video essay!
FYI, Anthony was once 大圣劈挂 school master, just his acting is more shine than his MA, which why most of his projects didn't involve MA. It's a kind of north china kung fu that is invented with Monkey kung fu as foundation. (not founded by him, he learnt it when young)
Fun fact. The Donnie Yen Ip Man movies are the original clone. They put those movies together after WKW announced he was doing Grandmaster. But WKW working slow meant another movie beat him to market.
lol, 'Ip-sploitation' superb pun
Another very good one is The Grandmaster. And yeah, The Final Fight was really, really good. Exceptionally well done, and very memorable.
this is one of those episodes where you're like "oh i recognize like three guys in that one ip man offshoot reboot. i need to watch that. i love those guys."
i know this is non related to the video. i’m vietnamese, i do not like vietnamese cinema, like at all. but recently i got dragged by my family to watch “The House of No Man (Nhà bà Nữ)”. saying i was blown away was an understatement. it’s hilarious, most of the satire hits. this movie encapsulates one of the most accurate depiction of vietnamese households, family conflicts, domestic violence, etc. how could a domestic violence be funny? it’s funny to me because i can relate to this. it’s a social commentary on culture and progress. at the end of the day, it’s a movie with a great message.
I love Ip man the legend is born so much, I'm a huge fan of Dennis To's performance in most of his appearances.
我係黎管你!
11:49 Ip Man's opponent is well-known for announcing, 'There's no win nor loss.' (打和) with his special tone.
I wish there was an Ip Man bundle containing all of these movies to be able to buy all of them at once
i loved ip man final fight! i really liked how it portrays hong kong city life. my main critique is that the climax is a fight between ip man and the mafia (the final fight of you will) which i don't think was needed. but still i like it a lot!
There’s also ip man and four kings which is so obscure I didn’t even know it existed until I looked it up
They're just knock offs of other movies but look like high budget American movies set in China.
I wish western movies would try that formula more often. Sounds like some fun movies to watch
I don't see these movies as a knock-off. As odd as it seems, I don't think there is an ownership of the character "Ip Man." He's a folklore hero, so everyone has the same right to make a movie based on their interpretation of "Ip Man."
I think because they're using the same title?, so it's kind of capitalizing on the donnie yen movies a bit and doesn't really try to make it seperate, also isn't Ip man a real person?, he's not really a folklore hero
@@ar-yj8lb I just checked, google said Folklore hero can be real or not. The lore part is the made up story I guess. About the title, I'm not too sure if Donnie Yen's production ever tried to trademark the title, but I'm not too sure it will be accepted either, as it is basically a person's name
@@MrWillypanda88 I'm mostly saying that by using the same title, even if they're allowed to, they're not really trying be their own thing, The Grandmaster is a movie also about ip man, but it feels like it's trying to seperate itself from the donnie yen films,
Kinda interested with Anthony Wong :) plus the humanity of IP man in this version.
Excellent video!
I liked Master Z much more than i thought I would. Didn't realise it was officially canon. Great video as usual 🎉
Add to watch list, thank you for review.
These movies look so cool. The fight scenes are awesome.
I love how the Chinese subtitles evolved, it's getting more emotional lol
11:57 - there was Stephen Chow movie I think they referred to the sparring as a conversation.
7:14 Straight out of the Oliver Megaton's School of Editing
I don't know if I can call some of these knock offs per se. I have some insight, as I have links to a few of the folk behind most of these Ip Man movies. The biggest link between these films is producer Checkley Sin Kwok Lam. He was a student of legendary Shaw Brothers director Lau Kar Leung, having first started training under him in the early '90s.
Checkley Sin is also an extremely rich investment banker, who wanted to get into movies like his Si Fu Lau Kar Leung. His initial thought was to make a Hung Gar Kuen movie, as the style Lau Kar Leung practiced & taught, however LKL was quite sick with cancer at the time (eventually passed in 2013), & Checkley didn't wish to make a movie about the style without his Si Fu's involvement, so decided to focus upon Wing Chun as another style he practiced from Ip Man lineage. The genesis for the initial Ip Man film with Donnie was his idea.
He knew at the time that Wong Kar Wai already had rights on production of a story on Ip Man, so they met to discuss & ensure consent without stepping on toes, following which Checkley Sin then began production on the first movie. He did not learn directly from Ip Chun (instead another Ip Man disciple), however Ip Chun was brought in, alongside other students of Checkley Sin (to whom he taught wing chun & hung gar), to assist with the wing chun direction, these were Leo Au Yeung who assisted with some choreo, & trained some actors such as Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (the general in the first film) in martial arts, Marvel Chow, who helped train Donnie & others, & Dennis To, who was at the time Checkley Sin's top student. Checkley provided Donnie's main training in Wing Chun for the role. Photos with Ip Chun were more promotional.
Following the success of the first movie, he decided he could put some more focus on Hung Gar Kuen (as a style he originally intended on film) in the second Ip movie, hence Sammo's character in Ip 2 as a hung gar kuen si fu & the scenes with Dennis performing hung kuen in the ring demos & street fight scene.
Meanwhile as the first film was such a success, Checkley took his monies & invested in creating a huge movie studio in Fo Shan called National Arts. His initial picture to be produced as they were building these studios was Legend is Born, hence why he drafted his top student Dennis To in to play the young Ip Man, as well as numerous other players involved in the Donnie movies. He also asked Donnie to do a very small cameo to link the two films, but this did not work out. I believe there was some small falling out over this, hence Checkley stepping away from further official Donnie sequels. As an aside, apparently the cost of getting the steam engine scenes into the studio for Legend is Born were actually one of the biggest single investments in a Hong Kong production ever (despite the studio being in Fo Shan, & despite the rest of the production looking lower budget).
Following this he produced a couple of other movies at the studio such as Woman Knight of Mirror Lake, also with Dennis To; after which he asked Dennis to sign a 15 year contract exclusively with his studio. As Dennis was now quite a big star, & a brand ambassador in Hong Kong for Pizza Hut & watch companies etc, he was not really happy to sign for such a long period. This led to a very unfortunate falling out. Dennis To was very publicly kicked out from the lineage. He had also learnt Lau Kar Leung's martial arts but was forbidden from promoting them.
Dennis had some troubles finding work following this; he personally joined a choy lay fut lineage & other savvy producers then snapped him up to capitalise upon his Ip Man roll, result in sub par productions like Kung Fu League & Ip Man: Kung Fu Master.
Checkley then decided to focus on the older Ip Man film with Final Fight. Some may not realise, but Anthony Wong is a student of martial arts, having trained in Tai Shing Pek Kwar. This is a style made famous by Shaw Brothers actor Chen Kuan Tai (star of Boxer From Shantung, the original axe gang movie), & also practiced by Checkley Sin; he & Anthony Wong are kung fu brothers in this style. This film was also shot at National Arts studio, at great expense to build a large film set to recreate mid-20th century Hong Kong. Many of the same folk behind the initial 2 Ip films & Legend is born were involved in this production.
After this, the intention had been to start a new film series akin to Ip Man, but instead now focused on the father of Lau Kar Leung, Lau Jarm, who was a star of the original black & white Wong Fei Hong movies of the '50s & '60s. Unfortunately, Checkley Sin then lost an eye & became extremely sick due to a virus. With a very long recovery time, movie production took a back seat. Eventually his political aspirations took over (he recently ran for premier of Hong Kong).
National Arts studios now hosts tv productions & is loaned out for movies, as well as doubling as an entertainment resort. Shame, as I was up for seeing a Lau Jarm series take flight. Who knows, maybe one day... Can't keep on with just Wong Fei Hong, Huo Yuan Jia & Ip Man...
“This timid expression when he says he is hungry is instantly memorable. And what does he eat?” Well, we do realize what he ate, eh?
I just finished the hole saga. I´m agreed with you that the new superman movie have to get inspiration from those movies. Thank you so much for the recomendation.
Anthony Wong one is mad good
You forgot The Grandmaster, with Crushing Tiger, Hidden Dragon actress Ziyi, where he is an Kung Fu conference, there are great actions scene, mostly made by Ziyi, but the movie try to be at both sides of the fences, trying to imply that Ip Man fall in love of other woman, meanwhile being faithful to his wife.
Ip Kai-man (葉繼問) but almost prophetic that the translation is ''Ip'' even that his life began to be popular in 2008 all
Ip man in the end is a great IP by chance in life.
The Grandmaster by Wong Kar-wai
is also good!
I have developed my own kung-fu character called nut crusher man--his only moves are nut shots. I have tried it on all my friends and he is undefeated.
I came here to comment you need to do a video about The Grandmaster, but I see others have said as much.
You forgot to mention the old master in The Legend is Born is Ip Man's real life son
Now, this is an Ip-ception