FW Presents: Kung Fu Friday Shaw Bros. Double Feature!

Fire and Water Presents the first episode of Kung Fu Friday, a podcast that hopes to make you discover the great films of Asian Action Cinema. Siskoid (that's me!) and Pulp2Pixels' Dr. G, Man of Nerdology start at what is arguably the beginning, classic Shaw Bros. flicks of the 60s and 70s, with two of the studio's greatest film makers represented. Follow us through our dissection of Lau Kar-Leung's The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978), and Chang Cheh's The One-Armed Swordsman (1967). Each episode will feature two cool movies under a common theme, widen your horizons... at the risk of never being able to watch American action films the same way ever again! 😉

Listen to Kung Fu Friday below; relevant scenes and trailers at: KFF Supplemental

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What are YOUR favorite Shaw Bros. movies? Let us know in the comments!

6 responses to “FW Presents: Kung Fu Friday Shaw Bros. Double Feature!

    1. Aside from the recommendations given on the show, plenty. I have like 300 titles on my shelves.

      My gateway drugs as far as Hong Kong cinema goes were John Woo’s Hard Boiled, Heroes of the East, Crouching Tiger, and the terribly titled in English, Kill Zone. Generally though, anything distributed by Dragon Dynasty is probably superlative.

      Here is a link to my Asian cinema list on iCheck. Click a film and look under the COMMENTS tab to find my mini-review (and the English title, as needed) of each: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/kung+fu+fridays/siskoid/

  1. First of all : The scumball Shaw media empire came out of the Hong Kong Kung Fu film studios? And you thought there was fakery in the movies…. there, vented. ( I hate Shaw Communications…mutter).

    My Kung Fu secret origin comes out of the dusty prairie town in Alberta that we’d go to from our farm. For about a year or so, 74-75, things weren’t going well on the farm, and my dad got to spending time in the beer parlour after going into town for mail, parts, groceries, etc.

    To keep me occupied during his one or two or three beers, there was one theatre, not a bad one, “Last Picture Show” kind of thing, but one screen, and often populated with low rent Kung Fu movies, blaxploitation, car chase, and crash movies, spaghetti Westerns and all the the kind of stuff Tarantino weaned himself on. The Kung Fu craze was on with Lee, Carradine, and the Deadly Hands B&W Marvel magazine. I saw all the Lee movies, of course, and I’m sure the Shaw stuff was in that mix, though I can’t recall any names. I saw many of them again a few years later with the boom in Video rentals and cable – which ironically killed the old Theatre in town, and I guess — led to the rise of —- SHAW COMMUNICATIONS! Aaargh. Now I’m angry again! Why’d you tell me that?

    Kidding, Good show, Siskoid and Dr. G. Nice and nostalgic addition to the mix.

    By the way – could we do a show on the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine? There is an omnibus coming out.

  2. Great first episode fellas. Despite having watched Kung-Fu Saturday on USA like Dr. G (where I also met the Power Rangers, or Super Sentai, a few years before their import here), Asian Action Cinema has never crossed my path much.

    My only real connection to the Shaw Brothers films is their co-production with my beloved Hammer. A last-ditch effort to infuse some life into the ailing Dracula franchise known under several names, the best edited version being The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires. It’s one of those films that shouldn’t work at all, and in some instances doesn’t, but Shaw’s knack for action and the presence of Peter Cushing (but not Christopher Lee, who refused to reprise his role as Dracula for this one), somehow elevate it past it’s shortcomings. I’m sure you’ve both seen it. 😉

    Chris

  3. Fun first episode. This is a genre I enjoy, but have never truly taken the time to explore in depth. My first real exposure to martial arts films were the Jackie Chan movies of the 90s and 00s. I was also a big fan of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which is one of the few non-sci fi/fantasy films that I saw multiple times in the theater. So, I’m looking forward to learning more in future episodes.

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