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(1980) Two Wondrous Tigers DUBBED MARTIAL ARTS PERIOD PIECE/ COMEDY

Two unlikely friends of Robert Ko (Phillip Ko Fei) and Tiger (John Cheung Ng-Long) learn martial arts to prevent a powerful martial artist from taking random girls, and forcing them to be his brides or making them as one of his mistresses. Much of the musical score is identical to Ennio Morricone's "My Name Is Nobody". Very pretentious stuff, the comedy routines as well as the fights. Lame movie which the only notable thing are the actor Phillip Ko who has made better martial films than this junk, and actor, John Cheung who wasn't so muscle bound at the time, for he was synonymous for being Jean Claude Van Damme's common villain in such movies as "Bloodsport", "Kickboxer" and "Double Impact"

Even among kung fu flicks that tend toward action-comedy there can be a fair amount of variety. Some lean heavily on story, while others use a root scenario as mere foundation; some go all-out with expansive sets, effects, and stunts beyond the fundamental martial arts combat, while others zero in rather exclusively on the fights. In both cases this is a picture that fits into the latter categories - light on narrative, and tightly focused on an abundance of fights. With that in mind, 'Two wondrous tigers' knows very well where its strength lies, and I must emphasize and am extremely happy to observe how utterly outstanding the fight sequences are. Very few are those scenes that are anything except an excuse for more exhibition of the martial arts, and in this case I think the choreography and stunts are even better than in many other kindred titles. The fluidity of movement is simply dazzling, and within any such scene there is scarcely any pause in the action.

Just as much to the point, I'm tremendously pleased that this is an instance where the cinematography and editing pointedly serve the violence instead of trying to show off themselves or act as a substitute. This stands in sharp contrast with, for example, too many Hollywood action flicks, in which cuts and camerawork are employed to create the illusion of a blow landing. Here, the exquisitely smart work of Shou-Fu Fan and Kung-Wing Fan, not to mention director Sum Cheung, lets us see each and every stunning, invigorating strike and block, and jump and evasion, while furthermore following the action and keeping it centered in frame with the same smooth movement as the performers themselves. Sure, we tend to watch similar fare out of Hong Kong for the kung fu in the first place, yet I earnestly believe that element here is so fabulously rich that it makes 'Two wondrous tigers' even more worthwhile, standing out among many of its brethren.

Moreover, the hand to hand combat is so fabulously rich that it compensates for and ultimately well outshines the weaker aspects. The film even gives us a terrifically strong finish, to the point that those weaker aspects are all but forgotten, but it bears mentioning that for no small part of the preceding length the viewing experience is more uneven such that for a time the subjective faults stand out as much as the strengths. Primarily I speak to the screenplay, for while all other facets of the production are a lesser priority compared to the action, the scene writing and comedy, specifically, rather act to drain the energy from the proceedings. The root story is perfectly fine and enjoyable, yet a lot of the first two-thirds are somewhat characterized by what almost feels like sketch comedy - inserting the same characters into a variety of loosely conceptualized situations just for fun, including more playful illustration of martial arts skills. I'm not saying that these moments are outright bad, but it's readily discernible that less consideration was given to them in comparison to the central narrative, and the difference in quality with the major action scenes is significant.

Be that as it may, maybe I'm being too harsh, and in any event I repeat that the overall impression the feature makes is one that earns my very high esteem. And in all other capacities 'Two wondrous tigers' is splendidly well made, with beautiful filming locations, excellent production design and art direction, and carefully crafted costume design, hair, makeup, props, and weapons. Perhaps this is also a good time to note that if one finds themselves watching a dubbed version then be prepared for a woeful audio track of the sort that gives dubbing a bad name - but that's no fault of the title itself, and meanwhile, even the anticipated sound effects are pretty great. By and large I think this picture is altogether superb, and I wonder if I'm not nitpicking too much in criticizing the writing. One way or another, the fact invariably remains that the fight scenes are a marvelous delight, a feast for the eyes, and even if there were nothing else to especially praise here then they alone would make it worth watching. Him and haw about the details all you want, at the end of the day 'Two wondrous tigers' serves up fantastic martial arts action, and who could ask for anything more?

There are a lot of bad fights in this movie, but finally at the end there is one really good fight which is a 3 on 2 match involving Sharon Yeung Pan Pan, Phillip Ko, John Chang and Charlie Chan. And the final fight with Tiger Yang is also good. He is a very good kicker, and though his kicking looks a bit awkward, he is one of the few guys I've seen who doesn't favor either of his legs. The story is not too good and its hard to sit through for the first hour, but if you can wait around till the end you will get to see some above average kung fu.

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The Crash DVD is full screen. Picture quality is decent.

I saw this film many years ago and it is one that has stayed with me ever since. Like most of the Kung Fu films at the time the picture quality makes you think you're watching a dud but then as you get into the movie you're just following the story and appreciating the fight scenes. I especially liked the fact that there were a female exponents of the arts and that they were more than able to hold their own against the men folk. The basic storyline is that there is a girl who a man (baddie) wants to marry so her brother says that if he can beat her then him then his other sister at Kung Fu then he can marry his sister (got that?) Needless to say he cannot beat the girl but then has the idea of promising a thousand dollars to anyone who can beat her. That person will get the money when they turn over the girl to him. What you then have is a succession of men trying their luck with no success. In the meantime our hero takes up the challenge and because the girl likes him she lets him beat her. However then the baddies father who is the major kung fu villain steps in. The final fight scene is terrific and the film has genuine funny moments. This film is out of DVD at a bargain price it is a bargain. I would have paid twice as much to own it. A great Kung fu movie.