KUNG FU: Don’t Miss The Poster For Giddens Ko’s New Martial Arts Adventure Adaptation
Get ready for some KUNG FU in 2026 from director Giddens Ko!
kung fu
THE CRIPPLED MASTERS Is A Kung Fu Classic For All The Right Reasons
These days, if a film were to heavily feature, say, someone in a wheelchair (besides, perhaps, Charles Xavier), it wouldn’t be long before it was bombarded with cries of “woke!” or “leftism gone mad!”. Back in 1980, this wasn’t the case. In fact, in 1980, exploitation cinema was still thriving. These films often toed the line, highlighting more taboo subjects, such as sex crimes, racism, homosexuality and, of course, extreme violence, as well as many more. Exploitation became its own genre, despite being comprised of several other genres. There’s action exploitation, horror exploitation, Blaxploitation, exploitation porn (which seems redundant, I suppose)… The list goes on. Kung fu cinema has always been mildly exploitational. Or at least it’s gently held hands with exploitation throughout its existence. Sammo Hung often liked to make his films gritty with the inclusion of a rape scene or two, many martial arts films feature animal cruelty, […]
88 Films Bombards Us With Action With Their June/July/August Slate
British Blu-Ray distributor, 88 FILMS, have been delivering the goods with their martial arts action releases for years now and they’re showing no signs of stopping any time soon. Physical Media fans have a lot to look forwards to over the next few months as 88 Films are set to hit us with a veritable avalanche of classic Hong Kong action flicks. Check out their slate below: JUNE Fist of Legend (6/24) – Everyone and their dog knows this film. Considered Jet Li’s best by many, it tells the story of Chen Zhen (also portrayed by Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury) fighting off the evil Japanese. Features fight choreography from Yuen Woo Ping and a fantastic villain in the form of Billy Chow. Availaiable on both Blu-Ray and 4K UHD. To Kill Wih Intrigue (TBD) – While a date hasn’t been set in stone for this one, most people are leaning […]
Film Masters Release The Controversial Kung Fu Classic, THE CRIPPLED MASTERS, This July
Controversy isn’t really something one might associate with the kung fu cinema genre. The infamous “Cantonese comedy” found in the classics of yesteryear may be a little on the distasteful side, but it’s easy to say “It’s a product of its time” and move on with your day. However, one martial arts film sticks out like a sore thumb when it comes to distastefulness – 1980’s THE CRIPPLED MASTERS. Over the years, this one’s only been accessible on VHS and DVD’s that were basically shoddy VHS rips, but now, for the the first time, it gets a crisp, remastered Blu Ray from Film Masters. Why the controversy? The Crippled Masters stars Frankie Shum (Shun Chung-Chuen) and Jack Conn (Thomas Hong Chiu-Ming), two disabled martial artists as the titular “masters” and focuses heavily on their impairments. Whether the film celebrates inclusivity or not is purely up to the viewer, but it’s safe to […]
KUNG FU Shapes Up For Giddens Ko’s Latest Film Adaptation In New Stills
Golden Horse is at the Marche du Film touting its package with the rest of the global film bunch at Cannes. Included in the slate is Kung Fu, ten years in the making and now adapted for the screen by Giddens Ko (Mon Mon Mon Monsters, Miss Shampoo) whose own 2005 novel serves as the basis for the new martial arts flick he directs. High school loser student Yuan accidentally aids a bullied, homeless man, only to find out later that this man is a Kung Fu master resurrected for a 500-year entanglement with his berserk, evil fellow swordsman. Present day, Yuan and his own fellow Ah-yi are taken as disciples by the master. At first, they enjoy following the master’s order to uphold justice, while also earning a brief satisfaction and the favor of Yi-jing, another female disciple. But soon they will also face the hard side of humanity, […]
The FU FOR THOUGHT Podcast Schedule – A Mega Mix of Martial Arts Mayhem!
One of the perks of writing for a website is that I get to promore my YouTube channel to our wonderful readers. If you don’t know already, I host a podcast called Fu for Thought (see what I did there?). Fu for Thought is a bi-weekly – that’s one every two weeks and not twice a week – martial arts cinema concept where I sit down with my wife, Devan, and my best bud, Cyrus, and we review a martial arts movie. The original aim of the podcast was to get the two of them into the genre. They’re both absolute philistines when it comes to wonderful world of Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest etc. One hundred and thirty one episodes in and…well…it’s been an interesting journey. I semi-won one of them other. The other, not so much. That means I continue my quest… Oe of my tasks as main host, (kinda) producer and (not […]
Anticipation Grows As Soi Cheang’s TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN Teaser Drops
To say Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In has martial arts cinema fans champing at the bit would be an understatement. The film, directed by Soi Cheang (Limbo), and starring Raymond Lam (Saving General Yang), Richie Jen (Seoul Raiders), Louis Koo (Paradox), Sammo Hung (Ip Man 2) and Philip Ng (Once Upon a Time in Shanghai) was met with immediate anticipation as soon as it was announced back in 2021. In fact, the film garnered buzz as far back as 2013 when Donnie Yen was rumored to star. Fast forward a decade and here we are, finally getting a taste of what we might see from legendary Action Director, Kenji Tanigaki. I think I can comfortably say that fans won’t be disappointed! While a few snaps of Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In‘s FILMART promo poster made it to Instagram yesterday, Chinese website and newspaper, Ming Pao, posted this teaser late in the […]
KUNG FU Taps Donnie Yen To Lead The Universal/87 North Martial Arts Film Reboot
Classic TV series Kung Fu had long been in the works for a remake/reboot of some kind until the CW network landed its own iteration starring actress Olivia Liang for a three season run. That show is streaming on Max and my reaction is here if you’re curious, while the word from Deadline is that Donnie Yen has been tapped to star in the project which has since moved to Universal Pictures and David Leitch and Kelly McCormick’s 87 North. The news on Wednesday marks the latest update on the project succeeding a concept originally birthed by screen legend Bruce Lee that was retooled for its 1972 premiere featuring David Carradine, who continued the TV saga alongside Chris Potter in “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues”. As Deadline’s Justin Kroll reports, Leitch is eyeing the director’s chair for the project adding to his ample resumé in stunts and action, shepherding 2015’s […]
Hit Series KUNG FU Ends At The CW
Christina M. Kim’s CW network upgrade of classic TV series Kung Fu wasn’t exactly targeted to viewers like me, per se. Nonetheless, it was only recently that I binged all three seasons with my mother on HBO Max and found myself enjoying it more than I expected, and even reveling for a little bit in the hopes of a continuation. Alas, when the news broke on Thursday of the show’s cancellation as part of a cost-cutting measure for shows to be filmed in the UK and Canada – per the network’s new business model, I was disappointed to say the least. Feel free to comment in reaction to my post about the series on Instagram, but I’ll just go ahead and say that this was one of the finest shows I’ve ever watched – credited for steering the movement for better AAPI representation in entertainment, and frankly speaking, actor Tzi […]
IP MAN: KUNG FU MASTER Review: Kung Fu As The Ultimate Weapon For Truth And Justice
Chinese film industry continue turning their most beloved martial arts historical figures into pulp characters, sometimes even bordering on the superhero genre, but overall looking to exploit this figures beyond of what they really were, to bring them to the olympus of legends, where the wide variety of possibilities is unlimited, and all them stop being historical figures to transform into fictitional characters that inhabit universes that those kung fu masters could never imagine, bringing to moviegoers around the world endless hours of evasive entertainment. Since Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen teamed up to turn Ip Man in a cinematic hero, the character has become a recurrent figure for martial cinema of late that comes from the mainland, and alongside another historical masters as Wong Fei Hung or Huo yuanjia, has reached the status of eternal cinematic iconic hero. For Ip Man: Kung Fu Master, Dennis To reprises the main […]
AS GOD Review: The Path of Justice paved by Tears of Betrayal
An evil sect tries to impose their mischievous arts in the city, but a martial arts master along with his two best students will try to stop them at all costs, however, their heroic deed will be shattered when an unexpected, blinded ambition will get in their way. in the form of bitter stabs of betrayal. Starred by Wang Wenjie (Chen Zhen, The Tokyo Fight) and Miu Tse (My Father is a Hero) two of the best exponents of current Chinese martial cinema, As God is pure martial arts entertainment, offering a non-stop frenetic spectacle of magic and fantasy, in a world ruled by mischievous evil sorcerers and righteous martial artists, in which fighting is the only way to resolve all their problems. The film displays into the screen a wonderful action direction, with impossible wire-fu choreographies, an impeccable cinematography highly influenced on Wong Kar Wai´s “The Grandmasters” and a […]
David Leitch To Direct KUNG FU For Universal; Confirmed To Direct ENTER THE DRAGON
David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Fast And Furious: Hobbs And Shaw) will direct the feature-length adaptation of classic martial arts drama, Kung Fu. Mike Fleming Jr. confirms the news at Deadline in an exclusive that also notes the production is housed under Universal Pictures who’ve optioned the rights. Originally birthed by martial arts screen legend Bruce Lee, the show took on new life with David Carradine starring in the original TV drama from 1972 through 1975. In that series, Carradine plays Kwai Chang Kaine, a shaolin monk who initially ventures out to the 18th century old West in search of his brother. The series was then followed by two feature films and a spin-off television show titled Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, co-starring Chris Potter, and efforts followed years later to revive the property, at one point revealing Bill Paxton’s potential involvement 2011 as director – six […]
KUNG FU Takes Shape At The CW
Years and years after numerous shortfallen efforts to revive classic zen action drama IP, Kung Fu, it now looks as if The CW will get a handle on things for a change. Trade news now reports a change over from Fox to its new home and with a new team on board to oversee its televised development. The hour-long female-centric action drama will center on a young adult Chinese-American college dropout whose quarterlife crisis sends her backpacking on a journey of self-discovery before arriving to an isolated monastery in China. She arrives home only to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, compelling her to apply her Shaolin training and values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice. Soon, she realizes her actions have made her a target by the person she’s looking for – the killer she suspects murdered her Shaolin mentor. Quinn’s House Production Company’s […]
I AM THE WHITE TIGER: Kung Fu Cinema Legend Mark Houghton’s New Doc Lands A Trailer
Among the cadre of longstanding kung fu thesps and experts of the last fifty years, martial arts master, ex-stuntman and Hung Gar successor Mark Houghton’s story is certainly one of interest. From traversing the world of martial arts starting at the age of 14 to battling life and death scenarios both on-screen and off, he’s since become one of the foremost figures in martial arts film and sport – his posterity further sustained in Lei Chiu’s new documentary, I Am The White Tiger, which has already circulated festivals aplenty with numerous awards and accolades in its wake. Stuntman, action director, and martial arts legend Mark Houghton tells his story of his martial arts journey, breaking into the Hong Kong film industry, his struggle with injuries and depression, and the promise he made his teacher, the legendary filmmaker Lau Kar Leung. Houghton, whose nominal film credits have seen him work among […]
FIRST LOOK: Meet The Kung Fu Killers In James Lee’s KILL-FIST
EXCLUSIVE: Independent filmmaker James Lee is well on the way with the new martial arts redemtpion thriller, Kill-Fist. Hailing a reunion for the director and his lead actor, Singaporean action favorite, recurring Code Of Law star Sunny Pang, the film further etches a mutual creative partnership for the two who’ve known each other for more than a decade in cinema. “It was fun and great to work with him again after The Collector and Call If You Need Me.” says Lee who cites that as both were different films that served the purpose Kill-Fist aims to do once more in challenging Pang as an actor. “Indeed he had to do some preparations for the character tragic Zhang. Kill-Fist is kind of a refresher for both of us, we hope we can move to bigger projects after this.” Pang, who serves up more brutal screentime in Gavin Lim’s own upcoming film, Diamond […]
AT LONG LAST: An Interview With Andy Long
2016 has seen its fair share of stumbles for me, particularly in the interview department seeing as how I didn’t get to reach as many people as I wanted to. This was one of the grievances I aired in my year four piece from a few weeks ago, and interestingly enough, things still took quite a turn for me following the teaser announcement of a new reel by a stunt performer and martial artist whose career growth now lends him the prominence that I among dozens of others can truly assert that he deserves. That stated, I was never personally well acquainted with Andy Long until around my first or second year as a writer here at Film Combat Syndicate. However, the work he’s amassed and contributed to the genre and the people of his field makes him one of the most sought after people to date for a guy […]
Shortfilm Review – WARRIORS (2016)
Warriors is an Argentinian short film that uses martial arts as the back drop of a deeper message. Directed by and co-starring Fabricio Martin, the story takes place in a private martial arts competition with our protagonist and another opponent. What seems to look like a martial arts drama goes into something more, with a message that resonates with anyone and not just martial artists. From what we are shown at the beginning, Pablo is an underground fighter that is participating in some illegal looking competition to pay for his grandmother’s house so she doesn’t get evicted. His coach, however, is in it for the money and wants Pablo to hide a knuckle duster in is left glove to finish the fight when the time is right. At the critical time when Pablo has his opponent pinned to deliver that punch, it switches to a more metaphysical fight. Pablo is […]
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED: PART TWO – An Interview With Andy Le
Last month’s online shortfilm release, The Challenger, should serve as an exact reminder that there are people in the world – filmmakers who have an ardent love and respect for the craft to keep the martial arts genre alive. After all, it’s played a huge role in the lives of many people, and if that weren’t true, the genre wouldn’t have had the impact and global appeal it did in more than fifty years. Director Bao Tran knew this prior to working among the likes of Hong Kong film legend Corey Yuen Kwai and action stars like Johnny Tri Nguyen as of late. To that effect, I think it’s quite fortuitous that actor, martial artist and competitive tricker, stuntman, choreographer and master in the making, Martial Club’s own Andy Le, knew this too, and to see such like-minds collaborate to achieve something as solid and inspiring as a shortfilm preamble […]
Besson And Hoene Head For WARRIOR'S GATE Next Month!
Within the last few years following Luc Besson’s co-production partnering of EuropaCorp with Shanghai-based Fundemental Films for a slate of English-language films, its package also included a fantasy martial arts film titled Warrior’s Gate. Scant info has been granted for the latter, but thankfully things are about to change as production finally begins next month in lieu of current events at this year’s Beijing International Film Festival. THR reports that helmer Matthias Hoene is directing this, his second feature since winning acclaim with the 2012 action horror romp, Cockneys Vs Zombies. Rising star Uriah Shelton, Flowers Of War actress Ni Ni and Taiwanese-Canadian actor Mark Chao (Black And White 1 & 2) are joining the $48 million dollar French-Chinese co-production with a script by Besson and Robert Mark Karmen which centers on teenager who gets magically transported to China where he ultimately trains in kung fu in order to save […]
Bring The Glow To Your City For The 30th Anniversary Of Berry Gordy’s THE LAST DRAGON
Cult martial arts film star Taimak Guarriello is still in touch with his fanbase decades after gaining the spotlight with the Berry Gordy-produced 1985 neon-laden fantasy action kung fu classic, The Last Dragon. The film is still subject to massive expo and comic-con appeal with a surge in energy that still draws crowds to this day, even at its roots in New York City where the actor has appeared among other favorites stars at the Urban Action Showcase & Expo, and now, the movement continues to bring the glow to your city. A new contest is now underway and the first city to sell 300 tickets (or reach the goal of $12,000) will be chosen to get a star-studded screening of its own with photo-ops with Taimak and much more. The contest will end on March 2, 2015, just three weeks before the celebration commemorating the 30th anniversary of the […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.