Finishing Blow Episode 101

Lots of stuff to explore this week! Congrats to the winner of the drawing! (Be sure to e-mail me your address a kmiller.mamj@gmail.com)

Donnie Yen and Wilson Yip Depart Ip Man 3

The Forge Gives Strength to Those in Pain

Leeder and Law Join the Berandal Cast

Fight of the Week: Yo Soy Un Hombre Loco

Details on Swelter and Justice

Posters for the Iceman Cometh 3D and Police Story 2013

Images for Man of Tai Chi

King Boxer Review

Background Info

Known as the film that started the “kung fu craze” in the US, The Five Fingers of Death (or King Boxer) has a huge reputation and following behind it. The film stars Lieh Lo, a superstar that precedes Bruce Lee.  While typically cast as the villain in films, Lo plays a good guy who is faced with fighting several different foes. With director Chang-hwa Jeong behind the lens, does this film have all of the necessary elements to be a successful film?

King Boxer Trailer

Story/Characters

The story to King Boxer is a simple one, but one that’s told in a respectable manner. The main character, Chao Chih-Hao experiences several different events that change his path during the course of the film. There are several different threads that are dangled in front of the viewer, but they all tie together nicely and there aren’t any real loose ends to speak of. The only thing that seemed odd was the passage of time. One character would say that a year had passed while others mentioned that they had seen Chih-Hao a few days ago. Then again, this could be translation error or people’s differing ways of telling time.

The characters themselves don’t fare as well as the story does. Chih-Hao, in particular, seems to fluctuate between silent nobody to hardened killer too often. Characters in the film seem to change based on the needs of the story, such as when one villain lets someone live only to kill them in the following scenes. Touching back on the passage of time, there are several instances where fighter become masters too quickly to be logical. Things like being a fighter after losing eyesight on the same day and healing broken hands in just a month. I know I’m being picky, but it does detract from the overall experience.

Action/Choreography

It’s interesting to see how far along martial arts films have come. By today’s standards, the action is passable, but nothing amazing. There is a lot of aerial action and doubling for falls, which seems out of place, but the hand to hand combat is at least solid. I find it humorous that throws and jump kicks are the most devastating attacks, but that’s just being nitpicky. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that this film inspired a lot of the aerial fights that we see nowadays in action films, either. King Boxer is not a fast paced fight-fest, but it’s something that should be appreciated nonetheless.

Own it, Watch it, Try it, or Skip it?

It’s hard for me to recommend King Boxer to those that haven’t seen it. It’s apparent that nostalgia plays a HUGE role in how much people will like this film. I didn’t enjoy this film as much as I have other Shaw Bros. films, but I can respect the roots of martial arts cinema. If you are curious about the evolution of fighting and storytelling, give it a look. If you don’t consider yourself a hardcore fan, I think you can pass this one by and be ok.

Try it

King Boxer DVD (US Verion)

Keanu Reeves’ Man of Tai Chi is a film that caught me off guard. I didn’t think much of it until I saw the concept trailer and teaser, but things are shaping up to be really interesting. Some new images of the film were released today, and it’s pretty easy to see that there will be a fair share of fighting as well as some crime/mystery mixed in.

I really think this movie is going to take people by surprise, and that’s always a good thing. Don’t forget that Iko Uwais is also said to have a part in the film, and I’m sure there will be plenty of other surprises in store for fans as well.

Source: Film Smash

Here is the one for Police Story 2013, which I think is a drastic change in tone for a Jackie Chan film.

I can tell that both films are going for something different. The Iceman Cometh remake is clearly going for the “epic” story while Police Story is more personal and gritty. I think that both films will have a big impact in different ways, and hopefully we’ll see a trailer for them in the coming weeks.

It looks like every action star has a full schedule this year, and I’m not complaining about that at all. Let’s start with JCVD’s new film called Swelter. In it, Van Damme plays a bank robber that works with his crew to steal $100 million dollars. Naturally, some of them are caught and ten years pass. By this time, Van Damme is a sheriff of a small town, somehow forgetting about his turbulent past. Some of his former members find him and demand to know what happened to the money, which is where the action will heat up.

This story seems basic enough, and it will all depend on how the material is handled to determine how things go. It could be something deep and emotional like Gran Tourino or A History of Violence, or be something like the Last Stand.

Another person that seems to be getting a lot of job offers is Dolph Lundgren. The man has pretty much worked with all of the Expendables by now, and word is that he’s teaming up with Cung Le for a new film called Justice (or maybe Certain Justice or Justice is Coming.) There aren’t very many details about the film except that it’s something that Le has kept close to his chest for years now. He’s called it a blend between First Blood and No Country for Old Men. The film is going to be directed by James Coyne.

I’m glad to see that there are so many different talents working together, and hopefully that will give us fans something to look forward to. I’ll keep you guys posted when I learn more about each film, but feel free to state how excited you are (or aren’t) for these two films that are coming out.

Source: City on Fire

It’s Vlad’s birthday today, so I wanted to celebrate by sharing one of my favorite videos that he was involved in. Check out Yo Soy Un Hombre Loco!

Fight of the Week

Check out all of Vlad’s work on his channel here, but also give LBP Stunts Chicago’s page a look as well. I can’t wait to see what both groups come up with in the future.

Final prep ahead of day 5 of the car chase. Promise we won’t disrupt traffic too much

I’m really curious to see how Evans and the team will handle a car chase, as you know it won’t be your typical chase scene. What makes it even more curious is the fact that Bruce Law and Mike Leeder will be joining the team for the sequences.

Very excited to have Bruce Law, his stunt team  joining for the car chase. Exciting times.

Bullet In The Head, Operation Condor, Hard Boiled, Special Identity – just some of Bruce’s work. To say we are excited is an understatement.

I love how Evans just dangles the carrot right in front of our faces, letting us know that the film is still going strong and that there will be plenty more to come. Don’t believe me? Read this tweet:

Yeah so far I’ve cut 48mins worth of action scenes. We still have around 4-5 action scenes left to shoot. Fun fun fun

Anyways, I’ll try to keep you guys posted when the big news gets revealed. Be sure to follow Gareth Evans on twitter to get all the best details the moment they drop!

Martial arts fights can be used to convey a number of different messages. Many simply shrug it off as a simple form of entertainment, but there are some special exceptions to the case. Videos can be created that strike a blow to a person’s heart, lingering in their thoughts for days to come. The Forge is such a video.

Eric Lim is an up-and-coming filmmaker with a lot of passion. He’s made creative shorts in the past, and has proven his talent time and again. However, his life was shaken when his sister took her own life back in 2011. People cope with loss in a number of different ways, and Lim struggled to find meaning of it all. Eric’s sister left her savings behind for him to use, and he tried to come up with a method that would use the money in a proper manner.

He eventually turned to friend Stephen Reedy, who interviewed Eric and his family to get a better grasp of the emotional struggle each member faced. He watched home videos, paying attention to the funeral eulogy video as well. It was then that Reedy recalled an idea that he had but on the back burner. Coming from a metal art background, he had always wanted merge fighting with Blacksmithing.  This became the concept for the Forge, a project that gave Eric Lim a way of expressing himself while extending a hand out to those who are in a personal hell themselves.

The funding helped start the idea, but several miracles made this video something even more special. The Forge took a year to make, and the list of helping hands is impressive. Talented people like Dennis Ruel and Vadislav Rimburg used their martial arts filming expertise to create a believable fight sequence. Director/writer Stephen Reedy was able to take Eric’s message to the next level, creating a visual style and story that fit Eric’s message perfectly and filming it accurately with his knowledge of fight choreography.

Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory, singer Malukah, and renown cellist Tina Guo created the soundtrack for the Forge. Visual effects were created by Chris Saul and Lincoln Smith, while the monster’s look was created by Alex Pardee. All of these people worked on this project for free because they believed in Lim’s message. The video was also hosted by the Youtube Channel SoulPancake, which was created by Rainn Wilson (frequently known as Dwight from the Office) at no charge because they were moved as well.

Give the video a look and see what moved so many people:

The Forge – For Anybody Hurting

The Forge set out to convey a message to those that are in pain, and it hits very emotional notes in the process. If you would like to make an impact as well, you can download the soundtrack to the Forge for any price you see fit.  You can also learn more about the Forge by visiting the official website.

Lastly, check out the BTS video to see how much really went into the creation of this passion project.

Forging the Forge

The Forge is a video that will have a different meaning to everyone who watches it. Those that are in a dark place may see a glimmer of hope while those that have lost someone might feel the pressure lessen slightly. Regardless of what it means to you, the Forge is a stunning work that needs to be seen by everyone.

It was said back in April of last year that Donnie Yen was going to reprise his role as the title character in the film, Ip Man 3 and Wilson Yip would also be back to direct.  But now, according to a Hong Kong magazine, the film has lost the two men who are responsible for bringing the film franchise to life, Donnie Yen and Wilson Yip.

Director Yip was not happy with the film’s lack of funding and finance and decided to leave the project and he has been replaced with producer Raymond Wong’s son, Edmond.  Donnie Yen soon followed after the director’s departure saying that the film would not work withouth Wilson Yip’s involvement. Yen and Yip have worked together on several films including their first outing together, SPL.

Ip Man 3 has been struggling to get funding from Chinese companies who are unwilling to finance the film.  Raymond Wong and Wilson Yip obviously disagreed on the film’s progress as Wong wanted to keep going as scheduled but Yip thought that without the proper funding, the film would be a much lesser effort.

With the duo’s extremely busy schedules conflicting with the film’s shooting schedule set to begin in July and the film producers’ intentions on releasing the film in 3D, it’s very unlikely that the duo will come back to sign onto the film.  Raymond Wong’s daughter, Alvina, said to the possible scheduling conflicts, “We are a listed company, and we signed a contract with the investors. No matter who is in the cast, we will start filming.”

Obviously, this is a massive blow to fans of the Ip Man film series.  Knowing that Donnie Yen and Wilson Yip were planning on coming back and now they will no longer be a part of the film is a major disappointment.  We already know that Wilson Yip has been replaced with producer Raymond Wong’s son, Edmond, to direct the film but who will replace Donnie?  Casting the lead role is going to be a huge task and whoever they cast, that person has some major big shoes to fill and unfortunately, will be compared to the epic talents of Donnie and his performances in the first two films.

What do you think? Are you still excited to see this film or is Ip Man 3 now out the window for you?  Let us know in the comments!

Sources: FarEastFilms  JayneStars

Finishing Blow Episode 100

Thank you guys for supporting me for 100 videos. Be sure to post a comment on what you like about the site to enter to win a copy of Dragon! I’ll announce the winner in next week’s video!

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Jackie Chan’s Skiptrace Skips Forward

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Poster and Trailer for 7 Assassins

Details on Favela and the Price of Success

Iceman Splinters into Two

The Assassin’s Blade Review

Shaine’s Articles

Fast & Furious 6 Fight Scene Featuring Joe Taslim is out!

Jason Statham Confirmed for Fast & Furious 7