WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: Thrilling Bloody Sword 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:05.280 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:14.840 My Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to Weird House Cinema. 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.080 This is Roblam and this is Joe McCormick and who. 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:20.400 I'm gonna go ahead and apologize if I am not 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:24.240 at my best today because I just finished watching today's 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:28.320 movie and it is like it fired a poison dart 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:32.240 straight into my prefrontal cortex. This movie is awesome. It's 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.880 one of my favorites we've ever watched for this show. 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:39.440 But I feel like I have a significant impairment in 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.400 my ability to speak. Yes, Thrilling Bloody Sword will have 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:47.240 that effect on you. You should not drive after viewing 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:51.400 Thrilling Bloody Sword. You shouldn't attempt any kind of complicated 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.680 paperwork scenario. You should. You just have to let it 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:59.080 finish doing what it's doing to your brain. Yeah, if 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:04.240 you watch this movie, you should schedule nap time for afterwards. Yes, 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:07.640 some recovery time is required. After I saw it the 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:10.959 first time, I was rather proud of myself for thinking, like, 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:13.480 this is the first time I've watched a movie that 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.640 I would describe as face melting, which is usually um, 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:19.759 you know, how we might describe certain you know, metal 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:23.120 tracks and so forth. But then I've started looking around online. 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:25.280 I saw other people had the exact same reaction and 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.720 described it with the exacts the same terminology, of which 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:32.400 which means I wasn't as original. But this film is 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:35.000 having the same impact on so many people. Like there's 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.400 just something about it that just uh just utterly destroys 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:43.000 and remakes you. It is so unusual and so strong 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.880 and so fast. Well, it's like in a Whoosha movie 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:50.800 when the heroes first encounter the villain and like they're 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:54.040 overwhelmed by their by the strength and speed of their 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:59.480 martial arts, and it's like, how will we ever defeat them? Yeah? Yes, 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:03.240 that it's this is this is quite a film, one thrilling, 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.720 bloody sword. We've we've covered a handful of Hong Kong 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:09.480 films on Weirdolt Cinema before, but this is gonna be 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.280 our first taste of Taiwanese cinema, which is closely linked 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:15.440 to Hong Kong cinema and often features a lot of 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:19.120 Hong Kong cinema connections, actors and so forth, but it 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.959 has a vibe all its own. Taiwanese cinema. Um I 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:25.800 I checked out some of the special features on the 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:29.679 Thrilling Bloody Sword disc, including some material from Justin d 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:33.320 Clue of Gold Ninja video talking a bit about the 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:37.800 connection between Hong Kong cinema and Taiwanese cinema and the 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.400 way he describes it is that Hong Kong had already 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:44.520 really established itself in Taiwanese cinema is kind of trying 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:46.680 to catch up to a certain extent, and also trying 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.920 to up the anti on things like action sequences in 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:54.360 various films, also like creative decisions, and I think this 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:58.600 film would suggest creative weirdness, like what is something different 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.680 we can do that we can try and try and 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:04.400 create a film that just has not been seen before. 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:07.200 That's absolutely what this is. I would say that this 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:12.000 movie is less rooted in pre existing genres like action 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:15.160 or horror then we would see in in at least 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:17.880 the Hong Kong movies we've watched so far. This is 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.960 This creates a new genre almost too. I guess the 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.760 closest you could call it is maybe fantasy action, but 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.760 with some elements of science fiction in there. Yeah, and 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:30.960 it also seems to draw heavily on from is we'll 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:35.840 discuss a few different nith and folkloreic cycles. I think 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:38.480 there are some connections to be made to the fantasy 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:42.480 films of Russian filmmaker Alexander Rue, especially when it gets 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:47.520 down to bear transformation. But but yeah, this film stands 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:51.240 apart and gloriously so. Actually, I think that comparison is 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:53.960 incredibly apt. This is kind of like if you took 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:57.920 Morosco or Jack Frost and then added in a bunch 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:02.400 of martial arts action scenes. Yes, yeah, that's that's that's 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.280 definitely the vibe. So the title thrilling bloody Sword, I 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:09.080 do have to say, thrilling, yes, sword, Yes, not so 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:11.600 much bloody. There's not really any blood in this per se. 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:16.039 Probably the grossest goryous things in it or right at 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:18.320 the beginning and right at the end at the beginning 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.359 with a lady gives birth to like an alien meat pill, 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:25.000 and then at the end there's a bunch of disembodied 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:28.600 gory like flayed arms and legs that are flying around 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:34.200 attacking somebody. Yeah. The original title here is uh Shinjen 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:38.680 dong Shan, Who, which I believe translates to something like 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:41.960 the Divine Sword moves mountains and Rivers. But I've also 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:45.160 seen this film just referred to as the Thrilling Sword 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:50.200 or Heavenly Sword. But yeah, I still thrilling Bloody Sword 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.760 is a title that is distinctive, and it's a movie 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:57.359 that's distinctive, so I think ultimately it works. Now I'm wondering, 0:04:57.400 --> 0:04:59.599 I'm sort of second guessing myself and wondering if I 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.000 over sold it and saying this movie is a genre 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:04.720 all to itself, because I guess you have a note 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:06.800 on this, and having read several other people on the 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:09.680 internet talk about it, I think some people think that 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.920 this fits into the category of WHUSHA films, right, like 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:18.120 this sort of historical chivalry based martial arts movies. Yeah, 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.960 I mean, and roughly so you could, you could. It 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:22.960 would not be improper to put it on shelf with 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:27.200 other who shoo movies. But I think most commentators seem 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:31.120 to indicate that this this it distinguishes itself a bit 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.560 more like drawing in, for instance, all of these various 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:38.680 fairy tale and mythic elements from various non Asian cultures, 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.640 Like there is essentially a multi headed dragon at one point, 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:45.200 and it's a very western looking dragon. Um, that's a 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:48.880 hydra basically. Yeah, yeah, so there are things like that 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.440 that that contribute to it. I've also I think it 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:54.880 was the clue that pointed out that also the action 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:57.880 in this film isn't as fluid as you might expect 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:02.159 from like pure action elms of the time period. But 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:05.240 it's still very thrilling action. Uh it's it's still it's 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:07.400 still amazing to behold. But I can I can sort 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.279 of see what he's getting out there about the about 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.760 the about the martial arts in the film. It's not 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:15.479 a pure martial arts spectacle. Yeah, well, a lot of 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.240 the martial arts are. Uh, I mean, there are a 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:20.960 couple of just straightforward fight scenes, but most of the 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:24.000 fighting in it is in some way sort of uh 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:29.000 thwarted or complicated by the presence of sorcery, which involves 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:33.520 a very funny and great special effects. Yes, the special 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:36.480 effects are. This is a film that is very ambitious 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:40.560 in its use of special effects at times perhaps too ambitious, 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:46.560 but like the ambitions, yes, oh it's so good. I mean, 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:50.720 it's um it's my favorite kind. It's like special effects 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:55.520 that it's not like they look quote convincing or quote realistic, 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.600 but these special effects are full of soul. They are 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:02.240 my favorite kind of effects in a movie. Uh. And 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.719 the other thing I didn't want to let pass by, though, 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:08.400 is that i'd say roughly a third of this movie 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:12.080 is a version of snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:15.640 Oh gosh, yes, yes it is. It's a story full 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:21.840 of of cursed dwarf generals, evil sorcerers, monster attacks, jin 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:26.400 heavenly swords, miraculous birth by comment. There's so many elements 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:28.160 and I'm not even touching on all of the crazy 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:30.440 things that occur in this film. Now, you mentioned that 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.840 the movie is not as bloody as the title would suggest. 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:35.720 Did did you let your son watch this one? I 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:38.520 didn't know, Like I didn't watch it with like a 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:41.080 parents point of view. But is this movie okay for 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:45.320 kids or not? It's hard to be hard to say. 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.000 I mean, all parents will have to make that decision 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:50.840 for themselves. But content wise, I didn't think it was 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:53.120 that bad. I tried. I showed him a little bit 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.560 of it, and it was the It was one of 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:59.160 the comedic sequences with the dwarves, and then I skipped 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:00.720 ahead a bit to show him some of the action. 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:04.480 And mostly he's really into Miss mostly just commenting on 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:07.120 special effects at this point, whether he thinks something is 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.680 real or not. Um, and of course he was. He 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:11.240 was quick to say, well, that doesn't look like a 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.040 real monster, but he did like he did like the 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:16.800 monsters designs that we encounter. Well, that phase will pass. 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:20.520 But I think for the most part, this this feels 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:24.600 like a feature that was aimed at the entire family. Um. 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:26.720 That's the sense I get from it. This is this 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:30.960 is a family film, an action fantasy film, cobbling together 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:36.480 multiple fairytale traditions into just a single face melting fantasy adventure. 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:38.280 I don't know if it was intended to be just 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.760 so uh, And I mean it is just an intense spectacle, 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.200 and I guess that appeals to all ages. Okay, maybe 0:08:44.200 --> 0:09:43.199 we should hear some trailer audio. Let's do it all 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:47.400 right now. A note on availability before we proceed here. Uh, 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:49.439 this may be one of the harder films to get 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:53.120 your hands on we've watched. There are some unofficial rips 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:56.120 out there, and I think a number of these are 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:58.520 in terrible quality, in part because they may be just 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:02.480 ripped off of television. But Golden Ninja Video did a 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:06.520 beautiful restoration of the only known thirty five millimeter footage 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:09.520 and it's all in this wonderful blu ray. As of 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:13.040 this recording, I believe they're out of stock and it's 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:16.200 unsure and when they'll restock. But you can preorder a 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:20.720 two pack that features Thrilling Bloody Sword plus Revengeful Swords 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.480 Woman Um. Otherwise, if you're Atlanta based, you can rent 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.320 it at Video Drome like we did UM and it 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:29.360 has actually played at a few cinemas here and there, 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:30.600 so you might be able to catch it on the 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.480 big screen if you're lucky. I will say again my 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:37.240 my personal opinion, personal recommendation, this one is worth seeking out. 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:39.760 Like if you hear it's playing at some at some 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:43.360 cinema nearby, it's worth making the trip. Yeah, this is 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:45.040 a film that you can do. You can sit down 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:48.840 and watch and intently study. But it also is just 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:51.439 a colorful, beautiful film. Like if you just want something 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.040 interesting to have playing in the background somewhere, I think 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:58.600 this is your movie. Okay, Rob From What Wizard's Mind 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:02.040 was Birth to the Months Stir That is Thrilling Bloody Sword. 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:06.160 This is the work of director writer Sin ye Chang, 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:11.040 who was born n and His main contribution to martial 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:14.319 arts cinema was as a writer with screenplay credits on 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:18.560 a bunch of films, including Black Belt Angels, Three's shaw 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.200 Len Versus Lama. This is the film with the Buddha 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:23.720 finger in it. For those of you are familiar with 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:26.560 that or that sample, there's a there's a wonderful track 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:30.800 from the uh from the from the artist Depth Charge 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:33.000 that used a lot of samples from this film, and 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:36.360 that was I think that was actually pre Woutang. But 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:41.280 I also wrote on three's The Challenge of the Ninja 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:44.959 nineteen seventy six is the eighteen Bronze Men. This is 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:49.280 where like Shaolin warriors battle these men who are painted 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:52.680 bronze and sometimes have big bronze heads. I haven't seen it, 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:57.800 but the trailer looks fantastic. Now as a director, he 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:02.480 only has ten credits did which include V eight Snake 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:05.679 in the Equal Shadow Too in nineteen seventy nine Kung 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:10.000 Fu Commandos. None of the other films, however, apparently matched 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:13.840 the tone and vision of Thrilling Bloody Sword, But as 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.080 as Justin n Clue explains, he had he was apparently 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.800 really admired for his ability to plot out martial arts action. 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.800 So like this this apparently when you get down to 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.960 like screenplay questions regarding many of these martial arts films, 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:30.040 there's a lot of leeway into like how how much 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:34.160 are they describing and um, and and apparently this is 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.600 a guy who was very into plotting out you know, 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:40.800 the action. Uh so he was who was sought after 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.800 for this. I'm gonna say that in its favor. Um. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.200 I believe I've said this on the show before, but 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:48.800 you know, I'm I'm critical of a lot of action 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:53.200 scenes in movies because I think there is action choreography 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:56.480 out there that doesn't quite understand that action has to 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:58.920 be a drama, right. It needs to have beats, It 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.760 needs to have moments of interchanging power. There need to 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.640 be changes throughout it, Like you've got to keep it interesting. 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:08.320 It can't just be you know, essentially trading blows back 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:12.440 and forth in a sort of static, ongoing exchange. Uh. 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.000 And this movie gets that. The action scenes in this 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:18.600 movie have beats, they have drama, they have changes. It's 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:21.400 really good stuff. Yeah. And but but like you said, 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.560 it's not a pure martial arts film in that a 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:26.640 lot of it is the magic, and but the magic 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:31.360 has that kind of internal, well choreographed fight scene um 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.000 logic to it, where like if a new weapon is 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.760 introduced it means something. If a particular magic spell is 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:40.400 being invoked, you know, it's it's very much a part 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.200 of the plotting of of what's going on. I will 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:46.120 also say that, especially for a lot of the earlier 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.120 action scenes in the movie, I respect the restraint of 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:51.400 how short they are, like that they don't go on 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:55.280 forever just to eat up screen time. There's one really 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:57.760 awesome action scene earlier in the movie where a couple 0:13:57.800 --> 0:13:59.959 of sorcerers kill a demon and it just takes a 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.640 few seconds, but it's an awesome scene. Yeah. Now, as 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:05.440 I continue here through some of the connections here, I 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:07.400 want to stress that this one was a little harder 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:11.440 to put together. The connections on the IMDb page for 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:16.520 this movie does not include character names, and the Hong 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:20.600 Kong uh Movie Database was it was a little more helpful, 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.000 but it doesn't have the character names for a number 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:25.880 of the actors in it, so some of these I 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:27.880 had to look at at photographs of the actors on 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.240 the Hong Kong Movie Database and sort of piece it together. 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.840 And I believe I got everything right, but there there's 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:36.760 also some differences on how how the names are reproduced 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:40.440 in UM in English on the two websites, so you'll 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:41.720 just have to bear with me, but I think we 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:44.720 got it mostly right here. Either way, I admire the attempt. 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:49.600 So there's a co writer listed on this dates unknown, 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:52.760 and this is their only credit on on both databases. 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.280 But there's a John Lung Ching or or Chang Singh 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.600 who is credited as being co writer. But let's get 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:04.000 into the cast here. So we have the princess. Is 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.840 it yr g? It sounded to me like like uh 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:10.760 so they spelled it in the subtitles why a U 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.320 r G, But it sounded to me more like yao 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:18.120 gi yao G. Alright, Well, the princess Yaogi, who we 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:22.280 may I may refer to as the princess played by 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:25.160 an actor that I don't have dates for either, and 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:30.200 this is of Fang Fang Fong. She was active from 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:33.680 through nine eight six and seems to have come back 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.520 for a role in two thousand nineteens the shooting of 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:40.280 three nineteen. In this film, she's very much in traditional 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:43.920 princess mode, but she does it well I also noticed 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.840 she was in a nineteen eighty five film titled Ghost Busting, 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.800 which I as seemed to be a supernatural comedy. I 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.760 included the poster for you here, Joe. It looks uh, 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:56.440 it looks impressive. Why does it have Sherlock Holmes on 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:59.840 the cover? I believe this is a ghost busting A 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:02.600 professor character in the film based on what I was 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:06.320 he's reading about it. He's dressed like Sherlock Holmes. Okay, 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:08.440 Buston makes me feel good. I want to see this 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:12.120 all right now. If you have a princess, you have 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:14.240 to have a prince, and that is the Prince Ya 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:17.960 June played by Lu Shang Chin, who was born in 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:20.720 nineteen fifty three, Taiwanese action star who's in a bunch 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:23.840 of wusha and fantasy movies. He played the Monkey King 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.760 in nine two is New Pilgrims to the West, and 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.840 also played the Monkey King again in its sequel, Monkey War. 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.920 He also appeared in nineteen nineties The Twelve Animals. Man 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:37.080 is he dashing in this? Yes? He has all the 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:41.440 handsome and uh and is very action oriented. A terrific 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.920 prince that you really want in their handling. Your thrilling, 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.800 bloody sword. Uh. Yes, so he's great. I would say, actually, 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.400 the whole cast in this movie is great. I didn't 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:54.880 notice a single performance I didn't like, But for me, 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:59.479 the standout performers are the two villains are two sorcerers. 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:02.560 I loved them. Yes, I think we have a new 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:07.520 occult power couple here. Uh they are the the the, the, the, 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.960 the evil Sorcerers. Also they were described as exorcists. Uh 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:16.520 it is Schaker and and uh, let's start with the 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:22.639 sorcerer here. Shaker played by Chang Ye Born. Yeah, it 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:25.520 makes an incredible villain here is Stern has kind of 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:32.040 a Christopher Lee esque face, big bushy eyebrows, long hair, again, 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:35.560 very stern, but also wonderful sorcerer robes. He has a 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.960 cool demon staff. He was just consistently one of my 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:43.400 favorite parts of the film. Uh yeah, just just wonderful performance. Here. 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:46.520 Active from the mid sixties through the mid nineties and 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.720 a ton of martial arts films as well as some 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.879 TV shows. Born in mainland China, he worked in a 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.200 bunch of Shop Brothers films, and I believe is now. 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:56.920 I was reading online that he's retired and living somewhere 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:59.720 in the Vancouver area, but he seemed to have a 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:03.880 pretty strong Ryan. He appeared in the eighteen Bronzemen alongside 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:09.320 Carter Wong and seventy six Carter Wong. Uh. Some view 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:12.720 listeners maybe may remember him from Big Trouble and Little China. 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:15.960 He plays Thunder Uh, the larger of the three storms. 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:20.760 Another muscle guy. Yeah, the big muscle guy that explodes. Um. 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:24.520 Changy was also in the nineteen sixty seven Shop Brothers 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.200 film King Kat, in which he plays the lead, and 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:30.439 he was a director on nineteen seventy threes Chinese Dragon, 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.600 in which he was also the lead. Changes is just 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:36.840 great in this he is cool as a cucumber. You 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.960 could imagine a different version of this character that was 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:43.200 very kind of well, you know, kind of mustache twirling 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:48.359 and uh and whiny. But no, they make him suave 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:52.240 and cool and uh. He like when he's making demands 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:54.320 on the King. I don't I don't ever recall him 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:57.880 getting visibly upset. It's like he knows he's in command 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.879 because he has the powers of darkness in his hands. Yeah. Yeah, 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:04.920 that's that is a good description. And you know he's 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:07.800 not doing it alone. Again, this is an ocult power couple. 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:12.080 We have an excellent sorceress and exorcist standing beside him. 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:16.840 Gear played by Elsa yang Hu Shan born in either 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:20.120 fifty two or fifty three, depending on which database you're 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:24.360 looking at. She was active from seventy six through eight six. Yeah, 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:26.879 and she's great in this as well, just vamping it 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:32.120 up with high fashion choices and terrific black magic. Um. Yeah, 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:34.560 she just she she also anytime she's on the screen, 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:38.280 I'm just completely entertained. The scene where she first showed up, 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:41.240 I feel like I was already loving the movie, but 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:45.600 my brain was just like snapped to attention because it 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:50.399 just immediately like heightens the like the weirdness and drama 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:52.800 because she shows up in the middle of a of 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:56.000 a court palace and um, She's like, Hi, I'm here 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:58.280 to kill your I'm here to solve your demon problem. 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:00.119 And the King's like, oh great, And one of his 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:03.760 advisors is like, I don't know if we should trust 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:06.119 a sorceress to handle the demon problem. What if we 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:09.399 get a nice, honest swordsman instead, And she just like 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:11.879 points her hand at the guy and makes his head 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:16.960 spin around three times. Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, Yeah, she 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:21.320 just immediately owns the room through black magic. Uh so 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:25.920 the actor here also young who sean. Other notable roles 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:28.800 include the lead in nineteen eight Three's with the Challenge 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:32.560 of the Lady Ninja and another notable one that I'm 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:34.639 guessing hasn't traveled, as well as a lot of this 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:39.159 action fair that there's drama titled ku May a Woman, 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:42.679 in which she also starred. She also played Princess iron 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:47.439 Fan in that two Monkey King movie New Pilgrims to 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:49.960 the West. As I said earlier, I love the actors 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:52.679 playing both of the sorcerers that she she is a 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:56.560 perfect match for for Changi here, and she is just great. 0:20:56.640 --> 0:20:59.960 Her screen presence is off the charts. So many cost 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:02.000 him changes too, Like you never know when she's going 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:04.440 to show up in an entirely new ensemble. Like one 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:08.000 second it's it's it's all crimson and gold, the next 0:21:08.240 --> 0:21:10.960 section she's she's. The next scene, she's going to be 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:14.280 outfitted like an Egyptian queen. Uh, you never know what 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:16.719 you're gonna get, but it's gonna be fabulous, all right. 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:21.560 We mentioned the King. The king who's just completely bowled 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:26.520 over by these two is played by Chin Han, Hong 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:30.480 Kong actor who also wrote and directed a couple of features. Um, 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:33.119 his majesty here is a fun screen presence in this, 0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:36.720 but again he's he's kind of constantly overwhelmed by either 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:41.320 emotional revelations or black magic. Yeah. I would say he's 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:44.199 sort of on the receiving end of everything crazy that 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:47.040 happens in this movie. He's always just there to react like, 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:59.719 oh no, but he's great in that role. All right. 0:22:00.320 --> 0:22:02.000 We also have a ferry in this. We didn't even 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:05.439 mention the fairy, the little fairy in the forest, and um, 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:09.560 this is played by Shia ling Ling essentially is like 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:14.240 a tinker Bell esque spirit character, and so the characters 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:18.560 just played to bubbly excess. It's like a like a 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:22.360 like like very very tinker Bell, just like constant siren 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:25.800 going off in your head. Um, so, Ly's kind of 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:30.680 like kind of like Navvy and Ocarina of Time. Yeah, 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:33.760 uh so. Ling Ling was a Taiwanese actor whose credits 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:39.800 include Snake in The Equal Shadow Too is The Vampire Dominator, 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:42.680 which I've read is a non vampire film about ghosts 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:45.879 on the run from Dallas Exorcist. So that one sounds 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:49.760 kind of fun. But yeah, born ninety three. I feel 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:53.480 like her character is almost a little bit intentionally annoying. 0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:57.400 But she she's great with it. Um but but she's 0:22:57.440 --> 0:23:00.520 sort of like part of an ensemble of the the 0:23:00.720 --> 0:23:04.560 well meaning dwellers of the forest who are set opposite 0:23:04.640 --> 0:23:10.160 the evil sorcerers of the Palace. Yes, and she's she's 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:13.119 very helpful. She's more helpful than many fairy characters in 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:16.320 in various fantasies. She has so many solutions that shall 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:19.760 bust out, uh yeah, tremendous. Oh yeah, I mean our 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:22.359 hero could not succeed without her because when when the 0:23:22.359 --> 0:23:25.280 Prince is doing battle with many enemies, it is only 0:23:25.320 --> 0:23:28.080 through her insights that he is able to succeed, such 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:30.879 as like she realizes, Oh, you've got to stab this 0:23:31.040 --> 0:23:35.120 uh this robot in the butt. Now, as we mentioned, 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:39.800 there's there are seven dwarves dwarves slash cursed generals in 0:23:39.800 --> 0:23:43.880 this movie, and I don't know what their names are. 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:45.720 It was very difficult to figure out who is who 0:23:45.800 --> 0:23:48.000 here because they're all just I think on the Hong 0:23:48.080 --> 0:23:51.440 Kong movie database, who just listed as dwarves like dwarf, dwarf, 0:23:51.520 --> 0:23:55.240 dwarf I know that one of them, this is the 0:23:55.600 --> 0:23:58.919 I guess we might describe as FARTI. The dwarf is 0:23:59.080 --> 0:24:02.800 played by Poo Lao who who lived nineteen fifty one 0:24:02.840 --> 0:24:06.159