Kung Fu Classics being shown now

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Every day for the last couple weeks, CCTV Channel 6 电影频道 has been showing a series of Kung Fu Classics from the 1980's and 1990's. They are shown daily, coming on about 6 pm. Some have Chinese subtitles, but not all do. No commentary or critical discussion is furnished; just the old movies themselves.

 

I've watched parts of about a dozen of them so far. Just thought I'd put a note about them here in case they are something you might enjoy. They are the real McCoy. Not all were hits in their day, but most were. I've looked up some of them on Baidu just for fun. They seem to have been selected more with an eye to displaying martial arts skill than anything else.

 

The one that's on today (Thursday 19 January) is 武林志，directed by 张华勋。It was released in 1989. I don't recognize any of the actors. The thing I like about some of these older films is that they have not been overly influenced by international trends, and seem to have been produced for Chinese audiences. Today's film has no subtitles.

 

Should add that I am by no means a connoisseur of the genre. Just a casual and occasional viewer.

 

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Today's film is 金镖黄天霸 from director 李文化, released in 1987. Like the others, it has a definite and strong "funkiness factor" that makes it appeal to a certain segment of the viewing public and not to others. It strikes me as very "unvarnished."

 

I remember some years ago that there were some forum users who were very much into these 武术 films. I suppose they have moved on. Moved back to Milwaukee and became insurance salesmen.

 

As always, there's some useful language but not as much minute for minute as a more modern movie might have. Also, these old films have some specialized terms that I doubt I will ever need for day to day use. An example would be 镖 from the title. It apparently means some type of dart-like martial arts weapon used in olden times.

 

 

[Guest realmayo]

22 minutes ago, abcdefg said:

An example would be 镖

 

Yep I first remember coming across that character in a martial arts novel. Nice to see an picture though. Worth noting too that it's perhaps more common in 保镖 bodyguard.

[Publius]

Yup, 镖，暗器的一种。

你这种样式的，按武侠小说里的说法，属于光明正大的暗器

日本忍者用的那种手裏剣(shuriken)，未免就有些歹毒了。像这样的

没法接，对吧

[Meng Lelan]

Where do I find a listing of the kungfu classics already played and will be playing? I looked online but was not sure where to find that in the CCTV 6 site. 

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Meng Lelan -- I also tried looking up some sort of program guide a week or so ago. Could not find one. Only was able to find a list of CCTV6 programs for the entire day, and that just going forward into the future, not covering the past.

 

Hope you are still doing your Martial Arts and becoming more deadly by the day! 春节快乐！

[abcdefg]

Today it's 武当, the 1983 version, directed by 孙沙。  Set on misty 武当山 in 湖北。Stars an amazing young woman martial artist named 林泉 who has the habit of clenching her long pony tail between her teeth when she gets really pissed of and closes in for the kill. 以柔克刚。

 

 

This film has been re-made quite a few times. The most popular versions seem to be from 2004 and this one. Lots of real fine swordplay; minimal "wire-fu" and similar hokey stunt work. Definitely no CGI/ computer animation.

 

Following the plot of these movies is challenging beyond reason. Some sort of nearly impenetrable conflict pits the good guys against the bad guys; I suppose it's enough to know that and let the issue rest. Just enjoy the spectacle of so much fine kung-fu fighting.

 

CCTV Channel 6, every night about 6, even on weekends. Not sure how much longer they will last.

[Meng Lelan]

This is an awesome thread, please do keep this up. I can't access CCTV 6 but can certainly get on youtube to see any of the films you post here, at least that's my plan.