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"Kung Fu Hustle."

I understand it's coming to theaters here in the US at the end of April,
however I accidentally got the original language (and thankfully English
language subtitled) dvd from a Hong Kong seller in an ebay auction for a
completely unrelated dvd I won this week and watched it on a whim today when
the seller said "keep it."

I'm really not up on the whole Hong Kong kung fu craze that obviously is
still a big deal along some movie goers with the exception of the big hits
that made it here in the US like Crouching Tiger, Hero and so on and the
Japanese Lone Wolf and Cub series.

This movie is like what you'd get if you crossed a typical Hong Kong kung fu
movie with slapstick comedy, the Jim Carry movie "The Mask," The Matrix
series and old Warner Bros cartoons.along with a boatload of CGI effects.
It's so over the top and just ****ing strange (the bad gang terrorizing a
slum housing project all wear Abe Lincoln top hats and carry Axes and at one
point engage in a dance number) I couldn't fast forward through it and had
to watch it all the way through. I have no idea how it'll do in US theaters
as it's unlike anything I'm sure 99% of American audiences have probably
ever seen. In a way, it reminded me of the first time I saw "The Road
Warrior" in the way that here was a movie from another country with a
completely different set of sensibilities and level of black humor that I'd
never yet seen in an American movie - and it worked.

As a dvd, it's region 3 NTSC format, so you need a multi-region player to
watch it but as far as actual quality, it's superb, with a thundering DTS
and DD 5.1 surround audio tracks and clear, sharp video with as far as I
could tell, only one minor bit of artifacting in a scene a few minutes into
the movie.

I can at least say you *will not be bored* watching this flick.

T.B.

TB wrote:

> "Kung Fu Hustle."

So, um...missed all the "What Miramax did to 'Shaolin Soccer' threads, then?

Derek Janssen

"Derek Janssen" wrote:

> TB wrote:
>
>> "Kung Fu Hustle."
>
> So, um...missed all the "What Miramax did to 'Shaolin Soccer' threads,
> then?

Obviously.

As I mentioned, the whole Hong Kong kung fu genre has been completely out of
my interest with very few exceptions.

T.B.

The trailer looks interesting, so I have ordered it along with Shalion
Soccer.... Reasonably cheap to boot.

Cheers Lester

"TB" <> wrote in message
news:lmH6e.692$...
> "Kung Fu Hustle."
>
> I understand it's coming to theaters here in the US at the end of April,
> however I accidentally got the original language (and thankfully English
> language subtitled) dvd from a Hong Kong seller in an ebay auction for a
> completely unrelated dvd I won this week and watched it on a whim today
> when the seller said "keep it."
>
> I'm really not up on the whole Hong Kong kung fu craze that obviously is
> still a big deal along some movie goers with the exception of the big hits
> that made it here in the US like Crouching Tiger, Hero and so on and the
> Japanese Lone Wolf and Cub series.
>
> This movie is like what you'd get if you crossed a typical Hong Kong kung
> fu movie with slapstick comedy, the Jim Carry movie "The Mask," The Matrix
> series and old Warner Bros cartoons.along with a boatload of CGI effects.
> It's so over the top and just ****ing strange (the bad gang terrorizing a
> slum housing project all wear Abe Lincoln top hats and carry Axes and at
> one point engage in a dance number) I couldn't fast forward through it and
> had to watch it all the way through. I have no idea how it'll do in US
> theaters as it's unlike anything I'm sure 99% of American audiences have
> probably ever seen. In a way, it reminded me of the first time I saw "The
> Road Warrior" in the way that here was a movie from another country with a
> completely different set of sensibilities and level of black humor that
> I'd never yet seen in an American movie - and it worked.
>
> As a dvd, it's region 3 NTSC format, so you need a multi-region player to
> watch it but as far as actual quality, it's superb, with a thundering DTS
> and DD 5.1 surround audio tracks and clear, sharp video with as far as I
> could tell, only one minor bit of artifacting in a scene a few minutes
> into the movie.
>
> I can at least say you *will not be bored* watching this flick.
>
> T.B.
>

TB wrote:
> "Kung Fu Hustle."
snip
> T.B.

In other words, you realised there's a whole other world outside the borders
of the USA.

--
ThePunisher
Latitude: 54.67N
Longitude: 5.96W

ThePunisher wrote on [Tue, 12 Apr 2005 22:57:18 GMT]:
> TB wrote:
>> "Kung Fu Hustle."
> snip
>> T.B.
>
> In other words, you realised there's a whole other world outside the borders
> of the USA.

We already knew that. How they can make movies when everywhere outside
the US is just shanty towns I'll never know.

"ThePunisher" assumed:

> TB wrote:
>> "Kung Fu Hustle."
> snip
>> T.B.
>
> In other words, you realised there's a whole other world outside the
> borders of the USA.

No, I just haven't had much of an interest in the Hong Kong Kung Fu movie
genre. My collection of foreign language movies on laserdisc and dvd numbers
in the hundreds. From movies like Japanese sci-fi to the UK's Hammer horror
to Italian giallo and much in-between, I'm well aware of the "whole other
world outside the borders of the USA."

T.B.

TB wrote:
>
>>So, um...missed all the "What Miramax did to 'Shaolin Soccer' threads,
>>then?
>
> Obviously.
>
> As I mentioned, the whole Hong Kong kung fu genre has been completely out of
> my interest with very few exceptions.

Well, good thing Miramax's bringing it over, then (now that Stephen Chow
routinely gets all-time #1 HK box-office on name alone)--

Haven't seen enough unimported Chow to judge, but "Soccer"'s near one of
his *saner* efforts, and "Hustle"'s fairly par for the course...

Derek Janssen (who's rented "Chinese Odyssey 1" but not 2 yet)

TB wrote on [Wed, 13 Apr 2005 03:04:22 GMT]:
> "ThePunisher" assumed:
>
>> TB wrote:
>>> "Kung Fu Hustle."
>> snip
>>> T.B.
>>
>> In other words, you realised there's a whole other world outside the
>> borders of the USA.
>
> No, I just haven't had much of an interest in the Hong Kong Kung Fu movie
> genre. My collection of foreign language movies on laserdisc and dvd numbers
> in the hundreds. From movies like Japanese sci-fi to the UK's Hammer horror
> to Italian giallo and much in-between, I'm well aware of the "whole other
> world outside the borders of the USA."

What foreign language are the Hammer movies in?

"Justin" wrote:
>>>
>>> In other words, you realised there's a whole other world outside the
>>> borders of the USA.
>>
>> No, I just haven't had much of an interest in the Hong Kong Kung Fu movie
>> genre. My collection of foreign language movies on laserdisc and dvd
>> numbers
>> in the hundreds. From movies like Japanese sci-fi to the UK's Hammer
>> horror
>> to Italian giallo and much in-between, I'm well aware of the "whole other
>> world outside the borders of the USA."
>
> What foreign language are the Hammer movies in?

German, considering I have several of the titles on R3 from the Anolis
label.

Looking to stick the other foot in your mouth or have you had enough?

T.B.