Yuen Woo-ping - The Chinese Cinema

The Chinese Cinema

Sign in Subscribe

Yuen Woo-ping

A collection of 12 posts

Last Hero in China (Wong Jing, 1993)

Paid-members only

Last Hero in China (Wong Jing, 1993)

Glory to the Fat Dragon!

Glory to the Fat Dragon!

Since today is Sammo Hung's birthday, I figure it's a good time to repost this look at his career, originally posted on the now-defunct website Frame.land back in the summer of 2017. There were originally several video clips interspersed throughout the essay, but they seem

The Shaolin Cinematic Universe

The Odd One Dies

The Shaolin Cinematic Universe

This was originally commissioned by the Vulgar Cinema website in July 2014, and was published in December 2015. Then, after that site disappeared, it was revised and republished at Frame.land in May 2019. Now that site too appears to be defunct, so I'm posting it once again

In the Line of Duty IV (Yuen Woo-ping, 1989)

Paid-members only

In the Line of Duty IV (Yuen Woo-ping, 1989)

Black Mask 2: City of Masks (Tsui Hark, 2002)

Paid-members only

Black Mask 2: City of Masks (Tsui Hark, 2002)

Fist of Legend (Gordon Chan, 1994)

Paid-members only

Fist of Legend (Gordon Chan, 1994)

Pretty Good Stuff

Paid-members only

The Odd One Dies

Pretty Good Stuff

Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (Various, 2020)

The 36th Chamber

Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (Various, 2020)

It’s hard to imagine how long I’ve been talking about the film that would eventually become Septet: The Story of Hong Kong. The first time I tweeted about it appears to have been August of 2017, although that tweet is phrased as a reminder, which means I must

The Tiger Cage Trilogy (Yuen Woo-ping, 1988-1991)

Paid-members only

The Tiger Cage Trilogy (Yuen Woo-ping, 1988-1991)

The Tai Chi Master (Yuen Woo-ping, 1993)

Paid-members only

The Tai Chi Master (Yuen Woo-ping, 1993)

Yuen Woo-ping Capsule Reviews

Yuen Woo-ping Capsule Reviews

Drunken Master (1978) — June 13, 2013 Much better subtitled than dubbed (obviously). Even still, the subs translate Jackie Chan’s character’s name as “Freddy Wong,” which kind of obscures one of the most interesting things about the film: that it’s a total subversion of the Wong Fei-hung legend.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (Yuen Woo-ping, 2016)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (Yuen Woo-ping, 2016)

A straight-to-Netflix multinational English language collaboration that is the sequel to the highest-grossing foreign language film in American history, Sword of Destiny reunites star Michelle Yeoh with the action choreographer from the first film, Yuen Woo-ping. Belonging more rightly to the CGI-driven Chinese wuxias of the 2010s (and the cheaper