asian films

[FirePhoenixCtk]

two films that i saw recently but arent recent films are "shadowless sword" and "a bittersweet life". Both are korean films and both are great . Another film im desperate to watch is dragon tiger gate. What asian films do you guys like?

[Skinleech]

A list, in no real order, all worth checking out.

Ringu
Dark Water
Ichi The Killer
The Great Yokai War
Audition
The Eye
Brother (though it's also US backed)
Battle Royale
Infernal Affairs
Oldboy
A Tale Of Two Sisters


I think Oldboy, Ichi and Infernal Affairs are may favourites out of that list.

[HyeongSeong]

Any thing that has Stephen Chow in it :

A Chinese Odyssey Part One - Pandora's Box
A Chinese Odyssey Part Two - Cinderella
From Beijing with Love
King of Beggars
Royal Tramp 1 and 2
etc.

Other films I like are :

Mr Vampire 1 ( not really scray but very funny)
Mr Vampire 2
Mr Vampire 3
Mr Vampire 4
Juon 1
Juon 2
Dark Water
Once upon a time in chinese 1 to 3
Black Mask
City Hunter

[toomanycooks]

Old Boy is great.
The Eye has one of the scariest moments I have ever seen - the calligraphy scene.
Casshern, not bad.
Battle Royal.
Ichi is excellent - search for other things by Takashi Miike.
Tampopo - totally different genre but excellent.

Check this out:

http://www.tartanvideo.com/ht_asia_extreme.asp

[HyeongSeong]

also check this web site out :

http://www.hongkonglegends.co.uk/

I think it has more movies to choose from.

[fuddam]

www.hkflix.com

better selection

www.cd-wow.com often has surprising number of asian films, and for better prices too. I'm not a great fan of House of Flying Daggers, but they had the DVD within 2 days of release on the cinema circuit. legit, of course.

also www.dvdboxoffice.com sometimes has good prices, esp for stuff released in NTSC.

for asian cinema par excellence, look out for stuff by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Widely regarded, so it seems, as one of the 3 greatest narrative directors alive. GOODBYE SOUTH GOODBYE is the one I dig most. Very hard to work out where the line is drawn between fact and fiction - master stuff. SUMMER AT GRANDPA'S for similar innocence to MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO but not animated. And THE BOYS FROM FENGKWEI.

Also, see Tsui Hark's TIME & TIDE if you like action pics from HK. Awesome.

Also Takeshi Kitano's early movies - can pick up a 3 set for about 15 quid, IIRC, from Play. Harsh pics

A second vote for TAMPOPO. Saw it in 1987, and still one of my fav films. So simple. As is THE EEL.

[FirePhoenixCtk]

why does everyone like dark water? i didnt really like it, what was so good about it?

[Skinleech]

Originally Posted by HyeongSeong

Any thing that has Stephen Chow in it.

Mr Vampire 1 ( not really scray but very funny)

Can't beleive I forgot Shaolin Soccer & Kung Fu Hustle! Mr Vampire is grea too, as is Iron Monkey.

[Mithrandir]

Korean
Musa (Warrior)
Taegukgi (Brotherhood)
Fighter in the wind

Chinese
Once upon a time in china 1-3
Fong sai yuk
Iron Monkey
Naked weapon
Police story 1,2
Project A

Literally most of Hong Kong Legends catalogue. Bey Logan who provide commentary on most the releases are really the best in the business.

There are so many more- will have to add as I think of them.

YesAsia has the biggest selection of far eastern films amongst other things.

[JPreston]

I didn't rate Oldboy so much - thought it was just OK - but would recommend Chan Wook Park's other films in the 'revenge trilogy' to anyone; "Sympathy for Mr Vengeance" and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance". Crap titles but awesome films. Infernal Affairs is a very good film too. I've struggled to enjoy any Kitano films - suppose "Zatoichi" was good and there was one yakuza type one that was ok but I forget the title. Miike churns loads of very different films but "Ichi the Killer" is accessible and enjoyable enough.

Surprised that people recommend Iron Monkey, but not Jet Li's latest "Fearless". "Once Upon a Time in China" 1&2 are good also. Sammo Hung in "The Magnificent Butcher" is easily up there with Jackie Chan in "Drunken Master" if you like that era of film.

But best martial arts film in a long time by far is the Thai film "Ong Bak". Not as good a film, but with an amazing single-take 4 min continuous fight in the middle is Tony Jaa's other film "Tom Yum Goong".

[KBeee]

Beat Takeshis' Hana Bi was an excellent film. Also Koreedas' Afterlife (Wandafuru Raifu) & Nobody Knows.
Tampopo is wonderful.
Twilight Samurai, and The Hidden Blade by veteran director Yoji Yamada are both very good, with Twilight Samurai easilly deserving the Oscar that it was nominated for, but failed to win. It also makes Tom Cruises The Last Samurai (which came out about the same time, and covered similar ground) look like the P.O.S. it was.

[0iD]

Just got Bichunmoo, utterly outstanding film!

[HyeongSeong]

I watched Shinku last night and really enjoy it. It feels just so different to the hollywood films.

[Ferral]

I have a few different Asian films I enjoy and own :

Ong Bak
Ichi the Killer
Hard Boiled
The Eye
Battle Royale 1 & 2 - granted the first one is far superior
Fearless
Hero
Brotherhood of War
Seven Samurai
The Grudge

Have a few others but those are the ones that stick out as memorable to me.

[jonathan_phang]

For laughs you gotta see Mr Vampire (hilarious IMO)
Action - Just love Iron Monkey

I know its said above, but these 2 need a special mention...

[shaithis]

Oldboy is my favorite film, really took me by surprise

A Better Tomorrow trilogy (John Woo) serious kicks arse
God of Gamblers rocks (more John Woo)
Hard Boiled and The Killer (yet more John Woo, the guy kicks arse ) are great for body-counts
Shutter is a good horror
Crying fist (Jumogi Unda) is good, very different though
R-Point is a good supernatural warfilm
Tell Me Something is a good suspece triller

Also, do not under any circumstance watch the newer "US remake" of Dark Water.....watch the japanese one ONLY. You will be disapointed otherwise.

Oh and for a horror with a bit of a funny edge....try "The Wig"