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Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain

Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Universe version is widely available, so the person selling
Review: ...

As for the film itself, it's a Hong Kong classic! The first to employ sfx.

Yuen Biao and Mang Hoi are particularly appealing as a young warrior and young monk, respectively. Damian Lau has some very funny scenes in dealing with Brigitte Lin's character's followers. All in all, a fun film!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Utterly insane!
Review: A friend of mine watched this with me and said, "This is one of those 'this is so cool I'm afraid to blink' movies. He was right -- there isn't a second of this film that isn't crammed with something mind-blowing. Swordfights. Monsters. Magic spells. Volcanoes. Evil curses. Gods. Demons. You name it.

A synopsis is almost impossible; suffice to say it's a Chinese martial-arts fantasy with gobs of magic, Samo Hung in multiple roles, wire stuns galore, special effects that look like they were painted straight onto the negative, and more fun per square inch than any six Hollywood blockbusters. It's not designed to make sense; it's designed to be over the top. If you thought "Crouching Tiger..." was wild, you may blow a synapse or three over this movie.

This is actually not the full version of the film, but the edits are not problematic. Originally the film contained an even more bizarre "wrap-around" story that took a cue directly from, get this, "The Wizard of Oz." Yes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Utterly insane!
Review: A friend of mine watched this with me and said, "This is one of those 'this is so cool I'm afraid to blink' movies. He was right -- there isn't a second of this film that isn't crammed with something mind-blowing. Swordfights. Monsters. Magic spells. Volcanoes. Evil curses. Gods. Demons. You name it.

A synopsis is almost impossible; suffice to say it's a Chinese martial-arts fantasy with gobs of magic, Samo Hung in multiple roles, wire stuns galore, special effects that look like they were painted straight onto the negative, and more fun per square inch than any six Hollywood blockbusters. It's not designed to make sense; it's designed to be over the top. If you thought "Crouching Tiger..." was wild, you may blow a synapse or three over this movie.

This is actually not the full version of the film, but the edits are not problematic. Originally the film contained an even more bizarre "wrap-around" story that took a cue directly from, get this, "The Wizard of Oz." Yes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Utterly insane!
Review: A friend of mine watched this with me and said, "This is one of those 'this is so cool I'm afraid to blink' movies. He was right -- there isn't a second of this film that isn't crammed with something mind-blowing. Swordfights. Monsters. Magic spells. Volcanoes. Evil curses. Gods. Demons. You name it.

A synopsis is almost impossible; suffice to say it's a Chinese martial-arts fantasy with gobs of magic, Samo Hung in multiple roles, wire stuns galore, special effects that look like they were painted straight onto the negative, and more fun per square inch than any six Hollywood blockbusters. It's not designed to make sense; it's designed to be over the top. If you thought "Crouching Tiger..." was wild, you may blow a synapse or three over this movie.

This is actually not the full version of the film, but the edits are not problematic. Originally the film contained an even more bizarre "wrap-around" story that took a cue directly from, get this, "The Wizard of Oz." Yes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Universe version is widely available, so the person selling
Review: As a soldier escaping from a battle involving several different factions, Yuen Biao becomes the student/follower of a mystical swordsman who is fighting an evil demon. While obviously a movie that's a little out of date, it's still a lot of fun, although it's more of a fantasy epic like the "Chinese Ghost Story" films rather than "Dragon Inn" or "Iron Monkey." Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung (with very long eye brows), Adam Cheung, and early appearances by Moon Lee and Bridgette Lin among others. And however old fashioned this movie might be, it's still fun to watch, even if the plot is a jumbled mess.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A CLASSIC, BUT NOT FOR EVERYONE
Review: As a soldier escaping from a battle involving several different factions, Yuen Biao becomes the student/follower of a mystical swordsman who is fighting an evil demon. While obviously a movie that's a little out of date, it's still a lot of fun, although it's more of a fantasy epic like the "Chinese Ghost Story" films rather than "Dragon Inn" or "Iron Monkey." Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung (with very long eye brows), Adam Cheung, and early appearances by Moon Lee and Bridgette Lin among others. And however old fashioned this movie might be, it's still fun to watch, even if the plot is a jumbled mess.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Too Much Fantasy....Not Enough Of Anything Else.
Review: As much as I like Tsui Hark, I can only recommend this movie to his die hard fans and anyone who wants to complete their Fantasy movies collection. This movie relies too much on special effects and not enough of anything else. Regardless, it's fun to watch once in a while as a novelty.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Too Much Fantasy....Not Enough Of Anything Else.
Review: As much as I like Tsui Hark, I can only recommend this movie to his die hard fans and anyone who wants to complete their Fantasy movies collection. This movie relies too much on special effects and not enough of anything else. Regardless, it's fun to watch once in a while as a novelty.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Visually innovative
Review: Does it have a disjointed plot? Yep. Poor continuity? You bet. Incomprehensible ending? Sure. Cheesy effects? Yes again, by modern standards, anyway. Is it a massively cool film? Hell, yes!

Do not watch this movie expecting deeply moving themes, great acting, high art, or really just about anything you'd normally watch a movie for. If you do, you'll be disappointed. This is not a normal movie. Watching Zu is really more of a life Experience. Think of yourself as Winne-the-Pooh Watching Surreal Fantasy Images.

This film achieves a level of fantastic strangeness rarely equaled in live-action cinema. Where else will you see a man imprisoning an evil demon using his eyebrows, or a man chained to rocks being sucked into the mouth of hell? No, none of it makes much sense, but just go with it, and you won't regret it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Visually innovative
Review: Does it have a disjointed plot? Yep. Poor continuity? You bet. Incomprehensible ending? Sure. Cheesy effects? Yes again, by modern standards, anyway. Is it a massively cool film? Hell, yes!

Do not watch this movie expecting deeply moving themes, great acting, high art, or really just about anything you'd normally watch a movie for. If you do, you'll be disappointed. This is not a normal movie. Watching Zu is really more of a life Experience. Think of yourself as Winne-the-Pooh Watching Surreal Fantasy Images.

This film achieves a level of fantastic strangeness rarely equaled in live-action cinema. Where else will you see a man imprisoning an evil demon using his eyebrows, or a man chained to rocks being sucked into the mouth of hell? No, none of it makes much sense, but just go with it, and you won't regret it.


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