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The Prodigal Son

The Prodigal Son

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: overated
Review: After reading all the user reviews I was hyped up to watch this movie, only to be disapointed. The action scenes are good but far from great. The movie doesn't take itself seriously. It's loaded with Japanese commedy that just doesn't work for an American culture. The characters have weak personalities, making none of them memorable. As a DVD it's setup great, but it's not worth buying, renting yes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best 3 martial arts movies ever made!
Review: An almost perfect movie.

I could'nt believe it was made in '81! The choreography is superb and the speed of execution is unbelievble! The cast is woderfull , from Samo Hung to Yuen Biao to the excellent Frankie Chan to the godly Lam Ching Ying ( his wing chun is really breath-taking ).

Order this movie if it's the last thing you do.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great!
Review: Boy, it's good to see that they are finally remastering kung-fu films! Clean and crisp picture! Even in DTS! Although the surrounds are not really utilized much.

This is one of the few films that actually has a good story. It is actually funny, but also has real hard-core fights. Basically, get all of these remastered wide-screen kung-fu films. That fat girl was cute too...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best films of the Genre
Review: Director Sammo Hung creates a story of Chinese folklore hero Leung Chang played by Yuen Biao(phonetically= Beau).
It portrays Leung Chang as rich spoiled kid who thinks he knows how to fight. People actually get paid to get beat up by him.
He meets a peking opera star Leung Yee Tai played by Lam Chi Ying. Leung Yee tells him that he can't fight and has his butt handed to him. Leung Chang then wants to be taught how to fight by Leung Yee.

Anyone who wants to start a collection of Kung Fu DVD's should consider buying this. Prodigal Son is always in a top 10 of the genre. The Action is non-stop and the story is very good. Go check it out.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow....blew me away...
Review: For the age of the film (made in 1982), this film really surprised and pleased me. I wasn't expecting such intensity, but it is frequently said that this film started the modern fighting kung fu flicks of the 80's, which in my opinion is the best due to lack of wires and other digital tools that now invade the majority of the newer flicks. It was straight forward Kung (Gung) Fu skills. This film is somewhere up in my top 5 martial arts film of all time, and can rival any kung fu movie of any time. I have become a huge fan of Lam Ching Ying,Yuen Biao,Sammo Hung, and Frankie Chan because of this film. The story, as stated by everyone else here, focuses around Biao's character as the Prodigal Son who who is recognized around his town as the fighter who has never lost a battle. However, the townspeople know something that Biao himself is oblivious to, which is the fact that Biao's father is paying off challengers to protect his only precious son. One day, a true Kung Fu master (Lam Ching Ying) teaches him a lesson and Biao soon realize the truth afterwards. The rest of the film has Biao relentlessly following the master pleading him to become his teacher. The movie will start off slow with the beginning fight not being too impressive, but dont let that turn you off because it definitely gets better. Throughout the rest of film are amazing fights involving Lam, Biao, Frankie, and Sammo. This film displays probably the best view of Wing Chun seen in a movie. One of the best fights I have ever seen takes place between Lam Ching Ying and Frankie Chan with Lam using Wing Chun and Frankie using what im assuming some sort of Tiger or Eagle style that looks like Mantis-form (I am a former kung fu student). Folks, this fight is so fast and realistic, I cant help thinking its better than the fights from fist of legend or drunken master 2 (but of course, not quite). These guys are TRYING to hit each other, but at the same time the speed of the fight is insane. The hand movements and contacts are so quick, it's amazing that the fighters were able to keep up with themselves. This is true great martial arts at its finest. Biao and Sammo also show their usual great skills with some brilliant fighting from Biao in the last battle. However, it was Lam Ching Ying that took me away with his Wing Chun abilities. I've seen him in other films (Mr. Vampire), and he doesn't get quite as good as he did here. This man is extremely talented and totally stole the whole movie in my opinion. I was kind of let down when Biao didn't use wing chun very much if at all in the last battle, but the fight was still very impressive. Aside from the fighting, the movie is hilarious with great comedy provided by Sammo. Prodigal Son is one of Sammo's greatest works by far, and the many awards the movie has won would show that. Movies are never made like this anymore and for the greatest kung fu flicks of all time, this is no exception. There are at least 3 versions of the dvd I know of with the best coming from the Hong Kong Legends distributors. You'll need an all-region dvd player to play their region 2 PAL dvds. It's worth it tho folks, the video and sound are all remastered to the fullest and the extras are incredible. These distributors live to remaster kung fu flicks. There are also all-coded Universe and Megastar dvd releases too which are decent enough, but dont match to HKL. Either version is fine, but you gotta at least check it out and make your own opinions about it. Other great Sammo and Biao flicks are Eastern Condors, Righting Wrongs, and almost any movie alongside Jackie. Check out my other martial art movie reviews too, thanks for reading.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Martial Arts Movie Not TO Be Missed
Review: For those "Wing Tsun Widows" out there and you know who you are, this would be the perfect gift for your martial arts enthusiest for any occasion. My husband came home from class one night saying that this is the end all of all the best martial arts movies and he just had to have it. So guess what we will be watching on Christmas day?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Martial Arts Movie Not TO Be Missed
Review: For those "Wing Tsun Widows" out there and you know who you are, this would be the perfect gift for your martial arts enthusiest for any occasion. My husband came home from class one night saying that this is the end all of all the best martial arts movies and he just had to have it. So guess what we will be watching on Christmas day?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: must buy
Review: Give it a try. Excellent action and actors, standout performance by Lam Ching Ying as female impersonater opera star martial arts master .

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Pretty good movie with some good Wing Chun scenes
Review: I bought this DVD for one reason and one reason only: because I'd heard that it had the Wing Chun fighting style in it.
Over all, it wasn't a bad movie. However it seemed a little dated; the production quality seems to be similar to the cheap Kung Fu movies I used to watch on Saturday afternoon years ago on TV: bad overdubs, etc. However I did like the fact that there was some Wing Chun in the movie and for that reason I'm glad I bought it. It would be nice though if someone would release a better produced, more modern movie that emphasized the Wing Chun style.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Pretty good movie with some good Wing Chun scenes
Review: I bought this DVD for one reason and one reason only: because I'd heard that it had the Wing Chun fighting style in it.
Over all, it wasn't a bad movie. However it seemed a little dated; the production quality seems to be similar to the cheap Kung Fu movies I used to watch on Saturday afternoon years ago on TV: bad overdubs, etc. However I did like the fact that there was some Wing Chun in the movie and for that reason I'm glad I bought it. It would be nice though if someone would release a better produced, more modern movie that emphasized the Wing Chun style.


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