| East Meets Western |
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Outlaws = those who operated outside the law.
A Girl Fighter / Rio Bravo/El Dorado - +++ [Forum] Polly Kwan stars as Suma, a young woman who rides into a town and volunteers to bring in Kim, the thuggish son (his hobbies include indiscriminate rape and murder) of a local warlord, to justice. Once she's captured Kim she has to get him out of the warlord's territory to the capitol for trial. She's helped by the last survivor (Tien Peng) of a family butchered by the warlord's son.
One-Eyed Jacks / Mad Monkey Kung Fu - So-called friend, bashes the other's hand, rendering it, almost, useless.
(1) against one/ two/ three/ four or more
"A man can't escape his past"... -- Fatal Needles, Fatal Fists / No Name On The Bullet
Robbing a shipment of gold -- The Young Avenger (WY)/7 Men From Now /Take A Hard Ride
Westerns were the biggest form of entertainment during the 30 thru mid 70's
Magnificent 7
Since the (1972) television show Kung Fu, we have seen a number of films depicting Asians doing battle in the old west. While some might feel that an Asian in the west is somewhat out-of-place, this is far from the truth. Chinese were prevalent during this time, they were hired by the railroads as cheap labor (helping to build (20) miles of track in less than a month). Ironically, it was the Chinese that invented Gun Powder, which were used to make bullets, making their ties to the West, that much stronger.
Nevada Smith was one of the first Western films that read like a Kung Fu film - the hero's mother and father are killed and he can't defend himself against the killers. He must learn how to fight and is taken under the wing of someone, who teaches him how to the basic skills to survive (this after, he tried to rob the man, when they first met). After learning what he can from his new mentor, he must face the world and his own demons [the killers of his parents] in order to be at peace with himself.
Asian and American culture, have long "borrowed" certain aspects from each other. Films, have always kept each country, flowing with ideas and new ways of presenting old ones. Our fascination with Samurai Films, like Seven Samurai and Throne Of Blood, would (later) become, such American classics as The Magnificent Seven and Star Wars. Yet, it was Westerns, that seemed to provide the most enjoyment (and ideas), for a number of Asian film directors. My love of Westerns, began long before my love of Martial-arts films, yet, the more I watch them, I noticed a big similiarity, between the two.
How ironic, that the television series, The Wild, Wild West, was chosen as "TV's Top Martial-arts Show" in America, beating out The Green Hornet (Bruce Lee), Kung Fu (David Carradine), and The Raven (Jeffery Meeks). What was so interesting about this, was the series Kung Fu, was set in the Western era.
= They were patterned after Westerns - where a loner would drift from town-to-town, while experiencing various situations along the way.
- Heros Vs Villains
- Stranger in a strange town - looking for vengeance
- Woman who falls for him - when his heart belong to another
- Lackeys/Backstabbers
- Double/Triple Crosses
- Brothels (Saloon women)
- Bar / Inn Fights - someone always picks a fight with hero - where others learn about his prowess
- Someone close to hero always dies
- Hero gets injured and has to run away and fight another day
- Showdowns
- Music & Soundtracks
Chinese In The Old West Themes
= Films that showcase this:
- The Stranger & The Gunfighter
- Fighting Fists Of Shanghai Joe
- Red Sun - [Japanese]
- Shanghai Noon
- Once Upon A Time In China & America
Asian film making meets Western film making...
Crime - Steal a horse and get hung, steal a man's woman and you might get beat up
Pursuit
Showdown
Justice
Chang Cheh was like John Ford - shot fast and was usually working on his next features, not worrying about Post-production - Staging and Editing work - WESTERN DOCUMENTARY (JOHN FORD's bio)
Fist-fights
Stuntmen
Yakima Canutt [Enos Edward Canutt] (11/29/1895) - 5/24/86 Most famous Stuntmen - created stuntwork as a profession
Won an Oscar for "Achievements in Stuntwork" and developing Safety Devices to protect stuntmen(1966)
Yakima, Washington
LCL 's career was similiar - as he too directed the ACTION sequences and worked as a stuntman
Encounter in the Saloon / The INN
Showdown with Villain
Most heroes were akward around women
"Bronco Billy" Anderson set up the basic formula for series Westerns as we know them today
The Shootout were a way to gain Respect / Inn fight scenes in Kung-fu films did the same
Racial tensions, often lead to the majority of film plots used (Cowboys Vs Indians / Chinese Vs Japanese)
Heroes search for the murderer of his father - Bob Steele often played in such films - looking for his father's killer in The Man From Hell's Edges (1932) - he tells a group of killers that his father was shot in the back and even though he was a kid at the time, he swore that one day, he'd get (avenge) the man who killed him. (Nevada Smith)
Exploding Staff in Magnificent Ruffians was taken from the Bat Masterson episodee - License To Cheat.
Villains steal Masterson's cane and substitue it with a fake one, that will explode on impact.
The Gunfighters (1947) - King Eagle - a gunfighter as to deal with Twin sisters, one good and one bad
7 Men From Now = Fist Of The Double K ?
Music from Invincible 8, also from Shaolin 36 Beads
THE YOUNG DRAGONS / CAHILL U.S. MARSHALL - fighter about to die, asks for a cigarette/cigar.
Paladin — whose real name was never revealed — took on his role by happenstance, a backplot revealed in the first episode of the final season. To pay off a gambling IOU, he was forced to hunt down and kill a mysterious gunman named "Smoke", who was played by Boone himself without his moustache and with grey-white hair.
Smoke gave the Paladin character his nickname, facetiously calling him A Noble Paladin. The question turned out to be doubly ironic, as Smoke hinted in his death scene, that he was not a criminal gunfighter, but a protector of the helpless and unenfranchised. Paladin adopted Smoke's black costume and killed the man who had hired him. The episode was unusually allegorical and mythical for a popular Western in 1962.
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Films that showcase this
- John Wayne (Riders Of Destiny - 1933) shots a man in the hand and tells him - "He'll never handle guns again!!
Bruce Li - The Invincible - Chen Sing cripples CWM telling him, he'll never fight again!! - Clint Eastwood
- Glenn Ford
- Randolph Scott
- LAWMAN (1979) = Burt Lancaster's LAWMAN - Killer Constable
THE BIG RASCAL uses the scene from FORTY GUNS, where the brother is killed on his wedding day. His attackers knew he wouldn't be expecting them to strike, on such a special day.
REBELLIOUS REIGN's ending is similiar to the WILD BUNCH
2 Mules For Sister Sara - dressed as a Nun, so she won't get raped when she traveled - Never seen a NUN (w/ habit) depicted in a kung-fu film?? - [13 NUNS] - Female Shaolin Priests are NUNS !!
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance — His character is dead at the beginning of the film and the story is told in flashback by James Stewart, who is attending his funeral. - Chang Cheh's FLASHBACKs - 10 Tigers of Kwangtung ??
The showdown sequence (where the Eyes of each man is zoomed into a close-up shot) comes from Westerns, during their Gun duel sequences.
In addition, Shane was one of the first films to simulate actually being shot. Actors were attached to hidden wires that yanked them backwards when they were shot from the front - this was later incorporated in the NEW WAVE genre.
"Eye for an Eye (1966) In the opening scene of the revenge western "Eye for an Eye" (1966), he (Slim Pickens) shoots a baby in its crib. - [The Karate Killer]
Showdown theme in "Way Of The Dragon" (on Sharp Shooting and The Trap tracks)
Comparisons: East & West
SAM PECKINPAH
Peckinpah's films generally deal with the conflict between values and ideals and the corruption and violence of human society. His characters are often loners or losers who harbor the desire to be honorable and idealistic but are forced to compromise themselves in order to survive in a world of nihilism and brutality.
The conflicts of masculinity are also a major theme of his work, leading some critics to compare him to Ernest Hemingway. Peckinpah's world is a man's world, and feminists have castigated his films as misogynistic and sexist, especially concerning the shooting of a woman during the final moments of The Wild Bunch, the rape sequence in Straw Dogs and Doc McCoy's physical assault of his wife in The Getaway. His defenders point out that, while the women in his films are generally seen through men's eyes, it is the men who are abusive, corrupted and violent. The women are either victims of the brutalities of men or survivors attempting to eke out an existence in the unforgiving world created by men.
Peckinpah's approach to violence is often misinterpreted. Many critics see his worldview as a misanthropic, Hobbesian view of nature as essentially evil and savage. In fact, Peckinpah himself stated the opposite. He saw violence as the product of human society, and not of nature. It is the result of men's competition with each other over power and domination, and their inability to negotiate this competition without resorting to brutality. Peckinpah also used violence as a means to achieve catharsis, believing his audience would be purged of violence by witnessing it explicitly on screen (one of the major inspirations for his violent sequences in The Wild Bunch). Peckinpah later admitted that this idea was mistaken, and that audiences had come to enjoy the violence in his films rather than be horrified by it, something that deeply troubled him later in his career.
Peckinpah, who was born to a ranching family that included judges and lawyers, was also deeply concerned by the conflict between "old-fashioned" values and the corruption and materialism of the modern world. Many of his characters are attempting to live up to their expectations of themselves even as the world they live in demands that they compromise their values. This is most explicitly stated in the famous exchange from Ride the High Country in which Steve Judd (Joel McCrea) states that "All I want is to enter my house justified." Many believe that this line is taken directly from a common expression used by David Peckinpah, the director's father.
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This theme is most evident in Peckinpah's Westerns. Unlike most Western directors, Peckinpah tended to concentrate on the early 20th century rather than the 19th, and his films portray characters who still believe in the values of the Old West being swept away by the new, industrial America.
This persistent theme has led many critics to view Peckinpah's films as essentially tragic. That is, his characters are portrayed as being prisoners of their fates and their own failings who nonetheless seek redemption and meaning in an absurd and violent world. The theme of longing for redemption, justification, and honor in a dishonorable existence permeates almost all of Peckinpah's work and has helped to elevate his reputation from that of a skilled director of action films to one of the greatest cinematic artists of his era. [edit] Influence
This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. Peckinpah's influence on modern cinema is enormous and pervasive, perhaps greater than any of his contemporaries. However, this influence is also often shallow and purely aesthetic in nature, ignoring some of Peckinpah's greatest strengths in favor of pure imitation of his stylish approach to cinematic violence.
Peckinpah's greatest influence is upon the modern action film and the modern approach to action sequences. His signature combination of slow-motion, fast editing, and the deliberate distension of time has become the standard depiction of violence and action in post-Peckinpavian cinema. The approach to action in movies can be divided between before Peckinpah and after Peckinpah. While films before The Wild Bunch had used similar techniques, especially Bonnie and Clyde and Seven Samurai, Peckinpah was the first to use them as a distinct style rather than as specific set pieces. Directors such as Martin Scorsese have acknowledged Peckinpah's direct influence on their approach to film violence. John Woo derived his techniques extensively from Peckinpah, adding his own touch of choreography and action concepts. Additional filmmakers who have noted Peckinpah's influence have included Paul Schrader, Walter Hill, John Milius, Quentin Tarantino and Park Chan-wook.
Peckinpah's themes have also been influential on other filmmakers and other Western films. Clint Eastwood's films High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven also take up Peckinpah's themes of the dangers of revenge, the nature of human violence, and men seeking to be honorable in dishonorable surroundings. The theme of the passing of the West into history and the destruction of the Western way of life by modern industrialism has also been taken up by many post-Peckinpah Westerns.
In many ways, Peckinpah's greatest legacy lies in his aggressive breaking of taboos. He allowed a new freedom to emerge in cinema, not only in the depiction of violence, but also in editing styles, narrative choices, and the willingness to portray unsympathetic or tragic characters and stories. His notorious reputation has often overshadowed the depth of his influence on modern film. [edit] In Popular Culture
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There have been at least 12 books written on Sam Peckinpah's life and career including Bloody Sam: The Life and Films of Sam Peckinpah by Marshall Fine, If They Move...Kill 'Em! by David Weddle, Peckinpah A Portrait in Montage by Garner Simmons and Peckinpah: The Western Films, A Reconsideration by Paul Seydor.[98] Sam Peckinpah has been the subject of two documentaries including the BBC production Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron (1992), directed by Paul Joyce, and The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage (1996) directed by Paul Seydor. The latter was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary Short Subject.[99][100] John Belushi portrayed Peckinpah as a deranged lunatic who directs his first romantic comedy by beating up his cast in the first season, fifth episode of Saturday Night Live. Many in Hollywood said the SNL sketch inadverently gave a portrayal of the real Sam Peckinpah.[101]
Peckinpah's use of violence was parodied by Monty Python in Sam Peckinpah's "Salad Days", one of the more controversial episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus, in which a lovely day out for an upper class English family turns into a blood-soaked orgy of severed limbs and gushing wounds.[102]
Peckinpah's penchant for filming action scenes in slow motion was satirized by Benny Hill in a Western skit called "The Deputy" that first aired on his March 29, 1973 special. In one scene, Hill's titular character shoots one of the villains (Bob Todd), who then proceeds to pirouette in extremely slow motion before collapsing. In the film Fletch (1985), the main character, imitating a doctor in order to examine medical records, calls out, "And Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia!"[103]
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In the 1973 Sergio Leone/Tonino Valerii spaghetti western, My Name is Nobody, the characters Jack Beauregard (Henry Fonda) and "Nobody" (Terence Hill) meet at a cemetery. Nobody walks past the tombstones reading the names and comes across one labeled "Sam Peckimpah." He says "Sam Peckimpah. That's a beautiful name in Navajo." Leone pays further tribute to Peckinpah by naming a gang in the film "The Wild Bunch." Nobody has Beauregard face The Wild Bunch in order to be known in history books.
Various Peckinpah films are parodied in Jim Reardon's student film Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown. In the film Deadfall (1993), when the character Eddie (Nicholas Cage) mortally wounds a would-be assassin, he asks the man "Who sent you?" The killer responds, "Sam fuckin' Peckinpah." In the John Waters film Cecil B. DeMented (2000), several characters have the name of a legendary film director tattooed on their body. One of the characters has "Sam Peckinpah" tattooed on their arm.[104]
In the 1986 horror film Chopping Mall, a store in the mall that survivors use to supply themselves with assault rifles, ammunition and grenades is named Peckinpah's Sporting Goods, a wry reference to the director's film violence.[105] In the 2006 film Hot Fuzz, one of the characters is mentioned to be an extra in Straw Dogs, and a farm is owned by the Treachers, making it Treacher Farm. In the 1993 Denis Leary song "I'm an Asshole".Leary states he is going to get the Duke (John Wayne), John Cassavetes, Lee Marvin, Sam Peckinpah and a case of whiskey then drive down to Texas before being cutoff by a bandmate and getting called an asshole.
Wild, Wild West - (Night Of The Bottomless Pit) - Villain afraid of getting dirty
Kung Fu- TV Series
Genres: Western
Plot Outline The adventures of a Shaolin Monk as he wanders the American West armed only with his skill in Kung Fu. Plot Synopsis: Kwai Chang Caine is a Shaolin Monk who is on the run after he killed the Chinese Emporer's nephew after that coward killed his teacher in cold blood with a gun. He flees to America both to escape retaliation and to search for his brother in order to settle down in this new land.
However, in his travels in the wild west, he can not help but continually run into trouble from desperados and other ruffians as they oppress the innocent, while bounty hunters pursue the price on his head. Against this, he has his skill of Kung-fu martial arts which proves to be devastatingly effective in this gun-dominated land.
Classic Western Films
| Films With A Kung Fu Tie-in |
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Nevada Smith One-Eyed Jacks Once Upon A Time In America The Wild Bunch The Fastest Gun The Last Challenge The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Invitation To A Gunfight Last Train To Boot Hill For A Few Dollars More Jubal The Violent Men Warlock Broken Lance Big Jake Hombre Hanna Caulder |
In The Far Country El Dorado Chisum Sons Of Katie Elder 5 Card Stud Firecreek The Tin Star Rio Lobo High Noon They Call Me Trinity Ride The High Country Day/Hour Of The Gun Eldorado No Name On The Bullet Gunfight At The O.K. Corral Have Gun, Will Travel |
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Nevada Smith - Bells Of Death - The Traitorious One-Eyed Jacks - Once Upon A Time In America - Along Comes A Tiger The Wild Bunch - Incredible Kung Fu Mission The Fastest Gun - The Fastest Sword The Last Challenge - The Last Challenge Of The Dragon The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly - Invitation To A Gunfight - Last Train To Boot Hill - For A Few Dollars More - Jubal - The Violent Men - Warlock - Broken Lance - Big Jake - Hombre - Hanna Caulder - Woman Avenger - White Butterfly Killer |
In The Far Country El Dorado Chisum Sons Of Katie Elder 5 Card Stud Firecreek The Tin Star Rio Lobo High Noon They Call Me Trinity Ride The High Country Day/Hour Of The Gun Gunfight At The O.K. Corral Have Gun, Will Travel |
Stolen Moments
Nevada Smith
A young man's parents are murdered and he vows to take vengeance. He doesn't know how to read or fight and is taught how to take care of himself by a stranger.
Bell Of Death
A young man tracks down the killers of his family, after it was he who told the men where to find them, not knowing their intentions. A mysterious monk teaches him how to fight and he seeks out the men responsible.
Tiger Claws
A fighter purposely gets himself thrown into the same prison, where the man he's looking for, is being held.
The Far Country
Jimmy Stewart has bells on his saddle that let's other know he's approaching.
Bell Of Death - Young man wears his mother's Bell-braclet, which lets those who murdered her, know he's coming
The Traitorious - kid who witnesses his mother's death and wears her braclet as a momento of his quest for vengeance.
Once Upon A Time In The West
Along Comes A Tiger - A kid tries to stop his father's hanging, by trying to support him on his shoulders. Years later, he places the momento in the villain's mouth that he placed in his, right before his father died.
The Wild Bunch
Incredible Kung Fu Mission - A group of men are trained in order to rescue another, while risking their own lives to do so.
Fastest Gun Alive/The Last Challenge
The Fastest Sword - A fighter's reputation with his weapon precedes him, making him fair game, for those trying to make a name for themselves. After his final duel, he buries his weapon and his past in a mock grave
One-Eyed Jacks
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
For A Few Dollars More
Fighting Fists Of Shanghai Joe - The hero tells his foe to "Aim for the Heart", in order to empty his gun.
Invitation To A Gunfighter
The Hot, The Cool, & The Vicious - A man is paid to kill another, then the deal is reversed, as the town (now) wants their hired gun, dead !!
Have Gun, Will Travel
Have Sword, Will Travel - A mysterious man (dressed in Black) comes to the aid of others, using his expertise with a weapon and his wits.
?
Winchester '73
The Gold Snatchers - Two brothers (1) good, (1) evil constantly hunt each other and end up fighting-to-the-death.
Hanna Caulder
Woman Avenger - When her husband is killed and she is raped, the woman learns kung-fu and then hunts down the men responsible.
White Butterfly Killer - A woman who is raped, takes vengeance of those responsible years later, when they wander into a Brothel that she now owns.
The Commancheros/Wagon Train ?
Challenge Of Death - cop hunts and captures a skillful prisoner, who helps him on a case and they end up helping each other against a ruthless criminal.
No Name On The Bullet
Everyone in town is afraid of a well-known (aren't the all?) hired-killer, because they don't know WHO his intended victim is. Even though, he's broken no laws, they want him out of town by Any Means Necessary.
- HOT, COOL, VICIOUS
Ride The High Country
Young Avenger - An ex-lawman agrees to escort a shipment of gold cross-country, but runs into trouble when the men hired to help him, turn dishonest, then, plot to steal the gold.
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- Death Valley’ (direct chinese translation: ‘Broken Souls...’ or ‘Lost Souls Valley’) as its English title with a respectful nod to the legendary long running NBC television series ‘Death Valley Days’ (1952-1972) ??
Hombre - man gives his life for others who dispies his kind [Indian], knowing that he is the only one that can save them.
El Dorado - men with ailments /handicaps have to battle others, while trying to hold on to a man in custody.
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Big Jake -
In Name Only
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Films that showcase this:
- Chinese Professionals - The Professionals
- Chinese Hercules - Hercules
- Chinese Godfather - The Godfather
- Chinese Mack - The Mack
- Deep Thrust - Deep Throat
- Chinese Mechanic - The Mechanic
- The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly = The Hot, The Cool, & The Vicious
The Fists, The Kicks, & The Evils
The Dragon, The Lizard, & The Boxer
The Good, The Bad, & The Loser ? - 3 Tough Guys / 5 Tough Guys - both in 1974
- Chinese Connection
- Japanese Connection
- Korean Connection - French Connection
Western Music
- Fists Of Vengeance and Village Of Tigers - use the song - "Got A Black Magic Woman"
- Village Of Tigers - use music from "Hang 'Em High"
- Hang 'Em High / Death Duel Of Kung Fu / Magnificent Wonderman (organ music) - The Fast Sword
- Mission Impossible theme in Fist Of The Double K
- Theme from Cannon (with William Conrad) was used in many kung-fu films (Drunken Master)
- Freddie's Dead - Yellow Dragon Vs The Black Tiger
- Rape Of The Sword - My Darling Clemintine music - From HIGH NOON ++
- The Texican + (at 57 minutes into the film)
- The King Boxers/Fists Of Vengeance - same music - Eastwood movie ??
- Hang 'Em High / Death Duel Of Kung Fu / The Fast Sword - used 1st
- Bandolero / Big Boss Of Shanghai
- Mackenna's Gold / Kung Fu Commandos - QUIZ *
- Hour Of The Gun - Snake's Deadly Act / 36 Deadly Styles? i just watched ...the big gundown ...day of anger..face to face (all spaghettis) and i realized that the day of anger theme song is the most used in kung fu movies.. ..mostly john lui and wong tao team ups
- Day Of Anger (Gunlaw) - used in Monkey Fist, Floating Snake and Tai-Chi Devil Dragons
- Queen Boxer/Rage Of The Wind - SHAFT Music
- CARRIE - FATAL NEEDLES, FATAL FISTS
- The Young & The Restless - Story Of Drunken Master
- The Big Gundown - used in The Chinese Mack and Secret Rivals
Blaxploitation Music
Curtis Mayfield (Junkie Chase)
- One-Armed Swordsmen (JWY/DC)
- Kung Fu Mama
- 2 Dragons Fight Against Tiger
- The Ferocious Brothers
- Shanghai Lil & The Sunluck Kid
Issac Hayes (Run, Fay, Run)
- Exit The Dragon, Enter The Tiger ?
- Lone Wolf & Cub #6 - White Heaven In Hell - (Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile)
Famous Building In Taiwan - used in
- Super Power
- Kung Fu Mama
- 2 Assassins Of The Darkness
- Shanghai 13
Other Music
- Love Music - [Excelsior - 17:07 into film] - used in a number of films / also - Hawaii 5-0 music - 23:25
Just For Laughs
Shaw Brother's Monthly Wage Dispenser
Competitions
- Story Of Krunken Master - An aging kung-fu fighter, faces a number of killers trying to stop him, on his to the finals of an L.A. Chinatown Dance competiton, to display his Krunk style
- One-Armed Swordsmen
- Kung Fu Mama - now left pregnant and alone by her sifu, a woman prepares to raise her child on her own
- 2 Dragons Fight Against Tiger
?
- Exit The Dragon, Enter The Tiger - the protege of a dead rapper, tries to find out who killed him
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