With its fast-paced action sequences and lavish period-piece production design the Hong Kong film SHOWDOWN AT COTTON MILL is one of the forgotten and rarely seen classics of old-school kung fu cinema. Shaw Brothers regular... more » Chi Kuan Chun stars as a master of the Southern Fist fighting style prompting the imperial Ching dynasty to send in a Wu Tang Northern Leg master to take down the rebel in an action-packed series of martial-arts battles.System Requirements:Running Time 84 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SPORTS/GAMES/MIXED MARTIAL ARTS Rating: NR UPC: 787364677290« less
"To anybody who saw 2 champions fo Shaolin: Which movie came out first? They are both listed for 1978, but I believe this came out first and 2 champions stole a great idea from this movie (cottonmill). If anybody knows, please post it casue I have to believe that this movie had the idea first. Anybody?
I have to start out by talking about the picture quality. Restored, but still pretty bad. It is letterboxed, and luckily only at the end of one fight scene does the bad picture take effect. But even with the bad print they used, THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY OLD SCHOOL FAN!!!!!
Showdown at the Cottonmill is a pretty unique film and it kind of had a samurai movie feeling. But Toshiro Mifune neevr beat down people like Chi Kuan Chun. In the part that Cheng Cheh stole from this movie, Kuan takes off his shirt in preparation for a huge task. I honestly thought it was Brucwe Lee for a secodn. Not too many people are in shape like this guy.
So the movie is about this guy who has to keep beating people down because they keep messing with him or are just beating up innocent people. The Wudang school is very angry about this because Kuan is from a shaolin school so they send their northern champion (tan tao liang) to take him down. I have never seen Dorian tan play the villian before, but I sure would like to see it again :)
I would elaborate more on the film, but it is too good to give anything away.
Extras are really good. It has an interview with Kuan and the fat guy frmo the movie. AND THEY ARE ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT THE MOVIE!!!!!!
Awesome interview!!!!!!
There is also a evry brief kung fu demonstration by the 2 stars.
So DON'T FREAKING BUY THIS AND THEN SAY, WAAAAA, PICTURE QUALITY SUCKS. That's why I write reviwes, so you don't have a bad kugn fu movie experience.
"
The start of a classic brand!!!
Twister Kicker | New York | 01/14/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Rarescope is the newest and probably best brand out there now for die hard kung fu fans.
This first film is ultra rare and is well deserving to be it's premiere title.
Apparently this was considered a lost film due to lawsuits,etc. but Rarescope cut through the red tape and gives us a classic.
Chi Kwan Chun who starred in many Shaw Brothers films is the lead.
Bonis features include an interview with him(he looks almost the same)and a kung fu demonstration too.
The film is shown in it's original chinese language,english subtitled version .
It is presented in letterbox format and the print quality is very good,but not excellent.
The U.S. version apparently has an outer sleeve and a bonus postcard with poster art and photos from the film.
An absolute must for the collection if you're into classic martial arts films!
Just get Rarescope!"
Northern Legs vs Southern Fists
Mantis Lake | Detroit, MI USA | 03/31/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Chi Kuan-Chun ("The Ways of Kung Fu") plays Hu Hui Chien, hero of Shaolin and bitter enemy of the Wu-Tang. After numerous assassination attempts and the infiltration of Shaolin all fail, the Wu-Tang send in Master Ko (Dorian Tan) and his powerful kicks to finish Hu off.
This movie is pretty good. The fights won't blow anyone away, but they're fluid and interesting. Chi Kuan Chun's movements are solid and impressive. The story is decent too. Chang Cheh's "2 Champions of Shaolin" (starring the Venoms) is VERY similar to this, and has a couple of scenes that are nearly identical.
Though I own (far too) few of their releases, I'm really starting to like Rarescope. This one was considered lost when they salvaged it. Though it is subtitled only and they are often difficult to read, I'll take this over nothing, any old day. It's also in widescreen, as all fu should be. The first couple of minutes are very choppy but settles quickly. The DVD has a few special features, including an interview from 2005 with Chi Kuan-Chun and Ching Kuo-Chung, an older Tae Kwon Do exhibition from Dorian Tan, and a 5 Animal Style demonstration from Chi Kuan-Chun, along with previews for some other Rarescope releases. Features are cool, but the movie is much more of a treat.
1978. aka: "Bold Face, Heart and Blood""
What will be the fate of this movie now "Rarescope" is no mo
Fang Shih-yu | Mercer, PA USA | 06/11/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Having read of the apparent [recent] collapse of BCI/Eclipse, this movie might languish in this DVD form ONLY,and that's [potentially] a real shame. It deserves to be remastered anew by another company because, as of now, this version is not: 1)anamorphic widescreen, and 2)either digital enhancement of the original subtitles or newly-written subtitles would enhance this movie that is Shaw Brothers in spirit, if not in name. Everyone should email Navarre to put some serious money in a new remastering. If there's this much interest in this flick, then maybe Tarantino could be persuaded to give them a loan of a few million to get the film as close to a Celestial Shaw remastering as possible. Somebody needs to preserve this movie proper for future generations! In the meantime, buy this with caution. (10/31 revision)"
STONEFACE VS. FLASH LEGS
Fang Shih-yu | 03/27/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"this is arguably in chi kuan chun's aka stoneface top 5 movies he's done outside of shaw bros. the reason is that he has a formidable opponent in dorian tan tao liang aka flash legs. i swear nobody ends their opponents better than chi kuan chun not even the god bruce lee can end his opponents so precisely like the legendary chi kuan chun can. thats what hun gar style does to you. you can beat him down but somehow in all of his movies he comes back with a vengenace and he never smiles thats why they call him stoneface and when he smiles its only a few seconds or when youre beating the hell out of him. what i like about him is that he is tough and he aint dynamic or fancy he just knows how to fight. he's built like a tank and tall he has what you call that lean physique. all the tools in a great fighter just about. then we have flash legs who is arguably a top 3 kicker in the genre up there woth wong jang lee and john liu. he did this one kick in the movie and kept his leg in the air like 30 seconds thats amazing its a great display of his flexibility. thats what makes the end fight so spectacular because like i said if he kicks you you'll feel it and thats chi kuan chun said. he said it hurt when he kicked him but then chi kuan chun is so rezilliant he comes back and ends you in a split second. the fights are credit to a guy named chang peng who had a role in the movie as well. so lets all give thanks to rarescope for giving us this classic even though the picture is bad with typical old school choppy editing but bare in mind that this was lost for nearly 30 years. it is in 2:35.1 widescreen and mandarin with english subtitles you can hardly read but its adefinitely worth $7 or so a great price."