[Movie] Yuen Woo-Ping's True Legend

[Masa]

Teaser trailer for Yuen Woo-ping's 'True Legend'

By Mark Pollard on June 17, 2009

The first look at action director Yuen Woo-ping's upcoming wire-fu actioner, TRUE LEGEND, his first solo directing gig on a feature film in over a decade, is finally here in the form of a teaser trailer that mixes film footage with behind-the-scenes footage of the director at work. TRUE LEGEND also marks the return of wushu star Vincent Chiu (THE BLADE) to heading a feature film after spending the last nine years starring in martial arts-related TV productions in China.

Chiu portrays legendary martial arts folk hero Su Qi-er, better known as Beggar Su. In Yuen's update to the legend, "Su is a wealthy man living during the Qing Dynasty who loses his fortune and reputation as a result of a conspiracy against him. After being forced onto the streets, Su dedicates his life to martial arts and reemerges as a patriotic hero known as the 'King of Beggars.'"

It has been reported that Yuen developed a new screen-fighting style with Chiu that combines street dancing with kung fu. It's possible that the director may be revisiting the b-boy angle he previously tapped in DRUNKEN TAI CHI and MISMATCHED COUPLES, both starring Donnie Yen. The character has appeared in Hong Kong action cinema many times in the past, mostly notably when Stephen Chow took on the role in Gordon Chow's KING OF BEGGARS (1992).

Also starring in the film is Michelle Yeoh, Cung Le, Jay Chou, Andy On, Conan Stevens, and the late David Carradine. No release date has been set but TRUE LEGEND is expected to come out by the end of the year.

http://www.kungfucinema.com/teaser-trailer-for-yuen-woo-pings-true-legend-8378

Teaser trailer of "True Legend"

[Masa]

Character posters for ‘True Legend’

http://www.kungfucinema.com/character-posters-for-true-legend-11893

[daigong]

HI RES stills from TRU LEGEND is UP on the OFFICIAL SITE: http://suqier.ent.sina.com.cn/



Check the blog for video n stuff. It's all in Flash http://www.yuenwooping-truelegend.com/diary.php

[Masa]

[Masa]

Theme song:

Zhou Xun looks gorgeous

[Aioros]

I saw this playing on the bus when I was going home yesterday and I was gonna ask you two if you knew about this Chinese film where the bad guy had metal plates sewn to his body.

It's been a while since I watched a Kung-fu film and this one is pretty epic. The fights were intense and I enjoyed every one of it.

And yeah, Zhou Xun  is gorgeous! 

[daigong]

^ WERD! More Zhou Xun repping I must.

man, its dope when u see Hong Kong kung fu legends get mad props in the West like this:

Fantastic Fest: Yuen Woo-Ping Double Bill 
Richard Whittaker
 Sun Sep 26, 10:16am


The expert, the master and the RZArector: Lars Nilsen (l) and RZA (r) look on as Yuen Woo-Ping receives his lifetime achievement award at Fantastic Fest
Photo by Marc Savlov

You get the feeling that there aren't many men to whom RZA would take a knee, but Yuen Woo-Ping, master of martial arts choreography, is on that elite list. Literally.

Last night at the Fantastic Fest gala premiere of Yuen's new martial arts epic True Legend, the Wu-Tang Clan leader gave the man behind most of the great evolutions in on-screen ass-kicking a lifetime achievement award. Like Friday's honorees Roger and Julie Corman, it came in the shape of a sword (a Chinese saber to their broadsword.) True to form, the master gave the blade a few appreciative sweeps, drawing the second of many, many ovations (most standing) of the night.

After the screening and Q&A (courtesy of Weird Wednesday curator and martial arts maven Lars Nilsen), many departed the Paramount for the Highball. The audience that stuck around may have missed the now-legendary Karaoke rendition of I Gotta Feeling by RZA feat. Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League, directors Nacho Vigalondo (Timecrimes) and Eugenio Mira (the unmissable Agnosia, screening Tuesday), and competition judge Elijah Wood. However, they did catch a gorgeous print of Master Yuen's 1978 directorial debut, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. That was the first film where Jackie Chan moved from bit-player to leading man (in fact, it was so early in his career that the print called him Jacky.) Speaking through a translator, Yuen explained that Chan's comedy persona was always there: It was simply that no previous director had seen the potential for it.

Chan also starred in Yuen's follow-up, Drunken Master. That's a more comedic take on the same myth of Beggar Su that he tackles in True Legend. Why return to the same story? Exactly because the earlier version was so comedic, Yuen explained. This time he wanted to bring more heart to it, emphasizing the intense family drama between disgraced general Su (Man Cheuk Chiu) and his usurper step-brother (Andy On).

Since helping mold Chan's early career, Yuen has worked with just about every major martial artist working in cinema today. However, he was worried that there wasn't a modern day Chan or Jet Li or Andy Lau, who could combine the acting and the martial arts side of the genre as well as they did.

However, Yuen has done a spectacular job in recent years of making actors with no formal martial arts training look like they were born on a wire. From Keanu Reeves in The Matrix to Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, it's been Yuen's hand guiding their strikes. It was up to Nilsen to ask the big question: Ever met an actor he couldn't do teach anything?

"There's one," Yuen replied politely.

"I've got the next question," Nilsen quickly interjected. "Who is that?"

Proving he is a master of discretion as well as martial arts, Yuen simply said, "It was a long time ago, and it was a Chinese actor and you won't know him."

If you missed all the excitement, don't be too downcast: US rights for True Legend have been acquired by Indomina Releasing, so expect a full release, hopefully later this year.

source: http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Blogs/index.html/objID1088472/blogID/