Thanks for all the informative commentary on what is one of my favorite movie genres. I remember watching the old cheesey Martial Arts flicks on USA's Kung Fu theater, back in the day when cable was still pretty new.
My favorite movie is the 5 Deadly Venoms.
http://www.kungfucinema.com/reviews/fivevenoms.htmThe venoms team would later go on to do many other movies, all of which I enjoyed thoroughly. Its not groundbreaking or epicmaking or socially enlightening, but it is just good ol' ass kickin' fun!
I just watched "House of Flying Daggers". I liked it. Nice fight scenes. Ziyi is as hot as always. The story was sad, fairly obvious, but envolving. I think they went overboard on the green coloring in this film. Must be some kind of statement with that color. The male lead is Takeshi Kaneshiro. Is he Japanese as his name suggests? I don't believe I've seen a Japanese actor play such a part in a Chinese production. Usually they're villians. Is this a new trend in asian cinema? Anyaways this movie is worth a look.
I'm looking forward to Fearless. This is Jet Li's last movie? Is he going behind the camera now or leaving the business entirely? Should be a good movie tho.