Ninja Checkmate
|
Our Price: $49.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $40.24 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Ninja Checkmate
Movie Review: I will admit that I do feel horrible that I have to give this VERSION of this movie a 4/5. THE REAL MOVIE IS EASILY A 5/5.
Summary: 4 Stars
I have the tai seng version of this, and I don't know what they did with the editing, but I have never seen anyone try so hard to ruin a movie. The scenes are so jumbled, and it is so obviously not 90 min. on the dot. If that were the only problem, I would be fine with this dvd, they discussed on the commentary how they thought that some of the scenes were overcut most likely by the american distubtor. I know joseph kuo movies, and I know his cuts, he does it a lot, but somebody didn't like his cuts and decided to edit this himself. I am going to do some damage for sure......ahhh, at least I gotta see the ghostface killer and the great jack long going at it in this movie again.
The tai seng version I have is good sound and picture, and the commentary deserves at least a 4/5, it has bobby samuels doing it, so I just thought it was gonna be better, but it was pretty good.
As long as this is tai seng and released in 02, it will be the commentary version, the only reason I can recommend this. the fights are great, but they mean a whole lot more when you have all the emotion in them.
Movie Review: Ninja CheckMate
Summary: 4 Stars
Its an Ol Skool flick, its not like these new kungfu movies today is worth buying and watching some pretty good fighting scene throughout the whole movie, so i recommend to buy it.Movie Review: "Two Masters Play a Deadly Game of Kung Fu!" Game on!
Summary: 3 Stars
I love kung fu movies, this flick included. Ninja Checkmate, aka Mystery of Chess Boxing, stars Li Yi-Min. Like a lot of kung fu films, the plot is the basic son seeks the revenge of father's death storyline, but where the movie lacks in plot, it makes up for its skillful choreography, interesting characters, and kick ass fighting scenes.
The film starts out with a ruthless kung fu master, Ghost-faced Killer, venturing around, bringin' da ruckus battling unsuspecting opponents and killing them with his style of kung fu called the Five Elements, in search of the Chess King, one of the best kung fu masters alive. Ghost-faced Killer used to be a high official until his ruthless practices turned everyone against him. He has those thick bushy eyebrows for that extra flavor of evilness and has an actor in his 20s trying to represent an old grayed master well into his 60s. After each defeat he leaves the Ghost-faced Killing Plate with every victim--kind of like a business card that says "You've just had your ass pummeled by the Ghost-faced Killer."
The son seeking revenge starts his training with the very least bit of knowledge in martial arts at a local kung fu school. While he's picked on and given unnecessary chores by his instructor instead of being taught, the cook, played by Simon Yuen (Drunken Master, Old Dirty Strikes Back), who's advertised as starring in the film even though he's in Ninja Checkmate for about 10 minutes, teaches him the martial arts basics secretly.
After getting kicked out of the school, the cook sends him to the Dragon Mountains where the Chess King lives. He teaches his student chess instead of kung fu so he can teach his pupil the virtue of calmness. To master chess you have to obtain "quick of wit, sharp of eye, first of mind, slow of tongue and quick to see." And when he finally beats the Chess King in a game of chess, the real training begins. During his education the Chess King teaches his pupil the weaknesses of each of the Five Elements: fire, gold, wood, water and earth. He teaches him the counter techniques that will later come into play at the end of the movie: earth absorbs water, wood can beat earth, gold can cut wood and earth absorbs gold. Kind of like the Rock, Paper, Scissor concept of fighting against the Ghost-faced Killer's Five Elements.
Not so much of an injection of comedy into this kung fu film, but Ninja Checkmate is a perfect representation of an excellent old-school kung fu flick.
Movie Review: bishop takes the 5-Element Fist
Summary: 3 Stars
One of the problems with a good rating on an old-school classic is that people who haven't seen it tend to view the enthusiasm without the benefit of a grain of salt. If you can lace the reviews with a little skepticism, you'll find a pretty sweet movie behind it. It's not without its problems: It's full-screen, not remastered (though considering that, the picture quality is very good), and the fights that don't include the Ghost-Faced Killer (Mark Long) tend to suck. Luckily there are very few fights without Ghost-Faced Killer.
This movie starts with two good fights and then wallows in unpleasant humor and molasses kung fu for about 20 minutes or so. If you can get past the 20 minutes, the rest is pretty smooth sailing. Li Yi Min stars as a young man in search of a good kung fu teacher so that he can take revenge on the Ghost-Faced Killer, who offed his father. He carries with him a pendant that the GFK left after killing the old man. He enrolls in a school where he is bullied by the other students. Then the master kicks him out when he finds the pendant, not allowing the young man to explain why he has it. The master is also an enemy of GFK. The time he spends at the school is where the movie sucks as Simon Yuen has a cameo. He later becomes the student of Jack Long (also GFK's nemesis), who teaches him how to defend against the GFK's 5-Element Fist with some methods of Chess Boxing.
This version from Red Sun is pretty good and will have to suffice until a better one comes along. Hopefully it'll be in widescreen and actually be titled "The Mystery of Chess Boxing", as this movie has NO NINJAS at all. It features the director and cast from "7 Grand Masters", but lacks that movie's consistency, though I think some of the fights in this are a little better. With an improved, uncut version including the real title, this is a 4-star flick. How can you not love a movie with such a memorable villain?
1979. aka: The Mystery of Chess Boxing
Movie Review: The Ghostface Killer is pretty cool
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this movie, based on hype, and from loving the 7 Grandmasters, which is high art among old school martial arts movies. The transfer and audio of Mystery of Chess Boxing are not good, but you forget about that after a few minutes into watching this movie. This is a bit campier than most of the era (and that's saying something). But the fight scenes are plenty, although not all are of the same quality. A bit slow in parts, but builds to a great ending.
It's worth the money for entertainment. Would probably rate it 3.5 stars, rounded down. If you are a purist, you may want to hold out for a better transfer with original language audio (if such a thing exists). Or, buy the remastered 7 Grandmasters, which is excellent on all levels above this one.