Customer Reviews

Tai Chi Master

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all this isn't the Jet Li version of the same title. It's actually the edited version of the "Master of Tai Chi" TV series that showed in Asia in 1997. With fight scenes done by the Yuen Clan, it's better than every effort they've ever done (that says a bunch, too). No doubt it's the best examples of Tai Chi ever seen on screen. I watched the whole 25 episode series in Chinese only (without understanding) and it was still highly enjoyable. Now it's finally availible in English and easier to find, even though cut down to two hours. Even for non Tai Chi fans, still here are the most intricate fight scenes ever put on film, as well as a great storyline without dragging too much.

If you've seen Tai Chi 2 you know who Jacky Wu and Yu Hai are. Oddly enough, Tai Chi 2 didn't seem to have an originating film. Where the 2 came from I don't know.

Tai Chi Master is a compilation of a TV series starring both great martial artists. Yu Hai gets to show off his Tai Chi while Jacky Wu is a natural and learns Yu Hai's martial arts from watching. He gains such a high level of martial art skill that he realizes the philosophical aspects of the art and becomes wise for his age. A true Tai Chi master.

In this film Jacky Wu and Yu Hai aren't connected in any way, but their roles are so similar it will feel like the first movie that goes along with Tai Chi 2, even though the characters and plot are completely different.

Being able to see Jacky Wu and Yu Hai in action again is worth the money alone. As far as I know this is Jacky Wu's second film. Yu Hai, as you know, has a decent list of films... an established figure in martial arts movies. It's a shame he isn't in more films as good as he is. Watching him move is like watching art in motion.

I give this film 5 stars because Jacky Wu and Yu Hai are two of my favorite martial arts actors. Seeing them again is like coming home.

Tai Chi Master, note this is not the theatrical version with JET LI and Michelle Yeoh. This tv/movie has some amazing choreographing that rivals most of the martial arts on film. One thing that I liked was it had less 'wire fu' than the traditional yuen wo ping movies. The condensed tv program paces very quickly into the action and doesn't stop. Besides the amazing Tai Chi that Jacky Wu displays, he goes into battle with all kinds of masters from various styles including a drunken master (reminds me of how kung fu video games stages are). A must for martial art movie fans!!!! Tai Chi II is also sweet!!!!

Not only best Tai Chi but also i condiser best martial movie i seen, top performance and all area, is english dubb version from a 13 chinese epidose suprise cut down to perfect fit 2 hours it could be been little longer to explain some scene skip but chinese movie usually don't get over 2 hours any way. Fight scene is aresome, a good exaple for tai chi leaner as well, great plot and acting whise, if u think watch hero or matrix is amazing then u must watch this too seen a another masterpiece out there

At first I thought I had bought a crap kung fu film,however,if you look past the TV soap style picture and sound quality,there lies a really cool kung fu film with a great story and excellent fight scenes masterly crafted by genius Yuen Woo Ping.In fact the film is actually an edited version of the TV series with the same name.I strongly recommend this title to hardcore kung fu film fans.

If you can get over the photography style of Chinese television, and assuming you enjoy kung fu flicks in the first place, you will likely dig this. The photography bugs the crap out of me but I think I'm in the minority. I can tolerate it. What really makes it work though is the choreography of director Yuen Woo Ping. Way less wires than he usually employs, which is a big plus in my book. If only he could merge this type of choreography with cameras that shoot movies made to be shown on the big screen instead of this videotaped look.

This is the condensed version of a TV series that has Wu Jing, in an "old-school" time frame, wanting to learn Tai Chi from a man named Chan, who cannot teach outside of his extended family. The women in his family cannot learn either. This is why Chan passes his daughter off as a dude. She helps Wu Jing learn by having him hide and watch her father practice and teach. Billy Chow then kidnaps Chan and a whole lotta fights ensue.

Wu Jing and Billy Chow are both very good. As is the older gentleman who played Chan. I have become quite a Wu Jing fan recently. Dragon Dynasty will release "Fatal Contact" later this month and I suggest you see it. Not much on plot, but the fights in that are some of the best I've seen. He's reason enough to see this one as well.

2003

So my friend came over last night and I was going to watch the second half of this movie(show). And this is the first time we really agreed exactly what is going on in a movie. Basically I would describe this is a soap opera, chinese style. And oh yeah, master yuen woo-ping does the action choreography on this soap. So like another reviewer said, if you can stand all the cheapness, you will see some AWESOME martial arts. I had no complaints about the story cause it was only like one minute of talkign at a time and then a fight. And then there is a scene with like 6 fights in a row!! I watched the first half of this and then the second half, and it is obvious which was better. But I have to say that if you are a fan of billy chow or jacky wu, you will be really pleased with this. i think they cut billy's screen time down to like 2 fights, but that was fine because Billy chow NEVER dissapoints. The camera work was excellent as all of woo-ping's stuff is. But there is one scene in particular which stood out for me. You will know what I am talking about when you see it so I will just say, check out the swords scene.

So NOOOOOO special features, I was pretty pissed. The 5.1 sound quality isn't great by any means. It has english dub, so when they introduced lord dong I could switch it over and have a good laugh, but of course the cantonese track is the way to go.

So where can i find the entirety of this tv show and when are we gonna get woo-ping to work on some soap operas here?

Though the movie is a patch-job of an earlier TV series, it's hugely enjoyable. I gave it 4 stars for two reasons :

1. The cut-n-paste job doesn't have the sheen of a regular production film and at a couple of points in the movie one can tell that there must have been something else to follow but has been cut.

and more importantly,

2. Some of the brilliant fight scenes have been cut. I know this because I have watched the fight sequences on you-tube and when I was expecting a certain move, I saw something else. MOVES WERE CUT. :-(

That said, for all you martial arts film buffs, I would slot this one in the same category as Master Killer (aka The 36th Chamber of Shaolin). So it's a must see movie ..... I'd even go so far as to say that it's a must have movie.

Enjoy !!

Wow, a real jewel! Be warned though, this is not 'a movie' per se, but a set of scenes chopped out of a chinese TV series and put together. Tai Seng has done this before for two Donnie Yen TV series but this time the commercial trick actually works: plot can be followed rather well and there is tons of action and actually some nice acting.

The coolest thing was the fighting, heck it's a series directed by seminal Yuen Woo Ping! Lots of long shots and a well made version of Game of Death pagoda fight, where Wu Jing rises floors and beats master fighters in each floor. Jackie Wu Jing is so awesome and the opponents kicked butt as well. Felt like a remake of Tai Chi 2 made in, but with fights done BETTER than most Yuen Woo ingP movies of similar style I can remember. And this comes from a big YWP fan. Even the sound effects rocked with big bass ála The Fearless spicing most impact shots. Tons of cool (and wired) stunt falls with people flying all over all the time; always entertaining to see. Camerawork was phenomenal and doubling was done very well. Insane overall quality fight scene wise, at least for me. The best fights definitely catched the notion of 'drama' in aristotelian wise.

But my points go to the damocle's sword fight (the first one with tai chi masta), which is felt one of the most exciting fights I've seen in years, perhaps ever. Tons of intricate taichi, joint locking, long shots and sword interaction. A spectacle if I've ever saw one. A diamond of a match that lacks only in that it had in a couple of reused moves and rather 'normal' ending. Iron Monkey meets, hell, Damoclee battle opera!

Wu Jing acts mostly a goofy yet a ethical boy, a role which seems to fit him exceptionally well here. Not a much of killing in the film either, reminds in that sense old Lau Kar Leung films. The mood is entertaining.

Sadly, no extras for such a brilliant chopjob. Just 5 trailers for a couple of similar films and three for similar TV series chopjobs Tai Seng seems to like doing. With this one I could't recommend this move enough. Yet I'd still would like to see the original series, the plot wasn't a bad one at all. Yet the fighting was absolutely phenomenal and a tribute to people like actors Billy Chow and Wu Jing and of course, the mastermind Yuen Woo Ping. Pick this one now, as local Hong Kong films like Fatal Contact are starting to make Jackie Wu Jing the next major martial arts movie star.

Oh and in case you were wondering, Tai Chi looks absolutely brilliant on the screen when it's done as well as this. Which I think is not going to happen anytime soon.

It's a pretty sweet movie...looks new and seemed to be made with not completely professional cameras, but the movements and philosophical points of view on Tai Ji are some of the best I've ever seen in a movie. - A student, www.peoriakungfu.com