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Tai-Chi Master So you've finally seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and loved it-especially the jaw-dropping fight scenes. But did you know the Chinese have been making these "wire fu" movies for almost 20 years? Some point to Tsui Hark's 1982 film, Zu, Warriors of the Magic Mountain, as the start of this martial arts offshoot genre, which incorporates imaginatively choreographed fights and megadoses of supernatural fantasy into costume epics about ancient China. One of my "wire fu" favorites is 1993's Tai-Chi Master (aka Twin Warriors). Pre-Hollywood Jet Li (Romeo Must Die, Lethal Weapon 4) plays a Shaolin monk who, along with his best friend, is unfairly ousted from his temple. After wandering the countryside seeking fortune and adventure, the two find themselves in a village being terrorized by a vicious tax collector/warlord/eunuch. The monks join a group of local rebels, which includes Crouching Tiger's Michelle Yeoh, against the villain. Directed and choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping, who did the fight scenes in The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Tai-Chi Master distinguishes itself by having an elaborate and intense fight sequence about every 30 seconds. Throw in a compelling, twisty plot and some surprisingly good characters, and you have a modern action movie classic! Two helpful resources to explore Chinese cinema are www.taiseng.com and www.hkmdb.com © 2002 Andrew Duncan | All rights reserved | Do not reproduce without expressed consent of author.
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