Tarantino took inspiration from the very best martial arts movies to then make his own high-octane version of them. The time for lurking behind motorcycle masks and hiding in bathroom stalls is over. Sometimes, the conditions for attacking one’s enemy are ideal: open space with nothing but air between the heroine and her target. But to HK he is one of the greats of kung fu cinema. However, before even getting a chance to kill O-Ren, the Bride is forced to reckon with her special crew, the Crazy 88s, and her personal guard, Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama), a sick, demented teenager who dresses up in private school girl attire and wields one of the deadliest weapons scene in the film: a razor equipped metal ball attached at the end of a chain. 1 is among the most tension-filled in the entire two-part story because Gogo and her specialized weapon feel like the most legitimate threats the heroine has to face. He became a legendary Hong Kong action star who has appeared in Shaolin Martial Arts, Shaolin Challenges Ninja, and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Volume 1. Some go down in vintage samurai fashion by remaining immobile on their two feet for a moment, as if stunned, before dropping dead, while others, unfortunately, have their limbs hacked off. Even though this fight is rather bloody, it has a bit of a Jackie Chan element to it, what the enemies thinking on their feet by using regular house objects as weapons and showing off kung fu moves while avoiding (or not) various hurdles around the living room and kitchen. The Bride-Gogo fight in Kill Bill vol. This list is written as a dedication. The hooked sword in The One-Armed Swordsman, the metal paws from The Avenging Eagle, the titular golden blade from Vengeance is a Golden Blade, and yes, even though Goomba Stomp editor Ricky D and I disagree on the cool factor of the weapon, even the famous flying guillotine. This type of encounter happens at the very end of Kill Bill vol. on 1. About Kill Bill: Vol. Even though the Crazy 88 is a Japanese fighting group, Johnny Mo actor Gordon Liu is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor. In essence, pretty darn sweet. See more ideas about gordon liu, kill bill… Flashbacking 4 years ago, to the day the Massacre at Two Pines occured. ), Gogo may be the most unexpectedly difficult foe the Bride does battle with. Fox Michael Madsen Daryl Hannah David Carradine Sonny Chiba Julie Dreyfus Chiaki Kuriyama Gordon Liu Michael Parks Music byRZA CinematographyRobert Richardson Edited bySally Menke Production company A Band Apart … Mind over matter, as the saying goes, which helps her overcome the fear of pain when repeatedly smashing her hands against wood. First, the setting is even more compact than was the Bride-Vernita contest, seeing as it transpires within Budd’s (Michael Madsen) modest trailer house. With such restrictive space to do battle, the complications are numerous. 1 was a crazy, fast action film, giving Quentin Tarantino the chance to pay homage to his favorite martial arts films. 2. This is a film about revenge, though it still manages to evoke laughter. The Director's Concern- A Mother's Love. First comes the grittier, less gracious sort of encounter, the type which pits opponents in some unreasonably close spots, with less room to maneuver and utilize their weapons as they would like. It is more a matter of out waiting and out thinking the other swordsman. Of all the examples reviewed above, most would be quick to claim that the most spectacular instance of kung fu ass whooping is when the protagonist, either alone or with a small band of allies, are greatly outnumbered by their enemies and whose only hope for survival is by fending all of them off. Starring Gordon Liu (not as a priest, mind you, but rather a young, ambitious martial artist looking for redemption), it features one of the longest and best training sequences in any movie. Finally Bill. Theatrical reviews, festival coverage, film noir and martial arts flicks columns, he even co-hosted a podcast for a couple of years from 2012 to 2014 with Ricky and Simon Howell. Others would call it learning from the masters. Much like the high noon standoff in American westerns, it typically does not make for the most flamboyant sort of duel. Let us take a closer look at the variety of fight scenes Tarantino serves up and where some of his inspiration might have come from. When Vernita opens the door and discovers nonother than her former partner, long presumed to be dead, things go haywire quicker than O-Ren Ishii can decapitate dissenting Yakuza clan members. In late 2017, together with another 00 agent stationed in Montreal, he helped create The James Bond Complex podcast (alas, not part of the Goombastomp network) in which they discuss the James Bond phenomenon, from Fleming to the films and everything in between. 1 Overview 2 Synopsis 2.1 Chapter 6: Massacre at Two Pines 2.2 Chapter 7: The lonely grave of Paula Schulz 2.3 Chapter 8: The Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mei 2.4 Chapter 9: ELLE and I 2.5 Last Chapter: Face to Face 3 Cast 4 Production 5 Reception Kill Bill: Vol. He is known for his work on, Sun, Apr 11 When he was writing Kill Bill, Tarantino had the idea to depict Pai Mei with a bad English dub, and he was going to provide the voice himself.Thankfully, he decided against that idea (which sounds neat on paper, but probably would’ve been very strange in execution), and instead cast Gordon Liu — who had previously played Crazy 88’s leader Johnny Mo in Volume 1 — to play the role. Gordon has a couple prominent roles in Quentin Tarantino’s KILL BILL, which he’ll tell you about down below. Upon grabbing some of the delicious food with her bare hands, Pai Mei tosses her bowl to the floor, berating her disrespectful gesture, claiming that is she so desires to eat like a dog, then she best chow down from the floor. It’s not where you’ve been… it’s where you’re... Abel Ferrara’s Welcome to New York Feels Half-Realized, Godzilla vs. Kong is Pure Popcorn Entertainment. Taking important cues from some legendary Shaw Brothers pictures which themselves have earned top marks in the hearts and minds of kung fu film fans everywhere, Tarantino offers audiences a loving homage in the second volume of the Kill Bill story, when Bill leaves Uma Thurman’s Bride with his former teacher, Pai Mei, played with infectious glee by Shaw legend Gordon Liu. Of all the fights depicted over the course of the two films, this looks and sounds like the most bone-crunch inducing. 2 he plays a character named Pai Mei as a nod to Lo Lieh’s character in Clan of the White Lotus. In Kill Bill Volume 2, Gordon Liu himself plays a former Shaolin monk, this time sending The Bride through tough training. If Tarantino’s films of the 1990s announced the writer-director as a phenom for writing formidably snappy dialogue that enhanced characterization, his films of the 00s, while continuing to demonstrate the aforementioned writing prowess, suggest that he is equally adept at staging and filming wonderful action scenes, be they brawls, gunfights or contests of martial arts skills. After she takes a few nasty shots of the metal ball to the chest, a viewer can be forgiven for asking themselves if the protagonist will even live through the encounter. Akira Kurosawa was one such director who made wonderful stories of the samurai who either served lords or were masterless, although his samurai movies were more epic in scope and involved some rather high octane battles, at least so far as samurai sword fights are concerned. Liu was famous in the ‘70s for his work with the Shaw Bros studio, starring in such chop-socky classics as THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN and DIRTY HO. These battles typically see the mutual enemies both make use of and work around the restrictive environment. Tarantino also called upon the help of Yuen Wo-Ping for fight choreography and this Blue Lotus battle is arguably the most glorious example of his contributions to the two films. In typical Terantino style, things are offbeat and contorted, but the plot moves along. There is the physical strain the Bride must go through, which we see when she is forced by Pai Mei to punch through thick wooden planks as well as carry large buckets of water up an endless flight of stairs. The bubbling tension influences dinner time as well. His true cinematic love however, his unshakable obsession, is the 007 franchise. Each movement is either a step closer to death or to victory. Both are skilled in the art of the samurai, and therefore their contest is a slower, more methodically paced affair. So Is It Time For That Hangman Page Title Reign Yet. He was the leader of O-Ren Ishii's personal army, the Crazy 88. At first relegated to a personal blog back when those things were all the rage, he eventually became a Sound on Sight staff member in late 2011, a site managed by non-other than Ricky D himself. Interestingly enough, their duel comes to a swift and unexpected ending once Vernita surprises the Bride by firing a pistol through a cereal box in the kitchen just as tempers were seemingly cooling down. There is the physical strain the Bride must go through, which we see when she is forced by Pai Mei to punch through thick wooden … From Wings to Parasite, here's a look back at all of the Best Picture Oscar winners in the history of the ceremony. The slightest step, the slightest gesture with the arms, every detail matters in a fight of this kind. 1, the Bride arrives at the home of Vernita Green (Vivica A. He currently resides in China. Now you can continue to download Kill Bill: Vol. Tarantino would be remiss to stop just there. Kill Bill Volume 1 features Gordon Liu at Johnny Mo, the leader of the Crazy 88's bodyguards. Chandni chowk to china, internationally. After all, nobody does it better. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The director of landmark Kung Fu films "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin," starring "Kill Bill"’s Gordon Liu, and "Drunken Master II" with Jackie Chan passed away after a two-decade battle with cancer. 1. In 2005, Gordon accepted Cheng Pei Pei’s daughter, Eugenia Yuan (原子鏸) as his main disciple and later accepted thirteen other disciples. Those two elements right there, the fact that Gordon Liu plays a kung fu master and the appearance of Pai Mei (a character who appeared in a great many Shaw films, among them Fists of the White Lotus), are in of themselves delicious references to the history of such films. Gordon Liu; born Sin Kam-hei August 22, 1955 is a Chinese martial arts film actor and martial artist. It begins with the training after all. Gods of Egypt—Ridiculously fun and Hard to Resist, Violation Makes a Messy Situation Unnecessarily Messier. 1. To pass the physical test, mental strength is of equal importance, yet another thing that the Bride and Liu’s characters must discover. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) The second appearance in this list already of both Gordon Liu and Lo Lieh and both will appear once more. When the opportunity for the perfect blow arrives, an expert will take advantage and see their rival fall lifelessly to the ground. Nevertheless, that does not prevent Elle from opting to cut down her opponent with a Hattori Hanzo sword. 2, but writer-director Quentin Tarantino runs her battered character, called the Bride, through a gauntlet that is gory enough to ma… Now that our heroine has merited her master’s blessings, here comes the hard part: actually vanquishing her foes in a multitude of settings, each demanding that the protagonist dig deep into her kung fu knowledge. Who gave us some of the best Martial arts movies ever. Led by Johnny Mo (Gordon Liu, doing double duty in these films), the onslaught begins. The second significant-close quarters battle occurs in the second volume, between Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and the Bride. 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