Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

Xu Ke in the original time and space had been confused for a long time.

He felt that Hollywood's special effects were too awesome and he couldn't catch up, so he did the opposite and made "The Broken Blade", but the audience didn't buy it and the movie was a box office failure.

Later on, he was unsuccessful in everything he did and everything he shot failed him.

And now, because of Yang Ye, he was able to see "Kung Fu" with advanced special effects.

When others were shouting that the martial arts film had been ended by Yang Ye, he immediately realized that there was still a way forward.

So he immediately found Yang Ye and asked him to reshoot Shushan.

However, Yang Ye felt that Shushan was too difficult to photograph.

"The Legend of Swordsman" was later called the ancestor of the fairy tale novel. Although this is true, not many people have actually read this novel. Even if they are willing to find it and read it, most people will not be able to finish it.

Because the whole novel is straightforward, without any ups and downs, it is extremely bland and very ugly. Like "The Investiture of the Gods", it can only be used as a set of settings.

In Investiture of the Gods, at least there was a plot where if you couldn't defeat the opponent, you would just ask for help. But Shushan doesn't even have that.

Both of Xu Ke's "The Legend of Zu" failed miserably because the plots were too disorganized, and Yang Ye didn't know how to help him make it right.

In essence, Yang Ye is just a plagiarist. The most he can do is make some reasonable modifications based on the unreasonable parts of the original work.

After a work is released, it will receive countless comments and its existing problems will be exposed. Yang Ye only needs to make targeted improvements.

For example, he once helped Jin Yong revise his novels, which were all based on the unreasonable parts of the original works and the opinions raised by netizens in later generations.

However, Xu Ke's "The Legend of Shu" has too many holes and the plot is too scattered, and Yang Ye doesn't know how to help fill them.

Some people may say, don’t you have divine power?

Relying on computers to create art? What are you thinking?

Yang Ye said to Xu Ke: "Your ideas are too wild and unrealistic. When you are filming a movie, you often come up with ideas one by one, constantly revising the script and the settings.

This may lead to some brilliant ideas due to a sudden flash of inspiration, but it will often make the plot scattered.

But if you want to make a high-concept movie like Hollywood, you have to give up the old ways.

To give a very simple example, in this type of production process, the special effects team and the filming team must work together. It is impossible to shoot first and then do the special effects. That would be the end of it.

Before shooting, you have to decide how to do it, and then shoot according to the set effect. Once shot, it cannot be easily changed. If changed, it will cost at least millions. Who will bear the cost?

In short, the more you want to capture the free and unfettered feeling of Shushan, the more rigorous you have to be during the production process.

We should have the spirit of science students doing industry, rather than the mentality of liberal arts students doing art! "

Xu Ke has his own new visual effects studio. In addition to making his own films, he also takes on work outsourced by Ziqi Company. He understands this very well.

Yang Ye was willing to spend money to give Xu Ke special effects, so Xu Ke had nothing to say.

Yang Ye said that Shushan could be filmed, but a feasible plan needed to be come up with, and he was not wrong.

Otherwise, after investing tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars, who will be responsible for the losses?

Xu Ke was also a person who knew how to compromise, and he understood that filming "Chinese Hero" was a prerequisite for filming "The Legend of Zu".

So he accepted Yang Ye's suggestion and settled for the next best thing, trying out a small one first.

"Chinese Hero" and "Storm and Cloud" are both high-level martial arts, and in terms of combat power, they are entry-level fantasy.

There's nothing wrong with doing this first and proceeding step by step.

The Hong Kong film industry is not full of short-sighted people. They also know the importance of CG special effects, so they made "Feng Yun Xiong Ba Tian Xia" in 1998.

"Feng Yun" won the box office championship, and then he took advantage of the victory to shoot "Chinese Hero".

Unfortunately, the Southeast Asian financial crisis hit, and Hong Kong's real estate market collapsed and plummeted.

Zou Wenhuai’s strategy all along was to use the money he earned from movies to invest in real estate. After this wave of investment, most of the wealth he had worked hard for his entire life was lost.

This also resulted in insufficient investment for "Chinese Hero", and the American scenes in the movie were actually shot at Shanghai Chedun Film and Television City.

As mentioned before, Chedun Film and Television City cut corners during its construction and carried out layer-by-layer processing, so the finished film "Chinese Hero" has a petty feel.

The showdown between the much-hyped Hua Yingxiong and the invincible Statue of Liberty turned out to be a very poor result due to lack of funds.

Last year, the audience watched "Feng Yun" and were shocked by the 40-meter-long sword.

As a result, the special effects of "Chinese Hero" became worse, and the box office naturally dropped sharply, less than half of "Storm and Cloud".

"Chinese Hero" is actually quite good. If it was produced more sophisticatedly and the special effects were better, it would not be difficult to achieve the results of "Storm and Cloud".

After the box office success of Storm Riders, director Andrew Lau was ambitious about Chinese Hero and he had plans for a sequel.

Many unexplained plots in the first part will be presented in the second part.

In the first part, Hua Yingxiong's twin daughters are missing, and they will become an important character in the second part.

Andrew Lau asked Kristy Yang, who played Jie Yu in the first film, to play her daughter Hua Wenying in the second film.

There’s nothing wrong with a mother playing a daughter!
Hua Wenying is a big villain, and she and her brother Hua Jianxiong have a brother-sister relationship that is a battle between good and evil.

Zhang Baizhi will also join the cast and play lovers with Hua Yingxiong's son, Hua Jianxiong, played by Nicholas Tse, and the two will have many rival scenes.

Unfortunately, Zou Wenhuai ran out of funds. In order to raise money, he started selling his film library, even the copyright of Young and Dangerous. The filming plan of "Chinese Hero 2" was thus shelved.

Yang Ye was not satisfied with both "Storm Warriors" and "Chinese Hero" directed by Liu Weiqiang.

It would have been fine if "Chinese Hero" was short of funds, but "Storm and Cloud" was well-funded and was filmed very roughly.

Liu Weiqiang is obviously a photographer by profession, but he failed to properly display the beautiful scenery of Sichuan. If Xu Ke had done it, it would have been much more than that.

Since he didn't know how to make "The Legend of Zu", Yang Ye hoped that Xu Ke would shoot "Chinese Hero" and "Storm and Cloud", preferably as a series of films.

Even if we take a step back and say that if "Chinese Hero" and "Storm Warriors" made money, then it wouldn't be a big deal if Xu Ke made "The Legend of Zu" at a loss.

……

Xu Ke actually didn't like working with Yang Ye. He had no problem putting his studio under Yang's name, accepting funding to make movies, and making friends with Yang Ye. But he was a person who liked to control everything. When he made movies with Yang Ye, Yang Ye became the one in control of everything, and his voice was greatly reduced, which made him very unhappy.

But there was no other way. When you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. In order to realize his dream of making "The Legend of Zu", Lao Xu decided to endure it.

Yes, Xu Ke has been doing nothing during this period of time and has been spending every day on the set of "The Matrix".

While learning from experience, I talked with Yang Ye about the script of "Chinese Hero" and how to express the special effects in the movie.

Speaking of the script of "Chinese Hero", it's really wow.

The whole movie is about Hua Yingxiong and his apprentice trying to trick Wudi and trap him to death.

First, Jin Ao and Wudi duel. The winner can get "Chinese Ao Jue". Jin Ao obviously lost, but he held back his breath and said that Wudi lost.

He also mocked Wudi: The reason you lost to me is because you still have concerns in your heart. You should go home and take care of your children!
Wudi destroyed his own eyes, killed his wife and children, cut off all ties and ties, had no worries, and went to find Hua Yingxiong for a decisive battle.

Hua Yingxiong's red sword was cut off by Wudi's knife. In order to show that the battle was fair and not to take advantage of Hua Yingxiong, Wudi broke his own knife.

In the end, the two of them attacked together, and Wudi used a powerful sword energy, but Hua Yingxiong's red sword recovered again, and he and his sword gave Wudi a fierce blow.

He also deliberately told Wudi: The reason you lost to me is because you ignored love.

In fact, your affectionate swordsmanship back then was correct, and you were tricked by my master.

Wudi is really going to die with his eyes open!
In fact, there are a lot of nonsense in this script adaptation.

For example, Wudi said to Jin Ao that you are not worthy of practicing "Chinese Pride" because you are not Japanese.

Why is Japan's unique martial arts called "Zhonghua Ao Jue"?
But when it comes to the hatred between China and Japan, it is actually a very smart approach.

Because it is inflammatory, the movie was changed into a confrontation between China and Japan. The Chinese killed the Japanese and destroyed the Statue of Liberty. There were many exciting moments.

Unreasonable parts will be automatically blocked by many people.

Because the hatred between China and Japan is as deep as the sea, for many people, as long as you fight the Japanese, we are good friends. This is how Yang Ye started his career.

After a month or so, the plot was basically finalized, and the special effects had a general plan, so we began to decide on the roles.

Xu Ke wanted to find a big name, and wanted to cast Jet Li for the male lead, but Yang Ye rejected it.

Yang Ye’s response to Xu Ke: The selling point of a movie is the special effects, and money should be spent on them. Jet Li is too expensive.

Another thing that Yang Ye was dissatisfied with about "Chinese Hero" and "Feng Yun Xiong Ba Tian Xia" was its cast.

Liu Weiqiang became famous with "Young and Dangerous", so when filming "Fighting Storm", he used the entire "Young and Dangerous" crew.

It seems to have an inexplicable Young and Dangerous vibe, which always feels a bit out of place, especially when Brother Crow plays a high monk in Shaolin Temple, I really can't get into the role.

Now it’s five or six years earlier, and many actors haven’t made their debut yet, or are not famous, so they can’t be used, so we have to find someone else.

First of all, the male lead. Although Zheng Yijian in the original version was good, Yang Ye wanted to leave this role to Kenny Ho.

Kenny Ho has always wanted to make a career in the film industry, so this opportunity was given to him.

Kenny Ho’s performance as Hua Yingxiong in the drama version is quite good.

Moreover, his age is more suitable than Cheng Yijian, and his skills are even better than Cheng Yijian. Of course, the male protagonist of an action movie must know kung fu!

Then there is Hua Yingxiong's son Hua Jianxiong. Nicholas Tse is only thirteen years old this year, and his performance of Jianxiong is just like Yiwei's defense.

It would be enough to just replace the handsome guy, so they chose Jin Chengwu, who just entered the Hong Kong market this year.

He previously played a small role in Johnnie To's "Modern Heroes".

The original actors of the two female characters, Jie Yu and Mu Xiuluo, were Kristy Yang and Shu Qi.

Kristy Yang is still studying at Cal State UC, and Shu Qi is now called "Shu Qi" and is currently taking nude photos in Taiwan.

Neither of them had made their debut yet, and Yang Ye was too lazy to look for them, but it wasn't necessary for him to do so.

For this kind of vase role, just pick two beauties, there are plenty of them.

Speaking of Michelle Yeung, she debuted as the Miss Asia champion in 1995.

But Yang Ye did not want to follow in TVB's footsteps and did not organize the Miss Asia contest.

Many of the Asian sisters from the original time and space appeared in TVB's Miss Hong Kong competition in this time and space.

Since the overall quality of Miss Asia is not as good as Miss Hong Kong, most of them are unknown.

But there are also some who became famous, such as Weng Hong who replaced Chen Farong and became the Miss Hong Kong champion in 89, while Chen Farong was the runner-up.

Veronica Yip was also the runner-up of Miss Hong Kong. She went to shoot a Category III film, which made Mona Fong lose face and very angry.

Since Kristy Yang is not a Hong Kong citizen and does not have a Hong Kong identity card, she is unable to participate in the Miss Hong Kong pageant.

Yang Ye didn't know how she would make her debut, or even if she would make her debut at all.

……

The framework of "Chinese Hero" was basically determined, so Xu Ke cheered up and started to make preliminary preparations.

Now that all his subordinates have run away, he can no longer produce the film himself and control other people's directing, so he has to do it himself.

At this time, "Terminator 3" was officially taken off the screen, with a box office of over 4800 million in Hong Kong, which did not break five.

Compared to its predecessor, "Terminator 3" does not have any big surprises, but the box office is already very good. The original version was released in 2003 and the box office in Hong Kong was only over 3800 million.

So far, Yang Ye’s three films this year have grossed a total of HK$1.5 million in Hong Kong box office.

Together with the upcoming "Speed", Hong Kong media predicts that the local box office of the four films starring Yang Ye this year may exceed 200 million Hong Kong dollars.

Although it is not as good as Stephen Chow's 92 million in the local market in 2.6, Stephen Chow had 7 movies released last year, while Yang Ye only had 4.

Besides, the Hong Kong box office is just an appetizer. Yang Ye's global box office this year is close to 10 billion US dollars. This year is truly the year of Yang Ye. (End of this chapter)