Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

Yang Ye was quietly filming "The Perfect Match" when competition in the Hong Kong film market suddenly became fierce.

Due to the withdrawal of Taiwanese film producers, the hot money in the Hong Kong film market decreased, and many film companies were unable to obtain sufficient investment and went bankrupt.

Some directors, led by Wang Jing, turned to developing low-cost Category III films.

Although Category III films can be released, there are restrictions on their screening schedules. Trying to compete with those blockbusters during the summer season is undoubtedly a dead end.

As a result, they were released in a group in the early part of the summer vacation.

Leading the way is "Sex and Zen 2", in which Xu Jinjiang is really awesome.

The box office was over 8 million, and if the overseas copyright was sold, the profit would still be good.

Next is "Red Light District", Simon Yam is so awesome in this movie.

The box office was over 8 million. Since it was a modern drama, it saved money and made more money.

Then there is "Shock Wave", Simon Yam was really awesome in this movie, the box office was over 7 million, very profitable.

There are also movies like "Extreme Beast" and "The Evil Pursuit Files", which had pretty bad box office results and were also very ugly.

However, Peng Dan has big breasts and a plump butt, and her figure is indeed domineering.

After these filthy movies made their rounds in theaters, the summer season is here.

After these messed-up movies made their way around theaters, the summer season is here.

……

In Kowloon, on a cruise ship, the crew of "The Perfect Match" is filming the scene after the twins' parents reunite.

The two recalled the reasons for their separation. Liu Xiaoli said, "That's not important anymore. For our daughter, let's put on a show!"

"Yeah, let's...act!"

The two looked at each other lovingly. Although they had feelings for each other, they had been separated for too long and didn't know how to continue.

"Crack!"

Yang Ye stood up and asked, "How is it?"

The photographer said, "Very good, sir!"

Yang Ye was going to attend the premiere of "The Wrath of the West Hunan". He looked at the time and said, "Then let's stop here for today and call it a day!"

Since the filming scene was a date, several actors wore formal attire and did not need to change clothes.

The cruise ship docked, and Yang Ye, Liu Xiaoli, Liu Yifei and Sandra Ng, who played a supporting role, got into a car together and headed for the premiere.

They arrived a little late, and the guests and media had already entered.

This is perfect. If I get caught by reporters, I will have to talk nonsense for a long time.

A group of people entered quietly and sat down in their seats.

At this time, the movie was ready to start.

Zhang Yimou previously cut "The Yellow Skin Grave" into two parts.

The first part was made into a low-budget suspense film, and special effects were not used until the second part, but the cost was not very high.

After two films of practice, this "The Lost Tomb" had superstars like Jet Li and Gong Li joining in, and the production cost surged to 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars.

As a director, Zhang Yimou also spent a lot of effort on "The Wrath of the West Hunan".

Zhang Yimou's personal art director was Cao Jiuping. His fame in later generations was not as great as the three major art directors in Hong Kong, but his ability might be stronger than those three.

He is not well-known, mainly because for a long time he was only willing to help people like Kaizi Ge and Lao Mouzi who came out of the Xi'an Film Studio, so he did not produce many works.

The art of "Raise the Red Lantern" can be said to be one of the pinnacles of Chinese-language films, and it is the work of Cao Jiuping.

In order to shoot "The Lost Tomb: My God", Zhang Yimou's team spent a lot of effort and it took more than two years before it was released.

"The Wrath of the West Hunan" tells the story of the strong man who can lift mountains and the Taoist who can move mountains.

On the side of the Xiangling Li Shi, Jet Li plays Chen Yulou, Gong Li plays Hong Gu Niang, and there are a few other great supporting actors.

On the side of the Moving Mountain Taoist, Yuen Biao plays the Partridge Whistle, Gigi Lai plays the Hua Ling, and there is an old foreigner played by Anthony Wong.

In fact, Huang Qiu Sheng may be the most suitable actor to play Partridge Whistle. His figure, acting skills and appearance are all very suitable.

But he didn't get much face in front of a group of action superstars, and in the end he was only given a supporting role and was killed shortly after he appeared on the stage.

The tomb-robbing skills of Xiangling are relatively crude, and they mainly involve one person and many others, so the movie starts with a big scene.

Grand scenes are what Zhang Yimou is good at, and with the support of Cao Jiuping, this movie makes a splash right from the start.

Thousands of strong men standing on a cliff ready to go give people the feeling of being in a blockbuster movie.

Compared with the previous "Yellow Skin Tomb" which was a small-scale film, "The Wrath of the West Hunan" has been visibly upgraded.

Chen Yulou showed off from the beginning and displayed his unique skill of "identifying dragons by smelling them".

Luo Laowai fired a shot at the bottom of the cliff. As the bullet flew into the valley, a sound wave spread out.

Chen Yulou's ears moved slightly, and with the help of the echo from the bottom of the cliff, the outline of the entire underground palace instantly appeared in his mind.

This move is very impressive, and the fact that it was played by Jet Li made the audience very convinced.

After confirming the location of the underground palace at the bottom of the cliff, Blind Chen gave an order and thousands of soldiers and military personnel immediately took action.

The villagers used centipede ladders to build bridges, the army used explosives to clear the way, and machine guns to block the road.

The people of Xiangling were wielding hoes and shovels to dig for treasure, while the army was driving donkeys to transport goods, and they were working hard.

In just a few minutes, some of the audience were already excited.

"Fuck, we found a lot of good treasures!"

"I feel like the first few movies where a few people were just groping around in a tomb were really lame."

"That's how tomb robbing should be done. Just use explosives to blow them up. Ancient tombs are nothing compared to explosives. That's how Sun Dianying dug Cixi's tomb."

"You're right. If it's a big dumpling, just use the machine gun to shoot it down."

"There is strength in numbers, just like the mainland!"

This scenario was naturally unsustainable, and soon the tomb robbers encountered various problems.

There were endless traps in the tomb, and countless poisonous centipedes swarmed out, causing heavy casualties to both the bandits and the army.

The giant six-winged centipede suddenly appeared, and its appearance was very cool, which made the audience gasp.

In addition to the large number of characters and scenes, "The Wrath of the West Hunan" also spent a lot of money on the detailed portrayal of several monsters.

This six-winged centipede was made by Ziqi Company after a long time, and it is eye-catching.

The bandits of Xiangling returned in defeat, and the Taoist monks of Banshan appeared. As soon as Yuen Biao, Gigi Lai and Anthony Wong showed up, the audience immediately said, "Here comes Hu Bayi."

"Hey, why did they change people? Where's Fatty Wang? Where's Shirley Yang?"

"Crazy, this is the Republic of China period, where did Hu Bayi come from?"

"This is the Taoist monk who moves mountains. The leader is the partridge whistle. It's mentioned in the novel."

"Oh, so Yuen Biao played another role."

The Taoist monks who move mountains are like the captain of tomb-grabbing teams, they follow the elite mode of the exploration team. The two factions join forces and continue to go down to the tomb.

After the old foreigner took out the Mountain Digging Armor and demonstrated his skills as a Taoist who moves mountains, the big scene started again.

The bandits from Xiangling came back again, each holding a big rooster, which they let out to peck at centipedes.

In order to deal with centipedes, they bought a large number of roosters and collected all the roosters from all over the area.

In an instant, thousands of roosters and tens of thousands of centipedes fought in a group, and the murderous aura was so intense that the candles and torches were dimmed.

The scene was so spectacular that the audience in the theater was thrilled.

But there were so many centipedes that the roosters even felt that thousands of them were not enough.

Seeing that the rooster was defeated, Partridge Whistle took out the angry rooster with blood crown and golden claws, and chanted loudly: "This rooster is no ordinary rooster, it is wearing a five-color brocade sweater. Its heels have toes with five virtues, and the red crown is adorned on the top of its head, making it look majestic. It flies in the heavenly palace above, and the Jade Emperor calls it the Purple Cloud Rooster. Once it flies into Kunlun Mountain, it becomes a rooster that announces the dawn on earth..."

This angry chicken with a blood-crowned crown and golden claws looks majestic. It flaps its wings and cries angrily, and the loud and loud crow echoes in the hall.

When the centipedes that were fighting for their lives heard the crowing of the rooster, they were all frightened and trembled all over, as if they had suddenly lost their souls and were on the verge of death.

When the other roosters heard the angry chicken's clowing, they were like chicken blood being injected. They rushed over and pecked the centipedes to death one after another.

The bandits from Xiangling drove a flock of roosters to clear the way, carrying guns and cannons, and kept driving away and killing centipedes.

After cleaning up the centipedes, a large number of people came on stage and started taking out the famous instruments.

A group of people moved, lifted, pried, dug...

With division of labor and cooperation in an orderly manner, all valuable items in the tomb were looted and moved away.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. When they were passing an arch bridge, a huge six-winged centipede suddenly appeared and killed the old foreigner in one blow.

Then the six-winged centipede hugged the flower spirit with its palatine feet, drooling. Partridge Whistle immediately stepped forward to rescue it and took the flower spirit back in one go.

Partridge Whistle held the flower spirit and slid down from the roof of the hall. The centipede, which had lost the flower spirit, flapped its wings violently and chased after it with a momentum as powerful as thunder.

The centipede special effects were so realistic that the audience was so shocked that their mouths opened wide and their hearts were in their throats.

Partridge Whistle exerted force from his waist, hugged Hua Ling and turned around suddenly, with his back pressed against the ceiling of the hall, and slid to the upturned corner of the hall, where he stopped, with two German-made Mauser rifles in his hands.

Under Partridge Whistle's sharp eyes, gunshots rang out, and the bullets shot out like two strings of meteors, in a flash of lightning and flint, all hit the mouth of the six-winged centipede that pounced on it.

The six-winged centipede's momentum to pounce suddenly stopped. Every time it was hit by a bullet, it was thrown back by the powerful blow of the Mauser rifle. After being hit by the first bullet, it could not avoid the second one.

Dozens of bullets were used without wasting a single one, and dozens of holes were made in the centipede's body, from which thick white juice flowed out.

Seriously injured, he fell on the ridge of the roof, struggling and twisting in pain, causing the tiles to rattle.

This series of movements was performed so neatly and smoothly, like flowing water, that the audience burst into applause.

When Partridge Whistle had used up all his bullets, he went to check on Hua Ling's injuries. He saw that her body was pierced with several holes by the centipede's palatine legs, and blood was gushing out. It was obvious that she was dead and could not be saved.

The six-winged centipede was swooping down from mid-air. Partridge Whistle's eyes turned red, his teeth were clenched, and his heart was filled with murderous intent.

Veins popped out of his forehead, he pushed himself up from the ground, and leaped up from the glazed tiles, cursing, "You evil beast, take the magic weapon!"

As he shouted, he had already torn off the seal of the bamboo basket behind him and kicked the basket head-on towards the giant centipede.

The bamboo basket flew out of the wind, and the angry chicken inside jumped out, shaking its red crown and colorful feathers, and landed on the top of the six-winged centipede's head, and pecked it fiercely. The big centipede immediately let out a scream.

The battle between the mythical beasts that the audience loves to see begins.

Although the six-winged centipede is ferocious and poisonous, the angry chicken is very agile. It jumps around on it and pecks at it with its beak.

This situation is a bit like the battle between the nimble and agile Velociraptor and the huge Tyrannosaurus Rex in "Jurassic Park". It is thrilling and exciting, and the audience on the scene is excited.

Partridge Whistle also came forward to help, and the man and the chicken fought fiercely against the giant centipede.

By the time the centipede was finally killed, Partridge Whistle was already covered in wounds.

In the second battle, against the Pipa Scorpion King, Chen Yulou used his signature skill "Night Eyes".

Before he became blind, Chen Yulou had extraordinary eyesight. He could "observe mud marks, recognize grass colors, and find hidden treasures." He could see the surrounding objects clearly in the underground palace of the ancient tomb without lighting a torch. He was truly a pair of blazing eyes!
This time, it was his turn to fight the Scorpion King with Angry Chicken.

It's fair for each of the two protagonists to show off once.

In the original novel of "The Wrath of the West Hunan", there were four monsters in total. Partridge Whistle killed three of them, and the remaining one was killed by the Wrath of the West Chicken.

So much so that Chen Yulou, the leader of the Xiangling movement, was called a "trash in combat" by many readers.

As an adapted movie, they still invited Jet Li to play the role. Of course, this cannot be done. Doesn't Jet Li have any face?
Zhang Yimou made the roles of the two male protagonists very evenly distributed.

In the first level, Partridge Whistle and Angry Chicken worked together to kill the six-winged centipede.

In the second level, Chen Yulou teamed up with Nuqingji to kill the Black Pipa Scorpion King.

After killing the Scorpion Queen, the Angry Chicken also died.

In the original novel, there were still two monsters left at this point, but one was deleted due to the length of the movie and the plot structure.

The screenwriter team discussed for a long time which one to delete between the Corpse King and the White Ape, and decided to keep the more intuitive and invulnerable Corpse King.

As for tomb robbing, it’s easy to understand if there are zombies, but if you add a white ape, many viewers won’t understand it.

The final outcome was naturally that Chen Yulou and Partridge Whistle teamed up to kill the Corpse King.

In this way, the roles of Blind Chen and Partridge Whistle are very balanced.

And in terms of plot, it still has the classic three-act structure.

In the first two battles, Chen Yulou and Queqiao Shao each killed a monster.

In the final battle, Chen Yulou and Partridge Whistle teamed up to fight the Corpse King, and the scene was even more thrilling and exciting.

For a movie like "Ghost Blows Out the Light", you don't need to talk about the connotation, it's all about curiosity and the special effects.

The plot is bizarre, the fighting is exciting, the scenes are grand, and the special effects are awesome, which makes the audience eat popcorn to their heart's content and feel that the ticket price is worth it, and that's it.

So is "The Wrath of the West Hunan" good to watch and is it exciting?
Just look at the reactions of the audience and guests on the scene.

While watching the movie, Liu Xiaoli and Liu Yifei, mother and daughter, kept holding Yang Ye's hands, one on each side. They were so nervous that their palms were sweating. How could this be possible?
"Pa pa pa!" After the movie ended, there was a prolonged applause.

The audience responded enthusiastically, and they couldn't wait to see the next episode. (End of this chapter)