Hong Kong 1990: From stuntman to King of Kung Fu

Chapter 96: Filming Wraps Up, Summer Film Season Battle

"hiss!"

Donnie Yen sat on the ground, panting heavily.

Tang Long walked over and extended his hand.

Zhen Zidan looked at the hand, which was wrapped in bandages and stained with blood.

He looked up and saw that Tang Long was also panting heavily, and reached out to hold his hand.

After getting up, the two looked at each other and smiled.

"Does it hurt?"

Tang Long asked.

"where?"

"whole body."

"Thankfully, I won't die."

At this moment, Tang Jili, Hong Jinbao and others gathered around.

Hung Kam-po remained silent, clapping his hands to show his approval and appreciation for the two.

Soon, Tang Jili, along with the lighting technician, photographer, stagehands, prop master, and all the staff, were applauding.

They watched all night, from dusk till dawn, as these two men fought with their bodies, clashed with their bones, and exchanged blood for every single shot.

Finally, they presented such a wonderful show.

They don't even need to see it on a screen; just watching them fight live is enough to make them think it's great.

At this moment, Cui Baozhu walked over and said loudly, "I have reserved a table at Youguqi Restaurant. Everyone is having dinner after finishing work. Thank you all for your hard work. I also congratulate Zhen Zidan on successfully wrapping up filming."

We'll take a break tomorrow and resume work the day after.

Cui Baozhu's words immediately drew a chorus of applause.

The crew has been working for almost twenty hours since daytime; they are truly working very hard.

Tang Long was also starting to feel the strain.

Although Donnie Yen was the one getting beaten up in tonight's fight scene, punches and kicks have no eyes, and he also ended up with bruises all over his body.

My whole body is not only tired, but also in pain.

After finishing Donnie Yen's wrap party, before leaving, he specifically sought out Tang Long: "Ah Long, if you ever have a role like this again, you must look for me. This filming was so much fun."

"You're going to be playing leading roles now, so you'll be playing supporting roles too?"

"He also plays supporting roles."

"Okay, I'll definitely look for you if there's a suitable role for you."

Zhen Zidan is still quite excited. Once he calms down and has more things to consider in the future, he may not have such thoughts anymore.

If you can play the lead role, who would want to play a supporting role?

After a day of rest, the crew resumed filming.

Tang Long rested for three days before returning to the film crew.

The next scene to be filmed was a scene between Tang Long and Liang Jiahui.

Leung Ka-fai's acting skills are beyond question, and Tang Lung was equally well-prepared.

The two filmed their scenes very quickly, finishing in less than a week.

As June drew to a close, filming for "SPL: Sha Po Lang" came to an end.

Only the final scene remains, the showdown with Wang Bao.

With the excellent fight scene between Tang Lung and Donnie Yen in the alley as a precedent, Sammo Hung took it much more seriously.

During this time, he had been learning mixed martial arts techniques, all for this final fight scene.

In "SPL: Sha Po Lang", Ma Jun's fight scenes with Wang Bao were not as classic as those with A Ji, but they combined various fighting techniques such as judo, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and Sanda.

You can see a lot of ground control techniques such as over-the-shoulder throws, grappling, and dry hold.

Sammo Hung is, after all, an experienced action star, and he learns things very quickly.

During filming, he was already able to use these fighting techniques very freely.

Everyone has worked hard for over a month, and the movie is almost finished filming. Everyone is holding their breath.

In the final scene, Tang Long punches Wang Bao's henchmen one by one, storms into his villa, and the two face off in their ultimate showdown.

Donnie Yen was too short in the original version; compared to Sammo Hung, who weighed over 100 kilograms, she looked like a little chick.

Tang Long was tall enough that when he stood next to Sammo Hung, he was in no way inferior to him in terms of presence.

Without exchanging many words, the two began a fierce exchange of punches and kicks.

In the end, Ma Jun proved to be more skilled and defeated Wang Bao.

Historically, there are two endings to "SPL: Sha Po Lang". One is the version shown in mainland China, in which Ma Jun defeats Wang Bao, and then the police arrive and arrest him.

The version shown in Hong Kong had a different ending: after Ma Jun knocked down Wang Bao, he thought Wang Bao was powerless to resist, so he sat down to have a drink and catch his breath.

Unexpectedly, Wang Bao was faking unconsciousness. He suddenly stood up and, using his weight, pushed Ma Jun out of the window of the dozen or so stories, where he crashed into a car.

Sitting in the car were Wang Bao's wife and daughter, who were waiting for him to celebrate Father's Day.

Wang Bao looked down and recognized his wife's car, and was immediately overcome with grief.

He committed numerous evil deeds throughout his life, and in the end, he even harmed his own family.

Ma Jun is dead, Wang Bao has gone mad, and the police and criminals have perished together.

In the end, the director gave an open ending: Chen Guozhong was holding hands with a little girl on the beach.

Chen Guozhong later collapsed on the beach due to a brain cancer attack, leaving behind only a little girl playing in the water.

The film leaves no hope; all three members of the SPL trio perish.

Tang Long naturally chose the second ending, which had a stronger sense of destiny and elevated the film's overall quality to a whole new level.

.

However, he also made some changes, because if a sequel were to be filmed, Ma Jun definitely couldn't die.

The duel he designed between Wang Bao and Ma Jun was not on the tenth floor, but on the third floor.

It's somewhat plausible that someone survived such a fall.

Tang Long aims to develop "SPL: Sha Po Lang" into a classic IP like Jackie Chan's "Police Story".

The second part has already been planned. Ma Jun, who played a hot-tempered policeman in "SPL: Sha Po Lang", has finally mellowed his temper after experiencing Chen Guozhong and Wang Bao. He has also been promoted. He has arranged for an undercover agent named Hua Sheng to meet the three Vietnamese brothers.

"Cut! That's a wrap!"

Tang Jili's excited voice rang out, and most of the crew members on set collapsed to the ground.

Especially the members of the Hung Clan, who were also crying out in pain.

To achieve a realistic effect, all the actors did real fighting, resulting in almost every stuntman in Sammo Hung's stunt team being injured.

Hung Kam-po was no exception; he was accidentally hit by a heavy punch from Tang Lung and almost passed out.

However, in order not to interrupt the filming, he refused the crew's offer to take him to the hospital, shook his head, got up, and continued filming.

Sammo Hung rubbed his lower back and said to Tang Lung beside him, "Filming one of your movies is more tiring than filming three of my previous movies."

"Haha, thanks for your hard work, Brother Sanmao."

"It's not hard work, I'd like to chat with you more when I have time."

After the release of "SPL: Sha Po Lang," I think your mixed martial arts concept will become a trend in Hong Kong action films.

The sooner we learn it, the more the Sammo Hung Stunt Team can reap the benefits.

"No problem, I will definitely share my knowledge without reservation. I hope Brother Sanmao will also be generous with his advice. I have benefited a lot from working with you this time."

"You two stop flattering each other and go eat," Cui Baozhu's voice rang in their ears.

On June 25th, filming for "Sha Po Lang" officially wrapped up after one month and ten days.

The battle for summer movie season is already in full swing.

Major film companies are sharpening their knives, ready to release their flagship films to rake in box office revenue.

"Swordsman II," co-produced by Tsui Hark, Tang Long, and Ng See-yuen, will be the opening film of this year's summer movie season, officially released on June 30.

Tang Long had to immediately participate in the film's promotion.