In one of the discussions my reviews someone mentioned perestroika hand-to-hand fighters. Among them was mentioned Kim In Ho, who starred in two films in the post-perestroika era. I watched "Screw"A long time ago, I remember him for the final fight with Igor Livanov. I’ll say right away - both films with Kim are not action films - they are classic perestroika crime dramas, the directors just added flavor from Japanese-Chinese action films and tried to insert a number of battle scenes. I spent about 3 hours watching the two films he starred in, actually"Screw" And "Master of the East". I'll start with him.
Master of the East (1992)
Kim plays a martial artist and karate teacher. The teacher lives without grieving, he lives with his brother and wife. He brings up his brother harshly - he addresses him as “you” in case of a jamb. As expected in a perestroika crime drama, the hero is pursued by bandits. Almost until the end of the film I didn’t understand what they wanted from him and his brother, but then I somehow understood it and now I’ll try to convey it.
The hero fights very coolly and they want to see him as a trainer for the bandits. The direct approach does not work and the villains, through his former student (Oleg Stefanko), contact his brother, who is offered a job. The brother accidentally gets into a fight with an arrogant bandit named Elephant and he kills him. Kim begins to look for the killers and finds them faster than the police who do not want to work in the movies. Then a series of fights follows and the hero wins.
I repeat - this is a crime drama and will mainly show the realities of the 90s: racketeering, showdowns, murders and internal hierarchical debates in the gang. The hero's life runs parallel to all this. Because of this, fans of American or Hong Kong cinema may not like the film - the action is only 15-25% of the entire film. The action itself varies: from well-choreographed REALISTIC fights in the hall and at the end of the film to strangely and darkly edited fights (in blatkhat) - where the hero’s face is shown, and the enemies scatter by themselves or offscreen. Alas, there are more recent fights and this was a negative for the film. I also appreciated the characters' reaction to the blows they received - their screams. moans, blood and agony - realistically and tastefully.
Also, the film has a flavor of the East - the hero performs kata, remembers his father, and the film itself tries to convey some deep meanings through this - but everything is lost in an incomprehensible plot. Also in the film there is quite good music, which sufficiently conveys the atmosphere of what is happening.
Сonclusion - you can watch it once - but not for fans of action films, but of perestroika crime - the plot is too incomprehensible and there are too few fights as such, but good acting and the authentic realism of that era are shown extremely clearly. There are probably clips of the fights on the Internet; it seems they were posted by one of Kim’s students.
Screw (1993)
This film is already better in terms of production and plot, but it is still a crime drama about an oriental man whose life is accidentally invaded by the mafia.
According to the plot, Kim's hero stands up for a woman (Vera Sotnikova) and protects her from a bandit (Igor Livanov). Livanov’s hero wants to take revenge on him, but his boss Mikhalych, having obtained information on Kim, recognizes him as his fellow soldier in Afghanistan. They try to come to an agreement, but it doesn’t work out and Kim will have to fight to save Vera.
In general, the film partially repeats the plot of Master of the East - two parallel plots: one about Kim and his relationship with Vera, the other about the mafia boss and his “work”. Then, because of Kim, there is discord within the mafia. That's the whole plot.
• On the plus side - 100% atmosphere of the 90s, realism of fights, normal acting: Kim in the role of a calm former Afghan, Sotnikova in the role of a brave woman and a stern main villain. Livanov, in the role of an arrogant idiot, also delivers. The fights in general are also good, especially the final one, but compared to American action films it may not stand out due to the weak number of techniques and strong believability and reaction to blows.
• On the downside, there is little action for a film that is considered an action film. A viewer expecting to see a lot of Master Kim on the screen will mainly see the crime boss dealing with his affairs and the life of a thieves.
Сonclusion - the same thing: fans of action films will not understand, those who want to watch the 90s in all their glory - this is it.
But in general, the start was not bad, but for some reason Kim stopped acting. I hope everything is ok with him and if so, may he return to the screens one day.
the first fan is a great film. the second is complete trash
Alexander,
Exactly. A total miss in replacing the main character.
There was also a good film “The Secrets of Madame Wong” with Serik Konakbaev in ch. role, I often went to the cinema to see it as a child!
Vadya,
There were many more hand-to-hand fights in Sultan Baybars and Warrior (the second name is Kaisar).
I looked at VINT today. Weak. Although there were some attempts to make a brave movie. Here are Livanov, so to speak, in the footsteps of THIRTY DESTROY, and Tarkinskaya... so to speak, the remnants of BEHIND THE LAST LINE, Dzhigurda... and Master KIM, who looked in the frame like an athlete, and not even like an actor playing out techniques from BI. From the latter, neither warm nor cold. He doesn't look like a simpleton, and he doesn't look like a tough guy either. Something in the middle. So the feelings for the hero are the same - somewhere in the middle. The finale is very blurry in terms of camera work. And overall the filming was average. I don’t understand this fact - at that time there were already films with Bruce and Jackie. Watch and shoot too. What are the problems? And the striking technique is strange. Sometimes it looks ridiculous. Even in PIRATES OF THE XX CENTURY this was not the case. Oh PIRATES... who knows what could have happened if the creators had left all the action material shot for the film...
I remembered what was so interesting in the 90s, what can be reviewed now and what looks interesting. And you know...I found something.
1.AMERICAN FIGHT. In my opinion, a well-tailored action movie, with a fair amount of humor in the person of Vladimir Gostyukhin. And Peskov, in my opinion, did a great job physically. Watching these WELL-FILMED and edited fights - I BELIEVE! + You worry about the hero, observing his life’s intricacies. And the final episode with the clock and the phrase - Everything is fine, guys... It's really catchy. Anyone who watched it knows what I mean.
Khostikoev did a good job with his character! In every way. It's a shame that he was used so little in action. The combination of physical characteristics and sometimes humor is spot on! More about humor...
2.REDEMPTION. An excellent action movie with elements of comedy, with a melody from the Armor of God and two Anatolys - Ravikovich (may he rest in heaven) and Khostikoev! A lot can be said about this film, but it’s better to watch it. I recommend.
3. FUNERAL ON THE SECOND FLOOR (continuation of the legendary STAMP, although the first film itself is rather weak). A police action movie with the aforementioned Khostikoev and young Andrei Smolyakov, who very convincingly got used to his movie image. Once again I am convinced that actors are capable of much!!!
Next you can watch - NICKNAMED THE BEAST, 30 DESTROY, FAN, BEYOND THE LAST LINE. Everything else, as far as I remember, was mediocre. True, I still won’t watch RAT’S CORNER. They say it's good. I DECLARE WAR ON YOU with Eremenko Jr. is still watchable, but it can hardly be classified as a BI film. Most likely a good action movie. But I also recommend it to those who haven’t watched it.
THE GUY IN THE GREEN KIMONO somehow did not cause any delight, although there were a lot of fights and other action in this film.
Speaking of filming and staging stunt action: Before perestroika, they made a good adventure movie!!! DETECTIVE, PETROVKA 38, FLATING HUSSAR SQUADRON, INVINCIBLE, SIXTH, and the same PIRATES OF THE XX CENTURY.
jaidev,
I’ll also remind you of the wonderful “Psychic” by Gennady Glagolev in my opinion. Wushu team of Ukraine, Farhad Amankulov available. Our Stanislav Terentyev performed the battle scenes perfectly. I advise those who haven’t watched it, but you probably have.
Yuri Skromny,
NO Yuri, I won’t lie... I didn’t watch it! But now I’ll definitely watch it!!! Interesting.
jaidev,
ps to save time I can make a video compilation of the action scenes of this film. Not everyone will have the patience to watch, I think...)
jaidev,
I highly recommend watching it! In my opinion, the best “failing” film in the USSR with combat scenes. Although they went into mysticism there, into expensive (at that time) effects, etc. And instead of Leontyev, Farhad Amankulov, a multiple champion in wushu and now the president of the Thai Boxing Federation, fights in the battle scenes. Kazakhstan.
Yuri Skromny,
I remember this movie. These guys had quite decent physical capabilities, if not very good, but they didn’t know how to film at that time.
Ravenside,
Fact. This was surprising both at that time and now, by the way, that for cinema they finally tried to find those who could show something effectively. I think it was definitely a breakthrough for that time.
Yuri Skromny,
Yes, I remember where Leontyev was.
jaidev,
I watched all these films. Maybe I’ll write a review on them one day. Beyond the last line, in fact, it is not a thriller but an action-drama, there is more shooting than massacre. 30 destroy, worthy of a separate review, Fan and his clones too.
uranium,
In the late 90s there were films that tried to copy Asian fight cinema: Lotus Kicks, The Judo Master and two parts of The Monk. If you have time, go through them.
DIV,
I watched this all a long time ago. We still need to get to them.
Kim In Ho is never an actor - he is an athlete. And what his films definitely lack is acting. He just walks from corner to corner with the same facial expression in each of the two films. The films themselves are not bad and were watched with wild interest in the early 90s.
Now this may be interesting only because of the presented theme of “brothers in the dashing 90s”, and as a rare type of Russian combat cinema that tried to emerge, but was never born.
PS. But Livanov is good in “Vinta”!
DIV,
For category B action films, Ho normally plays the role of a Zen master who doesn't give a damn, and the rest of the actors also try to match. After all, we are not in the theater and we are not watching a blockbuster, it is clear that compared to the rest of the actors, Kim is not finishing the performance. Although Ken Kensei from Blood Moon as the kendo master is a little more memorable, although the role is the same.
uranium,
Kensai has a cameo role. By the way, Kensai is also an athlete and he played the role of an athlete. Kim's role in "Screw" is not of a master, but of a retired soldier who got into trouble. And if for “Master of the East” zen indifference worked (although even there there were not enough feelings when his brother was killed), then in “Vinta” it was clearly necessary to play something different. It influences your interest in what is happening :)
DIV,
There is little of Kim himself, mostly his “friend” is shown. Kim is needed for action scenes. He also tried to act out Zen indifference, but in a different way. He didn't make a very good Afghan, I agree. But for a film like this, his performance will do. There are plenty of other actors there, Livanov is the same.
Kim In Ho resembles the actor Britton Key from “Iron Heart”, he also made few films and then disappeared from the screens for a long time.
Merey,
Hmm, maybe I'll take a look at that too.