Kung Fu Hustle
2005 ‘Gong Fu’ Directed by Stephen Chow
Synopsis
From walking disaster to kung fu master.
In Shanghai, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious "Axe Gang" while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
Cast
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No more soccer!
-SingI had the misfortune of not having a single good movie in the last 8 films I watched so I needed palate cleanser. Something guaranteed to bring me viewing pleasure and bring me joy for roughly 2 hours. Enter Kung Fu Hustle.
What other film can you watch that will spoof a Road Runner cartoon and pay homage to Way of the Dragon moments later? The same film that will have two characters in a death scene quote lines from Spider-Man, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind and The Untouchables all in the same exchange. It's like a pop culture martial arts party.
If that sounds a little crazy, then you get a good idea about what kind of martial arts is in the film as well. It crosses the line of reality and doesn't care. It's all the better for it.
I'm just happy from beginning to end when I watch this.
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This was one of my favorite films growing up. I would watch it on repeat when I got a DVD copy of it at age 15 or 16. In a rare case of nostalgia goggles not failing me, I was happy to find it still held up to my memories of it.
Kung Fu Hustle never takes itself too seriously. One of my biggest fears watching this again for the first time in 5 years or so would be that the humor would be lost on an older me. My fears were quickly done away with though right from the beginning, as I found myself laughing just as hard with each passing comedic scene as I did when I first…
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Inventive, funny, and highly entertaining. Kung Fu Hustle is a martial arts movie with a twist. It’s packed with laughs and ludicrous action sequences, it is none stop eye candy. If you like both Comedy and Martial Arts genres then this is perfect but it’s also wholly accessible for all film tastes and deserves a watch by everyone. You may know director Stephen Chow from the also successful Shaolin Soccer, which was pretty good but far short of the greatness of Kung Fu Hustle. This is his crowning achievement. If you fancy an action packed, CGI laden romp with hilarious perfectly timed comedy - then give this a whirl.
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Kung Fu Hustle is like a martial arts movie as imagined by Frank Tashlin: a dizzying genre mash-up turned live-action cartoon that slings everything at the wall, from Tommy Guns to spoofery to sparring matches, and comes up smelling of bonkers.
The story, if you can call it that, sees a slick urban gang of be-hatted, machine-gun sporting hoods trying to crush a poor rural district under its heel. Unfortunately for them, there are an improbable number of retired kung fu warriors working in a single village square. As the mobsters get their arses handed to them, reformed good guy (writer-director Stephen Chow) attempts to ingratiate himself with the gang, spurning the advances of the mute girl he once tried…
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Absolutely awesome. A slick and vicious gang of Chinese Al Capones with axes take on a slum housing block when their wannabe apprentice (Stephen Chow, looking rather pretty here) gets in a mess after threatening the resident barber. But many of the inhabitants are kung-fu masters in unusual guises - including a tailor of wrist-flapping, fan-toting campness and the strident, be-rollered Norah Batty landlady - so the gangsters get their asses comprehensively kicked in a series of beautiful set-piece fight scenes.
Then, in traditional kung-fu movie style, it's time to call in the legendary big guns and reference numerous made-up schools and styles. Along the way we get references to Spiderman, The Matrix, almost every martial arts movie I've seen…
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"You may know kung fu... but you're still a fairy."
-Landlady (Qui Yuen)This is an interesting one for me. I wouldn’t necessarily say I liked it that much, at least not as much as i thought i would. Certainly from a critical perspective, there is plenty to be admired, and as such, I will try to review this accordingly on its aesthetical merits. Those familiar with director Stephen Chow’s earlier works will recognise that much of the zany, over-the-top martial arts and whacky comedy are also present in Kung Fu Hustle. The film follows a wannabe gangster in 1940’s Shanghai, who aspires to join the notorious ‘Axe Gang’. This is of course fleshed out in that marvellously exaggerated traditional…
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Kung-Fu Hustle is the hippest, swankiest, strangest kung-fu film you'll likely see as it's constantly chucking references, kicks and punches at you with a zany and bizarrely hilarious humour. This is Stephen Chow's best work and it is relentless in it's action and humour, so if there's a particularly unfunny bit, he'll chuck more at you - you won't be disappointed for long.
Kung Fu Hustle features one of my favourite comedic moments in all films and is a really fun hour and a half. Don't expect anything profoundly complex or dramatically superb, this is just unapologetic fun.
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I could watch this movie a billion times.
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OK. But Stephen Chow don't make really good movies anymore. :(
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Inventive, funny, and highly entertaining. Kung Fu Hustle is a martial arts movie with a twist. It’s packed with laughs and ludicrous action sequences, it is none stop eye candy. If you like both Comedy and Martial Arts genres then this is perfect but it’s also wholly accessible for all film tastes and deserves a watch by everyone. You may know director Stephen Chow from the also successful Shaolin Soccer, which was pretty good but far short of the greatness of Kung Fu Hustle. This is his crowning achievement. If you fancy an action packed, CGI laden romp with hilarious perfectly timed comedy - then give this a whirl.
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My favorite movie. I recommend going into this one knowing as little about it as possible. Don't even pay attention to the artwork or menus. The first viewing of KUNG FU HUSTLE yields some serious shock factor and humor. This movie just exudes style: amazingly choreographed fight scenes, ultrahip swinging gangsters, hysterical slapstick, and a mesmerizing soundtrack.
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I love this movie so much. This viewing was also my son's very first kung fu movie :)
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Kung Fu Hustle is like a martial arts movie as imagined by Frank Tashlin: a dizzying genre mash-up turned live-action cartoon that slings everything at the wall, from Tommy Guns to spoofery to sparring matches, and comes up smelling of bonkers.
The story, if you can call it that, sees a slick urban gang of be-hatted, machine-gun sporting hoods trying to crush a poor rural district under its heel. Unfortunately for them, there are an improbable number of retired kung fu warriors working in a single village square. As the mobsters get their arses handed to them, reformed good guy (writer-director Stephen Chow) attempts to ingratiate himself with the gang, spurning the advances of the mute girl he once tried…
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This is unlike any Martial Arts film I have ever seen, and is probably on my list of top five Martial Arts films. Its basically a mix of black comedy, kung-Fu, Loony Tunes, and traditional Asian gore films. the film is also a bit off from other martial arts films, focusing mainly on the story line, and characters rather than the fighting. the sound effect choices of this film were also quite...uh...interesting. This film has one of Asian cinema's most memorable villains: Brother Sum- The "Axe gang" leader who is a fan of killing, and Broadway dance. The ending fighting sequence making fun of the multiple Mr. Smith clone fighting sequence in the "Matrix: Reloaded", was good fun, seeing that foreign film can be good at paying homage to cinema across seas-as well as parodying them. Though this film is incredibly unrealistic, and almost cartoonish, i really enjoy it, praising it for being both ambitious, and unexpected.
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I'd heard really good opinions of this film from various people, but didn't think it would blow me away the way it did. The film pays homage to a lot of films, not just kung-fu ones. I was probably most surprised by its plot, which is mainly goofy, but with a fairly serious side.