University of Leicester Taekwon-Do Club

Films Page

Best Of The Best (1989)

Possibly *the* classic of its genre. Alex (played by Eric ‘Brother of Julia’ Roberts) is a fighter on the comeback from injury. Selected for ‘Team USA’ to fight in an exhibition match against Korea, lead by the evil Dae Han (played by Simon Rhee, a 7th degree TKD blackbelt), he has to cope with a demanding coach (James Earl Jones), bond with his teammates, and still find time to deal with his son’s injury in a car accident. It’s a bit cheesy and American in places, and everything in the film is called Karate, even when it’s blatently Taekwon-Do, but the fight scenes are great, and there’s even a tie settled by destruction of roofing tiles, which you don’t see everyday.
The film was written and produced by Philip Rhee, a 6th degree blackbelt, who also appears as Tommy, the star fighter of Team USA, whose brother just happened to have been killed by Dae Han in an earlier tournament, which made him drop his ice cream (see - told you he was evil!). I won’t spoil it by telling you who wins, but by the end everyone is friends and has developed a high level of respect for everyone else, thus demonstrating the redemptive power of battering each other senseless within an organised martial arts setting.
Also features Grandmaster Hee Il Cho (9th degree black belt) as the Korean coach.

Ong-Bak (2003)

Evil dudes have stolen the head from the village’s Buddha statue. Without it, the village is doomed, as it is a focal point of a ceremony (to be held in two weeks time) required to bring rain, and ensure prosperity. Ting (Tony Jaa), a young man abandoned on the temple steps and raised by monks, volunteers to go fetch it back. Equipped only with a handful of spare change, a small roll of suspiciously herbal looking local produce, and some serious training in Muay Thai, he heads to Bangkok to enlist the help of Humlae (Petchtai Wongkamlao, one of Thailand’s most famous comedians), who has also left the village for the big city. However, Humlae has fully embraced city life by getting into drug dealing and owing lots of money to gangsters, and sees Ting and his fighting skills as a way to make enough money to pay off his debts. Much mayhem ensues as Ting fills the role of lost country boy, with little help from Humlae and slightly more from his partner Muay (Pumwaree Yodkamol).
The plot is basically a set up for a number of dramatic and impressive fight scenes, and one gratuitous chase scene through a market designed to show off (literally) the star’s aerial talents. And why not. Filmed entirely without wires or CGI, and involving some of the most inventive and impressive (and often brutal) uses of knees and elbows ever depicted on film, this puts a lot of other modern fighty films to shame. On the way to recovering the head, Ting foils the evil antique-smuggling ganglord; defeats several nasty fighters with scary names such as Pearl Harbour, Mad Dog, and the (ill-advisedly poodle-haired) Big Bear; and redeems Humlae into a useful and productive member of society (briefly).

Siu Lam Juk Kau (2001)

AKA Shaolin Soccer. A shaolin disciple, eager to encourage and promote his art, teams up with a disgraced ex-footballer to form a football team to compete in a big tournament and demonstrate their prowess. Although lacking in football skills, they more than make up for it with a number of interesting and useful kung fu techniques, as they face a host of other teams and fight their way (literally, in places) to the final against Team Evil. This film features dramatic special effects and CGI, and a number of outrageously over the top scenes either parodying or paying tribute to (possibly depending on your point of view) both recent Hollywood films and the whole kung fu genre in general. This was also the highest grossing film in Hong Kong cinema history, until Chow’s 2004 Kung Fu Hustle.

Kung Fu (1972)

The first of its kind, and inspiration to many that came after (including a reference by Samuel L Jackson’s character in Pulp Fiction), Kung Fu is the story of a dispossessed shaolin monk, Kwai Chang Caine (played by David Carradine), forced to flee China after avenging his master’s death at the hands of the Emperor’s nephew. Arriving in America to search for his half-brother, he walks the earth, righting wrongs, protecting the weak, aiding the innocent, and preventing injustices. And kicking some serious ass when required.
Of particular interest is Master Kan, one of Caine’s mentors, who was played by Philip Ahn - the son of Ahn Chang-ho who is also known by his pseudonym of Do-San. According to popular rumour, Bruce Lee was originally pencilled in to play Caine, but Carradine got the role as he was a better dancer.