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In The Legend is Born: Ip Man, directed by Herman Yau, the legendary Sammo Hung returns along with action star Fan Siu Wong and To Yu Hang, the youngest martial arts world champion Hong Kong has ever produced. Playing minor parts in the original films, To Yu Hang is asked to take over as the young Ip Man here. Yuen Biao, Huang Yi, Bernice Liu, Rose Chan, Xu Jiao, and Lam Suet are among the new cast members, but the film's most surprising performance probably belongs to the 86-year-old screen novice Yip Chun, the real-life Yip Man's son who curiously plays the master of his father.

 

In his childhood, Yip Man was initiated into Wing Chun under the tutelage of Master Chan Wah Shun (Sammo Hung). After Chan's death, Yip Man follows senior schoolmate Ng Chung So (Yuen Biao) as his new mentor alongside his brother Ip Tin Chi (Fan Siu Wong) and good friend Lee Mei Wai (Rose Chan). Later, the teenage Ip Man (To Yu Hang) opts to leave Foshan to pursue education in Hong Kong, where he meets his third teacher Leung Bik (Yip Chun), a master of an unorthodox school of Wing Chun. When he comes back to Foshan, Ip Man falls in love with the mayor's daughter, his future wife Cheung Wing Shing (Huang Yi). Meanwhile, Ip Man is confronted by Ng Chung So and faced with the dilemma of whether to follow through with his training under Leung Bik. And, unbeknownst to everyone, Tin Chi seems to harbor a secret that threatens to put the whole nation in jeopardy...

 

Order from YesAsia: Ip Man - The Legend is Born Blu-ray | DVD

Ip Man 2, the highest grossing Chinese film so far in China this year at slightly over 200m yuan, will be available on home video on June 25, 2010. Directed by Wilson Yip, action choreographed by Sammo Hung, and starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Shi Xiao Long, Fan Siu Wong, Huang Xiao Ming, Darren Shahlavi, Lunn Hung, Kent Cheng, etc., the sequel, which is more martial arts oriented, sees Donnie Yen against with Sammo Hung in some of the most exciting martial arts sequences in the recent years.

 

After defending himself against the Japanese army in the first film, Ip Man (Donnie Yen) goes with his family to start anew in Hong Kong. He starts a small martial arts school, recruiting the young and brash Wong Leung (Huang Xiao Ming) as his student. However, Ip finds out the hard way that the Hong Kong martial arts world is controlled by a group of martial arts masters, led by the powerful Master Hung (Sammo Hung). To survive in Hong Kong, Ip not only needs to gain acceptance from the masters, but also from the corrupted British-run police force and an arrogant British boxer (Darren Shahlavi).

 

Blu-ray and 2-disc DVD Editions come with:
● Making Of
● Cast and Crew Interviews
● Deleted Scenes
● Featurette on Four Major Scenes
● Shooting Diary
● Gala Premiere
● Photo Gallery
● Trailers

 

Order from YesAsia: Ip Man 2 Blu-ray | DVD - Standard Edition / Special Edition

-- The Monkey King --
With the box office success of Donnie Yen's films in the past 2 years, such as the most recent Ip Man 2 which has just passed the 200m yuan mark in China, not only Donnie Yen, who is currently filming The Lost Bladesman (Guan Yun Chang) and just finished a fight scene with Andy On, is highly sought after by filmmakers and investors alike, but he's also getting a big, fat pay cheque.

Filmko CEO Alex Wong announces that Donnie Yen would be playing the eponymous character Sun Wu Kong in The Monkey King, budgeted at 300m yuan and shot in 3D IMAX. Alex Wong, who would not reveal the actual pay Donnie Yen is getting, says, "Donnie Yen is certainly worthy of the salary of 20m yuan that he commands, he is such a huge box office draw."

This has been confirmed by Donnie Yen's manager, "The role of the Monkey King is a big challenge to Donnie Yen, and something worth trying out, and Donnie Yen is very confident in handling the role well."

Presently only Monkey King Sun Wu Kong is confirmed. 12 other main characters remain to be filled up, including Bull Demon King, Princess Iron Fan, Jade Emperor, Ancient Ancestor Bodhi, Erlang Shen, Nezha, etc. Apparently, Chow Yun Fatt and Louis Koo would also be onboard.

Building the fantasy sets is a costly affair, with around 50m yuan being allocated. The Water Curtain Cave and Mountain of Fruits & Flowers will be shot on location in Zhang Jia Jie, Hunan. Production begins in November, with a proposed release in Feb 2012. Following that, Donnie Yen would be teaming up with Tony Jaa in a co-production with Thailand in 2011.  Sina, HK Headline

Heard that you hurt yourself when filming but still insisted on carrying on? Was it very serious?

Sammo Hung: Yes, I still kept on filming after being injured. You could say it was serious, you could also say it's not serious, did not matter. Darren Shahlavi dared not hit me initially. But I compelled him to strike, but he was still holding back, so the outcome wasn't very good and we kept doing retakes.

 

Continue reading "Sammo Hung Interview on Ip Man 2's Martial Arts Sequences"

At Ip Man 2 press conference on March 23, 2010, Donnie Yen boldly declares, "While there are a handful of Yip Man projects out there, this is the one and only film everyone has actually seen. So, from my standpoint, there is only one Ip Man film - the one I acted in. Yip Man is an otaku who fights very well, the movie's success has nothing to do with Wing Chun (Spring).

Continue reading "Spreading His Fame Across the Galaxy, Ip Man Fends Off Aliens in Third Instalment?"

-- Ip Man 2 --

More awesome goodness between Sammo Hung and Donnie Yen that director Wilson Yip declares as another martial arts classic:

 

Continue reading "Ip Man 2 Trailer"

-- Ip Man 2 --
Wilson Yip, who reveals that Ip Man 2's martial arts scenes are the results of Sammo Hung's painstaking effort, describes the duel between Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung as his most unforgettable scene in the film, "Big Brother Sammo Hung's choreography is truly outstanding, I love it very much. And it's not just fighting, for there is a little drama there as well. Sammo Hung, who can't wait to step onto the arena, is asked by Donnie Yen just before the duel if it's more important to determine the winner or having a meal with family?"

Wilson Yip indicates that in order to highlight the characteristics of Wing Chun in this challenge,  whereby Donnie Yen has to win three duels consecutively on the table within the burning time of a joss stick, Sammo Hung specially picked Monkey Fist and Eight Trigram Palm, to compete against Wing Chun, before Sammo Hung himself takes on Donnie Yen using Hung Gar.

 

Lo Meng would employ Monkey Fist's agile moves and leaps to test the waters of Wing Chun's attacks and feigns, while Fung Hak On, using Eight Trigram Palm's seemingly slow but fast movements, circles and clings around the opponent, striking at the most opportune moment. As the other two masters step down, Sammo Hung, the fastest fatty fighter, makes use of Hung Gar's powerful and aggressive moves to counter Wing Chun chain punch, fighting fire with fire.

 

Under such exquisite choreography, the counters between the various forms of martial arts and Wing Chun allow the audience to get a better appreciation of the finer points of wushu. To make it more challenging and precarious, and for heightened visuals as well as adding a touch of wushu vibrancy, Sammo Hung chose a confined space - the top of a 20-seat round table - to be their arena.

 

To sum up, Wilson Yip says that what Ip Man displays through the fights is a kind of forbearance, "武 (Wu) is made up of 止 (cessation) and 戈 (dagger-axe). The spirit of Chinese wushu is to stop fighting, rather than picking up a fight. The pursuit of the highest realm of wushu is not merely about winning or losing. That Ip Man gaining an edge over his opponent is not because of his desire to determine the winner, nor to defeat yet another opponent, it's not about physical victory, but rather it's on another level - winning without waging war."

 

2nd teaser trailer: Youku

Ip Man 2's release has been brought forward to April 29, 2010. While there were sayings that it was to avoid the World Cup fever that might affect box office, it has been denied by the production.

 

On the other hand, release date for The Legend is Born: Ip Man is being pushed back to end of June. Yip Chun says, "No matter how well-received Ip Man was, there were areas that could have been better. For example, the film was obviously set in Foshan, yet it was not shot on location on the actual place. Neither was the mansion like the original. Hence, we have The Legend is Born: Ip Man shot in Foshan, showing Foshan as it is meant to be."

With a recent flood of Ip Man films on the market, Donnie Yen, who gives himself 120 marks for his performance in Ip Man 2 compared 90 marks for the first, has made up his mind, "After Ip Man 2, I would never ever touch any films related to Ip Man. This will be my final film on the subject. Whenever something becomes a success, everyone would jump on the bandwagon, this is very frightening. Did you know how many Ip Man films are in production? Under such condition, we would not progress, it'd only lead to over-saturation of the subject matter."  Guangzhou Daily, Sina

 

Below is Ip Man 2 shooting diary, which shows a bit of Donnie Yen's duel with Sammo Hung towards the end.

Continue reading "Donnie Yen Has Had Enough of Ip Man"

-- Ip Man 2 --

Lots of Ip Man 2 images of Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Fan Siu Wong, Kent Cheng, Darren Shahlavi, To Yu Hang, Jiang Dai Yan, etc. have recently been published on Flickr by its Australian film distributor Dream Movie.

 

Continue reading "Ip Man 2 Stills and Teaser"

-- The Legend is Born - Ip Man --

The Legend is Born: Ip Man trailer, with really awesome intricate, blazingly-quick Wing Chun exchanges between Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, To Yu Hang, Fan Siu Wong and Ip Chun, courtesy of action director Leung Siu Hung, has just been posted to Youtube. And it appears that martial arts philosophy plays quite a big part in the film, based on the conversations in the film.

 

The production recently celebrated the completion of the film, attended by the main cast To Yu Hang, Yuen Biao, Huang Yi, Bernice Liu, Rose Chan, Xu Jiao, Lam Suet and Ma Sai, as well as Gold Typhoon's Paco Wong.

Continue reading "A Trailer Showing How The Legend is Born: Ip Man"

What makes Green Dragon in 14 Blades different?
Donnie Yen: The character Green Dragon is something I've never tried before, for this person is neither good nor evil. I have done two similar roles before, one was Once Upon a Time in China, but it wasn't fully fleshed out. Initially, I didn't have confidence to bring out something fresh in this character, but director Daniel Lee told me to approach it from a villainous angle, then I started getting a hang of it. Personally, I'm completely different from Green Dragon, so I find this character very novel, for it's the exact opposite of my real life.

Continue reading "Donnie Yen 14 Blades Interview: Looking Forward to Working with Tony Jaa"

It had long been the wish of Sin Kwok Lam, a longtime martial arts practitioner and shrewd businessman and capitalist who is a major player in Hong Kong financial sector and has even published a controversial book on big corporations swallowing up small firms last year, to bring the account of his grandmaster Yip Man to screen, but he couldn't find any filmmakers willing enough to take the risk as Yip Man was little known. Continue reading "And thus, Ip Man, The Legend, is Born"