Wu-Jing.org

-- Legend of the Swordsman --

In wuxia comedy Legend of the Swordsman (Legend of Blademaster), directed by Yuan Hong Bing, starring Shi Xiao Long, He Jie, Law Kar Ying, Leung Kar Yan, who also served as the action director, Li Yu and Qiu Lin, a villager enlists the help of three blademasters to help defend the village against a group of brigands. Legend of the Swordsman is scheduled for release this November.

 

The director Yuan Hong Bing thinks well of Shi Xiao Long, and intends to cast him in a pure wuxia film that he has been working on for two, three years, and hopes to invite Ching Siu Tung to be the choreographer.

 

Trailer: MTime

-- Legend of Blademaster --

Production on kungfu comedy 《刀客外传》 Legend of Blademaster (tentative), directed by Yuan Hong Bing, starring Shi Xiao Long, He Jie and Law Kar Ying, Leung Kar Yan, Gao Jun, has just begun in Yinchuan, Ningxia. Shi Xiao Long (who is more commonly known as Ashton Chen these days) is taking on the leading role as a braggart blademaster with lame skills, but boasts of his top-notch martial arts skills and even call himself Beggar Su. Legend of Blademaster is slated for release this October.

Shi Xiao Long says the he's having some pressure playing a blademaster, "In the past, the pugilists I play either fight with swords or barehanded, this is the first time I'm using a sabre, it's quite a challenge. When wielding a sword, I would be after the more sublime feel. As for broadsword, the movements would be broader, just like the open desert. And I'm also taking the opportunity to slim down under such hot weather and harsh conditions here."

In the film Legend of Blademaster, a village is often troubled by a group of bandits on horseback, and the villagers send the teacher Fan Jian (Law Kar Ying) to the city to hire swordsmen to protect the village, but unfortunately, due to insufficient funds, he gets snubbed everywhere, failing to hire any professional swordsman. By chance, he runs into a braggart Beggar Su (Shi Xiao Long), who somehow becomes Fan Jian's lifeline by a twist of fate. Beside the braggart are two other unreliable blademasters who are hired as well...

 

More images on Sohu

True Legend marks Yuen Wo Ping's first film as a director in a decade and also puts Zhao Wen Zhuo back on the map of the film industry, even if the film is not completely a success at box office.

 

Tracing the ups and downs of the life of Beggar Su, from his heydays, through his downfall, to his return and creation of Drunken Fist, there are plentiful exquisitely choreographed martial arts sequences that don't stint on length, as we've come to expect from maestro Yuen Wo Ping, most notable of which is the showdown between Zhao Wen Zhuo and Andy On.

 

The film also stars Zhou Xun, Jiang Lu Xia, Guo Xiao Dong plus cameos by Michelle Yeoh, Leung Kar Yan, Gordon Liu, David Carradine, Yan Ni, Feng Xiao Gang, etc.

Order True Legend DVD from YesAsia | HK Flix

-- True Legend --

Images of Zhao Wen Zhuo, Zhou Xun, Leung Kar Yan (as Beggar Su's father), Jiang Lu Xia, Andy On in True Legend from Sina

 

 

-- On His Majesty's Secret Service --

Trailer for On His Majesty's Secret Service is now up on MTime.

The zany comedy directed by Wong Jing stars Louis Koo, Big S Barbie Hsu, Fan Siu Wong, Leung Kar Yan, Liu Yi Wei, Sandra Ng, Law Kar Ying, Chen Jia Jia, Sang Wei Lin, etc.

To play the ambitious eunuch who has been hiding his true abilities all the time and is planning to overthrow the throne, Fan Siu Wong has to act effeminate and also study other films like New Dragon Inn. And here's a video of him on the set he posted to his blog.

Having finished filming Plum Blossom Heroes TV series, Fan Siu Wong met up with Wilson Yip to discuss Yip Man 2. In order to look for his granny, his character Jin Shan Zhao heads for Hong Kong, and he and Yip Man would...

As shown in the trailer, imperial guard Louis Koo, despite being a poor fighter, would be using his cranky contraptions to stop the martial arts exponent Fan Siu Wong, often with surprising results.
 

Barbie Hsu, who was recently voted PETA's Sexiest Asian Vegetarian Woman for 2009, plays a swordswoman engaged to Louis Koo. Many, many years ago, when her dog fell sick and nearly died, Barbie Hsu switched to vegetarian diet to pray for its recovery, and has never looked back since then, “I think we should respect the life of all species, a dog, a person. Lives are equal, eating meat is like eating corpses to me, and it makes me feel sick and sad.”

On His Majesty's Secret Service opens in China and Hong Kong on August 6, 2009.

-- On His Majesty's Secret Service --

Production for Wong Jing's period comedy On His Majesty's Secret Service (Forbidden City Cop: Smart Doggie), starring Louis Koo, Barbie Hsu, Fan Siu Wong, Liu Yi Wei, Sandra Ng, Leung Kar Yan, Lam Tse Chong, Sang Wei Lin, Chen Jia Jia, Zheng Yi Tong etc., has just wrapped up. On His Majesty's Secret Service will be out on either July 30 or August 6, with sequels being planned if successful.

Inevitably, comparisons are being drawn to Forbidden City Cop with Stephen Chow. Wong Jing, who wrote the scripts for both, says that the two are completely different, "In the older version, Stephen Chow is a self-assured inventor, but in this one, Louis Koo is one with low self-esteem, and is not confident about his inventions. And we have a Chinese kind of humour here."   Sina
 

   

Continue reading "On His Majesty's Secret Service Wraps"

-- Forbidden City Cop: Smart Dog --

Some Forbidden City Cop pics of Barbie Hsu, Fan Siu Wong, Leung Kar Yan, Yuen Kin Tan from Sina:

 

 -- Blood Relations --
《血缘》 Blood Relations (tentative), an action-packed martial arts film directed by Leung Kar Yan, has just begun production recently in Xi-an and is expected to take three months to shoot. The film reunites Leung Kar Yan with Gordon Liu. It also stars Leung Kar Yan's son Leung Ho Yee, Yin Dan Dan, Wu Tian Ze. Continue reading "Action Star Leung Kar Yan Directs Blood Relations"

-- Forbidden City Cop: Smart Dog --
In Forbidden City Cop: Smart Dog, Louis Koo's character, Imperial Guard "Dog", will be somewhat similar to Stephen Chow in the original, where he's more into cranky inventions than martial arts and believes that technology will overcome latter. However, his outlandish contraptions never seem to work and he's often snided by the other Imperial Guards. Continue reading "Quick Look at the Various Roles In Forbidden City Cop: Smart Dog"

Legend of Shaolin Kungfu II: Thirteen Cudgel Monks has just been released on DVD. Thirteen Cudgel Monks is the 2nd of the highly successful epic martial arts trilogy, each with its own unique and independent story, that revolves around Shaolin Temple. Apart from a gripping script, director Du Xiao ensures that the martial arts sequences are as authentic and exhilarating as possible by casting genuine martial artists and employing top-notch martial arts choreographers, with Yuen Bun lending his expertise this time around.

 

Thirteen Cudgel Monks has just been aired in a few Chinese provinces to top viewership ratings while the third part 18 Arhats is expected to begin production in the near future.

 

Yuen Biao joins the original cast that include Li Yuan, Xie Miao, Ye Jian Wei, Sun Hui Ning, Ji Chun Hua, Wu Ma, etc., playing the head monk Tan Zong that is instrumental in assembling, training and leading 12 other warrior monks in rescuing the Tang Prince Li Shimin and aiding him in a war against the tyrannical warlord Wang Shi Chong played by Beardy Leung Kar Yan. Xu Xiang Dong also has a part in the series as an inscrutable martial arts exponent. Order at YesAsia.

-- Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2: 13 Cudgel Monks --

On 9 July, Legend of Shaolin Kungfu director Du Xiao, joined by cast members Bao Guo An, Ji Chun Hua, Xie Miao, Sun Hui Ning, attended a chat organised by Sina, whereby they shared their experiences on the set of the 40-part TV series.

 

A 12-minute trailer to the upcoming Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2, starring Yuen Biao, Li Yuan, Xie Miao, Leung Kar Yan, Ji Chun Hua, Xu Xiang Dong, Sun Hui Ning, Wu Ma, etc. was also shown then and may now be viewed on Sina.

 

Based on the trailer, which is interspersed with excerpts from the original from 8th minute onwards, Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2 looks to be of bigger scale and even more epic. However, being an unfinished product, it's too early to tell if the martial arts scenes would live up to expectations of the original.
 

Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2 is currently in post-production with a targeted release by early 2009.

-- Legend of Shaolin Kungfu II: Thirteen Cudgel Monks --
Jimmy Lin plays a supporting role as Prince Li Shimin in Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2, one who puts the welfare of the populace above everything else. In actual life, Jimmy Lin has been involved in many charity activities.

孙卉凝 Sun Hui Ning, who plays the leading lady Wang Yu Feng, the daughter of Wang Shi Chong (Leung Kar Yan). She's Wang Shi Chong's only child. Beautiful, cold, aloof, intractable. Many years back, Wang Shi Chong sacrificed his wife in order to save his own skin. This has an ill-effect on Wang Yu Feng, resulting in her lack of trust in men.

 

To make up for his guilt, Wang Shichong especially dotes on her, so, she grows up becoming very wilful, bold and impudent, fears nothing, and does whatever she wants. The only person she trusts and loves single-heartedly is her childhood playmate Zhang Tian Bao (Xie Miao), who, once, saved her from a freezer room at his own expense. However, she's torn between kinship and love as her father is responsible for the deaths of Zhang Tian Bao's entire family.

Sun Huining is a devout Buddhist in real life. Studying Buddhist sutras is perhaps her only hobby, for she can learn many meaningful things and also it has a calming effect. As a vegetarian, she says, "It takes ages before a life is born, why kill for one's own selfish desires? Imagine if you were the animal being killed for food... Let's start a vegetarian diet." Jimmy Lin concurs, "The lives of animals must be respected. We must show love towards the little animals, we should respect life, and treasure resources."

The United Nations reports have stated livestock are top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems. Raising animals for food is a primary cause of land degradation, air pollution, water shortage, water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and not least of all, global warming.

Both of them echo similar sentiments on environmental issues, saying that we must do our best to protect the planet. At the behest of Sun Hui Ning to reflect his thinking on environmental care, Jimmy Lin writes, "Love and care for the environment, do it from the heart" and adds that we must not neglect the minor things around us, for every little things that you do count towards helping the planet, this is the responsibility of everyone. 

Sina