OK, I'm a noob to Chinese Martial Arts movies and Chinese Movies in general, but I have this question that's been itching in the back of my cerebellum(see title). Anyways, I've watched a few movies (Chinese) i.e. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (CTHD), Hero, House of Flying Daggers (HOFD), Kung Fu Hustle and the incredible 2003/2004 Tian Long Ba Bu/Demi Gods Semi Devils series(TLBB/DGSD), and I found the Kung-Fu in each to be quite remarkable, each on their own terms. CTHD was directed by Ang Lee I believe (correct me if I'm wrong, haven't seen it in years) and had some beautiful scenery and some impressive Chi Kung in the forest scenes. Hero, was a masterpiece, though the film was sadly a bit short, it showed great promise for producer Zhang Yi Mou (spelling...) and I eagerly awaited future works from him, because of the realistic fighting; there was a lot less use of Chi Kung, but nevertheless, it was good fighting a la Jet Li. HOFD really dissapointed me because of the abominable story line, it was like watching an adult film, meaning the acting was just lame. The Kung Fu was decent, though our heroes were often at the mercy of enemies, often helpless, not really a good representation of films about ancient China. Then, there's TLBB, the greatest series I have ever seen, the Lord Of The Rings of Chinese Culture. This series was, how should I put it, AMAZING, the story had intense plot lines and followed the original books by Jinyong almost to the word/character, the characters were intriguing and the Kung Fu/Chi Kung was just breathtaking, mind the few bugs and cheap computer animation. The entire series was choreographed to almost atomic perfection; watching Qiao Feng/Xiao Feng execute HL18Z (I believe it's when the dragon appears out of sand/water/leaves) to save Ah Zi is just one of the best moments. Tears almost dripped from my eyes when I watched it again...lol. (Did I mention that TLBB also had great music subthemes?) These uses of Chi Kung are rarely seen in Chinese Hollywoodian films, and this really impressed me. Anyways I have one last example of Chi Kung/ Kung Fu, in the movie Kung Fu Hustle feat. Stephen Chow. This movie is great, and it's funny, the time period seemed to be set in the 1920-1930's, and it has great uses of Chi Kung near the end i.e. the Buddhist Palm, and some great ***-kicking scenes similar to Uma Thurman in Kill Bill Volume 1 slaying the Crazy 88's, here it's Stephen Chow, kicking AXE gang ***.
Anyways, to conclude, I still believe TLBB had the greatest Kung Fu/Chi Kung combination I've seen to date. I just want to know if any of you guys know of any other movie/series with great Kung Fu/Chi Kung, and like me find that up to now, TLBB 2003 is dominating so far.
Thanks in advance.