#81: The Mighty Peking Man

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On today’s episode of the Blade Licking Thieves, we talk about our hopes for the recently announced continuation of the Berserk manga (sans its creator) and the potential pitfalls facing the creative team; discuss the long awaited and finally realized North American Macross licensing deal; briefly touch on the recent anime series I’m Quitting Heroing; and, finally, we review Shaw Brother Studio’s 1977 King Kong rip-off and certified so bad it’s good cult classic: The Mighty Peking Man.

Timestamps:

• [00:00] Intro, Berserk, Macross, I’m Quitting Heroing
• [39:25] The Mighty Peking Man Review
• [1:46:50] Twitter Questions

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!

#70: The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

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We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming this evening to bring you a scream filled night of ghouls, ghosts, vampires, and kung fu. *Record Scratch* You heard me! On tonight’s Blade Licking Thieves spooktacular we’re watching the 1974 Hammer Films and Shaw Brothers co-production, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, in which Hammer Films regular, Peter Cushing (a.k.a. Grand Moff Tarkin), reprising his role as the legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing, teams up with Hong Kong martial art superstar David Chiang (and a host of other Shaw Brothers talent of the 70s) to wage battle against Count Dracula and the Seven Golden Vampires of China in this one of a kind East meets West genre mashup.

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!

#35: One-Armed Swordsman

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Our Shaw Brothers training regimen continues with the bloody saga of Fang Cheng aka the One-Armed Swordsman (1967), a seminal work of wuxia film-making from prolific director Chang Cheh.

Timestamps:

• What We’ve Been Watching (00:00)
• Listener Mail (39:12)
• News (49:53)
• Review (1:08:35)
• Three Minute Rule (2:13:01)

Links:

• Episode 31: Come Drink with Me
• Episode 24: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• Episode 11: 36th Chamber of Shaolin

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!

#31: Come Drink with Me

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Review (38:30):

Although, taken for granted today, King Hu’s Come Drink with Me (1966) set the wuxia genre on a completely new footing.  By turning away from trained martial artists and instead hiring performers from the Beijing Opera school, such as the film’s magnificent female lead Chang Pei Pei, he began the process of transforming the type of action that defined these films away from the world of rigid, practical martial arts towards the more artful, flowing, and graceful form of combative dance that feature so strongly today.  Tune in for our full review of this Shaw Brothers classic that directly inspired Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon!

Links:

• We reviewed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on episode 24.
• And we reviewed another Shaw Brothers classic, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin way back on episode 11.

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!

#11: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

Download Link – Episode 11: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

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Sorry about the poor audio quality.  We had to record part of this episode over Skype.

What We’ve Been Watching (00:00) :

News (24:47)

Review (38:24):

On today’s episode, Grant has us watch the 1978 Shaw Brothers, kung fu classic:  The 36th Chamber of Shaolin by director and fight choreographer Lau Kar-Leung.  The film stars a young Gordon Liu as the iconic San Te, a schoolboy turned Shaolin master in a role that would make the actor famous.  This classic of the genre, which went on to inspire — along with a host of other Shaw Brothers films from the era — everyone from Quentin Tarantino to the Wu-Tang Clan, features a tale of revenge, one of the longest training sequences ever filmed, mystical Buddhist powers, swordplay, pole fighting, three pronged staff fighting, Chinese fisticuffs of every kind, and — oh yes — perhaps the most memorable headbutt ever captured on celluloid!

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!