masterly master lee

a home for forgotten and famous korean pulp, its heroes, its heroines, and its pulpeteers

Archive for japan

American Ninja The Magnificent 아라한 1986/1988 review

khsMaster Lee is pissed off. He really is. He just went into a well-known thugs den to pick a fight (well, not just one to be honest), beat a few thugs up, get rid of some frustration and cool down a bit. He was anticipating spending an evening at home, working out, felling some trees with his bare hands and watching a new DVD he just received: American Ninja The Magnificent. Read the rest of this entry »

Private Eye 그림자살인 2009 review

private eyeWhat is it about Korean soundtracks that makes them instantly recognizable? Is the ever-present accordion? The dramatic yet light-footed rhythm of the intro (think dancing bears), the canned strings? The Master isn’t sure (which as you know doesn’t happen very often), Read the rest of this entry »

Kill The Shogun 무장해제 1975 review

1killtheshogunzu0In 1592, the Japanese shogun Hideyoshi failed in his attempt to invade Korea (and later, China through Korea). This Hong Kong kung-fu thriller is loosely based on that historical incident. Since the real Hideyoshi is not an issue, and kung-fu is the star of the movie anyway, historical narration does not overpower the action. Basically, the movie shows the Koreans fighting the Japanese against all odds Read the rest of this entry »

Once Upon A Time 원스 어폰 어타임 2008 review

Movies about the colonial period in Korea are getting more and more popular. And they are looking real good as well. Master Lee was impressed with the production values of these movies: Radio Days, Epitaph and the movie he saw just now, Once Upon A Time.

The best way to describe Once Upon A Time 원스 어폰 어타임 Read the rest of this entry »

The Resurrection Of The Butterfly 그림자 2007 review

It’s been a while, but Master Lee is finally back from his secret assignment about which he cannot say a word to you. He suffered a lot lately and he is tired beyond imagination. So what’s better than a great sword movie about bad Japanese samurai and good Korean women? Yup, that’s exactly what Master Lee thought as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Hapkido 合氣道 aka Lady Kung Fu 女活殺拳 1972 review

hapkido2.jpgHere comes the unbreakable china doll to give you the kicking of your life! That is a fair description of this early Hong Kong/South Korean co-production made by Golden Harvest. Three Chinese students (Angela Mao as Yu Ying, Carter Wong as Kao Chang and Sammo Hung as Fan Wei) Read the rest of this entry »

Epitaph 기담 2007 review

epitaph.jpgThere is little argument that horror movies belong to the pulp genre. Nonetheless, here on Masterly Master Lee you’ll not find too many of them. Why? Because they’re BORING! At least, that is what Master Lee thinks. And pity the fool who’d argue with him. Read the rest of this entry »

Wrestling nostalgia

leewangpyo.jpgProfessional wrestling is seen as entertainment rather than a form of sport, but Master Lee says it may just be the purest form of sport there is. After all, sport is not just about winning; it is for the true sport aficionado as much or even more a question of how the game is played. The outcome comes second. Matches in pro wrestling are fixed. Without the outcome as a factor he can determine, the athlete puts everything he has in how he plays the game – or rather, how he fights the fight. As such, professional wrestling is a pure sport, Read the rest of this entry »

Run 2U 런투유 2003 review

run2u.jpgPretentious pulp is about as hard to stomach as pretentious art-house cinema. And this Japanese-Korean co-production is pretentious. Two Japanese-Korean best friends (a lethargic singer of love songs and a would-be yakuza) flee Japan Read the rest of this entry »

Anarchists 아나키스트 2000

anarchists1.jpgAs opposed to Korean- Japanese co-productions, Korean-Chinese productions usually work out. The first such co-production ever, Anarchists is a typical coming-of-age gangster movie, but with anarchists instead of gangsters. Set in 1920’s Shanghai it tells the story of a tightly knit group of übercool Korean anarchists who have joined countless other Koreans in exile in China. There they continue their struggle against the Japanese colonizers. And boy, do they do so in style! Read the rest of this entry »

Hanbando 한반도 2006

hanbando.jpgThe man who brought us the reasonably enjoyable cop flicks Two Cops 투캅스 I, II, III, the overly nationalist action drama Shilmido 실미도 and the action blockbuster Public Enemy 공곡의적 is back. This time Kang Woo-suk tells a story set in the not-too-distant future in which North and South Korea are planning to reopen the Kyungui Railway that once connected the southern tip of the peninsula with its northern top. But alas, in an act worthy of Emperor Ming the Merciless (and about as plausible), Japan throws a spanner in the works Read the rest of this entry »

The Last Fist Of Fury 最後의 精武門 1977

lastfist.jpgHere is a treat. An authentic Dragon Lee movie! Starring Dragon Lee 巨龍 거룡, whose Bruce Lee impersonation is so perfect it borders on the surreal. Bruceploitation at its best, it is hard to tell that this was originally a Korean movie. The original version is lost, Read the rest of this entry »

The Korean Connection 1977

koreanconnection.jpgI think this is a nice movie. I guess, because it seems to have been made up from left-overs from other movies. This is the story how it is supposed to be: “Korean martial arts star Yong Chul stars as “Tiger”, a loner fighter with a deadly kick! Read the rest of this entry »

Seoul 72 Hours 서울 2001

seoul.jpgKorean-Japanese co-productions have a tendency to produce unfortunate results. Seoul 72 Hours 서울 is a cop flick about a young and ambitious Japanese detective (played by singer Nagase Tomoya 長瀬 智也) who coincidentally gets on the trail of an international gang of terrorists. He is placed under the command of tough guy and charisma canon Choi Min-su, Read the rest of this entry »

Haan! 한길수 2005

HaanHaan. It’s Dutch for rooster or cock. It’s also the slightly unfortunate English title for the Korean version of Pearl Harbour: Han Kilsu 한길수. Based on honest-to-god true facts, this is the story of Han Kilsu, a Korean expatriot in 1940 in Hawai’i. As Korea had been colonized by Japan, Read the rest of this entry »