Goro's Asian Movies and Stuff Blog

SHA PO LANG Japan's Premiere article translated (LINK) (HK)

Japan's Premiere magazine had a nice little article on the upcoming modern-day martial arts movie SHA PO LANG.  DonnieYen.us has a link to a translation of that article.  It mentions Sammo, some of the fighting techniques used, the "old school" techniques they use (as opposed to CG).  It would have been nicer if it were longer as they touch upon basically everything that I'm interested in; they just don't delve into it.  Still worth a read.

SHA PO LANG title explained (HK)

SHA PO LANG's Chinese characters represents three stars in Chinese astrology: Killing, Obliteration and Avarice.  And here's a more detailed explanation from a forum discussion at Wu-Jing.org:

The Chinese title Sha Po Lang should probably denote Qi Sha (Seven Kills), Po Jun (Destructive General) and Tan Lang (Greedy Wolf) stars, which are closely knitted with each other, in Chinese astrology. Each of these three stars correlates closely with a certain person's destiny, usually tending towards inauspicious or negative. Tan Lang is sunken in wine, women and song; Po Jun isolates himself from his own family or friends, or treats them as enemy; while Qi Sha is over tenacious, disregards death and rushes headlong into dangers without batting an eyelid.

The forum discussion is a really good one, filled with lots of knowledgeable people and lots of good information, so head over there and check it out.

SHA PO LANG at Cannes 5/14-15 (HK)

From Wu-Jing.org, SHA PO LANG, the new crime action film starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, and Simon Yam is scheduled to be screen at Cannes on May 14 6P and May 15 2P.

Wu Jing interview re: SHA PO LANG (LINK) (HK)

Here's a nice interview with Wu Shu stylist Wu Jing regarding the upcoming SHA PO LANG movie.  It's yet some more stuff to get you excited about the movie.  Damn, I really can't wait for this to come out.

People who bemoan the death of Hong Kong action films haven't seen SHA PO LANG. Directed by Wilson Yip and starring Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen, Simon Yam and Wu Jing it's a pitch black cop drama that unfolds over Father's Day night and it contains the best action seen in a Hong Kong movie in years. It's deadly serious and lightning fast.

Sammo Hung plays the main bad guy and his right-hand man is played by Wu Jing. Who?  Wu Jing is a Mainland Chinese martial artist who comes from the same team (and coach) as Jet Li, and who started out in Yuen Wo-ping's TAI CHI 2. He's appeared in Tsui Hark's LEGEND OF ZU (the bald guy), and several other movies but he's never had a chance to shine the way he does in SHA PO LANG. He took the time to give us a quick interview about his work on the film.

Here's the link to the full article at Kaiju Shakedown.

SHA PO LANG pix (LINK) (HK)

Donnie Yen network (DonnieYen.us) has a bunch of SHA PO LANG pictures up.  Wow.  Go check them out here. There are 30pictures in the gallery.

Here are a few I liked:

SHA PO LANG Trailer (HK)

SHA PO LANG starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, and Simon Yam now has a trailer up at DonnieYen.net.  Wow.  it looks amazing.

here's a realmedia link.
And here's the original forum site at DonnieYen.US.

SHA PO LANG info (HK)

Here's a nice article on the upcoming SHA PO LANG from Wu-Jing.org movie starring Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung.  Sounds like it has the potential to be really good.

Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen both had the same goal of making a movie that combines mesmerising storytelling with genuine action. Wilson Yip found that the recent crop of Hong Kong movies tends to be tipped on either side of the scale; Donnie Yen shared his sentiments, believing that script and dialogues play a pivotal role to making a good action movie. "Now is time to shatter some conventions, and raise the standards of action films. However, few Hong Kong directors are capable of achieving both, and I believe Wilson Yip is one." says Donnie Yen, who having watched many of Wilson Yip films like Juliet in Love, could feel that Wilson Yip is very sensitive to character development, an element seriously lacking in action films, especially those with contemporary setting. "With a fast-paced action propelled by intense characters, even the jaded audience will find this commercial blockbuster scintillating and refreshing," adds Donnie Yen.

All I need to know is that Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung have a fight scene.  That should be worth the price of the dvd.  If it's put together as a nice film well, it could be great.

Here's the plot synopsis:

A crimelord (Sammo Hung) covers his tracks sowell that he always gets away from all crimes he does, assisted by four fast-talking English lawyers. A professional assassin (Wu Jing), who never fails on his assignment, appearing out of nowhere. Four policemen so eager to nab the crimelord that they will stop at nothing, insofar as taking justice into their own hands. Standing in their ways is a new police  inspector (Donnie Yen) who goes strictly by the book. Thus begins an intricately woven high-octane action thriller that is full of complications, of explosive actions, exhilarating car chases, intense shootouts and realistic fist to fist combats from the award-winning screenwriters Szeto Kam-Yuen and Wu Wei Lun...