Save Millionaire's Express for last. It's a big Avengers-like event that brings tons and tons of actors together.
As far as where to start, you can't go wrong with the In The Line of Duty series. It's a great introduction to Cynthia Rothrock too.
Come Drink With Me might be the oldest movie you picked up. If you want to start from the "beginning" that's the way to go. Really awesome movie too, one of my favorites.
Also I'm starting to get jealous of all the people who received their order already and mine hasn't even shipped. Must be a ton of orders to get through though. Hopefully I'll have mine soon!
If it were me, I would watch them in what is roughly the order of release: come drink with me, one-armed boxer, those two smaller shaw boxes, Prodigal Son, Knockabout, Shawscope 2, 8 Diagram (one of my all-time faves), then all the Hong Kong action stuff.
Hero could be a good capstone, as it is a 90s remake of an earlier Shaw kung-fu picture (Boxer From Shantung).
You have such a good start here. Hong Kong action cinema is a broad, deep ocean. There’s so much to discover. I would recommend against being to rigid with your watchlist. Don’t try to watch these in release order. You should start with some of the certified bangers to really solidify your appreciation for the regional quirks before moving on to some of the niche titles.
Try to get to Come Drink With Me early. It’s a great early work that influences a lot to come. Ang Lee’s monumental Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is almost certainly citing it both in casting and thematically.
Crippled Avengers, Five Venoms, 36th Chamber of Shaolin, and 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, are all fabulous, but I have to give the edge to 8 Diagram. That’s at the top of my pure martial arts cinema ranking list. What a fabulous movie. The audio commentary on that release is invaluable for cultural context as well. Highly recommended.
Sammo Hung is my favorite martial arts filmmaker. The man has the greatest full on chest kick in the game. I agree with what someone else said in here about saving Millionaires’ Express. There’s a lot you should watch before that one to really appreciate it. You may have to do some searching, but at least watch Wheels on Meals and Pedicab Driver to see peak Sammo in the director’s chair. It will also be enhanced if you can watch some of the Lucky Stars movies before hand. Especially the first two.
You’ve already got Yes Madam in the In the Line of Duty boxed set. That will be a wonderful introduction to Cynthia Rothrock so you aren’t going, “who is this random white lady in my Hong Kong movie?” You’ll know the answer is Cynthia Rothrock and you’ll know she’s amazing. (Also, if you’re committed to the Hong Kong cinema lifestyle at that point, check out Vinegar Syndrome’s release of Righting Wrongs. It’s her best movie and it’s up in my top five films of all time.)
If you fall in love, like I did, there’s so much more to find out there. If you want to commit, I highly recommend investing into a region free Blu-ray player and to start importing some stuff. Eureka has so many wonderful Hong Kong films available and there’s a relatively new line out of Australia called Chameleon Films. They have a bunch of Johnny To films and you cannot go wrong with him.
Really appreciate your detailed response! I'm definitely going to go for your recommended approach of watching some of the best ones first. Although, I did end up watching Magic Cop already, but that was because I was worried that the disc was scratched (which it wasn't). I loved it, though, so no regrets there.
Since posting this, I said "screw it" and ended up ordering more. I rounded out my collection of films from the first Shawscope set with The Basher Box containing King Boxer/The Boxer From Shantung/Chinatown Kid. Then I bought the remaining available 88Films Shaw releases in the MVD sale including The Chinese Boxer, Disciples of Shaolin, Monkey Kung Fu, Martial Club, and Shaolin Mantis. I also picked up The Shaolin Plot for more Sammo.
As far as Jackie is concerned, I have the Eureka Police Story trilogy box set and Dragons Forever. I also preordered the 88Films Project A box set and just now bought the Shout Factory Jackie Chan collection Volume 2. Will give me the chance to watch Wheels on Meals like you mentioned.
Suffice to say, I have a lot to dig into! I definitely want to get a region free player at some point in the future, though, for sure.
Wheels on Meals has the best Jackie Chan fight committed to film in my opinion. That’s Jackie vs. Benny “the Jet” Urquidez. No frills. No nonsense. Just spectacular fight choreography extracted flawlessly.
Have fun!
Definitely start with Come Drink with Me and One Armed Boxer, these two started the genre as we know it, the former for wuxia swordplay and the latter for more grounded hand to hand.
Hell yeah - The best period of cinema for my money (next to 70s American)
The Shaw Bros sets are a great starting point, and then I would end with 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, as that kind of closes the book on classic martial arts.
Appreciate the recommendation! Do you think the order in which I watch the the films in the Shaw sets matters, or should I just watch whatever seems interesting?
Definitely whatever seems interesting, there's no real order to be followed. The Boxer's Omen is crazy, 36 Chambers is incredible, Mercenaries from Hong Kong is an action movie with guns - They're all over the place.
Crippled Avengers is my fav of those, can’t go wrong with any of them though! 8 diagram pole fighter and Yes Madam! may be the easiest to get you into them though! Hope you love them as much as I do!
MVD has a sale on a lot of martial arts films going on. Some of them have sold out, but the Shawscope Vol. 2 box is still available for $70, along with the smaller sets of 4 films for $14 and individual films for $8.
[You can find the sale here](https://mvdshop.com/collections/martial-arts-month-sale)
8 Pole Diagram Fight has some of the most incredible fight choreography I have ever seen. You're in for a treat.
Also Boxer's Omen in Vol 2 is up on my list of most insane movies of all time.
My experience with Hong Kong cinema is Police Story and Dragons Forever. I also watched The Avenging Eagle on Youtube to make sure Shaw films would be something I like, and I enjoyed it a lot.
Decided to take the plunge when I saw the MVD/GrindhouseVideo sales, and now I'm wondering what order I should watch them. Would appreciate any recommendations!
Oh well! Next time ;)
If I were to name my favorites in this pile I would say
* Come Drink With Me
* Millionaire’s Express
* In the Line of Duty films
* Boxer’s Omen
* 8 Diagram Pole Fighter
Incredible pick ups!
Also have a big stash incoming that I ordered last week of Hong Kong titles including the first volume of Shawscope, made a new years resolution to dig into the kino wonders they have to offer and have been blown away tornado style
8 diagram pole fighter has an absolute out of this world wild last fighting sequence, up there as a GOAT contender for sure
Save Millionaire's Express for last. It's a big Avengers-like event that brings tons and tons of actors together. As far as where to start, you can't go wrong with the In The Line of Duty series. It's a great introduction to Cynthia Rothrock too.
You crack open that Vol 2 and you watch the 36th Chamber trilogy. Gordon Liu NEVER misses.
Come Drink With Me might be the oldest movie you picked up. If you want to start from the "beginning" that's the way to go. Really awesome movie too, one of my favorites. Also I'm starting to get jealous of all the people who received their order already and mine hasn't even shipped. Must be a ton of orders to get through though. Hopefully I'll have mine soon!
36th Chamber of Shaolin. In my opinion, it’s the greatest Kung Fu film of all time. Then go back to the beginning with Come Drink with Me.
Oh man that’s nice. I’ve been getting into Hong Kong cinema lately. I feel like there’s so much out there, bit overwhelming.
Heroes of the East and Dirty Ho are a lot of fun if you like the more comedic stuff
If it were me, I would watch them in what is roughly the order of release: come drink with me, one-armed boxer, those two smaller shaw boxes, Prodigal Son, Knockabout, Shawscope 2, 8 Diagram (one of my all-time faves), then all the Hong Kong action stuff. Hero could be a good capstone, as it is a 90s remake of an earlier Shaw kung-fu picture (Boxer From Shantung).
Human Lanterns is my favorite of the bunch.
You have such a good start here. Hong Kong action cinema is a broad, deep ocean. There’s so much to discover. I would recommend against being to rigid with your watchlist. Don’t try to watch these in release order. You should start with some of the certified bangers to really solidify your appreciation for the regional quirks before moving on to some of the niche titles. Try to get to Come Drink With Me early. It’s a great early work that influences a lot to come. Ang Lee’s monumental Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is almost certainly citing it both in casting and thematically. Crippled Avengers, Five Venoms, 36th Chamber of Shaolin, and 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, are all fabulous, but I have to give the edge to 8 Diagram. That’s at the top of my pure martial arts cinema ranking list. What a fabulous movie. The audio commentary on that release is invaluable for cultural context as well. Highly recommended. Sammo Hung is my favorite martial arts filmmaker. The man has the greatest full on chest kick in the game. I agree with what someone else said in here about saving Millionaires’ Express. There’s a lot you should watch before that one to really appreciate it. You may have to do some searching, but at least watch Wheels on Meals and Pedicab Driver to see peak Sammo in the director’s chair. It will also be enhanced if you can watch some of the Lucky Stars movies before hand. Especially the first two. You’ve already got Yes Madam in the In the Line of Duty boxed set. That will be a wonderful introduction to Cynthia Rothrock so you aren’t going, “who is this random white lady in my Hong Kong movie?” You’ll know the answer is Cynthia Rothrock and you’ll know she’s amazing. (Also, if you’re committed to the Hong Kong cinema lifestyle at that point, check out Vinegar Syndrome’s release of Righting Wrongs. It’s her best movie and it’s up in my top five films of all time.) If you fall in love, like I did, there’s so much more to find out there. If you want to commit, I highly recommend investing into a region free Blu-ray player and to start importing some stuff. Eureka has so many wonderful Hong Kong films available and there’s a relatively new line out of Australia called Chameleon Films. They have a bunch of Johnny To films and you cannot go wrong with him.
Really appreciate your detailed response! I'm definitely going to go for your recommended approach of watching some of the best ones first. Although, I did end up watching Magic Cop already, but that was because I was worried that the disc was scratched (which it wasn't). I loved it, though, so no regrets there. Since posting this, I said "screw it" and ended up ordering more. I rounded out my collection of films from the first Shawscope set with The Basher Box containing King Boxer/The Boxer From Shantung/Chinatown Kid. Then I bought the remaining available 88Films Shaw releases in the MVD sale including The Chinese Boxer, Disciples of Shaolin, Monkey Kung Fu, Martial Club, and Shaolin Mantis. I also picked up The Shaolin Plot for more Sammo. As far as Jackie is concerned, I have the Eureka Police Story trilogy box set and Dragons Forever. I also preordered the 88Films Project A box set and just now bought the Shout Factory Jackie Chan collection Volume 2. Will give me the chance to watch Wheels on Meals like you mentioned. Suffice to say, I have a lot to dig into! I definitely want to get a region free player at some point in the future, though, for sure.
Wheels on Meals has the best Jackie Chan fight committed to film in my opinion. That’s Jackie vs. Benny “the Jet” Urquidez. No frills. No nonsense. Just spectacular fight choreography extracted flawlessly. Have fun!
You’re not going to go wrong with really anything but Long Arm of the Law is one of my favorite movies of all time. So I always recommend it first
The Prodigal Son is Sammo Hung's swan song and one of the greatest kung fu films ever made.
Definitely start with Come Drink with Me and One Armed Boxer, these two started the genre as we know it, the former for wuxia swordplay and the latter for more grounded hand to hand.
Hell yeah - The best period of cinema for my money (next to 70s American) The Shaw Bros sets are a great starting point, and then I would end with 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, as that kind of closes the book on classic martial arts.
Appreciate the recommendation! Do you think the order in which I watch the the films in the Shaw sets matters, or should I just watch whatever seems interesting?
The order mostly doesn’t matter but I recommend doing the 36th chamber movies in order.
Definitely whatever seems interesting, there's no real order to be followed. The Boxer's Omen is crazy, 36 Chambers is incredible, Mercenaries from Hong Kong is an action movie with guns - They're all over the place.
Crippled Avengers is my fav of those, can’t go wrong with any of them though! 8 diagram pole fighter and Yes Madam! may be the easiest to get you into them though! Hope you love them as much as I do!
Some fantastic films there. Loved dirty ho for the lighter comedic side. But, five venoms and 8 diagram pole fighter are both amazing. Happy viewing.
Made in hong kong by fruit Chan (the metrograph release I believe)
Five Deadly Venoms is my favorite
Amazing haul! Where did you pick them up? I'm in Canada and I never see any good prices on the Shawscope sets.
MVD has a sale on a lot of martial arts films going on. Some of them have sold out, but the Shawscope Vol. 2 box is still available for $70, along with the smaller sets of 4 films for $14 and individual films for $8. [You can find the sale here](https://mvdshop.com/collections/martial-arts-month-sale)
That's awesome, i appreciate it!
8 Pole Diagram Fight has some of the most incredible fight choreography I have ever seen. You're in for a treat. Also Boxer's Omen in Vol 2 is up on my list of most insane movies of all time.
I recently watched Millionaire's Express and Knock about. Both great films, but I especially liked Knockabout. Biao is terrific!
Nice collection! I also started recently. But I‘ve only seen 1 film in your picture, so I can’t give advice yet 😅
My experience with Hong Kong cinema is Police Story and Dragons Forever. I also watched The Avenging Eagle on Youtube to make sure Shaw films would be something I like, and I enjoyed it a lot. Decided to take the plunge when I saw the MVD/GrindhouseVideo sales, and now I'm wondering what order I should watch them. Would appreciate any recommendations!
You got The Prodigal Son *without* Warriors Two??
I know! Warriors Two was unfortunately out of stock, otherwise I would have picked it up.
Oh well! Next time ;) If I were to name my favorites in this pile I would say * Come Drink With Me * Millionaire’s Express * In the Line of Duty films * Boxer’s Omen * 8 Diagram Pole Fighter
My bad. I got one of the last ones. That MVD sale was crazy.
Incredible pick ups! Also have a big stash incoming that I ordered last week of Hong Kong titles including the first volume of Shawscope, made a new years resolution to dig into the kino wonders they have to offer and have been blown away tornado style 8 diagram pole fighter has an absolute out of this world wild last fighting sequence, up there as a GOAT contender for sure
Start with King Boxer
Great haul! I just picked up the in the line of duty set too!
I haven't seen all of those but have to say One Armed Boxer was my least favorite.