Bad Day at Black Rock

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[dps]

This is the first movie I saw with martial arts in it.

"Bad Day at Black Rock" with Spencer Tracy and Ernest Borgnine.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6689226741754762320&q=bad+Day+at+Black+rock&total=347&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Who else remembers this movie or their first martial art movie?

David

[crbateman]

I remember one, waaaaay back in the day, with lots of eye-gouging, hammer-fists, back-fists and slapping... Wait a minute... That was a Three Stooges pic... :D

[Eric Webber]

Back in the day there was a channel on TV (back when there was only 12 channels, you had to turn the thing on and off by hand, as well as change channels by turning the knob) that played really bad "B" rated (possibly C or D???) kung fu movies on Saturday afternoons.... Dudes with long white beards flying around in their pajamas.... think "Kill Bill" training sequence goofyness.... However, the two that clinched it for me (I'm rather embarrassed to admit this) were "Blood Sport" and "Above the Law" from the 1980's. God help me....

[Carl Thompson]

When I was a kid, "Monkey Magic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iUMWy4hqAg&feature=related)" ("Saiyuki" in Japan) starring Masaaki Sakai was all the rage. Every lad wanted a monkey magic stick. It was a Japanese production that got dubbed by the BBC, although I've heard there was a Chinese version too. The Japanese series recently got remade and a movie came out last year.

[Dan Rubin]

"Blood on the Sun," James Cagney, 1945. A classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMJixq-LbgI

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=88572&mainArticleId=93522

[SentWest]

Who else remembers this movie or their first martial art movie?

My mother was a big classics buff, so every time we had a semi-relevant event we had to watch a movie associated with it ("Gone w/the Wind" when they shipped me off to Georgia, "Ben Hur" every Easter. Why Easter, I haven't a clue, but it was tradition).

My girl scout troop adopted a sister city in Japan, and I got forced viewings of "Seven Samurai" for a month prior. And tea. She bought lots of tea to go with it.

[James Davis]

An Eye for an Eye. Chuck.

[Chris Parkerson]

Blood on the Sun
Cagney's Judo all the way.

[Randy Sexton]

I remember way back in the 60's when we had only 3 channels: NBC CBS ABC. Like Eric, I recall fondly growing up watching those old Kung Fu movies on Saturday afternoons. What a great time! Kicks and swords! We all made wood swords to play Samurai. It was either Kung Fu/Samurai movies or the wrestling matches. Makes you wonder which one was more fake? But another strong infuluence were my Comic books with Batman and the various martial arts used by various comic heroes. Does anyone else recall a guy called Karateman? He wore a white GI and had unbreakable metal bands on his hands. I think he was a Justice League hero. Fun times.
Doc:cool:
p.s. I just realized, I'm STILL playing with a wood sword. I just give it a fancy name "Bokken"

[Lyle Bogin]

Must have been The 36th Chamber...

The film that blew my mind and set my guts on fire though was "Drunken Master II". It played at midnight on 9 screens at a local theater, and there were lines out into the parking lot. Dudes in matching jackets from all styles of martial arts were there. I thought, man, I have to become part of this world....

Years later I would actually get to meet Jackie Chan, for about 4 seconds, when I performed with the opening entertainment on his tour promoting the movie "Gorgeous".

I don't do the matching jacket thing, though :)

[mari]

Shaolin Temple :) my brother and I went to movies every day for two weeks to see that movie. Years later when martial arts were no longer banned in my country, we started practicing karate - the only type of martial art available in our city at the time.. years later i got wiser and started aikido

[ramenboy]

does anyone remember the made-for-tv movie 'men of the dragon?'

kind of an 'enter the dragon light.' it starred robert ito and jared martin (who looked surprisingly like bruce lee and john saxon) as old childhood friends who go to rescue jared's sister from some white slavery ring... oh well, that was my first martial arts movie.

'above the law' (surprise) was what got me interested in aikido years later

[James Davis]

Years later I would actually get to meet Jackie Chan, for about 4 seconds, when I performed with the opening entertainment on his tour promoting the movie "Gorgeous".



That must have been awesome!

[Lyle Bogin]

It was a highlight of my kung fu years. Also on that tour was the entire Beijing Wushu team lead by Wu Bin, Jet Li's coach. They were cool but thought we were too rowdy and a bad influence...by the end of the tour they weren't even allowed to ride on the same bus as us! Some of them actually snuck out of their rooms at night to party with us. You have to remember that in China these guys are superstars, and servants of the government. When we would go to a food court, they all had to eat at the same place. They were never allowed to sit down and would squat, all in the same outfit, with the same cd player in one ear only. Incredible athletes!

[jennifer paige smith]

Must have been The 36th Chamber...

The film that blew my mind and set my guts on fire though was "Drunken Master II". It played at midnight on 9 screens at a local theater, and there were lines out into the parking lot. Dudes in matching jackets from all styles of martial arts were there. I thought, man, I have to become part of this world....

Years later I would actually get to meet Jackie Chan, for about 4 seconds, when I performed with the opening entertainment on his tour promoting the movie "Gorgeous".

I don't do the matching jacket thing, though :)

Viva La 'Master Killer: The 36th Chamber of the Shaolin.'
This movie get's a lot of quote time from me in my high school classes. "Only one answer. More practice."

Oh my god. I realize I actually quoted this movie to my 6yr old students yesterday. What is this world coming to.....ha-ha.



I'll be carrying water now.
jen

[Lyle Bogin]

We all live in the 36th, don't we ;)

[SmilingNage]

1 st drive in martial arts flick would have been Billy Jack. Which I have heard rumors that there is another possible billy jack movie to come out.

1st movie theater flick would be Good Guys Wear Black

1st Ninja movie would be Enter the Ninja

As for my fond memories of kung fu theater, I would have to say the 5 Deadly Venoms is the movie I most recollect and is most likely the 1 st I saw on TV.

[Aikibu]

Must have been The 36th Chamber...

The film that blew my mind and set my guts on fire though was "Drunken Master II". It played at midnight on 9 screens at a local theater, and there were lines out into the parking lot. Dudes in matching jackets from all styles of martial arts were there. I thought, man, I have to become part of this world....

Years later I would actually get to meet Jackie Chan, for about 4 seconds, when I performed with the opening entertainment on his tour promoting the movie "Gorgeous".

I don't do the matching jacket thing, though :)

Back in 98 or 99 On the set of Jackie Chan Stuntmaster Video Game at our Studio. I was one of the VFX & Props Coordinators for all of his Green Screen Tracking Shots for the Game. He did all his own stunts and was as agile as a panther. At the time he had hurt his back doing a stunt for the first "Rush Hour" movie but did not complain at all. I got to meet and practice with him and his whole Hong Kong Entourage and as far as Chinese MA is concerned they are the Real Deal. Wow is all I can say to what little I experianced.

Jackie is simply one of the nicest "Movie Stars" you will ever meet and that was a fun week. :)

ANY Jackie Chan movie is my fave.

WIlliam Hazen

[Lyle Bogin]

Ha, one-uped again.

Our pack leader discouraged us from interacting with Jackie directly. The one member of our demo team that got a pic with him was lectured about it and slowly dismissed.

I regret I didn't have the smarts or the stones to ignore my seniors.