Odd Couple
1979
Hailed as possibly The greatest classical weapons movie ever made! and starring world-renowned martial arts master, director and action-choreographer, Sammo Hung. This film showcases some of the most spectacular and intricate weapons duels ever committed to film Read more
| Starring | Sammo Hung Kam-Bo, Ka-Yan Leung, Chia Yung Liu |
|---|---|
| Director | Chia Yung Liu |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, World Cinema |
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Critics' reviews (2)
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A kung fu fightfest that includes everything bar the kitchen sink!
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A delight from start to finish, a must-see for Sammo Hung fans.
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Most helpful members' reviews (3)
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Great fights, lousy comedy
Lau Kar-Wing's 1979 film Odd Couple stars the director and Sammo Hung as rival old masters of the spear and sword who periodically duel each other to see who is the best. However the duels always end in a draw, so they decide to each train a pupil to fight in their stead. The joke is that Lau's pupil is played by Sammo, and Sammo's pupil is played by Lau. This lets both stars show off their mastery of each weapon. The plot thickens and a villain is eventually introduced in the form of Leung Kar-Yan, who has a score to settle with the masters.
What could have made the film a classic is the fight sequences, which are some of the best old school weapons duels you are likely to see. Sammo and LKW are both at the top of their game, and show incredible technique and agility (only occasionally assisted by some doubling from Yuen Biao on the more complex acrobatics). However the film is held back from greatness by a rather perfunctory script and some awful comedy. I know some people like this stupidness in their Hong Kong movies, but it really detracts from the central theme of the film.
If your expectations aren't too high then watch it for the fights and you might be impressed. -
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Indeed, the greatest weapons film of all time!
This film goes to show you one of the reasons why George Lucas originally wanted Sammo Hung to be the lightsaber duels co-ordinator for the Star Wars prequels.
The fight scenes are certainly better than anything Nick Gillard ever tried to attempt with the prequels and the action is definately superior to the same year's Empire Strikes Back (it was made in 1979 but then released in 1980).
As it stands, this film (in terms of traditional martial arts weaponary) tops Heroes of the East and puts Legendary Weapons of China (a.k.a. 18 Weapons of China) to shame!
If Sammo could do action this fantastic on a very low budget and in the late 70s, who knows what would have come of Sammo working on the Star Wars prequels.
The only reason why I gave this a 5 is that Sammo wasn't the director thus the comedy would have been more sharper & subtler and the story would have been more clearly defined.
Having said that, the humour isn't as lousy as most films I can think of. Perhaps, it depends on whether you have the masochistic mentality to subject yourself to the horrific horrors of hideously atrocious dubbing! -
4 for fighting, 1 for comedy..
Its often really hard to give an accurate score when rating kung fu films. People dont necessarily watch them for the plot, just the fighting, but if you mark them soley on the quality of the fights, then you are essentially dismissing a fair portion of the movie. Kinda like basing a review of the Godfather purely on the scenes with Al Pacino. In a way.
This is a problem that the Odd Couple has. The fights are pretty damn amazing at times, purely weapon based and almost always spear vs sabre. While they dont quite reach the level of some of the best weapon fights such as the ones seen in Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, 7 Grandmasters and Dirty Ho, they arent far off. Not only that, they are pretty frequent and are pretty consistent at that. The problem comes from just about everything else in the film. It wants to be a comedy, but its poorly handled in the extreme. One character is responsible for some of the most cringe inducing scenes I've seen in any style of film. Ever. I'm including Catwoman in that as well.
Its a shame really, as there is an interesting idea in there that I really liked (Hung and Kar Wing play evenly matched martial arts masters, one in spear and one in sabre, who decide that the best way to see who is best is to train students and have them duel - the students they take on is played by the other actor, meaning that during the film you see them both fight with both weapons) and Sammo can be funny. With a bit of polish to the story, it could have been one of the classics of the genre.
However, if you are a fan of martial arts, and enjoy weapon based styles, careful use of the fast forward button makes this well worth the rental. -
Most recent members' reviews (2)
View all -
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Great fights, lousy comedy
Lau Kar-Wing's 1979 film Odd Couple stars the director and Sammo Hung as rival old masters of the spear and sword who periodically duel each other to see who is the best. However the duels always end in a draw, so they decide to each train a pupil to fight in their stead. The joke is that Lau's pupil is played by Sammo, and Sammo's pupil is played by Lau. This lets both stars show off their mastery of each weapon. The plot thickens and a villain is eventually introduced in the form of Leung Kar-Yan, who has a score to settle with the masters.
What could have made the film a classic is the fight sequences, which are some of the best old school weapons duels you are likely to see. Sammo and LKW are both at the top of their game, and show incredible technique and agility (only occasionally assisted by some doubling from Yuen Biao on the more complex acrobatics). However the film is held back from greatness by a rather perfunctory script and some awful comedy. I know some people like this stupidness in their Hong Kong movies, but it really detracts from the central theme of the film.
If your expectations aren't too high then watch it for the fights and you might be impressed. -
4 for fighting, 1 for comedy..
Its often really hard to give an accurate score when rating kung fu films. People dont necessarily watch them for the plot, just the fighting, but if you mark them soley on the quality of the fights, then you are essentially dismissing a fair portion of the movie. Kinda like basing a review of the Godfather purely on the scenes with Al Pacino. In a way.
This is a problem that the Odd Couple has. The fights are pretty damn amazing at times, purely weapon based and almost always spear vs sabre. While they dont quite reach the level of some of the best weapon fights such as the ones seen in Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, 7 Grandmasters and Dirty Ho, they arent far off. Not only that, they are pretty frequent and are pretty consistent at that. The problem comes from just about everything else in the film. It wants to be a comedy, but its poorly handled in the extreme. One character is responsible for some of the most cringe inducing scenes I've seen in any style of film. Ever. I'm including Catwoman in that as well.
Its a shame really, as there is an interesting idea in there that I really liked (Hung and Kar Wing play evenly matched martial arts masters, one in spear and one in sabre, who decide that the best way to see who is best is to train students and have them duel - the students they take on is played by the other actor, meaning that during the film you see them both fight with both weapons) and Sammo can be funny. With a bit of polish to the story, it could have been one of the classics of the genre.
However, if you are a fan of martial arts, and enjoy weapon based styles, careful use of the fast forward button makes this well worth the rental.
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Great fights, lousy comedy
Lau Kar-Wing's 1979 film Odd Couple stars the director and Sammo Hung as rival old masters of the spear and sword who periodically duel each other to see who is the best. However the duels always end in a draw, so they decide to each train a pupil to fight in their stead. The joke is that Lau's pupil is played by Sammo, and Sammo's pupil is played by Lau. This lets both stars show off their mastery of each weapon. The plot thickens and a villain is eventually introduced in the form of Leung Kar-Yan, who has a score to settle with the masters.
What could have made the film a classic is the fight sequences, which are some of the best old school weapons duels you are likely to see. Sammo and LKW are both at the top of their game, and show incredible technique and agility (only occasionally assisted by some doubling from Yuen Biao on the more complex acrobatics). However the film is held back from greatness by a rather perfunctory script and some awful comedy. I know some people like this stupidness in their Hong Kong movies, but it really detracts from the central theme of the film.
If your expectations aren't too high then watch it for the fights and you might be impressed. -
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Indeed, the greatest weapons film of all time!
This film goes to show you one of the reasons why George Lucas originally wanted Sammo Hung to be the lightsaber duels co-ordinator for the Star Wars prequels.
The fight scenes are certainly better than anything Nick Gillard ever tried to attempt with the prequels and the action is definately superior to the same year's Empire Strikes Back (it was made in 1979 but then released in 1980).
As it stands, this film (in terms of traditional martial arts weaponary) tops Heroes of the East and puts Legendary Weapons of China (a.k.a. 18 Weapons of China) to shame!
If Sammo could do action this fantastic on a very low budget and in the late 70s, who knows what would have come of Sammo working on the Star Wars prequels.
The only reason why I gave this a 5 is that Sammo wasn't the director thus the comedy would have been more sharper & subtler and the story would have been more clearly defined.
Having said that, the humour isn't as lousy as most films I can think of. Perhaps, it depends on whether you have the masochistic mentality to subject yourself to the horrific horrors of hideously atrocious dubbing! -
4 for fighting, 1 for comedy..
Its often really hard to give an accurate score when rating kung fu films. People dont necessarily watch them for the plot, just the fighting, but if you mark them soley on the quality of the fights, then you are essentially dismissing a fair portion of the movie. Kinda like basing a review of the Godfather purely on the scenes with Al Pacino. In a way.
This is a problem that the Odd Couple has. The fights are pretty damn amazing at times, purely weapon based and almost always spear vs sabre. While they dont quite reach the level of some of the best weapon fights such as the ones seen in Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, 7 Grandmasters and Dirty Ho, they arent far off. Not only that, they are pretty frequent and are pretty consistent at that. The problem comes from just about everything else in the film. It wants to be a comedy, but its poorly handled in the extreme. One character is responsible for some of the most cringe inducing scenes I've seen in any style of film. Ever. I'm including Catwoman in that as well.
Its a shame really, as there is an interesting idea in there that I really liked (Hung and Kar Wing play evenly matched martial arts masters, one in spear and one in sabre, who decide that the best way to see who is best is to train students and have them duel - the students they take on is played by the other actor, meaning that during the film you see them both fight with both weapons) and Sammo can be funny. With a bit of polish to the story, it could have been one of the classics of the genre.
However, if you are a fan of martial arts, and enjoy weapon based styles, careful use of the fast forward button makes this well worth the rental. -
1 out of 8 people found this review helpful
An Odd Combination
Yeah, I admit it. I love Kung Fu Action films. I love all Chinese/Asian action and Horror movies. Once again with The Odd Couple we have style and action. The comedy in the fighting is clever. The comedy outside of the fighting is not. But who really watches films like these for the story/plot. Lau Kar-Wing has obviously studdied all the classic weaponry and having Sammo Hung as his co star means you can guarantee something special. I really enjoyed this film. There is almost no real plot until you are half way through it anyway. This is however, another fine example from Hong Kong Legends where you can see the package has been put together with a lot of love for the subject matter. As SK from Edinburgh states, 'Great fights, lousy comedy'. But what great fights. Best to sit back and watch the skills of the action performers and not worry too much about the supporting actors and some of the terrible dialogue that they have to say.
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5 out of 37 people found this review helpful
good 'ol ku fu action
this film has some bloody great action sequences and, i recon, some pretty grate slapstick. yes its extremly silly @ times ( 2 of the charters r named 'who fulng dung' and ' wel hund dick') but i found this added to the film rather than took away from it. all round good sh*t.
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Critics' reviews (2)
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A kung fu fightfest that includes everything bar the kitchen sink!
-
A delight from start to finish, a must-see for Sammo Hung fans.
Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop
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Odd Couple
Hailed as possibly The greatest classical weapons movie ever made! and starring world-renowned martial arts master, director and action-choreographer, Sammo Hung. This film showcases some of the most spectacular and intricate weapons duels ever committed to ...
-
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