Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 735 Projects Rejected (13)

"It certainly can't compare to the 'Once Upon a Time in China' trilogy... The overseas translation of the 'Once Upon a Time in China' trilogy is: The Story of China!"

"The core selling point of the Ip Man series is Chinese kung fu beating up foreigners."

The plot is simple: first, there must be a legitimate reason for the attack; the foreigner can't be attacked for no reason. So, in each installment, the foreigner must first go on a rampage, drawing a lot of hatred, and kill or at least cripple a Chinese martial arts master. For example, in the first installment, Miura kills Wu Chi Lin, and in the second, Tornado kills Master Hong.

Secondly, the final boss is always a foreigner, and they are all foreigners who have some kind of national hatred towards us: the first movie is Japanese, the second movie is British, and although the third movie ends with a Chinese person, the climax is still the fight against Tyson from America.

Don't bother analyzing the plot when watching "Ip Man," just enjoy the action scenes. I bet the fourth one will still be about fighting Americans... and the plot will probably have to connect with Bruce Lee...

"Actually, since Bruce Lee's era, the biggest secret of our kung fu films has been fighting foreigners, especially Japanese and white people..."

"I heard from them that the original plot of 'Ip Man 3' was to film a civil war in Wing Chun, which happened to coincide with the passing of Ip Man's wife, Cheung Wing-sing, to reflect Master Ip's family life and the choices he made between family and the martial arts world. Also, in the previous films, we were fighting foreigners to promote my country's prestige, but in the third film, we're still fighting foreigners, which is a bit excessive..."

But then Tyson was traded, so there was no need to waste him; he was used as a mid-game boss. Therefore, the whole film feels very disjointed!

"From a producer's perspective, the biggest challenge for Chinese action films is: how much practical function does martial arts still have in modern society and in the age of firearms?"

Exactly, if someone fires a shot, what can you do even if you're a master kung fu master?

"If this problem isn't solved, it will be difficult for the audience to immerse themselves in the story..."

"The Ip Man series is very cunning. From the very first film, it has avoided this question. Every ultimate opponent, out of resentment or contempt, always sets up the competition as an open contest. Thus, the life-or-death struggle becomes the Olympics, and the inequalities between the two sides on other levels are erased. Everything returns to the purest competition... neither side needs to fight for anything..."

"So, we can only go back to martial arts films... but martial arts films are hard to make. In recent years, only films like 'The Legend of Swordsman' and Lu Yang's 'Brotherhood of Blades' have achieved good reviews and box office success, taking a different approach..."

"We'll see. I heard that director Derek Yee is filming 'The Sword of the Three Young Masters,' which is how he became famous. 'The Sword of the Three Young Masters' was his first Shaw Brothers martial arts film, and he was so lucky that he became an instant hit."

"I heard that he was preparing to film a version of 'The Sword of the Three Young Masters' around 2000, with Japanese actor Takenouchi Yutaka playing Xie Xiaofeng and Leslie Cheung playing Yan Shisan... but it didn't come to fruition..."

"How should I know? He contacted me!"

"They wanted me to play Xie Xiaofeng... but I didn't like the script, so I didn't accept the role..."

……

Shen Yan was approached for roles in works including "The Sword of the Third Young Master" and "The Thousand Faces of Dunjia"...

After all, as long as Shen Yan agrees, the investment will not be less than 300 million!
— Rumors in the film industry: Shen Yan's starring film will gross at least 1 billion yuan.

But the scripts for both of these dramas were terrible!
It's hard to understand why Derek Yee directed "The Sword of the Three Young Masters" the way he did. He's acted in "The Sword of the Three Young Masters," "The Crescent Moon Blade" (as Ding Peng), "The Legend of Chu Liuxiang" (as Yuan Suiyun), and "Little Li Flying Dagger" (as A Fei), and even had a conversation with Gu Long about the Three Young Masters…

How could they have made "The Sword of the Three Young Masters" into such a terrible film?
They transformed Yan Shisan, a proud and unconventional man devoid of love or hate, into a delusional young man prone to shouting.

The main narrative focuses on the love-hate entanglement between Murong Qiudi and the Third Young Master, while promoting the supporting character Zhu Yeqing to the role of the second male lead, a backup love interest, and turning this cunning and treacherous minor boss into a love-crazed psychopath.

The ending is even given to the prostitute Xiao Li, with the Third Young Master taking her on a journey of swordsmanship and upholding justice...

By the way, in that version of "The Sword of the Third Young Master," Yan Shisan's ending was changed to him being terminally ill, asking to fight the Third Young Master, but ultimately dying by the Third Young Master's sword because he was outmatched...

All the character archetypes collapsed, and the main theme was drowned out by clichéd romantic relationships and martial arts justice.

Is this Gu Long's "The Sword of the Third Young Master"?
"The Sword of the Third Young Master" is actually about how this unparalleled genius, the sword god, reconciles with himself.

Yan Shisan is the soul of the story of "The Sword of the Third Young Master". He is obsessed with competing with Xie Xiaofeng because he is a swordsman. A swordsman's pride is to die by the sword of his opponent rather than on a sickbed. This is absolutely politically correct in the world of martial arts!
To make a good film of "Sword Master", you need to focus on one central theme: Xie Xiaofeng's inner struggle.

Establish three main characters: Xie Xiaofeng and his two adversaries, Yan Shisan and Murong Qiudi;
A supporting character is carefully crafted: Xie Wangsun—father of Xie Xiaofeng, the greatest swordsman in the world—who serves as a protest against fate, fame, fortune, and the relentless challenges of the martial world…

Once the characters are well-developed, the plot is basically ready.

Of course, Gu Long was a master of metaphor and allegory, so the lines had to be full of flair, elegant and graceful, and exhilarating. They had to be able to instantly create a world of chaos and a martial arts world with just a few words.

This is very difficult. This is also the biggest reason why Shen Yan dared not take on "The Sword of the Third Young Master"—he himself couldn't handle it!

As for "Qimen Dunjia"...

"The Miracle Fighters" actually followed the trend of Sammo Hung's supernatural themes. "The Miracle Fighters," "The Exorcist's Messenger," "The Ghostly Exorcist," and the fourth installment, "The Yin-Yang Master," are all part of this series. "Dragon's Roar" also belongs to this series...

However, "The Thousand Faces of Dunjia" features the entire Yuen Clan, including Yuen Cheung-yan, Yuen Woo-ping, Chao Chung-hsing, Yuen Shun-yi, and Yuen Chun-yeung.

As the series progressed, the number of staff gradually decreased.

The first two films had a full cast of Yuen Clan members, so both films received good reviews and were well-received. Although "The Exorcist's Tale" is not as good as the first film, it is still quite good compared to the later films.

By the time the third installment, "The Master of Ghosts," Yuan Zhenyang, a cousin of the Yuan family, was no longer involved. He left on his own in 1983 to direct "Bo Niu," which laid the foundation for Stephen Chow's later "Shaolin Soccer."

Along with Yuan Zhenyang, Zhao Zhongxing, an outsider from the Yuan family troupe, also left...

After the second film, Yuen Woo-ping went on to make his traditional kung fu movies!
But since everyone else is still in the third installment, the quality is still acceptable.

By the time the fourth installment, "The Yin-Yang Heroes," only Yuen Yat-Choo remained from the Yuen Clan, and this film was the worst in the series.

Unlike Yuan Zhenyang, who filmed "Bo Niu" with a completely different subject matter, Zhao Zhongxing, who did not participate in "The Ghostly Master," left to make his own film, "Dragon's Might," after leaving the project.

Therefore, "Dragon's Roar" can also be considered part of the "Qimen Dunjia" series...

As an aside, Zhao Zhongxing later went to Taiwan and filmed supernatural films such as "Zombie Boy," "New Momotaro," and "Exorcist." Although they were all imitations, they were better than "Dragon's Roar" and were at least worth watching.

However, the "Qimen Dunjia" series came to an end with the final installment, "Yin Yang Qi Bing," in 1986.

It's a shame that such a good subject has been wasted.

Yuen Woo-ping has been making a living in mainland China lately…

Several of his films failed to meet expectations; despite having the title of the world's best action choreographer, his directorial works are generally mediocre…

"True Legend," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny"...

They simply recycled old ideas and pulled out their own "Qimen Dunjia".

The problem is that "The Thousand Faces of Dunjia" belongs to the supernatural and folk genres, which makes it difficult to pass the censorship. So, they brought in Tsui Hark as the producer and put together the main storyline of the Fog Hidden Sect fighting against aliens!
This plot is terrible. It feels like Yuen Woo-ping and Tsui Hark were both drunk. The filming is a complete mess!

Inviting Wu Bai to perform seems to be a subtle hint to the audience.

Xu Ke finished one cup of wine and there was still another cup left; Yuan Heping finished another cup and there were still three cups left.

Ok…

Is Shen Yan invited to star in this project?

They even offered a 5000 million yuan salary?

Even if you offered a fee of 500 million, Shen Yan might not be willing to accept it!

After all, this thing can't be made...

Your name is "Qimen Dunjia," so it must have a "mystical" or "fantasy" feel to it. Otherwise, why would you choose this name?
The problem is, our censorship doesn't allow these kinds of movies to be made…

Then Xu Ke created the Fog Concealment Sect.

What about the villains?
Aliens, I suppose...

(End of this chapter)