Za jia xiao zi (1979) YTS - Download Yify Movie

Reviewed by RedReigns H 10 / 10

My favorite kung fu movie of all time

My favorite kung fu movie of all time. Crazy choreography for the fight scenes, good comedy, a plot that leads to that classic training sequence we all love and of course some debt repayment.

Reviewed by Jonathan K 10 / 10

I'm not giving this 5 Stars because this

I'm not giving this 5 Stars because this is a 5-Star movie; I give this 5 Stars because this movie, given its genre, era and budgetary/technical constraints, represents the absolute peak of what was capable in a "watch this for fun" film. The characters are intensely fun to watch, the dialogue and editing are fast but fully cohesive, the acting works, the production design is passable, the music is cute and energetic, the story has a few clever moments, and the action sequences, the main draw of the film, are genuinely amazing. The choreography is woefully intricate, the performers' timing with each facet is extremely precise, the movements and stuntwork being of the caliber that only legitimate professionals could achieve, and these sequences show these professionals at top-form. Yuen Biao shows charisma and at least an adequate amount of range; his performance is slightly broad-brush, but this works fine with the movie itself, and this was commonplace at the time (mostly because the audio was produced later, so the actors were, essentially, filming silent movies). Biao's presence on screen, with his persona combined with his phenomenal Martial Arts/Stunt skills, really goes to show how great he could have been, and how much of a tragedy for the Martial Arts Genre it is that he never fully caught on. The other performances are pretty stellar in regards to combining high-energy fun with intricate action set-pieces, and perhaps the greatest of these is Sammo Hung, who not only Directed and Choreographed the film, but also plays the insanely skilled and slightly-nuts beggar. I have argued in the past that Sammo Hung is very likely the best Choreographer in the history of Martial Arts Cinema, combining continuous actions and reactions in a constant flow of motion, with no pauses whatsoever. The fact that these sequences usually involve three or more people only shows how great Sammo Hung is as a choreographer, as well as a performer, in these bits, and nobody else has ever been able to strike such a perfect cord of intricacy and effective comedy, possibly not even Jackie Chan (who was a partner of his, so they share a lot of the same creative DNA). Ultimately, the reason to watch this movie is for these choreographed sequences, as they are incredibly intricate and pulled off with absolute precision, and the fact that these are in a movie with likable characters, cute and fun music, competent camerawork and production design and an enjoyable story, elevates this to an absolute must-watch for any fans of the genre.

Reviewed by DanTheMan 2 7 / 10

Representing the first starring vehicle for Yuen Biao

Representing the first starring vehicle for Yuen Biao, he had a lot riding on Knockabout, a chance to show that his combination of martial arts prowess, good looks and acting skills could blossom into the charisma of a movie star, someone who could be at the centre of a major picture. Surrounded by a combination of old pros and rising young stars, given a script no worse than most kung fu comedies of the period, he was given every chance to flourish, which thankfully he did. As a comedy, the film doesn't quite work as well as intended, the humour is extremely laboured and chock full of poor jokes that admittedly probably work better with a crowd; once the humour backs off and Sammo Hung's action choreography is allowed to take centre stage, the film massively improves ten fold to the point I'm willing to forgive the majority of bad jokes and Karl Maka mugging the camera. While Sammo's direction is fantastic, unfortunately, the pacing is completely borked. It could have really benefitted from the odd trim here and there to tighten it up, especially during the rather painful first half because once the second half begins, it becomes something truly special. Despite my negativity, Knockabout truly benefits from Yuen Biao's effortless likeability, a strong supporting cast, an extraordinarily evil villain played perfectly by Lau Kar-Wing and some outstanding fight sequences that keep it from becoming an otherwise disposable venture, improving the longer you stick with it. I probably would have liked this a lot more had it not been for the sour first impression.

Za jia xiao zi

1979 [CN]

Action / Comedy / Drama

Za jia xiao zi

1979 [CN]

Action / Comedy / Drama

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My favorite kung fu movie of all time

I'm not giving this 5 Stars because this

Representing the first starring vehicle for Yuen Biao

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