披荆斩棘的哥哥 - Call Me By Fire

披荆斩棘的哥哥 (Call Me By Fire) is a 2021 variety show out of Zhong Guo. The premise of the show is 33 "brothers" whom come from different walks of the entertainment industry come together to form a 17 member final group. In essence, it is a survival show format.

The show is a spin-off of the "sisters" show, Sisters Who Make Waves (乘风破浪的姐姐). But the format is vastly different. Instead of eliminations every week, elimations came more sporatic. The groups also had repeating "Captains" through the entire show.

The chatter online were that these folks were beyond their prime and trying to get attention. I love it. Get attention, get work again! I love some of these 33 folks and watched them for years. My favorite is Jerry Yan, whom they focused on a lot in week 1, but went more low key later on. Terry Lin started out as annoying to me, but ended up being one of my favorites at the end. The Canto group was so funny.

There were folks I was not as familiar with so I fast forwarded through their segments. That's the beauty of watching via Youtube. The ads sucked doe.

Youku did a similar show called Shine! Super Brothers (追光吧哥哥) with 21 brothers that was in a more dance and sing kind of way. I also liked that show. It's all about getting away from the real world for a brief moment every week and Call Me By Fire did it in spades.

Once Upon a Time in China IV - 黃飛鴻之四王者之風

Once Upon a Time in China IV (黃飛鴻之四王者之風) is an 1993 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Vincent Zhao as Wong Fei-hung. The supporting case include Jean Wang, Max Mok, Hung Yan-yan, Lau Shun, and Wang Jing Hua. This is the 4th installment of Tsui Hark's Wong Fei-hung movie series. And the first of two without Jet Li.

Wong Fei-hung Beijing for a tournment after the third film. Before they can go, they are convinced by a General to particpate in another tournament. They pass by a parade of Red Lantern Sect who end up attacking foreigners. Wong Fei-hung steps in to stop them and is captured and accused of being in cahots with the Red Lantern Sect. While waiting for his excustion, they make an escape but are too late to the tournament where the General dies. They are given another chance and go one to win, but the nation is lost. They set out to head back to Foshan.

I caught this in Cantonese on Amazon Prime Video. Took me a couple of weeks to finish this on and off. I was inspired after seeing it pop up on my recommendations and Vincent Zhao showing up as a GeGe in Call Me By Fire. Although the movie series has the same feel, the story in this one was all over the place. If you are a fan of these series, you can't miss it.

蕩宼風雲 - God of War

蕩宼風雲 (God of War) is an 2017 movie out of Zhong Guo. The film stars Vincent Zhao, Sammo Hung, Yasuaki Kurata, Regina Wan, and Timmy Hung. The movie is based on the historical events of General Qi Jiguang and General Yu Dayou of the mid 1500s.



The coast of Zhong Guo is being plundered by wokou pirates. The pirates are a combination of ronins and samurai from Japan who enlist the help of locals to help gain a foothold. General Yu Dayou has been unable to make headway against the pirates position. General Qi Jiguang is sent to help from the north. Qi uses a variety of trickery to defeat the pirates, including observations of their tactics and weapons. With that knowledge, Qi researches ways to gain the upper and trains a new army on how to defeat the pirates.



I liked the film a lot. It was a simple premise. Defeat the pirates. With that in mind, the General has to navigate politics, the enemy's slightly more advance weapons, and the loyalty of the army. The addition of Regina Wan's added a softness to the movie in retrospect. I caught this film via Netflix.

Sacrifice - 趙氏孤兒

Sacrifice (趙氏孤兒) is an 2010 film out of Zhong Guo. The movie stars Ge You, Wang Xueqi, and Huang Xiaoming. The supporting cast includes Fan Bingbing and Vincent Zhao. The movie is directed by Chen Kaige.

Two Generals have beef with each other. One general frames the other general by poisoning the Duke. The framed general's whole clan of ~300 is killed. The only survivor is baby Zhao. A local doctor is the one that saves the baby from the grips of the general that wins. When the manhunt for baby Zhao takes the life of the doctor's son, he vows revenge. But a long drawn out revenge plan is hard to pull off, especially if it take 15 years. The doctor decides to raise baby Zhao and use him to take revenge on the general for his son. In the process, he sacrifices his wife, son, and his honor.

This movie was pretty good. Good acting, engaging story, and rather suspenseful. The matter of how things plays out kept me at the edge of my seat. I really didn't know which way things would go. Fan Bingbing's part was rather small, but quite emotional. Huang Xiaoming also plays a bit part. The main acting is left to Ge You and Wang Xueqi. Even though them two aren't the prettiest things to look at, their acting was superb.

True Legend - 蘇乞兒

True Legend (蘇乞兒) is a 2010 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Vincent Zhao, Zhou Xun, and Jay Chou. The supporting cast include Cung Le, Michelle Yeoh, Andy On, Guo Xiaodong, and David Carradine. The movie was directed by Yuen Woo-Ping.

The movie starts with a rescue mission of a prince of the Qing Dynasty. Vincent Zhao as Su Qi Er is the head of the mission and seemingly sacrifices himself so the others can take the prince to safety. Back at the camp now, the prince is confident the Su is still alive. Andy On plays Yuan, Su's adapted brother. Su is also married to Yuan's younger sister, Ying, played by Zhou Xun. However, Su's father killed Yuan and Ying's father 15 years earlier and adapted them into his household. Yuan still holds a grudge. Ying has moved on and is now a devoted wife and mother. Yuan is given a governor position in the Hubei region and goes back to Su's hometown for revenge. Yuan gets his revenge and kills Su's father and succeeds in eliminating Su's household. Su and Yuan fight for an extended period of time. But Yuan's five vemon technique is too much for Su. Su is thrown into a running river and Ying follows to save him. Yuan captures Su's son, Feng. Ying rescue's Su and takes him to Beido mountain, where they meet Yu, played by Michelle Yeoh. Yu is a expert doctor and cures Su of his wounds from the five venoms. Su's right arm is severely injured, but nurses it back to health. Su also starts to go a little mad and practices with a Wushun, a God of martial arts. After 3 years, he is fully recovered and goes back to save Feng from Yuan. But due to his madness, Ying goes ahead to save Feng. Yuan buries Ying when Su arrives. Su and Yuan battle again. This time, Su wins, but Ying suffocates from being buried. Su goes mad again and becomes a beggar. Feng and Su now travel from town to town looking for food as beggars. Su is drawn into a fight with the foreigners and wins.

Yuen Woo-ping directs his first film in more than 10 years. And its a doozy. The film has 3 main story arcs that cover Su's life. The calm, the suffering, and how he became a legend. In each arc, it feels very familiar. LIke comfort food. But it also throws in very modern elements. Like the drunken fist being half break dancing.

Jay Chou was blamed for this movie not doing well at the box office. Jay's character is barely in the movie and is part of Su's imagination.

If you're a fan of old skool and like the new skool martial art movies, True Legend gives you both and the fighting is quite entertaining. The movie is long due to the 3 storyarcs.

The Blade - 刀

The Blade (刀) is 1995 out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Vincent Zhao, Austin Wai, Moses Chan, Valerie Chow and Hung Yan-Yan.

The movie is about a group of men from a blade blacksmith outfit. The 2 main characters are Ding and Iron Head. The both seek the same girls. Things turn ugly with Ding is transfered the reigns the the blacksmith factory. The majority of blacksmiths are loyal to Iron Head. At a certain point in the movie, it turns into a revenge tail.

The action in the film was based more on reality with elements of wire fu sprinkled through out. I recently re-watched this. I had originally seen this back in 1995. My reaction back than was pretty much in amazement. Because it was a very different type of kung fu flick. The violence was much more heavy than that of the other flare during that time.

I think its still highly regarded and even today, it stands the test of time. This type of film just isn't made anymore. Its too bad and its a shame.

Some of the story is very similiar to that of "The One-Armed Swordsman".

You should watch this if you're a kung fu flick fan.

Seven Swordsmen - 七劍下天山

Seven Swordsmen (七劍下天山) is a 2005 wuxia series out of China starring Vincent Zhao. The series came on the heals of the "Seven Swords" movie by Tsui Hark.

I didn't finish this wuxia series. I stopped around the 13th or 14th episode. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to stop. The wuxia was extremely cheezy. The acting was worst. To be honest, I am not sure why I am even writing about this. It must be that I actually own this and its sitting in my stack of unwatched series.

But the Netflix reviews have been very very kind. If you go off of those, this is a must see series! Hey, you can rent it.

I've liked Vincent Zhao a lot since he first appeared as the replacement Wong Fei Hong in the Once Upon A Time in China movie series. But I've had a hard time finishing the other wuxia series he's been in. I may get to those in the future.