CompleteMartialArts.com - Ninja Checkmate
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List Price: $7.95
Our Price: $7.95
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
Starring: Mark Long, Jack Long, Li-pao Au, Jeanie Chang, Tien-chi Cheng
Directed By: Joseph Kuo
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0601641054249
Format: Color
Label: Tai Seng
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Tai Seng
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2002-08-27
Running Time: 90
Studio: Tai Seng
Theatrical Release Date: 1979
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "He's The Ghost Face Killer!"
Comment: First of all, ignore the name Ninja Checkmate. There are no ninjas in this flick. It's called The Mystery of Chess Boxing and this film has my favorite villian in fu flicks. And he is The Ghost Face Killer.
The movie begins with The Ghost Face Killer seeking revenge against a group of guys who tried to kill him. He hunts them one by one and engages in battle with them. One of the victims leaves behind a son who eventually seeks revenge himself. This leads him to search for a kung fu master.
The best parts of the movie is the battles featuring GFK only. The battles are very exciting despite some editing. Most of the battles aren't short and you get a chance to enjoy them. Especially the final battle which is not one sided, has a good music score, and delivers a really good finish.
The only problem that I have with this movie is the comedy. The scenes are just too dragged out for my taste. And these also contain the worst fight scenes which of course, are meant to be funny. But I was a little more annoyed then entertained. Still this is an excellent movie that gets several watches and never feels dull to me.
Customer Rating:
Summary: bishop takes the 5-Element Fist
Comment: One of the problems with a good rating on an old-school classic is that people who haven't seen it tend to view the enthusiasm without the benefit of a grain of salt. If you can lace the reviews with a little skepticism, you'll find a pretty sweet movie behind it. It's not without its problems: It's full-screen, not remastered (though considering that, the picture quality is very good), and the fights that don't include the Ghost-Faced Killer (Mark Long) tend to suck. Luckily there are very few fights without Ghost-Faced Killer.
This movie starts with two good fights and then wallows in unpleasant humor and molasses kung fu for about 20 minutes or so. If you can get past the 20 minutes, the rest is pretty smooth sailing. Li Yi Min stars as a young man in search of a good kung fu teacher so that he can take revenge on the Ghost-Faced Killer, who offed his father. He carries with him a pendant that the GFK left after killing the old man. He enrolls in a school where he is bullied by the other students. Then the master kicks him out when he finds the pendant, not allowing the young man to explain why he has it. The master is also an enemy of GFK. The time he spends at the school is where the movie sucks as Simon Yuen has a cameo. He later becomes the student of Jack Long (also GFK's nemesis), who teaches him how to defend against the GFK's 5-Element Fist with some methods of Chess Boxing.
This version from Red Sun is pretty good and will have to suffice until a better one comes along. Hopefully it'll be in widescreen and actually be titled "The Mystery of Chess Boxing", as this movie has NO NINJAS at all. It features the director and cast from "7 Grand Masters", but lacks that movie's consistency, though I think some of the fights in this are a little better. With an improved, uncut version including the real title, this is a 4-star flick. How can you not love a movie with such a memorable villain?
1979. aka: The Mystery of Chess Boxing
Customer Rating:
Summary: Ninja CheckMate
Comment: Its an Ol Skool flick, its not like these new kungfu movies today is worth buying and watching some pretty good fighting scene throughout the whole movie, so i recommend to buy it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Ghostface Killer is pretty cool
Comment: I bought this movie, based on hype, and from loving the 7 Grandmasters, which is high art among old school martial arts movies. The transfer and audio of Mystery of Chess Boxing are not good, but you forget about that after a few minutes into watching this movie. This is a bit campier than most of the era (and that's saying something). But the fight scenes are plenty, although not all are of the same quality. A bit slow in parts, but builds to a great ending.
It's worth the money for entertainment. Would probably rate it 3.5 stars, rounded down. If you are a purist, you may want to hold out for a better transfer with original language audio (if such a thing exists). Or, buy the remastered 7 Grandmasters, which is excellent on all levels above this one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: GHOSTFACE KILLER WONG CHEUNG SUAN
Comment: this movie stars the kung fu brother duo of jack & mark long, their great friend li yi min, the legendary simon yuen, jeannie chiang (a protege of jospeh kuo who really cant fight unless trained), the great wong brothers wong wing san & wong chi sang and ricky chi tien chee all 3 of them serving as fight choreographers. the story starts as the ghostface killer (mark long) killing off honorable elderly men but yet it is hard for him to search for the chess king (jack long). he kills one man in particular who happens to be a young man's father that young man being li yi min who swears revenge and in order to seek revenge he has to seek out a master. so he eventually finds one in a old kung fu cook old yuen (simon yuen) but he later learns all he can learn from old yuen and then seeks out the the chess king and later old yuen is killed by the ghostface killer which we dont see. the highlights of the film is the the flexibilty and magnificent kicking of mark long doing roundhouses and the splits so effortlessly. hands down he must be the greatest kicker from taiwan tying between him, alexander lo rei and chia kai, and he might be one of the best kickers of the genre. the acrobatics by jack long, li yi min and ricky chi tien chee are off the meatrack son. but there are 2 flaws the choppy editing and the switched scene near the end. this movie ran for 2 years just like 7 grandmasters another jospeh kuo gem. the fight scenes are mark long vs. li yi min's father, mark long vs. wong wing san as the pole fighter (one of the best fight scenes youll ever see), mark long vs. the martial arts teacher, and of course final fight between the long brothers then li yi min jumps in. overall this a top 20 if not top 10 pick it up you wont be disappointed.
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