Topic: The Filipino Action Movie

[renato]

I want to start a  discussion of the aesthetics/formulas/cliches of the Filipino action movie.

I grew up watching Filipino films in the late 80's and early 90's, a time where Philippine cinema seemed be at its sorriest state.Nevertheless, I did enjoy watching the Filipino movies that was released during that time- comedy, drama and horror/fantasy  but never(rarely) action films.

Can anyone recommend any good Filipino action films?

Oh, and please feel free to post your FPJ/Dante Varona/Lito Lapid /Bong Revilla/John Regala obsessions in this thread.

[Noel_Vera]

Some great action filmmakers: Gerry de Leon (48 Oras, Intramuros, the Gates of Hell); Celso Ad Castillo (Asedillo); Mario O'Hara (Bagong Hari, Condemned, Kastilyong Buhangin).

Excellent or interesting action filmmakers: Francis "Jun" Posadas (can't think of one, sorry), Ronnie Ricketts, Tikoy Aguiluz (Biyaheng Langit, Segurista).

Might add that 48 Oras, Bagong Hari, Condemned and Biyaheng Langit are borderline action/noir films. But they are excellently shot and edited, and they do have action sequences. Kastilyong Buhangin is an odd creature entirely, being a showcase for Nora's singing and Lito Lapid's stunts. It's a cross between A Star is Born and Prison on Fire.

[renato]

Thanks for the recommendations Noel.

I'm a big fan of Tikoy's Segurista although i've never really thought of it as an action film.

Come to think of it,a lot of Filipino movies,action or not, employ elements of the action genre.Chionglo's Sibak and Lagarista are examples.Even comedy films have an obligatory action scene at their climax,sort of a comedic catharsis(?).

 I've seen Walls of Hell aka Intramuros starring FPJ.There is a great scene in this movie that is almost silent,i can't quite remember the details....
I think i've seen clips of 48 oras,Erap starrer right? Or was the movie Geron Busabos?

I really have to catch up on O'Hara's work."A Star is Born meets Prison on Fire" -that description seems too good too pass up.

[zerone_null]

Fil action movies?  no twists

story is linear and predictable most of the time.. which is why i avoid them.
sorry, harsh but true.

[Noel_Vera]

Fil action movies?  no twists

story is linear and predictable most of the time.. which is why i avoid them.
sorry, harsh but true.

Tsk, tsk--obviously has not seen Condemned...

48 Oras is that terrific noir thriller done by Gerry de Leon--has some great suspense setpieces: a roomful of clocks...and the way the villain meets his ultimate fate...

Geron Busabos is one of the best of Erap's movies (maybe his very best is Gerry de Leon's The Moises Padilla Story--where he's the villain), but is okay, not especially good.

[zerone_null]

i must've missed that or else i would've thought otherwise

but now that i know, might just grab a copy somewhere and watch it..


thnx.



oh there's another thing i don't know if you guys think about it but uhhmm budget constraints?  and profitability?
we can't export movies the way americans do.. 

i'm not sure about what i just said but hey.. the closest i've been to a production is a "the making of.. " extras from DVDs hahaha

[Noel_Vera]

48 Oras is slow, but the sequences are visually outstanding; Asedillo is predictable (it's practically the prototype for the typical FPJ flick) but again the visual texture and editing has a poetry (thanks to Ad. Castilo) that his later films lacked.

Bagong Hari is, I think, something else; the classic revenge flick turned into some kind of noir epic. Also has its share of twists and turns.

Kastilyong Buhangin is basically your Star is Born melodrama with some terrific action setpieces. In other words, it doesnt' drive or feel like your typical action flick, its characterization is more in-depth than usual. Also, Lito Lapid's performance here is wonderfully understated.

Then there's Rico Ilarde's Z Man, which is an entertaining SF pastiche.

Budget and time constrainst are a consideration, especially considering that an action film depends more on its budget and schedule than most other genres. That said, Filipino filmmakers do admirably well in the circumstances.

[jdv1229]

I enjoyed Peque Gallaga's Kid Huwag Kang Susuko with Richard Gomez & Mark Gil. It's a Filipino vesrion of The Karate Kid but better. The action sequences were well executed aided by Ely Cruz' amazing cinematography & Jess Navarro's brisk editing.
There's also Romy Suzara's Boy Pana with Bembol Roco. The thrilling motorcycle chase just kept me on the edge of my seat.
Ishmael Bernal's Boy Kodyak... what do you think Noel?

[zerone_null]

i've for so long been branding our movies as monotonously uncreative.  Redundant that may have sounded--it's like eating unseasoned baked potatoes with your nose pinched.
Lately i've had the chance to view some modern teenage/comedy pieces and well i can say we've long passed the sandals-fly-to-mouth-then-do-a-musical-mid-movie era.  For action films..i've yet to see.
thanks guys for opening up my mind again to filipino action movies.   

[Noel_Vera]

I enjoyed Peque Gallaga's Kid Huwag Kang Susuko with Richard Gomez & Mark Gil. It's a Filipino vesrion of The Karate Kid but better. The action sequences were well executed aided by Ely Cruz' amazing cinematography & Jess Navarro's brisk editing.

I agree, Peque's Kid is more visual than Karate Kid...but you have to sit through about an hour of uncompelling drama to reach Mark Gil kicking through a couple of aquariums.

I still think Peque's best action sequences are in Scorpio Nights--no, seriously. Then I suppose Oro Plata Mata (tho again, the excellently done action is unsupported by a solid story and characters).

Glad you're so open-minded, zerone...not like some people 'round the other threads that put down Filipino films, probably without watching much of em...

"do-a-musical-mid-movie"

Oh, man, you gotta see the '50s Bollywood movies...

[renato]

Thanks for the recommendations Jojo.

"budgetary constraints?"

Here is a specific example of how budgetary constraints affect the style of local action movies-car explosions.

I've seen this  more than a few times-whenever a vehicle explodes in a Filipino action movie,there is an implicit attempt to maximize the screen time of the exploding vehicle.We see a replay of the explosion several times and at several angles and in slow motion.

[renato]

I meant 'explicit' instead of 'implicit'.

[Noel_Vera]

Another example of budgetary constraint:

this stunt man I talked to was to drive a car up towards the edge of a cliff where it would burst into flames and fall down the cliff. For safety, the locks on the doors fo the car were disabled, and divers ringed the shoreline to help the stuntman if ever.

So the stuntman climbed in, started the car, drove up to the cliff's edge. On cue the car bursts into flames, flies off into space, and dives into the water.

And that's when everything went wrong. The car's impact in the water crushed the doors so they wouldn't open. The gasoline flames were doused in the water, making it inky black, so the divers couldn't find the car (they weren't scuba divers, they were just divers using snorkels). Only one window shattered when the car hit the water, and the man could get out through that window, only the car settled to the sea bottom on the very same side as that window.

Know what he did? He put his feet through the opening of the one shattered window, put his fingers around the window frame, and literally pulled the car up over him.

I asked him how on earth he could do that, and he gave me two possibilities: 1) the car still had some air in it, so it wasn't impossibly heavy to lift when submerged in the water, and 2) When you're about to die, you're capable of doing anything.

Now that's an action sequence.

Unfortunately it happened offscreen. The punchline is, the stuntman did that stunt for free--he did it as a favor to Lito Lapid, because his budget for stunts had run out and he asked him if he would do that stunt, to help the movie. The guy didn't think anything of risking his life to do a favor for a friend.

[renato]

That's a great story Noel.

I just remembered an Eddie Romero action flick that I liked,Black Mama,White Mama,starring Margaret Markov,Pam Grier and Sid Haig.The local cast includes Eddie Garcia,Vic Diaz,Subas Herrero and Lotis Key(nude in one of the the obligatory shower scenes).It's a 'Women in Prison' version of Kramer's The Defiant Ones.Terrific entertainment with plenty of catfights.

[Noel_Vera]

Funny, Scorsese, Demme and Coppola all started their careers with exploitation flicks; De Leon and Romero ended with them.

[renato]

Yep,and  I'll choose The Blood Drinkers and Black Mama,White Mama over Caged Heat, Boxcar Bertha  and You're A Big Boy Now any given day.

[renato]

Oh sorry,i meant Tonight For Sure instead of You're A Big Boy Now

[renato]

Another name worth mentioning here is the ultra-prolific Cirio Santiago.

[X44]

Taken out of context, the two gun battles and the kung fu scene inside the prison from Toto Natividad's otherwise dreary Suspek were interesting . Natividad's obviously been brushing up on his 90s HK crime library - - -  Johnnie To, pre-Van Damme latter-day Ringo Lam, Wilson Yip. 

Erik Matti's. . .este "Augusto Salvador"'s Alas Dose had a Hong Kong-ish gun fight that was fine although too much a crib from Johnnie To. . .este "Patrick Yau"'s The Longest Nite , specially its' Lady From Shanghai by way of Face/Off climax.

[renato]

Thanks X, I enjoyed your description of the action scenes from both Suspek and Alas Dose.I need to catch up on my HK action too.

 

[Noel_Vera]

Hi, X, did you know there's a HK action filmmaker working in Manila? I believe his name is Philip Ko or something like that, and he's not bad, a very low rent John Woo.

[El Zar]

Philip Ko ? Was he the one who directed Robin Padilla's Long Shreds Action TV Commercial with Ninjas ?

And speaking of budgetary constraints, a production outfit bought an old car of ours once. It was basically dead and went out in a blaze of glory in one of those action flicks. Forgot how much the going price was.

[Noel_Vera]

I think so, I'm not sure.

[X44]

Hi, X, did you know there's a HK action filmmaker working in Manila? I believe his name is Philip Ko or something like that, and he's not bad, a very low rent John Woo.

Yeah. I've seen his Predator rip with Monsour Del Rosario on cable and it had some nice bits in it. Also saw the one with Edu Manzano and Donnie Yen. That was surreal.

[X44]

Thanks X, I enjoyed your description of the action scenes from both Suspek and Alas Dose.I need to catch up on my HK action too.

Start with The Mission, renato, by Johnnie To. It's almost the antithesis of John Woo and it has  a mall shootout that's a beaut - - -and everyone in it hardly moves.

[Noel_Vera]

"Yeah. I've seen his Predator rip with Monsour Del Rosario on cable"

You're not talking Dugo ng Birhen by Rico Ilarde are you?

"Also saw the one with Edu Manzano and Donnie Yen"

Holy--! 

[X44]

"Yeah. I've seen his Predator rip with Monsour Del Rosario on cable"

You're not talking Dugo ng Birhen by Rico Ilarde are you?

"Also saw the one with Edu Manzano and Donnie Yen"

Holy--! 

Nope. Familiar with Rico's work. Dugo Ng Birhen I've seen. Not sure what the title of that other Monsour movie is, though.

[El Zar]

Monsour's Predator rip ? Yep. Saw some of it. Funky camera angles and HK action sequences. And I also forgot the title. Predator rip it is.

[El Zar]

Monsour's Predator rip ? Yep. Saw some of it. Funky camera angles and HK action sequences. And I also forgot the title. Predator rip it is.

[renato]

Start with The Mission, renato, by Johnnie To. It's almost the antithesis of John Woo and it has  a mall shootout that's a beaut - - -and everyone in it hardly moves.

Thanks X, I've had Johnny To's The Mission on my rental list for quite some time now.

 About that Philip Ko-Monsour Predator rip movie-I've checked IMDB,it could be either Lethal Panther 2, Techno Warriors or Lethal Combat.