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Celestial's Shaw Brothers Film Library
The Celestial's Shaw Brothers Film Library is the World's Largest Chinese Film Library consisting of over 760 feature films originally released over a forty-year time frame from the 1950s to the 1990s produced by Shaw Brothers Studio. The genres of the library range from Kung Fu, Action, Martial Arts, Erotica, Comedy, Horror, Situation Drama, Musical, Period Drama, Thriller, etc. Celestial's Shaw Brothers Film Library is a wholly owned film library by Celestial Pictures. Everlasting Masterpieces Digital-Remastered since 2002 Until Celestial Pictures restored the films from their original negatives and released them on DVD beginning in 2002, very few titles from the Shaw Brothers film archive had previously appeared in any electronic multimedia form since their original cinema release in 50s-90s. State of the art digital technologies are employed to restore each and every frame - 150,000 on average - for every film. Film fans around the world are then made access to some of the be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaw Brothers Studio
Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, and operated from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shanghai, and established a film distribution base in Singapore, where Runme and their youngest brother, Run Run Shaw, managed the precursor to the parent company, Shaw Organisation. Runme and Run Run took over the film production business of its Hong Kong-based sister company, Shaw & Sons Ltd, and in 1958 a new company, "Shaw Brothers," was set up. In the 1960s, Shaw Brothers established what was once the largest privately owned studio in the world, Movietown. The company's most famous works include ''The Love Eterne'', ''The One-Armed Swordsman'', ''Come Drink with Me'', ''King Boxer'', ''Executioners from Shaolin'', '' Five Deadly Venoms'', and ''The 36th Chamber of Shaolin''. Over the years the film company produced around 1,000 films, some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu genre in Hong Kong action cinema, before working in Hollywood films. He is known for his highly chaotic "bullet ballet" action sequences, stylized imagery, Mexican standoffs, frequent use of slow motion and allusions to ''wuxia'', film noir and Western cinema. Considered one of the major figures of Hong Kong cinema, Woo has directed several notable action films including ''A Better Tomorrow'' (1986), '' The Killer'' (1989), '' Hard Boiled'' (1992) and '' Red Cliff'' (2008/2009). His Hollywood films include ''Hard Target'' (1993), '' Broken Arrow'' (1996), ''Face/Off'' (1997) and '' Mission: Impossible 2'' (2000). He also created the comic series ''Seven Brothers'', published by Virgin Comics. He is the founder and chairman of the produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chu Yuan
Chu Yuan (褚淵) (435–482), courtesy name Yanhui (彥回), formally Duke Wenjian of Nankang (南康文簡公), was a high-level official of the Chinese dynasties Liu Song and Southern Qi. Background Chu Yuan was from an aristocratic family. His father was Chu Danzhi (褚湛之), a general under Emperor Wen, who married Emperor Wen's sister Princess Shi'an. After Princess Shi'an died, Chu Danzhi married Emperor Wen's daughter Princess Wu. He was not born of either of the princesses. After Emperor Wen was assassinated by his crown prince Liu Shao in 453, Liu Shao took over as emperor and tried to make Chu Danzhi loyal to him by giving him additional responsibilities. However, Chu Danzhi, during his campaign against his brother Liu Jun the Prince of Wuling, took an opportunity to flee to Liu Jun's camp with Chu Yuan and his younger brother Chu Cheng (褚澄). Chu Yuan had one son by this point, whom they were unable to take with them, and in retaliation Liu Shao had the ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liu Chia-liang
Lau Kar-leung (28 July 1934 – 25 June 2013), was a Chinese actor, filmmaker, choreographer, and martial artist from Hong Kong. Lau is best known for the films he made in the 1970s and 1980s for the Shaw Brothers Studio. His most famous works include ''The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'' starring Gordon Liu as well as ''Drunken Master II'' starring Jackie Chan. History Lau began learning kung fu when he was nine years old, under strict tutelage from his father. Before becoming famous, Lau worked as an extra and choreographer on black and white Wong Fei-hung movies. He teamed up with fellow Wong Fei-hung choreographer on the 1963 Hu Peng-directed wuxia film ''South Dragon, North Phoenix''. Their collaboration would continue on until the mid-1970s. His first appearance in a film was in ''Brave Lad of Guangong'' (1950). In the 1960s he became one of Shaw Brothers' main choreographers and had a strong working relationship with director Chang Cheh, working on many of Chang's films a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Hu
Hu Jinquan (29 April 1932 – 14 January 1997), better known as King Hu, was a Chinese film director and actor based in Hong Kong and Taiwan. He is best known for directing various ''wuxia'' films in the 1960s and 1970s, which brought Hong Kong and Taiwanese cinema to new technical and artistic heights. His films ''Come Drink with Me'' (1966), ''Dragon Inn'' (1967), and ''A Touch of Zen'' (1970–1971) inaugurated a new generation of ''wuxia'' films in the late 1960s. Apart from being a film director, Hu was also a screenwriter and set designer. Early life Hu was born in Beijing to a well-established family originating from Handan, Hebei. His grandfather was the governor of Henan in the late Qing Dynasty. His father had studied in Japan and was the owner of the local coal mine. His uncle was a high ranking official in the Republican government. Several of his brothers held high positions in the Communist government. Hu grew up in Beijing as a child. He emigrated to Hong Kong in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chang Cheh
Chang Cheh (; 10 February 1923 – 22 June 2002) was a Chinese people, Chinese filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and producer active in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Chang Cheh directed more than 90 films in Greater China, the majority of them with the Shaw Brothers Studio in Hong Kong. Most of his films are action films, especially ''wuxia'' and ''kung fu'' films filled with violence. In the early 1970s he frequently cast actors David Chiang and Ti Lung in his films. In the late 1970s he mainly worked with a group of actors known as the Venom Mob. Chang Cheh is also known for his long-time collaboration with writer Ni Kuang. Career Referred to as "The Godfather of Hong Kong cinema", Chang directed nearly 100 films in his illustrious career at Shaw Brothers, which ran the gamut from swordplay films (''One-Armed Swordsman'', ''The Assassin'', ''Golden Swallow (1968 film), Golden Swallow'') to kung fu films (''Five Shaolin Masters'', ''Five Venoms'', ''Kid with the Golden Arm'') to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Ching Siu-tung
Ching Siu-tung (Chinese: 程小東, born October 31st, 1953), also known as Tony Ching, is a Hong Kong action choreographer, actor, film director and producer, who has directed over 20 films, including the critically acclaimed supernatural fantasy '' A Chinese Ghost Story'' (1987). He produced the expensive music video for "L'Âme-Stram-Gram" by the French singer Mylène Farmer in the style of ''A Chinese Ghost Story'' at a cost of €1 million. He studied in the Eastern Drama Academy and trained in Northern Style Kung Fu for 7 years. Career Ching began as an actor and martial arts instructor working in Hong Kong action cinema in the 1960s and 1970s (his father, Ching Gong, was a Shaw Brothers Studio director, and Ching Siu-tung had been trained in Peking opera as a child), but he made his directorial debut in 1982 with the ground-breaking wuxia classic ''Duel to the Death''. Ching worked with producer Tsui Hark on 1987's ''A Chinese Ghost Story'', which became an internationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Lau
Andy Lau Tak-wah (; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time. In the 1990s, Lau was branded by the media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop and was named as "Fourth Tiger" among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB during the 1980s. In the Philippines, he was previously given the screen name Ricky Chan. By April 2000, Lau won an unprecedented total of 292 awards. He also holds numerous film acting awards, having won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor three times and the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor twice. In 2005, Lau received the "No.1 Box office Actor 1985–2005" award of Hong Kong, yielding a box office total of HK$1,733,275,816 for shooting 108 films in the past 20 years, and in 2007, he received the "Nielsen Box Office ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celestial Pictures
Celestial Pictures is a diversified entertainment company focusing on Asian-language film and television content including production, aggregation, distribution and the operation of TV channels. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the company owns the world's largest Chinese film collection including the Shaw Brothers film library. Celestial Pictures is restoring the Shaw Brothers' movies and distributing them to cinemas and the worldwide television and home video markets. History It purchased the Shaw Brothers film library in 2000, when it was then called "East Asia Filmed Entertainment Ltd" and owned by the Malaysian media group Astro Holdings Sdn Bhd, which in turn controlled by Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd (a Malaysian investment holding company). In 2001, under the Chinese name 星藝映畫, it produced two films, namely Comic King (漫畫風雲) and Stowaway (驚天大逃亡). It took up the current Chinese name 天映娛樂 in 2002. Television channels Celestial’s television channel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong former actress. Raised in Hong Kong and Britain, she started her career after placing second in 1983's Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She achieved critical success in the late 1980s and into the early 2000s, before taking a break from acting following her last starring role in 2004. She rarely makes public appearances except for fashion events and award ceremonies. Cheung has won numerous accolades at home and abroad for her acting. She has won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress 5 times in the span of 11 years from 1990 to 2001, and holds the record for most wins in that category. She also holds the record for most wins for the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress in Taiwan, having won 4 times. In the West, she has been awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actress at Berlin International Film Festival in 1992 and Best Actress at Cannes Film Festival in 2004. In 2004, she became the first Asian actress to be nomina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cheng Pei-pei
Cheng Pei-pei (born 6 January 1946) is a Chinese actress, who is considered cinema's first female action hero. She is known for her performance in the 1966 King Hu ''wuxia'' film ''Come Drink with Me'', as well as her portrayal of Jade Fox in the award-winning 2000 ''wuxia'' film ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''. Career Cheng moved to Hong Kong in 1962. In 1963, she began training at Shaw Brothers Studio through a recommendation by a family friend. Due to her Mandarin and dance background, she quickly worked her way up. And in 1964, she made her feature film debut as Liu Qiuzi in the 1964 Taiwanese drama film ''Lovers' Rock''. Cheng is perhaps best known for starring in the 1966 Hong Kong wuxia film ''Come Drink with Me'', directed by King Hu. Set during the Ming Dynasty, it stars Cheng as Golden Swallow, a skilled swordswoman on a mission to rescue her brother. Cheng continued to play expert swordswomen in a number of films throughout the 1960s. Cheng moved to Southern Cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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