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All the pics displayed in this blogs are from the author's private collection or just snapshots from his private movie collection. Whenever I use another web's or person's pics, it will be always mentioned.

Feel free to use the information or pics showed but please ask for permission or just remember to add the source wherever you use them. THANKS

Todas las fotos mostradas en este blog pertenecen a la colección privada del autor o son capturas de las películas de la misma colección. En caso de usar material de otra persona o web, siempre será mencionada su procedencia.
La información y/o fotos de este blog están a disposición de cualquiera, pero por favor pidan permiso para usarlas o al menos indiquen su procedencia. GRACIAS

domingo, 30 de enero de 2011

Ninja Champion on YouTube

This blog is enterely dedicated to research, investigate, find & publish interesting information, pics, videos or whatever related to Joseph Lai's IFD & Tomas Tang Filmark International. It will NEVER, EVER offer download files nor upload that kind of files as well. But today, looking for IFD videos in YouTube, I have found a complete full frame edition of Ninja Champion has been offered by someone in just one single YouTube video.
If anyone hasn't seen it yet & is interested to see it online, here you have the video.




I have nothing to do with it, I have just found the video. Anyway, if you enjoy this kind of movies & you have the chance to get them original on video or DVD, I recommend you to purchase them. They are the perfect movies to watch when you are drunk or getting drunk with friends.

domingo, 23 de enero de 2011

IFD at its weirdest film: Official Exterminator 3- Joy For Living Dead ( aka Ninja Knight 4- Joy for living dead)

If you thought Joseph Lai's IFD offered us during years the wackiest but funniest movies ever made in Hong Kong, you were right. But we have to add another adjetives to wacky & funny if you want to enjoy & understand a bit better IFD universe, those adjetives are WEIRD, BIZARRE, and specially for this movie, INDESCRIBABLE. What's the reason for this?- The answer is this IFD movie: Official Exterminator 3: Joy for the living dead that was also edited on tape in some countries as Ninja Knight 4: Joy the living dead.

sOriginal art cover for this bizarre movie. In some countries Official Exterminator was changed into Ninja Knight 4

To start with, what the hell means Joy living dead???? Who gave that title? Was Eagle Leung, the art designer hired by Joseph Lai to create his fantastic video covers? The reason for this title may be caused as a direct consecuence of the previous entry Ninja Knight 3: Heaven's Hell ( aka Official Exterminator 2: Heaven's Hell), a title that tries to take us into a supernatural, unearthly feeling but it just takes us into confussion and even misinterpretation since there is not a single zombi, living dead or ghost in these movies.

New IFD art design for this Philip Ko work at IFD

Anyway, the reason explained above is not a strong evidence to tell Official Externinator 3: Joy for living dead is the weirdest IFD movie I have ever seen. Just remember Ninja Terminator...Where is the Terminator in the movie? or Ninja Dragon Where the hell Godfrey Ho hid the dragon of the title?...and so on.
Then WHAT'S THE REASON to tell Joy for the living dead is the weirdest, most bizarre & wackiest movie ever produced by IFD?
THE REASON is the source movie Philip Ko used as main body. YES, that's the reason. We know IFD used Taiwanese, Filipino, Thai or Korean action movies as main body for its cut & paste films, but this time Philip Ko was beyond and he used an EROTIC BRAZILIAN movie for his new film.

Original brazilian artwork for Doce Delirio. Check the picture.

He could have used countless korean erotic thrillers as he used in some episodies for War City saga, he could have used many taiwanese erotic action films also used by IFD like they did in Golden ninja warrior or Rage of the ninja...but he used a brazilian erotic movie. The only non-asian movie ever used & distributed by IFD.

A snapshot from Official Exterminator 3: Joy for living dead. This must be the most famous moment of the movie since it was used for the original movie poster

DOCE DELIRIO, the film Philip Ko chose to create his Official Exterminator 3: Joy For Living Dead, was directed by Manoel Paiva in 1983. This erotic drama was starred but Brazil Diva Claudia Alencar who is still working in Brazilian film industry. Philip Ko & Joseph Lai, at least, kept her name in the credits & this detail has allowed me to investigate about this matter.
At first when I played Official Exterminator 3: Joy for Living dead, I thought the source movie was indonesian or just another filipino drama because the photography & screenplay from both countries is apparently extremely similar but there was something that was weirder than usually.

Back artcover used by IFD, the famous shot is also included on it!!!

Recently, Doce Delirio has been re-edited in Brazil in a collector's edition. Of course, this edition contains the original Manoel Paiva cut only. I haven't watched it yet, but I truly recommend to track down the Philip Ko cut because as I stated above this is the weirdest & most bizarre movie ever done by IFD. There is no doubts Official Exterminator 3: Joy for living dead ( aka Ninja Knight 4: Joy for living dead) is one of those gems for die-hard trash movies collectors.
Original brazilian DVD cover

Once again, I have to recognice IFD productions still amaze me. No other production company from Hong Kong offered such madness & entertainment at such low costs. We can't forget Mike Abbott became into a cult actor dued to these movies he starred at IFD.

miércoles, 19 de enero de 2011

Algunas curiosidades sobre NINJA DRAGON de la IFD

Ninja Dragon fue una de las primeras películas que Richard Harrison hizo para la IFD, tras la saga Thunderbolt en 1985 a pesar de que la fecha del copyright sea de 1986. En esa época Joseph Lai y sus secuaces aún se preocupaban por la factura técnica del producto y contrataban secundarios y a técnicos ( cámaras, especilistas, secundarios con curriculum) con más capacidad profesional que los vistos en posteriores producciones.

Tras el éxito que obtuvo Ni nja Thunderbolt en los mercados internacionales del video, Joseph Lai nos ofreció algunas películas con ninjas en las que no era difícil encontrar buenos momentos e incluso calidad técnica como ocurre en Ninja Dragon.

En Ninja Dragon el coreografo de las escenas ninjas fue Donald Kong Do visto además en un papel muy secundario. Las escenas coreografiadas por Kong son dinámicas y rápidas y el prólogo de la película nos es presentado como muchas películas de kung fu clásico donde veiamos a los actores luchar delante de un fondo rojo donde demostraban sus habilidades y movimientos que luego desarrollarian mas profundamente durante el metraje. Poco después Kong Do se marcharia a la Filmark de Tomas Tang y el actor John Chiang tomaría el relevo como coreografo oficial de la IFD junto a Philip Ko y Ridley Tsui.

Visualmente Ninja Dragon formaría una cuatrilogia formada por Ninja Terminator y Diamond Ninja force y Ninja the protector con las que comparte la mayoria de actores secundarios, coreografo, localizaciones de rodaje, vestuario y director.
Caratula original de VHS español

El antagonista de Richard Harrison en Ninja Dragon es Paulo Tocha que por las mismas fechas habia trabajado en Hong Kong Godfather de la Shaw Bros. Lo más sorprendente es que Joseph Lai nos lo quiso vender como un refrito de Bruce Lee y Stallone bajo el nombre artistico Bruce Stallion. La cosa no debió cuajar porque los siguientes trabajos de Tocha para la IFD se limitaron a meras apariciones como extra. Ante tal panorama Tocha cogió puerta y se convirtio en actor estrella en un par de producciones de la Filmark de Tomas Tang. Poco después Tocha llamaria la atención internacional gracias a su papel del Kickboxer Paco en Contacto Sangriento, la película que hizo de Van Damme un autentico ídolo.

Paulo Tocha fue acreditado como Bruce Stallion en su debut como actor principal en la ex-colonia. Poco después saborearia las mieles de éxito en producciones de mayor enjundia, éxito que sigue disfrutando hoy a nivel profesional. Pena que no quiera recordar sus inicios.

Ninja Dragon es una película que sobresale por muchas razones de los productos a los que nos acostumbró Joseph Lai poco después pero quizás el aspecto mas importante sea que su "relleno" sea una película taiwanesa que no es sino un remake de un film de la Shaw Bros llamado BROTHERHOOD. La similitud de ambas películas es tal que no solo el guión y la puesta en escena sean calacadas es que además ambas películas comparten muchos de los mismos actores!!!!!!

Caratula del DVD inglés de Ninja Dragon.

Las escenas ninjas de Ninja Dragon se rodaron en varios puntos de Kowloon Park ( igual que Ninja Terminator) situado en el distrito de Tsim Tsa Tsui a pocos metros de donde se situaban las antiguas oficinas de la IFD. Otros exteriores reconocibles son algunas zonas del distrito Central de la isla de Hong Kong y el duelo final se rodó integramente en Signal Hill, un pequeño jardín situado justo detrás del famoso edificio Chungking Mansions. En ese mismo lugar se rodaron la mayoria de las nuevas escenas usadas en Silver Dragon Ninja, la primera película que Donald Kon Do rodó para la Filmark de Tomas Tang y que casualmente contó con Paulo Tocha como principal actor.

Signal Hill Garden en 1985 cuando se rodó Ninja Dragon


Signal Hill Garden en Agosto de 2009, casi 25 años después del rodaje de Ninja Dragon, el lugar apenas ha sufrido cambios de importancia.

Ninja Dragon nos cuenta la historia de varios mafiosos internacionales que compiten entre si en el Shanghai de los años 30. Gordon Richards ( Richard Harrison) es un banquero que se está quedando con la mayor parte del pastel lo que hará que la competencia tire del ninjitsu para acabar con él, aunque antes tendran que eliminar a su socio.
El film de relleno que usó Godfrey Ho para darle cuerpo a Ninja Dragon, era simplemente un remake taiwanés de una peli de gangsters de la Shaw Brothers.

En definitiva, Ninja Dragon es un buen ejemplo que prueba que si Joseph Lai le hubiese puesto algo más de cariño a sus productos la historia hubiese sido muy diferente a la que conocemos y sus películas no serian tan vapuleadas por los fans como lo han sido y lo siguen siendo.

sábado, 15 de enero de 2011

Turkish IFD Vhs tapes & others

Recently, a Turkish fella named Kaya contacted me because he likes this blog & I guess he also enjoys Ninja movies as I do. He kindly sent me several nice art covers from Turkey. Once again, Joseph Lai proved his movies had a great potential on video markets at the time. Once again it has been proved IFD movies have been the most distributed Hong Kong movies ever.

Just enjoy these covers.

-Ninja Knight Thunderfox was the first movie Mike Abbott did after Richard Harrison left IFD. The Turkish art cover is exactly as the Spanish one, so we can easily guess this was the international pressbook for this movie that let us know the great charisma Abbott delivered on the movies he starred.


The poster below is the turkish art work for LIFE NINJA, a taiwanese ninja movie starred by Chen Kuan Tai, Kurata Yasuaki & Elsa Yeung. It wasn't an IFD or Filmark production but Tomas Tang brought this movie to Europe through his Filmark International.


Ninja Vs Shaolin guards was another Taiwanese ninja movie starred by Alexander Lo Rei. It is not an IFD or Filmark production. This movie was distributed around the world by Ocean Shores, a company that owned many source movies used as main body in many IFD & Filmark cut & paste movies.


-Super Ninja was, once again, another Taiwanese movie that was internationally distributed by Tomas Tang's Filmark International. These movies starred by Lo Rei are the ones that made many people wrongly think James Wu Kuo Jen was an alias for Tomas Tang. Super Ninja was also known & distributed in some countries as Killer's invencible.



Well this last Turkish poster belongs to Ninja in the dragon's den, a Ng See Yuen production for his Seasonal Film Company. We could think this movie has nothing at all to do with the ones produced / distributed by Lai & Tang, right? Well, the answer may be YES & NO at the same time because thanks to this movie, Joseph Lai & Tomas Tang brough to us SECRET NINJA ROARING TIGER, a korean explotation of Ninja in the dragon's den distributed by Asso Asia.


Thanks to Kaya to send me these art work & allow me to share them with all of you!

sábado, 1 de enero de 2011

Interview to EDOWAN BERSMA a multimedia henchman ninja master

During some months I have been waiting for the moment to publish the interview Mr Edowan Bersma kindly granted to me last June. Besides, Mr Bersma & I continued many conversations about his career at IFD, Filmark & other Hong Kong productions till today. What I mean is I contacted him as a fan of the movies he starred 23 years ago and our continuous conversations ended on a mutual friendship plus the high respect I have developed to his persona. That's why I decided to keep the following interview in my computer file & publish it today as a Happy New Year present to all my friends & readers of this blog.

Edowan Bersma also sent me a lot of pics taken while he was shooting on set & It is stated above they are copyrighted to his owner. If anyone may use them, please name the source.

INTERVIEW TO EDOWAN BERSMA

A dutch man goes Hong Kong to became a ninja master

-To start with, could you tell us a bit about you and your life before you went to Asia?
After my Army service, I had worked as Immigrant Teacher in Holland, volunteer in a Kibbutz in Israel, ‘Jack of all trades in Downunder & New Zealand, English teacher in Taiwan, Thailand and Japan where I made friends from around the globe – kick starting my global travel search. Met some inspiring girls on the train in Java/Indonesia, intriguing me with their Hong Kong Kung Fu stories.

-What led you to move to Hong Kong, and how did you then entered the movie world?
After 6 more months of traveling SE-Asia I made it to – at that time – the Mecca of Kung Fu – Hong Kong. After staying in several Chungking Mansions hostels, I got connected to the right people, and started my 1st Kung Fu part one month from entering Hong Kong.

-During the 80's, it seems there were good opportunities for White or Black Westerners to appear in movies in HK and in other Asian countries, which film industries were then flourishing. How many films have you been working on?
All in all I did just about 200x Ninja movies, some hard core Kung Fu scenes, and small part acting roles in Taipan/partially shot in Southern China, Noble House/HK, Good Morning Vietnam + Saigon/both shot in Thailand, Project A part II as well as the Armour of God /both Jackie Chan – Golden Harvest productions, amongst others.
IFD, Jackie Chan, Tsui Hark, Ninja, soldier, henchman..Edowan is the man!

-On IFD or Filmark productions, White or Black guys were usually employed to make the film look like an American made production. Most of the Western faces you see in these films were tourists, students or backpackers from Chungking Mansion with no experience in acting. It seems you, at least, had some genuine experience in martial arts. What are your martial skills, and how useful was it on those films?
Mine were based on teenager weekly JUDO training, and a mix of Kung Fu styles which I quickly learnt on the set, tailor made to ‘camfu’ as we called it, in order to make it look better on camera/ video.

-You notably worked with director Godfrey Ho and producer Joseph Lai (IFD) on at least 3 films, entitled Advent Commando 3: Dressed to fire, Thunder of gigantic serpent & Zodiac America: the SuperMaster ( aka Zombie Vs Ninja). What are your memories of these films, Godfrey Ho and Joseph Lai? Would you have any anecdotes from the shooting of each one, about the working methods for instance? How much did you got paid on that film?
Quite frankly, we seldom knew the script, or who we were supposed to portray. Only in Godfrey’s or Lai’s bigger budget movies we were given a script + direction where to take it, with more girls on the set. In general we were the Hollywood reverse – ‘gweiloos’ (=foreign devils) playing as bad guys. I became an expert in dying / or getting killed.

-I suppose you know IFD & Filmark used asian movies & then pasted some new shots into them for the international video markets.Were you aware about the cut & paste working methods used by IFD when shooting your parts?
Not at the time, but often afterwards we did. More because some of the movie shots on set only lasted 2-3 days, before the next movie (different outfits) showed its face.

Edowan Bersma played several & different supporting roles at IFD's Advent commando series till he got a main role in the 3rd chapter Advent Commando 3: dressed to fire

I saw you in a supporting role in IFD's Advent Commando 7: Guns to heaven, the "good boy" is Bryan Baker, he played against Chow Yun Fat in Tiger on the beat & the bad boy is Mike Abbott. Did you work with Mike Abbott in more movies?
I had almost forgotten about Bryan Baker - some good memories and quite a decent chap he was/is. Mike Abbott suffered the same career path as me, mostly typecasted as the bad guy, because of his massive shoulders. Don't think I have ever seen Mike in a character friendly role.
I thought I had seen Mike from a distance in KennedyTown recently. We never worked much together, only a few times for a few hours.

In recent interviews, Richard Harrison says he didn't know about the working methods of Godfrey Ho & Joseph Lai at IFD ( paste new shots with gweilohs into an asian movie for international markets). Did you know about this cut & paste editing work when you started to work with them? i mean, did you know your scenes would end paste into an already made korean, taiwanese or pinoy movie? do you think Mr Harrison knew about it?
As for Richard Harrison - yeap his disappointments with Godfrey & Joseph are well founded. None of us ever knew what we were going to shoot, and were briefed on a daily basis. For a guy like Richard with his background, that must have been a tough one to swallow at the time, something they would not get away with these days anymore - having agents in place to co-ordinate and smooth things over whatever creativity producers would come up with last-minute.

You played Richard Harrison's ninja master in Ninja Operation 2: Way of Challenge. This movie was edited in USA as Ninja Strike Force. Did you notice you are credited as Frederick Bresma? I have to admit I didn't recognice you till I have got your pics...really, you look like totally different when you have the beard.
Yeap I used several different names, in order to (1) avoid some triad activities, as well as (2) paying tax on my earnings - which weren't very large - but on tourist visa in those days. In retrospect I should have applied for a proper visa, regardless of knowing how long to stay, which would have guaranteed me a more solid credit.

When we are young - we always choose the easy way out, without considering the future - let along retirement.

Edowan Bersma credited as Frederick Bresma was Richard Harrison's Ninja master in Ninja operation 2: Way to challenge ( aka Ninja strike force)

-The movies you starred at IFD were co-started by Pierre Kirby. Do you remember him? What could you tell us about him?
Do I remember him – ‘haha’ - Pierre was the main guy indeed. Pierre was the more body-build type amongst us, knowing the right moves, hence lasting much longer in the Ninja movie scene. A good guy in general with a fun sense of humour, and quite mature for his age. .

Pierre Kirby punishes Edowan Bersma while IFD technicians are shooting the action

-There was another two guys named Paul John Stanners & Patrick Frbezar who co-starred along with you at IFD ninja / Thriller / action productions. Do you have any memories about them?

We only worked moments together, so we didn’t really get to know each other well. As for the Ninja scene, most of us 10-15 guys were hanging out in the same Humphreys Avenue Guesthouse/ Tsim Sha Tsui – Kowloon, where we had our Monica = Mamasan looking after our where abouts. Sadly this Guesthouse no longer exists.

- In an interview to Paul John Stanners, he said you were one of last people who saw Pierre Kirby in Hong Kong Hyatt hotel before he dissapeared & a black legend started about his fate ( please check this link http://www.cinema-nocturna.com/index.php?iden=84&ind=reviews&op=entry_view ). Could you give us some light about this matter?
Yeap it was me who spotted Kirby in the Hyatt afterwards, but failed to confirm this due to a Maze of people between me and him disappearing quickly. Pierre disappeared to the Philippines, on a yacht with friends. Typhoons (=cyclones) were the norm that Summer, leaving little to his fate. When I met with Danny (Thunder of Gigantic Serpent, )Dewey (The Super Master) and others in Korea and Japan years after, no one had heard from Pierre since.

Pierre Kirby jokes to Edowan Bersma during the filming of Crackdown Mission a lost movie from IFD. Only avaliable in German severely cut dvd edition.

-Some "gweilo" actors ("foreign devils" in Cantonese, that is to say "White westerners") told us Chinese crew members or people were not always very friendly with foreigners. What's your opinion about it in your HK movie experience?

Cantonese language & attitude are different from European, American, Australian, South African or other Asian customer friendly attitudes. Cantonese dialect – unlike Japanese – is very straight forward. They tell it as it is. Cantonese as a Chinese dialect is rough sounding, unlike Putonghua (=Mandarin), Thai, Malay and others. Bit like my native Dutch amongst European languages. Only when they sing in Cantonese, everything sounds better, reason why Hong Kong after Ninja/Kung Fu became the entertainment centre of Asia, till Japan, and now Korea as well as Mainland China have taken the lead more recently.

-I love travelling & hiking. Whenever I am in Hong Kong, I am used to hike & visit the filming locations used in the New Territories or Kowloon. Along the years I have searching & found many places that were used for those IFD ninja / action movies. But there is a place I haven't found yet. It is the forest where most of IFD final showdown were shot. I know you also love hiking. Do you remember where that forest is located?
It’s in the New Territories / Kowloon. Sadly some huge residential complex has been built there, reason why you haven’t been able to find it.
the areas where we shot most of the movies varied a lot, because of triad protection money + police rules & regulations, so we moved around a lot. Wu Kau Tang area was frequently used by IFD, as where Tai Po and Fanling more by Filmark. Mai Po and Lok Ma Chau twice at least, eventhough too close to the border, Tin Shui Wai was difficult to get to but used for some major scenes. I have only once recognised a shooting are near Kam tin, others look different now.

How it was working for Filmark international?
Filmark was an unpleasant experience. Had agreed to doing some roles for them - without showing my name in the Credits - ended up facing some real Triads (=Mafia) - so was happy to return to IFD.
Edowan Bersma was not happy at all working for Filmark International!!!

-I know you worked with Jacky Chan in at least 3 movies. Which ones? What can you tell us about Chan? Do you have any memories about filming with Chan?
Yeap but Ionly did 2x with Jackie : The Armour of God – as one of the three BAD monks – and Project A Part II – where I was the Ambassador (my only positive role those days) . Jackie at that time spoke more ‘Nihongo’ (=Japanese) – because of his fan club – than English, so we used translators on the set. He was very hard working, and should now enjoy life a bit more. HKTB (HK Tourism Bureau) is currently using him more as Tourism Ambassador. I owe him some of my humble acting skills – he was fun to work for!

-Taipan was big European production shot around several places including Hong Kong & Spain. How did you get your part on this movie? Any nice memory about it?
Taipan was my BEST job ever! We got paid US$50.- daily, no matter working or not. Did spend over three months with Taipan, In Southern China (my first China entry) Macau and Hong Kong. It opened doors for me, and triggered my interest in PR China – where I have since returned year alter year.

Edowan Bersma ( the second from the right) played a monk in Jackie Chan's top action masterpiece Armour of God

-At the end of the 80's many people who were working in Hong Kong, also ended working in some american productions filmed in countries like Thailand or The Philippines (i.e kickboxers starring jean Claude Van Damme). You got a role in Good morning Vietnam, starring Robin Williams. Could you say something about this? How did you get your role? how was shooting in Thailand? etc etc.
American budgets versus HK budgets were much much larger, hence a much better life as Extra versus the tougher kung fu acting roles in HK. Robin Williams is as funny on set, as off set……a real pro. Did Good Morning Vietnam at the same time as Saigon with Gregory Haines and William Dafoe (spelling?) I believe they have changed the movie title before releasing it, have traed hunting it down on DVD without success.

-What are your best and your worst memories as an actor or an extra?

Balancing fitness with fun, a very difficult match. Being part of a movie scene, requires a social scene of networking, for some only drinking, for others drugs, not a pleasant scene to witness.
He worked with Jackie Chan again in Project A part 2

-With the hindsight, what look do you take at your work in the film industry? Did you ever have a keen interest in it?
After 2 years of working the HK + Asian movie scenes I got this reality check, that one either needs to be handsome or character ugly, in order to make it to Hollywood, Cantowood, Bollywood, or other Asian movie centres like Thailand, Korea or Japan more recently. Reason why I chose Publishing over Entertainment, now my 22 year.

-What is your occupation now?

Started off as a BookLibrarian than Sales Manager - for Asia 2000 (even handling IMF & World Bank serious titles, as well as local studies), than Book Distributor for Asia Publishing Services including Lonely Planet, Art + Film books, after changing to Media TransAsia representing PATA (=Pacific Asia Travel Association) also for Greater China. Moved to consumer publishing for ONE year, opening up the regional market for ESCAPE a travel & lifestyle magazine, as well as music monthly BEATS magazine. These past two years’ I act as’ Regional Media Director for Emphasis Media – working 15+ inflight magazines as well as TVC on board Singapore Airlines, JAL, Aseana, Garuda, MAS, Jet Air, Air India, Vietnam Airways, PAL, Aeroflot, Emirates and Etihad. Here you have it – 22 years in a nutshell.

Thanks so much for sharing your time with me. I wish you the very best luck.
Pleasure my man & wishing you well with your young new family!