Knightmare Chess Movie Reviews

"Mystery of chess boxing" is essentially one of the better old, kung-fu movies ever. It starred Jack Long, Lee Yi Min, & Mark Long.This DVD is released by Xenon entertainment. The film quality is not quite good, as the picture is evidently transferred from a video. It came out not very clear, but good enough picture to enjoy. The same with the sound and dialogue.

The movie contains a lot of fights as Mark Long, the villain Ghost face killer seek revenge for humiliating him in one past.So, one by one, he killed all kung-fu master who caused it to him, with the exception of one, still living Jack Long. The main lead of the movie is Lee Yi Min, after he is taught kung-fu by his master Jack Long, they combine their effort using chess boxing style to battle the Ghost face killer for the movie conclusion.

Highly recommended. A good buy, despite some flaws. Overall, one of the better kung-fu movie to own as an additional to your collections, as the movie is quite memorable and exceptional. Better than most old kung-fu movies.One of Jack Long better movie, alongside the other one, "Born Invincible", co-starring with Carter Wong.

This movie is definitely one of the best of the wutang collection. A true Old school Classic. Mystery of the Chess boxing features the most infamous Kung fu villain "Ghostface Killer". The movie has everything you're looking for. Fighting, hilarious comedy, and more fighting. The plot is simple. "Gostface killer" hunts down kung fu masters who tried to kill him years ago. He goes on a killing spree with his deadly 5 element kung fu. Great choreographed fights, diplaying many techniques even the Ying Yang style.
Bottom line is, if you are starting a kung fu collection, Mystery of chess boxing should be one of your first purchases.
Best Quote of the movie: "I'm a killer thats why, and killers don't die so easily".

This movie has so many fights you probably don't even need to jump to the next scene. In addition, the styles and techniques are outrageously good that you have to watch the movie over and over to catch it all. If you want a kung fu movie with little talk and lots of fights, this is it.

In his book THE PARADE'S GONE BY Kevin Brownlow mentions THE CHESS PLAYER and other films by Raymond Bernard as being among the treasures of late silent cinema so it's no surprise that his Photoplay Productions was responsible for this magnificent restoration. What is surprising is that the restoration was done in 1990 and is only now coming to DVD. At least four different 35mm prints were used to create this complete version which also features a modern recording of the original Henri Rambaud score done by Brownlow's longtime musical partner Carl Davis. As for the picture itself, I wish I could say that I was totally bowled over by the film as I have waited a long time to see it, but I wasn't. The sets and costumes are the equal of NAPOLEON, the cinematography is a striking combination of Eisenstein and Gance, and part of the story is based on historical fact (there really was a Baron von Kempelen in the late 18th century who created a mechanical chess player called the Turk) but Bernard is no Abel Gance. At 140 minutes the film seemed far too long for the story it had to tell. The pace flags from time to time especially in the romantic scenes which seem to interrupt the flow of the movie. Nevertheless THE CHESS PLAYER is chock full of startling images thanks to the automaton subplot. The final sequence inside the inventor's house will stay with you for a long time afterwards. The performances for the most part are subservient to the overall look of the film but Charles Dullin as the Baron makes the most of the film's best role. The film is definitely worth having as there is so little of late European silent cinema available on home video. One only hopes that Brownlow's restorations of Gance's NAPOLEON, Rex Ingram's FOUR HORSEMAN OF THE APOCALYPSE, Stroheim's GREED, and many others will soon make it to DVD (the original 1925 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is coming out in September '03). While THE CHESS PLAYER may not be a film for the ages, it's still a mighty good one and an epic of true proportions as well. We all owe Kevin Brownlow & Co our heartfelt thanks for making these movies available to us once again.

The Chess Player is set in 1776, but rather than being a story of Americans fighting to gain independence, it is a story of Poles struggling to regain their independence from Russia. Dashing Polish nobleman Boleslas Vorowski leads the resistance using both his skill as a fighter and as a chess player to undermine the Russians. Eventually he has to go into hiding and the resistance movement devises a scheme to deceive his pursuers. Vorowski is hidden inside a mechanical chess-playing automaton called the Turk. He uses his skill at the game to defeat all comers, but this success leads him into danger. When an invitation arrives to play chess with Catherine the Great in Saint Petersburg, he must journey to the heart of the Russian empire and face a chess player who doesn't like to lose.

The Chess player is a spectacular film with many stunning scenes. It is beautiful to look at with lavish sets and costumes. The acting is good and the direction is often inspired, displaying impressive filmmaking technique with its use of unusual camera angles and inventive camera movement. The editing at times resembles the fast, creative style of filmmakers like Eisenstein and Pudovkin. But The Chess Player, although well worth seeing, is rather a flawed film. The story is slight and at times rather ludicrous. It does not have the depth to justify the epic scope of the film. The biggest problem is that the story of the chess-playing automaton fits uneasily into a story of the Polish struggle for independence. The focus on chess and various automata tends to trivialise momentous events. While it is a feast for the senses, the film does not engage the emotions as much as it should. It includes a love triangle, but the potential of this aspect of the story is not fully developed. The fate of the characters should be much more moving than it is.

The tinted print on the Image DVD is generally very good. There are some scratches and occasionally the picture is rather soft especially in close-ups. Generally though, the print looks wonderful and the restoration by Photoplay productions is first rate. The orchestral score by Henri Rabaud works well. It fits the action and the mood of the film and is a joy to listen to. The DVD includes as extras a radio interview about the historical chess-playing automaton, some stills from the film, a reproduction of the original programme and a text interview with the director. I was pleased to obtain this DVD for it is a very good presentation of an interesting film. While The Chess Player may not be a great film, I enjoyed watching it and found much to admire even as I was aware of its faults.