Shek Kin (Mr Han of Enter the Dragon) gone at 96

Loved him in that movie. RIP.

It's a shame he wasn't better known in the West. He was a terrific character actor and, as a long-time antagonist, provided an excellent foil for Kwan Tuk Hing's Wong Fei Hung.

Thanks for all the films and the great memories.


TinMan368

*****

Trivia for 2009-June-10:

Q) In 1985, CEO Roberto Goizueta received a request for his autograph after his company made a change to their core product. The request came from someone who wanted the signature of 'one of the dumbest executives in American business history'. What company did Goizueta head at the time?

A)

Due to popular demand (well, a few requests, at least), I am including the previous day's question.

From Aintitcool news:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/41310

His fight with Bruce Lee was EXTRAaaaaORdinARY!!! Shek Kin (HAN) is dead!

Hey folks, Harry here... and I have more unfortunate news to share. It seems that David Carradine was not the only actor from the realm of Martial Arts filmmaking to passaway yesterday. Shek Kin, the man who portrayed the greatest cinematic martial arts villain in history... is gone.

Though a veteran of 122 Hong Kong films - he is best remembered as the astonishing HAN.

ENTER THE DRAGON was my absolute blinding obsession as a child. I've seen it hundreds of times in my life and have much of Shek Kin's dialogue committed to memory - and he is easily my favorite all time Martial Arts Movie Bad Guy.

I've had innumerable conversations with fellow Enter The Dragon geeks, like Brett Ratner, about the awesome that was Han. Think about it - here you have a man that owns an island - filled with pathetic would be kung fu thugs, that stand around punching air, putting their hands into burning coals, monitoring a radio station (underground), etc. Then he has all of these beautiful women that'll f*ck whomever he wants. Add to that - he's apparently sired around 20 gorgeous virginal woman of approximately the same age, all of whom are lethal martial artists. His hand was blown off by a would-be assassin, but instead of being bitter - he has someone build him a wild assortment of badass hands that are action figure plug & play!

Shek was always fun to spot in other classic Hong Kong films like Jackie Chan's DRUNKEN MASTER or ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA with Jet Li! He's been retired for years now. He died of kidney failure at the age of 96. It is a dark day for fans of martial arts everywhere!

I've often wondered about fans' memory of the climactic battle in Enter the Dragon...are people just fondly reminiscing about it without having watched it again recently? I may be the exception, but I don't consider EtD to be Bruce Lee's best film nor his encounter with Shek Kin at the end to be a classic one-on-one. Yes, the hall of mirrors was very cool, but the actual fighting between the two combatants has been bettered, even in Lee's earlier films (Fist of Fury and The Way of the Dragon come to mind).


Definitely true in the West since many of his films were quite old and not preserved very well. This is a shame as he had a remarkable career that most outside of Cantonese communities are not aware of. He took on a mythic aura in his native Hong Kong as a perennial villain since those types characters comprised the bulk of his roles. His name quite literally became synonymous with the term 'villainy' amongst Cantonese speakers.

He can still be seen in reruns of old serials and classic movies on Chinese TV, but unfortunately, the vast majority of those shows and films are not English friendly.


TinMan368

***

Trivia for 2009-June-11:


Q) If you're buying something measured by face cord, what are you buying?

A)

I agree it wasn't even close to being Bruce's best film. I think that would have to be Fist of Fury (Chinese Connection). It was ETD that made him famous to western audience. Many Asians also don't consider ETD to be as good as his earlier films. They felt Bruce should have fought Bolo. Even as an 8 year old watching the film when it was released I knew there was no way Roper can beat Bolo. I also thought the room with mirrors scene was weak. I think if they killed off Roper instead of Williams; have Bruce decimate both Bolo and Han the movie would have been awesome and be more of a classic. I'm not saying that it's not but those changes would have really put it ahead of it's time.

Most definitely. I think the reason that so many Western critics and fans name EtD as Lee's best film (or even best martial arts film of all time ) is that it was a Warner co-production and got proper distribution outside of Hong Kong and found a wide audience. I agree that in terms of plot and fight choreography, Fist of Fury is better, although the top of my Bruce Lee list is still The Way of the Dragon.


I'm with you about Bruce vs Bolo--that was a huge missed opportunity. Having John Saxon take out Bolo (seriously?!) is like having Hugh Grant take out Collin Chou while Jet Li stands on the sidelines. The scenario you suggest would definitely have improved EtD considerably provided that Lee and Bolo went flat out.


No question about that. Looking back, it was like a precursor to Rocky Balboa, just with more killing and metal claws.


TinMan368

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Trivia for 2009-June-12:


Q) The Vatican City State is the physical location where the government of the Roman Catholic Church resides. What is the two-word name for that governing body?
Hint:

A)

Actually, that would be a funny fight. It would be like watching two girls fight.

Not a Collin Chou fan, I take it? I've rather enjoyed his onscreen battles--his fights in Flash Point were particularly fun to watch.

As for Hugh Grant in a fight, that would be pretty funny...and extremely brief.


TinMan368

***

Trivia for 2009-June-12:


Q) The Vatican City State is the physical location where the government of the Roman Catholic Church resides. What is the two-word name for that governing body?
Hint:
A)

Oops. I meant Jay Chou. Wow, he's a really bad actor and wannabe martial artist. I misread your original post. I actually like Collin except when he did the Matrix sequels; really underused.