In pockets of America, including the aforementioned Staten Island, the youth and specifically the black community were lining up to spend their pocket money at seedy cinemas in the red-light districts, desperate for the escapism these Kung Fu films offered. It wasn’t until the 1970s and low-budget English overdubs of the Hong Kong Kung Fu films by British company Omni Productions (with prominent work by voiceover artist and broadcaster Ted Thomas) that the work of the Shaw Brothers managed to find its way to American kids, and eventually influence American cinema, creating a progression of huge action stars from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan to Jet Li. They would go on to produce over 1,000 films using a system similar to the classic Hollywood studios, with actors and directors exclusively signed to the studio. The Shaw Brothers’ legacy dates back to the earliest days of cinema, with their first production company, Tianyi Film Company, beginning operations in 1925 in Shanghai. With a VCR crudely plugged into his Ensoniq ASR-10 Sampler, RZA would eventually give these old films a new lease on life that added layers of mystery, violence and drama as key signature elements of the Wu-Tang Clan. While the movies have always enjoyed an underground cult following in the West, Wu-Tang Clan opened these films up to a brand new audience, and Clan leader, The RZA, has never lost his love for the genre – even trying his hand at directing his own.Īccording to Shaolin legend (erm, well, this interview) the young Bobby Diggs (aka The RZA) saw Five Deadly Venoms at the cinema in 1979 with his cousins Ol Dirty Bastard and GZA (or Russell and Gary as they were known at the time) and it changed their lives forever. Indeed, even the name of the Clan and their first album’s title are lifted from these films. The Staten Island crew’s debut sprung from seemingly nowhere – a fully formed gang of exceptional rappers with their own flavour, style and mythology that has been emulated but never rivalled in the quarter-century since.Ī massive part of that mythology came from the influence of hardcore low-budget Hong Kong martial arts movies. It’s hard to overstate the impact that the Wu-Tang Clan’s debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), had on hip hop when it was released in 1993.
WU TANG EVIL SHOGUN MOVIE
"'Da Mystery of Chessboxin’" by the Wu-Tang Clan, sampled from Kung Fu movie Five Deadly Venoms When it’s properly used it’s almost invincible… ” “Toad style is immensely strong and immune to nearly any weapon.