Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

The first 100 minutes of the movie tell a very innovative story.

In the next 30 minutes, Yang Ye wore a windbreaker and sunglasses, and the classic look returned again.

When he and Lin Qingxia, who was wearing sexy leather jacket and leather pants, returned to the virtual world to rescue Ti Lung, various famous scenes continued to appear, with constant surprises that were dazzling.

In the gunfight in the mall with brick dust flying everywhere, Yang Ye and Lin Qingxia posed in various ways, showing off and being cool to the extreme.

When the two reached the rooftop, even cooler bullet time appeared.

Bullet time has been seen in many TV shows and movies around the world, and there are many of them in Hong Kong films.

It was featured in Yang Ye’s “Bodyguard from Beijing” released last year.

But those are relatively crude.

Until this moment, the audience truly saw the trajectory of the bullet and the 360° panoramic scene of the bullet's stagnant rotation.

Yang Ye used the Iron Bridge move, slowly leaning forward to dodge the bullet in the rotating camera movement, which was so handsome that it made people forget to breathe.

Unfortunately, he was not handsome for more than three seconds and was still shot.

Just when he was about to be shot dead by the agent, Lin Qingxia appeared behind the agent in time and fired a shot, sending the agent flying.

This shot was shown in slow motion, and Lin Qingxia, who was sitting in the cinema, felt so handsome.

Yang Ye still loves her, and whenever he wants to do something big and act cool, he will take her with him.

She couldn't help but hold Yang Ye's hand. In the darkness, Yang Ye turned around and they smiled at each other.

Lin Qingxia doesn’t know how to fly a plane, but she can learn it immediately by downloading a program.

The two flew down from the rooftop in a plane to rescue Dillon. Yang Ye controlled the Gatling Gun and showed off again.

When Ti Lung was running away, the agent actually shot through the wall, directly calculated Ti Lung's escape trajectory, and shot him.

This makes the audience feel very shocked, but the plot is reasonable because those agents are just a program.

Next, Yang Ye rescued Dillon in mid-air and pulled the plane with his bare hands, with famous scenes coming one after another.

Ti Lung and Lin Qingxia both escaped successfully, but Yang Ye stayed in the virtual world because his phone was broken, and had the ultimate showdown with Chow Billy.

Twenty years ago, when Yang Ye was filming "Fist of Fury", Billy Chow was still a teenager, and Yang Ye asked Shinichi Chiba to play Fujita Tsuyoshi.

Now, Billy Chow has finally made it to Yang Ye’s movie.

The two men stood facing each other. A gust of wind blew and rolled up the newspaper on the ground. The two men drew their guns at the same time, "bang bang bang bang". In slow motion, the trajectory of the bullet spiraled through the air.

This routine is actually a transformation of the duel between knights in martial arts films.

You change the scene. Under the setting sun, two knights stand facing each other. A gust of wind blows, rolling up the fallen leaves on the ground. They both draw their swords at the same time. "Ding ding dang dang", in slow motion, the sword energy is everywhere...

In the original version, the fight between Neo and Smith always felt a bit soft and timid.

Although the camerawork and action design are very good, and the special effects are also very cool, it always feels a little lacking.

Yuen Woo-ping has done his best, after all, Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving are not professional action actors.

In this fight between Yang Ye and Zhou Billy, the movements are more fierce, the postures are more graceful, and the viewing experience is a level better.

However, in the virtual world, Yang Ye could not beat Zhou Billy because Zhou Billy was an antivirus software. After a fierce fight between the two, Yang Ye escaped.

In the real world, the robot has found the spaceship where Yang Ye's body is and is executing the strategy of unplugging the network cable.

Two worlds, two approaches at the same time, Yang Ye is doomed this time.

In the end, Yang Ye still couldn't escape the pursuit and was shot to death by Zhou Billy in the virtual world.

But in the real world, Lin Qingxia didn't believe that Yang Ye was dead. She made a passionate confession to Yang Ye and then kissed him.

"Neo, get up!"

Yang Ye was instantly resurrected, and the three agents fired countless bullets at him.

But he just raised his hand slightly, and all the bullets stopped in front of him.

At this moment, Neo has understood the nature of the Matrix.

Everything in the Matrix is ​​actually just code.

He was killed in the virtual world of the Matrix. He just thought he was dead, but he was not actually dead.

After understanding all this, he became a programmer with super authority to rewrite these matrix codes.

So he came back to life immediately!
Zhou Billy went forward to fight with Yang Ye again, but he was no longer able to do anything to Neo who could rewrite the code at will.

Yang Ye didn't even bother to look at him, he just put one hand behind his back and was able to completely defeat Zhou Billy.

At this moment, the audience who understood it were moved, while the audience who didn’t understand it felt awe-inspiring.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Ye invaded Zhou Billy and destroyed him.

Billy Chow vanished into thin air, and the other agents fled in terror.

In the real world, the robot had already rushed into the spaceship. Yang Ye rushed back at the last second, and Dillon immediately activated the electromagnetic wave to destroy the robot.

……

In the last shot, Yang Ye stood in the vast crowd, looking up at the sky, and with a "whoosh", he flew into the sky.

In this world, he has become omnipotent!

……

The original Wachowski brothers (now sisters) completed the screenplay for The Matrix in 1994.

But at that time they were still unknown. It was not until they became famous with their debut film "The Matrix" in 1996 that they were recognized by Warner and the production of "The Matrix" was put on the agenda.

Since their script contained a lot of Chinese martial arts, Japanese anime, and cyberpunk elements, they approached Yuen Woo-ping, hoping that he could serve as the action director of "The Matrix".

At that time, some Hong Kong filmmakers had already begun to venture into Hollywood, but except for Chen Long and John Woo, none of them were very successful.

Yuan Heping didn't want to go, so he went to the mainland to help film "Water Margin" and designed a set of unique martial arts for each Liangshan hero.

But Warner gave too much!

After arriving in Hollywood, Yuan Heping trained several main actors for half a year.

Subsequently, the film officially started shooting in March 1998 and was successfully released in March 3, achieving huge success.

As the saying goes, "When you pull out a radish, you bring out the mud." After Yuan Heping achieved great success in Hollywood, he introduced Jet Li to Hollywood.

Jet Li lacked confidence, so he brought Yuan Kui to Hollywood...

Now, Yang Ye has moved forward the release date of "The Matrix" to the end of 1994.

He was born in Kowloon Walled City, the prototype of cyberpunk. He is a famous writer of martial arts novels, a master of action movies, and is also proficient in Japanese anime. There is no one more suitable than him in the world.

The release of The Matrix immediately shocked the audience. Today, the theaters are filled with industry insiders, who can see that this is not only a brilliant action film, but also a thought-provoking work full of philosophical meanings and cultural metaphors.

Yang Ye borrowed elements from popular culture such as martial arts novels, Japanese anime, and cyberpunk to create a unique and fascinating fictional world.

It also borrows concepts and symbols from religious and philosophical systems such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Taoism, and explores profound issues such as human existence, free will, knowledge of truth, and artificial intelligence.

In 1994, Yahoo had not yet been established and the Internet was a very new thing.

The concepts that Yang Ye mentioned in the movie, such as programs, codes, hackers, virtual worlds, and unplugging network cables, are commonplace in later generations, but now they seem novel, interesting, and impressive.

After watching the movie, people can't help but wonder, is it possible that the entire world we live in is a computer simulation?
Are we and everything around us just a string of code in a computer?
"You were born a slave like everyone else. You were born in a prison that you cannot perceive!"

This conjecture is shocking enough, but the film also raises new questions on this basis.

Will you choose the blue pill or the red pill? Will you choose the beautiful illusion or the cruel reality?

The real world is apocalyptic, ravaged by hunger and cold, and facing the danger of being hunted by robots.

The imaginary world is warm and peaceful, with blue sky and white clouds, beautiful scenery, and even the opportunity to become a successful person.

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No matter how beautiful a dream is, it is just a dream. But there are still people, such as the traitor in the movie, who are willing to sell out everyone for just a dream.

When people experience the cruelty of reality, will they make the same choice as that traitor?
As a time traveler, Yang Ye knew that many people would choose... yes!

When Japan's economic bubble burst, many young people chose to become otakus. They never left their homes, immersed themselves in the world of anime and games, and no longer paid attention to reality.

Then South Korea, and then...these things continued to happen in the following decades.

Yang Ye understands better than anyone else in the world: when you are having a beautiful dream, you would rather stay in the dream than wake up.

……

After the movie was over, the audience was in high spirits and had a lively discussion with Yang Ye and other main creators.

Some viewers who had finished watching the film in other screening rooms couldn't help but squeeze into the screening room where Yang Ye was.

The theater that originally held 800 people was suddenly filled with nearly 2,000 people. There was no place for people to sit, so they all stood. There were still people outside trying to squeeze in.

For safety reasons and to avoid stampedes, Yang Ye could only ask security personnel to clear the scene and prevent others from squeezing in.

Then ask questions quickly and shorten the post-screening interview time.

The movies that Hong Kong is best at are martial arts films and gun battle movies, and "The Matrix" brings martial arts and gun battles to the fullest extent, almost presenting the ultimate form of these two types of movies.

And unlike the original version which was filmed by a group of foreigners, it always feels weird and something is wrong.

This version was shot entirely by Chinese people, so the fighting is absolutely authentic and the viewing experience is better.

With such cool gun fights and stunning martial arts, this movie is undoubtedly halfway to commercial success.

Xu Ke, who is best at shooting martial arts films, and John Woo, who is best at shooting gun battles, were both convinced and expressed their inferiority on the spot.

In addition to the martial arts and gun battles, the film's cyberpunk-style doomsday scenes, giant octopus-like robots, and robots harvesting humans like farming... are also shocking enough.

Yang Ye mainly answered some questions from the audience.

For example, some people don’t understand why he came back to life after Lin Qingxia confessed her love to him and kissed him even though he was clearly killed.

Is this because of love?

Yang Ye explained that it was because Neo understood the nature of the matrix that he awakened, and many viewers were immediately amazed.

Another audience member asked whether the kiss Lin Qingxia gave Yang Ye was inspired by "Sleeping Beauty"?

Yang Ye was a little speechless. What a stupid question. But he still answered, "A little bit!"

In addition to such boring questions, more questions are about the various settings in the movie and the philosophical thinking involved.

In addition to Taoist and Buddhist thoughts, there are also various theories of Hegel and Descartes in the West.

However, Yang Ye did not give detailed answers to these questions, citing the length of time.

Yang Ye said that he tried his best to make the film easy to understand, and as for the things behind it, everyone can think, analyze and discuss it on their own.

After a work comes out, everyone will have their own understanding. As the saying goes, "There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people." It is better for the author himself not to say too much.

Some people also asked when the sequel will come out?
Yang Ye said that the sequel has been filmed, but post-production has not yet started. If nothing unexpected happens, it will be scheduled for Christmas next year.

He also said that the sequel will have even more grand scenes, and will also showcase the old world, the third world outside of the virtual world, the "Yingzhou World"!
In the first part of "The Matrix", it is mentioned that there is only one last city left for mankind, hidden deep underground.

In the original version, this city is called "Zion"!
Zion is the name of a mountain near Jerusalem. In Jewish scriptures, Zion is the place where Jehovah resides and the place where Jehovah established David as king.

The Jews, whose country and homes have been destroyed, have always hoped that God would lead them to Zion and rebuild their homes.

When Yang Ye translated "The Matrix" into Chinese, he changed the name of "Zion" to "Yingzhou".

Yingzhou is an overseas fairy mountain in Chinese mythology and legends, a place that everyone yearns for.

Li Bai once wrote, "The seafarer talks about Yingzhou, but the truth is hard to find in the misty waves."

I heard that the second part will be released next year, and the scenes will be more grand and the action will be upgraded again. Many people said that they are looking forward to it.

……

"The Matrix" was promoted on a large scale before it was released. Once it was released, it received rave reviews and exploded at the box office, and it did not disappoint film producers around the world.

In Hong Kong, it was released on the Winter Solstice and grossed HK$2500 million in four days.

It was released in North America a day later and grossed $3700 million in its first three days over the weekend.

The Chinese media naturally praised "The Matrix" highly, and the North American media also praised it highly.

The Los Angeles Times commented: This is a crazy thriller that shows extraordinary imagination. It expresses elements such as martial arts, animation, and science fiction with brand-new visual techniques, which is impossible to describe in words.

The New York Times commented: The film uses the martial arts stunts as its selling point to maximum effect.

The Washington Post commented: This is a kind of release, a transformation of energy. The film will ignite you and make you dizzy.

The New York Post commented: This is like an animated but three-dimensional movie. Science fiction fans and kung fu fans will not want to miss every second of the film.

……

Amidst all the praise, Yang Ye returned to Shenzhen and took the opportunity to shoot the last fight scene with Chow Billy.

Afterwards, Yang Ye announced that the filming of "The Matrix" was officially completed.

After New Year's Day, he will lead his film team on a global roadshow.

The roadshow is actually just a side job, the main purpose is to go out and deal with some things.

For example, the operation of the film fund, signing a contract with DreamWorks, and officially entering the European and American music market...

Most of the time, he had to come forward or take action personally at the last minute. (End of this chapter)