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Kung Fu Cyborg is Hong Kong's answer to Transformers

So we won't front - we were perhaps not the biggest fans of the Transformers 2 movie, despite how well it did in China. And while we'd normally use any opportunity to rag on that ridiculous, over-the-top, cliche-slinging, vomit-inducing pile of crap pretending to be a sci-fi action film, this time we're mentioning it to help segue into a Chinese movie that looks like it'd be much more satisfying on the robot front.

According to the Guardian, the concept of Hong Kong film-maker Jeffrey Lau's new movie sprung from his dissatisfaction with Michael Bay's fare:

Lau, one of the producers on Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, came up with the idea after watching Bay's films and noticing that the various Autobots and Decepticons lacked martial arts skills. "I burst out laughing when watching Transformers," he says. "The effects were amazing but the robots didn't know how to fight. So I decided our Chinese superheroes should be kung-fu experts."

Kung Fu Cyborg was reportedly made on a budget of $14m (£8.5m), a third of which went on motion-capture and CGI technology to produce the robot action. That's an awful lot less than the most recent Transformers movie, Revenge of the Fallen, which cost an estimated $200m.

Will Kung Fu Cyborg (机器侠) top the Transformers behemoth? Even if it doesn't in box office earnings (which, sadly, it will most likely not), from the looks of the trailer it's going to be a lot funnier.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@shanghaiist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

Comments [rss]

  • FauxTaoistSage

    BTW, I'm joking about the illumnati, do you think I'm serious?



    Haha, I only say that to throw them off my back...shit did I say that out loud?



    I'm privy to some secret info. that Nanheyangrouchuan is a hardcore illuminant agent. The Agent matter of fact.

  • FauxTaoistSage

    Hello Nanheyangrouchuan, my fav. Shanghiist poster other than She Shall Not Be Named...but did you mean Ghost in the Shell?





  • nanheyangrouchuan

    Not just a bad ripoff of Transformers but also every single Japanese robo-man plot since the early 80s.



    Still can't top "Ghost in the Machine".

  • FauxTaoistSage

    Does it contain brain washing by the Illuminati (Illuminatus!!!ha)controlled secret world elitists? Check out vigilantcitizen for prophecies.



    Anyway, i don't see the reason for a human driver when you can have autonomous farming with bots.

  • icecat77

    HAHAHAHA! I can just imagine Mr. Lau's brain cranking out that genius idea during Transformers. "Hey, I can sell the same idea twice-over by simply making the robots "Chinese".



    Chinese audiences have to be the easiest to appeal to in the world, just take standard cliche "Chinese" symbol, in this case kung fu, and apply to anything, soccer, pandas, cyborgs, even just calling a movie Kung Fu will get you an audience (Stephen Chow).



    And people wonder why stereotypes continue to stick...

  • capiruli

    "Chinese audiences have to be the easiest to appeal to in the world" Sure, I bet north-american audience is quite tough to please! boobs, weapons and conspiracy theories with jerks that never die, none of those are exhausted cliches at all! "And people wonder why stereotypes continue to stick..."

  • Wow, the creativity in China rises every decade...

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