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Thread started 06/07/21 2:58am

EmmaMcG

Martial Law TV Series

Does anyone remember the Martial Law TV Series from the late 90s? It starred Hong Kong movie legend Sammo Hung and Arsenio Hall. I have really fond memories of watching that on Friday nights when I was a little girl. My sister and I would go to our aunt's house on the weekend and I'd watch it on TV. I loved that show. It was actually a combination of that show and the Jackie Chan movie "Rumble In The Bronx" that first got me into Hong Kong martial arts movies, and things kind of snowballed from there. At last count, I had over 1000 Hong Kong action movies on DVD. But I digress...

Anyway, I haven't seen Martial Law in about 20 years so I'm kind of curious to see how it holds up but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Amazon US won't ship it to Ireland and I don't think it's on any streaming service either. Is my only option piracy? This example right here is an excellent argument against the rise in streaming services because if a show or movie isn't available in any of them, what other option is there?
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Reply #1 posted 06/07/21 9:21am

kpowers

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EmmaMcG said:

Does anyone remember the Martial Law TV Series from the late 90s? It starred Hong Kong movie legend Sammo Hung and Arsenio Hall. I have really fond memories of watching that on Friday nights when I was a little girl. My sister and I would go to our aunt's house on the weekend and I'd watch it on TV. I loved that show. It was actually a combination of that show and the Jackie Chan movie "Rumble In The Bronx" that first got me into Hong Kong martial arts movies, and things kind of snowballed from there. At last count, I had over 1000 Hong Kong action movies on DVD. But I digress... Anyway, I haven't seen Martial Law in about 20 years so I'm kind of curious to see how it holds up but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Amazon US won't ship it to Ireland and I don't think it's on any streaming service either. Is my only option piracy? This example right here is an excellent argument against the rise in streaming services because if a show or movie isn't available in any of them, what other option is there?

My mom use to like that show back in the day

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Reply #2 posted 06/07/21 10:42am

UncleGrandpa

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I remember it, it only lasted for two seasons. There's not much to watch with only 44 episodes, I did not watch it on a regular basis so I can't remember how well of a series it was.

Jeux Sans Frontiers
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Reply #3 posted 06/08/21 3:43am

kpowers

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Can you get it on Ebay???

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Reply #4 posted 06/08/21 5:16am

PJMcGee

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I've seen bits of it recently. It's on a station called Heroes & Icons on Saturday. I have respect for people working in a second language, but Sammo is awful. He sounds more robotic than Terminator Arnold. & Arsenio is just Arsenio with serious face.

I couldn't get thru an episode, so my assessment is probably not that fair. Sammo's martial arts skills will probably make it worthwhile for some.
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Reply #5 posted 06/08/21 7:29am

MickyDolenz

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UncleGrandpa said:

I remember it, it only lasted for two seasons. There's not much to watch with only 44 episodes, I did not watch it on a regular basis so I can't remember how well of a series it was.

A TV show generally needs around 100 episodes for syndication. Walker Texas Ranger was on for 50 years razz, that's why I always see it flipping though channels. I think Martial Law had a crossover with Walker, don't remember exactly. I've heard there's gonna be a reboot, but I don't think Chuck Norris is gonna be in it. I saw this mentioned on one of those shows like Entertainment Tonight or Extra.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #6 posted 06/08/21 7:41am

EmmaMcG

PJMcGee said:

I've seen bits of it recently. It's on a station called Heroes & Icons on Saturday. I have respect for people working in a second language, but Sammo is awful. He sounds more robotic than Terminator Arnold. & Arsenio is just Arsenio with serious face.

I couldn't get thru an episode, so my assessment is probably not that fair. Sammo's martial arts skills will probably make it worthwhile for some.


Like I said, I haven't seen it in like 20 years. But from what I remember, Sammo didn't speak much because he was still only really learning the language at the time and so didn't feel comfortable acting in a language he couldn't speak. He is a tremendous actor though when speaking his native tongue. He's more known for his comedic roles but he's also done a fair few "serious" movies and he's been great.

Although, I wouldn't be watching Martial Law for his acting. Sammo is an incredible martial artist and despite his size, is capable of some jaw-dropping stunts and fight sequences.
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Reply #7 posted 06/08/21 7:42am

EmmaMcG

kpowers said:

Can you get it on Ebay???



Probably but I don't trust eBay.
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Reply #8 posted 06/08/21 7:49am

EmmaMcG

MickyDolenz said:



UncleGrandpa said:


I remember it, it only lasted for two seasons. There's not much to watch with only 44 episodes, I did not watch it on a regular basis so I can't remember how well of a series it was.



A TV show generally needs around 100 episodes for syndication. Walker Texas Ranger was on for 50 years razz, that's why I always see it flipping though channels. I think Martial Law had a crossover with Walker, don't remember exactly. I've heard there's gonna be a reboot, but I don't think Chuck Norris is gonna be in it. I saw this mentioned on one of those shows like Entertainment Tonight or Extra.



The Walker Texas Ranger reboot is already on. I watched the first two episodes but I couldn't watch anymore. Awful. Just awful. I was never really a huge fan of the original but if it it came on while I was flipping through the channels, I'd leave it on. I had a friend who's father looked like Chuck Norris. Even wore all the denim and everything. Thinking about it now he was a bit of a loser. Like, what kind of person tries to emulate Chuck Norris razz. But when we were kids we used to think he was really cool.
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Reply #9 posted 06/08/21 9:06am

MickyDolenz

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I just went over to IMDB and there's 2 crossover episodes. Walker appeared on Martial Law & Sammo was on Walker Texas Ranger. They also have connections to Bruce Lee. Sammo (& Jackie Chan) is in Enter The Dragon. Chuck is in Return Of The Dragon/Way Of The Dragon


You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #10 posted 06/08/21 9:15am

kpowers

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EmmaMcG said:

kpowers said:

Can you get it on Ebay???

Probably but I don't trust eBay.

The few times I had a problem I always got a refund through ebay.

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Reply #11 posted 06/08/21 9:24am

kpowers

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MickyDolenz said:

UncleGrandpa said:

I remember it, it only lasted for two seasons. There's not much to watch with only 44 episodes, I did not watch it on a regular basis so I can't remember how well of a series it was.

A TV show generally needs around 100 episodes for syndication. Walker Texas Ranger was on for 50 years razz, that's why I always see it flipping though channels. I think Martial Law had a crossover with Walker, don't remember exactly. I've heard there's gonna be a reboot, but I don't think Chuck Norris is gonna be in it. I saw this mentioned on one of those shows like Entertainment Tonight or Extra.

That's true but there has been many shows airing on cable with less than a 100 episodes like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Police squad. I remember there was a network called chiller that played nothing but horror/Sci-fi theme shows and many of them were on only a season. But there are many forgotten TV shows (maybe I should do a thread about that) that hasn't aired on TV/Cable in a long time.

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Reply #12 posted 06/08/21 9:48am

EmmaMcG

MickyDolenz said:

I just went over to IMDB and there's 2 crossover episodes. Walker appeared on Martial Law & Sammo was on Walker Texas Ranger. They also have connections to Bruce Lee. Sammo (& Jackie Chan) is in Enter The Dragon. Chuck is in Return Of The Dragon/Way Of The Dragon






Jackie Chan was also in Fist of Fury.

There's a cool story about Sammo and Bruce Lee. Apparently Bruce wanted Sammo to be in Game Of Death. He approached Sammo and offered him a role in the movie, to which Sammo agreed. But shooting on Game Of Death was delayed by 8 months due to Bruce Lee going off and doing other projects. Unfortunately, he never told Sammo about the delay so Sammo was completely in the dark about everything. During that time Sammo was offered a role in something else and went off to Thailand, I think it was, to shoot that. While he was there Bruce started working on Game Of Death but Sammo was too busy to participate. So Bruce was telling everyone how Sammo was a liar and unreliable. After they shot half the movie they took a break so Bruce could go off and make Enter The Dragon, which was also set to have Sammo in a small role. When they met on set there was a lot of tension and neither man would be known to back down but they had a chat and eventually seen things from each others point of view and both men apologized. Bruce told him he still wanted him for Game Of Death and Sammo agreed to come back. Unfortunately Bruce Lee died before shooting on Game Of Death could continue. But it's nice that they were able to make up before Bruce's passing.
[Edited 6/8/21 9:54am]
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