Director: Wong Yu
Starring; Wong Yu
Genre; Martial Arts
Year; 1975
Release; US
The sequal to The One-Armed Boxer. This time the master of the 2 Tibetian Lama Monks, who were dispatched in the first film, comes looking for his revenge. Centered around a martial-arts contest, the master has help, each a competitor. There's a Japanese guy, a Thai boxer and an Indian Yogi, sound familier? yes, just like the first film. However, the master, despite being blind, is armed with the fabled flying Guillotene. A device that is thrown over the head of someone, knives then come out and decapitates the poor recipient. A subject featured in quite a few films, the device is supposedly true. Well, there was supposed to be some kind of device that could decapitate at a distance, knocking around sometime in the Ming dynasty. No drawings, plans or descriptions exist though, so it's all guesswork. The movie versions are all basically similar. However they always seem very cumbersome and slow to me, you'd need the guy not to be aware that you were throwing it at them. However, who needs accuracy in chop socky movies?
More fun than the first, and, the different styles actually seem different during the fighting too, unlike the first one. Good fun, and well worth it.
Thursday 29 May 2008
Saturday 24 May 2008
Kung Fu Cult Master
Director; Wong Jing
Starring; Jet Li, Chingmy Yau, Sammo Hung
Genre; Martial Arts
Year; 1993
Release; HK Mei Ah
More of my, less than, favourite genre of MA movies, Wu Xio. Lots of flying around and wire work, as you'd expect. Looks good too. The story, however, makes no real sense at all. This may be down to the English translation though, delving into 'Engrish' in places, I doubt very much their accuracy to the original script. On the upside, Chingmy Yau is dazzeling, as always. I think I got the basic gist of it, and it's ok as these things go.
Starring; Jet Li, Chingmy Yau, Sammo Hung
Genre; Martial Arts
Year; 1993
Release; HK Mei Ah
More of my, less than, favourite genre of MA movies, Wu Xio. Lots of flying around and wire work, as you'd expect. Looks good too. The story, however, makes no real sense at all. This may be down to the English translation though, delving into 'Engrish' in places, I doubt very much their accuracy to the original script. On the upside, Chingmy Yau is dazzeling, as always. I think I got the basic gist of it, and it's ok as these things go.
Tuesday 20 May 2008
War
Director; Philip G Atwell
Starring; Jet Li, Jason Statham
Genre; Action
Year; 2007
Release; UK Cable tv
I'm not a great fan of western made action movies. The action is often dull, predictable, lifeless and generally not very exciting. This is no exception. Statham is just some bald cockney twat, trying to blag his way as an action hero. The film just strolls through the various scenes, never really gripping you with a particularly good fight scene, or breathtaking stunt. Too many 'stylish' quick cuts and 'swooshy' sound effects. Li is utterly wasted in turgid crap like this. The only worthwhile thing about it was when you think he's a ruthless, stone-cold hitman, but, you know that it's gonna be some sort of crap cover story. And how crap does it turn out to be! This film does nothing but demonstrate all that is wrong with western action movies. Made me want to put on Once Upon A Time In China, just to remind myself how awesome Li can be.
Starring; Jet Li, Jason Statham
Genre; Action
Year; 2007
Release; UK Cable tv
I'm not a great fan of western made action movies. The action is often dull, predictable, lifeless and generally not very exciting. This is no exception. Statham is just some bald cockney twat, trying to blag his way as an action hero. The film just strolls through the various scenes, never really gripping you with a particularly good fight scene, or breathtaking stunt. Too many 'stylish' quick cuts and 'swooshy' sound effects. Li is utterly wasted in turgid crap like this. The only worthwhile thing about it was when you think he's a ruthless, stone-cold hitman, but, you know that it's gonna be some sort of crap cover story. And how crap does it turn out to be! This film does nothing but demonstrate all that is wrong with western action movies. Made me want to put on Once Upon A Time In China, just to remind myself how awesome Li can be.
Musashi Miyamoto Trilogy
Director; Hiroshi Inagaki
Starring; Toshiro Mifune
Genre; Samurai Drama
Year; 1954, 1955, 1956
Release; Korea YDM Vagabond Collection
Know largely, in the west at least, for his collaborations with legendary auteur Akira Kurosawa, Mifune here works under Inagaki. These are a trilogy of films depicting the tales of Japanese folk hero, Musashi Miyamoto. Fabled for his skill with a Katana, in 17th century feudal Japan, the tales do have an air of the embelleshment about them. However, who gives a rats arse about how true it all is? the tales are exciting, and that's what really matters. This first part tells the story of how he went from a wild, young, reckless and uncontrolled youth, and became a Samurai. The second deals with his wandering, learning to become a worthy samurai. The third film deals with the buildup to a big duel, with a highly skilled rival. Typical of Japanese samurai films of this era, the story plods along at a reasonable rate, with the film giving a certain air of calm (they all do this, especially the work of Kurosawa). The fight scenes are as far from later chop socky as you could get, really. Short sharp bursts of power, no swinging and flailing around. While the films do fall a little short of the greatness of the Kurosawa classics, that does not by any means mean they are bad films. Those films are on another level, these are mearly great movies. Definately to be seen. Incidently, I got my films from Korea, and they were packed in the wrong order, having virtually no English on the packaging, I could hardley tell which was which. So I watched them out of order.
Starring; Toshiro Mifune
Genre; Samurai Drama
Year; 1954, 1955, 1956
Release; Korea YDM Vagabond Collection
Know largely, in the west at least, for his collaborations with legendary auteur Akira Kurosawa, Mifune here works under Inagaki. These are a trilogy of films depicting the tales of Japanese folk hero, Musashi Miyamoto. Fabled for his skill with a Katana, in 17th century feudal Japan, the tales do have an air of the embelleshment about them. However, who gives a rats arse about how true it all is? the tales are exciting, and that's what really matters. This first part tells the story of how he went from a wild, young, reckless and uncontrolled youth, and became a Samurai. The second deals with his wandering, learning to become a worthy samurai. The third film deals with the buildup to a big duel, with a highly skilled rival. Typical of Japanese samurai films of this era, the story plods along at a reasonable rate, with the film giving a certain air of calm (they all do this, especially the work of Kurosawa). The fight scenes are as far from later chop socky as you could get, really. Short sharp bursts of power, no swinging and flailing around. While the films do fall a little short of the greatness of the Kurosawa classics, that does not by any means mean they are bad films. Those films are on another level, these are mearly great movies. Definately to be seen. Incidently, I got my films from Korea, and they were packed in the wrong order, having virtually no English on the packaging, I could hardley tell which was which. So I watched them out of order.
Killzone a.k.a. SPL
Director; Yip Wai Shun
Starring; Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen, Simon Yam
Genre; Action/ Martial Arts/ Thriller
Year; 2005
Release; US Dragon Dynasty
Typically stylish, modern cop thriller from HK. Last minute changes added the martial arts scenes, after Donnie Yen was signed up. TBH, they could have left them out, it would be a cool cop thriller. Instead, you have a cool cop thriller, with kung fu. Sammo can still move, despite being in his mid fifties, although he looks menacing in this, a very rare bad guy role. Yam shows his class, as ever. All in, a worthy way to while away some time.
Starring; Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen, Simon Yam
Genre; Action/ Martial Arts/ Thriller
Year; 2005
Release; US Dragon Dynasty
Typically stylish, modern cop thriller from HK. Last minute changes added the martial arts scenes, after Donnie Yen was signed up. TBH, they could have left them out, it would be a cool cop thriller. Instead, you have a cool cop thriller, with kung fu. Sammo can still move, despite being in his mid fifties, although he looks menacing in this, a very rare bad guy role. Yam shows his class, as ever. All in, a worthy way to while away some time.
Monday 19 May 2008
The One-Armed Boxer
Director; Wong Yu
Starring; Wong Yu
Genre; Martial Arts
Year; 1971
Release; US Bonzai
Ok, first off, I'm being uber-geeky and using the correct spelling of the director/ star. Wong Yu, more commonly known as Wang Yu (a very early misspell that just got repeated), or Jimmy Wang Yu. Now, the film. It has absolutly nothing at all to do with the earlier Shaw Brothers classic, The One-Armed Swordsman, also starring Wong Yu. This is a Golden Harvest film, made shortly after Raymond Chow left Shaw Bro's and set up on his own. Here, our intrepid but unlucky hero is involved in a typical 'honour of our school' type story. There are also many forms of MA on show here, as the story brings together fighters from all over Asia. Japan, Okinawa, Korea, Thailand, Tibet (those pesky Lamas again) and, bizzarely, and Indian who uses Yoga as a fighting style. This film is early in the genre of martial arts movies, and it shows. The various fighters are blacked up in the most comical way. The Yogis moves are accomplished with obvious stop-motion. Worse though, are the fights. Wong Yu is very skilled in real martial arts, but, for me, he never quite cut it on the screen. Too jerky and obviously choreographed, his kicks and punches lack any conviction or power, you just never get the impression he'd hurt anyone. This, however, was a fault with many cheap, 70's chop socky films, especially the early ones. The different fighters too, although perform katas in a convincing way, all look the same while fighting, you'd never know they were using vastly different styles. Oh, and the way Yu loses his arm? Give over!
Don't get me wrong though, this is a decent enough film, and a significant one in helping define the genre in those early days. I prefer the sequal though, Master Of The Flying Guillotene, it's more fun.
Starring; Wong Yu
Genre; Martial Arts
Year; 1971
Release; US Bonzai
Ok, first off, I'm being uber-geeky and using the correct spelling of the director/ star. Wong Yu, more commonly known as Wang Yu (a very early misspell that just got repeated), or Jimmy Wang Yu. Now, the film. It has absolutly nothing at all to do with the earlier Shaw Brothers classic, The One-Armed Swordsman, also starring Wong Yu. This is a Golden Harvest film, made shortly after Raymond Chow left Shaw Bro's and set up on his own. Here, our intrepid but unlucky hero is involved in a typical 'honour of our school' type story. There are also many forms of MA on show here, as the story brings together fighters from all over Asia. Japan, Okinawa, Korea, Thailand, Tibet (those pesky Lamas again) and, bizzarely, and Indian who uses Yoga as a fighting style. This film is early in the genre of martial arts movies, and it shows. The various fighters are blacked up in the most comical way. The Yogis moves are accomplished with obvious stop-motion. Worse though, are the fights. Wong Yu is very skilled in real martial arts, but, for me, he never quite cut it on the screen. Too jerky and obviously choreographed, his kicks and punches lack any conviction or power, you just never get the impression he'd hurt anyone. This, however, was a fault with many cheap, 70's chop socky films, especially the early ones. The different fighters too, although perform katas in a convincing way, all look the same while fighting, you'd never know they were using vastly different styles. Oh, and the way Yu loses his arm? Give over!
Don't get me wrong though, this is a decent enough film, and a significant one in helping define the genre in those early days. I prefer the sequal though, Master Of The Flying Guillotene, it's more fun.
Django
Director; Sergio Corbucci
Starring; Franco Nero
Genre; Western
Year; 1966
Release; Korea Neo Sense
One of the best spaghetti westerns made (not the best, but very high up there). Nero does well in the title role, as the coffin dragging stranger. The story is a little reminiscent of Yojimbo/ AFOD, but it's told well. A really good example of the genre, and not to be missed.
Starring; Franco Nero
Genre; Western
Year; 1966
Release; Korea Neo Sense
One of the best spaghetti westerns made (not the best, but very high up there). Nero does well in the title role, as the coffin dragging stranger. The story is a little reminiscent of Yojimbo/ AFOD, but it's told well. A really good example of the genre, and not to be missed.
Saturday 10 May 2008
Django Kill If You Live, Shoot!
Director; Guilio Questi
Starring; Thomas Milan
Genre; Western
Year; 1973
Release; UK Argent Films
One of the many, many Django rip-offs. This film has the square root of fuck all to do with the official films. Having said that, it's an intriguing film in its own right. Basically it's Yojimbo again, but somewhat twisted. Very surreal in places, and quite bloody in it's uncut form. Well worth finding out, for something a little different.
Starring; Thomas Milan
Genre; Western
Year; 1973
Release; UK Argent Films
One of the many, many Django rip-offs. This film has the square root of fuck all to do with the official films. Having said that, it's an intriguing film in its own right. Basically it's Yojimbo again, but somewhat twisted. Very surreal in places, and quite bloody in it's uncut form. Well worth finding out, for something a little different.
The Owl vs. Bumbo
Director; Sammo Hung
Starring; Sammo Hung
Genre; Comedy, martial arts
Year; 1983
Release; HK Fortune Star
A fairly lightweight comedy about former crooks being blackmailed into helping delinquents. Ok enough, it has its moments, some of the fights are pretty good, but it's not really that kind of movie. Michelle Yeoh turns up in a very early role, no action for her here, just a role as a teacher. A passable enough film.
Starring; Sammo Hung
Genre; Comedy, martial arts
Year; 1983
Release; HK Fortune Star
A fairly lightweight comedy about former crooks being blackmailed into helping delinquents. Ok enough, it has its moments, some of the fights are pretty good, but it's not really that kind of movie. Michelle Yeoh turns up in a very early role, no action for her here, just a role as a teacher. A passable enough film.
Wednesday 7 May 2008
Police Story 2
Director; Jackie Chan
Starring; Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung
Genre; Action, Martial Arts
Year; 1988
Release; UK HK Legends
Inevitably, a sequal had to come. Fortunatly, Chan kept hold of all the reins, to make that rarest of things in the film world. A sequal than can hold it's own against the original. This time Chan has 2 sets of foes to contend with, the original lot are still pestering him, but they are secondary really, to the new, and main ones. More great action and stunt sequences, and a great fight with Benny Tai (a guy from his stuntteam). There also a nod to the battleing babes sub-genre, with 3 hard kicking policewomen. Not content with with twatting himself and his stuntcrew up, he manages to crack Cheungs skull too, pay attention to the last 10 minutes, you never see her face as she couldn't finish the movie (it's actually Crystal Kwok, who has a small part in the film anyway).
Superb film, and a great and worthy sequal. Watch back to back with part 1 for a great double-feature viewing.
Starring; Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung
Genre; Action, Martial Arts
Year; 1988
Release; UK HK Legends
Inevitably, a sequal had to come. Fortunatly, Chan kept hold of all the reins, to make that rarest of things in the film world. A sequal than can hold it's own against the original. This time Chan has 2 sets of foes to contend with, the original lot are still pestering him, but they are secondary really, to the new, and main ones. More great action and stunt sequences, and a great fight with Benny Tai (a guy from his stuntteam). There also a nod to the battleing babes sub-genre, with 3 hard kicking policewomen. Not content with with twatting himself and his stuntcrew up, he manages to crack Cheungs skull too, pay attention to the last 10 minutes, you never see her face as she couldn't finish the movie (it's actually Crystal Kwok, who has a small part in the film anyway).
Superb film, and a great and worthy sequal. Watch back to back with part 1 for a great double-feature viewing.
Police Sory
Director; Jackie Chan
Starring; Jackie Chan; Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin
Genre; Action, Martial Arts
Year; 1985
Release; UK HK Legends
Ok folks, this is pretty much it, everything you see made in HK after this, owes something to it (action wise anyway), as does western cinema. Pissed off with attempts to break into the west, and being hamstrung by restrictive conditions, resulting in the pitiful Battle Creek Brawl and the damn awfulness of The Protector, Chan fucked off home, to make something he had complete control over. And this is it. The action is insane, right from the off. From the cars destroying the hillside shanty town, to the bus chase, to the various smaller fights, to the climax in the mall, the action, stunts and fightwork are nothing short of incredible. Many of Chan's stuntteam (his own crew that he uses, he was one and stays true to his roots by running his own crew) wound up in hospital, as did Chan himself. Chan can no longer get insurance in HK after this, and you can see why. The mall fight is an example of how Chan dreams up fight scenarios in unusual places, then fits the film around them. He may have a scenario worked out months, or years, before he has a film to put it in. The weak point is the storyline. Rudimentary, cheesey and a little naieve, it's obviously only there to tie the action scenes together. Cheung is as lovely as ever though, and Lin looks cute too.
Absolutely essential viewing, for anyone with the remotest enjoyment of action films. Watch it dubbed, if you really have to and cant cope with subtitles, just watch it.
Starring; Jackie Chan; Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin
Genre; Action, Martial Arts
Year; 1985
Release; UK HK Legends
Ok folks, this is pretty much it, everything you see made in HK after this, owes something to it (action wise anyway), as does western cinema. Pissed off with attempts to break into the west, and being hamstrung by restrictive conditions, resulting in the pitiful Battle Creek Brawl and the damn awfulness of The Protector, Chan fucked off home, to make something he had complete control over. And this is it. The action is insane, right from the off. From the cars destroying the hillside shanty town, to the bus chase, to the various smaller fights, to the climax in the mall, the action, stunts and fightwork are nothing short of incredible. Many of Chan's stuntteam (his own crew that he uses, he was one and stays true to his roots by running his own crew) wound up in hospital, as did Chan himself. Chan can no longer get insurance in HK after this, and you can see why. The mall fight is an example of how Chan dreams up fight scenarios in unusual places, then fits the film around them. He may have a scenario worked out months, or years, before he has a film to put it in. The weak point is the storyline. Rudimentary, cheesey and a little naieve, it's obviously only there to tie the action scenes together. Cheung is as lovely as ever though, and Lin looks cute too.
Absolutely essential viewing, for anyone with the remotest enjoyment of action films. Watch it dubbed, if you really have to and cant cope with subtitles, just watch it.
The Killers
Director; Don Siegal
Starring; Lee Marvin, Clu Gallagher, Angie Dickenson, Ronald Reagen, John Casseavettes
Genre; Thriller
Year; 1964
Release; UK Cable tv
Nifty little thriller this. Made originally as part of a TV series, but deemed too strong, so released as a film. Based, very very loosley (ok, so it takes very little really) on an Earnest Hemingway short, this is quite a cute little story. Some pointers to how thing have changed, since the early 60's too. In one scene, a guy (Casseavettes) lies comatose in hospital, after having crashed his racecar and got a bit toasted. He wakes up, now, what does his friend, who has been keeping a bedside vigil do? fetch a doctor/ nurse? press the alarm button? no, he lights a cigarette and immediatly gives it to the patient! "Great, you're alive! Here, get cancer" Marvin is Marvin, and that makes this super-cool. Well worth seeking out on cable.
Starring; Lee Marvin, Clu Gallagher, Angie Dickenson, Ronald Reagen, John Casseavettes
Genre; Thriller
Year; 1964
Release; UK Cable tv
Nifty little thriller this. Made originally as part of a TV series, but deemed too strong, so released as a film. Based, very very loosley (ok, so it takes very little really) on an Earnest Hemingway short, this is quite a cute little story. Some pointers to how thing have changed, since the early 60's too. In one scene, a guy (Casseavettes) lies comatose in hospital, after having crashed his racecar and got a bit toasted. He wakes up, now, what does his friend, who has been keeping a bedside vigil do? fetch a doctor/ nurse? press the alarm button? no, he lights a cigarette and immediatly gives it to the patient! "Great, you're alive! Here, get cancer" Marvin is Marvin, and that makes this super-cool. Well worth seeking out on cable.
Sunday 4 May 2008
Martial Monks Of Shaolin Temple
Director; Godfrey Ho
Starring; Hwang Jang-Lee, Dragon Lee
Genre; Martial Arts
Year; 1983
Release; UK Delta
Cheap, churned out by the dozen chop socky nonsense. Dragon Lee is reasonable enough, Hwang Jang-Lee phones it in. Very meh!. I'm not convinced Ho directed it, I'm sure this was made in South Korea, ah well, who cares?
Starring; Hwang Jang-Lee, Dragon Lee
Genre; Martial Arts
Year; 1983
Release; UK Delta
Cheap, churned out by the dozen chop socky nonsense. Dragon Lee is reasonable enough, Hwang Jang-Lee phones it in. Very meh!. I'm not convinced Ho directed it, I'm sure this was made in South Korea, ah well, who cares?
Magnificent Warriors
Director; David Chung
Starring; Michelle Yeoh, Richard Ng
Genre; Action, martial arts
Year; 1987
Release; UK HK Legends
Set in a fictional area of Japanese occupied territory, during ww2, this romp has a feel of Indiana Jones about it, although theres no relic hunting, it has a similar feel to watching it. Superb action, some good fights, and, for once, Ng doesn't irritate the hell out of me. Something worth noting, because of the setting, Yeoh is minus the caked on make-up, and full-can-of -hairspray look that plagued her other films at this time. She never suited that look, and here, more natural looking, she's a real cutie (you can apply the same to Cynthia Rothrock too, she looks better in later films, minus the 80's crap), Yeoh never looked better than she does here. Speaking of cuties, this film features a certain Chindy Lau, a little darling who, sadley, seems to have had only a short lived career, shame. Cracking actioner this, with an obviously bigger than average budget. Essential viewing for any fan.
Starring; Michelle Yeoh, Richard Ng
Genre; Action, martial arts
Year; 1987
Release; UK HK Legends
Set in a fictional area of Japanese occupied territory, during ww2, this romp has a feel of Indiana Jones about it, although theres no relic hunting, it has a similar feel to watching it. Superb action, some good fights, and, for once, Ng doesn't irritate the hell out of me. Something worth noting, because of the setting, Yeoh is minus the caked on make-up, and full-can-of -hairspray look that plagued her other films at this time. She never suited that look, and here, more natural looking, she's a real cutie (you can apply the same to Cynthia Rothrock too, she looks better in later films, minus the 80's crap), Yeoh never looked better than she does here. Speaking of cuties, this film features a certain Chindy Lau, a little darling who, sadley, seems to have had only a short lived career, shame. Cracking actioner this, with an obviously bigger than average budget. Essential viewing for any fan.
Saturday 3 May 2008
Moon Warriors
Director; Sammo Hung
Starring; Andy Lau, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung
Genre; Wu-xio
Year; 1993
Release; UK HK Legends
First off, wu-xio (wushu, fantasy swordplay, whatever) is not my favourite genre. It has to be a good one for me to like it. Fortunatly, this is one. Mui was one of my favourite asian actress' (before she was cruelly taken from us, prematurely), and here she does well, as does the great Maggie Cheung. Lau is his usual self, slightly overdoing it as he usually does in this genre. Beautiful visuals, as you'd expect from this type of film, done well. An enjoyable piece of fantasy, although they can fuck off with the Free Willy shit (Flee Wirry?)
Starring; Andy Lau, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung
Genre; Wu-xio
Year; 1993
Release; UK HK Legends
First off, wu-xio (wushu, fantasy swordplay, whatever) is not my favourite genre. It has to be a good one for me to like it. Fortunatly, this is one. Mui was one of my favourite asian actress' (before she was cruelly taken from us, prematurely), and here she does well, as does the great Maggie Cheung. Lau is his usual self, slightly overdoing it as he usually does in this genre. Beautiful visuals, as you'd expect from this type of film, done well. An enjoyable piece of fantasy, although they can fuck off with the Free Willy shit (Flee Wirry?)
Death Rides A Horse
Director; Giulio Petroni
Starring; Lee Van Cleef, John Phillip Law
Genre; Western
Year; 1967
Release; UK MGM
A spaghetti western of the highest order. Cleef was born to play roles like this, and does so with aplomb. Law is a bit of a let down, to be honest. His attempts at being steely eyed and menacing just comes across as wooden and flat. A slight twist on the usual storyline, strong writing, and solid performances from the rest of the cast, especially Cleef, more than make up for Laws shortcomings. It's not quite on a par with Once Upon A Time In The West, but it's certainly much better than the usual. Excellent film.
Starring; Lee Van Cleef, John Phillip Law
Genre; Western
Year; 1967
Release; UK MGM
A spaghetti western of the highest order. Cleef was born to play roles like this, and does so with aplomb. Law is a bit of a let down, to be honest. His attempts at being steely eyed and menacing just comes across as wooden and flat. A slight twist on the usual storyline, strong writing, and solid performances from the rest of the cast, especially Cleef, more than make up for Laws shortcomings. It's not quite on a par with Once Upon A Time In The West, but it's certainly much better than the usual. Excellent film.
Millionares Express
Directed; Sammo Hung
Starring; Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, pretty much everybody else
Genre; action, comedy, martial arts, western, oh i give up, all of em
Year; 1986
Release; UK HK Legends
Genre spanning extravaganza. Parts action, comedy, drama, espionage, western etc. A huge ensemble cast, including pretty much everyone who happened to be in HK in 1986 and working in films! The only guy conspicuous by his absence is Jackie Chan, everyone else involved in kung fu films seems to appear here. Hung and Biao are the main stars, the rest are support, although the HKL edition I got pushes Cynthia Rothrock with equal billing, but she has only a small role, no more than any of the others. The enormous cast is, if anything, the films main problem. With so many characters, there is little character development, so little sympathy is felt for anyone. However, its fun to see so many big names in one place, and everyone gets at least one fight scene. The action here is something that has to be seen to be believed. Biaos side-somersault, off the roof of a 2 story house is awesome, as are many others. The story is a bit slow, with so many characters to deal with, but the action makes up for it.
An attempt at a huge extravaganza, that falls just slightly short of the mark, but is very worthwhile nonetheless.
Starring; Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, pretty much everybody else
Genre; action, comedy, martial arts, western, oh i give up, all of em
Year; 1986
Release; UK HK Legends
Genre spanning extravaganza. Parts action, comedy, drama, espionage, western etc. A huge ensemble cast, including pretty much everyone who happened to be in HK in 1986 and working in films! The only guy conspicuous by his absence is Jackie Chan, everyone else involved in kung fu films seems to appear here. Hung and Biao are the main stars, the rest are support, although the HKL edition I got pushes Cynthia Rothrock with equal billing, but she has only a small role, no more than any of the others. The enormous cast is, if anything, the films main problem. With so many characters, there is little character development, so little sympathy is felt for anyone. However, its fun to see so many big names in one place, and everyone gets at least one fight scene. The action here is something that has to be seen to be believed. Biaos side-somersault, off the roof of a 2 story house is awesome, as are many others. The story is a bit slow, with so many characters to deal with, but the action makes up for it.
An attempt at a huge extravaganza, that falls just slightly short of the mark, but is very worthwhile nonetheless.
Friday 2 May 2008
Chinese Hercules
Director; Choy Tak
Starring; Bolo Yeung
Genre; Martial arts
Year; 1972
Release; US Brentwood (boxset)
Nothing special about this at all really. The title is one of many, obviously aimed at Bolo's presence, although he is not the star. He does have a fairly big role though. Standard 70's kung fu fare, I got it as part of a very cheap 10 film set, as such its worth seeing, but not worth going out of your way for.
Starring; Bolo Yeung
Genre; Martial arts
Year; 1972
Release; US Brentwood (boxset)
Nothing special about this at all really. The title is one of many, obviously aimed at Bolo's presence, although he is not the star. He does have a fairly big role though. Standard 70's kung fu fare, I got it as part of a very cheap 10 film set, as such its worth seeing, but not worth going out of your way for.
Bloodfight
Director; Shuji Goto
Starring; Yasuaki Kurata, Bolo Yeung, Simon Yam
Genre; Martial Arts
Year; 1989
Release; UK Prism Leisure (boxset)
Bit of a mixed bag this one. Made in HK, by a Japanese crew, this is, basically, a ripoff of Bloodsport. It even has Bolo Yeung playing, what appears to be, the same character. Same name, same tattoos, same attitude. However, it does have a few plus points, in its favour. Simon Yam is a great actor, and this role is a bit different for him. The tournament fighters are an eclectic mix of oddballs, notably an Indian guy who is about 7 feet tall and a large sumo dude. Add to that Kurata plays a guy called Ryu, I wonder if the writer was a Streetfighter fan? Also appearing is a certain Stuart Smith, formerly of the Godfrey Ho school of really crap Ninjas. He's a worse overactor than Tom Cruise. Some decent fight scenes, and a cute plot twist make this worthwhile if you like cheap chop socky. Oh, and it was made in English too, and is a little hard to understand at times, as most of the actors don't speak it very well.
Starring; Yasuaki Kurata, Bolo Yeung, Simon Yam
Genre; Martial Arts
Year; 1989
Release; UK Prism Leisure (boxset)
Bit of a mixed bag this one. Made in HK, by a Japanese crew, this is, basically, a ripoff of Bloodsport. It even has Bolo Yeung playing, what appears to be, the same character. Same name, same tattoos, same attitude. However, it does have a few plus points, in its favour. Simon Yam is a great actor, and this role is a bit different for him. The tournament fighters are an eclectic mix of oddballs, notably an Indian guy who is about 7 feet tall and a large sumo dude. Add to that Kurata plays a guy called Ryu, I wonder if the writer was a Streetfighter fan? Also appearing is a certain Stuart Smith, formerly of the Godfrey Ho school of really crap Ninjas. He's a worse overactor than Tom Cruise. Some decent fight scenes, and a cute plot twist make this worthwhile if you like cheap chop socky. Oh, and it was made in English too, and is a little hard to understand at times, as most of the actors don't speak it very well.
Thursday 1 May 2008
Grindhouse; Death Proof & Planet Terror
Year; 2007
Release; US (BL)
Tarantino and Rodriguez teamed up, to produce a tribute to cheap, sleazy movies. Done as a double feature, and called Grindhouse, after the name given to the cinemas that used to show these films as double, or multi-features. Made as a complete thing, complete with fake trailers for other movies, that don't actually exist (yet anyway, the trailer for a fake film called Machete, with Danny Trejo, caused such a stir that Rodriguez is now making it). A nice idea, but the appeal of Grindhouse is limited, as is the idea of the double feature. This limited the box office success, as no-one wants to sit through 2 films in one sitting, unless you are into it. Released here in the UK as seperate films, as very few here even know what a grindhouse is, let alone want to re-create the experience.
Death Proof.
Director; Quentin Tarantino
Starring; Kurt Russel
Genre; Action, road
Tarantinos film concerns 'Stuntman Mike' (Russel), an ageing stuntman. Mike drives around in an old muscle car, but it's a 'stunt car', that's been 'Death Proofed' (hence the title), by means of strengthening and reinforcing. His reason for driving such a thing is that he likes to kill young women, and uses the car to do so, by crashing into theirs. Typically Tarantino, with lots of his little trademarks (bare feet, talking in a diner, endless references to other movies etc etc) The first half of the film has an aged film stock effect, this disappears halfway through. The reason for this is the film is supposed to mimick 2 films, a film and it's sequal, being spliced together to make one movie. This happens in the world of cheap sleazy movies (Shogun Assassin is a famous one). Lots of talking between the action, and only breif moments of actual gore, and enjoyable little tribute to the world of grindhouse. Fans of muscle cars in general, and Mopar in particular, may wince during the final reel. Put simply, muscle cars and hot chicks, whats not to like?
Planet Terror
Director; Robert Rodriguez
Starring; Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez
Genre; Horror, action
Rodriguezs turn sees a biological weapon being unleashed upon the public, turning the infected into flesh eating zombies. A splatterfest from the getgo really. Gallons of blood, and lots of effects, some really good. The effect of McGowans missing leg couldnt have been done better if they had Heather McCartney playing the role. Lots more references to old movies. Rodriguez sticks to the worn film effect, and even has the film disintergrate and the reel missing (did he have to do it there?), so the story suddenly jumps forward. Huge fun, this entry into the pairing.
On the whole a nice idea, but never really going to take off. Great, no-brainer films though, either seperate or together. Highly reccomended.
Release; US (BL)
Tarantino and Rodriguez teamed up, to produce a tribute to cheap, sleazy movies. Done as a double feature, and called Grindhouse, after the name given to the cinemas that used to show these films as double, or multi-features. Made as a complete thing, complete with fake trailers for other movies, that don't actually exist (yet anyway, the trailer for a fake film called Machete, with Danny Trejo, caused such a stir that Rodriguez is now making it). A nice idea, but the appeal of Grindhouse is limited, as is the idea of the double feature. This limited the box office success, as no-one wants to sit through 2 films in one sitting, unless you are into it. Released here in the UK as seperate films, as very few here even know what a grindhouse is, let alone want to re-create the experience.
Death Proof.
Director; Quentin Tarantino
Starring; Kurt Russel
Genre; Action, road
Tarantinos film concerns 'Stuntman Mike' (Russel), an ageing stuntman. Mike drives around in an old muscle car, but it's a 'stunt car', that's been 'Death Proofed' (hence the title), by means of strengthening and reinforcing. His reason for driving such a thing is that he likes to kill young women, and uses the car to do so, by crashing into theirs. Typically Tarantino, with lots of his little trademarks (bare feet, talking in a diner, endless references to other movies etc etc) The first half of the film has an aged film stock effect, this disappears halfway through. The reason for this is the film is supposed to mimick 2 films, a film and it's sequal, being spliced together to make one movie. This happens in the world of cheap sleazy movies (Shogun Assassin is a famous one). Lots of talking between the action, and only breif moments of actual gore, and enjoyable little tribute to the world of grindhouse. Fans of muscle cars in general, and Mopar in particular, may wince during the final reel. Put simply, muscle cars and hot chicks, whats not to like?
Planet Terror
Director; Robert Rodriguez
Starring; Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez
Genre; Horror, action
Rodriguezs turn sees a biological weapon being unleashed upon the public, turning the infected into flesh eating zombies. A splatterfest from the getgo really. Gallons of blood, and lots of effects, some really good. The effect of McGowans missing leg couldnt have been done better if they had Heather McCartney playing the role. Lots more references to old movies. Rodriguez sticks to the worn film effect, and even has the film disintergrate and the reel missing (did he have to do it there?), so the story suddenly jumps forward. Huge fun, this entry into the pairing.
On the whole a nice idea, but never really going to take off. Great, no-brainer films though, either seperate or together. Highly reccomended.
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