Final Impact (1991)
A promising start for debuting leading man Michael Worth. He plays Danny, a young wannabe kickboxing champ’ who takes martial guidance from the washed-up former big-shot, Nick Taylor (Lorenzo Lamas)....
View ArticleFists of Iron (1995)
This low-budget fight film feels like an episode of one of those soft-focus Californian soap operas, with sun-kissed locales, playboy mansions, a keyboard-based soundtrack and hammy dialogue. There’s...
View ArticleDragon Girls (2012)
Powerful German documentary which provides a candid insight into life at the Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Henan province, China. The film follows three young girls during their training for state...
View ArticleThe Villainess (2017)
This South Korean gut-buster went down a storm at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere and received a four-minute standing ovation. Luckily, much of the film’s critical...
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KFMG Podcast S02 Episode 20: Michael Worth
“I’ve sort of let the inner nerd come out and just gone with it – and it’s fun, I love it, I enjoy it. And I see Tarantino doing it all the time and I think if he can do it, I can do it.” Today we...
View ArticleProfile: Michael Worth
Date of birth: 13 January, 1972 (Philadelphia, US) Full name: Michael Troy Worth Occupation: Actor, writer, director, producer, stuntman. Style: Aikido, karate, Northern Shaolin, Eskrima, Jeet Kune Do,...
View ArticleDynamo (1978)
An interesting Bruceploitation flick in which a Bruce Lee imitator (Bruce Li) is caught in the crossfire between two warring Hong Kong advertising agencies. Li is a taxi driver who becomes a big-shot...
View ArticleExit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger (1976)
There’s a genuine sense of grief and anger in this Bruceploitation offering, made only three years after Bruce Lee‘s sudden and mysterious passing. This explicitly links Lee’s death to Triad drug...
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KFMG Podcast S02 Episode 21: Matthias Hues
“You can’t be normal to win this game. You have to be insanely competitive.” Today we welcome one of martial art cinema’s all-time greatest villains to the show. The giant, musclebound German fighter...
View ArticleProfile: Matthias Hues
Date of birth: 14 February, 1959 (Waltrop, Germany) Occupation: Actor, martial artist. Style: Taekwondo, kickboxing. Biography: Matthias Hues is a German-born martial artist and actor. He was born in...
View ArticleThe 18 Bronzemen (1976)
The formerly wooden guardians of Shaolin’s inner sanctum turn bronze (or, rather, bald men in gold body paint) in this modestly budgeted kung fu film from Joseph Kuo. It’s a great gimmick to disguise...
View ArticleDirty Ho (1979)
A note-perfect kung fu film from Lau Kar-leung which is character-driven, full of remarkable fight choreography and great fun. In shades of Henry IV Part 2, Gordon Liu plays one of the Emperor’s 14...
View ArticleKung Fu Yoga (2017)
“I love Indiana Jones,” says Jackie Chan‘s character, Professor Jack Chan (yes, really), who is “China’s greatest archeologist”. At the behest of an undercover Indian princess (Disha Patani), Jack is...
View ArticleAssassin’s Creed (2016)
Director Justin Kurzel reunites his Macbeth cast of Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard for this disjointed sci-fi action yarn based on a video game – which has never been a phrase to fill anyone...
View ArticleJailbreak (2017)
Jailbreak forms part of a cultural renaissance in Cambodia following the slow rebirth of its local film industry after years of political upheaval, war and bloodshed. Interestingly, although this...
View ArticleKingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
Tedious sequel full of hyperactive hijinks and crass humour. If this working class spin on the James Bond formula had any charm to begin with, then it was built around the central master-pupil...
View ArticleThe Invincible Kung Fu Trio (1978)
Cheap but spirited Taiwanese kung fu film centred around the three Shaolin patriots Hung Hei-kwan (Li Chung-chien), Fong Sai-yuk (Meng Fei), and Luk Ah-chai (John Liu). The film follows in the wake of...
View ArticleThe Tournament (1974)
Barnstorming Angela Mao Ying vehicle made at the height of her powers at Golden Harvest. Following their success dabbling in the Korean arts for Hapkido and When Taekwondo Strikes, director Huang Feng...
View ArticleChasing the Dragon (2017)
Glamourised rags-to-riches story of infamous Hong Kong drug baron Ng Sek-ho, better known as Limpy Ho due to his pronounced limp and use of a walking stick. Hong Kong isn’t short on well-known...
View ArticleThe Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)
A big-screen outing for the Lego Ninjago characters, which can be found in the long-running TV series, Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, and its associated merchandise. If you’re not aware of the...
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