Jack Reacher (2012)
Lee Child’s long-running crime fiction character finds an unlikely cinematic alliance in the diminutive Tom Cruise, who acts like a distracted sack in this otherwise passable thriller. Every character...
View ArticleThe Miracle Fighters (1982)
Yuen Woo-ping‘s response to Sammo Hung’s Encounters of the Spooky Kind is the most delirious, frenetic and wildly imaginative chopsocky the director ever put his name to. He certainly outweighs Sammo...
View ArticleThe Blood Brothers (1973)
The kind of Chinese epic only Shaw Brothers could have made, this extravaganza matches Hollywood melodrama with lavish imagery so impeccable you realise why fans proclaim this film to be Chang Cheh’s...
View ArticleMan of Tai Chi (2013)
Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut is a bold move. He’s gone and made a bilingual modern day kung fu film in mostly Mandarin, filmed entirely in Beijing and Hong Kong. The film may hint towards...
View ArticleLegend of a Fighter (1982)
This interpretation of the life of Hou Yuen-chia (first played by Yuen Yat-chor, then Leung Kar-yan in his later years) is a pleasing mix of pastiche and homage. His nationalist tendencies are thrashed...
View ArticleDrunken Tai Chi (1984)
Another wacky kung fu outing from the Yuen clan, this is a hyper kinetic fusion of ballsy slapstick and wild chopsocky. Offering little in the way of tai chi and even less drunkenness, Woo-ping’s film...
View ArticleUndisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)
The first Undisputed was an adequate if bog-standard boxing film in which heavyweight champ Ving Rhames was sent to prison after rape allegations in shades of Mike Tyson’s life story, only to enter a...
View ArticleIn the Line of Duty 4 (1989)
A Seattle dock worker named Luk (Yuen Yat-chor) gains his US citizenship after seven years working illegally and plans to spend his new found freedom living a normal life with his ageing mother. Right...
View ArticleProfile: Donnie Yen Chi-tan
Date of birth: July 27, 1963 (Guangdong, China) Other names: Yen Ji-dan, Yan Chi-tan, Yen Chi Ten, Yin Sze Dan Occupation: Actor, director, producer, action director, stuntman Style: Wushu, tai chi,...
View ArticleLast Hero in China (1993)
Last Hero in China sprawls, but not without a certain style. The movie opens with the abduction of four runaway slave girls at the hands of a giant levitating lampshade with an extendable grabbing...
View ArticleBattle B-Boy (2012)
A charming, morality-driven underdog film from Californian independents LLR Productions focusing on the trend for ‘da-fi’ (dance-fighting) battle crews, popularised by TV talent shows. The film uses an...
View ArticleCaptain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
There are many elements to this superb superhero movie which stand out. The emphasis placed on Chris Carnel’s powerful fight choreography is certainly one of them. Tight, sharp take-downs and crippling...
View ArticleTai Chi Boxer (1996)
A fusion of romance, action and political intrigue from acclaimed fight choreographer and director Yuen Woo-ping. Despite the title, the film features very little authentic tai chi action. Jacky Wu...
View ArticleOnce Upon a Time in China (1991)
Tsui Hark’s seminal kung fu film not only breathed new life into the genre (borrowing the trampolines and wires used more predominantly in his supernatural pictures) but the film also resurrected...
View ArticleFist of Legend (1994)
Stunning remake of the 1972 Bruce Lee classic Fist of Fury, Jet Li takes on the coveted role of Chen Zhen with the right amount of aplomb and virtue who arrives back from his studies in Japan to the...
View ArticleProfile: Bolo Yeung
Date of birth: July 3, 1946 (Guangzhou, China) Other names: Yang Sze, Yang Szu, Bolo Yeung, Yeung See, Yeung Tze, Yeung Shut Occupation: Actor, stuntman, bodybuilder, director Style: Tai chi Biography:...
View ArticleLegacy of Rage (1986)
After limited success in America, Bruce Lee‘s son Brandon Lee makes his starring role debut at the age of 21 with this, a Cantonese D&B potboiler toeing a similar line to the popular ‘heroic...
View ArticleBorn Invincible (1978)
The Lei Ping School are under attack from a seemingly unstoppable force. If the hidden saw attached to Lo Lieh’s tonfa wasn’t punishment enough, the poor youngsters now have to deal with the white...
View ArticleOnce Upon a Time in China II (1992)
The radical, nationalistic exploits of the feared White Lotus Temple has brought a reign of terror to descend upon turn-of-the-century Canton. Talk of revolution is widespread and the sect’s...
View ArticleVanquisher (2009)
A sorry mess of an espionage film. Thai writer and director Manop Udomdej somehow manages to turn a basic revenge-driven cat and mouse story into complete confusion, not helped by a cast who – bless...
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