Chocolate refers to the favorite candy of the lead character, a mentally disabled teenage girl named Zen. Her mother Zin was a former gang member, and the mistress of Bangkok's top underworld leader, but she fell in love with a Japanese yakuza man named Masashi. Zin separated from her lover and her past life to lead a quiet existence with her daughter.

However, by the time Zen is grown up, the mother is stricken with cancer and urgently needs money for her chemotherapy. Zen's childhood friend Moom finds a notebook with a list of names of people who owe money to her mother, and he naively takes Zen along to collect these debts.

Thus, Zen engages in a series of furious fights, having learned combat skills by observing the Muay Thai boxers practice next door, as well as watching movies and video games. She thus compensates for her mental disability with uncannily fast reflexes and an ability to quickly absorb new techniques.

All this butt-kicking arouses the concern of Bangkok's top mob boss, who is wondering what his former mistress is up to. It leads to a bloody showdown, and even Zen's father is drawn in from Japan. The final battle sequence where Zen chases the lead villain across multiple floors of a high-rise, leaping across the neon signs and ledges is particularly creative and well choreographed.

For any action fan, I highly recommend this title. Some measure of the intensity of the action can be discerned by the end credits which document a handful of the various injuries sustained during filming, not only to the lead actress, but by the many stunt men as well...bloody noses, bruises, broken necks, cuts, etc. It's absolutely a heck of a ride.

None the less, Seiji's business is in trouble as another company seeks a hostile takeover, led by a man named Tsuyama. Seiji's right-hand man Yoshina convinces the naive Sonoe to meet this Tsuyama, and she believes somehow she can help plead for her husband's financial interests with his chief rival.

She finds herself taken to a remote inn, and invited to watch a "show," which turns out to be a live S&M display. She's horrified, but Tsuyama has her trapped and he lecherously takes advantage of her. Sonoe returns home wanting to forget the incident as if it was nothing but a passing nightmare. However in a letter she finds in her living room, there's a candid photo of her, stark naked while engaged in a sex act.

Thus she is entrapped to continue participating in the perverse S&M theater. He husband finds out and casts her aside, so she continues to docilely offer up her body night after night in the S&M theater, as she feels her repressed sexuality being unleashed, and because she fantasizes her husband somehow, some day will find and rescue her, and that he is with her...holding her, whatever she is intricately tied up.

Tsuyama later finds the now homeless Seiji and brings him to the S&M theater, presumably to further humiliate him, only to witness Seiji and Sonoe happily reunite to start over again.

Thus the story abruptly ends. The screenshots offered on this website suggested a good deal of erotic love-making, but the sex scenes were often brief, and mostly involve shots of Sonoe in various stages of being tied up.

The actress who plays Sonoe is fairly attractive with her long hair and glossy skin, although she does have a rather large nose, which does make her face memorable, and not appear overly glamorous.

Overall, it has a handful of intense erotic moments, but they weren't enough of them, and that made the viewing experience a bit of a letdown.

The movie opens with a young woman desperately running for her life through the dark woods, while a man methodically stalks her. Only his boots are shown. The camera lingers frequently on the girl's heaving bosoms, bursting through her tight bodice, her nice skin gleaming in the darkness. None the less, it's clear this lovely damsel was meant to die.

The next scene is of a carriage passing through the English countryside. Sir Richard Fordyke is bringing home his second wife, Lady Elizabeth. His first wife, Anne, died 4 years earlier by suicide, distraught at being unable to bear offspring. Sir Richard is obviously happy he now has a second chance, but the recent murder clouds his homecoming.

The servants and tenants suspect him of many foul deeds, many will even swear they've seen him ride about in the woods at night. Moreover, his father is bound to a wheelchair and mute, unable to speak after suffering a stroke, so things are certainly unsettled.

Sir Richard protests his innocence regarding the murder, after all, he's been in London getting married and was away for months. None the less, soon after his arrival mysterious events and more murders continue to happen. His wife Elizabeth struggles not to doubt him. Both seem on the brink of losing their sanity as the movie masterfully builds up suspense with eerie imagery and music.

Who is the real murderer? What is his motive? I can say that it didn't take me long to figure out it's a conspiracy to frame Sir Richard and seize his family fortune, but it was still very entertaining to watch how it all ends with Sir Richard finally outwitting his enemies.

A powerful nobleman named Lord Katsuragawa has a beautiful but barren wife. Therefore he tolerates her having an affair with an actor. He has his own fun with a prostitute named Shino, and impregnates her so that he may have offspring.

Shino ultimately gives birth to twins, and the birth sequence is a clever piece of film-making that seamlessly cuts between Shino's stressful delivery and the nobleman's wife having rough sex with the actor. However, the babies are a boy and a girl, and only a male heir is needed.

Lord Katsuragawa's butler thus instructs Shino's lover, an ambitious young man named Todo, to murder her and her daughter. He cannot perform the deed and lets them escape. The story picks up 19 years later.

It is the Showa reign of Emperor Hirohito, and only a few years before World War 2. Todo has become a respectable figure in society, but he filled with regret that he never had the chance to properly live a life with Shino.

He manages to track her down before she dies, and also meets her daughter, now a young woman named Kyoko. He tries to atone for his past by offering to take care of her, but she refuses his help and rebelliously becomes a prostitute.

We later learn this is because of the deep rage inside her. She knows her mother once loved someone who abandoned her, and she is determined not to fall in love with any man and share her mother's fate. None the less, a young student becomes besotted with Kyoko.

She also falls in love with him, but like a classic Greek tragedy, she becomes devastated when she learns the identity of the young man. Meanwhile, Todo tries to assassinate Lord Katsuragawa and fails, and thus the stage is set for one final bloody act of vengeance by Kyoko.

All in all, it's a well made film, very tightly edited and the director is brilliant with the use of light and dark to create moods and tensions. There are some genuinely erotic scenes where close-ups of Shino or Kyoko's sweaty, naked skin are filmed as they have sex. On the other hand, the sex scenes are heavily censored. It's obvious what the characters are doing, but the parts of their bodies directly engaged in coupling are either blacked out, deliberately blurred, obscured, or somehow hidden from view.

It's rather annoying, as R-rated films out of Hollywood today show much more sexual explicitness and full frontal nudity, but then again this film was made in 1972 Japan, when adult themes, content, and sexual frankness were still a novelty, and film-makers had to be wary of the country's obscenity laws.

The story follows a young man named Cheng, who is fleeing an arranged marriage because he loves another girl named Mei Ling and his prospective bride is a chubby but intimidating kung fu practitioner. He winds up in Shaolin, hoping to improve his skills and hide from his betrothed.

He meets a number of other men who have traveled wide and far to become disciples at the famous Shaolin Temple, but Master Heng, the scowling teacher assigned to them, does not readily teach them kung fu.

This basically follows a familiar theme that one must train hard developing mental, physical, and even spiritual strength and endurance before tackling martial arts forms and techniques. Thus the students haul water and firewood, work in the kitchen, and do all sorts of menial labor.

Eventually, a kung fu fanatic simply called The Ranger shows up at Shaolin. He was a former student, and a ferocious fighter, but his ambition is to be the best warrior, and not to achieve enlightenment. He attacks and nearly kills several Shaolin students, and humiliates the Abbott and other monks, who refuse to give him a duel for it violates their principles.

Ultimately, Master Heng begins to teach his students more kung fu, especially Cheng, who has the greatest potential. Heng even duels with The Ranger in an attempt to stop the latter's rampage, but the 18 Lohans sent by the Abbott intervene and force Heng to return the temple and be "punished" by sequestering him in a meditation hall. Cheng, who has improved his skills adequately enough, then goes out and defeats The Ranger once and for all in a final showdown.

Anyway, what makes this movie special is the unique "Chop Kick" technique, a really cool move that attacks an opponent's shins and the tendons above the heel, tripping and potentially crippling him. Building up endurance to absorb and deflect the kick is the best counter for it. No other movie I know of shows off this unusual and devastating "Chop Kick" maneuver, and to see it in action is alone worth the price of getting this movie.

This movie has fantastic training sequences, humor, and touching drama as the mean-looking Master Heng, who has a real compassionate nature behind the tough guy persona, cares for his students as a father would love his sons. Highly recommended.

In my opinion, I can say it is full of bizarre imagery, stark juxtapositions of colors, shadow and light, it moves along to a jarring, dissonant music score, and the director frequently uses odd angles to film what's going on, or inverts the image to have characters speak to each other "upside down." It's a very stylish and interesting approach to film-making.

As for the story, it takes place in Japan during the 1920s and 1930s. The movie opens with a dinner feast. By the sumptuous quantity and quality of the food, the guests are clearly members of the affluent elite, but they do not bother with good table manners, rather they ravenously gorge on the food with their hands. Bare-breasted young women docilely serve the diners.

However, the decadence doesn't stop there. The host is a middle-aged aristocrat, bespectacled and slight of build. A marquis himself, he is fascinated by the infamous writings of the notorious Frenchman de Sade, and wishes to live a life of fantasy and vice.

He therefore gathers an entourage of like minded friends and hires miscellaneous petty criminals to be actors in his private theater. Night after night, scenes from de Sade's novels are acted out. Crime and sin are celebrated.

Historically at this time, Japan was as hard hit by the Great Depression as the Western nations, and a young generation of army officers were also plotting to bring a more militarist regime to power, which will culminate in Japan's war with China and eventually the United States.

Therefore, it can be interpreted that for the marquis and his clique, acting out de Sade's lurid fiction serves as an escape from reality. The marquis and his wife Tamae themselves participate in the theater, not content to be merely spectators.

A complication however arises when the marquis brings a young thief into his household and asks him to rape Tamae. The thief is shocked by such an unheard of request and balks, but the marquis threatens him with death and imprisonment if he refuses.

The young man thus barges into Tamae's bedroom one night and throws himself upon her. She resists at first, but gives in rather quickly, knowing that her husband is discreetly watching from a hole in the wall, eagerly enjoying the role of voyeur to satisfy his perverse desires.

The thief and Tamae gradually form a closer bond, arousing the jealousy of the marquis. He had always envisioned her as his play-thing, molding her to be, and do as he wishes, particularly to act as Justine, a character from de Sade's novel of the same name.

There are several scenes where the marquis and his wife's interactions alternate between the stage, rehearsals before the stage, or the aftermath of the performance, a dizzying use of the "play-within-a-play" story-telling technique. Reality and fantasy blur and jealousies and obsessions torment the various characters. Several murders are committed and the movie ends enigmatically with the marquis alone on his ruined stage.

As I mentioned earlier, what it all means is quite elusive, and will probably vary from viewer to viewer. I have never actually read de Sade although I have heard of him, and I have seen available on this very hkflix.com website several European adaptations that presumably offer much stronger, more explicit sex.

I bought this title mainly out of curiosity, because present day Hollywood producers favor, in my view, dumbed down "family friendly" PG-13 blockbusters that safely make lots of money, but I want to take a peek at more provocative, more controversial, and more unusual fare than what one normally gets in a suburban USA megaplex.

However, I can't say I've yet figured out what to make of this movie. Maybe I'll have to brave reading through the novels, or watch the film several more times.

Never the less, I will say that the sex presented here is infrequent and not all that explicit, less so than even some mainstream R-rated movies. Nudity is mainly limited to shots of bare female breasts or buttocks, but there's no genitalia or full frontal nudity. There is also limited S&M. If you're looking for lots of intense sex, you'll probably be disappointed. I found the miscellaneous trailers on the disk offered much better soft-core sex scenes.

I give the film high marks for artistic style and visual creativeness, but the movie rambles on and seemed much longer than its 96 minute run time. I never felt any clear sense of where it was supposed to be heading, and the ending was rather anti-climactic.

If I could have previewed this movie online for a fraction of the price, I would never have bought it. However, if you like cerebral, enigmatic movies that obliquely explore sexual obsession, this might still be for you.

By the end of the first part, Prime Minister Cao Cao has amassed his huge fleet and army in a bend of the Yangtze River, and he and his generals relax while watching his soldiers play a game of kickball, supremely confident of total victory.

However, all is not well. As Part 2 unfolds, we see that disease has struck Cao Cao's camp, as his troops, from the north of China, are unused to the diet and climate of southern China. Meanwhile, in the opposite camp, chief strategist Zhu-ge Liang and his ally Zhou Yu hatch one brilliant scheme after another to destabilize, frustrate, or confuse Cao Cao, who makes counter-moves of his own.

It's especially a fine bit of acting, and a devilishly effective display of ruthless persuasion, when Cao Cao manipulates the sick men in a field hospital to get off their backs and continue to fight and die for him, typhoid fever or not.

This battle of wits and stratagems finally converges in a daring night attack by the southern allies on Cao Cao's naval anchorage. A change of wind foreseen by Zhu-ge Liang allows the allied forces to launch fire-ships and devastate Cao Cao's massive warships.

This is the epic climax of the whole story. The special effects are truly astounding as flames leap from ship to ship until the entire Yangtze seems nothing but a river of fire. After defeating their enemy's naval forces, Zhou Yu and his liege Sun Quan make an amphibious assault on the northerner's heavily fortified camp.

Catapults, repeating crossbows, and firebombs wreak havoc on the opposing armies, and Sun Quan possesses what must be one of the most perfectly trained armies in all of China's history, as his men form not only shield wall but moving tortoises much like the Roman "testudo" as the situation demands.

The troops even break up into smaller formations as needed, still protecting each other and their comrades with large overlapping rectangular shields whenever they require to maneuver better, so I was very impressed with the extremely precise and methodical action choreography.

Seeing how John Woo and his crew put all this spectacle together is really the main point of watching these movies. Two films, even if both are over two hours, still cannot capture the full depth and breath of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. One has to read it to really understand why.

I had wanted to wait to get a special edition with both Parts 1 and 2 together in one package, but if you already purchased Part 1, it's well worth picking up Part 2 to see how the climax unfolds, even if you know a bit of Chinese history or the novel, and thus know how it ends.

Here he plays another legendary martial artist, Fong Sai Yuk, but Fong is a precocious, mischievous lad rather than a no-nonsense master. He gets into fights for the love of fighting, falls in love with the daughter of a well-to-do merchant who initially is a collaborator with the Manchus, before finally emerging as an anti-Ching fighter.

There is plenty of wirework involved, as elements of slapstick comedy, but there are still some exciting fight scenes, such as the one where Fong battles a woman while running on top of people's heads. Fong also has some tough fights against the lead villain, a youthful Manchu military commander played by Vincent Zhao.

A major element in the plot is a bizarre case of double mistaken identity. It's kind of complicated to explain here. You'll have to watch the movie to get it, and it's an extremely contrived, implausible situation. However, without it the film would be hardly more than a series of fights strung together. Therefore, I don't rate this quite among Li's top work, as I much prefer the Wong Fei Hung series, especially Part 2, or even the "Shaolin" trilogy he did in the 1980s, but it's still plenty of entertaining fun.

None the less, the movie immediately opens with a tense battle. Bandits are attacking a convoy, and suddenly a knight in black comes to the rescue, although he becomes wounded. The knight in black is Count Sigfrid, a rival to the Duke of Brabant, whose convoy he just saved.

Feeling gratitude despite their past enmity, the Duke takes the wounded Count back to his castle, and his daughter Genoveffa (Jennifer) tends to the Count's wounds. The latter ultimately fall in love and marry, thus ensuring peace between the rival noble houses.

However, all is not well as the story has just begun. Count Sigfrid's right hand man Golo is a devious fellow with ambitions to supplant his liege lord, and the arrival of the beautiful Countess further inflames Golo's lusts.

The Count later is summoned to go on a crusade by the king, and left alone in the castle, the Countess finds herself a target of Golo's increasingly overbearing and lecherous attention. When she rebuffs his advances, he punishes her by falsely accusing her of adultery, and then condemns her to death.

A servant rescues her to repay her past kindness to him, but everyone else is afraid to speak or stand up to the tyrannical Golo, and even this loyal servant has to pretend he ruthlessly killed Genoveffa and her newborn son in the forest.

Meanwhile, Count Sigfrid is oblivious to what's happening, as Golo intercepts all letters between him and his wife. However, after escaping from his Saracen captors, Sigfrid finally makes it back to his homeland nearly a half a decade after he left, kills Golo, and reunites with his wife and son, a conveniently neat ending where everything falls perfectly into place.

I would have liked to have seen at least one big battle in the "Holy Land," but when the scene goes there, it's just the Count pining for his wife. At one point he is prisoner of war along with dozens of others, but escapes with a clever ruse and has two very quick fights.

The special effects could've been a lot better. For example, Sigfrid hurls a javelin at a Saracen horseman, who falls off his horse with no weapon impales on his body. Lastly, the final duel between Golo and Sigfrid could've been better. The quality of the sword fighting in an Errol Flynn movie, for example, is head and shoulders vastly superior, and more entertaining than watching Golo and Sigfrid wildly swing and hack at each other.

Nevertheless, movies like this aren't made anymore, and harken back to a romantic past.

Here Tony Jaa plays a nobleman's son named Tien. As a young boy Tien wishes to grow up to be a warrior like his father, but the general wishes instead that he learn the peaceful pursuit of dance.

However, a treacherous plot by Lord Rajasena to seize total political power results in the general and all his family being killed except for Tien, who is taken away to safety in the nick of time by a loyal retainer. This retainer is himself slain, and Tien winds up being captured by slavers who amuse themselves by throwing the terrified boy into a crocodile pit.

However, a group of warriors admire the boy's courage and intervene to aid him, eventually taking the lad with them. These warriors are pirates led by Cherng Nur, and include a diverse mix of fighters from Japan, China, and India. Hence Tien is able to learn a wide variety of martial arts and weaponry, (so it's definitely awesome to see Tony Jaa display skills in combat forms rather than just Muay Thai).

All this combat training leads to Tien being appointed as the successor of the pirate band, but his heart burns most strongly the longing for revenge...to kill both Rajasena, who by now has made himself the king, and the mysterious assassin clad in black who actually killed Tien's father at Rajasena's bidding. So he sets out for the capital to fulfill this vow of vengeance.

Surprisingly, this movie doesn't have a happy outcome and the actual ending rather baffled me. I won't reveal here who the black-clad assassin is, but I will say that not only does Tien fail to kill the king and get captured to be tortured, but a narrator concludes the movie by effectively saying if you all have faith for Tien and pray for him, he may yet cheat death. Huh???

Oh well, the action sequences are terrific, especially as Tien battles an army of ninjas with fists, sword, spear, and even a 3-sectional staff! Moreover, it was cool to see classical Thai dance being performed, and its moves seamlessly integrated with martial arts to create an elegant, yet powerful display of athletic prowess.

I'm curious to see what Tony Jaa does next, and despite the somewhat derivative plot with a questionable ending, I recommend this movie so that you can take an exciting trip back in time to Thailand's medieval past, and watch the action superstar play with not just fists and kicks, but with swords and sticks.

I therefore was curious about this title to see how modern Russian filmmakers would treat the subject matter. I can say that the quality of the production was quite high, with the cinematography and costumes being top notch. It was especially impressive to see all those Polish hussar cavalry with their "wings," basically father ornamentation on the backs of their armor.

However, as I expected a historical movie, I was rather annoyed by the constant supernatural elements seen in the movie. Perhaps, it was plot device to imply intervention by a higher power helped inspire ordinary folks to do extraordinary things and save Russia in her greatest hour of need. None the less, seeing a unicorn prancing about in the forest seemed rather silly.

The main character is a young man named Andrei. He is a serf, but a skilled one, as the movie later demonstrates he has blacksmithing knowledge. He is also highly resourceful and intelligent.

As a child, he and his mother lived with the exiled royal family alongside many other servants and retainers. It was then he was first captivated by Princess Kseniya, a daughter of the late Tsar Boris Godunov. One day, Poles and Russians allied to them capture the princess and wipe out the rest of the royal family, and little Andrei witnessed it all.

Years later he is a slave, part of a work gang hauling a river boat that is carrying the princess and the evil Polish general who has taken her as his personal prize. Andrei apparently has been waiting for years for an opportunity to rescue the princess, but when attempting to sneak into her chamber, he is caught and brutally punished. However, his endurance brings admiration from Alvar, a Spanish mercenary in the employ of the Polish general. Alvar buys Andrei's freedom, but the Spaniard and many others are killed by Russian partisans in an ambush.

Andrei then takes the man's clothes, and with the help of a Tatar friend, learns the Spaniard's mannerisms, transforming himself from self into a cavalier. The duo then have a series of adventures, first under the employ of the Polish general, and later face him as an enemy when the two spirit away the princess to join forces with the nationalist resistance.

More supernatural mysticism occur along the way as the ghost of Alvar teaches Andrei the art of fencing.

Fortunately, the big siege battle is impressive to watch. This is one of the few movies that attempt to show how musketeers in that period fired in ranks. On the other hand, Andrei's genius in battle tactics and inventing devastating weapons seemed a little too good to be plausible.

Princess Kseniya is also not initially a very sympathetic character, so even as a symbol of Russian resistance, you wonder why people are willing to die for her. She is often passive and lacking in will, but the reasons eventually become clear later in the movie.

All in all, regardless of the flaws, I still enjoyed the movie, mainly because it covers a subject matter I don't expect mainstream Hollywood would cover anytime soon, and the themes of sacrifice for a higher cause resonates throughout cultures.

As I've written many times before, I like best old school martial arts that emphasize realistic skills: punches, kicks, grappling, tumbling, rather wire work or camera tricks that ridiculously show people flying about treetops or across rivers, and this one delivers on the real kung fu.

I am utterly fascinated by expertly choreographed sequences where one strike or attack pattern is neutralized or countered by another combination of moves, and the process repeats until the better skilled warrior triumphs.

Here, Mark Long plays the "Ghost Faced Killer," who uses the Five Elements style (Wood, Fire, Water, Gold, Earth) to wipe one martial arts master after another. Years ago, he was ruthless enforcer of the Imperial Manchu regime, and various martial arts clan tried to kill him, thought they succeeded, and obviously they failed.

A young man played by Lee I-Min is the son of those old masters. He ultimately winds up under the study of the "Chess King," a wizened man played by Mark's brother Jack Long.

There are some awesome training scenes. One impressive one is where Lee does pull-ups hanging from a rope strung between two trees. However, his legs are also tied to both trees, spread wide, and baskets filled with bricks are hung on both his legs. Thus laden, he must pull up with all his arm and upper body strength. I don't know if they used real bricks in the movie, but it looked impressive all the same.

The movie culminates into a 15 or 20 minute fight where the Long brothers and Lee get to show off their skills, and it's a blast to watch.

Set in Manchuria during the 1930s, three Korean men--one a bounty hunter, one a bandit chief, and the other a seemingly bumbling thief--cross paths during a train robbery. The thief, Tae-Goo, happens to grab a map believed to mark the spot where Imperial Chinese treasure is buried, and this sparks a race between rival bandit gangs and even the Japanese Army.

The action is almost non-stop, with thrilling stunts, gun-fights, bits of humor, and a rollicking "spaghetti western" style soundtrack, and it culminates in an intense chase sequence in the seemingly endless Gobi Desert, where scores of bandit horsemen chase after Tae-Goo, who's riding a motorcycle, as well as Japanese and Manchurian cavalry pursuing with jeeps, trucks, and motorized artillery.

Ultimately, it's a face off between the three Koreans, the only survivors of the battle in the desert, in a three-way gun duel.

If you like action/adventure fun, get this movie quick!

The movie starts out seemingly as a horror mystery, where the locals shun the West Mansion as it is reputedly haunted by vicious ghosts. However, it doesn't take long to figure out this is just a cover to hide a fugitive royal, as various mercenaries and other bad guys serving the new regime are out to hunt him.

Nonetheless, the plot unfolds interestingly as a young swordsman is thrown into the mix. His parents allegedly were killed by the mansion ghosts, and he seeks revenge, and the Comet and her cohorts try to keep him from exposing the royal hideout.

There are some good swordfights, but the style of action here is typical of Hong Kong action films of the late 1960s or very early 1970s, and would later be far surpassed in style and substance by the best of the Shaw Brothers output seen in the mid and late 1970s.

Moreover, many of the chase sequences are a bit tedious. Fortunately, the movie builds up to a satisfying climax, and the supposedly dead parents re-appear, having secretly joined the conspiracy to safeguard the rightful king.

At times, the fight scenes appear a little too sped up, but they're never over-the-top or ridiculous (unlike those flicks that have fighters jumping up four stories or flying across water), and it's cool to see how fluidly Donnie Yen grapples and incapacitates his opponents. Now that he's reachng middle age, he plays the title character, Ip Man, with a credible gravitas.

In the movie's opening, Ip is a wealthy resident of Fo Shan, a town in southern China that's famed for having many martial artists who open up various schools. Ip however does not run a school himself, although the town elders recognize him as the elite master.

When circumstances intervene, such as a bullying northern fighter who wants to triumph over Fo Shan's masters, or the invading Imperial Japanese Army, Ip is forced to reveal and use his skills to defend his loved ones and rally the spirits of his people.

There is a great scene where Ip challenges 10 Japanese experts, defeats them, and thus wins the admiration of the local Japanese commander, General Miura, who is a top karate practitioner himself.

The filmmakers go to great lengths to recreate the look and feel of street scenes of the 1930s and 1940s, from the relative prosperity of the 1930s to the misery of the wartime occupation, although the beautiful actress who plays Ip's wife looks incredibly flawless even in scenes where the couple is supposed to be suffering in abject poverty, as she always appears with perfect skin and perfectly coiffed hair.

Nonetheless, that is hardly a flaw when the movie delivers great fight scenes and a good, inspirational story.

From the 2008 drummers pounding away in unison, to the mass tai chi performance, to the hundreds of beautiful girls in gorgeous costumes, and finally to Li Ning's "run" around the stadium suspended on wires before lighting the Olympic flame, it is chock full of color, excitement, and innovation.

Being in the US, my initial experience of the Opening Ceremonies was NBC's taped coverage, and now having this DVD based on the CCTV broadcast, I finally realize how much was never shown on US television.

For example, the segment with Chinese opera and the puppeteers was cut out from the US broadcast, and the CCTV crews obviously spend many extra minutes filming the entry of the Chinese team all the way into the athlete's field in the middle of the stadium, as well as filming every step the Olympic flag-bearers take as they walk around the track. Moreover, you get to see the athlete's oath and the official's oath, and the full length of all the fireworks display.

These version are also much cheaper than NBC's US DVD set, so definitely pick up these superior versions of the ceremonies.

Although the film was low-budget, even with anachronistic sets that seem a little out of place for the 1930s, it was a straight-forward story with lots of action from start to finish.

The bare bones plot has a patriotic minister named Kao discovering evidence by the government to sell out China's interests to the Japanese, and therefore he must safely get out of the country to expose this treachery. A group of underworld fighters called the "Shanghai 13" are called upon to protect him until he can get on a ship to Hong Kong. One by one they die, and several of the Shanghai 13 are even turncoats working for the bad guys.

It should be no surprise that Kao survives all sorts of assassination attempts to the end credits. However, it's still fun to watch who turns up from scene to scene, and whose side they're on.

The story has a very good moral about dealing with death, and more importantly, life itself...to live without regrets because one made the right choices for the right reasons.

Nonetheless, I much prefer the extended director's cut far more than the theatrical version released in the USA, simply because there's greater character development and deeper philosophical insight. It's not simply extra footage stuck here and there, but a richer, fuller story that explains much more convincingly how Huo Yuanjia transformed himself from a cocky fighter to a wizened master who strives to unite people through sport and self-improvement.

For example, I thought that his confrontation with a Muay Thai boxer in the village was a truly key moment in helping him understand to what purpose he practices martial arts, but it was completely cut from the theatrical version, such that in the latter version we are led to believe that he rehabilitates himself primarily because a beautiful woman nurses and loves him.

Anyway, by the time he did this movie, Jet Li had already been a veteran of kung fu movies for two decades, and "Fearless" naturally packs in some great fights, he has to do a lot more acting than fighting, so there are plenty of occasions where he gets to flex his acting range.

For example, after he loses his family in the aftermath of a violent act of vengeance, simply seeing Li's aged, anguished face, grayed hair, and his weary eyes conveys profound sorrow more effectively than mere words, and it is likely not something he could have successfully pulled off in his younger days.

Overall, great story, fights, and cinematography, highly recommended.

The story starts out rather slowly. A young orphan is getting beat up and chased around by various thugs, and there are several slapstick type action sequences that mercifully don't last too long. We learn the lad is in love with the daughter of a kung fu master, and the old man obviously does not approve of this liaison. This young girl and a wood carving "uncle" who has adopted him are the lad's only friends.

The old master vows to string up the orphan to punish him, but a mysterious stranger named Ling Chu-fei (played by John Liu) suddenly intervenes and saves the boy's life.

The lad takes a liking to Ling, and the latter agrees to accept him as a disciple. Ling is an undercover police officer in town to find an ex-Shaolin monk who was expelled from the temple for his wickedness. This former monk subsequently became a bandit and committed various crimes, so Ling has spent the better part of 5 years tracking him down.

However, in order to avoid letting his quarry escaping, he does not reveal his true identity or purpose to anyone except the young orphan, and Ling pretends to be just a rich wanderer with a fondness for a local prostitute.

Alas, in trying to help Ling, the young man makes various inquiries about a former monk in a rather careless fashion, and this alerts the villain that the heat is on, as several murders are suddenly committed by him as he tries unsuccessfully to frame Ling, and later another man. By the this point of the movie, I was able to correctly guess who the bad guy most likely was, but that didn't detract from the ending and I won't reveal it here.

As usual in a martial arts movie, it all comes down to an action packed showdown, and this one doesn't disappoint as once again, John Liu shows off his amazing kicking prowess, although he gets some much needed help from his young disciple.

There is a "martial arts world" populated by various clans and mercenary fighters and assassins, and the story explores the themes of friendship and vengeance in a world full of violence and treachery.

As the story begins, a young clan leader named Kao is about to get married, only to find his father's archenemy Pai crash the ceremony in an orgy of killing.

Kao and a few followers escape, and he schemes to have a naive young man named Chang to take revenge for him. We soon discover Kao is the real villain of the story, as he plots of have Chang disposed of once the latter defeats Pai. However, since evil can't triumph in the end, Kao will ultimately will pay for his treachery.

The sword fights are overall quite good, on par with the best that the Shaw Brothers churned out in the 1970s and early 1980s, and the wire work is kept to a minimum. Famed kung fu master Lee Hoi San plays Pai and demonstrates a good deal of his skills.

Overall, I recommend this to any martial arts aficianado. After all, they don't make movies like this anymore.

He becomes a fugitive, and along his journeys, he meets a mysterious wanderer played by John Liu, as well as a beautiful woman with a deadly secret.

Liu's character is a northern leg fighter, but his allegiance is initially unclear. He seeks out Sheng for a duel, but it turns out he is merely seeking a worthy challenger and he is also an anti-Ching fighter.

Sheng winds up being captured, then released through the woman's intercession. It becomes quite clear that the woman aiding him is actually a secret agent for the Chings. Her goal is gain Sheng's confidence, so he will take her to Taiwan with him, and thus enable her to assassinate General Cheng, the leader of the resistance. It's northerner who unravels this plot, and he and Sheng reunite in time for a final showdown with the lead villain.

The training sequences and the fights are mostly very good, with John Liu showing off that's always a joy to watch.

However, a few of the fights drag on a little too long. It becomes a bit tiring to watch the heroes brush away a villain with a single slap, punch, or a kick, only to see that same opponent get up and return into the fray for another five or six rounds. Gee whiz, those moments I wanted to shout, "Just kick his damn butt and make him stay down!"

None the less, overall it's a solid "old school" martial arts movie, and for a price cheaper than an average movie ticket, it's well worth adding to your collection.

Finally seeing a crisp re-mastered presentation was well worth the wait. In terms of story, action, and a moral lesson in courage, this film has it all; and I liked Jet Li's version of the story far better than Bruce Lee's "Fist of Fury".

Jet Li's Chen Zhen is lot less impulsive than the character played by Bruce Lee, and unlike "Fist of Fury" where all the Japanese are villains, there are honorable Japanese characters in "Fist of Legend", such as Chen's girlfriend Mitsuko, the elderly grandmaster of the Black Dragon Clan (played by Yasuki Kurata), and even the Japanese Ambassador.

The bad guys in Li's movie are clearly identified as the ambitious militarists who seek total dominion over China. While these imperialistic officers have the advantage of a powerful, modern army over the Chinese masses, as a matter of pride, they also seek to defeat the Chinese "Fist of Legend," to overcome in hand to hand combat the reputation of China's ancient martial arts tradition by hook or crook.

Thus Chen Zhen must fight for honor and country in a gruelling, exciting showdown with a frighteningly tall and tough Japanese general named Fujita.

Tan Tao Liang plays Captain Lu, the police chief of a small town whose mayor, Master Yuen, has a dirty secret. Lu is also shadowed by a young girl, Miss Lee, who has an agenda of her own. Then there's Pai Yu Ching, a mercenary fighter dressed in white played by Wong Tao. He suddenly shows up one day to seemingly stir up trouble.

As the plot unfolds, Lu's fiance gets harassed by the mayor's lecherous son, who then murders the girl's mother. Lu vows to bring the scoundrel to justice, only to be obstructed by the corrupt mayor who has more than just a wicked son to hide. Lu's situation is further complicated by the fact that Pai seemingly has hired himself out to serve Master Yuen.

However, we later learn what Pai's mission truly is, and thus it makes for a very satisfying finale for Pai and Lu to finally join forces to take down the bad guys, the principal villain being Mayor Yuen's partner, a hunchback named Master Leung.

I've many a white haired evil master in multiple movies, but Leung actually has got dyed blond hair, a white powdered face, and a pronounced limp. However, he's definitely a kick-butt fighter requiring Lu's kicks to combine with Pai's fists in order to defeat.

Overall, a solid old school classic.

Alas, David Chiang himself doesn't do any kung-fu, but his three "Angels" plentifully punch, kick, or shoot their way through a huge army of bad guys to bring down the evil mastermind of the crime ring, a cruel woman named Yeung who's also a cocky martial artist.

The Angels consist of Saijo, a no nonsense Japanese martial arts master, a young girl named Moon, who looks too cute to be a convincing commando, and Elaine, who is the sassiest but clumsiest of the bunch. There's also Commander Fong, a Chinese-American narcotics officer sent to help the Hong Kong Police.

Hwang Jang Li has a cameo as a mid-level gangster who is conflicted with Yeung's murderous ruthlessness, but other than a few very brief fights, you don't get to see much of his legendary kicking skills.

Nonetheless, this film is non-stop entertainment. I only wish more of the so-called summer blockbusters that Hollywood produces each year were half as much fun and exciting.

Now I don't watch kung fu movies for their plots, but I do like to see a logical thread that ties together the beginning, middle, and end. Either this movie was flawed in its editing, or I happened to watch a badly chopped up version.

The movie starts out promisingly, as a squad of loyal Imperial guards race to take an infant prince to safety from the forces of a usurper. The bodyguards are all killed, but the infant is found by a passing monk. The baby grows up to the hero of the movie, played by Casanova Wong. Meanwhile, the lead villain gives his allegiance to the Manchus and becomes a general in their army.

From this point on, the movie is a jumbled mess of training sequences and fights. Characters are suddenly introduced, then disappear, and Wong's character spends a lot of his time running back and forth, arriving late on the scene as his friends, fellow monks, and his masters are killed by the Manchus.

Many martial arts films have a much better transition from the training part of the film to the final showdown.

Overall, it's not a terrible film per se, but there are other films featuring Casanova Wong that are superior and better worth your money, like Warriors Two.

John Liu, famed for his amazing kicking skills, stars as the leader of a motley gang of five ordinary guys who are hired to spring a revolutionary commander from a warlord's mountaintop fortress. The plot is decidedly simple and makes for a lean and mean fighting flick.

The five men each have different personality traits, and include a bumbling coffin maker and a juggler. Despite their swagger and bravado when Liu meets them for the first time, none are really professional fighters and he must train them ruthlessly for the task ahead.

They initially hate him for the hard work, but then learn to appreciate his firmness, discipline, and the marked improvement in their skills. A chance to make some money is a big factor driving their motives, but each one also wants to be a hero and not be looked down upon, and they all admirably prove their loyalty and courage when the chips are really down.

Once the training sequences are over, the movie picks up its pace with one fight after another as the men push their way through multiple ambushes and checkpoints. There's a massive battle within the fortress, but also a clever twist at the end, although the story drops a few clues here and there such that an alert viewer should see it coming.

Highly recommended.

Marie, the lead character, is obsessed with a synchronized swimmer named Floriane, who is quite pretty but has the reputation of being of easy virtue. This obsession makes her vulnerable to Floriane's manipulations. Marie's childhood friend Anne is also a synchronized swimmer, but decidedly portly in physique. Anne is attracted to a handsome water polo player named Francois, a hunky blond. Floriane also has her eyes on Francois, but she only plays the flirt because she likes the attention.

Sorting out this web of relationships makes the story start slowly, but it does get more interesting as the viewer wonders what's going to happen next, especially as a rift develops between Anne and Marie, and the few love scenes in the movie are far more awkward than erotic.

In the end, I'm a little ambivalent about this movie. While it's not badly told, I didn't find the main characters sympathetic enough to really care if wound up intimately together. There was something lacking in the emotional intensity, or it wasn't projected convincingly enough. For a comparison to what I mean, consider the Swedish film "F***ing Amal" from the late 1990s and watch how the two girls in that movie gradually defy the odds to become a couple.

The action combines real kung fu with unfortunately a good dose of wire work, which I tend to find ridiculously annoying. You can even clearly see the wires attached to the actors as they leap and "fly." There are also elements of slapstick comedy, which in the interviews it's explained that the creators tried to borrow a few elements of Jackie Chan's brand of kung-fu comedy, but I found the humor quite lacking.

Nonetheless, it's a straightforward tale of two young monks who grow up as friends but ultimately become enemies as each follows a different path in life. Jet plays Jun Bao, the younger monk, when the story opens in the legendary Shaolin Temple. He meets Tien Bao, played by Chin Siu Ho (who also co-starred with Jet in "Fist of Legend"), an older boy with an ambitious, headstrong streak. We see a flash of Tien's will to dominate when he pressures Jun Bao into calling him the "senior brother," even though their master intended it the other way around because Jun Bao came first to the monastery.

As young men, they get expelled from the temple when Tien Bao offends the master of an unscrupulous student and Jun Bao comes to his brother's defense. There's a great action sequence where the monks get into their "Lohan" formation, that is, multiple monks stand on their comrades' shoulders to form a daunting array of men with spinning sticks. The duo only manage to escape when they break the oil lamps in the hall to make the floors slippery, and their master also makes a timely intervention.

Anyway, once in the secular "real" world, Tien Bao's obsessive ambition draws him into the service of a corrupt eunuch who serves as the local governor, whereas the still innocent and idealistic Jun Bao is content with a simple, peaceful life and winds up in the company of rebel fighters.

An inevitable collision course is thus set, and Tien Bao's treachery temporarily drives Jun Bao into pyschological paralysis, but the latter eventually finds enlightenment in the Way of Tao, and becomes a Master of "Tai Chi."

It leads to a furious climax as Tien Bao, now a general, squares off against his one time brother, and is defeated because he has never learned to tame his impulsive instincts. However, it is not Jun Bao who kills him, but his mutinous soldiers who have become fed up with his tyrannical, ruthless ways. Jun Bao rides off and becomes the famous Cheung San Fung, the great Taoist master.

Overall, it's a good story with pretty good action, and despite a few quibbles here and there I'd definitely recommend it to any matial arts fan.

In this movie, the female lead is called Marina Pinares, and she's first introducted as a cold, elegant blonde with perfectly upswept hair, at the height of her power, but also dying from an initially unspecified ailment.

The film goes from there in a series of flashbacks between past and present, and can be a bit difficult to follow, but the actress who plays Marina does a very effective job. She deftly portrays both a miniskirt-wearing party girl seeking to sleep her way to the top and out of a dreary existence; and a ruthless, determined First Lady, clad in glamorous furs, seeking to cement her immortality as "Little Mother," the icon of her country.

As First Lady, Marina smoothly manipulates the media and mass crowds, has her posters plastered everywhere, and lets the public openly witness little acts of charity, and it's clear she actually runs the country and the President, a colonel she opportunistically married, is but a figurehead. However, while her husband is about to run for re-election, she creates tension in the military hierarchy backing the Pinares regime with her ambition to formally run as Vice-President, as the conservative junta does not approve of this. Moreover, men from her past threaten the saintly image she has carefully crafted.

The film was shot in Croatia in the early 1970s, then part of Yugoslavia, and the actual backgrounds lend perfectly to the atmosphere. We see an elegant European style capital with grand boulevards and ancient buildings, as well as dreary modernistic apartments and squalid slums.

As for sex, there is a very interesting scene where Marina is showering and her lover approaches the glass door of the shower stall. She presses herself against the glass and he makes love to the outline of her naked body. Watch it more than once, it's far more erotic than a lot of "love" scenes in other movies.

Overall, it's quite a fascinating political drama inspired by a controversial historical figure.

It's a very straightforward tale of good versus evil, even to the point of the bad guys wearing all black (well, with the exception that the officers and better warriors among the Japanese pirates wear red), and the good guys wearing white.

Wang Yu's character is a swordsman who arrives in a small town on his way to Hangchow to help his uncle (a garrison commander) battle the latest pirate incursion. He's too late to help his uncle, as Hangchow has already fallen, but after killing and driving out an advance party of pirates in the town, he feels honor and duty-bound to protect the little town from an inevitable future reprisal.

Therefore, he recruits some martial arts masters, and conveniently two of them head formerly rival schools with a large numbers of disciples, offering an instant large army.

The real heart of the movie boils down to one of the longest, most intense, and intricately battle sequences put on a martial arts film as the full weight of the pirate force attacks the town. It's probably half an hour long of non-stop combat, street to street and house to house fighting. The body count piles up until the faces withdraw for a breather, and the hero must face the evil pirate warlord in a final one on one duel at night.

Also, this is one of the few films that's practically all male in its cast. There is not only no leading lady, one can hardly even spot a single female among the few crowd shots of civilians. If you just want to see a no-nonsense, action-packed, stick 'em with knives, stick 'me with spears (and even stick 'em with chopsticks) type of flick, this is the movie for you.

Anyway, the story centers on an unassuming warrior played by Andy Lau. A city in the path of an army seeking to invade another kingdom is fearful of being swallowed up in the process, as the Zhao forces need to protect their rear and maintain a secure supply line. Therefore, the city seeks aid from the Mozi clan, famed for their defensive expertise.

It later turns out the lone hero who comes to their aid did so on his own conscience, as the Mozi clan actually did not want to get involved.

None the less, although he is not a veteran general who had never protected a city before, he convinces the local king to trust him as their only hope, and he is granted command of the garrison. Naturally, his skillful tactics and leadership stymie the enemy and force them to withdraw. It indeed becomes a "battle of wits" as the opposing general becomes obsessed with defeating this Mozi military genius, to the point of abandoning his original invasion of the other kingdom.

However, there's more to the plot than that. The success of the Mozi warrior breeds jealousy and resentment among the city's elite, and his popularity among the people and his preaching of "universal love" threatens the king's autocratic rule. Therefore, he is ultimately betrayed and arrested by the very people he risked his life to defend, only to escape with a little help.

In the meantime, the Zhaos prepare one last sneak attack, and it really amounts to a test by their general to see if this brilliant warrior is really so pure that he would return to again save the city that had forsaken him.

Although the story is inspired by the Era of Warring States prior to China's unification, the movie's creators do take some strange liberties. For example, Andy Lau's character rescues a Mandarin speaking black guy (how did an "African" fellow end up in 4th century BC China?), and there is a battle sequence where the Zhaos attack with from the sky via hot-air balloons, which looks rather corny to me.

None the less, aside from these fanciful elements, it's a fairly well told story of sacrifice, loyalty, honor, and the quest for peace in a troubled world.

While "Fearless" was marketed as Jet Li's "last" period martial arts epic, he's back in costume here as plucky Qing General Pang. He does have several fight scenes, but unlike past movies where his performances showcased his highly acrobatic skills, this role instead requires more dramatic effort from him. So there are many close-ups of his now middle aged face, lined and weary, and they very effectively convey the image of a warrior who has seen too much of the world's horrors.

Nonetheless, despite the many setbacks he faces, General Pang is a survivor and an opportunist, and he hasn't given up hope that his fortunes will change for the better. For example, in the opening of the movie we see a Qing Army annihilated by Taiping rebels, and Pang is the only survivor. We later learn that another commander deliberately shirked from assisting him and left his army to its fate.

Pang ultimately encounters a rag-tag bandit gang who rob to survive, led by Er-hu (Andy Lau), and Jiang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). However, after the gang is divested of their food by the same Qing troops who deserted Pang and his men, Pang convinces Er-hu and Jiang to join the Imperial Army, for they will not lack for food or loot, nor be bullied by other soldiers.

Thus, the trio swear an oath to become blood brothers, and ultimate leadership would go to Pang, who enjoys success after success. Of course, as in the Shaw Brothers version, there is a woman who will come between the two lead men.

However, in "The Warlords," Pang is a much different character than General Ma (played by Ti Lung) in the earlier "Blood Brothers," for Ma is unabashedly ambitious and unfliching in killing anyone who stands in his way.

On the other hand, when Pang does away with his enemies and rivals, he feels the weight of guilt on his conscience, and at least he tries to rationalize his actions as being for the greater good, and perhaps he really did mean well.

After all, Pang does not openly punish Er-hu when the latter challenges his authority at times, and he even weeps when he orders a massacre of Taiping prisoners, for his own army is hungry and desperately short on food. Moreover, even as a collision course is set up between Pang and his two brothers, corrupt Qing officials jealous of Pang's success are plotting to kill him anyway. This latter angle wasn't present in "The Blood Brothers."

The tragic ending is rather predictable, regardless whether you've seen "The Blood Brothers" or not, and yet this verson is worth watching for the credible performances, the high production vales, and in particular the realistic, extremely detailed battle scenes. In one of the early battles, Pang uses an interesting tactic of sending a forlorn hope of swordsmen to charge Taiping musketeers, a moving shield for the following archers who fire in support, therefore allowing the rest of army to close to sword fighting range. It's quite impressive to watch, and it's also cool to see the Taiping rebels fire muskets successively in ranks like well-drilled European professionals.

Michael Hui starred and directed in this romantic comedy where he's a hapless musician who just happened to witness a gang killing, and in order to save his skin, disguises himself as a woman named Dong Dong in an all-girl band. He thus meets and becomes smitten with the lead singer Ding Ding (played by Cherie Cheung), and the film plays out as a series of gags and deft escapes as he tries to woo Ding Ding, avoid the attentions of a suitor who lusts after Dong Dong, as well as evade the gangsters who are out to get him.

Alas, upon first viewing, the gags really hit home. Upon a second viewing they just didn't seem all that hilarious. I suppose when I was a kid the absurdity of a guy pretending to be a girl seemed a funny gimmick, but it sort of falls flat now that I'm older. Nonetheless, back in the mid 1980s, Cherie Cheung was very pretty and cute, and especially sultry when she appears in a low cut white dress with one strap falling off her right shoulder.

It's still a charming little flick, and might be worth your dollars if you don't mind a slightly silly type of romantic comedy.

Anyway, I love Sonny Chiba's films and decided to suspend disbelief and check out the film. As it turns out, I'm not disappointed. At its most basic, the plot invovles a detachment of Japanese Self-Defense Forces soldiers who somehow get trapped in a strange phenomenon that sends them back to the Age of Warring States, along with their weapons and equipment, namely a tank, a helicopter, and a patrol boat.

They are soon discovered by Kagetora (aka Uesugi Kenshin, historically a famous warlord) who eagerly embraces them as allies. The SDF soldiers, led by Lt. Iba (Sonny Chiba), later do join forces to fight with Kagetora, as Lt. Iba rationalizes that by "changing" history perhaps they might cause another distortion in the universe to force a higher power to return them to their own time.

Nonetheless, the film is less about science fiction, and more about how people might change if thrust into extraordinary circumstances. A few such as Cpl Yano decide to take advantage of superior firepower to loot, rape, and kill, forcing Iba hunt him and other renegades down.

Meanwhile various spies track Iba, his men, and their exotic hardware. As Iba develops a strong friendship with Kagetora, learning the old ways of horse archery, kenjutsu, and yari spear combat, it becomes apparent that he loves his new surroundings. In modern Japan, he is but a junior officer in peaceful times, but in the 16th century, he can become virtually a king, and he might not want to go back even if given the chance.

The highlight of the movies is definitely for me the re-interpreted battle of Kawanakajima. Historically, Kagetora faced off against another great general, Takeda Shingen in one of the most spectacular battles in feudal Japan. In the movie, it's Iba and his tiny squad against Shingen's thousands of samurai.

What's truly fascinating is how the Takeda army tries to adopt innovative tactics, weapons, battlefield intelligence, and advanced planning in an attempt to overcome Iba's technology.

It's a breathtaking battle worthy of any samurai epic. Flags flutter in the air, the various divisions are in full armor and colorful uniforms, masses of cavalry and ninja go in action, and there are ambushes galore. Ultimately, Iba barely manages to triumph against seemingly overwhelming odds, but not without losing his war machines, and even the most powerful tank must eventually run out of fuel and ammunition.

What follows is rather anti-climactic and sad, even if somewhat predictable, for in a ruthless winner-takes-all era, how long can Kagetora and Iba stay allies?

Not here, though. Tony Jaa does not simply "kick butt," his character relentlessly but efficiently breaks arms, wrists, legs, and necks in some of the most intense action sequences ever put onto film.

In a follow-up to the hit "Ong-Bak", he plays a young man named Cam who is descended from a long line of warriors dedicated to guarding the King's elephants in battle.

One day during a festival where his father goes to present their treasured elephant as a gift to the King, gangsters suddenly steal it as well as the cute baby elephant. These gangsters are tied to an organized crime family headed by Madam Rose in Sydney, Australia, and they have truly nefarious motives for trafficking in rare and endangered animals.

This sets in motion Cam's journey to Australia, where despite not able being to speak a word of English, he conveniently runs into and is befriended by some expatriate Thais, including Police Sgt. Mark, a buffoonish character played by the same guy who acted the "Hum Lae" role in "Ong-Bak".

As later explained in the film, there is a special bond between Thais and their elephants--the noble animals are especially like family to those descended from elephant warrior guardians--so whoever dares to harm or endanger elephants better be prepared to face some "ass whoopin'".

Thus Cam takes down all sorts of fighters, including three beefy wrestlers and Madam Rose and her deadly whip. The DVD sleeve proudly proclaims no wires or CGI were involved, so the various stunts are truly impressive.

Watch Cam intimidate a lowly thug by running up a light pole and kicking out the street lamp. Re-wind it a few times just to stare at Tony Jaa's incredible athleticism. There are various moments of humor, too, mainly from Sgt. Mark. Look also for the cameo of Jackie Chan.

Overall, this is highly recommended if you like no-frills, almost non-stop action.

Gao, however, is aghast at Ying's tyrannical ways and resists cooperation. The king's daughter, Yueyang, takes a fancy to Gao and seduces him. The two become genuine lovers, even though the princess has been pledged to marry the son of the king's top general, and the king has to defuse the scandal from undermining his court.

All this unfolds in scene after scene of palace intrigue, and lots of lots of emoting that gets wearying after awhile. We see the king alternate between being angry and sentimental. He wants Gao's loyalty and musical skills to serve his grand purpose, and Gao grudingly gives in enough to save his head, but is never completely won over, and so the two are constantly bickering at each other.

In the end, Gao apparently composes the anthem but commits suicide after attacking Ying during the latter's ceremony, proclaiming himself Emperor.

So what to make of the movie?

The sets and costumes are not as lavish as other films to come more recently from China, but scenes of thousands of soldiers cheering their overlord, with fluttering banners and massive drums, does make for good spectacle. The story can be interpreted as one man's struggle to maintain his freedom of conscience, but it sounds more interesting to read in a novel, than to see it acted out as two guys going back and forth whining about each other's ways.

"Yamato's" story opens in the present day, where a young Japanese woman exhibits a great interest in the fate of the Battleship Yamato and her crew in the final days of World War 2. The audience later learns her foster father, Petty Officer Uchida, served on the ship, and she wants to know more about him and his ship-mates. She ultimately befriends an elderly fisherman named Kamio, who was one of Uchida's friends and served on that same ship as a cadet, and he agrees her to take her on his boat to the exact spot where the warship sunk in battle.

The movie then turns into a series of flashbacks, but similar to "Saving Private Ryan," there are many scenes that Kumio's character obviously did not witness or partake in, but they do serve to flesh out the personalities of the other key people.

Memories of the war are painful for Kamio, and until he met Uchida's adopted daughter and learned Uchida in fact was rescued, he never knew any of his close comrades survived and he spent 60 years of his life living with a degree of guilt.

However, by the end of the movie, he understands that having survived, to live life well and to the fullest, to cherish all its precious moments, means that those who died--those who were willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice--did not do so in vain, for through him and those of the next generation, the dreams and hopes of the departed also live on.

While it's a Chilean film, the plot and the circumstances could be anywhere in the contemporary world. Basically, two strangers meet at a party, hook up for a one-night stand, eventually get around to post-sex chit chat, and end up revealing more of themselves than they had ever anticipated.

It can be intepreted as a study of how people can crave casual physical intimacy, achieve it, and yet yearn for a much more profound connection. As the director says in the interview, it is easy for one to shed his or her clothes, than to actually bare one's soul.

As you watch Bruno and Daniela interact, you get the sense that despite each of their past relationships with other people, they have never really tried getting to know their previous partners as much as they are learning about each other.

My main critique is the sometimes jerky wandering of the camera. As full nudity and explicit close-ups are already well displayed here and there, I don't see the necessity of panning back and forth from the "action."

Anyway, if you like stuff such as "Full Body Massage" or "The Night and the Moment," you'll probably enjoy "En La Cama" as well.

Alas, this is one of the worst movies I've ever endured watching, and the acting wasn't helped by atrociously poor dubbing.

The fight sequences were frequently slapstick in nature, and yet often failed to induce me to laugh, mainly because the gags weren't particularly original and would work better in a pure cartoon.

The premise of the thin plot is that a gang of Amazon warriors terrorizes a peaceful valley, coming into conflict with a masked warrior named Darma. Centuries ago, someone discovered a nearby cave's natural oil deposits, and exploiting the effects of fire from the burning fuel, passed himself off as an immortal overlord on the local villages, receiving "taxes" in return for his protection. Generation after generation of disciples were selected and trained to keep up the con game and thus Darma's "immortality," until the ambitious Amazons, greedy to learn the truth of the "secret flame," kill the latest Darma and force his young protege to seek help from 2 allies. They are Moog, a huge black guy, and Chang (played by Shaw Brother's Yue Hwa), who also want to learn the secret of immortality, albeit in a more honorable fashion.

This movie was supposed to showcase an early collaboration between Western and Eastern film studios in the aftermath of Bruce Lee's popularity, but Yue has little chance to show off the Chinese style swordplay in his best Shaw Brothers movies, and the overall budget of the film could not have been very high. Plenty of "fighting" involves Moog shoving people down with brute strength, or the new Darma ridiculously bouncing up and down (presumably using an off-camera trampoline) off walls and cliffs to evade the evil Amazons.

The Amazons themselves are mostly blonde and scantily clad women with a totally cheesy battle cry that was one of the few things that made me laugh. Alas, for the most part they are poor shots with bows and not very effective fighters. The climactic showdown takes place mostly in the dark, and with lame firebomb effects and wooden "flame-tanks" that unfortunately fail to impress me, because I've seen so much better elsewhere already.

I'm not sure what would have improved the movie...perhaps better choreographed fight scenes, or perhaps a lot more skin revealed amongst the nubile Amazons. If you like to collect vintage trash and amuse your friends on how ridiculous and dumb a flick can be, this might be for you, otherwise avoid like the plague.