This is Jackie in his "grown up" serious actor showcase. There are no hijinks, no mugging for the camera and, for the most part, no martial arts (by anyone). This is a mobster crime drama. And a pretty good one, too. The storyline is engaging, if not altogether original, and the acting in general is solid. Daniel Wu, in particular, does a great job as Jackie's lifelong friend. He makes an effortless transformation from sweet and naiive to crazy and vicious without skipping a beat. Fan Bing-Bing is also ridiculously beautiful as Jackie's (eventual) girlfriend, if you're wondering about the eye-candy quotient (though Fan can certainly act, too).

All-in-all, this is a good dramatic flick. There are heart-touching moments and scenes of incredible violence. I was just a little disappointed by the almost total lack of martial arts.

The plot, such as it is that a wealthy businessman becomes interested in a young woman who kept him from being lost at sea by Emil Chau (bad guy?) He gets Brad Allen, an American Martial Arts champion to fight C.N. with the intention of humiliating C.N. who hasn't been in the gym much and not in fighting form. What takes place next is one the most unrealistic fights I have seen in a Jackie Chan movie. Things are polite. Brad comes prepared for everything and different weight gloves. And tunes. When Jackie falls down and just stays there Brad leaves and Emil is sad rather than gloating. Emil does not work as a bad guy. Jackie wants a rematch with Allen and starts to work out again, often with the help of Ah Bu.

Of course there needs to be another fight between Jackie and Brad. It's difficult to see many shots of Jackie because he is wearing all white and every thing in the room is white too. Rather blinding. I won't spoil the outcome of the fight nor the repercussions so I'll shift to this movie apparently has had all the specials removed.

The movie itself is 120 minutes and is not a great film. Jackie seemed to be having a lot of fun when talking during interviews. He had one of his best friends act as the most useless bad guy along with a stunt team member to have pretend fights with. The only thing I have heard about this movie that is so special is that Jackie finally has a romantic kiss. Well the kiss is in the special features so no one will see it now anyway, and Jackie has kissed women before in movies like "Red Bronx" ("Rumble In The Bronx"). Jackie seemed very happy during the interview segment but this reviewer did not share in his elation. This movie did not deliver as advertised. Pretty fluff and everyone's happy does not necessarily a good movie make.

I do really like Tak Sakaguchi's screen presense and action sequences showing great promise when he figures out a believable story is important. The action scenes were intense and very believable since he would really hit people with his padded hands that were covered by his costume sleeves.

This film also included fun but very over the top action such as bazookas with homing missiles, zombies?, and strange pale people similar to the ones in "Seven Swords".

Still this film is fun but it comes back to questions like who are these people, what's the purpose of those girls, where did that weapon come from, etc...

Many people who like mindless violence and mayhem like I do will have a great time if they are able to put their mind on stop and "Death Trance" on play, but to people who ask questions during movies--beware

The bad news: this movie is a big incoherent mess in every other way. The narrative is all over the place. The episodic nature of the story is vexing at best. And the comedy goes from sort of fun, to bad, to awful. But the worst offense has to be the rampant anachronisms. Seriously, I haven't seen it this bad since "Fantasy Mission Force".

Sammo is no dope, so this was obviously a conscious choice. Why? I have no idea, and no idea what to make of it this, really. First off all, WHERE is this supposed to take place? It was shot in Canada, Thailand, and HK but looks like some weird version of the old west.

Secondly, WHEN is this supposed to take place? There are people in cowboy gear, trenchcoats, and fedoras, classic Chinese garb, samurais, Russian soldiers...what the fuck!? Is this set in some kind of timewarp? Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton looks like American Civil War soldiers, Richard Ng looks like Sherlock Holmes, and people are driving 1930's cars and motorcycles! What in the name of Buddha's ballsack is going on here? Pick a style, a time, a place, and stick with it. This is ridiculous!

The cast is so impressive, and the action is so damn sweet, but everything else is on acid here. This was a real opportunity to make a great period spectacle, like "Project A" or "Pedicab Driver". But unless this is a time travel movie, you should stick to one period, and work your magic within that frame.

I don't know what Sammo was thinking with this misguided effort. I don't get it, nor do I like it. I'll give this pile of wasted potential a generous 2.5 stars for the cast and the action.

This is a period film of revenge set in a turbulent time of Thailand/Siam's history. Tony Jaa watches his parents die on order from the King's mad heir, in order to secure his power. Tony escapes and is taken in and trained by a community of pirate mercenaries from childhood. When Tony comes of age he leaves the adoptive father and leader of the pirates for revenge! Along the way is plenty of action and a good plot twist leaving the viewer wanting more!

The cinematography was excellent! The stunts and action outstanding. Tony Jaa shows that he is more than just a Muay-Thai expert by using various forms and weapons! The story was straightforward and simple with a great supporting cast portraying the villains, fighters, and family! I think many overlook the acting in favor of the action. The actor portraying Cher Nung, the pirate leader, was excellent. The ending is not what you expect but sets you up for a sequel, kind of like the ending of " The Empire Strikes Back ". All in all this is a must-see film for action lovers. The stunts are fantastic!

Chin Kar Lok and his father travel to the city to find a better way of life. Chin's father wants him to have a good education but Yu Shu prefers to imagine himself in a fantasy life where he is the good guy saving damsels in distress. Don't worry about the first few scenes it gets a lot better! Enter 'better' known as Kim Won Jin! This man is at the top of the kicking world! And his Scorpion form, as he scuttles across the floor or ground is the best I have ever seen! It's truly a different kind of fighting that's for damn sure! If you haven't guessed by now Kim Won Jin steals the show. His first fight gives you an idea what this guy can do. Those who refuse to watch wire fu do not bother but you are really going to miss one hell of a good time! The laws of physics cannot be changed even by the bad guy. You can't make a movie like this without wires but it doesn't matter! It's great entertainment and not all is wire assisted. Kim Won Jin kicks like no one else and I mean No One!

Yu Shu (Chin Kar Lok) is young and has a temper. Most of his time in high school he is getting into trouble for drawing his hero comics or beaten up by the police chief's son. In a series of coincidences he befriends a lovely young girl in servitude to a nasty guy (the Scorpion's father) who sells women locally and abroad. Unfortunately that leads to his father getting beat up and Yu Shu is looking for some help. He finds a temporary refuge with a group of body builders at their school. Yu Shu is so impressed, especially by the instructor Little John he decides he must become his student. That is one of those nicknames that use the opposite. Little John is anything but little!

Yu Shu, his father and the ex-slave go to stay with an old friend, Lo (Lau Kar Leung) at his noodle shop and Yu Shu makes tentative steps at romancing . It must be remembered that Yu Shu's character is supposed to be high school age and cannot be expected to be super talented since he has never had any training other than in his imagination. Although Yu Shu attends a few lessons with Little John his real training begins as every day work for the restaurant.

Knowing his helper wishes to learn Kung Fu Sifu Lo uses everyday items and tasks to train the impatient Yu Shu.

Things grow worse when Yu Shu's friends maid is sold into a prostitution ring by her mother and Yu Shu and his friend get Little John to help them get her back. The big man versus the thin guy with legs that seem to go in 360 degrees is excellent. The gauche riches of the gangsters is shown well as the two square off and Little John breaks a number of things including a wall. At first Little John is quite the opponent but the villain uses his Scorpion (damn he is good!) and amazing kicking skills. The only hope now is to run away. Yu Shu and Little John make it out but the girls are trapped.

It's obvious Lau Kar Leung did a lot of the choreography and some damned good fighting as well especially his fight with the scorpion. Lau being in his fifties didn't look like he had lost a thing since the hey day of the Shaw Brothers. A truly amazing man. But of course Yu Shu needs to try out his skills against the villain and it takes everything he has been taught plus a form of his own creation, the Eel style.

Chin Kar Lok is at a decided disadvantage. No matter how much he could train or do quality acrobatics there is no getting away from the kicking Master. It's difficult to watch anyone else unless he is tearing their head off at the time. And with Lau in the film it leaves the "hero" in third place. Chin is underrated and does have martial arts skills worthy of being on film. But the star is Kim Won Jin, no one will argue with that!

There is humour added naturally but it does help lighten up the story considering it is built around selling girls/women into slavery and prostitution. But as I said earlier don't worry too much about the plot. It's there to add some comedic filler into what could have been a very dark and depressing film.

Back to the Master of kicking - he needs to make more films! I can't say enough about how astounding he really is, just wish there was more of him. I have seen every kicker anyone could name and none of them are better than Kim Won Jin. I'm familiar with wire work and using tubing. I don't think he is on any wire as the Scorpion. And there are other instances where it certainly looks like pure talent.

My only real complaint is that some scenes were shot in a hand held and the fights too close up in places. The finale fight is too dark, visually. It is supposed to be night but it makes some action difficult to see. But after you watch it a few times, and then a few times more with friends you will get the full effect.

Buy it, it's a keeper. Maybe buy two in case it wears out. : )

If you can make it through the lame attempts at comedy, "My Young Auntie" does offer some solid action from an impressive cast. The always beautiful Kara Hui (even today as she's nearing 50 yrs old) really gives an award-winning performance and can be quite convincing without having any formal kung fu training. Hsiao Ho is excellent, as always, and in my mind remains one of the most underrated martial artists in kung fu film history. Gordon Liu can even be spotted sporting a ridiculous wig and stache as his talents were really wasted here.

I'm not saying "My Young Auntie" is a terrible film, but a bit of a letdown in which the brief but solid action could not make up for all the crappy comedy. This is far from one of Lau Kar Leung's best efforts and even further from a kung fu classic.

The movie kicks off with a ridiculous sequence where "Bruce Lee" (whose gravestone was apparently bought at the same 99 cent store where you can get this DVD) being brought back to life via a lightning strike -- displayed, of course, via grainy stock footage. Apparently, zombie Bruce goes off to play pai gow poker, since we never see him again. The star here is Bruce K.L. Lea (real name Jun Chong) playing a guy named Wong, who heads to Los Angeles to meet up with one of the guys he used to run a school with. His former partner turns out to be dead, and Wong now has a series of racial stereotypes after him. Dragging a semi-cute and ditzy sidekick along for the ride, Wong sets out to find the "shocking" truth about who killed his friend.

The sidekick is played Debby Tebora, credited here as Deborah Chaplin -- I guess no one involved with this crud wanted their names attached. In fact, it was actually rumored at one point that the film was helmed by Italian horror director Umberto Lenzi. Nope, it's actually Doo-Yong Lee, a Korean director who surprisingly had a fairly respectable career in Asia before and since this cinematic turd. The same cannot be said for the rest of the cast and crew, many of which have this as their sole credit on IMDB. Maybe they were all buddies of Doo-Yong's who got drunk on soju, wrote the script on cocktail napkins, borrowed someone's super-8 camera, and set about to make the worst Brucepolitation flick ever. At least that's what the end results make it seem like.

Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave is the sort of movie that's fun for about the first ten minutes while you quaff a beer and make fun of its' shortcomings. But then, after the first terrible attempt at putting a fight scene on-screen hits your eyeballs like an acid wash, the stark realization hits you that you have eighty more minutes of this garbage to sit through, and no amount of liquor will be able to numb the pain. Even the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 troupe, who have made a career out of making trash like Manos: The Hands of Fate at least somewhat enjoyable, would be hard-pressed to wring any sort of enjoyment out of this failed production. From start to finish, Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave is simply one of the worst movies this reviewer has ever had the displeasure of sitting through. Do your brain (and sanity) a favor and don't waste your time or money with this cinematic turd.

There are also some excellent fight scenes contained within this film, with many strange and unusual weapons making appearances.

However, this movie is not without its flaws. I am no fan of wire-fu and magic-fu and this movie has both in almost every frame. But given the rest of the film, this is not surprising. It would have been nice to have seen some more plausible fights though. But given this flaw, the film is still highly entertaining and it represents the pinnacle of the fantasy kung fu genre, in my opinion.

A lot of folks seem to think that this is one of the greatest kung fu movies of all time. Those folks know what they are talking about. This ball of thunder laced lightning hits rougher and heavier than a Kimbo Slice uppercut. We all know the deal and we all know who's in it. The real eternal question is: which match-up is sicker? Jet vs. Yasuaki Kurata, or Jet vs. Billy Chow? There's a stumper for you. They both rock so hard that if you bring up this question among your friends who are into fu flicks it will usually spark a pretty wild debate. I personally lean slightly toward the Jet/Yasuaki showdown. Something about wind and blindfolds--it just gets me going, dude.

"Fist Of Legend" is possibly the closest thing to perfect fight choreography around (perfect is relative, but honestly it might be perfect) and incorporates many martial art styles, such as Longfist, Ditang Chuan, Tong Bei, Chin Na, Aikido, Karate, boxing, Judo, Jujitsu, and quite a few more that I am probably forgetting. I know some cats say that the general was using Muay Thai. They have either poor eyesight or just improper schooling. Billy's just busting out with hardcore Karate.

This movie is the dope shit and every last one of you know it. If you haven't seen it, you better head for the hills, son, because we will hunt you down and staple you to something so we can force you to see this awesome piece of kung fu cinema history. You'll probably thank us afterwords and maybe even offer us a beer. And we'll accept. 'Cause we like beer. Keep kicking for the stars, folks. I'll be around.

Unfortunately, I found some aspects of the film that I didn't enjoy as much. I know this is a Wuxia fantasy, but I thought the wirework was a little excessive, and it seemed as if every action scene was either sped up too fast or in slow motion, taking away from the beauty of the rest of the film. I also found the evil Siamese twins to be annoying. I read that this film opened a lot of doors in the acting career of Francis Ng, which I still can't figure out. Luckily for him, he does get better roles.

It's easy to see why "The Bride With White Hair" has become an arthouse favorite, but I still think it is a little overrated, although I still recommend it, as many people have different viewpoints on this one. I'm still stuck on whether it deserves 3 1/2 or 4 stars, so I'll unofficially give it 3 3/4.