Young Hero Of Shaolin (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Mainland greatness again--forgive me if I'm wrong as to whether it's China or Taiwan, I'm not sure. But this movie is in league with "South Shaolin Master", "Fist From Shaolin", and the "Shaolin Temple" series with Jet Li. Supercharged choreography with speed and flow and ability.
Sing Wing Lui (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts Another Panna great. But the story drags on to the final scene without so much happening. The final fight is one of the greatest of Thai cinema, maybe simply the best. Recommend if you liked "Gerd Ma Lui" and other classics from Panna.
Secret Of Tai Chi (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Another mainland great. One thing I disliked was the typical anti-Manchu theme. The action quality and quantity is huge, the choreography is the flowing wushu type. There are a lot of people with huge ability. Everybody can fight in this movie.
Plook Mun Kuen Ma Kah 2 (product link) Action/Adventure / Horror As expected, a classic from Panna. The action is plentiful and of a high quality. The movie itself is the comedy-horror type and the story drags too long. Don't expect high budget "Ong-Bak" or "Tom Yum Goong", but actionwise it's much more clean, so it's much better.
Snake In The Monkey's Shadow (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I wont go in depth. Look at my reviews of other Wilson Tong movies--"Snake Deadly Act", "Kung Fu Genius", and "Daggers 8". This is not much different, maybe a little weaker, the last three fights are super. This is also typical snake/drunken old school, where Jackie Chan started off as a huge star.
Ong-Bak 2 (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure One word: AWESOME. The best movie that ever came out from Thailand. First time I've seen proper choreography from Tony Jaa. "Ong-Bak" and "Tom Yum Goong" were disasters choreographically and editing-wise. I'm not talking about Jaa's style and capability. But "Tom Yum Goong" wasn't a total failure--the capoeira fight and bone crushing fight were superb but couldn't save the movie. I can't come up with words for "Ong-Bak 2", so I'm bashing the older movies. One thing: this movie sure ends in my top ten list of ultimate martial arts movie, alongside, in no particular order, "Drunken Master 2", "Ip-Man", "Fist Of Legend", "Mirage", "The Victim", "The Prodigal Son", "South Shaolin Master", "Martial Arts Of Shaolin", "Pedicab Driver", etc.
Holy Robe Of Shaolin Temple [Crash Cinema] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Where should I start? I did have big expectations for director Tsui Siu Ming, as he worked on "Born To Defence" (Jet Li), "Mirage", and "Bury Me High". Everything was better than a mediocre movie--the choreography especially got the flow and shapes but not the fire as in "Mirage" and "Born To Defence". Yu Rong Guang's Tai Chi style was supreme, this guys is nuts. I wish the movie had a role for Tsui Siu Ming the man himself, then it maybe could be a little better.
Daggers 8 [PanMedia] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Again a Wilson Tong-directed old schooler. This one wasn't rare like the others, this is a typical "Drunken Master" wannabe, but was much better in acrobatics because of Meng Yuen Man as the main star. We also see Lily Li and Alan Tsui, and they fight very well in this movie. The choreography here flowed very well also. Wilson Tong is bad ass as always, and we also get Chan Lung fighting here, better than the other fights he had in "Snake Deadly Act" and "Kung Fu Genius". Cheng Kang Yeh again makes an appearance with a copy of a typical Dean Shek role. I don't know what others say, but Wilson Tong knows his stuff. One thing nice to see was Billy Chan fighting Meng Yuen Man with the old school background in the beginning.
Kung Fu Genius (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure A better one of the old schoolers, and Wilson Tong gave a rare piece again as in "Snake Deadly Act". The fights scenes flowed, but it also had some dumb fights with failed slapstick comedy. Cliff Lok is a very good actor and fighter, and it was nice to again see such a good cast: Hsiao Hou, Lee Hai Sheng, and Peter Chan Lung. In every way it was a little weaker than "Snake Deadly Act", but again, nice work. It was also nice to see Hsiao Hou performing mad monkey style.
Snake Deadly Act (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure One of best from the old school, it's very rare because of the cast and the story. The choreography is also both creative and flows. Nice to see Wilson Tong as main villain and him fighting Fung Hak On in the intro. fight--which should have been the finale! And what a cast of extras: Angela Mao, Phillip Kao Fei, Michael Chan Wei Man. The main actor is a newcomer. I didn't like him, but he wasn't so bad either. It also got into annoying slapstick comedy, with Tai Po, Bolo Yeung, Cheng Kang Yeh, but was saved with both the quantity and quality of the action.
Sure Death: Revenge (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I got this samurai flick for Sonny and Hiroyuki's team-up. It was good to see Sanada as the main villain, but we only get fights in the finale and they are very short too. His role was very weird also. The fights were far more solid than in "Samurai Reincarnation". This one is not a martial arts movie.
Samurai Reincarnation (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts This one is a samurai flick so I award points based on its own standard, not HK's standard. Even for that, it was very weak. I had high expectations. As it was a fantasy sequel to "Shogun Samurai", I also expected a lot from Hiroyuki Sanada; but only two small fights and he was dead. This one was like "Ninja Wars" and "Legend Of The Eight Samurai". Sonny was superb as always, but it ends weak
Return Of The 5 Deadly Venoms (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure For any martial arts fans, I recommend it hard. One of the best Venoms flick. We see acrobatics, weapons, crispy fights, creative fight-types. Because of this and "Flag of Iron" I became a fan of Kuo Chui's.
The Masutatsu Oyama Trilogy (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts A very solid collection, I recommend it to any martial arts movie fan, and Chiba fans shouldn't miss it.
"Karate Bull Fighter" is the first part of the Masutatsu Oyama biography. It's a great movie and story with great action. My only complaint is the shaky camera when there are fighting scenes. It gets better in the huge finale.
"Karate Bear Fighter", the second installment, is greater in every way. The story continues as it let off from first. The camerawork gets better here.
"Karate For Life" is the third part, but it felt like the story jumped off the rails and got stupid in the finale because it copies the "Enter The Dragon" mirror scene. Don't get me wrong, the quality and quantity is far better than the other parts. In the finale it starts with a standard Chiba crowd fight, but it's splendid. It gets silly when it comes to the mirror scene.
The Man From Hong Kong (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts A supreme early 70s movie. I never expected it to be so good. After watching the trailer, it looked good, and as my father also likes Jimmy Wang Yu a lot, I bought it. The choreography, story, and concept--I mean everything was almost perfect. Of course it can't compare with '80s action kickboxing movies. But it has a high standard of action which you can't be bored with. Also the story was well done. Nice to see Bond as a villain; and Sammo Hung, a nice performance from him also.
Choy Lay Fut / Tiger's Claw [DOUBLE FEATURE] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Choy Lay Fut
A better one of the independent old school, it's not from Golden Harvest or Shaw Brothers but is a very good kung fu movie. Good choreography from Chan Siu Pang and good performance from Cliff Lok. Ko Fei could show some more. The practice scenes were a little different from other productions.
Tiger's Claw
Too old a movie so I avoided it, nor do I intend to watch it in the future. If I get sleeping problems, I can watch this maybe to get to sleep. I recommend it if you are a die-hard fan of Cliff Lok or old school "aged" type films. I can't even come up with words for that. It means that we get a very young Cliff Lok
The Best Of Sonny Chiba [3-Disc Set] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Superb perfomances from my man Sonny, entertaining with comedic gore and blood.
THE STREET FIGHTER: There were some boring moments, otherwise you could almost feel the punch of Terry Suguri. 4.5 stars.
RETURN OF THE STREET FIGHTER. The action gets better and better in this second installment, so you don't get bored. 5 stars.
STREET FIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE. This third film was a huge disapointment. The story gets confused, not because of its twisted plot but it's just weak. 3.5 stars.
Choi Lee Fat Kung Fu (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure A better one of independent old school, its not a Golden harvest or a Shawbrothers, but very good kung fu movie. Good choreography from Chan Siu Pang and good performance from Cliff Lok. Ko Fei could show some more. The practice scenes were a little different from other productions.
Little Godfather (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Hmm, surprisingly good but also some disappointment. Liang's version of "Way of the Dragon", but more James Bond-ish. Nice fight choreograhy for being made in the early 70s. The story and characters could have been better developed. Nice to see a very young Meng Hoi.
Yellow River Fighter (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure If you liked the "Shaolin Temple" series, you will like this too. Pure mainland kung fu movie like "Fist From Shaolin", my reasons to purchase more mainland martial arts movies. You will find all the cast of "Shaolin Temple": Gai Chun Wa, Yue Sing Wei, Hu Jian Qiang, Yu Hai, and a young Hung Yan Yan, too. I recommend it very highly.
Fist From Shaolin (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Pure kung fu. If you haven't watched it yet, you should do it now. I thought it was only a "Once Upon A Time In China" wannabe, but this is much better in terms of action. It depends on what you like. If you are looking for high budgets like "OUATIC", "Iron Monkey" or other wire-fu then avoid this. But I would say that any martial arts fan shouldn't miss it. The story and acting ain't bad either.
Superfights (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure If you are fan of action movies like "Angel", "Magic Crystal", the "No Retreat, No Surrender" series, then it has something for you. Tony Leung, who brought us "No Retreat, No Surrender 3" and "King Of Kickboxers", did it again. He is very good choreographer. He also did the action of "Magic Crystal" and "Angel". This is a typical kickboxing ring movie with good choreography... Just watch it and you will see.
Lone Wolf And Cub 3: Baby Cart To Hades (product link) Action/Adventure / Swordplay/Sword(s) This is good but not that good. It's a very cool sequel, but falls a little short in terms of action. "Shogun Assassin" is non-stop action, but that is because that includes the first two parts of the series. Sometimes it can get boring, but it's usual in Japanese samurai movies. Gore and blood, it's enough to rewatch it. It's a solid one if you are fan of samurai movies.
Shogun's Samurai
One of the best samurai movies ever made, good plot and story and the action is spread throughout the movie. That's good for a being a historical drama.
Swords of Vengeance
A historical drama also, so there isn't so much action, but some good fights, especially the finale. Like in "Shogun's Samurai", a good plot and storyline as it's the same director, Kinji Fukusaku.
Shogun's Shadow
Maybe as good as "Shogun's Samurai", maybe better, hard to tell. But it has much longer action.
Shogun's Ninja
A Hiroyuki Sanada vehicle with very good action throughout the movie and a well-written storyline. Maybe not as good as the others, but it comes up very near in quality.
Pom Pom Strikes Back (product link) Action/Adventure / Comedy Myself I'm a fan of "Pom Pom", and this is one very good sequel. Maybe not as good as the first, but it compares favorably. (I was very disappointed in "Mr. Boo Meets Pom Pom".) This one reaches the quality of the original "Pom Pom", but lacks the first one's magic. Anyway, its got good laughs for everybody in the family at least.
The Mystery Of Chess Boxing (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Alongside "Born Invincible", it's the very best of Joseph Kuo. "Born Invincible" is far superior, but this one is very good, too. The quantity of the fights is uncountable, and they're mostly well-made, with an explosive finale. It can get boring at times, but any boredom is forgotten by the fight scenes. Nice cameo by Simon Yuen. Should be ownen by any old school fan. A must for Lee I Min fans, it's his best performance. "7 Grandmasters" and "Dragon's Claws" are very close also.
The Death Duel Of Kung Fu [DOUBLE FEATURE] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Any old school movie fan should have this, and if you are a fan any of the actors then it's a must. Fights are very well choreographed and the cast fights very crispy. Two thumbs up for Meng Hoi and Chien Yuet Sang. The movie itself can be at times very boring, but it's saved by the many fight scenes. Check out Wong Tao, Han Ying, and John Liu--usually I don't like John Liu's style, except for his performances in this one and "Secret Rivals 2".
Dance Of Death (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Very weak, "The Tournament" and "Hapkido" are far better movies, as she can't act as a boy. A very boring movie, it doesn't have any remarkable fight scenes until the finale, where it's explosive.
Bruce Lee In G.O.D. (product link) Drama / Documentary Strongly recommend for any fan of martial arts movies. I wish more scenes could have come seen daylight.
Gerd Ma Lui (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts No big deal with the plot, only the fight scenes gets 4 stars. Superb action, I would say that it's much better than "Ong-Bak" and "Tom Yum Goong", those movies maybe have the cinematic magic and lots of acrobatic fights, but this has the extraordinary choreography.
Red Fists (product link) Crime / Action/Adventure Liked it a lot. Jackie Chan had "Police Story" and Yuen Biao had "Righting Wrongs", Yu Rong Kwang had this one. It has everything a cop needs: car chases, shoot-outs, nice choreography. My only complaint is that the final fight could be longer.
Aces Go Places DVD Collection [5-Disc Set] (product link) Comedy / Action/Adventure It was a nice collection, too bad there are no extras on the DVDs. As movies they're great, very funny, cinematic phenomena. They were a great pair at that time. As individual films, parts 1 and 2 are sillier, part 3 gets more into wild action, and part 4 is more serious than the others. Like the name, it's mad.
Lethal Chiba [3-Disc Set] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I loved it. I don't need so many words for that. "Killing Machine": great movie, good action. "Executioner": great movie, great action. "Executioner 2": great movie, great action."Killing Machine" is a drama about one man seeking justice for people. "Executioner" is is modern movie, cops vs. robbers" which was very entertaining and funny; but the second installment is funnier because "Executioner 1" starts with a long presentation of the characters so it can be a little boring. If you like Chiba gore you will definitely like these.
The Stone Age Warriors (product link) Action/Adventure / Thriller I was surprised, kind of. Stanley Tong is a good director but I didn't expect so good a presentation from him in this movie. This is an Indiana Jones/kung fu kind of thing. Action is spread all over the movie very well but the quantity of it is missing. Nice performance from Fan Siu Wong also and nice to see Dick Wei in a cameo. I enjoyed it.
A Bloody Fight [1988] (product link) Action/Adventure / Crime Overall average movie. There are two worthy fight scenes in the movie not worth the bother if you aren't a fan of the actors like Gordon Liu, Tsui Siu Keung or Chor Yuen. But watch out for Lau Kar Leung's fight scene after 30 minutes where he raises hell, the only reason maybe for watching. If this movie had a finale fight it could be 3 star material. This is a more like a crime film than a martial arts movie. Very weak presentation from actors also.
The Samurai Collection: Starring Sonny Chiba [3-Disc Set] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure I loved the samurai collection. But as each movies it aint a 4 stars rating. "Ninja Wars" was best of them, a good movie, maybe worth 4 stars because I expected more and better action. "Legend of the Eight Samurai" gets 3 1/2 stars--it has a decent story, and the finale has superb action, maybe the only reason to watch it. "GI Samurai" gets 3 stars--the weakest movie of the collection, but the war scenes is very well made soldiers vs. samurai. Overall all of them were fantasy type samurai movies, I don't usually fancy fantasy movies, but these movies were good. The biggest reason I bought it is for Chiba and Sanada.
Lady Kung Fu (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Surely a classic! If you liked Bruce Lee's "Fist Of Fury" (u.s "Chinese Connection"), you will definitely like this one too. You can watch young Sammo Hung fight. Angela Mao is great in the movie, but Whang In Sik steals the show in the finale. The story is typical Chinese vs. Japanese school. Watch out for the stuntmen, you will see legends like Jackie Chan, Hsu Hsia, Yuen Kwai, and Lam Ching Ying.
Drunken Master 2 (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure What can I say one of the best Chan movies? Filled with energetic fights, especially the finale, watch out for Ken's kicks. The movie is great in every way, don't miss it. I recommend this movie for any action movie lovers. Very good Wong Fei Hong story...don't wanna spoil it any more. JUST DON'T MISS IT.
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Agreed, this is splendidly entertaining martial arts fun! Well worth purchasing!
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