4.5 stars - deducting 0.5 stars for low-rent nature of script and acting (feels wrong to give it a 5 outright).

The plot of “Lady Whirlwind” is a little convoluted at best. Two main sub-plots abound: 1) a standard (for an early ‘70s HK fu flick) Japanese vs. Chinese sub-plot, and 2) the main conflict between Mao’s character and the male lead character, played by Chang Yi. Of course, in going after Yi, Mao ends up in conflict with the Japanese (who are the main bad-guys in the flick), since Yi is the central Chinese character at play in the first sub-plot. Mao certainly kicks Japanese ass to get to Yi, but only after she states, “I have nothing against you guys…I want to kill [Yi]”. There are many little twists and turns that do little to clarify the plot lines (at least in the English dub), but both Mao and Yi, who are flawed characters to say the least, get some redemption during the plot development as both befriend someone in need leading to their own growth.

While fights are generally good (and fairly numerous and long) there are some very noticeable gaffs in some of the fights (hits and kicks not coming even remotely close–probably says something about the budget and lack of multiple takes, since Sammo Hung did the action direction and even early in his career he was generally solid). There’s lots of knife play and hand-to-hand martial combat (fu vs. karate), with moderate levels of blood, as might be expected of a Golden Harvest production.

As a bonus we get to see Sammo playing a bad-guy (Japanese thug)–certainly a rarity in his early career–while the role is small, Sammo is fun to watch, especially with his make-up, nasty facial scars and muttonchops.

The fights in this movie are decent in quality but too few in quantity – the one on the movie set with the ‘actor’ impersonating Bruce Lee is pretty good, especially since Sammo is a MUCH better Bruce impersonator than the other dude, who looks more like Bruce. Let’s face it, Sammo could never be mistaken for Bruce! The end fight in the warehouse is also pretty good (see below). There’s also a decent one where Sammo dispatches – Bruce-style of course – multiple punks in his uncle’s restaurant who won’t pay their bill. Otherwise the movie is mostly silly comedy and poor dialog.

The fight in warehouse with Leung Kar Yan and the two other dudes is pretty decent and is a cool homage to "Enter The Dragon" (ETD) – and the only real nod to that movie aside from the title and an opening sequence where Sammo is being transported by boat in the marina. The white dude in the warehouse fight is clearly supposed to represent the Peter Archer character “Parsons” from ETD (the limey bully who challenges Bruce on the junk while on the way to Han’s island and is tricked into meeting Bruce on “that island over there”), while the Chinese dude in black face, crazy afro wig and sideburns is a Jim Kelly nod. Of course Bruce didn’t fight Kelly in ETD, but had he he’d have probably kicked his arse like Sammo does the Kelly stand-in in "Enter The Fat Dragon". While not nearly so obvious, Leung Kar Yan might be a nod to Shek Kin’s “Han” character from ETD. It’s too bad Leung’s fight sequences in this movie were so limited as he’s one of the most under-rated and un-heralded of the HK stars of the 70/80’s.

In the end, "Enter The Fat Dragon" is a 2 star flick, with limited 3-4 star fights that Sammo and Bruce fans will appreciate but others might skip without missing too much.

So what about the action? Well that’s the redeeming quality of this movie. The Fu is very solid and entertaining. All fighters are fast punchers and kickers, and most of are quite acrobatic to boot. If it weren’t for the solid fighting in this movie it would rank among the plethora of forgettable independent Fu flicks of the 70’s. The finale fight between Lee and Tiger against the leader of the Gang is worth waiting for, even if a few frames are speed up (which didn’t need to be done to make it look fast and brutal), it ends abruptly (as does the movie with thee fight), and the gang leader is losing his wig for much of the fight.

With the fights this is a decent 3 star movie whose plot will confuse but fights will keep you watching.

The first fight of the movie introduces us to Sing’s character as he tries to hold up a car along a country road in what is obviously a set-up to catch him. Before he kicks butt he pulls a pimp move this reviewer has never before seen in an HK flick, he pulls a short comb out, runs it through his hair and break the comb before going absolutely Fu-nuts and jabbing his fist into a dudes chest! After a short lull in the action to set up the story, the Japanese finally come to town and chaos ensues as the Chinese do not want to sell the Dragon Herb to the Japanese. Get ready for the first of many snickers you’ll have during this flick as we meet the top Japanese thug who is played by Chan Kuan Tai, at least later in the movie – at this point he’s played by a poor stand-in who wears a black mask over his nose and mouth to disguise that he’s NOT Tai. This guy talks but doesn’t fight, that’s saved for Kuan Tai when he joins the film. Kuan Tai was ‘on loan’ from Shaw Brothers at the time “Bloody Fists” was made and one can thus imagine that he was unavailable during the initial sequence filming so a stand-in was needed. Anyhow, the guy looks goofy as all get out in this disguise and you will find yourself laughing out loud. But wait it out the real Kuan Tai is coming!

The next major fight is a formal ‘duel’ between a Japanese and village representative with the prize being access to the Dragon Herb. The Japanese dude (with big bushy eyebrows) kicks the first villager’s ass while Sing watches on, almost getting involved as he starts to pull his pimp move but stops short of breaking the comb and getting involved as another villager takes over. Soon the duel spreads to two Japanese and two villagers (more evenly matched) but before a winner is determined the Kuan Tai stand-in stops the fight when Sing throws a coin into the ‘ring’. The only one who apparently sees the man who throws the coin is the Kuan Tai stand-in who in telling his underlings dramatically takes off the mask to tell them he wants Sing dead, at which point we see a brief glimpse of the man who clearly NOT Kuan Tai. The very next scene when the Japanese meet Sing walking through a field, the Japanese head thus IS played by an unmasked Kuan Tai. After a short fight with a couple underlings, Sing simply walks away from Kuan Tai and his gang – again a very MacDaddy move! Not to worry Sing isn’t gone for long as he’ll soon come down with the ‘plague’ and need of Dragon Herb (and thus need the villagers again, and of course soon be in conflict with the Japanese again).

Soon the Japanese fighters begin to come out the woodwork (including some Samuri sword-wielding fellows) to challenge the villagers for Dragon Herb, and the blood begins to flow in a major way. Solid Chinese vs. Japanese fu choreography Woo Ping style. As was typical of Chinese vs. Japanese plot lines, the Japanese are brutal, ruthless and heartless sadists, and rapists (yes there is an obligatory rate scene), while the Chinese are peace loving, good-doers trained with Kung Fu only as a defense against those like the Japanese.

On a little side note, the music in “Bloody Fists” is hilarious: there are snippets from Connery era James Bond movie music, stuff from Black Sabbath’s debut album, and even one American viewers familiar with daytime soaps will get a chuckle out of. Remember the title song from ‘the Young and the Restless’ (“Nadia’s Theme”)? Well it’s here, although “Bloody Fists” probably lifted the incidental music (called "Cotton's Dream") from the 1971 theatrical film “Bless the Beasts and Children”, since “Bloody Fists” was released in ‘72 and Y&R began to air ’73. Anyhow, watching Sing recover from the ‘plague’ to the Y&R theme is funny!

The final showdown between Sing and the Japanese, especially Kuan Tai, is set in motion when Sing, who has recovered from the ‘plague’ and is leaving town again, finds the slain mute boy who, along with the ‘grandfather’ character, helped nurse Sing back to health. On taking the boy back to ‘grandfather’ Sing catches the Japanese killing ‘grandfather’, thus sealing the ultimate fate of the Japanese. The finale takes place on the beach where the Japanese are torturing the locals to give up the Herb. Sing wastes no time dispensing of Japanese henchmen, although the last couple give him a temporary run until he pulls his pimp comb move (complete with “Temple of Doom” chest punch). Now it’s Kuan Tai’s turn – these two beat the bloody hell out of each other, first hand-to-hand, then via weapons, then hand-to-hand again. This is an ending to wait for – the first real fighting Kuan Tai has done the whole movie. Simply awesome!

While the story is a tad lame and overdone, the fighting is brutal and frequent. 4.5 stars and well deserved as an old skool classic.

Now about the film itself: Few HK Fu films of the 70’s gather together a more interesting cast of characters than “The Buddhist Fist”. For example, we get hunchbacked old dude who uses the ‘ghost fist’ and hops around (and resembles) a Chinese vampire. As already mentioned we get comic standout Peter Chang Lung (had a small but funny role in Summo Hung’s “Knockabout”) in a role that lets him stretch his fu-wings as well (and he’s pretty decent). The two leads, Sunny Yuen and Chui Siu Ming are colorful in their own right. The two are orphan brothers raised by Buddhist monks, the later continuing in his adopted fathers step becoming a monk himself, while the former takes up a trade; namely he becomes a barber! The barber shop fight scene when Sunny Yuen does such a ‘great’ job with a costumer is quite funny and choreographically interesting. In terms of story, “The Buddhist Fist” packs a decent punch as well. There are several twists and turns centered around Sunny Yuen’s search for his missing godfather which leads him into a greater web of intrigue and pits him in the final battle with the protagonist of the intrigue – which itself is a surprise. This final fight is nothing short of amazing in style, length and brutality (with only minimal blood).

“The Buddhist Fist” deserves the positive accolades it has received as it represents a classic old-skool Fu flick from the glory days of HK Fu! 5 super stars.

“Vengeance” provides a decent story (if an oft recycled theme of revenge), is very well acted, has plenty of brutal and bloody action, is moderately suspenseful (decent soundtrack enhances this), and is cinematically pleasing to the eye. This is an extremely good early Cheh film that deserves 4.5 stars but can only get 3 as a Fu flick due to the relative paucity of fu – 4 stars overall.

Whether “Secret Rivals” really deserves such high credit is debatable, what is not is that this film is one of the cult classics of the era. Clearly low budget and slow to get moving, “Secret Rivals” possesses a decent plot and choreography that builds in intensity to the explosive climax. In the end “Secret Rivals” is carried by the solid acting and action (in that order) performances by a trio of relative unknowns: Don Wong Tao, John Liu, and Hwang Jang Lee. So while we can debate whether “Secret Rivals” revitalized the fu genre in the late seventies, it unquestionably sent the careers of the three stars into the stratosphere, gave credibility to Seasonal Film Corp. as a ‘new kid’ on the HK scene, and brought high kicking Tae Kwon Do to the masses as a new alternative to the classic Shaw Bros. Shaolin and various animal styles of gung fu.

The sequel to “Secret Rivals”, “Secret Rivals 2” is more explosive and rewarding in terms of fight intensity and quantity, but less balanced and enjoyable in terms of overall story and acting performances (especially the replacement of Wang Tao with Tito Wong). “Secret Rivals” is a solid 4-star cult film that should be seen by all old skool fu fans!

‘Younger brother’ (Wong) and Liu’s character meet up for the first time at about 30 minutes into the movie--this is the first time we see Liu’s character, the only major character reprised from the first movie. Suddenly they are best of friends and begin training together--leg and fist kung fu, the unbeatable duo. Or at least they are unbeatable when they kick the hell out of their wooden practice dummy! Now switch gears to see Gold Fox training two new groups (4 men each, the black uniformed dudes and the maroon uninformed dudes) of henchmen--who too kick and punch the crap out of wooden dummies. Director Ng See Yuen, who also directed “Secret Rivals”, utilizes an interesting set of visuals where he inserts scenes of the henchmen beating on Liu and Wong during the training sequences, so we the viewer can ‘imagine’ what they are training for--Gold Fox is planning ahead!

Of course before Liu and Wong can be tested by the black and maroon gangs, or Gold Fox, they must survive a series of other Fox-lings. Wong is passable with his fights, but he’s neither the actor nor fighter that Wang Tao is. Liu on the other hand is at the top of his game. His kicks are nothing short of amazing, and he’s more acrobatic and utilizes his fists more in “Secret Rivals 2” than in its prequel. Having said this, one can easily tire of Liu’s skills. We jump back and forth between the Wong and Liu characters and their interactions with Fox-lings for much of the rest of the movie before the fights with the black and maroon gangs and Gold Fox. We also establish the main subplot of the movie that results in the battles (YES plural) with Gold Fox (think back to why Wang Tao’s character was going after Silver Fox).

Jang Lee uses some pretty awesome metal sticks on swivels (that rotate about the palm) to supplement his awesome kicking for his battles. (One can easily see where John Carpenter got the idea for the twirling ‘sporks’ one of the Three Storms uses in “Big Trouble in Little China”.) Other reviewers have said it but it merits saying again: Hwang Jang Lee steals the show when he’s on screen. He’s so much faster, powerful and charismatic than the other actors/martial artists in this movie that he didn’t seem to have to work that hard to look amazing. Only Liu comes close, but even then his one-dimensionalism (kicks are still his major strength) leaves him coming up short to Lee. There is a little too much use of slow motion in “Secret Rivals 2” but it doesn’t deter a great deal from the overall quality and quantity of the fighting.

The final fight between Liu, Wong and Lee (first two against the latter) in the desert valley is awesome! Although it is fair to say that Tito Wong is not as solid here as Wang Tao was in the finale of “Secret Rivals”, this final fight sequence is longer and more intense. 4.5 stars for fu action, 2.5 stars for plot; another 4-star classic effort by Seasonal Film Corp. overall.

Lee vs. Chuck Norris (beginning of movie): a bit slow and very short; recycled from “Way Of The Dragon” so not worth price of admission on its own.

Lee vs. Daniel Insosanto, Pagoda Level 1: very good action: sticks and nunchaku; probably best fights in movie.

Lee vs. Ji Han Jae, Pagoda Level 2: decent fight, not great, quite short.

Lee vs. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Pagoda Level 3: pretty decent fight even if Kareem is fairly slow in comparison to Lee. He so dwarfs Bruce that it makes for an interesting fight. Bruce’s flexibility is on show here.

The rest of the movie is a poor imitation of Bruce’s work, despite fact that the great Yuen Biao is one of three stuntmen to play the Billy Lo character. There are some minimally redeeming fight scenes though:

Sammo Hung fights in a ‘title match’ (a la Vince McMahon and the WWE) with Bob Wall just before the locker scene where Bob’s character ‘Carl Miller’ is trapped into a fight with ‘Billy Lo’ (stuntman stand-in, Kim Tai Jung). This latter fight is the ONLY non-Bruce Lee fight worth a darn in the movie – the Sammo/Wall fight is more funny than memorable. The English version of the movie does NOT have the fight between Lee and Cassanova Wong (that was included for Hong Kong audiences), too bad.

There are plenty of continuity problems in this movie as very little real Bruce Lee footage was used to generate the flick. In fact when they did use Bruce footage the continuity was even worse. For example, the stand-in ‘Billy Lo’ enters the Pagoda at night, but the real Bruce Lee ‘Billy Lo’ defeats Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s character ‘Hakkim’ by exposing his sensitive eyes to sunlight from the outside, only to have the stand-in move back into nighttime when he then moves on to the crime boss on the top floor! WOW!

Trivia: for you out there who might get a morbid charge out of such things, parts of the ‘Billy Lo’ funeral scenes in “Game of Death” are real footage from Bruce’s funeral.

Probably a movie Bruce fans will want to have in their collections, but one others can easily skip. 2.5 stars overall; just under 4 for the few minutes of real Lee footage.

During an early moment in the film after Wang Yu has made his first splash with the ‘bad-elements’ in town (by taking the mob-run gambling house for a briefcase [literally] of cash) music from the “Plant of the Apes” is used to heighten tension (used multiple times thereafter – effectively, too!). Also coda music from early Connery-era Bond movies (seemed to be a standard rip-off for 70’s fu flix).

There are plenty of fights in this movie. The first really big fight is about 35 minutes into the movie when Teddybear and Wang Yu’s character ‘Ma Yung Cheng’ go to the brothel and Wang Yu single-handedly takes on about 30 members of the ‘Axe Gang’ – and thumps them soundly. He then rescues a ‘new recruit’ at the brothel, and this is just pouring vinegar in the wound of the gang, pitting the gang and Wang Yu in a Yojimbo-like conflict to the last. All through this Wang Yu retains his cool and fedora, while Teddybear (like Tuco in G, B &U) bears the brunt of the gang's anger. Not to worry, Wang Yu doesn’t abandon his friend, and in the second big fight scene kicks the crap out of another 30-40 members of the gang. While Wang Yu’s fu can never be compared to those practitioners who are considered masters, his minimalist fighting style works in this movie quite effectively. After this big fight, the gang leader is REALLY pissed and looks to rid the planet of Wang Yu once and for all – but Wang Yu’s character is too cool to take it, he goes to the boss before he can even put a hit out. Pimp move! From the first big fight this movie is one fight to the next, with a pretty decently acted story to boot.

Only after the gang hires some Japanese thugs (when they can’t get the job done on their own) does Wang Yu lose his fedora and bleed. Things get worse when the gang employs a kid to throw lime in Wang Yu’s face, which of course gives the gang member’s a leg up on the already bleeding Wang Yu. Another bag of lime later (this time delivered by an adult) and Wang Yu is really in trouble, but Teddybear comes just in time to give Wang Yu enough of a reprieve to clear his eyes (a bit) and catch his balance. It’s not all milk and cookies though, Wang Yu has to fight for his life for the next 15 minutes (one of the Japanese just won’t give up – only after a two story fall does he stop). In the end Wang Yu and Teedybear both take the ‘best’ of the axe gang as the movie ends with true and complete carnage. What a finale!!!!

“Furious Slaughter” deserves 4.5 stars for coolness, all out action and solid story.

The first student (Tony Leung Siu-Hung; no not the Tony Leung from Jet Li's "Hero") hooks up with a woman (played by Wong Mei-Mei) who makes bean curd (and happens to have her elderly blind father kung fu master living next door to her--a neat little side plot that goes nowhere but has some fun fu with 'eggs') and convinces her to become his teacher. Leung is probably the smoothest fu artist of the three students. He learns to focus his fights through his legs not arms/fists--the female teacher is a "boot-woman".

The second student (played by Ng Yuen-Jun) befriends a drunk-cripple (played by Han He) as his new teacher. The student uses the crane style he has learned from his new teacher to fight a dude he finds at his teacher's house (turns out to be a drunk friend of the teacher whom the teacher is using to "train" the student). Early in this particular fight (at approximately 72 minutes into the movie) the student strikes a "Daniel-san" pose that will make many familiar with the "Karate Kid" movies chuckle.

The third student (played by Austin Wai Tin-Chi) tries stealing dried fish from a fisherman (played by Jamie Luk Kim-Ming), who turns out to be a fu expert. The student asks the fisherman to teach him and the latter agrees to do so, but only if the student stays with him for two years (which of course the student agrees to, only to break his word later when he needs to return to town). This student learns to fight with a pole--comes in handy in the finale fight with Kwan, who sports a spear.

While the students are being taught new styles/techniques, the former teacher (Hau) takes up drinking and the sword, to master the drunken sword. Training sequences for the students and the former teacher are all good and fun to watch. Really none of the martial artists with any screen time are slouches in this flick, everyone is sharp and talented.

The finale pits the three students and their former teacher against Kwan (hence the "5 Super Fighters" title) in a fu extravaganza; starts out hand-to-hand and moves to weapons. Most of the fighting is between Kwan and the three students--the former teacher spends much of the time drinking and passing out. Eventually the teacher and Kwan go at it, followed by the gang-up and final blows of the movie.

Some of Lo Mar (director) and Lam Chiu's (cinematographer) camerawork is really innovative and creative as 70's fu flix go; some of point-of-view shots (e.g., a brief sequence early in the film where the viewers see Kwan Fung's punches coming at them from behind the right ear of one of the three young heroes of the movie he is fighting--very impressive and not oft done in that era) and slow motion/momentary motion stops to punctuate action were VERY effective.

All in all this is a solid 5 star flick in terms of old skool fu, with a 3 star plot, so a good 4.5 star flick. If you like old skool, pick this one up; you won't be disappointed.

Where Tarantino hits a home run is to make most of the really bad ass characters women! Not since Angela Mao at GH has a woman (or, in the present case, women) kicked so much ass. Uma is one pissed off chick who can back up her anger as "The Bride", Lucy Liu (O-Ren) is sassy and vicious at the same time, Daryl Hannah is pure evil in her role (Elle Driver)--only outdoing her role in "KB1" in "KB2"!

Several very memorable characters are also created by actors with much less screen time. For example, Chiaki Kuriyama turns in a razor edged performance as O-Ren's little hench-mistress with a thing for a chained weapon; Gordon Liu (the Master Killer himself) shows off his fighting skills as Johnny Mo (one of the Crazy 88's); and Sonny Chiba (yes the Streetfighter) is convincing as Hattori Hanzo, the master sword craftsman whom Uma turns to as she seeks her revenge.

"KB1" is paced extremely well with plot development moving nicely (in that disconnected "Pulp Fiction" way so oft used by Tarantino) and interspersed with amazing fight scenes. As might be expected from a QT film, "KB1" is not shy of showing the viewer blood, and is not short on violent and vicious acts by nearly all the characters. However, all of this violence is appropriately placed in a movie of this sort. You will find yourself rooting for Uma as she drives her "Pussy Wagon" around, wielding her Hanzo sword and dealing death to those who wrong her or get in her way. As violent as she is, you will love her. This reviewer hopes QT makes another fu flick soon as rumored.

Alexander Fu Sheng and Chi Kuan Chun star in this 1975 Shaw Bros. production, one in a series of Shaolin movies staring the two and directed by Chang Cheh. "Invincible One" is a nominal sequel to "Shaolin Martial Arts" (also starring Fu Sheng and the legendary Gordon Liu).

The fu is sparse in this movie but the story is quite deep for a 70’s fu flick, and the acting (nearly all actors/martial artists with appreciable on-screen time, including Chang Tao and Fung Hak On who play their type-cast baddies, but with brains this outing – think some of On’s roles when he started working for Golden Harvest, e.g., "Warriors Two") is outstanding. Fu Sheng shows real acting chops here as the country bumpkin who learns about himself and his kung fu as he "grows" in the big city (okay, relatively small Shaw Bros back-lot village), while under the tutelage of big brother (Chun).

If you want to see a pure wall-to-wall fu flick with little to no story holding the fight scenes together (I too love such films), go try any of the many Venoms movies, don’t look to "Invincible One" to fulfill this need. But if you want a well-acted tale of the Shaolin-Manchu struggles with a few decent training/fight scenes, "Invincible One" is one of the best of its era.

Solid 4/5 star for story, 4.5/5 for acting, 2.5/5 for fu - overall 3.5/5.

Sammo has made some of the true all-time classic fu flicks, but this reviewer has to break with the mutual admiration society and state plainly that “Wheels On Meals” is not among the classics. Before all the rabid Jackie fans go nuts, this is not to say that “Wheels” is a bad movie. In fact it’s quite watchable and even enjoyable. The story is not bad, the goofball comedy is played to the hilt (as it is meant to be, over the top to the extreme – hell I almost peed my pants seeing Sammo for the first time in his 80’s weave complete with geri curl), and the acting is decent. BUT, as a fu flick (the other half of the formula) it simply fails to deliver for a vast majority of the film. For instance, there are only two brief fight scenes within the first hour of the movie and then we have to wait almost until the last 15 minutes for anything substantial to happen again.

Now, many reviews talk about the "great", "one of the best of all time", "best in all of Jackie’s films"...fight scene between Jackie and Benny ‘The Jet’, and it is good – but again in the opinion of this reviewer over-hyped. First of all, the fights look sped up at several points, and it is pretty clear from their motions that if Benny ever met Jackie in a back alley to have it out, he’d in reality kick Jackie’s ass. Benny ‘the Jet’ was not an undefeated kick-boxing champion by accident; but he’s no actor either – something the ‘three Peking brothers’ are. Yuen Biao’s fight with his baddie in the final fight sequences certainly shows off his quickness and acrobatic prowess but is too short to be terribly impressive. Sammo’s fencing fight in the same section is good but again restrained and short – certainly of the sequences Jackie’s is longest and best. Yet, even as good as this latter fight is, it’s not enough to make this a fu classic.

As an HK comedy from Sammo Hung, this is a solid 4 star movie; as a fu flick this is a 4 star movie for the 8-10 minutes of fight screen time, but only about a 1.5 star movie sustained in its entirety. In the end this reviewer is compelled to give “Wheels” not more than 3 total stars and this is generously erring to the comedy.

Training sequences with Simon Yuen are quite entertaining, even if Jackie’s constant whining (supposedly for comedic value) is trying on the nerves. Jackie’s comedy is an acquired taste to say the least! Having said this, the training sequences certainly show off Jackie’s impressive physicality.

“Iron Monkey” features some serious wire-fu from Yuen Wo-Ping (director) and a portion of the Yuen clan (Sunny and Cheung Yan, choreographers with Wo-Ping). The movie was produced by Tsui Hark, a fact that seems clear from the whole feel and aesthetic of the movie.

Donnie Yen makes his first entrance into the movie at about the 18 minute mark, and almost immediately straightens out some thieves – his speed is amazing (even when the film is not speed up). The abilities of Tsang Tse-Man, who plays the young Fei-Hung, are also very impressive, especially given her age (yes it’s a girl playing this classic character of Chinese lore). Tsang takes on the same gang of young thieves (about 45 minutes into the movie) that Yen earlier dispatched and dispenses of them quite handily with an umbrella as a weapon (as done by Yen).

Yen Shi Kwan, a veteran fu actor who appeared in many Shaw Brothers pics in the 70-80’s, plays the Buddhist monk baddie who comes to replace the provincial governor who has been plagued by the Iron Monkey. Shi Kwan’s first fight is with Donnie, and while relatively short it is extremely impressive (Shi Kwan’s Buddhist Fist technique vs. Donnie’s No-Shadow Kick). In a later fight, Tsang’s Fei-Hung character uses a pole (long and broken two pieces) to battle Shi Kwan’s henchmen – very impressive sequence, but ultimately the kid is beaten, captured and tortured by Shi Kwan’s character to get at Donnie Yen (ahhhh the old fu revenge)!

The long, climactic fight sequence when Donnie and Rong Guang rescue Tsang is awesome – most of fight is Donnie, Rong Guang and Shi Kwan in an everything-goes battle – culminating in a pit of fire. The fight scenes in “Iron Monkey” are plentiful and generally impressive, if a bit too wire-dependent for this reviewer. This is a very enjoyable 4 star movie; quite cinematically impressive, well acted, and fight filled.

While certainly not the most gifted martial artists in the Shaw stables, Wang Yu was a presence to be reckoned with on the screen. The dude could carry a scene dramatically with a simple look or attitude like few others at Shaw’s could do (one notable exception at the time in this reviewer’s mind was Ti Lung), and he certainly holds the “One Armed Swordsman” together and the viewers attention when otherwise the movie slows. Yet, the movie has an impressive ‘workman’ cast who do an admirable ensemble job, including Tien Feng (who played the baddie opposite Lo Lieh in another SB classic “King Boxer”), Ku Feng (“Vengeance” and “Deadly Duo”, each with David Chang and Ti Lung), and Cheng Lui (“The Chinese Boxer”, another Wang Yu vehicle).

Beyond the cast and action, the musical score for “One Armed Swordsman” is very good and is original in large part (if again harkening to the spaghetti westerns of the day with a very European flair). The cinematography in this movie is top notch, with very high production values – some of the best the Shaws had to offer in their heyday. The colors used in the film are vibrant and vivid (think the original "Star Trek" series from the same time); Chang Cheh didn’t (like in so many of his movies) skimp on the use of deep red blood – the scene where Wang Yu loses his arm is particularly striking – bloody arm lying on the snow-covered ground – not disturbing by today’s desensitized standards but certainly graphic and visually striking for ’67.

Although slow in parts, essentially everything works well in this flick to give the viewer a fun ride.

Having said all that as a preface, "Dragon Tiger Gate" is a stylish movie with lots of tasty visuals. The fu in the movie is wire-fu for sure, but the choreography is generally very good, being done by Donnie Yen. One complaint easily leveled by fu fans is the relative paucity of the fu in the movie – this is largely a story-driven (if shallow) movie with fights of importance to the storyline tying things together.

There are some seriously slow moments if all you are looking for is action, but if you can stick with it the story and imagery is worth the sit. There are some really nice pieces of camerawork and cinematography in this movie – one example is the series of overhead shots of the pogoda fights about a third the way through the film. Whether done by crane in a set or with CGI, they are nice.

The three male leads – Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse Ting Fung and Shawn Yue Man Lok – all do a fine job both with acting and fighting. Of course one needs to always keep in mind that this is a comic book movie to set aside the goofy hairstyles donned by the leads – truly bad ‘peek-a-boo’ cuts. Shaw Brothers veteran Chen Kuan-Tai does a turn as the bad-guy father-figure/boss to Yen’s character (Dragon), but his talents, both as an actor and definitely as a fu artist, are completely wasted in this role – too bad really. Yet in total "Dragon Tiger Gate" is a decent story, generally well acted; and the fight scenes, while relatively few, are quite solid as wire fu goes. Solid 3.5 star movie.

This is an extremely well acted fu flick, starring several of the stable SB actors, most notably the always solid Ti Lung and Chen Kuan-Tai, as well as Phillip Ko Fei and Lee Hoi San. Ti Lung is one of SB's best actor-martial artists, and Chen Kuan-Tai is one of all time HK great martial artist-actors. Putting these two together in the same film was always a winning combination (e.g. "Blood Brothers" and "Savage 5"), whether David Chiang was present or not.

In "Opium", Ti Lung plays a character not quite a hero, not quite a baddie. He starts out admirable, descends into addiction, redeems and resurrects himself, and ends admirable but mature at the conclusion of the movie. In contrast, Chen Kuan-Tai plays a baddie throughout, complete with henchmen Ko Fei and Hoi San. Both are solid, though Ti Lung's part is larger and emotionally more meaty and he plays it to the hilt. He turned in a number of great performances while at SB, but this is certainly one of his most solid, start to finish, both for dramatic quality and action/fu.

There are lots of things to like about this flick, starting with the opening credits and the main title theme music--brooding and atmospheric (don't know if it's original, but it's solid). The fight choreography is thoroughly enjoyable, and much is creative with plenty of simple but effective weapons work. The first big fight scene between Ti Lung's "whites" and Chen Kuan-Tai's "blacks" (symbolism with the fu uniforms? I wonder...) is short but cool, with fights occurring in mid-air as dudes hang from banners and streamers, kicking and punching. The climactic fight between Ti Lung and Chen Kwan-Tai is classic Shaw pole vs. spear stuff--when Phillip Ko Fei and Lee Hoi San (both with broadswords) join Chen Kwan-Tai to make it 3 on 1, things get really good. The fight choreography is solid and the cinematography is excellent with good camerawork, use of slow motion, stops and strike repeats.

At 88 minutes from opening credits to end credits, "Opium And The Kung Fu Master" plays shorter and is an easy watch, enjoyable throughout for both the fu and drama (played exceedingly well by nearly every actor in the movie).

Story is pretty straightforward: autistic girl, Zen (who seems less autistic than mentally challenged) has mom with cancer who can't afford her treatments, but all the thugs in town owe the mom money from her previous life in crime, so Zen and her cousin (think Sammo's overweight Fatty characters in nearly all his classics, played now for poor comic relief or pathos only since this fatty can't fight, or act) go out hunting down the marks after the cousin finds the mom's bookie-book.

Thus ensues the teenage mayhem--unfortunately the girl's skills are just not that impressive. The best fight scenes in the movie are of the Tony Jaa movies Zen watches to "learn her skills". Ms. Yanin is acrobatic to some extent but her motions are very repetitive, relatively slow and deliberate. I have to disagree with all the "gushers" out there, she's no Tony Jaa, not even close! It is just hard to believe her choreography could result in the destruction she wreaks. Just about the half way mark through the flick she exhibits a bit of flair for the staff but it is not sustained nor does it really deliver as one initially thinks it might. Probably her fight with the two chick thugs near the train tracks, and just after that with the young dude in the sweat suit, are the most believable but again even then they are not that impressive. The fight choreography is just not that impressive folks.

There are two scenes that borrow heavily in construction from two superior movies: 1) the warehouse fight about a third of the way into the movie is very similar to the long warehouse sequence in "Contour" (although not nearly as impressive as in this latter movie), and 2) the sword/stick fight in the head baddy's lair parallels the fight between Uma Thurman and the Crazy 88's in QT's KBI--although as in the previous case the scene in "Chocolate" pails in comparison that in KBI, both in terms of intensity and duration.

The final fight sequence, fought on the balconies of two buildings separated by a street, with many street signs, wires and poles for the actors to move on, is pretty intense and in some ways creative, but again it's just not very believable except when bad guys fall three stories to the pavement below.

The film has some really great moments though that have absolutely nothing to do with the "action"--the director, Prachya Pinkaew's sense of camera and composition of frame are at times simply outstanding. But these moments are few and far between and certainly only a tease in the end to "what might have been". Most of the rest of the time the cinematography looks like some other person entirely shot it on a handy-cam.

This film had a lot of potential but simply didn't deliver in ways it has been hyped to.