If there is a movie that could be truly qualified as "non-stop action" then this is it.
This story moves at a fast and furious pace and all the fights are imaginatively choregraphed and a real pleasure to watch.
This is pure Kung-fu movie at its best. A rare gem, if you believe me. And consider yourself lucky that you could buy this [on] dvd because when I watched this masterpiece some years ago, it was with a dubbed VHS copy and the overall quality is very bad.
Two other reasons to buy this [on] dvd:
First, they don't make movies like this anymore. If you have seen the new Jet Li movies made in Hollywood then you know what I mean.
Second: sure there is "Drunken Monkey", directed by Liu Chia Liang, the new effort to resurrect the Kung-fu genre and it's pretty good. But too much of comedies prevent it from being great. Meanwhile, ["Born Invincible"] does NOT suffer from bad humour, if there is any humour at all. It's all about revenge so there is no place for bad comedy here. Which is a great thing to me.
Well I am not much of a film critic, but I do know a thing or two about movies and this is one of the most intense thriller movie I have ever seen. And I am not talking about made in Hong Kong movies but movies in general. The film has a constant dark, brutal and realistic asmosphere with occasional effective touches of humour.
Here is the plot in a few lines: A cop is forced to associate with a female assassin who killed his ex-wife. They are both pursued by corrupted cops.
It's non-stop action and suspense. The cast is perfect. The characters are very interesting since the villains are not just one dimensional personages. I especially love the "hitwoman", she is an original character: silent, effective and at the same time touching and very human.
Beside "Righting Wrong", this is by far the best film starring Yuen Biao. I highly recommend this film. Hurry and discover the dark realistic side of Hong Kong movies.
First let's start with the flaw (there is only one, it seems to me anyway): there are some horrible actings in this movie. You don't need a movie reviewer's eyes to see it. And that's about the only complaint I have about this film. Donnie Yen himself is great though.
Now I have heard people complain about the flashbacks, but I can't see what's wrong with them. There are only 3 flashbacks and they are not confusing at all. In the contrary, the flashbacks here are put to great use and one of them is inventive, even.
Now the strength of this film is the fight scenes, of course. Donnie Yen provides us with some of the best, most innovative fights ever filmed. The Donnie vs Monkey duel is probably The BEST on-screen fight ever, you have never seen AND "heard" a martial combat like this one before. It's at once artistic, creative and thrilling.
The script has some interesting scenes, too, I especially like what happens to Yen's lover. It's not your standard "the hero saves the beauty and they live forever happily afterwards" story, trust me.
Too bad some of the supporting cast don't know how to act, otherwise this would have been a kung-fu masterpiece.
Blade Of Fury (product link) Martial Arts / Swordplay/Sword(s) First of all, I need to make something clear. Sammo Hung does NOT star in this film. He does make a cameo appearance in a spectacular bladefight, but the main characters are played by Ti Lung, Yeung Fan and Cynthia Khan.
The story is about the adventures of some patrotic rebels who want the old dynasty restored.
There are some heavy wireworks here, but most of the times, the fights are spectacular as you would expect. The characters are interesting, especially the villains who, for once, are not one-dimensional. Cinthya Khan and Ti Lung deliver solid performance, and so do the rest of the cast.
I am not a critic, but I would say this is one of the finest swordplay movie ever made in Hong Kong. Don't miss it.
If a movie stars Michelle Yeoh and is directed by the same guy responsible for the exciting, terribly entertaining Tokyo raiders then there is a lot of chance it's going to be good, right?
Not in this case. While Tokyo raiders features innovative fights and humourous action sequences, Silver Hawk uses a lot of wires. Michelle Yeoh's martial arts talents is completely wasted here because she and the bad guys spend a lot of time flying through the air, delivering high-kicks and assume supposedly cool poses instead of actually fighting(as in hand-to-hand, toe-to-toe fighting). Any idiot can fly in the air with the aid of wire.
Remember Shanghai Knights? I'd expected to see a spectacular showdown between Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen but it was so disappointing. They didn't need someone like Donnie Yen to play the bad guy if they were not gonna put his talents to use. Same thing can be said for Michelle Yeoh in Silver Hawk.
The story is terrible un-interesting, too. And the humour is just so-so.
All in all, this is just a waste of money and talents. But if you are a die-hard fan of Michelle then go ahead and watch it anyway.
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