Lady Of Steel (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This movie is a must-have in every kung fu movie collection! Although "Come Drink With Me", also starring Cheng Pei-Pei, is one of the best of its genre, the cinematography and the used ideas in "Lady Of Steel" are even better!
I can't tell anything bad about this movie, it is 84 minutes of absolute power. Besides, in some fight scenes the actors wait for a kick or a punch or even a hit with the sword. But this doesn't ruin the speed of the movie.
The Blade Spares None (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This swordfight movie has it all: talented actors/actresses, perfect fights, a good plot and breath-taking pictures.
James Tien makes a strong fighter, Nora Miao is as wonderful as always!
The VCD I watched only had Chinese subtitles, therefore it was not so easy to follow the plot. There is a lot of dialogue in "The Blade Spares None" but it is well set.
The movie is very cruel and brutal, but the story itself is a serious one which makes one think about it. It is very inspiring as well. Although the fights are less good, the cut of the movie and the soundtrack is! Also the actors.
The only thing that was really bad was the original English audio which is in very poor quality. Nevertheless, "Chinese Hercules" is a must-see movie for all eastern fans.
Tempting Heart (product link) Romance This Jackie Chan-presented movie is a wonderful film. It has it all: comedy and drama, love and death, hope and loss! Everybody will feel with the characters in the movie. It is real AND entertaining.
The Valiant Ones (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure King Hu is a legendary director, no doubt! "The Valiant Ones" is one of his worst movies, though it is still a good movie.
The epic pictures lost at weight. Nevertheless, King Hu has got a brilliant cast--a lot of Beijing Opera students are in this flick: Yuen Wah, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Jackie Chan should also have a small role, I could not identify him 'till now. But you also see Mars in a funny Japanese role.
The movie itself has a simple plot and is easy to understand.
It is dark-humored, erotic and has a superb plot with a lot of talented and well-known actors and actresses (Lily Ho, Yueh Huah...). Also, the drama is high-setted.
Jackie Chan didn't mention this movie in his official film list but he has a very important supporting role in it - and he even sings! It is a must for all Jackie Chan fans and for all lovers of the 70s HK erotic films.
Cinema Of Vengeance (product link) Documentary / Martial Arts Cinema of Vengeance is a good documentary film about the history ("fistory") of Martial Arts in the movies.
Kung Fu, Wushu, Karate and many more styles are presented by many Artists such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Bruce Lee, Sammo Hung and so on.
You can also see some scenes from early Kung Fu movies. Pretty rare pictures though.
I bought this one because Jackie Chan produced it. He is even honored in one text line in the movie.
The fights are very good and aesthetic, also humorous. The story is very good, funny and even clever. Also the music plays a big part in this film. It's kind of a Western!
You see a lot of well-known people in this early masterpiece!
Jackie Chan: The Kung Fu Years (product link) Documentary / Martial Arts This is the worst documentary film about Jackie Chan ever! Old movie versions taken from a 4:3 picture format. The narration is very simple, you don't get any rare information or pictures.
Rice Rhapsody [SE 2-Disc Set] (product link) Comedy / Romance A wonderful comedy drama with a lot of well known actors and actresses.
The cinemtography of "Rice Rhapsody" is very smooth, so that you are in a kind of weightless feeling while watching the movie.
Also the original soundtrack is very good. Another hit produced by Jackie Chan.
Dragon Heat (product link) Art / Drama This is a very interesting film. When I saw the cover I thought it would be an epic kung fu drama, but then I read the synopsis and was surprised.
"Dragon Heat" is an experimental movie directed by Eric Kot and features stars like Ekin Cheng, Shu Qi, Karen Mok and Jacky Cheung. Besides, some rare (private?) scenes from other stars are visible. For example: Jackie Chan and Willie Chan at a dinner party (only a few seconds).
In the end you can see the outtakes which are also very funny and interesting.
Ninja Wars (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure "The epic battle between man and black magic". This sentence is written on the back of the DVD cover--and it's so true. "Ninja Wars" is an absolute classic of Japanese cinema. A must for every Asian-movie fan!
A Touch Of Zen (product link) Martial Arts / Swordplay/Sword(s) "A Touch of Zen" is the ultimate kung fu epos with Hsu Feng in her greatest role. King Hu, the director, created a magic, mystical movie. The scenes in the bamboo forest are breathtaking and classic!
The Himalayan (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure "The Himalayan" is a great kung fu movie. "Flesh Legs's" aka Dorian Tan's skills are breathtaking and always worth watching--especially in a movie with Angela Mao, Chen Sing and a lot of ex-Chinese opera school students (Yuen Wah, Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan).
The Young Dragons (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure "The Young Dragons" is one of the first movies directed by star director John Woo and features stars like Dean Shek, Hark-On Fung and Ni Tien. Besides, Jackie Chan was action choreographer for this film.
In this action highlight from 1974 you can already admire John Woo's sense of extraordinary cinematography and his cool characters. The man with his cigarettes that he lights with a aesthetic movement is nice watching.
The plot is very simple, but the cinematography by John Woo lets this film be an outstanding kung fu movie with good kung fu fights for the 1970s.
"Angry Ranger" is a very brutal action film from star director Lo Wei. I bought it because I collect Jackie Chan featured films and as Jackie produced this one it was clear for me to buy it.
The plot is nothing new: A man comes out of jail after a few years where he covered a friend of him. As he is free again he gets into trouble because of a very attractive girl who is a "slave" of a drug tycoon, so he has to manage the new situation of working in his uncle's store, building up his new life and prevent trouble and fighting with his enemies--but it doesn't work. In the end--the grand finale--you see him getting his love back somehow and killing other people, so he gets into jail again...
Pretty depressing, I guess. And that's even the whole movie. There's a lot of blood and murder, animals (in uncle's sea fruit store) get killed (for real!). I personally don't like such movies that in reality during shooting are gruesome, so that's the reason I just gave 1 star. As a good fact, I can say that the fighting of course is good. Fast und strong.
Worth to complete a Jackie Chan film collection. Worth seeing it only because of the attractive female protagonist named Jane...
This movie is a long lost one, now distributed as a classic kung fu movie from 1979 starring stars like Yueh Hua, Hsu Feng and Lo Lieh.
The reason I bought this DVD is that I collect all Jackie Chan featured films, and the distributor of this DVD tells that Jackie should be the face behind the mask, so I naturally was interested in that one. I cannot tell that Jackie really is the masked assassin--you can't clearly see his face--and even his kung fu skills and movements don't really match with the ones by Jackie Chan. Besides, at that time Jackie already has had his breakthrough, so I think that if he really is in the movie it was a favour towards the director or producer and Jackie didn't want to be seen in it.
The movie itself is a typical kung fu classic. A lot of sword and fist fights. What surprised me was that the movie even has a deeper plot with a lot of figures. Some of the locations in the movie are well known, so the family's home where Half a Loaf of Kung Fu was once shot for example.
The reason why I just give 3 1/2 stars for this DVD is that some fight scenes, especially those with the masked assassin, are brutal and very slow. This is also a reason why I think that Jackie might not be the masked man in the film.
Concluding, The Face behind the Mask is a classic kung fu movie and for fans of Hsu Feng, Lo Lieh or Yueh Hua - even Jackie Chan fans like me who study Rip-Offs - it is a 90 minute adventure.
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