First of all, the plot sucks. Basically, a village chick named Bobo (Nora Miao) has just arrived in Shanghai. She comes across a gang fight and notices that one of the dudes involved is an old childhood friend of hers. She remembers him as Silly Boy, but he now has a new name: Jaguar.

Warning: Possible spoilers in the next paragraph.

Jaguar explains to her that he is now the right-hand man for some big wig gangster dude. Anyways, they do a little catching up together, f--k and fall in love. The rest of the movie... well... to make a long story short: Jaguar ends up getting set up by his own boss. Eventually, Jaguar ends up partnering up with his jumbo-bow-tied sharp shooter buddy; Jaguar punks him; then we find out the Bobo is actually the daughter of Jaguar’s old boss. Along the way, Jaguar turns into an asshole and then Bruce Lee’s co-star from The Big Boss (Liu Yung) shows up and screws things up for Jaguar even more.

I’m sure the above plot doesn’t sound so bad, but trust me, there are so many twists and turns, that, by the time you’re half way through, you start to not care about the characters, the plot, or the movie.

Even if you’re in it just for the action, there’s not much here to get a kick out of. The choreography is pretty tight for the most part, but nothing really stands out. If you want see some guys beat each other up, I can think of 50 other movies you could watch for that reason alone.

Personally, what attracted me to this movie was the presence of Nora Miao. She’s that Asian chick with white features who co-starred in most of Bruce Lee films. Not only does she get super-fiesty in this flick, but she also gets naked...A LOT! (Okay, obviously it’s a body double, but who cares. It’s still a nude female.)

Also in the mix is Liu Yung (aka Tony "Now You Know. So What? You're headed for the freezer!" Liu), another person who was pretty much in every Bruce Lee flick. So, in a way, "To Kill A Jaguar" is almost a Bruce Lee movie. The only difference is, there’s no Bruce Lee, the movie sucks, and you’re stuck with a guy who has big ass sideburns and a mustache instead.

"To Kill A Jaguar" is a dull feature folks. Even Wang Lung-Wei looks bored in this one. - Mighty Peking Man

"Masked Avengers" concerns a cult of masked killers who work as mercenaries, though the film never once addresses who exactly hires and pays them. None of them know each other behind their masks, which also raises more logistical questions: if no one knows who is who, then how in the world did the cult get started in the first place? Regardless, we discover that these guys are Satanic in everything but name: they thrive on debauchery, drink the blood of their victims, worship and frolic in pagan rituals, and rape and murder as they please.

Chiang Sheng, the Venom who normally played the goofy one, here plays the straight role of Chi San Yun, the reserved leader of a government-appointed party that's seeking out this cult. His group is made up of assorted fighters, some of whom have lost family members and loved ones at the hands of the killers. Two figures stand out in the group: Cheng Chung (Chien Hsao-Hao, in the type of role normally played by Toad Venom Lo Meng), a good-natured but naïve guy, and hotheaded Liang Yung (played by Chu Ko, who happens to be a dead ringer for Scorpion Venom Sun Chien).

Chi San Yun's group heads to a small town where the masked killers are apparently headquartered. They figure the leader of the cult must be a wealthy, powerful individual, and so their chief suspect is Lin Yung Chi (Lu Feng, the constantly-evil Venom). Lin claims he's never heard of a group of masked killers in his town, but does implicate another wealthy individual, Fong Su Kwong (Wang Li), whom he's heard employs a personal army of kung-fu fighters at his estate. Chi's men hole up in an inn to sort things out, where Cheng Chung strikes up a friendship with mysterious cook Kao (Kuo Choi).

Over the next several days, the cultists murder the members of Chi San Yun's group, sometimes in broad daylight. These murders continue unabated, until about an hour in it all comes to a head, as Kao finally reveals his story to Cheng. Turns out Kao was a member of the cult, in fact he was the second chief, but quit when he realized the cult was killing for fun, not profit. Now disguised as a cook, he keeps an eye on the two men he suspects of being the chiefs: Fong Su Kwon and Lin Yung Chi. However, Cheng is murdered by the three chiefs before he can impart this information to his superior, Chi San Yun.

Kao finds Chi San Yun and his remaining men and manages to convince them of his innocence. He's also able to unveil the second chief by devising a ruse that's brilliant in its stupidity. Discovering the cult will be gathering that night, Kao, Chi, and Chi's remaining men unleash an assault on their headquarters, which happens to be in an abandoned temple.

This final battle is one of the most amazing the Venoms ever did, complete with booby traps, countless cult members, shooting darts, moving walls, and streams of acid. If the heroes had just tried to make their way through this trap-fest of a temple, it would have made for an entertaining finale, but on top of that they're engaged in acrobatic, jaw-dropping kung-fu throughout. Those expecting the usually-bizarre weaponry seen in Venoms movies will be let down, though. Tridents predominate; be prepared for the excessive "clang, CLANG, clang, CLANG," sound effects in the final battle. Other than tridents, the occasional sword is used, and Chiang Sheng uses his fan to waste people, before unleashing a pair of metal hoops.

There are two problems that keep this film from being perfect. One, the fact that only three Venoms are present. Lo Meng would have been perfect in the role of Cheng Chung, in fact the part seems to have been written for him. But Lo left the Venoms crew around this time; who knows, maybe even shortly before production of this movie, which would explain why screenwriter I Kuang created a character so suited to him. Sun Chien was still a Venom, though, so his absence doesn't make any sense. But like I said above, Chu Ko looks so much like Sun Chien anyway, you could probably fool yourself into believing it IS him.

As for the second problem, it's related to the first. Much like the original Venoms movie, "Five Venoms", the main actors don't see much action until the very end. Kuo Choi tries to avoid fighting for the first hour or so. Chiang Sheng doesn't do anything until the final battle, other than wave his fan around and look uncomfortable in a role totally not suited to him. Lu Feng sees more action than any of them, although most of the time it's from behind a mask.

Now let's move on to the violence. "Five Element Ninja" was a violent movie for sure, but it was cartoonish violence. "Masked Avengers" is equally gory, but the violence is more disturbing. In this movie you will see masked cultists drinking human blood, you'll see intestines draping from a bloody trident, you'll see so many guys impaled you'll lose count (in one case, a cult member actually pulls his trident all the way THROUGH his victim), you'll see a dude bite off his own tongue, and you'll see torture sequences that should make the most jaded Shaw Brothers fan squirm.

On top of that, the production values are high. The cult headquarters is a sight to behold, topping even the fantastic dungeons Chor Yuen gave us in his 1976 Shaws film "Web of Death". The costumes are the usual Venoms cool, with the cult members getting the best. The foot soldiers wear identical outfits of black pants and red vests, with demon-like, horned masks. The three chiefs wear more regal clothing, and have masks that look more like dwarf faces, or something. These masks don't have horns, but they do have beards, and each chief wears a different color. All told, these cult members make for an appealing visual spectacle.

"Masked Avengers" is one of the top movies I'm waiting for Celestial to remaster, because the DVD currently out there isn't so great. The DVD release from NS is only marginally better than the nth-generation video dub I've had for the past ten years. The picture on the NS disc is too dark, and panned-and-scanned out of whack. The final battle begs to be seen in widescreen, but for now, this bungled DVD will have to do. - Joe909

But truthfully, I’d rather watch "Masked Avengers" over this any day.

I haven’t seen all of Chang Cheh’s “let’s seriously base this on an historic event” movies, but let me tell you, the guy shines a lot more when he’s making brainless ultra-violent action flicks like "Five Element Ninjas" and "One-Armed Swordsman".

I personally don’t think Chang Cheh and factual scenarios mix. At some instances, "Boxer Rebellion" is a serious piece of historic drama. Other times, it’s a badass kung fu flick that we love to watch. In the end, we end up with a half-assed true story (with many inaccuracies) smothered with Saturday afternoon Black Belt Theater action. I mean, imagine if Kubrick’s "Full Metal Jacket" had ninjas in it or something? Where I’m getting at is there aren’t enough gray areas, just a sloppy mix of black and white. Make either a no-nonsense, high budget period movie or or a straight up kung fu tale. Don’t try to cram both into one package.

"Boxer Rebellion" is a very Americanized production. They definitely didn’t skimp out when it came to extras (of all races), set designs and locations. Even the soundtrack (which I’ll assume is the original) sounds like some kind of American TV show from the 70’s. Richard Harrison - an Italian film star who made dozens of films in the 60’s and 70’s, including Chang Cheh’s "Marco Polo"; as well as unintentionally starring in a string of goofy Ninja movies for Godfrey Ho and Joseph Lai - has a chunky cameo as an American officer who tries to take on Alexander Fu Sheng and Chi Kuan Chun (take a guess who wins?).

All bullshit aside, "Boxer Rebellion" isn’t bad, but it does take a while to build up into something we’d expect from a Chang Cheh film with a cast like this. The final third of the movie is what packs the most punch (mind you, this is a very LONG movie). The action is brutal, entertaining and bloody remarkable (no pun intended). As with most Chang Cheh films, don’t expect a 100% happy ending. Heck, a lot of the movie has kung fu guys vs. men with rifles, so use your imagination.

Now, excuse me while I pop in "Crippled Avengers". - Mighty Peking Man

One day, Jin Fei crosses paths with an injured man, who had just escaped a group of attackers. Though barely alive, the man manages to pass on secret information about how the leader of the Tien Yi Tong clan was betrayed and murdered by Hung Sing-tien (Cheung Pooi-saan), the clan’s second in command.

Knowing he’s going to die any second, the man urges Jin Fei to deliver his crucial message to the rest of the Tien Yi Tong clan; but just as Jin Fei is about to ignore the situation and walk off, the gang of attackers (Hung Sing-tien’s men) show up and suspect that their victim might have “talked” to Jin Fei...

There’s a lot more to King Eagle, but basically the movie revolves around the act of betrayal, revenge, and surprisingly, love. Yes, there’s a romantic subplot revolving Jin Fei falling for a woman named Yuk Lin, played by Li Ching. Oddly, Li Ching has a dual role - both as Jin Fei’s love ineterest, and as Yuk Lin’s evil younger sister, who works under the notorious Hung Sing-tien.

Everything from the costumes, set designs and just the overall look, are fantastic. And for being a film from 1970, they managed to do a great job with the camera effects when the two Li Chings appeared on the screen together. I dig the James Bond “borrowed” On Her Majesty's Secret Service music, as well.

King Eagle has enough action (featuring solid choreography job by Tong Gaai and Yuen Cheung Yan) and for the most part, flows along at a decent pace.

However, I do have a grip that really stops it from being a Chang Cheh film that I could have really loved: the film’s ending was very anti-climactic and disappointing. Maybe I’m just used to those good old Chang Cheh endings; you know, long bloody fights, heroes dying very slowly and painfully. The final fight for King Eagle seemed like it ended before it even started. Come to think of it, some of the action in the first half of the film was a lot more gripping.

I say give it shot. After all, it’s a Chang Cheh film. - Mighty Peking Man

Killers Five starts off very tame and family movie-like. The interaction between the title characters is humorous and light hearted, which leads the viewer into thinking that the tale will be a festive action-adventure flick which with a low body count and a happy ending; it doesn’t exactly go from tidy clean to bloody dirty, but the direction it does take comes by surprise.

Even though you have to sit through most of the film before you start to see satisfying amounts of action, the film is paced so well that you barely even notice, but when the brutality comes, it comes: Blades will penetrate flesh. Good guys will be spitting gobs of blood. Eye balls will be punctured. There will be blood...

The action is what you’d expect from a 1969 Shaw Brothers swordplay flick. A little chalky, kind of stiff, but always interesting and creative.

In terms of cuts, editing and camera angles, the film suffers lightly from being less fluid and polished than, say, a Chang Cheh film of the same time period. However, it has so much going for it in other departments that you ignore its rough edges.

Like most of the Shaw Brothers films of the late 1960’s/early 1970’s, the set designs are lavish and less lazy-looking than what would appear in later films.

The bottoms line is director Cheng Kang kicks ass. This is the second movie I’ve seen of his (the first being Swords of Swords, which was one hell of a movie) and I want to see more. - Mighty Peking Man

“In the film, Chiang plays a righteous character who helps an unjustly imprisoned swordsman accused of stealing. Together they break out of prison and serve notice to all the evil men in their lives that a new deadly duo is in town.“

Well, it’s half right. They do break out of prison to get revenge. And yes, David Chiang does play a righteous character who helps an unjustly imprisoned character, only, the character (played by Tsai Hung) is not a swordsman, he’s a straight up kung fu fighter (totally swordless!); and he wasn’t accused of stealing, he was thrown into prison because he was blamed for murder. Also, the thief they’re talking about is actually Chiang himself, not Tsai Hung’s character.

Anyways, not really important, but I thought I’d point that out since some of us like to watch films based on plot.

After watching The Condemned and David Chiang’s other directorial project, The Drug Addict (which I rated a 4/10), it’s pretty safe to say that the guy definitely belongs in front of the camera. In this case, he not only directs The Condemed, but also stars in it, along with Tsai Hung.

Bascially, The Condemned is shitty and decent at the same time.

Much of the film is draggy, uninteresting and almost feels like you’re watching a non-Shaw Brothers generic kung fu flick (not to say that all Shaw flicks are good...). Even David Chiang's performance is sorta half-assed. I mean, we still get that David Chiang charm, but here, his performance seems a tad less magnetic - let’s put it this way, Chang Cheh gets a better performance out of the guy.

In addition to David Chiang, Chan Shen, Pai Ying, Ku Feng and Lily Li, we are introduced to Tsai Hung’s character, the second half of the duo. I don’t know much about the actor, since I’ve I’ve only seen him in a couple of other titles (and he usually plays a bad guy), but I can tell you this much: he has as much charasima as a bowl of corn flakes. He looks like a lizard and has some of the worst facial expressions I've ever seen; but on the other side of the coin, he's one hell of a bad ass. And you'll know why David Chiang picked him to begin with once you're a little more than half way through the movie...

And this is where The Condemned gets decent. It nearly becomes a Bruceploitation movie with the way Tsai Hung takes on the bad guys with his Bruce Lee-style fighting moves: Fights are direct and solid, guys are falling to the ground from a single punch or kick, etc. Meanwhile, snippets from Lalo Schifrin’s Enter The Dragon score are playing in the background (either that, or a soundtrack that sounds very similar in style).

One thing I really dug was the cool visual effects which suddenly appear out of nowhere. At one point, blood literally drips (not splashes) down from the camera lense. Also, not sure if this is the first film to so, but there are a couple of bone-cracking special effects (ie Romeo Must Die) that are both effective and cheesy.

Basically, if you can sit through most of the movie, you’ll be kindly rewarded with the kung fu action towards the film’s last third. It gets violent, bloody and even catches you by surprise with some of its cruelty.

All in all, not bad. Not good. Like I said, it's shitty and decent at the same time. I can think of hundreds of kung fu films to watch before recommending this one...

- Mighty Peking Man

"The Chaser" is about an ex-cop turned pimp (yes, you read that right) who realizes his "bitches" are sporadically disappearing one by one. He backtracks through his paperwork and figures out that the latest missing girl was sent to the same guy the previous missing victim was sent to.

That's basically all I'm going to tell you about the plot. Telling you any more would be too much typing for my lazy ass; more importantly, I'll probably give too much away in the process.

"The Chaser" is director Na Hong-Jin's first full-length feature film (prior to this, he received some buzz for some short film he made). I like his directing style and his approach to storytelling. He's a director with balls and not some lame filmmaker who has to reference the feel of Hollywood movies to please the mass audience. I'll definitely be keeping a close eye out for his work.

Both the lead actors (Yun-seok Kim and Jung-woo Ha) put on amazing performances. I could tell you right now that Yun-seok Kim is special. He's got that certain something about him. He’s one of those cool Asian cats that you just love seeing on screen. You know, another Chow Yun Fat, Song Kang-Ho, Lau Ching Wan or Tony Leung... get my drift? I really should get off my ass and seek out more of his films.

"The Chaser" is entertaining as hell. Paced just right. It’s brutal, dark, funny, bloody and beautiful. The best flick I’ve seen this year. Period.

No, it's difficult to review solely because of the fact that any little bit that's revealed about the movie kind of spoils the fun of it.

The only thing that you need to know about the film's plot is that Oh Dae-Su gets locked up somewhere for 15 years. Upon completion of said incarceration, he is released and left to his own devices to determine who did it and why.

The movie has cemented my adoration of Park Chan-Wook and his output to date. From Joint Security Area, to Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, through to Oldboy, he never ceases to amaze me with his films - simply because after viewing each film, I can't stop thinking about them.

Case in point - I watched Oldboy about a month ago and still find myself thinking about all the intricate twists and turns that befall the protagonist of Oh Dae-Su. I lent the movie to a co-worker of mine who watched it with his girlfriend one weekend - he, too, couldn't stop thinking about the movie afterwards. My father also watched it with my mother - again, the same result.

I'm beginning to sound like a raving idiot but I'm being completely serious here. I really felt that viewing Oldboy was quite an experience, resulting in this movie landing firmly in any list of my all-time favourite films. However, you should be fairly warned - the movie was very disturbing. If news about an American remake of the film really do bear fruit, I can only imagine how watered-down it will turn out to be.

I conclude this half-assed review of Oldboy by telling you that my mother now thinks that I'm a fucking nutter for lending my dad the movie. With praise like that, you can't go wrong with this film. - Owlman

As expected, the cinematography and music are absolutely outstanding, and the entire film is, without a doubt, a technical marvel. However, the pace is at times, a little slow, and admittedly, Tony Leung's Chow Mo Wan is one of Mr. Wong's least likable lead characters (very different from the Chow Mo Wan of In the Mood For Love, although the differing characterization makes sense from a story standpoint).

For me, it's probably one of my least favorite Wong Kar Wai movies, but that really doesn't mean anything, considering I've loved every single one I've seen up to this point. There's really nothing particularly better or worse about 2046, and I'm sure someone will find this to be their favorite, depending on what they take from the experience. In any case, it's not to be missed. - Iuxion

In The Mood For Love: Exquisite. From the lush hues of the set design, to Maggie Cheung's seemingly infinite supply of cheongsams, to Shigeru Umegayashi's haunting music, to Tony Leung's performance, to Wong Kar Wai's direction--everything about "In the Mood For Love" is exquisite. And while I've praised the beauty of a film's cinematography ("House of Flying Daggers"); the beauty of its performers ("Hero"); the beauty of its performances ("Oasis"); and the beauty of its story ("Il Mare"); I've yet to see a film that was completely beautiful, from the costuming to the acting to the direction to the story to the score. Simply, "In the Mood For Love" is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen. - Alexander

Yeah, you're right.... I'm gushing.

Now, whether or not "Inside Kung-Fu" magazine called Benny's final showdown with Jackie in this movie "The greatest onscreen fight ever" is moot, because I don't read Inside Kung-Fu, and neither do the majority of you who're reading this. I know that if you heard that it's because you saw that anthology "The Deadliest Art", and not because you read it in the magazine. But if they did print that, then I would have to back that statement up, because I don't think I've yet witnessed a more perfect one-on-one battle scene. Sammo may make the silliest fuckin' movies in the world, which he does (if you're doubting that, watch the "Lucky Stars" movies, and then watch "Mr. Nice Guy", and then we'll chat), but goddamn if he doesn't direct a good fight scene.

Well, so far, this ain't no kinda movie review; it's just me running off at the mouth about isolated aspects of the movie.

Ok, the movie, as a whole, is patchy (which is typical of a Sammo Hung film). Sammo ain't no Steven Spielberg when it comes to pacing or characters. However, he IS the Spielberg/Cameron of the fight scene. His fight scenes are always kinetic, intuitive, dynamic, ingenious, and so on and so on, and the fight scenes in 'Meals' have all of those qualities, but they're spaced out a bit too far, save for the end. Specifically, I found the fight with the dork bikers waaaay too damn short, although it was spectacular in that slo-mo crane shot, but I ain't tellin' what happens, for those still virgins to this film.

The cornball stuff is cute, but gets a little "too cute" in spots. The female lead here is, as always, a friggin' knockout, as any less just wouldn't do in a HK movie. The story, well, I've forgotten it already. That's how involved I was with it. Like I've said before, if you want a good story, watch Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai", or the original "Jaws". This movie is for fans to get their fight fix, maybe a couple of yukyuks, and that's it.

There's one thing that confuses the crap outta me...

How the hell did Yeun Biao keep his spine from flying out of his body like a cork in that stunt where, well, if you've seen the movie you know what the frak I'm talking about. - Dan-O

For those of you who still question Tsui Hark's abilities as a storyteller/filmmaker, I highly suggest hunting down this unforgettably disturbing piece, which is dark and nihilistic to the utmost extreme. From the horrific opening images (containing a scene of animal cruelty which would undoubtebly incite protests from animal rights activists in the states) to the carnage-filled finale, it is quite obvious that Dangerous Encounters was extracted from the mind of an angry individual.

According to Dangerous Encounters, the world is a festering shithole deprived of any modicum of goodness and humanity. This barren wasteland is clearly represented by the characters of the story, who are distanced from any positive traits whatsoever. The 3 teenagers are foolish creatins who show no regard for anyone but themselves. This is effectively conveyed in a scene in which they casually dismiss a child's gravestone. The American mercenaries, in the mean time, are blood thirsty savages who are willing to spill buckets of blood in order to get what they want. And let's not forget the main character (effectively portrayed by cute actress Lin Ching-chi, who is anything but in this film); a mentally disturbed teenage girl who spends her leisure time driving needles into the brains of helpless mice, among other sadistic shortcomings to numerous to detail in a single film review.

With a seemingly unlimited amount of stage blood, Tsui and action director Ching Siu-tung (who collaborated for the first time on this project) utilize experimental camera angles, expert editing, gloomy lighting techniques, and old fashioned ingenuity to craft some impressive action/suspense sequences. The finale, pitting the heavily armed American mercenaries versus the hapless teenagers in a cemetary, is one of the most intense setpieces Tsui has ever committed to film.

Not surprisingly, Dangerous Encounters ran into trouble with the Hong Kong censors (but mostly for political content). After extensive editing, the film was released, and predictably failed at the box office. Tsui Hark followed up Dangerous Encounters with the commercially successful All the Wrong Clues....For the Right Solutions, which is the antithesis of Dangerous Encounters in every sense of the word.

Tsui Hark has built quite a prolific filmography in the years to come, but it is unlikely that he would have the balls to make a film like this ever again.

Notes of interest: Finding a decent copy of Dangerous Encounters can be quite the task. Mei Ah did issue a laserdisc edition a while back, but it is of course out of print and nearly impossible to find. A European VHS edition (the version I saw) is more readily accessible, but it is cropped, dubbed in English, and subtitled in what appears to be German. Although it obviously isn't an ideal release, the film itself still packs quite a punch. Finally, a letterboxed DVD was released in Japan, but it has no English subtitles.

- Political activist/prolific producer/Lucky Star John Sham Kin-fun has a minor role in the film as a cop. Also worth noting is actor Ray Lui (most famous for his role opposite Chow Yun-fat in the Shanghai Beach (aka The Bund) TV series), who also appears as a cop. Tsui Hark himself makes a brief appearance (still boasting the trademark goatee) as a men's room attendant.

-The music in Dangerous Encounters consists entirely of cues from stolen sources. According to John Charles in his book, The Hong Kong Filmography (p 203), the music is derived from sources such as Dawn of the Dead and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (!?). In addition, I recognized bits and pieces stolen from the soundtrack to Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury. - Vic Nguyen

I first saw this movie on a local channel when I was a kid. It blew my mind and I knew I was witnessing something special. I saw it again years and years later; in fact, I know exactly when it was: Summer of 1992. It was on the USA Network on a Saturday afternoon, and I remember my Mom came into the living room, right at the part when Shao Tien-Hao's about to take care of a little "Nuisance," and my Mom said, "What in the hell are you watching?" She said it more in horror than annoyance, because it's a pretty shocking scene: something you won't see the normal Hollywood hero do, that's for sure.

The movie already had great importance to me, but it rocketed into the mythic stratosphere just a few months later, when I entered college and met a guy who loved the movie as much as I did. But the important fact was that he had a copy of the original US video release, which was, cue fanfare, UNCUT. In fact this movie was partly responsible for the friendship between me and this guy, Ken, a friendship which continues to this day. So that's just one of the many reasons I'm such an admirer of this cinematic tour de force of violence, heroic sacrifice, and "forced prostitution."

I'll usually complain if a movie has too much action and too little story, and it's true that Five Element Ninja (or as I'll probably always call it, Super Ninjas) is mostly action. But when it's done this well, when the movie's this cool, who really cares? If you want crackerjack kung-fu choreography, bizarre yet deadly weaponry, cool characters in cool costumes, sexy ninja chicks in fishnet stockings, and warriors tripping over their own intestines, then boy do I have the movie for you.

Cheng Tien-Chi stars as Shao Tien-Hao, a cocky young kung-fu whiz kid. We really don't get to meet him for a while, though; instead, the opening half of the movie concerns a sparring match between Shao's school and a rival school. Things don't go so well for the rival school; even their guest fighter, a samurai, is defeated. The samurai calls in his ninja pals right before slicing open his own stomach. Eventually the ninjas issue a challenge to Shao's school. Their teacher, who's lost his kung-fu due to a poisoned dart the samurai threw at him right before committing suicide, sends off several of his best students, but keeps Shao and Chi Shang (portrayed by Venom Lo Meng) by his side.

Shao's schoolmates are slaughtered by the ninjas. There's no other word for it. Representing each of the five elements, there's the water ninjas, who come out of the water, the fire ninjas, who use fire and smoke tactics, the earth ninjas, who erupt out of the ground, the gold ninjas, who blind their opponents with their golden shields, and the wood ninjas, who hide inside of trees. During this long battle sequence the movie offers many grisly moments, with the aforementioned intestine-tripping, multiple hackings and dismemberings, and even (in the uncut version) a quick glimpse of a female fire ninja's breasts.

The ninja leader then sends in female ninja Senshi to gather information on Shao's school. Cozying up with the gullible Chi Shang, she successfully gathers enough details for the ninjas to mount a nighttime assault. This leads to the destruction of the school, the murder of the teacher and Chi Shang, and the capture of Shao. He's able to escape, due to a lesson he once received from an elderly Chinese ninja master. Shao finds this old man and learns the ninja arts. Eventually he's able to issue his own challenge to the ninjas, he and his three new brothers meeting each group and kicking ass. Along the way he settles his score with Senshi ("I was right. WAS I right?"), wastes tons of ninjas, and gains his vengeance.

The fighting in this movie is great across the board. It's one of the few kung-fu movies you could watch over and over, and never get bored. The Venoms movies can be seen as the peak of the Shaw Brothers kung-fu flicks, but sometimes their choreography was a bit too "hey, look at me!" sort of stuff. Five Element Ninja has acrobatic leaps and kicks and punches, just like the Venoms, but it's all certainly more hard-hitting. Weapons fighting takes predominance over kung-fu, but this isn't your typical swordplay movie at all. The choreography is flawless and shows off the obvious skill of the performers.

I have a feeling that if the Shaw Brothers had continued making films, the actors in this movie would have gone on to become Chang Cheh's "New Venoms." Most of them had already appeared in the final Venoms movie, House of Traps, but here they get a chance to shine on their own. In particular I've always liked lead actor Cheng Tien-Chi, who seems to me like the "Voltron Venom." If all the other Venoms combined, he would be the result: he's got the lead-actor qualities of Kuo Choi, the on-screen charisma of Lo Meng, the comedic talents of Chiang Sheng, the weapons mastery of Lu Feng, and the kicking ability of Sun Chien. I wish he'd made more movies, but he faded along with the Shaw Brothers moviemaking empire. A footnote to the Cheng Tien-Chi story is that he was good friends with Venom Chiang Sheng; it was Cheng Tien-Chi who discovered Chiang's body, dead from a heart attack, in 1991.

The other actors who stand out for me are the mustached Tien Hsiang-Lung as Brother Li, who makes a lone stand against the fire ninjas, the evil ninja leader Chin Tien-Chun, played by Chan Wai-Man (who'd been appearing in Shaws movies for at least a decade), and the three brothers who join Shao's cause. Then of course there's Lo Meng, who'd quit the Venoms crew years before, but stayed with the Shaws until the very end. He's always been one of my favorites. According to his biography on the new Celestial DVD release of Five Venoms, Lo's a TV star in Hong Kong these days, and lately he's been attempting to refashion his image as a comedic performer!

The pacing of the narrative is perfect. You might think this is just a schlocky fight-fest, but there's emotional content here. In fact, the ending gets me every time. Seeing the punishment the ninja leader puts his three new brothers through, Shao realizes what he must do. His final mad dash toward the leader, as various clips from the film flash before his eyes, is to me one of the many highlights of the movie.

This film is one of Chang Cheh's best, even if the sets are a bit cheap-looking (at one point you can see paint bubbles in the sky), and the costumes at times are too outrageous. (I don't know too many ninjas who would wear bright gold costumes, and believe you me, I know lots of ninjas.) In some ways, Five Element Ninja can be seen as an ultraviolent combination of Chang's earlier, more artsy (but bloody) movies and his later kung-fu fests. It's unfortunate that this was his last movie to make any impact, but at the same time, it's fitting.

I could go on and on, make this review epic length, but I'm trying to hold myself back. Hopefully I've managed to convey my enthusiasm. You know how sometimes you'll be watching a movie, and you'll wonder, "wouldn't it be cool if?" Like, "Wouldn't it be cool if ninjas erupted out of the ground?" Or, "Wouldn't it be cool if that dude killed himself with an axe?" Or, "Wouldn't it be cool if they fucking ripped the main villain in half?" Well, Five Element Ninja meets and exceeds your every "wouldn't it be cool if" wish.

As a final word, I advise all to out the Panmedia-released, uncut DVD of this film, which is generally listed as "Chinese Super Ninjas uncut." It's just a bootleg dub of a video, much like the NS DVD version you can find in stores is a bootleg dub of a video, but whereas the NS release is sourced from an edited version, the Panmedia disc is truly uncut, as it's taken from the original US video release. The same version my pal Ken showed me, all those years ago. And then when Celestial finally gets with it and releases the remastered version on DVD, buy that one, too. You'll want both. I'm dreaming of the day when Celestial releases this movie, but dreading it, too. Because I'm so familiar with the English dub (I could quote lines from it all day and not get bored), it's going to be hard getting used to everyone speaking in Mandarin. But, just to see this movie in widescreen, I can deal with that, no problem.

If I had to make a list of my top five favorite Shaw Brothers movies, Five Element Ninja would rank in the number one position. That's about the highest praise I can give it. I'm patiently awaiting the Celestial release. (By "patiently," I mean I'm kicking puppies every chance I get.)

Okay, I'll limit myself to just one more of my favorite lines in the English dub: "Look at this one! His GUTS are all over!" - Joe909

Just kidding.

This David Chiang flick (which was made a year before the DeNiro movie) has nothing to do with Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," other than the two sharing the same title.

This taxi driver tale is, for the most part, light-hearted in comparison. Part drama, a little bit of comedy, some cornball, and a tad of action - it’s pretty much all over the place. Even for a 1975 Hong Kong flick, it’s uneven, choppy, and doesn’t really belong to any particular genre.

A good portion of the movie is dedicated to a bank heist, in which a group of thugs force David Chiang’s character to be their getaway driver... (but let’s not get into that.)

If you’re expecting lots of solid kung fu action, gore, or some other kind of Rated-R activity, you’ll be disappointed. Sure, it does have some violence, a tame sex scene (is that Betty Ting Pei?) and a nipple shot or two; but mark my word, it’s pretty tame.

Hopefully, I’m not making it sound like it’s an awful movie. It’s not. If anything, it’s interesting. I mean, where else are you going to see David Chiang and Wang Chung play adventurous taxi drivers? Besides, David Chiang’s girlfriend (Lam Jan Kei) is cute as hell.

Most of the time, The Savage Five feels more like a Spaghetti Western than a kung fu flick, which is probably intentional. It doesn’t help that a lot of the “borrowed” soundtrack contains snippets of Ennio Morricone’s score from Giulio Petroni’s 1968 flick “Death Rides A Horse.” Plus, you got the whole Western themes going on: small peaceful town disrupted, a locked safe, and a main bad guy, whose weapons of death is not his hands, feet, knife or sword, but a pair of pistols. Also, gun power plays an explosive part of the film’s climax.

For the most part, The Savage Five is pretty straight forward as far as the plot goes. Nothing unusual or no real surprises are uncovered. One thing that is refreshing about the film is none of the five men are good at kung fu; this is why courage, from more or less average men, is probably the main focus of the film.

As far as the action, those who are familiar with Chang Cheh’s work will get what they expect: lots of bloody violence and heroic deaths. Lau Kar-Leung’s choreography is solid, and is not the typical “swinging arm” bullshit we get with most pre-1975 martial arts flicks. Of course, this is what makes most Shaw Brothers projects so special: the ease of creating an all-round quality piece of entertainment.