Liu, who has also the screen name of Lau Kar-Leung, made a name for himself with such classic martial arts epics as Shao Lin San Shih Liu Fang (aka: 36th Chamber Of Shaolin, 1978) and, a personal favourite, Wu Lang Ba Gua Gun (aka: Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, 1983). Jung Yuen, who here made his screen debut with his portrayal of the eponymous supervillain Sonny the Scorpion, provides the astonishing leg fighting. By some accounts Korean Yuen, a striking taekwando and wushu expert, is something of a elusive figure. He has only made four films and at one point was even rumoured dead through AIDS.

The Scorpion King relates a tale common in martial arts cinema. Kok Lar Chin plays Yu Shu, a dreamy student and talented artist of manga, who yearns to become a hero and worldly success. He falls in love with Mei (May Lo Mei-Mei), a coy servant girl lusted after, and menaced by, the villainous Mr Wong (also called Mr Wang in the subtitling). Wong's plan to sell her into prostitution is aided by Inspector Hua (Shun-Yee Yuen). Yu Shu's activities cause his expulsion from school and he enters the service of noodle chef Master Lo (Chia-Liang Liu), where Mei also finds refuge. The bulk of the film is taken up with Yu Shu's clumsiness, his rather gauche romancing of Mei, then his semi-humorous attempts at physical improvement at a training college run by one Bull (Jean Pull). Finally he acquires respect in his own eyes and those of the patiently despairing Master Lo during improvised martial training, then a long-telegraphed final bout with Scorpion.

Much of this is filmed in a casual knockabout way, with much of the flailing action handicapped on the DVD by the irritating pan-and-scan version of the film offered here. The plot is eminently forgettable, even though the malicious Mr Wong with his gold teeth, oriental cackle, furs and wheelchair, provides all the attributes of a memorable villain. When he is not responding to his father's call for aid (a necessary prologue to most of the action) Sonny the Scorpion sports a curious quaff and drainpipe suit, reminiscent of Burt Kwouk's Cato in the Pink Panther films. The lightweight matter of the film, especially the almost obligatory 'training' sequence, as the eager Yu Shu uses gigantic woks and melons to practice fighting techniques, recall some of the early films of Jackie Chan. Sadly, Kar Lok Chin has less of that actor's grace and charisma. His wooing of the girl, and their scenes coming together over the rice grinder, is pleasant but such romance is really just padding between the real drama of confrontation elsewhere.

Bull's fitness academy, into which Yu Shu blunders and later discovers help and friendship against adversity, is full of rippling biceps, mighty thighs and close ups of sweaty pectorals. Some of this display will be familiar to those who remember the outright narcissism of some of Bruce Lee's work. In fact, to Western eyes the latent homosexual atmosphere of this group of butch men, working out together (unostentatiously looked after by chunky blondes), is so obvious that a Western audience might expect it to be further developed. The conservatism of martial arts cinema excludes this possibility. Bull and his buddies are there purely as fall guys, the eventual humbling of such a massive physique only emphasising the slender Scorpion's effectiveness as a fighter.

As Scorpion, Jung Yuen is blessed with immense kung fu skills, if not with convincing dialogue. In fact the whole DVD is best enjoyed in the original language with subtitles, a situation familiar to those who have watched much in this genre. The variable English dubbing, while pleasingly colloquial, is a distraction. Sonny gets to mouth such sentiments as "However hurts my father will pay - with his left foot!" This, with his aforementioned hairstyle, means it is only his memorable fighting style that redeems him as a creditable character.

Scorpion style is Sonny's preferred combat technique (Yu Shu develops his own based on the writhing of a snake, involving flapping on the belly like a flounder). Sonny's astounding method is to confront opponents dropped down on two arms and one leg, his other limb arching up over his back to strike out like the creature he imitates. This physically unlikely, but impressive, technique is worth the price of admission alone and its employment brings the house down each time. Many of his stunts appear to be done without props or wires, which makes them all the more impressive.

At the climax, Yu Shu and Master Lo confront the Scorpion in an extended fight, which, as one might expect, is the best thing in the film. Clearly choreographed by the older star, the combat between Lo and Scorpion is so exciting it makes one wish that that which had preceded it was on the same level. Martial arts film fans will want to see this, given the calibre of the participants, the novelty of the action and relatively high production values...

Produced by Sammo Hung [actually, according to Bey Logan's commentary it was produced by his company but not by him personally], this gripping tale details the adventures of Fai Yuk-Su, an idealistic young hero who lives vicariously through the legendary martial arts heroes which he illustrates on the back of his class-book. When he rescues a beautiful young girl from a prostitution racket headed by a local police chief, he is drawn into a dangerous web of deceit, protected by the formidable fighting skills of the Scorpion King.

With his heroic illustrations as inspiration and a real kung fu master to guide him, Fai Yuk-Su must draw on all his courage, strength, and skill to overcome the incredible kicking power of "The Scorpion King".

Showcasing jaw-dropping physical performances from Korean Tae Kwon Do phenomenon Won Jin, Hong Kong stunt-god Chin Kar Lok, and Shaw Brothers legend Lau Kar Leung, this rip-roaring martial arts adventure is one of the most innovative and compelling ever made. A genuine classic!!

Yu Shu, his father and the girl will then be sheltered by a restaurant owner. During the upcoming weeks, Yu Shu will learn the art of cooking from the owner, but what he doesn't know is that the special ability of his new master doesn't stop at just cooking. Meanwhile the evil gang, still doing the prostitution business, will again discover where Yu Shu and the girl hide, but this time they will succeed at kidnapping the girl. Now Yu Shu, having no other choice, will try to save the girl with the help of his master. But what they don't know is that they will have to fight again with the son of the gang leader, The Scorpion King, an amazing fighter that can kick and flip faster and higher that anybody else.

REVIEW
It has been a while since I saw an amazing kung fu movie such as "Operation Scorpio." Featuring an excellent cast of actors/fighters with some incredible kung fu fight sequences, driven by a decent story about the over abused concept of a wannabe kung fu fighters, all this together makes "Operation Scorpio" an instant kung fu classic from the 90`s. There's not that much originality in the movie and even the story was something of a deja vu, but there's still a lot of interesting ideas in the movie that make it worth watching, specially if you are a fan of kung fu movies.

The movie might not be filled with kung fu fights from start to finish and most of the fighting takes place at the end of the movie but still the basic story at least succeeds to support the movie without being too boring. Not very original in terms of storyline, the movie tries to exploit the concept of the reject guy who wants to become a great kung fu fighter and some day find a kung fu master to teach him, in fact two masters in this case. After the long and hard training, our hero is now ready and has to save his girl from the evil mad man. Even if this premise might not look interesting at first sight, yes it is very clichéd, but it was well developed enough to make the story just enough interesting for the viewer. It's just a kung fu movie after all, so don't except an incredible intellectual storyline full of sub plots and unexpected events and you will probably be satisfied with the general storyline.

One of the surprising aspects of the movie were the characters, most of them were well designed and acted which made them very likeable. Kar Lok Chin, who played the main character, gives an excellent performance. Maybe his martial art skills were not very impressive but he was supposed to be an apprentice anyway so we can excuse him this time. As for his two masters, one was played by Frankie Chin, who also played one of the boss prisoners in "Story of Ricky" during the same year. The second master was played by Lau Kar Leung which directed (kind of) and starred in "Drunken Master 2" in the role of General Fu Wen-Chi in company of Jackie Chan. Both characters were excellent and well played but I really think that the more interesting of the two was Lau Kar Leung, probably because he had more development but also because his character was more charismatic and likable, everyone likes old kung fu teacher, no? As for the girl, she appeared more like a secondary character but the developing relationship between her and Yu Shu appeared believable and not too over acted, which is a good point.

Of course the real shining element in all the characters of the movie is The Scorpion King: That incredible Korean fighter Kim Won-Jun, who excels in Wu-shu and Taekwondo. This is truly the best kicker the Hong Kong cinema has ever had, too bad that he didn't do too many movies. He played a recent role in "China Strike Force," the latest Stanley Tong production, so maybe we will see him again very soon, I really hope. This guy is amazing, his flipping and kicking abilitiees are almost flawless, of course he used some wires but only to help him enhance the impossible moves that no one can do. I have heard that when Kim Won-Jun was young, he was a big fan of Hong Kong kung fu movies. He really liked those amazing moves that the actors and stunts man were executing on screen. But what he didn't know was that some of these moves were enhanced with the help of wires. With the time and a lot of hard practice he achieved to be able to do some of these spectacular moves without the help of wires. So when he arrived in Hong Kong, it was a real piece of cake for him to do these flipping and kicking tricks. If you like kung fu movies that show fighter with great kicking ability, you really have to see "Operation Scorpio!" Ken Lo in Drunken Master 2 was excellent, but Kim Won-Jun is even more amazing!

With a good casting such as this, you are probably expecting some incredible over-the-top fighting choreographies and I can assure you that the movie really delivered the merchandise. The movie starts right away with a couple of short fighting sequences but after that, it drags a little as we only see the development of Yu Shu who start to train like a mad man. The training part of the movie doesn't have a lot of action and seems a little slow but don't worry, the action kicks back at the end with more than 25 minutes of non-stop fighting. The last fighting sequences itself is really worth the viewing of the whole movie as you will witness the fights between the two masters of Yu Shu against Scorpio, the son of the evil gang leader. Most of these fights are traditional kung fu but the character of "Operation Scorpio" uses a couple of wires here and there to enhance the already amazing moves and it really looks great on screen. In my opinion, if the movie would had one or two more fights in the middle to give it little more kick to the slow pace of the story, this movie would have become an instant classic such as "Iron monkey" and "Drunken Master 2" for sure.

Even if the movie is not perfect, it's still an excellent kung fu movie. Only for his great characters, especially Won-Jun Kim with his great kicking ability, and all of the amazing combat sequences, "Operation Scorpio" really should have it place in your kung fu movie collection.

DVD
The WA release has decent widescreen transfers, which suffer from minor scratch but which is fine in general. For the sound you have a decent Mandarin audio track in DD 5.1, which I'm sure is not the original language of the movie. The subtitles are not burned and are of excellent quality. The menus are all in Chinese but except the chapter and subtitles selection as there's no other section so you wont' be lost while browsing it. It might be not the ultimate dream version but it stills a good DVD and the movie is really worth the buy, but I just hate those plastic DVD cases from the WA release.

REVIEW:
This is one terrific martial arts film that features some truly incredible choreography highlighting newcomer, Yuen Jeung's jaw-dropping acrobatic abilities.

The story about a comic book artist turned kung fu hero is essentially a comic book itself combining realistic kung fu, reinforced by long time director and actor, Lau Kar Leung ("Drunken Master 2") and fanciful elements like the scorpion technique that Yuen Jeung (Sunny) performs with tremendous speed and grace. The addition of Frankie Chin as a muscled hero expounding on the virtues of strength and eating meat versus rice is entertaining. The bout between Jean Pol and Sunny, showcasing strength versus agility is a delight to watch. Not surprisingly, the director leans in favor of finesse over brute force, forcing Uncle Yi and Yu Shu to alter their skills to defeat Sunny. Another nice touch is Yu Shu's artistic abilities which prove useful since he has been drawing Sunny's fighting styles throughout the film and in essence analyzing them to develop counter moves.

My only real complaint is the fact that much of the film is shot at night or in shadows with artificial lighting and smoke, making it hard to see the combatant's in detail. On the positive side, the film's look contains texture in the way that Sam Raimi managed in his first comic book to movie conversion, "Darkman" that captured the visually dramatic essence of comic books.

Although relatively unknown in the West, "Operation Scorpion" ranks as one of the most entertaining martial arts films of the nineties. With a great performance by Lau Kar Leung, a well paced story and topped by Yuen Jeung's rapid kicks, flips, and tumbles, this film is sure to please.

Yu Shu, played by Chin Kar Lok, who daydreams at school of becoming a Kung Fu expert and who is also a talented comic book artist.

When his servant girl friend is abducted by cruel slave traders, Yu rescues her and ends up hiding at the restaurant of Ah Yee (Liu Chia Liang).

He is put to work at the restaurant washing and cleaning not knowing that he is secretly being taught Ah Yee's Kung Fu style.

When the restaurant is burnt to the ground, and the girl taken, it is up to Ah Yee and Yu to save the day.

What gives this movie cult status is the main villains son, played by Yuan Jeung, the scorpion king of the title. If you are a fan of the great kickers of Kung Fu cinema like Huang Cheng Lee or Casanova Wong then Yuan ranks up there amongst the best.

His kicking skill is extraodinary, side, double and reverse jumpkicks are all performed with superb style and with very little wire enhancement.

Apparently a serious illness put paid to his movie career, but he has recently been seen in China Strike Force starring Aaron Kwok.

The other stars of the film put in good performances. Chin Kar Lok shows his great acrobatic skills and it is a shame that stardom never really came his way.

Liu Chia Liang again gives his usual upstanding performance and proves with this movie that he is still one of the best traditional kung fu movie directors.

The fight scenes are very well staged, if a little over comic, in the finale.

Fans of this type of movie will not be disappointed and should check it out.

Like many of Liu Chia Liang's later efforts, the plot is thin and the humor is forced and unfunny. Most of the film is tedious and boring, but the fight scenes are riveting. Liu Chia Liang is a master at staging and filming fight scenes, and he is spectacular as always. Although he takes quite a beating, Chin Kar Lok also gives a fantastic physical performance. However, the highlight of the show has to be Sunny (Yuen Jan in his debut role) who is probably the best leg fighter I've seen since Hwang Jang Lee. He is simply amazing to watch! Like many kung fu films, it's best to just fast forward to the last thirty minutes in order to catch the majority of the thrills.