Back in 2007, director Takashi Miike continued his successful streak of adapting violent manga into live-action films with Crows Zero. The movie told the story of warring factions at an all-boys school and their brawling ways. Although the film was considered a very ‘loose’ adaptation of its source material, Miike’s mix of over-the-top humor and rawdy fisticuffs earned the film a strong cult following. A follow-up came with Crows Zero … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: After returning home from a traumatic tour of duty in Iraq, John (Cung Le) finds himself rescuing a local call girl from a group of violent Aryan Brotherhood pimps. Having killed several of them in the process, John and his family are now the prime targets of Hollis, the ruthless criminal leader of the group. The director of Puncture Wounds (aka A Certain Justice or Justice) is James Coyne, an up-and-coming filmmaker … Continue reading →

Accident and Motorway director Cheang Pou-soi has been developing a big screen, special FX-infused adaptation of the famous Monkey King tale for almost three years now. Production began way back in October of 2010 but we haven’t heard much since then, besides the fact that the film’s high budget means it will have to make at least $88 million at the Chinese box office to break even. The star-studded cast includes … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: Directed by Rob Meltzer, Welcome to the Jungle is a Lord of the Flies-style comedy/thriller starring Jean Claude Van Damme with Adam Brody (Lovelace), Kristen Schaal (Flight of the Conchords) and Rob Huebel (The Descendants). Also briefly appearing are Van Damme’s kids, Kristopher Van Varenberg (6 Bullets) and Bianca Bree (Assassination Games). Welcome to the Jungle is about employees at a design firm who end up stranded on … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: A cop and his team of comrades go undercover in one of China’s most ruthless underworld organizations to stop a gang leader, only to put themselves in great danger after being exposed one by one. Special Identity is directed by Clarence Fok, who directed the original The Iceman Cometh that Donnie Yen happens to be remaking. He also helmed the classic Category III flick Naked Killer and the … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: Once Upon a Time in Shanghai is a martial arts film directed by Wong Ching Po (Let’s Go!) with action choreography from the legendary Yuen Woo-ping (The Matrix). The plot involves a laborer who moves to Shanghai in the hope of becoming rich, but ends up using his kung fu skills to survive. The cast includes Phillip Ng (Bodyguards & Assassins, Naked Soldier), Andy On (Special Identity), Luxia … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: As a fiery inferno rages in a liquor warehouse, the Hong Kong fire department is called in to try and control the blaze. That’s the premise of the upcoming big-budget drama As the Lights Go Out, which is set to star Hong Kong heavyweights Nicholas Tse (The Viral Factor), Shawn Yue (Motorway), and Simon Yam (Nightfall). The film will be helmed by Derek Kwok, who co-directed the well-received martial … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: Directed by Ding Sheng (Little Big Soldier), Police Story 2013 follows the relationship between Jackie and his daughter; from the sounds of it, a gang kidnaps Jackie’s daughter and holds her at a club, where Jackie and his police force must rescue her. The film co-stars Liu Ye,Huang Bo, Jing Tian, Zhang Lanxin, Wang Zhifei, Zhang Xiaoning, Guli Nazha and Aaron Aziz. Police Story remains arguably the most popular … Continue reading →

It’s a story told often in Hollywood: two rival movie studios are making big-budget movies about the exact same thing. From Armageddon vs. Deep Impact to Mirror, Mirror vs. Snow White & the Huntsman, we’ve seen it happen before and it’s happening again. Only this time, one of Cityonfire.com’s favorite action stars – Scott Adkins (Undisputed III, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning) – is going up against The Rock! White … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: The premise for Dolph Lundgren’s Battle of the Damned sounds like something a 7th grader dreamed up after binging on Mountain Dew and pixie sticks: Dolph Lundgren plays a professional soldier leading a ragtag group of rebels – and an army of robots – against the undead after a zombie outbreak wipes out civilization. Sounds crazy but apparently it’s legit; writer/director Christopher Hatton says he’s going for a … Continue reading →

In the tradition of action-packed thrillers such as The Bourne Identity and The Man From Nowhere comes a new, high-octane Korean film titled The Suspect. Directed by Won Shin-yun (Seven Days, A Bloody Aria), this movie follows a North Korean secret agent who is betrayed by his government. On a mission of revenge, he heads to the South and cuts a warpath through deadly assassins and rival agents, all the … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: Jean-Claude Van Damme is reteaming with his former Time Cop and Sudden Death director Peter Hyams for a new project. That film is Enemies Closer and it’s slated for a release sometime in 2013. The movie is described as more of an action-thriller than a martial arts flick. Tom Everett Scott and Orlando Jones co-star alongside Van Damme. IMDB lists the plot as thus: Deep within a forest on the US-Canadian … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: In Ninja 2: Shadow of a Tear, Scott Adkins (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning) returns as Casey Bowman, a Ninjitsu master out to avenge the death of his wife in director Isaac Florentine’s follow-up to his 2009 film Ninja. The film also stars Vithaya Pansringarm, Kane Kosugi, Tim Man, Ron Smoorenburg, Charlie Ruedpokanon, Mika Hijii, Erika Nagamine and Shun Sugata. In the past, Adkins revealed via Twitter that – … Continue reading →

Back in the 90’s, Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige made a name for himself with lush period dramas such as the Palme d’Or-winning Farewell My Concubine and 1999’s The Emperor and the Assassin. After more recently taking a stab at the wuxia genre with The Promise and Sacrifice, the filmmaker is turning his lens on modern Chinese society. His new media-centric thriller Caught in the Web takes a look at how … Continue reading →

Simon Yam is one of Hong Kong cinema’s most recognizable character actors, appearing in dozens of films both classic and recent, from John Woo’s Bullet in the Head to Donnie Yen’s Ip Man. Now Simon Yam is breaking out as the tough-as-nails action hero of his own film. The actor has teamed up with director Dennis Law (Fatal Move, Bad Blood) for a new Hong Kong action/thriller. Their collaboration is titled The Constable … Continue reading →