-
-
Newest Comments
on Striking Rescue (2024) ReviewI rented this, and it was worth a watch. The action is nice and the showdown…
on Shout Studios announces New label spotlighting a treasure trove of Hong Kong’s most captivating masterpieces4K Hardboiled at Cannes! https://www.instagram.com/p/DJWzsK0OzA4/?utm_source=…
on Can Spike Lee take an Akira Kurosawa flick higher? Watch the Trailer for ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ starring Denzel WashingtonNick, cheers. Fixed =)
on Can Spike Lee take an Akira Kurosawa flick higher? Watch the Trailer for ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ starring Denzel WashingtonCorrection: Old Boy was remade in 2013, not 2023.
on Havoc (2025) ReviewA bit of a mixed bag this one. While I appreciate the effort to give this mov…
on Billy Zane, Zach Roerig and Scott Adkins’ ‘Day of Reckoning’ NOW on Digital! Watch a New Extended PreviewHow much screen time does confederate white supremacist supporter Trace Adkin…
on Get your kicks on Route 666! Scott Adkins attacks Marko Zaror in the New Trailer for Ernesto Díaz Espinoza’s ‘Diablo’the movie looks good, the trailer is awful. had to stop it midway to avoid be…
on Havoc (2025) ReviewThanks for continuing to visit COF Will! I felt the same way, the action kick…
on Get your kicks on Route 666! Scott Adkins attacks Marko Zaror in the New Trailer for Ernesto Díaz Espinoza’s ‘Diablo’This trailer has me pumped. Can't wait
on Havoc (2025) ReviewI've been reading this site for years. Really appreciate the reviews. I'd say…
on COF Presents: The Legend of the The Seven Little Fortunes[…] COF Presents: The Legend of the The Seven Little Fortunes | cityonf…
on Heroes of the East | aka Shaolin Challenges Ninja (1978) ReviewLiterally just finished watching this for the first time - catching up with m…
on Havoc (2025) ReviewThat anonymous guy is an idiot
on Someone call the 🔥 department! Ringo Lam’s seminal Hong Kong actioner ‘City on Fire’ arriving on 4K Ultra HD in JuneThis is absolutely beautiful. I use to dawg on shout factory artwork but damm…
on Shout Studios announces New label spotlighting a treasure trove of Hong Kong’s most captivating masterpiecesVery disappointing but not surprising. As long as 88 Films, Eureka, Arrow or…
Category Archives: All
Point Men, The (2023) Review
Director: Yim Soonrye Cast: Hwang Jung-Min, Hyun-Bin, Kang Ki-Young, Park Hyoung-Soo, Ahn Chang-Hwan, Jeon Sung-Woo, Lee Seung-Chul, Jung Jae-Sung, Seo Sang-Won Running Time: 108 min. By Paul Bramhall In recent years the film industries in Korea and China have seemingly stumbled upon a new goldmine to extract source material for their cinematic output – true stories involving their citizens either being kidnapped and/or placed in danger in troubled faraway lands, … Continue reading
Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews
Tagged Hwang Jung-min, Hyun-Bin, Yim Soonrye
Heart of Stone (2023) Review
Director: Tom Harper Cast: Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, Alia Bhatt, Jing Lusi, Sophie Okonedo, Matthias Schweighöfer, Paul Ready, Jon Kortajarena, Glenn Close, BD Wong, Mark Ivanir Running Time: 122 min. By Paul Bramhall During the 2010’s when Netflix began to directly produce movies, being associated with the platform was considered an exciting prospect. With the appeal of being able to match the budgets of the big studios, but not be … Continue reading
Posted in All, News, Other Movies, Reviews
Moon, The (2023) Review
Director: Kim Yong-Hwa Cast: Sol Kyung-Gu, Do Kyung-Soo, Lee Sung-min, Kim Hee-ae, Jo Han-chul, Jo Seung-yeon Running Time: 130 min. By Paul Bramhall The Korean film industry is having somewhat of a love affair with science fiction in the 2020’s, a genre which had remained largely ignored since the Korean Wave era of the early 2000’s. In the past 3 years we’ve had dystopian visions of the future presented in … Continue reading
Master and the Kid (1978) Review
AKA Shaolin Master and the Kid Director: Lin Fu Ti Cast: Yueh Hua, Man Kong Lung, Violet Pan Yingzi, Philip Ko Fei, Chan Sing, Weng Hsiao Hu, Ho Wai Hung, Shaw Luo Hui, Ngok Yeung, Hu Chin, Leung Kar Yan Running Time: 91 min. By Martin Sandison Lone Wolf and Cub remains one of the most well-regarded comic books and film series to come from Japan. My own love for … Continue reading
Posted in All, Chinese, News, Reviews
Tagged Chan Sing, Leung Kar-Yan (Beardy), Philip Ko Fei, Violet Pan Yingzi, Yueh Hua
Maniac Driver (2020) Review
Director: Kurando Mitsutake Cast: Tomoki Kimura, Iori Kogawa, Yohta Kawase, Ayumi Kimito, Keisaku Kimura, Ai Sayama Running Time: 75 min. By Paul Bramhall As a director Kurando Mitsutake has proven to be a talent whose work consistently defies expectations. Not entirely dissimilar to Quentin Tarantino, his movies feel steeped in the influence of 70’s cinema, littered with homages and narratives that feel new yet familiar at the same time. The … Continue reading
Kill Shot (2023) Review
Director: Ari Novak Cast: Rib Hillis, Rachel Cook, Bobby Maximus, Mara O’hara, Mark Murphy, Xian Mikol, Joe Cebula Running Time: 94 min. By Henry McKeand Kill Shot. Now there’s an unoriginal title. In fact, when I was asked to review Ari Novak’s upcoming action thriller, I had to check to make sure I hadn’t already seen it. The cover, featuring generically attractive actors dressed up like special forces operatives, didn’t … Continue reading
Posted in All, News, Other Movies, Reviews
Bad City (2022) Review
Director: Kensuke Sonomura Cast: Hitoshi Ozawa, Tak Sakaguchi, Masanori Mimoto, Rino Katase, Lily Franky, Katsuya, Akane Sakanoue, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi, Yasukaze Motomiya Running Time: 118 min. By Paul Bramhall On paper Bad City is one of those movies that has all the right ingredients to cook up the perfect yakuza action flick. The sophomore feature from stuntman and action choreographer turned director Kensuke Sonomura following 2019’s Hydra, just like with his debut … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Hitoshi Ozawa, Kensuke Sonomura, Masanori Mimoto, Tak Sakaguchi
Hidden Strike (2023) Review
Director: Scott Waugh Cast: Jackie Chan, John Cena, Amadeus Serafini, Pilou Asbæk, Jiang Wenli, Rachael Holoway, Amadeus Serafini, Rima Zeidan, Max Huang, Tim Man, Tazito Garcia Running Time: 102 min. By Paul Bramhall It may be difficult to believe that a movie which started filming in 2018 featuring Jackie Chan as its star, was funded almost entirely by Chinese backers, and paired the action movie legend with WWE wrestler turned actor … Continue reading
Posted in All, Asian Related, News, Other Movies, Reviews
Tagged Jackie Chan, John Cena, Scott Waugh, Tim Man
Big Boss: Mandarin Cut, The (1971) Review
Director: Lo Wei Producer: Raymond Chow Cast: Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien Chun, Han Ying Chieh, Nora Miao, Lee Kwan, Anthony Lau, Lam Ching Ying, Billy Chan Wui Ngai, Peter Yang Kwan Running Time: 115 min. By Ian Whittle The Big Boss remains a rather intriguing oddity. Golden Harvest’s first contemporary martial arts movie, it was released the same month as Shaw’s also Thailand filmed Duel of Fists. But … Continue reading
Posted in All, Chinese, Golden Harvest, News, Reviews
Tagged Billy Chan Wui Ngai, Bruce Lee, Han Ying Chieh, James Tien, Lam Ching-ying, Lee Kwan, Lo Wei, Maria Yi, Nora Miao, Peter Chan Lung, Tony Liu (Anthony Lau Wing)
Hidden Blade (2023) Review
Director: Cheng Er Cast: Tony Leung, Wang Yibo, Chengpeng Dong, Zhou Xun, Eric Wang, Huang Lei, Hiroyuki Mori Running Time: 130 min. By Paul Bramhall Spy thrillers set in the 30’s and 40’s have become something of a genre unto themselves in the Chinese film industry during the last decade or so, with titles likes Alan Mak and Felix Chong’s The Silent War, Ann Hui’s Our Time Will Come, and Chen … Continue reading
Night of the Assassin | aka The Assassin (2023) Review
Director: Kwak Jeong-deok Cast: Shin Hyun-joon, Kim Min-kyung, Lee Ro-woon, Lee Moon-sik, Hong Eunki, Kim Byung-chun Running Time: 100 min. By Paul Bramhall I remember back in 2003, the UK DVD label Hong Kong Legends created a sister label called Premier Asia, of which the intent was to highlight productions from other parts of Asia beyond Hong Kong shores. One of the first titles (possibly even the first?) was the 2000 Korean … Continue reading
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) Review
Director: Christopher McQuarrie Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Esai Morales, Shea Whigham, Rob Delaney Running Time: 163 min. By Paul Bramhall In the closing line for my review of 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, I’d expressed a hope that if Tom Cruise was to return, then all he’d need was for “someone to hook him up with Gareth Evans for Mission: … Continue reading
Posted in All, Other Movies, Reviews
Tagged Christopher McQuarrie, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames
Fox with Nine Tails, The (1994) Review
Director: Park Heonsu Cast: Ko So-young, Jung Woo-sung, Dok-go Young-jae, Bang Eun-hee, Lee Ki-young Running Time: 115 min. By Paul Bramhall Korean cinema was in a transitionary period during the 1990’s, a decade which would culminate in its film industry achieving an international breakthrough thanks to Kang Je-gyu’s bombastic action movie Shiri. The start of the decade was a very different story, with Korea opening up to import foreign cinema, … Continue reading
Unleashed (2020) Review
Director: Ambrose Kwok Co-director: Ka Hei Kwok Cast: Sun Zhen-Feng, Ken Lo, Zheng Zi-Ping, Venus Wong, Sam Lee, Raymond Chiu Running Time: 84 min. By Henry McKeand There’s something quaint about Unleashed, the 2020 kickboxing film from Kwok Ka-Hei and Ambrose Kwok Yat-Choi. Then again, in a modern action climate dominated by assassins and digital blood spray, maybe there’s something quaint about all movies concerned mainly with competitions and training … Continue reading
One Ranger (2023) Review
Director: Jesse V. Johnson Cast: Thomas Jane, Dean Jagger, Dominique Tipper, Jess Liaudin, Rachel Wilde, Nick Moran, Patrick Bergin, John Malkovich, Alena Gerber, David Sakurai Running Time: 95 min. By Henry McKeand Once upon a time, One Ranger, the latest from DTV titan Jesse V. Johnson, would have been a reliable box office draw based solely on the strength of its logline: A crusty Texas Ranger named (Thomas Jane) is … Continue reading
Posted in All, News, Other Movies, Reviews
Tagged Jesse V. Johnson, John Malkovich, Thomas Jane
3 Comments