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on WTF? Watch the blood-soaked U.S. Trailer for Joko Anwar’s Indonesian martial arts-horror-comedy ‘Ghost in the Cell’fun flick, tho.
on Heaven and Hell | aka Shaolin Hell Gate (1978) ReviewJust saw Heaven and Hell on youtube, and while it's pretty damn strange in so…
on HEAD’d your way! Jimmy Wang Yu’s kung fu classic ‘Master of the Flying Guillotine’ arrives newly restored on Blu-rayAbout freakin time!
on James Lew, martial artist, actor and stuntman in films such as ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ and ‘Timecop’, passes away at 73The Luke Cage guy paid tribute to him. https://www.instagram.com/p/DcbK2ZExau…
on James Lew, martial artist, actor and stuntman in films such as ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ and ‘Timecop’, passes away at 73James Lew was a very influential person in my life. I first discovered him wh…
on THE FURIOUS PART II? A sequel to ‘The Furious’ already in the works as producer promises a bigger follow upWell almost 4 decades ago, there was this little movie about a cop who fights…
on Anybody seen Richie? Okay, wrong movie. But Steven Seagal’s ‘Above the Law’ is coming to 4K Ultra HD this NovemberNoice. Happy Arrow/Toy Robot are releasing Warner Bros action classics. I'm c…
on THE FURIOUS PART II? A sequel to ‘The Furious’ already in the works as producer promises a bigger follow upWhat would even a part 2 be about, literally every bad guy in the first film…
on HEAD’d your way! Jimmy Wang Yu’s kung fu classic ‘Master of the Flying Guillotine’ arrives newly restored on Blu-rayFrank Djeng talks too fast, and with his accent I find him very hard to liste…
on The Fall of Ako Castle | Blu-ray (Eureka)Is this blu-ray available to purchase anywhere in the U.S. in Region A, Regio…
on FURIOUS director Kenji Tanigaki returns to work on Soi Cheang Pou Soi’s ‘Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In’ sequelRaymond Lam said that filming for the sequel has been officially completed (c…
on Second Life | aka Son of a Punch (2024) ReviewBetween the hype machine Lionsgate put behind the movie and Jet Li glazing th…
on Second Life | aka Son of a Punch (2024) ReviewDefinitely a good idea! I'll leave the suggestion with our colleague Zack sin…
on The Bodyguard (2024) Reviewi enjoyed this film.
on Heaven and Hell | aka Shaolin Hell Gate (1978) Reviewi'm glad i'm not the only person that thought Chang Cheh (and possibly others…
on Anybody seen Richie? Okay, wrong movie. But Steven Seagal’s ‘Above the Law’ is coming to 4K Ultra HD this NovemberI'd certainly agree that revelations about Steven Seagal's character have cer…
Category Archives: All
Fist of Unicorn | aka Bruce Lee and I (1973) Review
AKA: The Unicorn Palm Director: Tang Ti Cast: Unicorn Chan, Meng Hoi, Gam Dai, Kitty Meng Chui, Yasuaki Kurata, Wang In Sik, Tong Dik, Mars, Lily Chen, Tina Chin, Chow Siu Loi, Goo Man Chung, Alexander Grand, Tai Yee Ha, Tong Kam Tong, Paul Wei, Ji Han Jae Running Time: 82/90 min. By Jonathan Mitchell Fist of Unicorn (also known as Bruce Lee and I and The Unicorn Palm) is a … Continue reading
Posted in All, Bruceploitation, Chinese, News, Reviews
Tagged Alexander Grand, Bruce Lee, Gam Dai, Ji Han Jae, Meng Hoi, Paul Wei Ping Ao, Unicorn Chan, Wang In Sik, Yasuaki Kurata
Okja (2017) Review
Director: Bong Joon-ho Cast: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-hyun, Byun Hee-bong, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Yoon Je-moon, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick, Choi Woo-shik, Giancarlo Esposito, Jake Gyllenhaal Running Time: 120 min. By Kelly Warner “Here, you’ve got to try this,” is something I think we’ve all heard from somebody in the presence of food. And maybe we’ve even been secretly waiting for such an invitation to sample … Continue reading
Posted in All, Asian Related, Korean, News, Reviews
Tagged Ahn Seo-hyun, Bong Joon-ho, Choi Woo-Sik, Jake Gyllenhaal, Steven Yeun, Tilda Swinton
Reset | aka Fatality Rate: Reset (2017) Review
Director: Yoon Hong-seung Producer: Jackie Chan Cast: Yang Mi, Wallace Huo, King Shih-Chieh, Liu Chang, Hummer Zhang, Anita Wang Running Time: 106 min. By Paul Bramhall While Mainland Chinese blockbusters continue to grow in budget and scope, the actual talent behind them frequently proves to be poorly prepared to create a coherent piece of filmmaking. In perhaps as close as a sign of acknowledging this problem as we’ll get, Korean … Continue reading
Fabricated City (2017) Review
Director: Park Kwang-Hyun Cast: Ji Chang-Wook, Shim Eun-Kyung, Oh Jung-Se, Ahn Jae-Hong, Kim Sang-Ho, Kim Ki-Cheon, Kim Min-Kyo, Lee Honey, Lee Soon-Won Running Time: 126 min. By Paul Bramhall While on the surface it may seem like Fabricated City and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation have little in common, both share at least one similarity – their marketing campaigns revolved around a bombastic opening action scene that has nothing to … Continue reading
South Shaolin vs. North Shaolin (1983) Review
Director: Wu Chia Chun Co-director: Casanova Wong Cast: Casanova Wong, Eagle Han Ying, Ma Chin Ku, Wang Kuan Hsiung, Chiang Cheng Running Time: 87 min. By Paul Bramhall In 1982, a year prior to the release of South Shaolin vs. North Shaolin, the movie that launched Jet Li into stardom, and triggered a wave of wushu influenced Shaolin movies, captured the imagination of Asian audiences in the form of Shaolin Temple. Made … Continue reading
Posted in All, Chinese, Korean, News, Ninja, Reviews
Tagged Casanova Wong (Ka Sa Fa), Eagle Han Ying, Wu Chia Chun
Cops vs. Thugs (1975) Review
Director: Kinji Fukasaku Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Kunie Tanaka, Nobuo Kaneko, Reiko Ike, Hiroki Matsukata, Toru Abe, Mikio Narita, Akira Shioji, Tatsuo Umemiya, Shotaro Hayashi, Hideo Murota, Masaharu Arikawa Running Time: 100 min. By Kelly Warner No one dies well in a Kinji Fukasaku gangster movie. A director who fuels nearly every scene with rage or panic, his characters always seem to either be screaming at each other or tripping over one another in an attempt to escape … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Bunta Sugawara, Kinji Fukasaku, Kunie Tanaka, Nobuo Kaneko, Reiko Ike
Karate Kill (2016) Review
Director: Kurando Mitsutake Writer: Kurando Mitsutake Cast: Hayate, David Sakurai, Asami, Katarina Leigh Waters, Mana Sakura, Kirk Geiger, Noriaki Kamata, Kirk Geiger, Tomm Voss, Jeffrey James Lippold Running Time: 85 min By Paul Bramhall Japanese action cinema has a history of making movies that act as a showcase for the karate skills of the stars that headline them, from Ken Kazama in Karate from Shaolin Temple back in 1976, to Rina … Continue reading
I Am a Hero (2015) Review
Director: Shinsuke Sato Cast: Yo Oizumi, Kasumi Arimura, Masami Nagasawa, Hisashi Yoshizawa, Yoshinori Okada, Nana Katase, Jin Katagiri, Makita Sports, Muga Tsukaji, Yu Tokui Running Time: 126 min. By Paul Bramhall It’s rare for Asian movies to break out into the mainstream, and when they do, they’re normally of the martial arts variety. So in 2016, when the Korean zombie movie Train to Busan started getting global attention, thanks largely … Continue reading
Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975) Review
Director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi Cast: Sonny Chiba, Rikiya Yasuoka, Saburo Date, Koji Fujiyama, Tooru Hanada, Ryuji Hayami, Jiro Ibuki, Harukui Jo, Kenji Kawai, Hiroshi Kondo, Koji Miemachi, Etsuko Nami, Yoshio Neshima Running Time: 86 min. By Kelly Warner There are two types of film fans in the world; those who learn of Sonny Chiba’s 1975 werewolf action movie Wolf Guy with a “Huh?” and those who almost immediately plunk down $20 so that … Continue reading
Aces Go Places V: The Terracotta Hit (1989) Review
AKA: Mad Mission 5 Director: Lau Kar-leung Cast: Samuel Hui Koon-kit , Karl Maka, Leslie Cheung, Nina Li Chi, Conan Lee, Billy Chong, Maria Cordero, Ha Chi Jan, Mark Houghton, Walter Tso Running Time: 102 min. By Paul Bramhall There’s a distinct feeling with the fifth instalment of the Aces Go Places series, that the producers were trying to aim for as broad an audience as possible. Of course fans of … Continue reading
Mad World (2016) Review
Director: Wong Chung Cast: Eric Tsang, Shawn Yue, Elaine Jin, Charmaine Fong, Yvan Chan Hok-Man, Ng Siu-Hin Running Time: 101 min. By Martin Sandison The name Eric Tsang conjures up images of Golden Harvest comedies like My Lucky Stars (I’ll never forget the button mushroom joke) or his magnificent turn as gang boss Hon Sam in Infernal Affairs and it sequel. A seasoned veteran of Hong Kong cinema, even directing martial arts movies (he helmed … Continue reading
City Ninja | aka Ninja Holocaust (1985) Review
AKA: Rocky’s Love Affairs Director: Choi Young-chul Cast: Michael Chan Wai-Man, Casanova Wong, Andy Chworowsky, Chae Eun-hui, Eagle Han Ying, Park Yun-geun, John Ladalski, Mabel Kwong Mei-Bo Running Time: 90 min. By Paul Bramhall Let’s just get it out of the way upfront – City Ninja is such a muddled production, the very prospect of reviewing it and providing some kind of background of how it came to be is an intimidating one. Almost every source … Continue reading
Posted in All, Chinese, News, Ninja, Reviews
Tagged Casanova Wong (Ka Sa Fa), Eagle Han Ying, John Ladalski, Michael Chan Wai Man
Universal Soldier (1971) Review
Director: Cy Enfield Cast: George Lazenby, Ben Caruthers, Robin Hunter, Edward Judd, Alan Barnes, Cy Enfield, Germaine Greer, Rudolph Walker, Chrissie Townson, Guy Deghy Running Time: 94 min. By Jeff Bona While promoting 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, model-turned-actor, George Lazenby, the film’s “New James Bond” star, was literally a signature away from playing Bond again, until his then-manager, Ronan O’Rahilly, convinced him not to take the deal: “Bond is [Sean] Connery’s gig,” O’Rahilly … Continue reading
Opium and the Kung Fu Master (1984) Review
AKA: Lightning Fists of Shaolin Director: Tong Gai (Tang Chia) Cast: Ti Lung, Chen Kuan Tai, Robert Mak, Philip Ko Fei, Lee Hoi San, Tang Chia, Lau Leanne, Ku Kuan Chung, Alan Chan, Ma Chao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Bun Running Time: 86 min. By Chris Hatcher Knowing one could be blacklisted in many kung fu cinema circles for making the following statement, here goes nothing: I have always been somewhat … Continue reading
Posted in All, Chinese, News, Reviews, Shaw Brothers
Tagged Chen Kuan-tai, Elvis Tsui, Lee Hoi-Sang, Philip Ko Fei, Robert Mak Tak-Law, Ti Lung, Tong Gaai, Yuen Bun, Yuen Wah
Dancing Warrior | aka Venom Warrior (1985) Review
AKA: Dancing King Director: Cheng Cheh Cast: Ricky Cheng Tien Chi, Yang Li-Su, Sun Jung Chi, Yang Guang-Yo, Chen Kuan-Tai, Got Heung Ting, Lui Fong, Dennis Brown, Anita Mui Yim Fong Running Time: 90 min. By Paul Bramhall It’s fair to say that legendary director Chang Cheh more than earned his moniker of the Godfather of Hong Kong action cinema, however while his crowning achievements are many, there can also be no doubt that the post-Shaw … Continue reading
Posted in All, Chinese, News, Reviews
Tagged Anita Mui Yim Fong, Chang Cheh, Chen Kuan-tai, Ricky Cheng Tien Chi
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