Category Archives: Asian Related

Blackjack (1998) Review

"Blackjack" American DVD Cover

Director: John Woo Producer: Terence Chang Cast: Dolph Lundgren, Kate Vernon, Phillip MacKenzie, Kam Heskin, Fred Williamson, Padraigin Murphy, Tony De Santis, Saul Rubinek, Peter Keleghan Running Time: 112 min. By Mairosu Dolph Lundgren is Jack Devlin, an ex-fed turned bodyguard for hire, who suffers a trauma during one shootout and as a result, develops a rabid fear of white colour (?!) . He decides to retire, but is lured … Continue reading

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Windtalkers (2002) Review

"Windtalkers" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: John Woo Cast: Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Roger Willie, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, Brian Van Holt, Martin Henderson, Christian Slater, Frances O’Connor, Jason Isaacs, Billy Morts, Cameron Thor Running Time: 134/154 min. By Numskull World War II: Navajo code talkers are employed by the U.S. military to relay coordinates in their native language, which Japanese code breakers are unable to decipher. Their efforts are crucial to U.S. … Continue reading

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Matrix Revolutions, The (2003) Review

"The Matrix Revolutions" American Theatrical Poster

Director: The Wachowskis Writer: The Wachowskis Producer: Joel Silver Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Nathaniel Lees, Jada Pinkett Smith, Harry J. Lennix, Harold Perrineau Running Time: 129 min. By Numskull I was one of a relatively small group of people who was not disappointed with The Matrix Reloaded. As someone who was pleased but not awestruck by the first film, and as someone who doesn’t put … Continue reading

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Matrix Reloaded, The (2003) Review

"The Matrix Reloaded" American Theatrical Poster

Director: The Wachowskis Producer: Joel Silver Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Randall Duk Kim, Daniel Bernhardt, Harold Perrineau Running Time: 138 min. By Numskull First things first: it is very fashionable to dislike The Matrix. I, for one, have long since grown sick and tired of arrogant, elitist followers of anime and Hong Kong action films constantly bitching about how the 1999 blockbuster “stole” (in … Continue reading

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Matrix, The (1999) Review

"The Matrix" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: The Wachowskis Writer: The Wachowskis Producer: Joel Silver Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Gloria Foster, Joe Pantoliano, Marcus Chong, Anthony Ray Parker, Julian Arahanga Running Time: 136 min. By Numskull “Unfortunately…no one…can describe…what the Matrix…really is.” The Matrix…the movie, not the thing that no one can describe…is a rare thing indeed: a film that got widespread success, a franchise deal (two sequels in the works) … Continue reading

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Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave | aka The Stranger (1976) Review

"Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave" US Theatrical Poster

AKA: Visitor in America Director: Lee Doo-Yong Cast: Jun Chong (aka Bruce K. L. Lea), Deborah Chaplin, Anthony Bronson, Steve Mak, Jack Houston, Charlie Chow, Philip Kennedy, Jimmy Sato, Sho Kosugi Running Time: 85 min. By Mighty Peking Man Next to Fist of Fear, Touch of Death and Clones of Bruce Lee, this film is right up there as one of the biggest oddballs of the Bruceploitation genre. The funny thing … Continue reading

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Finishing the Game (2007) Review

AKA: Finishing The Game of Death Director: Justin Lin Writer: Josh Diamond Cast: James Franco, Roger Fan, Sung Kang, Dustin Nguyen, McCaleb Burnett, MC Hammer, Ron Jeremy, Bella Thorne Running Time: 88 min. By Ningen This is essentially a mockumentary which asks, “What if the greedy bastards who owned his footage actually wanted to realize Bruce Lee’s original vision for ‘Game of Death’, and shoot it the way it was … Continue reading

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Expendables, The (2010) Review

"The Expendables" American Theatrical Poster

Director: Sylvester Stallone Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Eric Roberts, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gary Daniels, David Zayas, Giselle Itié, Tze Yep, Amin Joseph Running Time: 105 min. By Ningen So an Italian guy, a Brit knife-thrower, a Good Ol’ Boy tattooist, a black guy, a Dutch junkie and a Chinese guy ride into a garage… And the … Continue reading

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Office of the Dead (2009) Review

Director: Matthew Chung Producer: Karen Shih, Teddy Chen Culver Writer: Matthew Chung Cast: Teddy Chen, Shawn Parikh, Christina July Kim, Robbie Daymond, Don Jeanes, Amelia Meyers, Jani Blom, David Goldman, Natasha Nov, Lynnette Li, Wayne Robbins Running Time: 72 min. By Mighty Peking Man A company called Life Corp is working on a new, groundbreaking technology developed to “make people happy.” In charge of the programming is Ben (Teddy Chen) … Continue reading

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JCVD (2008) Review

AKA: J.C.V.D. Director: Mabrouk El Mechri Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, François Damiens, Zinedine Soualem, Karim Belkhadra, Jean-François Wolff, Anne Paulicevich, Saskia Flanders Running Time: 96 min. By Mighty Peking Man Back in 1988, I remember walking into a video rental store and taking a chance with an unknown, newly-released movie called Bloodsport. Not only did the catchy title of the movie interest me, but so did the odd image of … Continue reading

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Karate Kid, The | aka Kung Fu Kid (2010) Review

AKA: Kung Fu Kid Director: Harald Zwart Cast: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson, Yu Rong-Guang, Wenwen Han, Zhenwei Wang Running Time: 139 min. By Ningen An updated Karate Kid which should technically be more of a remake of the second film than the first film, it’s about a kid (duh) named Dre who moves to China, runs into some punks, gets beaten down by ’em, and then, with … Continue reading

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Corruptor, The (1999) Review

"The Corruptor" US Theatrical Poster

AKA: N.Y.P.D. 15 Director: James Foley Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Mark Wahlberg, Ric Young, Paul Ben-Victor, Jon Kit Lee, Andrew Pang, Brian Cox, Elizabeth Lindsey, Byron Mann, Bill MacDonald Running Time: 110 min. By Numskull After seeing this movie, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. While not spectacular, it’s very solid in every way that counts, and after the abysmal Replacement Killers, Chow Yun-Fat was in dire need of a … Continue reading

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Bermuda Depths, The (1978) Review

Director: Tsugunobu Kotani (billed as Tom Kotani) Writer: William Overgard (screenplay), Arthur Rankin, Jr. (story) Cast: Leigh McCloskey, Carl Weathers, Burl Ives, Connie Sellecca, Julie Woodson, Ruth Attaway Running Time: 97 min. By Alvin George A live-action TV movie from Rankin/Bass Productions (the same company that put out the cartoon “Thundercats” and that deathless stop-motion classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”), “The Bermuda Depths” has acquired a significant cult following over … Continue reading

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Year of the Dragon (1985) Review

"Year of the Dragon" French Theatrical Poster

Director: Michael Cimino Producer: Dino De Laurentiis Cast: Mickey Rourke, John Lone, Ariane, Leonard Termo, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava, Eddie Jones, Joey Chin, Victor Wong, Fan Mei Sheng, Mark Hammer Running Time: 134 min. By James H. Stanley White is a man obsessed. He is a Vietnam veteran, and a New York cop assigned to Chinatown. Moreover, he is a racist. His experiences in ‘Nam have left him jaded … Continue reading

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Machete (2010) Review

"Machete" US Theatrical Poster

AKA: Grindhouse, Machete Director: Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis Cast: Danny Trejo, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, Lindsay Lohan, Don Johnson, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Tom Savini, Shea Whigham Running Time: 105 min. By Ningen Danny Trejo plays the titular character, an ex-Mexican cop-turned-migrant worker who gets caught up in a conspiracy between some rich guy and the drug dealer by the name of Torrez (Steven Seagal) … Continue reading

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