Category Archives: Asian Related

Silent Night (2023) Review

Director: John Woo Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Scott Mescudi, Harold Torres, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yoko Hamamura, Vinny O’Brien, Anthony Giulietti, John Pollack, Angeles Woo Running Time: 104 min.  By Will McGuire Silent Night represents John Woo’s return to Hollywood after a twenty year absence. Trailers breathlessly proclaim him to be “the Michelangelo of the Action Film”, and this film is clearly meant to re-introduce him to an American audience before his … Continue reading

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Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2021) Review

Director: Ana Lily Amirpour Cast: Jeon Jong-seo, Kate Hudson, Ed Skrein, Evan Whitten, Craig Robinson, Cory Roberts Running Time: 106 min. By Paul Bramhall When it comes to the age-old question of which Asian actors should try their hand at Hollywood, my usual response is to ask why they’d need to in the first place, however even in the 2020’s Hollywood remains a kind of validation in the world of … Continue reading

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Expect No Mercy (1995) Review

Director: Zale Dalen Cast: Billy Blanks, Jalal Merhi, Wolf Larson, Laurie Holden, Anthony De Longis, Michael Blanks, Réal Andrews, Sam Moses, Jefferson Mappin, Géza Kovács, Richard Fitzpatrick, Brett Halsey, Scott Wickware, Lazar Rockwood Running Time: 91 min. By Will McGuire I adore the world of 80’s and 90’s western martial arts action films. If it stars Sho Kosugi, Jeff Speakman, Don Wilson, or Mark Dacascos it’s probably going to be … Continue reading

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Blood and Steel (1990) Review

Director: Mark Swetland Cast: David Male, Joanne Gagliardo, Elaine Arnone, Diane Zdarsky, John Raszeja, David Bobik, Rick Swetland, Ron Detrick, Scott Sehl, Jim Reeb Running Time: 87 min. By Paul Bramhall One side effect from the emergence of boutique Blu-ray labels over the last 10 years, is that we’ve seen a deluge of increasingly obscure and “lost” low budget productions being given the deluxe release treatment, some of them even … Continue reading

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Revenge of Dr. X, The (1967) Review

AKA: Body of the Prey Director: Norman Thomson Cast: James Craig, James Yagi, Atsuko Rome, Lawrence O’Neill, Al Ricketts, John Stanley Running Time: 94 min.  By Ian Whittle Well, this is a head-scratcher. An Ed Wood written 50s monster movie script, Venus Fly-Trap, produced in 60s Japan as Body of the Prey by a former Orson Welles associate…with funds and possibly a monster suit likely supplied by Toei, who denies … Continue reading

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Manhattan Chase (2000) Review

Director: Godfrey Ho Cast: Loren Avedon, Cynthia Rothrock, Brendan Kelly, Steve Tartalia, Nicol Zanzarella, Roberto Gutierrez, Robin Berry, Chris Grall, Robinlynn Sweeney Running Time: 97 min. By Paul Bramhall When it comes to Hong Kong cinema, there are a handful of directors whose reputation precedes them, and arguably Godfrey Ho is one of them. For better or worse, Ho pioneered a business model that involved cutting corners in increasingly imaginative ways … Continue reading

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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

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Extraction 2 (2023) Review

"The Childe" Theatrical Poster

Director: Sam Hargrave Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Daniel Bernhardt, Tinatin Dalakishvili, Idris Elba, Andro Japaridze, Levan Saginashvili Running Time: 122 min.  By Paul Bramhall In the closing scene of 2020’s Extraction, we saw Chris Hemsworth riddled with bullets and left for dead in Bangladesh, falling from a bridge into the river below to sail away into the great beyond. Except, Extraction is an action movie, and if there’s one thing … Continue reading

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Assassin Club (2023) Review

Director: Camille Delamarre Cast: Henry Golding, Noomi Rapace, Sheena Hao, Sam Neill, Daniela Melchior, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Anastasia Doaga, Gianluca Bottoni, Giulio Pampiglione Running Time: 110 min. By Paul Bramhall Like every genre, the action movie is one that goes through cycles. For almost 10 years we’ve been in the age of the assassin flick, kickstarted by 2014’s John Wick and its (at least back then) refreshing approach to no frills, … Continue reading

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Fist of the Condor (2023) Review

Director: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza Cast: Marko Zaror, Eyal Meyer, Gina Aguad, Fernanda Urrejola, Man Soo Yoon, Jose Manuel, Cristian Garin, Francisco Castro, Andrés Cid, Joaquin Puig Running Time: 80 min.  By Paul Bramhall  Chile isn’t the country that first springs to mind when you think about martial arts cinema, however since their debut with 2006’s Kiltro, the director and leading man pair of Ernesto Díaz Espinoza and the ‘Latin Dragon’ … Continue reading

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John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) Review

Director: Chad Stahelski Cast: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Ian McShane, George Georgiou, Marko Zaror, Aimée Kwan Running Time: 169 min. By Henry McKeand Midway through John Wick: Chapter 2, the titular boogeyman guns his way down a subway escalator and passes a blink-or-you-miss it poster that reads: “The Only Way Out Is To Go Through.” Like so … Continue reading

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Death Promise (1977) Review

Director: Robert Warmflash Cast: Charles Bonet, Speedy Leacock, Bill Louie, Thompson Kao Kang, Vincent Van Lynn, Thom Kendell, Abe Hendy, Tony Liu, Bob O’Connell, Tony De Caprio Running Time: 95 min.  By Paul Bramhall While the grindhouse cinemas that lined New York’s 42nd street during the 70’s were filled with a steady stream of kung-fu flicks from Hong Kong and Taiwan, occasionally a more local product also populated the screens. … Continue reading

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Megaforce (1982) Review

Director: Hal Needham Cast: Barry Bostwick, Michael Beck, Persis Khambatta, Edward Mulhare, George Furth, Henry Silva, Mike Kulcsar, Ralph Wilcox, Evan C. Kim, Anthony Pena Running Time: 99 min. By Paul Bramhall Ask anyone which studio first springs to mind when thinking about Hong Kong cinema’s golden age from the 1970’s – 1990’s, and it’ll likely be Golden Harvest. The likes of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan’s best-known works are … Continue reading

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Last Resort (2023) Review

Director: Jean-Marc Minéo Cast: Jon Foo, Clayton Norcross, Alex Santi, Julaluck Ismalone, Angelina Ismalone, Armin Parvin Running Time: 108 min.  By Paul Bramhall Back in the 2000’s there was a sense that Thailand was going to be the new epicentre for Asian action cinema following the success of Ong Bak, with action talent from around the globe heading to the Land of Smiles to try their hand in the local … Continue reading

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Shadow Master (2022) Review

Director: Pearry Teo Cast: D.Y. Sao, Layton Matthews, Brian Le, Craig Ng, Anna Harr, Eric Gay Jr., Luciana Faulhaber, Morgan M. Younge, Dylan Walton, Dezzaray Stephens Running Time: 90 min. By Paul Bramhall It’s difficult to believe it’s been almost 20 years since director Prachya Pinkaew unleashed Ong Bak onto the world in 2003, heralding what at the time was seen as a new era of action with Thailand at the … Continue reading

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