Category Archives: Reviews

Fist of Fury (1972) Review

AKA: Chinese Connection Director: Lo Wei Cast: Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, Tien Feng, Robert Baker, Paul Wei Ping Ao, Lo Wei, Riki Hashimoto, Lee Kwan, Feng Yi, Wong Chung Shun, Alexander Grand Running Time: 108 min. By Henry McKeand You can’t take your eyes off of Bruce Lee.  This is by design, of course. At the funeral that opens Fist of Fury, he’s the only one in a small sea … Continue reading

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Ransomed | aka Unofficial Operation (2023) Review

Director: Kim Seong-Hun Cast: Ha Jung-Woo, Ju Ji-Hoon, Kim Eung-Soo, Park Hyuk-Kwon, Im Hyeong-gook, Burn Gorman, Marcin Dorocinski, Nisrine Adam, Faycal Zeglat, Walid Sam Running Time: 132 min. By Paul Bramhall There’s been a new kind of genre offering that’s emerged in Chinese cinema over the last 5 years, one which usually involves its military being sent overseas to rescue its citizens from troubled lands (translated: somewhere in Africa or … Continue reading

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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

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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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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

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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

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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

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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

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Fox with Nine Tails, The (1994) Review

"The Fox with Nine Tails" Theatrical Poster

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

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