Director: Chang Cheh
Co-director: Lu Feng
Cast: Chen Kuan Tai, Lee Chung Yat, Ti Lung, Chan Sing, Lu Feng, Lau Fong Sai, Keung Hon
Running Time: 90 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Director Chang Cheh was rightfully known as the Godfather of Hong Kong action cinema, and after the Shaw Brothers studio wound down its movie production, he still managed to crank out a further 11 in Taiwan and Mainland China. Starting with 1983’s Attack of the Joyful Goddess and ending with 1993’s Ninja in Ancient China, Cheh’s post-Shaw Brothers work makes for eclectic viewing. Health issues resulted in a multi-generation cast of talent that Cheh had helped nurture coming together for his 1984 movie Shanghai Thirteen, a production which was intended to generate enough profit to allow the director to retire comfortably. But with an ambition to helm 100 movies, Cheh ended up using the funds to continue to direct. While 1986’s Great Shanghai 1937 and 1988’s Cross the River have remained elusive, I’d be willing to safely wager that Death Ring is the rotten tomato in Cheh’s post Shaw Brothers output.
Considering it came out the same year as The Shanghai Thirteen and the underlying reasons for that movie’s existence, it’s perhaps little wonder that Death Ring ends up as an incomprehensibly plodding mess. Most sources state Cheh was only in the directors’ chair for the opening third, with the rest of the movie being picked up by Venoms alumni Lu Feng to attempt to complete on his own in Thailand. This would make sense, since the first 30 minutes almost seem to come from a different movie altogether, with a loosely held together narrative that recalls the similar Continue reading
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