Today’s Deal on Fire is Blu-ray for 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla, directed by Godzilla franchise creator, Inoshiro Honda.
When a pharmaceutical company captures King Kong and brings him to Japan, he escapes from captivity and battles a recently released Godzilla.
Kong vs. Godzilla stars Tadao Takashima (Son of Godzilla), Haruo Nakajima (Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster), Kenji Sahara (Mothra), Yu Fujiki (The Hidden Fortress), Ichiro Arishima (A Holiday in Tokyo), Mie Hama (You Only Live Twice) and Shoichi Hirose (Lady Snowblood).
Director: Chiu Lo-Kong Cast: Donnie Yen, Billy Chow Bei Lei, Wu Ma, Alan Lee, Yuen Man Hing, Cheung, Li Wing Running Time: 92 min.
By Paul Bramhall
There are some movies out there that, with the very mention of their name, seem to cause confusion, and Iron Monkey 2 is without doubt one of those. A sequel to Yuen Woo Ping’s 1993 new wave classic that featured Yu Rong-Guang as the titular character, and Donnie Yen as Wong Kei-Ying, the sequel has a remarkable amount of misinformation about it floating around on the net. As good a place to start a review as any, is at least by attempting to debunk some of the claims that seem to be out there regarding the production.
For starters, there are some sites that claim Iron Monkey 2 isn’t a true sequel to Iron Monkey at all, and is in fact a re-title, similar to how in the UK, 1991’s The Last Blood was re-titled Hard Boiled 2, despite the fact that Hard Boiled was made a year later. The recurring theme to these claims, is that none of them mention the name of the movie that they believe it to be, and there’s a reason for that – Iron Monkey 2 is in fact a true sequel, despite the significant differences to the original (we’ll get to those later). Next up comes the claim that the sequel, like the original, was directed by Yuen Woo-Ping. The US Tai Seng DVD is the guilty party in question as the source of this, however it was in fact directed by Chiu Lo-Kong, a prolific assistant director, but as a solo outing he only directed 3 movies, of which Iron Monkey 2 was his last.
However the action is credited to Woo-Ping, which makes it more interesting considering it’s well documented that he and his protégé, Donnie Yen, had a falling out during the making of Wing Chun in 1994, a couple of years prior. Yen here returns not as Kei-Ying, but as the Iron Monkey character (although just to confuse matters further, not the Iron Monkey that Rong-Guang plays in the original, as the sequel takes place in a different era). Yen’s role in the production is less clear, with some sources quoting him as saying he was only supposed to have a cameo appearance, but his role kept on being expanded, much to his dismay. Others sources say that Yen’s sporadic appearances are due to his own poor onset behaviour, which resulted in many scenes being filmed without him. We’ll likely never know the truth, however as the title character, it would be somewhat odd for him to only have a cameo appearance. Imagine watching Ip Man to find out he only appears for 10 minutes.
Whatever the case maybe, Iron Monkey 2 is a baffling entry in the filmographies of both Yen and Woo-Ping, not entirely for all negative reasons. The opening 10 minutes alone are sheer insanity, which have us introduced to a mullet adorned bad guy (played by Chang Jian-Li, a stalwart of such Taiwan new wave classics like 21 Red List and Revanchist), feature a flying guillotine which decapitates someone’s head, and gives us Yen as Iron Monkey, wearing a pointy brass hat and cape while flying up the screen. Yes, this is a world away from the original. Gone are the black ninja like threads that were the choice of Iron Monkey guise 3 years earlier, and in their place is one of the campest getups you’ve ever seen. Keeping with the bizarre tone that permeates throughout the sequel though, outside of these standalone scenes that have Yen flying vertically up the screen in his pointy brass hat and cape, he doesn’t actually wear the costume in any other scene.
Due to the nature of Yen’s there one minute, gone the next performance, the story doesn’t really have any focus. He’s the title character, but in fact the main story doesn’t really involve him at all. Jian-Le plays the Japanese army general bad guy, doing the usual routine of supressing the Chinese, and a pair of mischievous brother and sister orphans (who, should be noted, are adults) get involved in a scheme to overthrow him, when the town offers a reward to Iron Monkey if he’ll help them. Of course, as nobody knows the identity of Iron Monkey, the brother orphan declares that he’s the Iron Monkey, and takes the payment. Somewhere in-between, another orphan, played by Liu Geng-Hong, shows up trying to track down his father, who is played by Wu Ma (but he doesn’t know that Wu Ma is his father). Ma is friends with Yen, as they have soulful conversations together in church, and somehow all five of them unconvincingly end up connected to each other in order to take down Jian-Le.
If you’re thinking the above is a particularly sloppy effort at a plot description, allow me to defend myself and say that it’s only as sloppy as it appears onscreen. The characters and circumstances they find themselves in are completely unconvincing, which ultimately result in it being rather unclear as to what the point of everything is. But let’s keep it simple – basically Yen, Wu Ma, and a trio of orphans will try to take down Jian-Le and the assassin that he hires, played by super kicker Billy Chow. While Chow doesn’t appear until an hour in, he does provide the main opponent for Yen to face off against in the finale. It’s also worth noting that Geng-Hong has some impressive action chops, and displays some fine displays of aerial kicking that are a pleasure to watch, even with the undercranking.
Despite Woo-Ping’s title of action chorographer, it bears surprisingly few of his trademarks, in fact the hyper undercranking and completely over the top wirework are more suggestive that the choreography was a collaboration between Yen and Jian-Li. Nothing says mid-90’s Donnie Yen choreography as when he unleashes his punches and kicks in a 100mph flurry of motion. Iron Monkey 2 would be the last production that Yen would feature in before going on to try his hand at directing with 1997’s Legend of the Wolf, and the choreography is similar enough to warrant the opinion that Woo-Ping likely had very little involvement, despite his name being attached.
The lack of Woo-Ping’s trademark choreography isn’t a completely bad thing though, as the action in Iron Monkey 2 is of such a manic nature, that it certainly entertains if expectations are set accordingly. I mentioned that the action could possibly have input from Jian-Li, as the style of the scenes is remarkably similar to the super powered throwdowns found in 21 Red List and Revanchist. The finale in particular is essentially a hand-to-hand version of the insane bullet ballet that closes Revanchist. Taking place in a large hall (again very similar to Revanchist), Yen and Geng-Hong team up to take on Jian-Le and Chow, and proceed to destroy the whole interior of the hall in the process. Scaffolding is kicked into deadly projectiles, bannisters are decimated, and at one point Yen even kicks up a whole row of floor boards at Chow. It’s completely ridiculous, but if you forget about the original for a minute, the gratuitous destruction is wildly entertaining to watch.
Outside of the action, the cheap production values of Iron Monkey 2 also serve in providing a certain level of entertainment. You remember the scenes in Ip Man when the streets are adorned with Japanese Imperial Army flags? Well, Iron Monkey 2 is going for a similar aesthetic, only the flags the streets are lined with are the same type you’d find in an international pub, so instead you have the American, UK, Germany, Japan, and various other countries flags all next to each other. Lo-Kong must have bought them from the nearest party supplies store, and they’re so out of place that it’s impossible not to smile. The same set is also recycled throughout, with the church that Yen and Wu Ma meet in also doubling as the same area the finale takes place in, given away by the fact the colourful windows are exactly the same in both scenes.
Throw in a gweilo arms dealer dressed as the Man with no Name (complete with hat and poncho), bodies doubled with exploding papier-mâché figures, and one of the most hilariously cruel death scenes for the main villain that you’re likely to see in a kung fu movie, and you have Iron Monkey 2. Is the sequel deserving of the poor reputation that it comes with? Yes and no. Both the original Iron Monkey and the sequel received DVD releases around the same time in the west, so many fans may have watched them very close to each other, which would have been a jarring experience to say the least. However taken on its own, Iron Monkey 2 is a worthwhile slice of mid-90’s HK madness, with enough action and ‘only in HK cinema’ moments to classify it as worth a watch. Now if only there was more of the pointy brass hat and cape.
A Chinese remake of Tom Tykwer’s 1998 German thriller Run, Lola Run is currently in the works. Zhu Zhu (Marco Polo), who is set to star and produce, will play the titular role originally played by Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity). There is currently no director attached to the project (via CFI).
The original Run, Lola Run is about a a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutschmarks in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend’s life. The film is known for its fast-paced editing and time loop narrative (similar to 1993’s Groundhog Day and the 1997 Hong Kong gangster film, Too Many Ways to Be Number One).
We’ll keep updated on the remake as we hear more. Until then, here’s the Trailer to the 1998 original:
Director: Elliott Lester Writer: Javier Gullón Producer: Darren Aronofsky Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Scoot McNairy, Maggie Grace, Martin Donovan, Hannah Ware, Mariana Klaveno, Kevin Zegers, Larry Sullivan, Teri Clark Linden Running Time: 92 min.
By Zach Nix
Although Arnold Schwarzenegger (Maggie) is an internationally recognized commodity who was the biggest movie star on the planet in the late 80s and early 90s, he is no longer the hot topic that he used to be, at least not in the United States. His recent one-off starring ventures, such as The Last Stand and Sabotage, did not turn profits. And although team up and franchise pictures of his, such as the Expendables series, Escape Plan, and Terminator: Genisys, were more successful, they scored most of their box office numbers from over sea audiences. Therefore, Arnold is no longer the marketable and successful name that he used to be in America, which is a real shame given his past successes.
However, there is a silver lining to this period of old man Arnold’s career, and it is that he is willing to take more chances within low budget dramatic features that he probably would have never tackled during his bigger days. While general audiences are failing to see the appeal of the aged actor, he is reinventing himself like never before, which makes him all the more interesting to die-hard fans of his. The first sign of this side of Arnold came with the release of the off beat Maggie, a zombie family drama in which Arnold tries to protect his infected daughter. To see Arnold star within a zombie movie where he doesn’t go around killing zombies is quite the subversion of what one might expect from the actor and the genre, but that’s what makes his selection of said role all the more fascinating. Also, the decision to appear within a non-action film forces Arnold to flex his dramatic muscles, thereby proving his strengths as an actor, the main part of him that his critics have never been too kind about over the years.
The latest in Arnold’s purely dramatic ventures is Aftermath, a recent VOD and limited theatrical release title. Unlike Maggie, which had a bit of a genre appeal, Aftermath is a purely dramatic film with no action whatsoever. Therefore, it’s Arnold at his realest without any one-liners or massive guns to tout. And although Arnold does a fantastic job in the lead role and carries the entire picture, director Elliot Lester’s handling of the material leaves much to be desired, as the whole ordeal moves along at a rather slow pace and tends to go in circles until its bonkers finale.
Aftermath deals with, you guessed it, the aftermath of an airplane collision that results in the death of the wife and pregnant daughter of Roman (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a construction worker. It turns out that the incident was an accident brought upon by Jacob (Scoot McNairy), an air traffic controller, who had to deal with too many issues at once and did not notice two planes’ trajectories towards one another. Each man struggles with their day to day life as they try to cope with the massive tragedy. Roman handles the incident rather well and remains calm, although he demands an explanation and an apology from the airline. Jacob on the other hand takes the incident much harder, growing distant from his own family and hating himself for what he caused. Both Roman and Jacob cope with the incident over the course of the next year, until they inexplicably come in contact with one another in an inevitable confrontation.
The biggest takeaway from Aftermath, and probably the main reason anyone will bother to watch it in the first place, is for Arnold’s performance as a grieving widow. Arnold showcases immense pathos and pain here, remaining calm and cold under the surface in some scenes and openly emotional and weeping in others. While it’s clear that Arnold has to flex his emotional muscles here and not his action ones, I personally believe that his giant stature adds to his character, as I personally find large saddened people to be emphatic and interesting, as you simply want to hug and comfort them. I’d also go so far as to say that Arnold has gotten adorable with age, resembling a kind old man whom you can’t help but love and root for. It’s also intriguing to see an action hero of Arnold’s stature made so helpless even though he saves the day countless times in previous films of his. He doesn’t showcase immense range here, as Arnold is mostly kept to being as cold and silent as possible, but Aftermath should further give Arnold fans the evidence they need to throw at the Austrian’s naysayers when it comes to his dramatic acting abilities.
The supporting cast is solid too, although Lester directs everyone to be as simplistic and morose as possible. Although Arnold is the takeaway, co-lead McNairy (Sleepless) has just as much, if not more screen time as the grieving air traffic controller. Poor McNairy might have to suffer more than Arnold’s character here, as he earns everyone’s hatred after his unfortunate accident, including his own. He puts his son and wife, played by Maggie Grace (Taken), through even more pain and suffering, as he grows emotionally distant from them to the point where even they move away from him. Hannah Ware (Hitman: Agent 47) also shows up as an author writing a book on the entire incident, but she only has a few scenes here and there. Even though Aftermath may not be an action film, at least it features a cast of character actors whom have made appearances within said genre.
Lester’s abilities as a director fluctuate throughout the picture, as he directs some sequences to rousing tension and dramatic effect, while others flounder and become a dull slog, turning the whole experience into a taxing affair. Early on in the film, Lester generates immense tension as McNairy handles multiple situations at once while in an air traffic tower that ultimately leads to the fateful mid-air collision. Another highlight includes a scene where Arnold arrives upon the site of the plane crash and lies that he is not related to anyone involved in the incident just so he can investigate the site himself in order to locate his family. It’s a tense and harrowing scene that results in possibly the saddest moment I have ever seen in an Arnold film. Tense and dramatic scenes like these convey the dangers of air travel and the pain of familial loss, thereby making the film all the more relatable and powerful.
Unfortunately, once both Arnold and McNairy deal with the initial tragedy, Aftermath settles into a monotonous routine where it simple goes around in circles and doesn’t progress any further beyond the basic tragedy at hand for far too long. It’s not until the one hour mark where the film finally becomes interesting and heads into juicy Lifetime Channel territory and a bonkers finale that completely caught me off guard. While I can say that I felt confident in knowing where the film was headed, the conclusion completely shocked me and turned a rather dull affair into a seemingly worthwhile one, even though the ending didn’t feel earned. Therefore, know that Aftermath features flashes of brilliance, but nary an emotionally affective whole.
As far as airplane themed dramas come, Aftermath is a bit of an afterthought, although undeniably gripping in parts. You’ll find more gripping tension and a better sense of the human condition in Clint Eastwood’s Sully. And you’ll also probably find more juicy drama in the headlines concerning United Airline’s forced ejection of an unfortunate passenger. However, Aftermath is solid for what it is, and elevated several notches due to Arnold’s superb performance and a silly ending that I dare not spoil. Overall, there isn’t much to say about this rather simplistic picture, but genre fans should support the almighty Arnold by at least renting it.
Director: Mo Hong-jin Producer: Kim Dae-Geun Cast: Shim Eun-Kyung, Yoon Je-Moon, Kim Sung-Oh, Ahn Jae-Hong, Kim Won-Hae, Kim Hong-Fa Running Time: 108 min.
By Paul Bramhall
There can be no doubt that 2016 was a big year for Korean cinema, with several of the industry’s most prominent talents returning to the screen. After their ventures into Hollywood, directors Park Chan-wook and Kim Ji-woon returned to home soil, releasing The Handmaiden and Age of Shadows to both critical and audience acclaim. Na Hong-jin also returned to the director’s chair, unleashing The Wailing after a 6 year absence. Then you have up and coming talents like Kim Seong-hoon, who followed up his 2013 breakthrough A Hard Day with the disaster flick Tunnel, not to mention Yeong Sang-ho’s Train to Busan, which became the number 1 highest grossing Korean movie outside of Korea in history.
With so much attention on the movies that Korea’s established talents have brought to the big screen, it’s understandable that some of the smaller productions have been overlooked. One such example is Missing You, which marks the directorial debut of Mo Hong-jin. Having previously written and produced Jeong Gil-yeong’s 2007 murder mystery Our Town, Hong-jin is also behind the script for this latest feature, and almost a decade later clearly felt confident enough to take on the directorial reigns as well.
While on paper, Missing You may sound like one of the many female-driven revenge thrillers that have become popular in Korean cinema recently, onscreen it plays out in such a way to make it stand out from the crowd. The story opens with an alleged serial killer, played by Kim Seong-oh (most recognizable as the brother who gets blown to pieces in The Man from Nowhere), standing trial as a serial killer. One of his alleged victims was a police officer, and the victim’s young daughter watches on tearfully in the courtroom. However, due to only having enough evidence to prove that Seong-oh is behind one of the murders, he receives the comparatively light sentence of 15 years. After the verdict is read, the daughter (played by child actress Han Seo-jin) silently walks backwards out of the room, while another cop, played by the ever reliable Yoon Je-moon, swears he’ll get enough evidence together to ensure Seong-oh gets the death penalty.
In the next scene, 15 years have passed, and as he leaves prison Seong-oh is greeted by a block of tofu being thrown into the back of his head by Je-moon. As a cultural note, it’s tradition in Korea that when someone leaves prison, the first thing they receive is a block of tofu. A similar scene can be witnessed in Park Chan wook’s Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. It has to be mentioned that the only indicator that 15 years have passed, is that the victims daughter from the courtroom is now played by Sim Eun-kyeong (who notably also had a special appearance in Train to Busan). So it’s safe to assume that (a) once Koreans hit adulthood, they age very slowly, and (b) Je-moon obviously didn’t gather any evidence in the last 15 years that would prove Seong-oh is guilty of the other murders.
In fairness, there’s are numerous elements of Missing You that don’t necessarily add up on closer inspection. Despite this though, Hong-jin keeps things moving at a steady pace, and there’s never a moment that as a viewer you’re not engaged with what’s going on onscreen. This comes down to a number of factors. The main element is that the mystery card is played very effectively. When Seong-oh is released, dead bodies soon start appearing again. However things are turned on their head, when it’s revealed that there are two other characters who could potentially be responsible for the killings. This not only results in the audience being kept on their toes, but in a smart example of script writing, none of the potential killers are also aware of each other, so each one of them, to varying degrees, is also left trying to figure out who exactly is behind the killings.
Furthermore, all three of the potential killers make for interesting characters. The script sometimes seems to play with almost making Seong-oh a sympathetic character, as he gets beaten up by police for murders he didn’t commit, before it swings around to remind us of his true identity. As an actor, he manages to be both strikingly gaunt and completely ripped at the same time, and one particular image of him standing shirtless in the bathtub, arm outstretched in front of him wielding a kitchen knife, will be one that remains for quite some time after the movie finishes. As a young adult, Eun-kyeong does an excellent job of portraying a character who appears to be a cheerful but simple minded cleaner, who’s been adopted by the local police station. However the more time we spend with her, the more we question if her cheerful demeanour is really just a front, as her apartment is revealed to have a wall covered in Post-It notes adorned with handwritten Nietzsche quotes, while news clippings related to the murders are pasted all over the floor.
The third party, a butcher played by Oh Tae-kyeong, serves to keep things interesting, especially as he’s also present in the opening courtroom scene, but to go into any further detail would result in spoiler territory. With that being said though, it brings me back around to my comment about not everything that takes place in Missing You necessarily standing up to a deeper scrutiny. Missing You is one of those movies were you can tell many scenes have likely been left on the cutting room floor, and rightly so, as it moves along at a perfect pace and never bores. However as a result, some narrative logic has arguably been lost, and audiences would be forgiven for questioning what exactly the relationship is between some of the characters.
Despite some gaps, or rather leaps, in storytelling, for me Missing You still hit the mark. Perhaps the biggest factor that works in its favour, is that Hong-Jino took the decision to not shy away from the gorier elements of the story. There are several scenes of graphic violence on display throughout the runtime, which hark back to the early days of the Korean new wave, when similar scenes populated the likes of Tell Me Something, and H. Stabbings are dished out, throats are slit, heads are cracked, and unlike so many other mid-budget Korean productions, which have a tendency to play out like extended TV movies, Hong-jin seems to embrace the bloodier side of the content, relishing the opportunity to put it on display. That’s not to say that the content is exploitative in any way, far from it, however it feels like a long time has passed since a director so unapologetically displayed the gorier side of such tales.
Hong-jin should also be credited with, despite the above flaws, on a purely visceral level keeping things refreshingly realistic. At one point Seong-oh is in pursuit of Eun-kyeong, and unlike so many similar movies, rather than indulging in an extended chase scene, he catches up with her in seconds. In normal filmmaking logic, she should have fallen over a few times, gotten back up, constantly been glancing over her shoulder, and still be some distance away from her pursuer. Not so here, as soon as Seong-oh breaks into a sprint, he’s on top of her in a moment. While all of these points can be easily passed off as of an aesthetic nature, which is true, it’s the fact that they’re so lacking in similar genre productions that makes Missing You such a welcome breath of fresh air.
Hong-jin has, whether intentionally or not, created a movie which has a consistently changing focus, which translates to ensuring that as an audience, our attention never wanders. Part police procedural (early in the movie we even get a scene dedicated to a new recruit, played by Ahn Jae-hong, that gives the impression proceedings are going to be told from his point of view – they’re not), part revenge thriller, part murder mystery. The genre hopping nature of the story, wrapped in a tightly knit narrative, ultimately results in a movie which is far from perfect, but at the same time is a title I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to fans of any of the above mentioned genres. Despite all of the narrative leaps, Missing You ends with a scene that satisfyingly concludes all that’s come before, and ensures I’ll be keeping an eye on whatever Hong-jin creates next.
Today’s Deal on Fire is for Shout! Factory’s Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection. The set includes both Blu-ray and DVD copies for 1971’s The Big Boss (aka Fists of Fury), 1972’s Fist of Fury (aka The Chinese Connection), 1972’s Way of the Dragon (aka Return of the Dragon) and 1978’s Game of Death.
Also included are three full-length documentaries: 1983’s Bruce Lee: The Legend, 1973’s Bruce Lee: The Man, The Legend and 2012’s I Am Bruce Lee, plus a bonus disc featuring two hours of exclusive content. The Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection also comes packaged in a full color, bookcase-style packaging.
Director: Tom Laughlin Writer: Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor Cast: Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, Clark Howat, Victor Izay, Julie Webb, Debbie Schock, Teresa Kelly, Lynn Baker, Stan Rice, David Roya, John McClure Running Time: 114 min.
By Zach Nix
Steven Seagal is one of the most interesting action stars to ever grace the screen and achieve a significant amount of success. He’s always been a personal obsession of mine, especially because his output ranges from the highest of highs (i.e. Above the Law, Hard to Kill) to the lowest of lows (Attack Force, Kill Switch). The greatest compliment that I can pay Seagal, and the reason why he finds himself towards the top of my list of the greatest action stars of all time, is because he has always remained true to himself, no matter the quality of his films. Sure, he’s gotten lazy and resorted to body doubles and voice dubbing, almost not even caring whether or not the action in his films looks goods. However, his moral and political values have remained just about the same across all of his films and characters, with some slight adjustments here and there. That’s something you definitely cannot say about every action star out there. Therefore, Seagal will always hold a special place within my heart for being the uniquely political, ecological, philosophical, and physical force that he is.
After haven seen many of his films and read numerous articles and essays on them, I discovered several comparisons of Seagal’s work to that of Tom Laughlin, the actor and director of the infamous Billy Jack series. Lately, nothing interests me more than discovering the lesser known or underappreciated origins of a more successful entertainer and/or piece of cinema. Therefore, I finally decided to watch the most famous and notable film in the series, 1971’s Billy Jack, in order to see how similar the property and its creator was to Seagal’s own persona and body of work. As someone who has seen many of Seagal’s films, I can attest that the comparisons are blinding, as Laughlin’s message infused genre cinema essentially laid the groundwork for Seagal’s own brand of bone crunching entertainment with a heart. Although the narrative and directorial quality of Billy Jack is far from perfect, the historical and artistic significance that surrounds the film is not to be ignored, as Laughlin proved himself a true originator and activist of independent cinema, martial arts, and Native American injustices.
Billy Jack is technically the second film in a four-part saga about Billy Jack, a quasi-Native American martial artist who stands up for what he believes in and challenges the corruption that surrounds him. The first film in the series, 1967’s Born Losers, was the first true introduction of the character. However, much like the Mad Max franchise, the second entry in the series stands as the one that most people seem to remember, with some even going so far as to mistake it as the first entry in the series. In Billy Jack, the titular protagonist finds himself clashing head to head with the police and citizens of a nearby town in regards to an ongoing ordeal concerning a hippie-themed school run on Native American land. When the troubled daughter of the town’s corrupt sheriff finds solace at the school, he and the county’s political boss make it their goal to shut down the school and rid the land of Native Americans. However, they’ll have to go through Billy in order to get the sheriff’s daughter back.
As far as titular heroes come, Laughlin’s Billy Jack is the ultimate mythic American hero. He’s a larger than life figure whom fights for what’s right, ultimately putting his own self being on the line in order to stand up for what he believes in. He has little patience for authority, especially corrupt figures within power, such as the town’s corrupt sheriff and political figure. Much like Seagal’s characters in his own movies, Billy eventually takes the law into his hands, going after those whom believe themselves to be above the law. He also practices martial arts, specifically hapkido, and uses it to dispatch those he disagrees with. From Billy’s innate frustration with the system that surrounds him, to his whispered performance, to even his awesome brutal fist fights, there’s no doubt that Billy, and Laughlin in general as an artist, were the seeds for how Seagal would mold himself as a performer.
Another unique aspect of Billy is that he is part Native American, specifically of the Navajo tribe. Throughout the film, he tries to shed light on the injustices done to Native Americans by cruel racists, while also enlightening others to the ways of the Native American, through both his uniform and cultural practices. It’s interesting that Laughlin was enamored with the Native Americans, especially the spiritual aspect of them, just as Seagal showed interest in them within his own directorial debut, 1994’s On Deadly Ground. (Note: It’s quite ironic that both Billy Jack and On Deadly Ground feature oodles of ADR, essentially proving just how artistically linked the two performers were). While I cannot confirm that the practices or garb demonstrated within the film are culturally accurate, Laughlin’s ambitions are to be commended, as just about no one else in American cinema was making an effort to demonstrate the woes of the Native Americans, especially within a contemporary setting, a specific element that was all but absent from First Cinema representations of Native Americans.
At the time of its release, Billy Jack failed to drum up commendable box office dollars or word of mouth. After all, it was just a small independent feature made outside of the system. However, once Laughlin himself obtained ownership of the film and distributed his own way, it became a box office smash hit and essentially established the blockbuster format of theatrical distribution. After Laughlin obtained over one thousand copies of his own film, he released them across the nation in several theaters upon the same day, which was unheard of at the time. Therefore, he essentially established the now traditional format of Hollywood’s theatrical distribution. By the end of its theatrical run, Billy Jack drummed up a whopping $35 million off of a $800,000 budget. If one were to take inflation into account, then Billy Jack’s numbers would soar even more, proving how hugely successful it was at the time. The franchise’s second sequel, The Trial of Billy Jack, would also employ this distribution method, scoring huge box office numbers as well. Whenever someone says that Jaws was the first blockbuster for the umpteenth time, remember to pull the Billy Jack card on them, and break the foundation of their argument thanks to Laughlin’s hugely influential release strategy.
If all of those accomplishments weren’t enough, then also remember that Laughlin more or less introduced American audiences to martial arts. Although in no way a straight action film, Billy Jack features a few scenes of hapkido action, including a stand out set piece where Billy goes to town on a group of men in the center of a park. This sequence alone will get martial arts fans’ blood pumping, as it features some rather brutal take downs and good cinematography, choreography (by Hapkido Grand Master Bong Soo Han) and editing. While martial arts cinema had already been on the rise in the early 70s, especially with the arrival of Bruce Lee, Laughlin helped introduce the art form and sub-genre to American audiences all within his message infused drama.
All compliments and praise aside, Billy Jack is not immune to criticism, as the independent film unfortunately features some notable flaws. Although Laughlin made great stride from a historical stand point, his immediate direction is far from great. For starters, the story of his film is fairly unfocused and sort of bounces around from sub-plot to sub-plot with little of a through line, in case you classify theme as a through line. Some sub-plots, such as Billy’s ever increasing struggle with the town’s racist citizens, provide the best highlights of the film. However, all of the scenes involving the freedom school students and their efforts to bond with the townspeople come out the weakest. It’s clear that these scenes were fairly improvised, as the younger actors feel amateur and their conversations loose. A major problem with these scenes is that they run for far too long and feel entirely unfocused. Laughlin could have chopped a whopping 30 minutes from his two-hour film if he were to shorten these far more.
Speaking of time, Billy himself has very little screen time, even to the point where he’s not much of a protagonist. He vanishes from the film for long stretches of time, even to the point where I had trouble remembering what occurred in his most recent scene. My theory as to Laughlin’s extended absences are as follows: 1) Laughlin’s dedication to directing from behind the camera probably swallowed up a lot of his time and prevented him from being in as many of the film’s scenes as possible, and 2) those dang freedom school improv scenes that run for far too long and swallow up whole chunks of time fill in the gaps where Billy vanishes altogether. In all honesty, I believe that the towns people, the freedom school students, and the police have more screen time than Billy. While it’s too late to change anything now, I bet that a far more polished script, as well as more time and money (as it was an independent production after all), could have resulted in a far better film with a stronger focus.
Nowadays, cinematic franchises that dominate the public’s interest due to their marketable intellectual property bore me. The Star Wars, Marvel, and Transformers films of recent don’t excite me the way they do everyone else. It’s mostly because they all feel stale and take zero risks, as they reek of board room meddling. Therefore, I tend to find my excitement in the bygone films of yesteryear, or even daring contemporary ones, especially the obscure risk takers. Case in point: Billy Jack. Laughlin’s martial arts infused message movie utterly captivates me, as it tackles many subjects and comes out a mixed blender of ideas and entertainment that is unlike much else before or after it, save for Seagal’s cinema. It’s astounding how historically significant the film and its creator was, as blockbuster distribution, Native American activism, and martial arts cinema owes a huge debt to Laughlin and his Billy Jack, even though his film was far from perfect. With the recent announcement of Shout Factory’s Complete Billy Jack Blu-ray Collection, which will finally replace the long out of print DVD set, it seems that it’s Billy Jack’s time to shine in the light again, and for cinema buffs to rediscover the pleasures of Laughlin’s fascinating cinema.
Kino Lorber has announced the Blu-ray for 1968’s Hell in the Pacific, a survival/thriller by director by John Boorman (Deliverance) that stars Lee Marvin (Point Blank) and Toshiro Mifune (Incident at Blood Pass).
During World War II, an American pilot (Marvin) and a marooned Japanese navy captain (Mifune) are deserted on a small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. There, they must cease their hostility and cooperate if they want to survive, but will they?
Hell in the Pacific is one of three films that share a common theme. The others being Frank Sinatra’s None but the Brave (1965) and Wolfgang Petersen’s Enemy Mine (1985).
Director: Dante Lam Cast: Zhang Hanyu, Eddie Peng, Joyce Feng, Sun Chun, Sean Wu, Chen Baoguo, Johnathan Wu, Ken Lo, Carl Ng, Mandy Wei, Yu Dong, Liu Xianda Running Time: 124 min.
By Paul Bramhall
While Hollywood has long moved on from the flag waving macho heroics that dominated its action cinema in the 80’s, China appears to be going through its own period of nationalistic world saving. In a 12 month period such Rambo-esque adventures as Wu Jing’s Wolf Warriors 2, Tan Bing’s China Salesman, and Dante Lam’s Operation Mekong, all serve their part to show the Chinese military displaying their heroism on foreign shores. Out of the three, there’s little doubt that its Dante Lam’s latest foray into the world of globe-trotting machismo which generated the most excitement, since he already proved capable of handling a similar sprawling action adventure with 2012’s The Viral Factor.
Lam’s return to the loud and boisterous action movie is a welcome one, and arguably a safe zone for the director after the misfire that was his last production, the 2015 cycling drama To the Fore. However despite only being 4 years apart, there’s a significant difference between The Viral Factor and Operation Mekong, in that the former was a Hong Kong production, while Lam’s latest effort is produced by Mainland China. Such differences may seem trivial, but for anyone that’s familiar with the regions output, such trivialities can be significant. Hong Kong productions, aside from the language difference, still tend to do their utmost to skirt around the need to pander to Mainland sensibilities. A Mainland production on the other hand, is essentially guaranteed to embrace the China drum beating that, for many foreign audiences at least, can often come across as overbearing.
Still, with Lam at the helm, there are plenty of reasons to be confident. Lam has been behind many of the productions that critics cite as showing a return to form for Hong Kong action cinema, such as 2008’s Beast Stalker and 2010’s Fire of Conscience. Here he takes on a story that’s based on true events that took place in 2011, when the crew aboard two Chinese cargo ships making their way down the Mekong River were ruthlessly massacred at point blank range. The location of the massacre fell within the area infamously known as the Golden Triangle, so called because of the drug trade that originates there, and itself the setting for numerous Hong Kong action movies (Iron Angels and Black Spot immediately spring to mind). Operation Mekong soon has a military officer, played by Mainland actor Zhang Han-Yu, assigned to the case and sent off to South East Asia, where he rendezvous’ with an undercover operative, played by frequent Lam collaborator Eddie Peng.
Operation Mekong may be based on real events, however its plot feels wafer thin at best, and all too busy to cram in as much location trotting around South East Asia as possible. It’s the kind of movie that has onscreen text appear literally every 5 minutes to tell us which location and country we’re in, an element which clearly had more time spent on it than any attempt at characterization. Both Han-Yu and Peng are given very little to work with, however thankfully Han-Yu, who previously anchored such movies as Assembly and The Taking of Tiger Mountain, has charisma to spare, exuding a Chow Yun Fat kind of cool in every scene he’s in. Peng doesn’t fare so well, and has yet to convince me in regards to being a legitimate actor, following painfully self-aware performances in the likes of Rise of the Legend and Call of Heroes. Here his role doesn’t require much dramatic stretching, so his stoic performance is at least passable.
Nobody is coming to Operation Mekong for the drama though, and as the title suggests, it’s all about the action. Said action comes courtesy of action director Stephen Tung Wai, and stunt choreographer Jack Wong Wai-Leung. Wai-Leung is a protégé of Tung Wai, having assisted on the likes of Extreme Challenge and Bulletproof Monk (and perhaps most randomly, Scooby Doo), developing into an action director in his own right, most recently going solo on the likes of Gangster Payday and Z Storm. Tung Wai should need no introduction for Hong Kong action fans. Having established himself as an action director since his first solo gig on 1981’s Revenge in Hong Kong, he’s also sat in the director’s chair on more than one occasion, including the previously mentioned Extreme Challenge, and the Jet Li vehicle Hitman.
The action style stays largely within the military setting, with brief but effective hand-to-hand combat, plenty of shootouts, and some impressively staged vehicle stunt work. The main issue is that while there’s an (some would likely argue over) abundance of these scenes, there’s no one set piece that particularly stands out. Once Han-Yu and Peng have the authority to go into the South East Asia and do their thing, the pair and their team (which includes a stuttering explosives specialist, a knowing nod to Lau Chau-Sang’s character in Eastern Condors) for the most part roam around like a Chinese version of Team America, causing destruction wherever they go in the name of justice. As an audience, we simply have to accept it, along with the largely stereotypical South East Asian villains, who are villainous because they have tattoos and take drugs.
It’s worth noting that the actor who plays the lead villain, a Thai drug lord, is Pavarit Mongkolpisit, who was the lead in the Pang Brothers 2000 debut, Bangkok Dangerous, in which he played a deaf mute assassin. Mongkolpisit has largely stuck to acting parts in local Thai productions since the movie that put both Danny and Oxide Pang on the map, so it’s nice to see him turn up in a big budget production such as this. Like the other South East Asian characters though, his villain only registers as a cardboard cut-out. For the 2nd time in 2016 (the 1st belonging to Louis Koo in Call of Heroes) we have a villain with a golden gun, and the environment Mongkolpisit operates in is given largely the same treatment. Scenes of child soldiers taking drugs and playing Russian roulette are inserted as filler, usually between his villainous speeches of how he’s not afraid of the Chinese, when it’s easy to feel that such a controversial subject matter should have been given much more weight.
By the finale the same child soldiers are treated largely as bullet fodder with the rest of the nameless drug dealers that operate out of Mongkolpisit’s jungle base, but hey, they’re drug addicts, so it’s ok. If Operation Mekong had been made in the Philippines, it’d likely be a promotional commercial for President Duterte. Arguably the best action scene takes place around an hour in, when an undercover meeting between the Chinese and the drug dealers in a shopping mall sees everyone’s identities being revealed mid-way through their talks. To some degree the scene re-creates the shopping mall shootout from the finale of Tung Wai’s Fox Hunter 20 years prior. What follows involves projectile babies, a sports car on the loose, a few obvious nods to Police Story, and Han-Yu’s heroic dog Bingo throwing down against the bad guys.
It should be noted that Bingo is a highlight of Operation Mekong. The German Shepherd performs Tony Jaa like slides under a bus, leaps into a moving car to attack the driver, and even gets a scene that recreates Owen Wilson’s run through a field of trip wired landmines from Behind Enemy Lines. For dog lovers, forget about that Hollywood A Dog’s Purpose trash, Operation Mekong has all the dog love you need. Like I mentioned, the action just keeps on coming, but like so many recent Chinese productions, CGI rears its ugly head on more than one occasion, rendering some scenes that would be showstoppers in the pre-CGI era as throwaway time fillers here. One scene has Han-Yu and Peng dangling one of the bad guys from a helicopter via some awful green screen work, which lasts a few mere seconds and is over. The same act made up half of the finale for Police Story 3: Supercop, when Jackie Chan famously dangled from a helicopter, here it’s treated as nothing.
All in all Operation Mekong is constructed much like its title, the clinical efficiency with which the Chinese military carry out their duties, also carrying over into the way the movie plays out. This is never more obvious than when a scene is inserted for Han-Yu and Peng to ‘bond’, as they sit alone on a boat discussing ex-wives and dead girlfriends, set to a cheesy rock track of a female voice declaring “We could be heroes.” The only saving grace of the scene is that the song doesn’t appear to be a David Bowie cover. Operation Mekong’s end credits include photos taken from the actual event the story is based on, including the drug lords being arrested and sentenced to death. However considering the bombastic nature of the way it’s been converted for the big screen, something about the inclusion of these shots somehow felt a little off. Saving Mr Wu did the same thing, but the serious nature of Ding Shengs movie made it feel earned, here it doesn’t.
On a lighter note though, no review of Operation Mekong could be considered complete without mentioning Peng’s facial hair. Introduced with a beard and moustache, at one point he tears them off Mission Impossible style, revealing that he wears them in order to keep his real identity hidden. His actual appearance is that of a clean shaven, cropped hair military man. So when he suddenly appears in the finale, which involves no need for any disguise, with a moustache straight from a 70’s adult movie, it’s both bewildering and laugh inducing. Did he grow it especially for the shootout, or felt that a fake moustache would be the perfect accompaniment to an action finale? It’s a question that’ll never be answered, and really it doesn’t need to be. Operation Mekong is undemanding big budget entertainment, and that’s all it wants to be, but from Dante Lam, we can be forgiven for wanting more.
On June 20, 2017, FilmRise will be releasing Tag on Blu-ray & DVD. This 2015 film, based Yusuke Yamada’s novel Real Onigokko, is a perceptive, gore-filled exploration of youth and femininity in a nightmarish world.
Cityonfire.com and Mill Creek Entertainment are giving away 3 DVD copies of Kung Fu Zombiesto three lucky City on Fire visitors. To enter, simply add a comment to this post and describe, in your own words, the video below.
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Kung Fu Zombies will officially be released on May 16th, 2017. We will announce the 3 winners on May 17th.
CONTEST DISCLAIMER: You must enter by May 16th, 2017 to qualify. U.S. residents only please. We sincerely apologize to our non-U.S. visitors. Winners must respond with their mailing address within 48 hours, otherwise you will automatically be disqualified. No exceptions. Contest is subject to change without notice.
Well Go USA is set to release The Mayor (aka Special Citizen), a South Korean political thriller directed by Park In-je (Moby Dick), and starring Choi Min-Sik (The Admiral, Lucy). The film hits theaters on April 28th, 2017.
In the world of politics, everyone’s hands get dirty, and it’s no different for the beloved two-time Mayor of Seoul, Byeon Jong-gu (Choi Min-sik). Seeking a third term that will set him up for a run at the presidency, Byeon will stop at nothing to keep his darkest secrets hidden from his adoring public. Wiretapping, corruption, murder… everything is on the table and no one is safe in this hard-charging thriller whose twists will keep you guessing long after the credits roll.
Operation Mekong, a new actioner from director Dante Lam (Unbeatable), is exploding on Blu-ray & DVD, courtesy of Well Go USA.
Operation Mekong (read our review) stars Lam’s frequent collaborator Eddie Peng (Rise of the Legend), Zhang Han Yu (Special ID) and Joyce Feng. Louis Koo (SPL II) was previously attached, but was replace by Peng, due to scheduling conflicts.
After two Chinese commercial vessels are ambushed while traveling down the Mekong River in the waters of the Golden Triangle, the Chinese government immediately sends a band of elite narcotics officers led by Captain Gao Gang (Han Yu) to uncover the truth. An intelligence officer Fang Xinwu (Peng) joins the investigation. After it is discovered that the drugs seized on the Chinese ships had been planted, the governments of Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and China launch a joint task force to apprehend the criminal.
Director: Wong Jing Producer: Wong Jing Cast: Andy Lau, Huang Xiaoming, Michelle Hu, Shen Teng, Wong Cho-lam, Michelle Hu, Nana Ouyang, Fung Bo Bo, Wu Yue, Xie Yilin, Mao Junjie, Xu Dongdong, Shen Teng, Zhao Yingjun, Qi Wei, Ken Lo, Philippe Joly Running Time: 103 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Remember the big fuss that was made when Jackie Chan made his 100th movie? Well, that same fuss isn’t being applied to Hong Kong auteur Wong Jing’s 100th movie sitting in the director’s chair, but nevertheless it’s here in the form of Mission Milano. While some may likely shake their heads and find it entirely incomprehensible that a filmmaker like Jing could make 100 movies, it’s easy to forget that he has been responsible for some of the territories classics, despite how often he resorts to the lowest common denominator. In the 35 years since he debuted at the Shaw Brothers studio with Challenge of the Gamesters in 1981, his name does also belong to such classics as Casino Raiders and God of Gamblers.
Throughout his career, one of his most frequent collaborators has been the seemingly ageless Andy Lau. They worked together on both of the movies mentioned, and have also collaborated on plenty of Jing’s less than stellar efforts, such as 1993’s Future Cops, and even as recently as 2010’s Future X-Cops (it’s worth noting the movies are not related to each other). Lately Jing has been coasting on the nostalgia and good will of his Lunar New Year comedy series From Vegas to Macau, of which the most recent 3rd instalment reunited both Lau and Chow Yun Fat in the roles they played in the original God of Gamblers. While audience’s patience levels have varied for these movies, the general consensus on From Vegas to Macau 3 was that it was an intolerable mess (I turned it off after 20 minutes). Perhaps sensing that a 4th instalment so soon after wouldn’t be such a wise decision, instead Jing has decided to give us secret agent Andy Lau for Mission Milano.
What’s immediately noticeable in Mission Milano is that it shares exactly the same aesthetic as the From Vegas to Macau series. Everything is a little too clean and crisp, bringing a certain detachment from reality to proceedings, one which could arguably be intentional. While introducing Lau as a suave Chinese 007 style character may be a departure from his From Vegas to Macau shenanigans, perhaps an aspect that Jing didn’t bank on is that he has, intentionally or not, essentially made Switch 2. A sequel being made to that movie is about as likely as Sammo Hung fitting into a 30 waist, and for good reason, with even Lau himself publicly apologising for his appearance in such a disastrous effort. While Jay Sun’s 2013 celluloid car crash was actually a serious effort at giving the world a Chinese James Bond, Mission Milano knows it’s nothing more than a silly piece of Wong Jing throw away entertainment.
Jing himself admits that he makes movies which plug into what’s popular at the time, a factor which no doubt has contributed to him reaching his 100th movie in just 35 years (Chang Cheh still couldn’t hit 100 even in 44 years), and Mission Milano is a perfect example of disposable filmmaking. It’s colourful, features handsome stars being handsome, regular doses of action, comedy that’s both preposterous and protracted, and a bevy of well-endowed females. It’s a formula that Jing has stuck to time and time again when he doesn’t really want to try (lest we forget that sometimes he does), dating all the way back to the likes of 1993’s City Hunter. Strip away Jackie Chan’s amazing fight and stunt-work, and you’d be left with what could perhaps best be described as an early 90’s version of Mission Milano.
While Hong Kong cinema has long since lost the level of action talent that peaked in the 80’s through to the early 90’s, Jing seems to have at least a basic understanding of what audiences require from an action movie. Here he takes a break from teaming up with his current regular action choreographer, Lee Tat-Chiu, and has instead teamed up with Dion Lam. Lam has been busy as of late, choreographing the likes of both the fantasy adventure League of Gods and Shaw Brothers remake Sword Master. Lam was actually part of the choreography team that worked on Future Cops 23 years prior, and has worked with Jing and Lau on separate projects on numerous occasions since then. Here he gets to choreograph a number of scuffles, and at least has the talents of Lau, and martial artists like Wu Yue and Ken Lo, to work with.
The plot, like most of Jing’s action comedies, is entirely nonsensical, and frequently doesn’t play much of a part in anything happening onscreen. But for those that are interested, suave agent Andy Lau is assigned to look into a super-rich heir played by Huang Xiaoming, who’s created a revolutionary technology called the Seed of God. Basically, put one of these Seeds of God down anywhere, add a few drops of water, and out sprouts a fully grown, ridiculous looking CGI tree. World hunger problems – sorted. However the evil Japanese Crescent Gang, led by Wu Yue, want to steal it and sell it on to an even more evil crime syndicate, who have an evil plan to use the same technology to produce untold amounts of cocaine. Clearly, these guys must be stopped.
After an initial confrontation, that takes the form of an extended comedy sequence in which Lau gets beaten up by Xiaoming’s dementia ridden mother, and a ridiculous car chase which makes no sense, Lau and Xiaoming become friends. Lau even confesses to Xiaoming that he got divorced 2 years ago and still misses his ex-wife, however by the end of the movie the script has changed so that Lau is still married, and reunites with his separated spouse (a cameo appearance to provide fan service for HK film buffs). Details like this are clearly not supposed to be paid much attention to, but they’re so incongruous to the plot that they stick out like a sore thumb, drawing attention to the incredible laziness and lack of attention that has been paid to the script.
As the title suggests, Lau, Xiaoming (and his siblings played by Wong Cho-Lam and Nana Ou-Yang) end up packing their bags and heading to Milan to try and intercept the Crescent Gang, who have stolen the technology. It’s worth noting that the scene in which they steal it involves the use of some completely ridiculous sonic guns, but then considering later Lau is using his mobile phone as a lightsaber, perhaps I should retract that statement. You’d think Milan would be a great opportunity for some local flavoured action, but that many of the scenes take place indoors I’d pose the question if any location shooting was actually done at all, or if it was all green screen.
Speaking of green screen, the finale is basically recycled from From Vegas to Macau 2, with everyone converging on a cargo plane to duke it out and ensure good prevails. Considering all the flashy visuals which have been onscreen until this point, I can only surmise that the budget must have run out during the finale. Some scenes of Lau speeding down the runway on his motorbike, trying to catch the plane before it’s airborne, look like a 1990 computer game cut scene. With limited parachutes to go around, the final moments when Jing tries to suddenly make us connect with our doomed heroes is hilariously misguided, but what’s even sadder is that such a scene isn’t all together unexpected.
Perhaps the best compliment that I can give Mission Milano is that I watched it to the end, which is more than I could say for From Vegas to Macau 3. However it’s also a perfect example of how Wong Jing has never learnt that less is more, and now with the latest CGI technology at his disposal, he simply doesn’t seem to have an ability to pace the tone of his movies. But then this is nothing new, the technology may be, but the bombardment of crass jokes, frantic action, and incoherent storytelling are as much a Wong Jing trademark as they are a sign of incompetent filmmaking. Mission Milano delivers exactly what you expect it to, and doesn’t dwell in the memory for more than a few minutes after the credits roll. So if you have 100 minutes to spare, proceed with caution, but for everyone else, this is one mission that’s perhaps best not accepted.
AKA: The Kung Fu Master Director: Joe Cheung Tung Cho Cast: Stephen Tung Wei, Sammo Hung, Philip Ko, Lee Hoi San, Peter Chan, Chung Fat, Dai Sai Aan, Huang Ha, Cecilia Wong, Meng Hoi, Austin Wai, Billy Chan, Lam Ching Ying, Mars, To Wai Wo, Ho Pak Kwong, Wu Ma Running Time: 92 min.
By Martin Sandison
In 1979, Sammo Hung was at the peak of his powers as an onscreen fighter, choreographer and director. He was dividing his time between numerous projects, not least classics like Magnificent Butcher and Odd Couple. One of his lesser known movies from this year was The Kung Fu Master (aka The Incredible Kung Fu Master), a gem of “kung fu comedy” notable for many things including a starring role for Stephen Tung Wai, better known as the kid Bruce Lee teaches at the beginning of Enter the Dragon. Tung Wai actually carved out a great career subsequently as a choreographer, with credits such as Donnie Yen’s Bodyguards and Assassins, Hou Hsiao Hsien’s The Assassin and the upcoming Max Zhang-starrer Invincible Dragon.
The plot of The Kung Fu Master is formulaic, and just a platform for the “shapes” action (Note: The use of the word “shapes,” in the context of kung fu cinema, relates to the highly intricate choreography style that reached its peak in the early 80s. Before “shapes”, the choreography style was referred to as a “basher”, i.e. more straight forward, simple punch and block).
Tung Wai stars as Kung Fu Ching, a lowly servant at a kung fu school run by one of two brothers (played by Billy Chan and Huang Hua) who are involved in challenges with other schools. Ching isn’t allowed to learn from them, so he encounters Fei Jai (Hung), a master of various styles, whom he learns from. Soon the situations escalate into many martial encounters.
Never ending “shapes” of the highest order are delivered with such ferocity, intricacy and impact that it blows you away. While a hair’s breadth away from the top Sammo “shapes,” it’s still ridonculous. The credits are a few for action: Sammo Hung’s Stuntman Association, Yuen Baio, Leung Kar Yan, Lam Ching Ying and Billy Chan – with these guys in control, you’re never far away from a fight that hits the sweet spot.
Tung Wai’s versatility as a martial artist is given a great showcase, especially his acrobatics and handwork. We also get a rematch between Sammo and Lee Hoi San (The Magnificent Butcher’send fight barely topping this one). Lee was one of the go-to guys for villainous “shapes” and here we are treated to another: The late, great Phillip Ko*, who has a cameo, but again proves his skills during a fight with Billy Chan and Huang Hua.
*I was so sad to hear of Phillip Ko’s recent passing; this guy was featured in so many of my favourites from the 70s to the 90s. His film credits rival even Sammo’s. Two little known films of his I would recommend are: for old-school, Choy Lee Fut Kung Fu (not the dreadful Sammy Hung/Kane Kosugi movie from 2011) and Killer’s Romance, a self-directed movie adaptation of the Manga Crying Freeman, starring Simon Yam. Ko also directed a film that has one of the funniest titles ever: Royal Sperm. His memory shall live on through his undoubted presence and mastery of screen fighting.
There is a veritable smorgasbord of martial arts and comedic talent that appear in The Kung Fu Master. Chung Fat has a role as an affluent student whose ineptitude betrays how good a fighter he is (check him out at the end of Yes Madam!fighting Michelle Yeoh). Meng Hoi has a small part as a student (amongst his many film credits, he also dated/doubled for blonde fury herself, Cynthia Rothrock).
The funny elements of The Kung Fu Master are at times a little grating, but mostly on point. There’s the usual Three Stooges-style we are accustomed to in films of this type, with exaggerated sound effects and plenty of undercranking. A novel use of an oiled up patch of concrete for training and fight scenes is refreshing, and reflects Sammo and the team’s creativity.
The Kung Fu Master just misses out absolute classic status due to the simplicity and silliness of the plotline, not to mention the pedestrian direction by Joe Cheung, who also was responsible for the disappointing Chow Yun Fat heroic bloodshed movie, Flaming Brothers. If you’re looking for a “shapes” fest outside the box, look no further.
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