Director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, Only God Forgives) may be a little too “style over substance” for most viewers, but nobody can deny that the filmmaker has their full attention when he announces a new project.
Refn is currently gearing up for The Avenging Silence, a feature film about a former European spy who accepts a confidential mission from a Japanese businessman exiled to France to take down the head of the most treacherous Yakuza boss in Japan – If this description doesn’t doesn’t peak your interest, then you’re stuck in 2 Fast 2 Furious land.
At one point, Refn expressed an interest to direct a James Bond film (there were even reports that he had met with 007 producers); obviously, a deal never came to fruition, but The Avenging Silence may be the next best thing – if not better. In fact, Bond veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (Casino Royale, Skyfall) wrote the script. Refn himself describes it as “a big extravagant action film” that’s inspired by Ian Fleming‘s Dr. No and William Burroughs‘ Nova Express. With these elements, combined with Refn’s unconventional method, the possibilities are exhilarating.
At this time, there is no set production date, nor is there a lead attached (if Refn decides to recruit Ryan Gosling for a third time, we’ll take it). What is available is an extended plot synopsis (via The Playlist).
If you’re sensitive to minor spoilers, you may want to skip it:
The spy was one of the leading spies in Europe. An injury inflicted to his vocal cords during a failed mission six years ago left him mute, forcing him to leave his profession. Now, six years later, he is sought out and put on confidential assignment by a former Yakuza, now a retired Japanese businessman in exile in France, to track down and kill the head of the most dangerous Yakuza family in Japan.
Afraid of flying, our spy anonymously boards a cargo ship headed for Tokyo. An onboard explosion sinks the ship and our spy finds himself washed ashore on a life raft in southern Japan. As a mute, our spy must silently journey through Japan seeking 4 clues – symbolizing conquest, war, famine, and death – which will guide him to the unknown location of the Yakuza boss.
Meanwhile, the Yakuza boss, known for his 2004 mass slaughter of Yakuza members who had turned against him, is believed to be plotting to reenter the Japanese underworld after living in his own surreptitious world in the mountains, void of all technology. This way of life becomes an obsession for the Yakuza boss. Rumors spread that he had committed suicide years ago but escaped prisoners from his hidden camp told stories of his plan for a comeback. Now rival Yakuza families suspect he is forming a master plan to return, a plan that unburies the most infamous story of Yakuza betrayal.
Our spy finds himself on an existential journey through Japan in search of pieces to the puzzle that will lead him to a confrontation with the ultimate Yakuza boss in a terrifying conclusion.
We’ll keep you posted on The Avenging Silence as we hear more. In the meantime, Refn directed the first episode of Les Italiens, a noir series about a squad of French/Italian policemen working in Paris’ famous Quai des Orfevres headquarters. An announcement for the the show’s airing should hit soon. Stay tuned.
Cityonfire.com and Well Go USA are giving away 3 Blu-ray copies ofTrain to Busan to three lucky City on Fire visitors. To enter, simply add a comment to this post and describe, in your own words, the video below.
We will be selecting a winner at random. Be sure to include your email address in the appropriate field so we can contact you for your home address. Also, please ‘Like Us‘ on Cityonfire.com’s Facebook by clicking here.
Train to Busan will officially be released on January 17, 2017. We will announce the 3 winners on that date
CONTEST DISCLAIMER: You must enter by January 16, 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.
There’s a painfully transparent trend being followed by the studios when it comes to mainstream Japanese cinema that’s emerged in recent years, and it’s one that can best be described as follows – 1. Pick any popular sci-fi infused manga series. 2. Adapt series into two movies, shot back-to-back, and release within a few months of each other. 3. Enjoy profit. We’ve already seen the likes of Gantz (2010) and Gantz – Perfect Answer (2011), Parasyte – Part 1 (2014) and Parasyte – Part 2 (2015), and Attack on Titan – Part 1 (2015) and Attack on Titan – Part 2 (2015). While all of the productions listed have their high points, they also all suffer from bloated runtimes, such that they seem to struggle under their own weight to justify why there’s 2 movies instead of 1.
However as long as the audience is there, it seems that the two-parter is here to stay, and with plenty of manga’s to choose from, 2015 saw its third example of this type of production with Assassination Classroom. Apart from already having a pre-determined part two released in 2016, this live-action feature wasn’t the only interpretation of the tale in 2015, with an anime series also released that was met with a positive reception. As for a live adaptation though, Assassination Classroom proves a trickier beast, after all, how do you transfer a story that revolves around a yellow tentacled alien, which has a permanently grinning bulbous yellow ball for a head, that becomes a homeroom teacher?
Needless to say, such a tale would best be handled by a director known for their ability to handle slightly out there cinema. Miike Takashi would be the obvious choice, however he would have been too busy preparing his own sci-fi manga adaptation, with what would become 2016’s Terra Formars. Sono Sion would also have been a welcome choice to handle such a tale, but again he was preoccupied with massacring as many school girls as possible in Tag. So, with the most likely candidates out of the picture, the directorial reigns ended up in the hands of Eiichiro Hasumi. For those not familiar with Hasumi’s filmography, I guess it’s as good a place to start as any by pointing out he directed one of the worse movies I’ve ever seen, in the form of Mozu: The Movie. Worryingly also from 2015. He’s also behind the big budget disaster flick meets Hallmark Channel TV movie Umizaru trilogy. In short, not the obvious choice.
As with almost any manga series I review, let me put the disclaimer out there that I haven’t read any of them, so I’m not familiar with the source material. Therefore this isn’t going to be a review which compares its faithfulness to the source material. However, in any case, it seems that this adaptation didn’t cause the same level of outrage amongst fans of the manga that, say, the live action version of Attack on Titan had, so it most have done something right. Surprisingly, it does a lot right, and knowing Hasumi’s previous track record, I’m inclined to believe that this is due to the sheer outlandishness of the source material, rather than implying that he’s become a great director overnight.
The plot for Assassination Classroom goes something like this. The alien, named by the students as Koro Sensei, has destroyed 70% of the moon. Why, we don’t know, but now he plans to destroy the planet Earth as well, and he’s going to do it in time for summer break. The alien advises the Japanese government that he’d like to give humanity a chance to stop him from wiping out the planet, so requests to be the teacher of the most challenging class in a Japanese high school. Apart from teaching them the standard school subjects, he’ll also be teaching them the methods on how best he can be killed. The government agree, and so the alien is assigned as their teacher, and the class get armed to the teeth with machine guns and daggers, made of a material that’ll only harm the alien, in preparation for putting their learnings into practice.
It’s been a while since I’ve come across a movie with a plot so ludicrous, and the tone fully embraces the madness of it all. From the moment Koro Sensei introduces himself to the class, cheerfully declaring, “I destroyed the moon and I’ll destroy the Earth next March, therefore, I’ll be your homeroom teacher.” To the daily attendance roll calls, that have him speeding around the classroom calling out names, as an endless stream of bullets are unloaded in his direction from the students, all the while remembering to shout “Here!” when their name is called. The relentless energy that the pace maintains, with minimal explanation as to the reasons behind anything that’s happening, make it a frequently hilarious and joyous viewing experience.
Koro Sensei himself of course is 100% CGI, however he’s integrated perfectly into the environment, with his bright yellow smiling head and rubber like tentacles providing an intentionally manga like appearance. The class themselves consist of a set of students that bring plenty of character to proceedings. The main student is played by Ryosuke Yamada, who plays a shy but smart underachiever that carefully observes Koro Sensei, picking up on weaknesses through little details, and spotting the cracks in his seemingly permanent cheerful appearance.
The most memorable characters though are saved for Korean actress Kang Ji-young, a former member of K-pop group Kara, who plays a constantly horny English teacher, who’s actually Russian (apparently defined by her dyed blonde hair), and enjoys wearing as much tight leather as possible. Her frequent attempts to violently kill the alien are a highlight. Another highlight comes in the form of transfer student STAR, or more precisely, Self-Thinking Artillery Robot. STAR basically looks like a computer server stuck at the back of the classroom, with a full length screen at the front were the robot takes on human form, played by Kanna Hashimoto, and interacts with the class. STAR randomly unleashes anything from mini-guns to missiles, usually in the middle of a lesson to maintain the element of surprise, and quickly endears herself to the rest of the class.
Amongst the chaos, we do get a number of small hints as to the origin of Koro Sensei. There are brief flashbacks to a room on fire and a female teacher seemingly trapped in the wreckage, and it becomes clear that he’s also in the room with her. Most tellingly, when he engages with the government agent that agreed to assign him to the class, played by Kipei Shina (recognizable as one of the main characters from Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage), the agent makes an offhand comment around if the situation they’re discussing took place when he “only had two hands and two feet”. All the hints of course are alluding to what will be revealed in the second instalment, but as a standalone movie, the scenes create a welcome sense of curiosity as to where the alien must have come from, and indeed, is he an alien at all?
As much fun as Assassination Classroom was, a sense of foreboding runs through me regarding the second instalment. In normal storytelling logic, the first instalment of a two part tale should set the stage for what’s to come, as well as establishing characters, with the second instalment delivering the thrills and spills that are normally associated with a saga’s conclusion. John Woo’s Red Cliff is a perfect example of this. However in the case of these manga adaptions that we’re seeing, frequently it seems to be the case that all the fun is crammed into the first part, so as to establish the audiences appetite to invest in watching the second, which turns out to be an exposition heavy chore. The Attack on Titan movies are a perfect example of this. I hope in this case that the conclusion proves to be as fun as its predecessor, but until the day comes when I check it out, for now I can say that Assassination Classroom is a lesson that’s well worth attending.
“Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet” Korean Theatrical Poster
Director: Lee Joon-Ik Writer: Shin Youn-Shick Cast: Kang Ha-Neul, Park Jung-Min, Kim In-Woo, Choi Hong-Il, Choi Hee-Seo, Shin Yoon-Joo, Min Jin-Woong Running Time: 110 min.
By Martin Sandison
The Glasgow, Scotland leg of the 16th London Korean Film Festival appealed much more to the arthouse community, with three films being shown. Dong-Ju: Portrait of a Poet was easily the most interesting. A biopic of one of Korea’s most enduring poets, this story is strong with emotional resonance and performances from its relatively unknown actors.
The film’s depiction and story of Dong-Ju is very significant for Korean audiences, as his poetry became a voice for the revolution after the second World War, and symbolised Korea’s escape from oppression. The film depicts his life from being an idealistic teenager to his imprisonment by the Japanese (who had occupied Korea) for being involved in the revolutionary movement.
Dong-Ju: Portrait of a Poet employs a flashback and flashforward narrative, very effectively, with time frames becoming intermingled. The interrogation of Dong Ju by a Japanese officer is the centrepiece, revealing much about his life. His cousin Mong-Gyoo, a revolutionary at heart, is really the cause of his imprisonment. Despite the obvious affection they have for each other that is well-observed in the movie, I came to feel negatively about his character. Perhaps this shows how effective the movie is, as it is an unflinching portrayal of Dong-Ju and Korea at the time. Along the way the story involves many other characters such as two girls who admire and even love Dong-Ju for his gentleness and beautifully written poetry, and through one he gets to meet his hero, a fellow poet. This scene is very revealing, as his hero (whose name escapes me) advises him not to be a poet because of the coming problems in the world. The implication that even an expression as pure as poetry cannot make an impact in times of war is beautifully put across and interesting, considering the impact that Dong Ju’s poetry had on Korean consciousness.
Director Lee Joon-Ik is known for period movies like Blades of Blood, the subject matter and style of which could not be more divorced from Dong-Ju. He handles the black and white aesthetic with grace, and there is no shot that shouldn’t be in there. Lead actor Kang Ha Neul as Dong Ju is at turns melancholy, driven and intelligent in his outlook. His depiction of the development of his subject is great, with his awkwardness as a teenager giving way to a sureness of self. He is known for his TV work and comedy movies, and here proves his range. As Mong-Gyoo, Park Jeong-Min excels also as a troubled revolutionary with a fire in his belly.
Despite being pretty low budget, the film makers create a believable world, with the set and costume design especially proving this. The film is not without its faults, with some scenes falling flat and without the requisite drama to keep the viewer interested. The end of the film conveys how Dong-Ju and Mong-Gyoo were in fact imprisoned in the same place, but the reveal is so without dramatic power that it is an anti-climax. Also as one who has little knowledge about the Japanese occupation of Korea, the film requires more than a little of this to fully understand what is going on; perhaps showing it resonates more for a local audience.
Dong-Ju: Portrait of a Poet is a film of great relevance and heart, and is definitely worth your time.
Shout! Factory presents the Blu-ray for Exterminator 2, a 1984 cult classic directed by Mark Buntzman and starring Robert Ginty (Exterminator).
John Eastland (Ginty), the man who turned New York into a war zone in 1980’s Exterminator, is back with a vengeance! This time, the flamethrower-wielding vigilante takes on the sinister Drug Lord X (Mario Van Peebles) and his army of thugs.
Back in 2011, Synapse Films released an Unrated Director’s Cut of Exterminator on Blu-ray, so now that we’ve come full circle, it’s time to set some sh*t on fire!
Never Too Young To Die | Blu-ray & DVD (Shout! Factory)
RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2017
Shout! Factory presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Gil Bettman’s 1986 cult classic, Never Too Young To Die, starring John Stamos (Full House), Vanity (The Last Dragon) and Gene Simmons (Runaway).
A top secret agent is murdered, so his estranged son – a high school gymnast – teams up with his dad’s attractive female partner to stop the psychopathic hermaphroditic gang leader who killed him and now plans a major terrorist attack.
Never Too Young To Die also stars George Lazenby (A Queen’s Ransom), Peter Kwong (Big Trouble in Little China) and Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street).
Brace yourself for Rings, a new chapter in the beloved Ring horror franchise (originated by Koji Suzuki and Hideo Nakata in 1998’s Ringuand last seen in the recent Sadako vs Kayako, aka The Ring vs The Grudge).
In Rings, a young woman becomes worried about her boyfriend when he explores a dark subculture surrounding a mysterious videotape said to kill the watcher seven days after he has viewed it. She sacrifices herself to save her boyfriend, and in doing so makes a horrifying discovery: there is a “movie within the movie” that no one has ever seen before…
Rings is directed by F. Javier Gutierrez (Before the Fall) and produced by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy). The film stars Laura Wiggins (Hard Drive), Johnny Galecki (The Master Cleanse), Aimee Teagarden (Scream 4) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket).
The film hits screen on February 3, 2017. Until then, don’t miss the film’s newest Trailer:
Director: Andrew Leavold Cast: Edgardo ‘Boy’ Vinarao, Don Gordon Bell, Rez Cortez, Imelda Marcos, Bobby A. Suarez, Marrie Lee, Imee Marco, Dolphy, Maria Isabel Lopez, Teddy Co Running Time: 92 min.
By Paul Bramhall
I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, my first exposure to the 007 styled Filipino midget action star, Weng Weng, was when home video label Mondo Macabro released his 1981 action movie For Your Height Only, packaged with the Bruce Le flick Challenge of the Tiger, on DVD back in 2005. It’s one of those movies that really defies being able to do justice to with words. The bizarreness of watching a 2’ 9” primordial dwarf decked out in a sharp white suite, seducing ladies, jumping off the top of buildings, and getting into kung fu fights with the bad guys, amounts to 90 minutes that are difficult to look away from, even if you’re not really sure why.
However even at the time of the DVD’s release, information on exactly who Weng Weng was, and what became of him, was based purely on hearsay and rumours. Some sources said he’d declared himself the living incarnation of God and was leading a cult in the Philippines, others said he’d become a real life secret agent for the Philippines government, and others claimed he’d become a stand-up comedian that married an adult movie star. It was all urban legend, and the truth was, nobody actually had any idea who this mysterious Filipino midget was, other than a curiosity that starred in a handful of action movies and then disappeared as quickly as he’d arrived.
As it turned out, there was one person in the world who got so curious about discovering the truth of who Weng Weng really was, that he decided to do something about it. That man was an Australian gentleman by the name of Andrew Leavold, known down under as the guy behind Australia’s largest cult video rental store – Trash Video. Leavold’s store opened its doors in 1995, before finally closing shop in 2010, and in its 15 years of operation housed a selection of world cinema weirdness from every imaginable corner of the globe. Out of all of the titles stored under Trash Video’s roof though, it was Weng Weng that piqued Leavold’s curiosity the most, and in 2005 his odyssey began, booking a trip to the Philippines armed with nothing more than a Mini-DV camera and his enthusiasm.
For full disclosure, I contributed to the Kickstarter campaign that was set up to complete post-production on The Search for Weng Weng in 2013, however in no way profit from its release. My photo is in the end credits though – for approximately a fraction of a second. I was lucky enough to watch one of the first rough cut screenings of The Search for Weng Weng, which Leavold hosted on the Sunshine Coast in Australia during May 2013, playfully titled the Rough as Weng’s Guts version. Appropriately, it was shown in the basement of an old vintage store, which housed the remnants of Trash Video’s VHS collection. The sound mix had yet to be completed, so Leavold narrated the documentary in person armed with a microphone, and the runtime was still a little flabby around the edges. However it was clear to see that his journey had unearthed plenty of Filipino action cinema gold. The final version was released a little over a year later, and came in as a much leaner (and audio friendly) experience than those initial early screenings.
The Search for Weng Weng kicks off at the beginning of Leavold’s first trip to Manila, spanning what would become a 7 year journey of attempting to get to the bottom of what became of the Philippines greatest midget action star. In many ways, the time it took to complete Weng Weng’s story results in a finished product that feels just as much about Leavold’s mission to discover the truth, as it does the truth itself. This really works in The Search for Weng Weng’s favour, as it allows the audience to share Leavold’s joy as he manages to glean each new slither of information on Weng Weng’s life, none of which is ever just handed to him on a plate. From the opening scene, which sees one of his very first engagements in Manila addressing an audience of film industry folk in a cinema, his enthused requests to meet up with anyone that may have information on Weng Weng are met with a blanket of blank and bemused expressions.
It’s only after the engagement when Leavold is dejectedly strolling through the parking lot, that an unassuming gentleman asks him what he’s doing there with a camera. The gentleman happens to be Edgardo ‘Boy’ Vinarao, who casually mentions that he was the editor on most of Weng Weng’s movies, and just like that, the real journey begins. Like most things in life, Leavold’s chance encounter with Vinarao proves that the combination of luck and good timing is everything, and we’re soon following the director down into the rabbit hole of long forgotten Filipino action cinema. From sitting in on monthly gatherings of old-school stuntmen in shopping mall coffee shops, to hanging out with Imelda Marcos in her mansion to celebrate her 83rd birthday, Leavold’s delight and bewilderment at where his journey takes him is one that’s shared as the audience.
Anyone who is even vaguely familiar with Filipino action movies will no doubt get a kick of out of witnessing the sheer number of interviews contained within The Search for Weng Weng’s 90 minute runtime. For some, it would be their last, such as Bobby A. Suarez, the director of such B-movie classics as Cleopatra Wong and The One Armed Executioner, who sadly passed away in 2010. Cleopatra Wong herself is also interviewed, the still very much active Marrie Lee. Through the conversations Leavold has with the various members of the industry past and present, we not only get an insight into what Weng Weng was really like, but we also get a window into what it was like to work in the Filipino action movie industry back in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
The serious business of discovering the truth behind what became of the pint sized star is never forgotten though, and the more that gets uncovered, the more the initially quirky journey into the annals of Filipino movie history becomes a tale that seems destined to have a tragic ending. It would be a spoiler to reveal Weng Weng’s fate here, however Leavold does indeed follow his curiosity through to the end (for 7 years no less), eventually tracking down Weng Weng’s brother and learning the unequivocal truth behind what became of one of the Philippines smallest stars. It’s a credit to the way The Search for Weng Weng is edited that, even when the reality of Weng Weng’s short but memorable career is revealed, it never takes on a tone of self-pity or misery, instead choosing to focus on the brighter moments in his life.
One particularly amusing tale has the daughter of Imelda Marcos recalling how the first Manila Film Festival, which took place in 1982, was set to put the Philippines on the map as a country capable of making serious arthouse cinema on par with the rest of the world. However once it opened, the only movies that the many overseas distributors and buyers were interested in were those that starred Weng Weng, and most of the serious dramas that they’d intended to show off to the world were overlooked or ignored. Amusing as it is, it stands as proof that Weng Weng was indeed a bonafide star at the time his movies were being released, and was even invited to Cannes the same year as the Manila Film Festival, gracing the red carpet just as stars do today.
The time spent debunking the myths around Weng Weng is also far from time wasted. Did he really become a secret agent? Was he really considered a religious figure who people worshipped? As with so many urban myths, the claims in most cases only turn out to be half-truths, however when it comes to a 2’ 9” primordial dwarf who’s obsessed with kung fu, the remaining half is just as wild and entertaining as you’d expect. The same could be applied to The Search For Weng Weng as a whole, it’s an unknown journey into the unexpected, which is never anything less than entertaining, constantly propelled forward by Leavold’s unabashed enthusiasm to discover the truth, no matter how long it takes. When he does, the final product is one that not only serves to satisfy people’s curiosity about what became of Weng Weng, but also serves as a fitting tribute to his life.
Cityonfire.com and Well Go USA are giving away 3 Blu-ray copies of The Monkey King 2 to three lucky City on Fire visitors. To enter, simply add a comment to this post and describe, in your own words, the video below.
We will be selecting a winner at random. Be sure to include your email address in the appropriate field so we can contact you for your home address. Also, please ‘Like Us‘ on Cityonfire.com’s Facebook by clicking here.
The Monkey King 2 was officially released on January 3, 2017. We will announce the 3 winners on January 6, 2017.
CONTEST DISCLAIMER: You must enter by January 5, 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.
Arrow Video will be releasing the Blu-ray for Takashi Miike’s Dead or Alive Trilogy. Beginning with an explosive, six-minute montage of sex, drugs and violence, and ending with a phallus-headed battle robot taking flight, this unforgettable trilogy features many of the director’s most outrageous moments set alongside some of his most dramatically moving scenes.
Made between 1999 and 2002, the Dead or Alive films cemented Miike’s reputation overseas as one of the most provocative enfants terrible of Japanese cinema, yet also one of its most talented and innovative filmmakers.
In Dead or Alive, (read our reviews) tough gangster Ryuichi (Riki Takeuchi) and his ethnically Chinese gang make a play to take over the drug trade in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district by massacring the competition. But he meets his match in detective Jojima (Show Aikawa), who will do everything to stop them.
Dead or Alive 2: Birds casts Aikawa and Takeuchi together again, but as new characters, a pair of rival yakuza assassins who turn out to be childhood friends; after a botched hit, they flee together to the island where they grew up, and decide to devote their deadly skills to a more humanitarian cause.
And in Dead or Alive: Final (read our review), Takeuchi and Aikawa are catapulted into a future Yokohama ruled by multilingual gangs and cyborg soldiers, where they once again butt heads in the action-packed and cyberpunk-tinged finale to the trilogy.
Each of them unique in theme and tone, the Dead or Alive films showcase Miike at the peak of his strengths, creating three very distinct movies connected only by their two popular main actors, each film a separate yet superb example of crime drama, character study, and action filmmaking.
Blu-ray Features:
High Definition digital transfers of all three films
Original uncompressed stereo audio
Optional English subtitles for all three films
New interview with actor Riki Takeuchi
New interview with actor Sho Aikawa
New interview with producer and screenwriter Toshiki Kimura
New audio commentary for Dead or Alive by Miike biographer Tom Mes
Archive interviews with cast and crew
Archive making-of featurettes for DOA2: Birds and DOA: Final
Original theatrical trailers for all three films
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Orlando Arocena
First Pressing Only: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by Kat Ellinger
No CG! No Wires! No stuntman! Tokyo Shock presents the Blu-ray for Karate Girl, starring Rina Takeda (High Kick Girl!), as well as a cast that consists entirely of top-notch Japan and World Champions!
A shy, hard-working high-school girl, Ayaka (Takeda) holds a dark family secret. She is a karate master and must keep her family s martial arts legacy secret to protect her precious family treasure, the Black Belt. When she accidently exposes her extraordinary fighting skills in public, the ruthless karate gang that murdered her family and abducted her sister discovers her true identity. Now a fateful battle becomes inevitable as the gang and her estranged sister plot a showdown to fight and defeat Ayaka for possession of the highly coveted Black Belt!
“Challenge of the Lady Ninja” Chinese Theatrical Poster
AKA: Chinese Super Ninja 2 Director: Lee Tso Nam Cast: Elsa Yeung Wai San, Chen Kuan Tai, Cho Kin, Kam Yin Fei, Kon Tak Mun, Peng Kang, Sit Hon, Sun Jung Chi, Robert Tai Chi Hsien, Yin Su Li Running Time: 90 min.
By Paul Bramhall
For many, 1983 will be the year that Taiwanese director Lee Tso Nam is associated with creating the kung fu masterpiece Shaolin Vs Lama, a slice of martial arts goodness that would remain a favourite of grindhouse cinemas and late night screenings for many years after. However in an era when it was rare for directors working within the genre to only make a single movie, Shaolin Vs Lama certainly wasn’t Tso Nam’s only output for the year. As well as getting behind the camera for the romantic drama Love Don’t Say Goodbye, the director also decided to get in on the ninja craze, belting out two movies that largely consisted of the same cast and crew. While A Life of Ninja cast Chen Kuan-Tai and Yasuaki Kurata in a superlative slice of ninja action, the more interesting of the two titles goes to Challenge of the Lady Ninja, which cast Elsa Yeung as a female ninja who likes her ninja garb to be lipstick red. None of this black nonsense!
Yeung also featured in A Life of Ninja, as does Kuan-Tai return for this more female-centric helping of ninja action. While Kuan-Tai’s role is more a supporting one here, he gets an introduction that any budding actor would die for. Decked out in a sharp white suite, he’s introduced set to the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars, a theme which immediately demands respect no matter what context it’s played in, copyright be damned. Played over Kuan-Tai’s natural onscreen charisma, the visuals and audio are a killer combination. As you’ve probably figured out, the Shaw Brothers star (who notably was still working for the studio at the time, he featured in Little Dragon Maiden made the same year) plays the bad guy, a Chinese who’s switched to working for the Japanese during World War II, and is responsible for murdering Yeung’s father.
The setting may be the Japan occupied China of the WWII era, however it should be stated that it appears to be some alternative reality version. 80’s fashion and cars are the order of the day, proving that period detail is clearly overrated, when you have a star that can twirl around and magically make herself stripped down to a skimpy pink bikini and bottoms. One of the many powers of the lady ninja, and one that I’m glad wasn’t inherited by Richard Harrison. As the leading lady, Yeung has a suitably alluring presence, and was a regular in many a Taiwan movie of the time, notably staring alongside the likes of fellow Taiwan natives Brigitte Lin and Sally Yeh in Pink Force Commando and Golden Queens Commandos from the year prior. In Challenge of the Lady Ninja, it’s explained that she’s a Chinese that’s trained with a group of Japanese ninja’s for the past 17 years, and after passing the final test, much to the chagrin of fellow student Peng Kang (also the movies fight choreographer), is let loose into the world.
In some territories Challenge of the Lady Ninja was re-titled as Chinese Super Ninjas 2, which in itself is a re-title of Chang Cheh’s Five Element Ninjas, also released the year prior. It’s easy to see why, with Yeung’s test seeing her adorned in a red ninja outfit, as she makes her way through a forest filled with both ninja opponents and traps, so the similarity most likely made it an obvious choice for a re-title at the time of its release. However another similarity comes in the form of Chen Kuan-Tai’s 4 bodyguards, which are never far from his side, and come decked out in a variety of black leather and disco-esque outfits. The bodyguards consist of a Taekwondo expert female, a strong man, a guy whose speciality is the use of a boomerang sword, and a Japanese sword expert, notably played by Robert Tai, who comes with a big blue lobster painted on top of his shaved head. At least I’m sure it was a lobster, thinking about it now, it could have been a poorly drawn scorpion.
Once the main story kicks in, most of the action in Challenge of the Lady Ninja involves at least one of the bodyguards. Yeung herself doesn’t go it alone though, recruiting both a kung-fu expert played by Korean Kim Yeon-ja (who, apart from this has just one other movie credited to her name, with 1978’s Death Duel of Mantis), and a whore from the local brothel, played by Pok Ying-Lan. Together they become a trio of deadly femme fatales – Yeung with her ninja skills, Yeon-ja with her kung-fu talents, and Ying-Lan with her, well, ability to seduce and lose her clothes at any given moment. It can’t be denied that there’s an exploitative element to Challenge of the Lady Ninja, with training sequences that involve our trio decked out in bikinis, frequently filmed almost entirely from crotch level.
Another scene has Yeung facing off against the Taekwondo expert in a boxing ring, which has Yeung rip her own clothes off to reveal her areas of modesty covered by black handprints! The reason why she rips her clothes off in the first place of course, is that the Taekwondo expert had a strategically placed vat of baby oil which is poured all over the ring. Think Jason Statham’s scene in the bus depot from The Transporter, just swap crude oil for baby oil, and a Cockney with a receding hairline for a sultry Taiwanese actress. In many ways though, the action is in line with the slightly wacky element that came with ninja movies being made during the early 80’s. Teleport skills shown by characters randomly disappearing and re-appearing in another part of the screen come as standard, as do projectiles that unleash colourful puffs of smoke upon impact, burrowing through the ground, and completely pointless acrobatics. All are present and accounted for in Challenge of the Lady Ninja.
Interestingly a large number of the productions supporting cast are made up on Koreans, a sign which is probably indicative that part of the movie was filmed there with a local crew. Indeed the movie even has its own entry on the Korean Movie Database, where it’s listed under the title Black Rose, and lists Bruce Lai (Chang Il-do) as a cast member. Shin Wi-gyun is listed as a co-director from this source, and most likely there’s a separate Korean cut of the movie featuring local actors (Don Wong Tao once recalled in an interview how, on one of his movies being filmed in Korea, upon finishing the Korean crew then brought in their own actors to continue filming their own version). Wi-gyun was one of those local go-to directors for Chinese productions filming in Korea, which was common practice in the 80’s due to the reduced filming costs, with the only condition from Korea usually being to include some local crew and performers. Notably Wi-gyun is also listed as the co-director for the likes of The Postman Strikes Back and John Woo’s Heroes Shed No Tears.
Challenge of the Lady Ninja ultimately surprises with a plot twist I didn’t see coming (however those of a superior intellect might, which is a significant number), and culminates, like any ninja movie should, with a ninja versus ninja battle. It’s unfortunate that the final battle is somewhat of an anticlimax due to being relatively short, however it does contain some unique ideas, not least that the final part of the fight takes place completely underground. It appears that when you see those ninjas burrowing through the ground, they’re not just going from A to B, in some cases they’ve actually found the time to dig out a whole little area just big enough for a pair of ninjas to go at each other in. While it’s nice to see a variation on the countless sword clanging and colourful puffs of smoke that most ninja movies from Taiwan and Hong Kong end in, the execution sadly falls a little flat, leading the final blow to be more of a “hmmmm”, than a “wow!” moment.
While Tso Nam would continue directing and is still active today, for the other familiar names in Challenge of the Lady Ninja, the production came at the tail end of their career. Yeung would make just a handful more movies in the following years, including This Love of Mine in 1986, directed by her husband Chang Yi. Robert Tai would also make the move away from being in front of the camera, and focus more on action directing, going on to make one of his last screen appearances a couple of years later in the legendary Ninja: The Final Duel. While there’s a distinct feeling that Challenge of the Lady Ninja was made past the peak of most of its performers abilities, it succeeds at never being boring, and the guarantee of some action, be it covered in baby oil or delivered via the thrust of a blade, is never far away. For that, it certainly warrants a watch.
Mondo Macabro is proud to present this classic of Korean horror on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere in the world. The presentation has been restored from the best available elements from the Korean Film Archive, and features brand new extras produced exclusively for this release (the previous edition, released in October, was limited to 500 copies).
Almost completely unknown outside its home country, Suddenly in the Dark (read our review) is one of the best examples of pre-millennial K-horror. It was made at a time when censorship laws were being liberalized, igniting a boom in horror and erotic films. Elements of both are present here, directed with bizarre flair by Go Yeong-nam in a style often compared to the wilder Italian films of the 70s and 80s.
Suddenly in the Dark stars Kim Young-ae (Confession of Murder), Yoon Il-bong (Love on a Rainy Day), Lee Gi-seon (Lost Youth), Hyeon Hye-ri (Unconditional Love) and Kim Geun-hui (Encounter).
AKA: Railway Asylum Director: Ding Sheng Cast: Jackie Chan, Xu Fan, Edison Huang, Nick Wang, Darren Wang, Yano Koji, Sang Ping, Wu Yonglun, Zhang Yishang, Jaycee Chan, Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, Asano Nagahide Running Time: 123 min.
By Paul Bramhall
The pairing of director Ding Sheng and ageing action superstar Jackie Chan has been one of the more intriguing partnerships of recent years. In 2009, Little Big Soldier was released, and provided a welcome breath of fresh air in contrast to Chan’s Hollywood productions made during the same period, such as The Spy Next Door. Sheng seemed to be a director who knew not only how to play to Chan’s strengths, but also to his age, crafting what many still believe to be one of Chan’s best movies of the last 10 years. The director and star would reunite again in 2013 for Police Story 2013, an in-name only sequel to Chan’s mega popular Police Story series. While the production itself had no relation to the previous Police Story movies, its ambitious story set in a single location was also a welcome departure from what audiences had come to expect from Chan, even if it didn’t quite match those ambitions.
With Railroad Tigers, after a 3 year gap, Sheng and Chan reunite once more. While Sheng has directed a movie between their collaborations, with the exceptional crime thriller Saving Mr Wu, Chan’s own limitless work ethic has seen him headlining the likes of the historical actioner Dragon Blade, and buddy comedy Skiptrace. Both movies were met with disappointment from fans and critics alike, so his re-teaming with Sheng is a timely one. The plot revolves around a group of railroad thieves led by Chan, who become involved in helping Chinese freedom fighters blow up a crucial railway bridge controlled by the Japanese, led by Hiroyuki Ikeuchi from Ip Man. It’s a significant departure from the type of roles we’ve become accustomed to seeing Chan in, and arguably the setting of Japan occupied China owes more to such recent Korean movies like The Good, The Bad, The Weird and Assassination, than any of either the director or stars previous efforts.
Railroad Tigers admittedly gets off to a jarring start. Opening in a modern day railway museum, an Australian teacher guides a group of schoolchildren around the various trains on display, excitedly prompting them to shout out what colours the trains are. If you didn’t know any better, you’d swear the wrong movie must be playing. The camera then pans to an Asian child (at this point I had no idea where this train museum is supposed to be – Australia? China?) who wanders off by himself, sneaking into the carriage of one of the old steam trains on display. It’s while he’s in the carriage that the furnace doors mysteriously open by themselves, revealing a faintly flickering ember within the chamber. Cue camera zooming in to the flickering ember as the child stares wide eyed, and boom, the animated opening credits sequence starts. I confess at this point I felt my heart sink, as I don’t think I was ready for another Chan kiddie-friendly action flick, regardless of if it’s from Hollywood or China (or Australia for that matter).
Thankfully the contemporary setting is never returned to again, until, as expected, the final scene, which also throws in a big name cameo as the child’s father. I always find these historical productions which feel the need to be bookmarked by contemporary scenarios to be completely out of place. From Michelle Yeoh’s Olympic speech in the Director’s Cut of Fearless, to the festive celebrations that start and end The Taking of Tiger Mountain. They just don’t work, and here is no different. With that said, onto the movie itself, well, the real movie. Opening with Chan and his crew, which includes his son Jaycee Chan and former K-pop group member Edison Huang, pulling off one of their rob the rich and give to the poor train heists, the various creative ways that the team come up with to board the trains are some of the movies highlights. The Emperor of the North Pole would be proud.
Sheng takes a while to find his footing though, most likely due to it being the first time he’s worked on such a big scale production. The movie has an annoying habit of constantly freeze framing the screen to an animated still whenever a new character appears on-screen, providing text stating their name and what their job is. Bizarrely, for Chan and his gang of thieves, the text also provides each characters catchphrase as well. Chan’s catchphrase is ‘Shut up’. The problem is, over 30 minutes in and new characters are still appearing. While I confess to not actually keeping count, I could swear there must be around 20 characters introduced, some of whom never even appear again other than the scene they get introduced in. I assume there are likely many scenes from Railroad Tigers that have been left (wisely) on the cutting room floor, however even if this is true, there can be no denying that the first third begins to feel like a bit of a slog.
Things are further hindered by the inclusion of chapter titles. The first segment is called Rob the Train, the second segment is called Rescue the Injured Soldier, and so on. The problem with these titles though is that the only meaning they have, is to essentially act as a kind of spoiler as to what’s going to happen within the next 15 or so minutes, so it would have been much better to do away with them all together. Thankfully, around the 40 minute mark, everything seems to click into place. An entertaining scene, that sees the father and son duo of Jackie and Jaycee attempt to steal a number of explosives stored in a warehouse, signals both Chan and Sheng finding their pace and rhythm, and for the remainder of the movie it becomes a smooth and thoroughly enjoyable ride.
It can’t be argued that Chan is the main character in Railroad Tigers, and while I haven’t seen all of his most recent productions, this marks the first time for me to see him in such a genre picture during which he doesn’t fight at all. Yes there’s a punch thrown on the odd occasion, a brief skirmish here and there, but the Chan signature style of fight choreography is completely absent, and as a movie it works all the better for it. There have been too many times during Chan’s career when he’s attempted to do something different, but still had one of his fight scenes shoehorned in, dating all the way back to 1993’s Crime Story. Instead, here he gets by on pure determination and teamwork with the other members in the group, and as a result the movie is a lot better for it, never needing to fall under the shadow of those conversations which revolves around Chan’s action performance.
There is of course, plenty of action to be hand in Railroad Tigers, some of it surprisingly violent. I’d say this movie likely has the highest kill-count of any Chan picture, despite successfully managing to maintain a relatively light tone throughout. More than a handful of Japanese soldiers have their necks snapped, with dozens more being shot or machine gunned down. A worthy comparison for the final 30 minutes would almost be to call it The Dirty Dozen on a Train. Sadly, blatant CGI sometimes does rear its ugly head, although nowhere near as much as expected in a movie such as this.
As the end credits show, many shots were done using miniatures, and the train that becomes the focus of the story is thankfully very real. However it still makes me question how the filmmakers can’t recognize bad CGI. In one shot, a motorbike with a sidecar launches off a cliff in an attempt to mount the train, and it looks completely unconvincing. However in the next shot, a real motorbike and sidecar go hurtling over a ditch, resulting in an impressive stunt which sends the rider flying through the air. Why these two shots were placed next to each other will never make sense to me, as the latter just further highlights the lack of realism of the first.
After the rather droll opening third, Chan’s trademark sense of comedic timing also works its way into proceedings, delivering some welcome laugh out loud moments. Many feel that Chan puts much more effort into his Chinese movies that he does those he makes in Hollywood, and Railroad Tigers would be a good example to prove that theory correct. While in movies like Skiptrace we still see the yawn inducing ‘punch something hard, shake hands in pain’ comedy style that was funny 20 years ago, here there’s an originality to the physical comedy on display, and it serves as a reminder as to why he’s a legend in the first place. Not every director is as good as Sheng at drawing out the best from Chan, so I hope Railroad Tigers will be indicative of the quality of production both continue to work on while they’re not working together. It may have gotten off to a bumpy start, but Railroad Tigers definitely ends on track, and that makes it a commendable effort.
The Black Dragon’s Revenge | Blu-ray & DVD (The Film Detective)
RELEASE DATE: January 31, 2017
On, January 31, 2017, The Film Detective is unleashing The Black Dragon’s Revenge (aka The Death of Bruce Lee) on both Blu-ray and DVD.
This cult classic – which has been restored into HD from the original camera negative – is directed by Tony Liu Jun Guk (Tiger Over Wall) and stars martial arts sensation, Ron van Clief (Black Dragon).
Van Clief stars in this action thriller as a badass hired to try and find out the real reason behind Bruce Lee’s death. From the heyday of 1970s Blaxploitation and kung fu flicks, this movie demonstrates much of the same crude dialog and cut rate film techniques usually found in those genres, but succeeds by having a legitimate bad ass like van Clief in the lead role. Nicknamed “The Black Dragon” by Lee himself, van Clief is a showstopper!
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