Cityonfire.com’s ‘Iceman’ Blu-ray Giveaway! – WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

"Iceman" Blu-ray Cover

"Iceman" Blu-ray Cover

Cityonfire.com and Well Go USA are giving away 3 Blu-ray copies of Donnie Yen’s Iceman to three lucky Cityonfire visitors.

To enter, simply add a comment to this post and describe, in your own words, this clip (yes, you read that right). 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. Additionally, you must ‘Like Us‘ on cityonfire.com’s Facebook by clicking here.

The Blu-ray & DVD for Iceman will be officially released on November 11, 2014. We will announce the 3 winners on that day and ship out the prizes immediately.

CONTEST DISCLAIMER: You must enter by November 10, 2014 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.

WINNERS: Ron R., Ben and Josh H. Congratulations!

Posted in News | Tagged |

Pre-order ‘White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom’ at DDDHouse

"The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom" Theatrical Poster

"The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom" Theatrical Poster

DDDHouse.com now has Jacob Cheung’s (A Battle of Wits) wuxia-fantasy 3D film The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom available for an October 24th pre-order.

Penned by Liang Yusheng (The Bride with White Hair), the film revolves around a pair of star-crossed lovers – a devilish outlaw (Iron Man 3’s Fan Bingbing) and the righteous Taoist leader (Ip Man 2’s Huang Xiaoming), and their love that could change the fate of the nation.

The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom also stars Vincent Zhao (True Legend), Wang Xuebing (The Lost Bladesman), Yan Kuan (Big Shot), Du Yiheng (Let the Bullets Fly) and Nicholas Tse (The Bullet Vanishes).

Keep in mind that the DVD version is Region 3 coded, so you will need a multi-region DVD player to view the movie. Fortunately, the Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray versions are coded for region A, so they’re good to go on your current North American Blu-ray hardware.

Posted in News |

Cityonfire.com’s ‘Kundo’ Blu-ray Giveaway! – WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

Kundo: Age of the Rampant | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

Kundo: Age of the Rampant | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

Cityonfire.com and Well Go USA are giving away 3 Blu-ray copies of Kundo to three lucky Cityonfire visitors.

To enter, simply add a comment to this post and describe, in your own words, Steven Seagal’s clothes in this clip (yes, you read that right). 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. Additionally, you must ‘Like Us‘ on cityonfire.com’s Facebook by clicking here.

The Blu-ray & DVD for Kundo was officially released on October 21, 2014. We will announce the 3 winners on October 30, 2014 and ship out the prizes immediately.

CONTEST DISCLAIMER: You must enter by October 29, 2014 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.

CONGRATULATIONS: Damon, Daniel K. and 31FilmTalk. You have been notified via email!

Posted in News | Tagged |

Marko Zaror kicks oppression in its a$$ with ‘Zambo Dende’

"Mandrill" Japanese DVD Cover

"Mandrill" Japanese DVD Cover

Chilean martial arts sensation Marko Zaror (Kiltro, Machete Kills) is set to star in Zambo Dende, an action film based on Nicholas Rodriguez’ Colombian comic book of the same name. Darren Shahlavi (Tactical Force) and Michelle Lee (Blood and Bone) are also in talks to join the film.

According to Film Combat Syndicate, here’s what you can expect from the plot: “The character is based on real life events about a child named Azuk who would rise from oppression to become a fighting force for the oppressed slaves of Latin America, ultimately foreseeing his royal destiny preset by the assassination of his mother.”

Until then, look out for Zaror’s next film, Redeemer, which is just around the corner. He’s also tied to One Good Thing, directed by Kimo Stamboel (Macabre). Stay tuned!

Posted in News |

Samurai Cop | Blu-ray (Cinema Epoch)

Samurai Cop | Blu-ray (Cinema Epoch)

Samurai Cop | Blu-ray (Cinema Epoch)

RELEASE DATE: November 25, 2014

Cinema Epoch presents the Blu-ray for 1991’s Samurai Cop. Detective Frank Washington (Mark Frazer) and Joe Marshall (Matt Hannon) team up to take on the Yakuza in this 1991 cult classic. Watch the trailer.

Directed by the late Amir Shervan (Killing American Style), Samurai Cop found a whole new audience during its midnight theatrical circuit and film festival re-release. Its resurgence prompted producers Rich Mallery and Gregory Hatanaka to start production on an upcoming sequel, Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance.

Pre-order Samurai Cop from Amazon.com today!

Posted in DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles |

Donnie Yen to do Chinese version of ‘The Expendables’?

"Founding of a Republic" UK DVD Cover

"Founding of a Republic" UK DVD Cover

Imagine if Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat, Sammo Hung, Andy Lau, Yuen Biao, Lau Ching Wan, Ti Lung, Jimmy Wang Yu, David Chiang, Simon Yam and Tony Leung got together for a Chinese version of The Expendables? Cool thought, huh?

Well, there’s a slight possibility that a Chinese Expendables-type project may happen one day. While promoting his latest film, Kung Fu Jungle, Donnie Yen revealed that he has casually brought the idea up to Jackie Chan.

Here’s what Yen told Flicks and the City (via EP): “Months ago, I had a conversation with Jackie and I kind of brought the idea up: ‘You know what, why don’t we make our own Chinese Expendables,’ and he told me: ‘Talk to Jet Li. If you convince Jet Li, [I’ll] do it.’ It was just a casual conversation and was never really a serious follow up project we were aiming at. But, who knows…I think it’s brilliant idea.” When Yen was asked who he’d like to team up with, he said: “Everybody under the sun. Every Chinese action guy in film. That would be very fun.”

Hey, anything is possible, right? Stay tuned.

Posted in News |

The Traffickers | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

The Traffickers | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

The Traffickers | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

RELEASE DATE: December 23, 2014

Well Go USA presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Kim Hong-sun’s The Traffickers.

This Award-winning South Korean crime thriller takes place in six hours on a passenger boat with an ongoing black-market organ-trafficking operation, and a desperate husband out to find his missing wife.

The film stars Im Chang-jung, Choi Daniel, Oh Dal-su and Jo Yoon-hee. Watch the trailer.

Pre-order The Traffickers from Amazon.com today!

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, News |

7 Assassins | DVD (Lionsgate)

7 Assassins | DVD (Lionsgate)

7 Assassins | DVD (Lionsgate)

RELEASE DATE: December 23, 2014

Lionsgate is set to release the DVD for Eric Tsang’s 7 Assassins on December 23rd. When a Kingdom’s royal gold goes missing, a group of elite royal guards are tasked with recovering the riches, but they quickly realize the missing gold is part of a larger rebel defiance, made up of a group of assassins who have banded together to rid the government of corruption.

Directed by both Tsang (who also stars) and Hung Yan Yan (action director), 7 Assassins stars: Felix Wong, Ray Lui, Guo Tao, Kara Hu, Well Lee, Michael Wong, Fung Hak On, Waise Lee, Leung Kar Yan, Ken Lo, Mars, Jason Pai Piao, Ti Lung, Dick Wei, Simon Yam, Yu Rong Guang and many others! Watch the trailer!

Pre-order 7 Assassins from Amazon.com today!

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles |

Swelter (2014) Review

"Swelter" Japanese Theatrical Poster

“Swelter” Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Keith Parmer
Writer: Keith Parmer
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Josh Henderson, Brad Carter, Alfred Molina, Lennie James
Running Time: 120 min.

By Kyle Warner

Okay, this one’s kind of silly, but I’m not gonna lie, I enjoyed it.

The film begins with a Vegas casino robbery. Four members of a five man crew are captured before they can make off with the loot. The fifth man takes a bullet to the head, but survives and wanders out into the desert with ten million dollars under his arm. Fast forward a decade. The fifth man has a new name and a new job, serving as the Sheriff of the little town he wandered into all those years ago. He has no memory of his criminal past, thanks to that bullet that still resides within his brain, and claims no knowledge of the millions he supposedly hid. That’s a problem because his old crew is out of prison and they’re looking to collect.

With me so far? Yeah, it’s one of those movies where you have to suspend some disbelief… and it has some ideas that feel awfully familiar to films like A History of Violence and High Noon… but for the most part it somehow works, thanks to a quirky script and some likable performances.

The film is being sold as an action movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. He stands front and center on the DVD cover with a shotgun and a scowl and you’d be forgiven for thinking that he’s the Sheriff at the center of the film. Instead that role belongs to English actor Lennie James, who’s made a career out of playing world-weary Americans on TV in such shows as The Walking Dead, Jericho, and Low Winter Sun. The role of a Sheriff who used to be a criminal but can’t remember shit because he’s got a bullet in his head asks a lot of any actor. Because, I mean, let’s get real: this is just goofy. But James plays it straight, anchors the film in something akin to reality, and keeps the story from falling into parody.

Another actor who helps the film a great deal is Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), here playing the town’s boozing doctor. In what could’ve been lame comic relief or just another tired retread of a worn-out stock character actually becomes the highlight of the film thanks to Molina’s screen presence and comic timing.

Sadly, Van Damme is largely wasted in the film. He plays little more than a henchman in the crew and is never given much to do. It’s unfortunate. I expect most people who will decide to watch Swelter will watch it for Jean-Claude Van Damme. But his role could’ve been played by just about anyone.

When the bad guys show up in the Sheriff’s little town, our amnesiac hero doesn’t recognize them, but he recognizes a threat easily enough. Still, it takes a long time for things to get going. In some quirky, harebrained way things do manage to connect by the end, but it could’ve used a faster pace.

Still, for all the easy things that the movie does wrong, Swelter does some of the hard things right. The performances are good. The dialogue is snappy and sometimes quite funny. The camerawork is interesting. And when the credits rolled at the end, I found that I had enjoyed myself.

In addition to Van Damme not being the star, I feel the need to make one more thing clear: Swelter is not an action film. Sometimes it’s not even much of a thriller. It’s a crime drama… or you might even call it a modern day western. But make no mistake, if you’re going into the movie expecting shootouts, fight scenes, and explosions, you’re going to be disappointed.

Swelter may disappoint with a story full of plot contrivances and by wasting Jean-Claude Van Damme in a throwaway role, but some fine performances and sharp dialogue manage to make the film strangely likable. It’s a B-movie, to be sure, but it’s a B-movie with some style.

Kyle Warner’s Rating: 5.5

Posted in Asian Related, News, Other Movies, Reviews | Tagged |

Why Don’t You Play in Hell? | Blu-ray& DVD (Drafthouse Films)

"Why Don't You Play In Hell?" Theatrical Poster

"Why Don't You Play In Hell?" Theatrical Poster

RELEASE DATE: January 27, 2015

Drafthouse Films presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Why Don’t You Play in Hell?, directed by Sion Sono, the controversial and prolific director behind such Japanese-language films as Cold Fish, Love Exposure and Guilty of Romance.

Why Don’t You Play In Hell? is an over-the-top mix of martial arts, comedy and gore. The best way to describe the gist of the movie is to catch its North American trailer, courtesy of Apple.

Pre-order Why Don’t You Play in Hell? from Amazon.com today!

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles |

Deal on Fire! Hansel and Gretel | Blu-ray | Only $9.99 – Expires soon!

"Hansel and Gretel" Blu-ray Cover

"Hansel and Gretel" Blu-ray Cover

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Hansel and Gretel, written and directed by Yim Pil-sung (Doomsday Book).

When a young man gets lost on a country road, he meets a mysterious girl and is led to her fairy tale house in the middle of the forest. There, he is trapped with the girl and her siblings, who seemingly never age. Soon he discovers that the way out is written in a book that tells his own story!

Hansel and Gretel stars Chun Jung-myung, Eun Won-jae, Shim Eun-kyung and Jin Ji-hee.

Order Hansel and Gretel from Amazon.com today!

Posted in Deals on Fire!, News |

Mission Terminate | aka Return of the Kickfighter (1987) Review

"Mission Terminate" Dutch VHS Cover

“Mission Terminate” Dutch VHS Cover

AKA: Revenge of the Kickfighter
Director: Anthony Maharaj
Writer: Joe Mari Avellana
Cast: Richard Norton, Bruce Le (Huang Kin Long), Rex Cutter, Judy Greene, George E. Mahlberg, Nick Nicholson, Henry Strzalkowski, Dick Wei, Franco Guerrero
Running Time: 90 min.

By Paul Bramhall

My journey that found me watching Mission Terminate was somewhat of an interesting one. Back in 2008, I’d stumbled across an old Tai Seng DVD of a movie called Ninja vs. Bruce Lee. The movie starred one of the many Bruce Lee clones which the studios churned out after Bruce Lee’s death in an attempt to make a quick buck, renaming any actor who had even the faintest likeness of Lee to sound like they could pass for the real deal. This particular movie starred Bruce Le (see what they did there?), however it was the cover of the DVD which had my attention, as it featured a shirtless Le brandishing a ridiculously big machine gun and sporting an expression which meant business (click here to view the DVD cover).

It looked like B-movie gold, a Bruce Lee clone made out to be a kind of Asian Rambo, what could go wrong!? Much to my disdain, the scene off the cover of the DVD appeared nowhere in the movie, so I angrily set about making enquires to find out exactly what it was that I should be looking for. Thankfully some very knowledgeable people confirmed the image was from Mission Terminate, and proceeded to wish me luck at attempting to track it down. After a couple of initial enquiries which turned out to be fruitless, thanks to a combination of such factors like, well, having a life, I gave up my search. Skip forward 6 years later, and thanks to some kind soul having a much better memory than me, I finally found myself in possession of Mission Terminate, under the retitle of Return of the Kickfighter, and prepared myself for the unknown.

Thankfully Mission Terminate is indeed B-movie gold. Directed by Anthony Maharaj, whose filmography contains such other gems as Innocent Adultery, it is in fact filmed entirely in the Philippines, passing for Vietnam, and is everything you’d expect from a mid-80’s Filipino B-movie production. The Philippines had a whole host of American B-movie directors making action and exploitation cheapies there during the 80’s, thanks to the low cost crews and filming locations, so much so that the Filipino action B-movie almost became a genre unto itself.

Mission Terminate does the genre proud, announcing its intentions from the very first piece of dialogue, which takes place between two soldiers and goes as follows: Lieutenant – “I knew we’d get those motherf*ckers!” Marine – “Yeah, bet those suckers never figured we’d trail them back to their mothers wombs!” If only every movie had opening lines like this.

The plot concerns a unit of US marines operating in the Vietnam war during 1970, with the movie opening on a raid in a village. After massacring the villagers, the marines steal the villages gold, much to the objection of their Vietnamese translator and guide, played by Le. Skip forward past the credits sequence; it’s now 15 years later, and members of the unit are getting murdered one by one. This leads to the former head of the group, now a high ranking military officer, announcing that the only person who is up to the job of finding out the identity of the killer is an Aussie, Major Brad Cooper, played by Richard Norton.

Norton is the real deal when it comes to martial arts, and has gone one on one with the best of them, including Jackie Chan in the finale of City Hunter, and Sammo Hung in Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars. Here he’s given a rare lead role as the good guy, and most probably due to him not being able to do an American accent; the colonel explains to some disgruntled marines that “he was only raised in Australia, he’s American, ALL AMERICAN!” Sadly much more than his accent, it’s the fact that Norton sports a rat tail haircut which gives him away as an Australian, an epidemic that still seems to be an acceptable form of antipodean style even in the 21st century.

As mentioned Norton is the main character of the movie, with Bruce Le playing a significant supporting role. Another stalwart from Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung’s movies comes in the form of legendary kicker Dick Wei, who plays Bruce Le’s murderous sworn brother, and is the guy who’s killing off the marines in revenge for their slaughter of the village. It’s Wei’s appearance which indicates that perhaps the plot was just kind of made up on the fly. I mean, his killings of the marines are justified considering what they did, and the colonel is trying to manipulate Norton to find Wei and kill him only because he doesn’t want the stolen gold to be discovered. However it then suddenly turns out that Wei really is a bad guy, and that he’s working as a trainer at a hidden terrorist camp of ski-mask wearing ninjas hidden in a nearby mountain.

It turns out his revenge mission is just a sideline to his full time job as terrorist trainer. The camp seems to be being run by a Middle Eastern terrorist group, indicated only by a guided tour the head of the camp gives to some headscarf wearing gentlemen. Yes the movie contains a whole scene dedicated to a guided tour of the terrorists in training, one of the highlights being that they’re so evil that during combat training they have to use real ammo. If you get shot, it’s because you’re not evil enough and deserve to die, that’s their reasoning, not mine.

Overall Mission Terminate is a lot of fun, mainly because it’s a parody of action movies without being a parody. It displays a level of incompetence which is somehow forgivable thanks mainly to the constant onslaught of hilariously bad lines, and their delivery, and frequent shootouts which never seem to be more than a few minutes away. Le has clearly had his lines dubbed into English by a local Filipino, and as a result everything he says makes him sound like a constipated Mexican. This is particularly hilarious in his exchanges with the Aussie accented Norton.

By the time the finale rolls around, it’s Norton and Le, backed up by some good guy marines led by Franco Guerrero, himself a Filipino B-movie legend (check out One Armed Executioner!), against Wei and his camp of ninja terrorists. Amusingly before the showdown starts, the head of the camp pulls all the ninjas into a room and tells them that finally he can reveal their purpose, which is to hold a nuclear power plant to ransom. You can’t help but feel that what actually happened is behind the scenes the following conversation took place: Producer – “Ok we’re going to film the finale next… does the audience actually know what the terrorists are training for yet?” Director – “Hmmm. Did we overlook that detail!? (Flicks through script) It appears we did. Damn.”

Once the impromptu terrorist team meeting is over though, the bullets and explosions come thick and fast, with of course some obligatory fists and feet thrown in as well just for good measure. Le and Norton both face off again Wei in a couple of very brief scuffles, but the fun is mainly in watching the endlessly regenerating ninjas get mowed down in hails of bullets. In truth it’s probably the same five guys playing the whole army of ninjas, and it becomes quite fun to see if you can identify if you’re watching the same guy from the previous scene – there’s the guy who always dies by falling down in what can only be described as real time slow motion; the guy who always dies by waving his arms around frantically, even if he’s already laying on the ground; and the guy who always yells at the top of his voice whenever he’s been shot.

If you’re a fan of action B-movies, Mission Terminate does the job, made in an era when the macho action movie was still played 100% straight with no winks to the audience, it’s all the more entertaining for it. Now if only Sylvester Stallone would realize the same thing.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10

Posted in Asian Related, Bruceploitation, Filipino, News, Other Movies, Reviews | Tagged , , , |

The Sword of Doom | Blu-ray & DVD (Criterion)

The Sword of Doom | Blu-ray & DVD (Criterion)

The Sword of Doom | Blu-ray & DVD (Criterion)

RELEASE DATE: January 6, 2015

Criterion presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Kihachi Okamoto’s The Sword of Doom. Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune (Seven Samurai) star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman plying his craft during the turbulent final days of shogunate rule in Japan, Ryunosuke (Nakadai) kills without remorse or mercy. It is a way of life that ultimately leads to madness.

Features: HD digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack (Blu-ray edition); commentary by historian Stephen Prince; trailer; essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien. Watch the trailer.

Pre-order The Sword of Doom from Amazon.com today!

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles |

Real-life fighters run amok in ‘The Scorpion King 4’ trailer!

"The Scorpion King 4" Blu-ray Cover

"The Scorpion King 4" Blu-ray Cover

Coming soon to a disc (or VOD) near you is The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, directed by Mike Elliott (Blue Crush 2) and written by Michael D. Weiss (U.S. Seals II). The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power’s Victor Webster reprises his role as Mathayus (previously played by Dwayne Johnson and Michael Copon, in the original The Scorpion King and Part 2, respectively).

Of special note, The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power features a medley of  real-life fighters: “The Ultimate Fighter” winner Roy “Big Country” Nelson, mixed martial arts legend Royce Gracie, Cage Rage World Champion Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, three-time WKO World Kickboxer Champion Don “The Dragon” Wilson (The Whole World at Our Feet), and three-time WWE Divas champion Eve Torres.

Also look for appearances by Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner), Michael Biehn (The Terminator), Barry Bostwick (Spin City), Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk), Ellen Hollman (Spartacus: War of the Damned), M. Emmet Walsh (Blood Simple), and Will Kemp (Step Up-2: The Streets).

Here’s the official plot: The deposed warrior king Mathayus (Victor Webster) embarks on his most dangerous assignment ever as he attempts to bring lasting peace to his troubled land. When he is betrayed by a trusted friend, Mathayus must marshal all his strength and cunning to outwit a formidable opponent who will stop at nothing to destroy him in an epic battle to the death.

BREAKING NEWS: Watch the first trailer for The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power (formerly known as The Scorpion King 4: The Lost Throne). The Blu-ray & DVD will be releasing on January 20, 2015. Pre-order today!

Posted in News |

Drafthouse trailer for Sion Sono’s ‘Why Don’t You Play In Hell?’

"Why Don't You Play In Hell?" Theatrical Poster

"Why Don't You Play In Hell?" Theatrical Poster

Sion Sono, the controversial and prolific director behind such Japanese-language films as Cold Fish, Love Exposure and Guilty of Romance, will be reaching a new audience when his 2013 film, Why Don’t You Play In Hell?, gets a limited release by Drafthouse Films on November 7th, 2014.

Why Don’t You Play In Hell? is an over-the-top mix of martial arts, comedy and gore. The best way to describe the gist of the movie is to catch its North American trailer, courtesy of Apple.

Sono’s latest film, Tokyo Tribe, will be getting a North American release by XYZ Films (The Raid 2) in the near future. Sono has also just completed Shinjuku Swan, so look out for a trailer soon… stay tuned!

Posted in News |