Who wins in a fight between Xie Miao vs Andy On? New Trailer for ‘Hunt the Wicked’ from the director of ‘Blind War’

"Hunt the Wicked" Theatrical Poster

“Hunt the Wicked” Theatrical Poster

Arriving on Blu-ray and Digital on May 20th is Hunt the Wicked, a 2024 actioner from director Suiqiang Huo (Blind War). The film is headlined by martial arts stars Xie Miao (Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman) and Andy On (100 Yards).

When ruthless drug kingpin Wei Yunzhou tightens his grip on the city, fear and chaos spread. Law enforcement has failed to bring him down — until Huang Mingjin steps in. Determined and relentless, he takes on the criminal empire, facing brutal enforcers and deadly traps at every turn. As the battle intensifies, fists and bullets fly in a relentless fight for justice.

Hunt the Wicked is currently available on Well Go USA’s very own Asian/martial arts streaming channel. If you want to give Hi-YAH! a go, visitors of this site can use the promo code “CITYONFIRE” for a FREE 30 Day Continue reading

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Billy Zane, Zach Roerig and Scott Adkins’ ‘Day of Reckoning’ NOW on Digital! Watch a New Extended Preview

"Day of Reckoning" Theatrical Poster

“Day of Reckoning” Theatrical Poster

Martial arts star Scott Adkins (John Wick 4, Ip Man 4, Triple Threat) is back to his “reckoning” antics. In 2012, he starred in Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning; in 2020 came Dead Reckoning; now comes Day of Reckoning, a thriller that’s NOW on Digital.

The upcoming film marks the debut feature of Shaun Silva, who is best known for his music video productions for country artists such as Sugarland, Kenny Chesney and Carrie Underwood.

In Day of Reckoning, Adkins is part of an ensemble cast that includes Zach Roerig (Rings), Billy Zane (Titanic), Cara Jade Myers (Killers of the Flower Moon), Travis Hammer (Rust), country artist Trace Adkins (The Lincoln Lawyer) and rappers Yelawolf and Struggle Continue reading

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Havoc (2025) Review

"Havoc" Netflix Poster

“Havoc” Netflix Poster

Director: Gareth Evans
Cast: Tom Hardy, Timothy Olyphant, Forest Whitaker, Sunny Pang, Justin Cornwell, Luis Guzmán, Jessie Mei Li, Yeo Yann Yann, Quelin Sepulveda, Michelle Waterson, Gordon Alexander, John Cummins
Running Time: 105 min.

By Paul Bramhall

Most of the audience for Havoc will consist of the average Netflix subscriber looking for their latest action fix, which isn’t a bad thing. For some of us though, it’s a much bigger deal than just the latest straight to streaming action movie, marking the return of director Gareth Evans to feature length action movie making for the first time since 2014’s The Raid 2. While in-between the Welshman has directed the folk horror tale The Apostle in 2018, as well as helming several episodes of the TV series Gangs of London (which he created), for action fans he’ll always be known for the trilogy of movies he made in Indonesia with Iko Uwais, a silat practitioner who he discovered in 2007. Together they made 2009’s Merantau, 2011’s The Raid: Redemption, and the previously mentioned sequel from 2014, productions that would have a lasting influence on action filmmaking that continues to this day.

With Evans departure from Indonesia to return to his home country it felt unclear for a while if that meant he’d also put his action filmmaking days behind him, however if what’s on display in Havoc is anything to go by, then that clarity is now very much there – 11 years on he’s still very much an action filmmaker. Described by the man himself as being strongly influenced Continue reading

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Yadang: The Snitch (2025) Review

"Yadang: The Snitch" Theatrical Poster

“Yadang: The Snitch” Theatrical Poster

Director: Hwang Byeong-gug
Cast: Kang Ha-neul, Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-joon, Chae Won-bin, Ryu Kyung-soo, Kim Geum-soon, Yu Seong-ju, Lim Sung-kyun, Cho Wan-ki, Kim Mi Suk
Running Time: 122 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

In Korea the term Yadang refers to a professional snitch, a role that exists as an unofficial liaison between the junkies and the cops, forming a kind of symbiotic relationship that allows the latter to leverage the former in extracting information on where the drugs they take are coming from. The snitch is paid for their services under the table, and technically everyone should walk away happy – the cops get a fast track to intel that would otherwise take months of investigative work, and the junkies escape jailtime thanks to the information they’ve given up. In Yadang: The Snitch the title role is played by Kang Ha-neul (The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure, Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet), who we meet in a fast-paced opening segment that shows how he came to exclusively work for an ambitious prosecutor played by Yoo Hae-jin (Exhuma, Confidential Assignment).

Keen to work his way up the ranks, the pair have become so good at what they do that Hae-jin starts getting to the criminals before the cops do, much to the chagrin of a detective played by Park Hae-joon (Heart Blackened, Believer), whose months of investigative work turn out to be for nothing. However when the trio’s paths overlap during a drug bust involving Continue reading

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Is it a Boeing 737 MAX? Trailer for ‘Wings of Dread’ starring ‘The Raid’ martial arts star Iko Uwais and Ashton Chen

We’ll soon be seeing Indonesian martial arts star Iko Uwais (The Raid, The Raid 2, Headshot, Beyond Skyline) in Wings of Dread, an upcoming action thriller directed by Qin Pengfei (Fight Against Evil, Black Storm) and Ashton Chen (Ip Man 2, Blade of Fury), who will also co-star alongside Uwais.

According to AT, Wings of Dread is Iko Uwais’ first Continue reading

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Some magnificent news! Chang Cheh’s ‘The Magnificent Trio’ and ‘Magnificent Wanderers’ is now shipping!

On April 28, 2025, Eureka is releasing a Blu-ray (Region B) collection for The Magnificent Chang Cheh, which will include 1966’s The Magnificent Trio and 1977’s Magnificent Wanderers.

One of the Shaw Brothers Studio’s most prolific directors, Chang Cheh – or the “Godfather of Hong Kong Cinema” – is the filmmaker behind Five Deadly VenomsChinatown Kid and Boxer Rebellion. Collected here are two films by this maestro of martial arts Continue reading

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Shaolin Boxers, The (1974) Review

Shaolin Boxers | Blu-ray (Eureka)

Shaolin Boxers | Blu-ray (Eureka)

Director: Huang Ta
Cast: James Tin, Lee Tin-ying, Li Min-lang, Chu Mu, Leung Tin, Tien Mi, Hon Kwok-Choi, Chu Mu, Choi Sui-Cheng, Cheung Chok-Chow, Mars
Running Time: 78 min.

By Ian Whittle

“The only problem with James Tien seems to be his weight. When we first saw him on screen he was slim and muscular but of late his girth seems to have increased somewhat. Perhaps his marriage early in 1974 had something to do with it. The studio claims he does not drink much but home cooking can spoil the form of a kung fu fighter.”

– Clash Magazine, 1975

Ouch!

James Tien is probably one of kung fu cinema’s big enigmas – since retiring in 1993 after Blade of Fury, he does not appear to have given a single interview on his career. The impression some film critics/historians like to cultivate is of him seething away at Bruce Lee having stolen his thunder, much in the manner that we know Bela Continue reading

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The Beast to Die | Blu-ray (Radiance)

RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2025

On July 21, 2025, Radiance is releasing the Blu-ray (Region A/B) for 1980’s The Beast to Die. Directed by Toru Murakawa (The Game Trilogy) from a venomous script by Shoichi Maruyama (Yokohama BJ Blues), this unsettling dark thriller was Yusaku Matsuda’s farewell to his 1970s action hero persona.

Deeply scarred by what he witnessed on battlefields across Asia, a young war photographer (Yusaku Matsuda, Yokohama BJ Blues) returns to the bustling Continue reading

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1.21 gigawatts!!! Action comedy ‘A Samurai in Time’ arriving to Blu-ray on April 28 from Third Window Films

On April 28, 2025, Third Window Films is releasing a Blu-ray (Region Free) for A Samurai in Time, a 2023 action-comedy from director Junichi Yasuda (Gohan).

With one strike of lightning, samurai Kosaka Shinzaemon accidentally teleports through time and finds himself in modern day Japan. However, his realisation doesn’t hit so quickly, because of all places, he happens to land on a period drama film set! After facing the director’s wrath for veering away from a script he has no idea about, Kosaka is saved by the kind Continue reading

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Monkey Goes West, The (1966) Review

The Monkey Goes West | Blu-ray (Imprint)

The Monkey Goes West | Blu-ray (Imprint)

Director: Ho Meng Hua
Cast: Yueh Hua, Ho Fan, Pang Pang, Tien Shun, Fan Mei Sheng, Kao Pao-Shu, Lan Wei-Lieh, Li Yin, Diana Chang Chung-Wen, Mao Wei
Running Time: 112 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

Having gotten into Asian cinema in the late 1990’s, my first exposure to the phenomena of Journey to the West mania came in the 2010’s. For most of the decade it felt like a big screen adaptation of the 16th century novel was never more than a few months away – from Soi Cheang’s Monkey King trilogy (2014 – 2018), Stephen Chow’s double bill of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013) and Journey to the West: Demon Chapter (2017), Derek Kwok’s 2017 adaptation Wu Kong, to a big budget 3D animated feature in the form of The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven (2012). That’s before you begin to count the literal bombardment of web-movies (easily pushing into double figures) that also took the tale as their inspiration.

Looking at the bigger picture though, it quickly becomes clear that movie adaptations of Journey to the West have never really gone away. Since the first known version in 1927 called Journey to the West: The Spider’s Cave, the tale of a monk travelling to India to retrieve a Buddhist scripture has been having the spotlight stolen out from under him for close to 100 years Continue reading

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Under the Gun (1995) Review

"Under the Gun" Theatrical Poster

“Under the Gun” Theatrical Poster

Director: Matthew George
Cast: Richard Norton, Kathy Long, Jane Badler, Peter Lindsay, Robert Bruce, David Serafin, Ron Vreeken, Tino Ceberano, Adam Haddrick, Sam Greco
Running Time: 93 min.

By Z Ravas

As action fans around the globe react with sadness at the untimely loss of actor Richard Norton at the age of 75, I realized it was high time I dug deeper into the actor’s body of work. Sure, like most fans of Hong Kong martial arts movies, I’d seen Norton square off against Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan in movies like Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars and City Hunter, but I’d never actually watched one of his starring vehicles. When I read a review of the 1995 actioner Under the Gun that labeled it the ‘Direct to Video martial arts version of Uncut Gems,’ I just had to see for myself how a movie could live up to that description; if you’re familiar with that 2019 high anxiety thriller from the Safdie Brothers, about a compulsive gambler trying to pay off his debt to the mob before time runs out, you know it didn’t exactly feel like it had room for spin kicks.

And yet, I’m here to tell you that that description is not far off. Under the Gun follows Richard Norton as Frank Torrence, a former professional hockey player(!) turned nightclub owner with a problem: he’s got one last shift to work before he signs a deal to sell his club and absconds to Mexico City, but seemingly everyone who walks through the doors of his establishment Continue reading

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Do you believe in miracles? 88 Films’ 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray release for Jackie Chan’s 1989 masterpiece is now shipping

On April 14, 2025, 88 Films is releasing a 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray (Region B) release for Miracles (aka Mr. Canton and Lady Rose), Jackie Chan’s 1989 Golden Harvest martial arts film, which is loosely remade from Frank Capra’s 1961 classic Pocketful of Miracles.

Directed by and starring Jackie Chan, Miracles features an all-star cast that includes Rose Gua Ah Leh (The Wedding Banquet), Anita Mui Yim-fong (Drunken Master 2), Wu Ma (The Blonde Fury), Michael Chow Man Kin (Era of Vampires), Fung Hak Continue reading

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A fight for GOD? Trailer for the martial arts film ‘Absolute Dominion’ starring Désiré Mia, Alex Winter and Patton Oswalt

"Absolute Dominion" Theatrical Poster

“Absolute Dominion” Theatrical Poster

Writer/director Lexi Alexander, who is perhaps best-known for helming 2005’s Green Street Hooligans and 2008’s Punisher: War Zone, is currently prepping an upcoming martial arts actioner titled Absolute Dominion.

Absolute Dominion takes place in 2085 A.D., where the world has been destroyed by religious warfare. Desperate to save humanity, global governing forces host a gripping, no-holds-barred, martial arts tournament. Last fighter standing wins Absolute Dominion for one faith.

The film features an all-star cast that includes Alex Winter (Bill & Ted Face the Music), Alok Vaid-Menon (Random Acts of Flyness), Andy Allo (Chicago Fire), Désiré Mia, Jennifer Jajeh (Transparent), Juliana Joel (American Gigolo), Julie Ann Emery (Better Call Saul), June Carryl (Y: The Last Man), Junes Zahdi (Counterpart), Laith Ashley (Pose), Mario Continue reading

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Prime cuts? Amazon and Sony developing a series adaptation of Ang Lee’s acclaimed ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’

A Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon series is in the works from Prime Video and Sony Pictures. Writer-producer Jason Ning (co-executive producer for The Brothers Sun) and Ron Moore (Outlander) will develop the series adaptation of the 2000 box office smash from two-time Best Director Academy Award winner Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain).

The upcoming series will follow Shu Lien (previously played by Michelle Yeoh) and Mu Bai (previously played by Chow Yun-Fat), two star-crossed warriors, as they struggle between forbidden love and the pull of modernity — caught between preserving their way of life or embracing a future together (via Deadline).

The original Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was noted for its stunning martial arts choreography by Yuen Woo-ping (The Matrix), who went on to Continue reading

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Snake Prince, The (1976) Review

The Snake Prince | Blu-ray (Imprint)

The Snake Prince | Blu-ray (Imprint)

Director: Lo Chen
Cast: Lin Chen Chi, Ti Lung, Helen Ko Ti-Hua, Fan Lei, Wong Yu, Ng Hong-Sang, Wong Ching-Ho, Ching Miao, Leung Seung-Wan, Lin Wei-Tu
Running Time: 93 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

When it comes to 1970’s Shaw Brothers oddities there are a few titles that will likely spring to mind. Whether it be the studios riff on King Kong with The Mighty Peking Man, venturing into mutant territory with The Oily Maniac, or taking a crack at the tokusatsu genre with The Super Infra Man, all come with their own distinctive charms of the era. One production which seems to have flew under the radar though for fans of the bizarre is 1976’s The Snake Prince, an unlikely genre mishmash of Chinese folklore, musical, kaiju action, horror, and even a little eroticism and kung-fu thrown in just for good measure. If you were looking for the Shaw Brothers movie that has everything, then The Snake Prince could well be the one that ticks all the boxes.

Helmed by Lo Chen, as a director he was one of the Shaw Brothers most prolific filmmakers in the 1960’s working outside of the studio’s martial arts flick factory. Adept at making a wide range of genres, Chen’s output spanned everything from comedies (The Tryst), musicals (The Shepherd Girl), dramas (Torrent of Desire), and Chinese Opera (Comedy of Mismatches). By the time the 1970’s rolled around Chen increasingly worked for other studios as well as the Shaw Continue reading

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