Revenge DVD (Animeigo)
RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2011
A minor quarrel escalates into a duel. A death creates a debt of honor. The demands of honor outweigh the demands of justice, and force friends to spill each other’s blood. And the need for victory requires the sacrifice of honor. One simple argument spawns death, madness, and a final confrontation that will leave the sandy soil soaked with blood. Starring Kinnosuke Nakamura, and directed by Tadashi Imai!
“Bangkok Dangerous” Japanese Theatrical Poster
AKA: Rain
Director: Oxide Pang
Co-director: Danny Pang
Cast: Pawalit Mongkolpisit, Premsinee Ratanasopha, Patharawarin Timkul, Pisek Intrakanchit
Running Time: 105 min.
By Woody
I’m really drunk right now, so excuse any glaring grammatical errors. “Bangkok Dangerous” is a really awesome low-budget flick. If you were to take Chow Yun Fat out of “The Killer” and replace him with Takeshi Kaneshiro’s character from “Fallen Angels”, you’d have a pretty shitty movie, right? Uh, not right. That is pretty much the premise of “Bangkok Dangerous” and it kicks ass, man. And it’s directed by the Pang brothers. I wonder if they are twins. If so, they should wear matching flannel suits and sing torch songs in seedy Thai nightclubs where rich American men go looking for underaged girl-boy “yum yum”. Like, when they aren’t directing and stuff. I notice also that one of the brother’s names is Oxide. Sounds like a chemical compound or something. I wonder if that is a common thing amongst the Thai…choosing their kids names at random from a chemistry book. If that is the case, I must on principle steer clear of getting any Thai chicks…I might end up with a strapping young lad named “Sodium Chloride” or “Phosphate” or something along those lines. It would be hard to steer clear of Thai chicks, though, if they all looked like Fon, played by the oh-so-hot Premsinee Ratanasopha. She was a definite highlight.
The movie looks really nice, too, considering the extreme low-budget. There are all kinds of nifty music-video style flourishes and stuff, and yet, it still retains this gritty verite feeling. Even though in the context of a typical shoot-’em-up action movie, “Bangkok Dangerous” really gives a good feel for what Thailand is like. A really, uh, dangerous place. So yeah, “Bangkok Dangerous” is really good. And not because I’m drunk and can’t stop smiling and I’m making my friends laugh. Oh, because…oh yeah, I just watched the movie. But I’m not all, like, into it, because I’m drunk because I’ve seen it already and it was really good. It’s like, a stylish verite low-budget awesome piece of work and I respect the Pang brothers so much for having made such a kickass little movie on such a low budget even if that one dude is named after a chemical compound. I would almost go as far as to call this the “El Mariachi” of Thai cinema, but I’ve only seen a few Thai movies and frankly I don’t want that chemical compound dude and his brother to come over here and direct, like, a “Spy Kids” sequel or anything. I’m so dizzy and I can’t see and it’s all blurry. What a strange feeling. It’s so funny…oh my gaw… dddddddddddddddddd…
Woody’s Rating: 8/10
“Beautiful Boxer” International Theatrical Poster
Director: Ekachai Uekrongtham
Cast: Asanee Suwan, Sorapong Chatree, Orn-Anong Panyawong, Kyoko Inoue, Yuka Hyodo
Running Time: 114 min.
By Ningen
An arthouse alternative to Ong Bak, Beautiful Boxer is a powerful, emotional, and riveting saga of an ordinary person named Nong Toom who takes up Muy Thai in order to fight in tournaments and get the money needed for a sex change operation. Raised in a poor nomadic family, Toom discovers his fascination with wearing make-up and women’s clothing at a young age. His family grudgingly accepts his new lifestyle, but they learn to love and appreciate him again when he helps them during their financial hardships. And through his family, Toom discovers his untapped potential at Muy Thai.
Despite his initial abhorrence of the violence in the sport, certain graceful movements which can only be taught to pros motivate him to continue the program. In fact, the make-up eventually becomes an asset, instead of a liability, because his trainer needs a gimmick to enter the top Muy Thai tournament in Thailand, and so he hypes Toom’s feminine ensemble. Ironically, however, Toom’s formidable skill is downplayed by audiences disgusted by his choice of fashion; and he’s ridiculed and ostracized by his own countrymen for his appearance. With nowhere else to go, he’s eventually forced to duke it out in Japan, where the women consider him a hot item. But by then, he’s burned out from fighting.
While Beautiful Boxer could’ve been just an ordinary boxing biopic, it actually does more than that by exploring sexual values and roles in Thai culture. In addition, you get a detailed insider’s view into the world of Muy Thai combined with gorgeous costumes and lush settings. ( Even a run-down shack looks glorious against a serene but majestic backdrop. Eat your heart out, Peter Pau!) But the performances are what really make it come together. Full of energy and realism, it’s easy to connect with the actors through the emotions that come with the triumphs and tragedies experienced by the protagonists. (In fact, I almost got teary-eyed in a few key scenes which would be Oscar bait if BB could compete.)
The only reason I didn’t give Beautiful Boxer a 10 is that I don’t feel the filmmakers delve deep enough into Toom’s childhood, and some of the fights go by too fast to catch, but neither issue affects the narrative. So unlike a certain American boxing movie featuring a chick with an overbite who can’t really box, but which cops out by making her kill herself, Beautiful Boxer delivers. It’s a shame it’s already two years old, because it deserves to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. It’s that good.
Ningen’s Rating: 9.5/10
“Crippled Avengers” Chinese Theatrical Poster
AKA: Crippled Heroes
Director: Chang Cheh
Cast: Chen Kuan Tai, Lu Feng, Philip Kwok, Johnny Wang, Lo Meng, Chiang Sheng, Sun Chien, Dick Wei, Jamie Luk Kim Ming, Cheng Miu, Helen Poon Bing Seung, Chan Hung, Chow Kin Ping, Chui Tai Ping, Ha Kwok Wing
Running Time: 99 min.
By Joe909
This is often considered the Venoms’ best movie, though I prefer a few others to it. It has action, cool characters, crazy special effects, and intricate choreography, but it just seems to be missing something, if you’ll pardon the pun. Or maybe it’s just that I don’t like movies where the main characters are maimed and crippled within the first twenty minutes. But then again, if they weren’t, then this would be a very different movie.
The plot is the usual Shaw Brothers simple, which is to say, perfect. When I’m watching a kung-fu movie, I don’t want Shakespeare. I want blood and vengeance, and no one delivered it better than the Shaws. The opening of the movie lets you know what you’re in for: directly after the credits, Chen Kuan-Tai’s wife gets her legs cut off (and immediately dies, no doubt, of shock) and his young son gets his hands lopped off. This would make you think that Chen and his son are the heroes of the movie, and they’ll get revenge. But no, it turns out that Chen goes bad, and he raises his son to become a heartless machine with really cool metal hands. Lu Feng (portraying Chen’s grown up son) is the coolest thing about this movie. He’s like a kung-fu Darth Vader, with his Mazinger hands that shoot darts. Chen and Feng rule their village with an (wait for it) iron grip. First Feng cold-bloodedly cripples the sons of the men who cut off his arms. Then father and son go on to blind a journeyman (Kuo Choi), render a blacksmith (Lo Meng) deaf and mute, cut off the legs of some guy who just got fired from his job (Sun Chien), and crush a kung-fu warrior’s skull until he becomes an idiot (Chiang Sheng).
The crippled guys become friends, and decide to take Chiang Sheng back to his teacher, as they feel it’s their fault that he was made into an idiot; Chang had went to Chen’s place to get revenge for the way he treated our crippled heroes. So they haul themselves off to the old man’s secluded school, where he teaches them forms of kung-fu that improve their lot in life: Kuo Choi learns how to use his ears better than he ever used his eyes; Sun Chien is given iron feet with which he can shatter anything; Lo Meng learns how to use his sight to compensate for his lack of hearing; and Chiang Sheng basically becomes a better martial artist than ever: he just has the mental capacity of a two year-old.
What’s great about Shaw Brothers movies is how fast time flies, literally. We see a few minutes of training, and then the teacher says “You’ve been here for three years.” The teacher’s done his work; in a cool shot, we see Sun Chien, Kuo Choi, and Lo Meng walk proudly out of his school, complete men once again. What follows is fight scene after fight scene, most of which are unnecessary, but nevertheless amazing. Kuo Choi or Lo Meng will corner Chen Kuan-Tai’s first lieutenant, beat his ass around, and then he’ll run away. What it all boils down to is that Chen’s birthday is coming up, and this guy doesn’t want Kuo Choi et al to interfere with the festivities. So he hires a few thugs to take them down, and we get to watch the Crippled Avengers handle them, biding their time until they can get to Chen Kuan-Tai and Lu Feng.
And when they do, we get a phenomenal final battle that incorporates pole fighting, sword fighting, lots of flips, some incredible hoop work, and the usual martial arts fortitude displayed by the Venoms, with Chen Kuan-Tai proving their equal. If I had to level one criticism, it would be that this fight is a bit too choreographed; many times as Kuo Choi, Lu Feng, and Chiang Sheng are flipping and leaping around, it doesn’t even look like they’re trying to hit each other, more like they’re just showing off. The finale features the usual sacrifice as favored by Chang Cheh, but, shockingly enough, the heroes actually live through this movie (save for one, of course). In fact, this is one of the few movies in which Lo Meng survives.
It’s really hard for me to pick a favorite Venoms movie. Five Venoms had the tighter story, but didn’t give the Venoms a chance to strut their stuff. Crippled Avengers does for sure, but the story loses focuses in the last half, so that the action may prevail. That being said, the fight scenes are great, as is the costuming and set design. And Lu Feng’s just too cool in this one, giving us one of the greatest villains in old school kung-fu. So even though it might not be my favorite Venoms movie, I can see why it is for so many others. And as a final enticement, the DVD release is actually uncut and letterboxed, but supposedly Celestial will release a remastered version on DVD in Fall 2004.
Joe909’s Rating: 9.5/10
By Numskull
I quote Kool-Aid Man: “Oh yeeeaaahhhhh!!!”
This is a very solid old school martial arts movie that entertains on a very visceral level but also boasts a fair amount of ingenuity. It’s about four guys who run afoul of a local tyrant (Chen Kuan-Tai) and his equally heavy-handed (terrible joke) son (Lu Feng). For daring to stand against them and their bullying servants, each of them is violently maimed or handicapped in some way; one is blinded (Kuo Choi/Philip Kwok), another is rendered both deaf and mute (Lo Meng), another’s legs are severed below the knee (Sun Chien), and the noble-hearted wandering warrior (Cheng Shiang) who tries to set things right gets brain damaged thanks to a head-squeezing torture device. This last one is returned to his martial arts teacher by the other three, and they begin training with him to overcome their physical limitations and get some much-deserved payback. Kuo Choi learns to rely on his ears far more than a normal man, Lo Meng develops heightened awareness of his surroundings (and a habit of carrying mirrors) to compensate for his deafness, and Sun Chien gets fitted with a pair of iron feet.
After some very spiffy training sequences, it’s time for some equally spiffy fight scenes. The skill and physical prowess of the performers will make you curse the day that “martial arts” movies decided to depend more on pretty faces, wires, and camera tricks than on genuine talent. After we’ve seen our heroes develop great chemistry together, helping one another overcome their respective disabilities, we see them fight together in much the same manner, especially Kuo Choi and Lo Meng, who receive more spotlight than their companions in the film’s second half. This, to me, is the most irritating aspect of Crippled Avengers; I wanted to see all four of them fighting side by side and in more equal measure.
Though “Crippled Avengers” is the most sensible of this film’s numerous titles, the version I watched was the “Return of the Five Deadly Venoms” DVD from Crash Cinema; English dubbed (of course) and letterboxed. That title is rather misleading since this is in no way a sequel to Five Deadly Venoms; it merely uses the same actors in the leading roles. Such is the case with other films proudly bearing the “Venoms” label. And, once again, no female characters of any significance (unless you count Chen Kuan-Tai’s wife, who dies about two minutes into the film…so we won’t).
Numskull’s Rating: 8/10
"The Generation Gap" Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director: Chang Cheh
Producer: Runme Shaw
Writer: Chang Cheh
Cast: David Chiang, Ti Lung, Agnes Chan, Kong Ling, Lo Dik, Yen Shi Kwan, Dean Shek Tien, Alexander Fu Sheng, Fung Hak On, Ricky Hui Kun Ying, Kong Do
Running Time: 113 min.
By Mighty Peking Man
Generation Gap is about one man’s (David Chiang) long and winding journey to find happiness and freedom-of-choice in a world full of assholes, cunts and dick-heads. In other words: society.
Judging from the time this movie was made and where it takes place, it’s the same bullshit no matter what age or country we’re living in. People telling us how to live, what steps to take in our future, and who we choose to be with. We’ve all been there – constantly being compared to our more successful peers; and parental figures questioning our ability to do the same. Generation Gap pushes the boundaries on these issues and leave us with the question: who’s right, youth or adult?
Generation Gap is definitely a change of pace for a Chang Cheh title. Don’t expect lots of brawls and blood, because you’ll be disappointed. It’s more of a drama, which shouldn’t come to anyone’s surprise considering the film’s title (but then again, IVL’s box-art seems to market it as a martial arts movie). However, don’t let this scare you away from having a good time. It has a fair amount of violence for the harder-nosed viewers. If anything, fans of Chang Cheh’s lighter action movies – such as Delinquent – should be happy.
The more I see David Chiang perform, the more I think he was the prime candidate for the Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (Chungking Express) of his time. To better say it, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai is the David Chiang of today. In fact, they bare an odd resemblance, both in appearance and mannerisms. Ti Lung, who’s just as charismatic, also appears, but only in an extended cameo.
One thing’s for sure: Generation Gap is bell-bottom fury at its finest. In fact, this movie feels more like the 70’s than the 70’s itself. The songs that play in the movie, which are performed by the film’s costar (real-life singing sensation, Agnes Chan), will make any AM Gold hit seem timeless. The wardrobe, props and film sets are colorful, tacky and wickedly surreal. If you’re a fan of retro culture in any type of films, then Generation Gap is your visual bible.
Mighty Peking Man’s Rating: 7/10
“House of Traps” Chinese Theatrical Poster
AKA: Shaolin House of Traps
Director: Chang Cheh
Cast: Philip Kwok, Chin Siu Ho, Sun Chien, Ngaai Fei, Lu Feng, Lung Tien Hsiang, Chiang Sheng, Cheng Tien Chi, Wong Lik, Siao Yuk, Cheung Kwok Keung, Chu Ko, Chui Tai Ping, Lau Fong Sai, Ngai Tim Choi, Shum Lo
Running Time: 91 min.
By Joe909
There’s a lot of interest on the Web over House of Traps, as it was the last Shaw Brothers movie to feature the Venoms line-up (save for muscleman Lo Meng, who’d already flown the Venoms coup). Apparently House of Traps was also never released in the US or UK, and I’ve read conflicting reports on if it was even dubbed into English. All I know is that my copy is in Mandarin, with tiny English subtitles that crop off of the left and right of the screen, leaving 80% of the movie unintelligible. This seems to be the only version of the movie afloat: low quality video and audio, badly subtitled, and in Mandarin.
What makes the botched subtitles such a shame is that the majority of this film is dialog. It has less action than most Venoms movies, though not as little as their earlier film Sword Stained with Royal Blood. And much like that film, the Venoms are mostly underused, save for Kuo Choi and Lu Feng. Sun Chien, one of the greatest kickers in film history, doesn’t even lift a leg in this, as he plays a judge. Chiang Sheng shows up an hour into the movie, pretending to be a traveling magician alongside the sadly-underused Cheng Tien-Chi (who went on to star in one of my favorite movies ever, Five Element Ninja, AKA Chinese Super Ninjas). Only Kuo Choi, who plays the hero Black Fox, and Lu Feng, as the villainous Butterfly Chua, get to spar throughout the movie.
Speaking of Cheng Tien-Chi, I’ve always liked the guy, even though this and Five Element Ninja are the only movies I’ve seen him in. I wish he’d gone on to greater success. For the viewers out there who love Five Element Ninja as much as me, be on the lookout for familiar faces in House of Traps. Just about every actor who appeared in Five Element shows up in this film. Being that House of Traps was the last Venoms film, it almost comes off as a changing of the guard.
The movie starts off with a bang, as Lu Feng wastes a dude and escapes with a jade horse type of thing. From what I gather, he’s working for corrupt government officials, and they’re weeding out the rebels. Kuo Choi flits through the film’s first half, disguising himself behind a ninja-like mask. Sun Chien apparently is a judge caught in the middle, who employs a swordfighter who makes an assault on the House midway through. Finally Chiang Sheng shows up with Cheng Tien-Chi, and the two of them hook up with Kuo Choi and some other heroes, and enter the House. Lots of bloody deaths ensue. The ending is especially bizarre, with one of the heroes hacking open a corpse, to root out the contents of its stomach.
One thing that harms the movie is that Chang Cheh’s fetish is just way overboard. You know what I mean. Not only are there no women in sight, but every guy wears a chest-baring, tight-fitting, sequined costume that would make the Village People proud. I know this is the case in most other Chang Cheh movies, but House of Traps takes it to the extreme. Add to this that Lu Feng looks like Little Red Riding Hood, wearing (for some reason) a knit cap that covers his ears. Kuo Choi wears one, as well. Actually, now that I think of it, Kuo and Lu are the only ones who look goofy, and it’s mostly due to the stupid caps they’re stuck with.
The House itself is great, though the set used for it is minimal. The bottom level has spikes that come out of the floor, and a steel staircase that will clamp shut and chop off feet. Spear-tipped nets ensnare those who make it high enough, trapping them while guys on the bottom floor come out and shoot up at them with arrows. The set-up is interesting enough, and we’re given a few tantalizing glimpses of the place throughout the movie, leading up to the final assault at the end. The choreography is good for the most part, though it’s mostly swordfighting instead of the usual acrobatics. The heroes also tend to take on traps or fight inferior, yellow-outfitted guards, instead of matching their skills against equally-talented enemies.
As usual for a Venoms movie, the weapons are interesting. One guy fights with a pole that has a metal claw at one end. Another fights with jagged hoops. Cheng Tien-Chi uses an umbrella that hides blades. Kuo Choi and Lu Feng use regular swords, and do most of the killing. The film is pretty bloody, but not Five Element Ninja level. The tone is significantly dark, and I’m anticipating a Celestial remaster to clear up several things. As a final note, animal rights activists beware: you see a live chicken actually get dropped onto a bed of nails!
Joe909’s Rating: 7/10 (this will surely improve once I see a copy with legible subs)
RELEASE DATE: April 12, 2011
In the wake of a shocking crime, an ordinary worman is transformed into a fighting machine in this action-drama straight from Japan. Matsu, known to the prisoners as Scorpion, is locked away in the bowels of the prison as revenge for her disfiguring attack on the warden. Granted a one-day reprieve, she attacks the warden again, which leads to more brutal punishment and humiliation. But her punishment provides an opportunity to escape, along with six other prisoners. Their surreal flight from prison pits the convicts against the guards, the warden, and each other.
“The Drug Addicts” Chinese Theatrical Poster
AKA: The Drug Addicts
Director: David Chiang
Cast: Ti Lung, Wong Chung (Wang Chung), Louise Lee (Si Kei), Paul Chun Pui (Paul Chin Pei), David Chiang, Lo Dik, Kong Do, Lee Hoi Sang, Tino Wong Cheung
Running Time: 94 min.
By Mighty Peking Man
So why were Chang Cheh, David Chiang and Ti Lung given the pseudonym “The Iron Triangle”?
Was it because of their long list of badass films that dominated the early 70’s, despite heavy competition with some dude named Bruce?; Was it because they were like an unbreakable bond of blood brothers (no pun intended) who tackled a number of totally different projects, as if they were a bunch of gutsy little school kids?
Whatever it was, the iron was held together tightly from all three directions.
Chang Cheh dug his two boys so much that he jump-started both of their first directorial features. Not only did David Chiang and Ti Lung had a genuine respect for one another, they also looked no further in finding leading men for each of their films. Ti Lung directed David Chiang in The Young Rebel and David Chiang directed Ti Lung in The Drug Addict, with Chang Cheh producing and co-directing both titles under his very own production company. Talk about a group effort.
In The Drug Addict, Kuan Cheng-chun (Ti Lung) is a kung fu teacher turned who turned into a heroin addict while Tseng Chien (Wang Chung) is a drug dealer with a conscious. The film opens with a penniless Ti Lung, strung out on heroin, begging for a free fix from Tseng. Feeling responsible for Kuan’s state, Tseng refuses his request for his own good. Later that day, the two bump heads once again. At this point, Tseng is still feeling bad for him, he decides to make Kuan kick his habit by locking him into an abandoned cabin overnight. After endless hours of hysterical desperation for heroin, Kuan wakes up to a new day to find that he has just been given the favor of a lifetime.
Thankful for Tseng’s help, Kuan is back on top form and training again at his kung fu school. Meanwhile, a cop (Paul Chin Pei) is hot on his trail. Aware of Kuan’s addiction, the cop questions him about his drug transactions with Tseng. Kuan explains that Tseng’s indeed a dealer, but an “different” one that helped him kick his drug habit. The cop assures Kuan that if he helps the system, he’d also be helping Tseng break free from the dangerous cult-like drug ring he’s employed with.
Things start to get ugly when Tseng’s drug bosses (headed be veteran bad guys Lo Dik, Kong Do aka “The Human Testicle,” and Lee Hoi Sang) start to inspect him because of his shady “nice guy” actions. To test his loyalty, they give him an odd job of murdering a certain someone, and that someone is Kuan.
I give David Chiang props for trying something dark and unique with The Drug Addict. However, the movie is just as dull as its title.
The mixture of martial arts action and rat-like heroin addicts is just plain ridiculous. I’m not sure if I can explain my self correctly, but let’s just say the two don’t go together. Maybe if it was more fun-filled (like Jackie Chan’s consumption of alcohol in The Drunken Master) and didn’t take itself so seriously, it could have worked. Watching Ti Lung in dirty clothes, all sweaty and implying that he’d suck dick for drugs just didn’t do anything for me. Thanks to Wang Chung, this portion of the film is tolerable.
The film slightly redeems itself once Ti Lung’s characters gets off the dope. At this point, The Drug Addict turns into a decent action film with some sweet brawls from both Ti Lung and Wang Chung (who sports the exact same long-sleeved shirt we wore in Police Force). However, the earlier, over-dramatic drug-themes have already taken their toll and clouds the possibility of making this a noteworthy flick.
Oh, and by the way, who does Ti Lung think he is, Bruce Lee? The clothes, the sunglasses, the hair and even some of his mannerisms reflect “The Little Dragon.” Should I even mention the “borrowed” snippets of Lalo Schifrin’s Enter The Dragon soundtrack? I mean, it was 1973, Bruce Lee had just died and opportunity was knocking for whoever wanted to try and capture the intensity of Hong Kong’s biggest star. I say this with some tongue and cheek, but The Drug Addict is pretty close to being a Bruceploitation flick.
To sum it all up, The Drug Addict is worth watching just to see David Chiang’s work behind the camera. Technically, he does a fine job, it’s just the story could have used some heavy re-writing. If you want to see a better “Iron Triangle” side-project, check out the remarkable The Young Rebel.
Mighty Peking Man’s Rating: 4/10
Psycho Gothic Lolita DVD (Tokyo Shock)
RELEASE DATE: May 24, 2011
A new Japanese action/gore film “Psycho Gothic Lolita” (aka Gothic & Lolita Psycho) will be released by Tokyo Shock. Directed by Go Ohara (Geisha vs Ninjas) and tarring Rina Akiyama, Ruito Aoyagi, Minami Tsukui, and Yourei Yanagi. Makeup/gore effects were handled by Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police, Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl).
Kung Fu Dunk DVD/Blu-ray (Well Go USA)
RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2011
Starring Green Hornet’s Jay Chou, Eric Tsang and Charlene Choi.
Kung Fu Dunk, also known by its former title Slam Dunk, is a 2008 Chinese-language live-action film. It was directed by Taiwanese director Chu Yin-Ping. The film was previously titled Slam Dunk, but later the title has been changed to avoid confusion with the Slam Dunk manga and anime series[1] which it was roughly based on despite the film itself having no association whatsoever. The filming, however, conveyed a strong flavour of Hong Kong films, reminiscent of movies like Shaolin Soccer.
“Struggle Through Death” US DVD Cover
Director: Cheung San Yee
Cast: John Liu (Chung Liang), Ma Chiu-Ku, Wei Ping-Ao, Chui Chung Hei, Ma Cheung, Chin Lung, Yue Hang, Ma Yue Fung, Chai Hau Keung
Running Time: 96 min.
By Joseph Kuby
A classic example of a Chinese Opera-seria. For those not familiar with this term, here is the meaning…
Opera-seria: (esp. 18th-c. Italian) opera on a serious, usually classical or mythological theme.
Thus the classical or mythological theme in this film is how far coarse people withstand (ignore, manipulate or abuse) those with humane qualities.
Granted, there’s no singing but there’s a certain extravagance with the way the film depicts pathos and the action contains a rhythmic sense of motion which, when combined with the score, gives us an alternative kind of Opera where ballet is replaced by combat and singing is replaced by the vocal sounds made when people fight.
I should point out that the title of this 1979 film is more fitting than the typically bland Dragon Fighter. The original title has more depth as it reflects the film’s theme of perseverance. If you were to ask me what’s the film’s most original asset then I would say that the originality in question comes from this being a prison movie set in period China.
The film begins with some nice symbolism that would make John Woo proud (if he directed it, we surely would have been subjected to his juxtaposition techniques). Heck, you could say that the director for Kiss of the Dragon may have been inspired by the film’s opening sequence and with Hong Kong/martial arts cinema being popular in France (Fist of Legend was a huge hit over there), it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.
With the tense and grim atmosphere notwithstanding, there are some nice comic moments to ease the tension.
There are some well-conceived training sequences, unique camera angles, good one-liners, effective music, very good action and John Liu giving a performance which shows that he’s a good actor and not as stiff as some have falsely pointed out.
Unlike a lot of kung fu films, this one had a message and then some. It possessed a sense of warmth and humanity that’s usually not seen in these films. But beware, this film desensitizes you with its scenes of violence almost like a kung fu version of Bullet In The Head i.e. three friends stuck in a prisoner camp that go through endless ordeal.
By the end of it you feel just as abused as they are and the experience is emotionally numbing, optically draining and cerebrally exhausting. Just like in John Woo’s films, the violence is done to show you how meaningless it is and why we should stop it. Struggle Through Death plays like a 15 rated version of Story of Ricky with the prisoners being tortured in various inventive ways.
The acting is solid to the point that the dubbing doesn’t misguide interpretations of an actor’s performance. Although this is a well-crafted kung fu prison movie, you’re not going to mistake it for the Prison on Fire movies made by Ringo Lam. Then again, Lam’s own period martial arts prison movie, Burning Paradise, is fairly dramatized with a stylized take on realism. Struggle Through Death is essentially The Big Boss infused with Papillon. Like The Big Boss, you have to wait for quite a while before you see the protagonist strut his stuff. When he does, it has more impact than if we just see him fight his way through both ends of the running time.
The film strikes a fine thin line between crass and class as, quality-wise, it lies somewhere between Story of Ricky and Shawshank Redemption (or for another analogy: Island of Fire and Stalag 17).
For those who’ve seen the documentary Top Fighter, this was the film where Liu takes on those thugs near that staircase with the girl standing behind him. But unlike the invincible Tae Kwon Do virtuoso he’s portrayed as in that scene, his character is someone who’s invulnerable only in spirit as his character is constantly abused which makes him more human and gives the film a stronger sense of reality. The characterization is fully fleshed out in this film so when a character dies, it has impact unlike in most of these flicks where characters are interchangeable cattle waiting to be slaughtered.
But rest assured, there’s plenty of martial arts action; though for the first half of the film it’s more of a street brawl variety before becoming “chop-socky” in manner. Liu’s leg holding ability is impressive though it would be more impressive if he could kick just as good with his left leg as he clearly can with his right – it would give the action more variety and thus make it awe-inspiring. His kicking instructor, Dorian Tan Tao Liang, was the opposite to Liu, to the extent that they should have done a film together called Yin and Yang Legs (perhaps with a storyline involving two men who make a partnership after sustaining injuries in one of their legs).
What does impress without fail or flaw is the middle-aged actor called Chui Chung-hei (who plays the sympathetic if punch-drunk foreman) whose displays of kicks and acrobatics seem miraculous considering his initially harmless demeanor.
As a guilty treat, the main villain (or at least the one who runs the whole gold smuggling scheme) looks like James Hong (Chinese actor usually seen in American films like Big Trouble In Little China).
Though to be honest, my motives for purchasing this film weren’t for the morality issues, political parallels or deep symbolism. It was more to do with the cool DVD cover (painted picture) which (besides featuring the likable tagline “He worked in Hell now he must fight like the devil”) exaggerates the prison camp in the film. On the UK DVD cover, it’s shown as a massive fortress on the edge of this canyon whilst John Liu takes on the James Hong lookalike underneath a red sky backdrop where the sun is blazing – playing up the “fighting the devil in hell” factor.
The Chinese translator from Fist of Fury, Paul Wei, is in this too.
On a final note, the translators working on this film thought it would be amusing to translate one of the actor’s names as F*ck.
Joseph Kuby’s Rating: 9/10
"Dragon The Master" UK DVD Cover
Director: Ray Woo
Writer: Ray Woo
Producer: Joseph Lai, Ricky Wong, George Lai
Cast: Dragon Sek, Karen Cheung, Roy Cheung, Edward So, Billy Chow Bei-Lei, Lily Chung, Huang Yang
Running Time: 89 min.
By Joseph Kuby
OK but no point!
Just to save you from watching this movie with no obvious preconception of what this movie is about, I’ll tell you the plot in a nutshell.
I know it’s called spoiling the plot but really this is the sort of film in which understanding the plot prior to watching it is essential – not because it’s a martial arts/action movie but because the plot is convoluted junk (not because having a complicated plot is automatically junk but because the film’s plot is convoluted and it’s of the junk variety).
I only read Jeff’s review and the one over at the “Bruceploitation is a crime” site so naturally watching this film didn’t prove to be too taxing (i.e. a chore).
The plot is that this woman called Shelly (played by an actress whose lack of experience as a screen actress {as stated in the DVD extras} shows as she looks at the camera sometimes, though this could be faulted due to the lack of direction and an inproper script than lack of thespian judgement) has invented this computer game which is supported by a fellow colleague called Ko Wei (played by Roy Cheung – who doesn’t seem to be enjoying himself, wishing for better material) though the company would rather bootleg her material than sell it earnestly (perhaps this is a metaphor of the Hong Kong film industry itself and media moguls everywhere to a certain extent).
Her game gets stolen by these two ninjas (supposedly the later mentioned female assassins) and then she enlists the help of her best friend Sherwood (a disco socialite junkie who’s in over her head and a bit ditzy, as well as being something of a clutz) and her brother, Bruce Lee lookalike, Ti Lung (named after the famous martial arts actor who appeared in John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow) who, for no other reason other than the fact that this is a Bruceploitation movie, first shows up dressed in a yellow catsuit akin to Bruce Lee from Game Of Death (the suit most people {outside of Asian cinema fan circles} associate with Uma Thurman in Kill Bill).
A sub-plot is introduced (which could have been handled with some depth as it merely alludes to such depth waiting to be explored) which involves a wayward kickboxer who hails from the countryside looking for a way to enter the local tournament (an event which is alluded to in the film but never happens – again, not due to unpredictable storytelling mechanics but due to lack of budget….in case you can’t tell, this isn’t a big budget movie in the Hong Kong sense nor in the general sense).
He gets taken in by the schools of Jackie Cheng and Dragon Sek but is eventually forced to leave both subsequently due to lack of discipline to tolerate the bullying antics of the students. His wife abandoned him due to his martial arts-oriented ways, now he’s looking for her, finds that she’s in hospital and needs a lot of money to save her for a life-threatening operation.
Money which is only partially provided by Ko Wei, who happens to be a long-time friend of the kickboxer and forces him to do stuff in order to get what he wants via emotional blackmail but Billy is so happy to see his friend and so relieved yet distraught to find his wife that he barely notices the seedy undertones of the whole shebang.
Shelly and Dragon’s brother get kidnapped as the game that was being sold to the bootleggers was false so Dragon is coerced to team up with unlikely assistants to get them back whilst Ko Wei constantly threatens Shelly to hand over the format of the game.
Sometimes, Billy Chow’s character is more sympathetic than Dragon Sek’s and this isn’t some kind of cleverly written irony or a three dimensional way to highlight and flesh out characterization as a way of saying everyone is good and bad, but it’s just simply bad screenwriting (i.e. inconsistent character portrayals).
Speaking of characterization, I wasn’t sure as to whether Shelly was a shy character or if it was due to the cluelessness (or shy/embarrassed) appearance of the actress playing her (but again, it’s probably down to the direction and scripting).
The Bruceploitation era ended years ago and they still haven’t improved much with their budgets & overall production finesse, so why did they bother NOW?
It’s an okay film in that it’s technically well made, a mildly competent film if not a good one.
There were continuity errors that I spotted in regards to the way a person looked during a transition from shot to shot. Also, there’s an error I found in which the boyfriend of one of the female protagonists (the female martial artist called Sherwood as played by Karen Cheng) has spotted the two females (who are looking for the bootleggers in this building) and is trying to hide from them yet the positioning of all three could never allow for him to spot them without himself being spotted (especially as he tries to run away).
The fight scenes could have been shot much better which is a shame as the choreography was almost on a Yuen Woo Ping level. At the very worst, the fight scenes are a poor man’s version of the stuff headed by Corey Yuen Kwai’s stunt team. At the very best, the fight scenes feel like Corey had a hand in them.
On the behind the scenes featurette, the fight scenes looked so much better, not just because they’re shot from a stationary camera where you can see the choreography reveal in front of your eyes without lots of close-up camera angles and too much fast editing, but because some of the footage that was shown was taken from the widescreen print of the film making you wish that the Western distributors had released the film in widescreen. Also, the film looks like something from the early 90s (due to quality of print) despite being made in 2003!
The best fight scenes are the ones which involved Dragon taking on the kart-driving assassins and the assassins on the first floor of the pagoda he enters at the very end of the film.
There’s only four other fight scenes which constitute as being the best leaving the others to look slightly average or poor in comparison: the introductory fight to the film which contains a nicely filmed stand-off beween two female opponents (for mainstreamers, this may recall the fight between Michelle Yeoh and Zhang ZiYi in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), the fight between Dragon Sek and the drunken boxer (unashamedly called Jackie Cheng), the final fight at Dragon’s dojo (which sees Dragon, Karen and Jackie take on a duo of blackly-clad female assassins) and when Jackie takes on one of the main villains outside the pagoda.
In fact, whenever Billy Chow showed up on screen (the kickboxer from the countryside) the screen was set alight and his appearance raises this out of its B movie leanings in the same way Dorian Tan Tao Liang’s and Jim Kelly’s appearances lifted Black Belt Jones 2: The Tattoo Connection out of B movie limbo (Dorian’s presence for artistic reasons and Jim’s presence for commercial reasons); so naturally when Billy shows up the fight scenes are worth their salt.
Critically acclaimed actor Roy Cheung (who was in Johnnie To’s The Mission) was in this movie as well playing the love interest of Dragon’s sister (called Shelly) who originally sticks up for her idea of a computer game but who is really a shady entrepreneur trying to rip her off by selling the computer game to shifty bootleggers.
His appearance also lifts this from its B movie leanings though he’s wasted (like what he said on the behind the scenes featurette, there wasn’t much psychology written for the character).
It could have been left uncut too as there’s a scene featured in the making of documentary (though shot from a behind the scenes perspective) that involves the female martial artist and our Bruce Lee lookalike jogging with the latter’s students.
The guy who’s the Bruce Lee lookalike looks like a muscular and taller version of Teddy Robin Kwan (who played Boomer in Jackie Chan’s Twin Dragons) than Bruce Lee. Also, our Jackie Chan wannabe looks more like Manfred Wong (producer/screenwriter of The Duel, of whom can be seen on the UK DVD release of said film) than Jackie Chan (the only similarities are the hair and a big nose) and he’s incredibly dopey looking to boot.
Word has it that Disney wants Yuen Woo Ping to remake Seven Dwarfs & Snow White except with Shaolin monks in the leading roles, so this dopey JC wannabe is a pure candidate for the dopey monk!
It’s interesting how the story reflects Bruce’s original plans (and rewrites) for Game Of Death. Both of these movies (minus the 1978 version of Game Of Death) are about a retired martial arts champion whose sister and brother are kidnapped by the Korean mafia, thus forcing our hero to team up with unlikely assistants to battle opponents associated with a pagoda.
The idea, originally (i.e. before Bruce began shooting) was that on each floor there would be a group of martial artists of a particular style, in the case of the first floor – it is guarded by a group of staff-wielding thugs.
I wonder if these inspirations were intentional (no sarcastic pun intended) though I think with Bruce’s popularity in the East, it’s fair to say that the screenwriters are huge Bruce Lee fans and did their research (either casually as fans or formally as filmmakers looking for ideas).
In fact, I’d go so far to say that the film tries too hard to capture the essence of Bruce Lee’s films that it barely has its own identity (only a select few things from this film make it memorable, but only just); and by this I mean the contrived attempts to reference Bruce Lee’s classics i.e. Way Of The Dragon (the way Dragon dresses at the very end) and Enter The Dragon (the hideously contrived yet hilariously laughable attempt at revisiting Bruce Lee’s battle scars from the showdown of that film, as well as the idea of him fighting in an environment that threatens to overwhelm him).
The ending is really corny with Dragon doing a jump kick to stop the two main villains (who aren’t martial artists) in a slow motion one-take deal – he jumps really high in the air complete with cheesy facial expressions and a typical Bruce Lee-style war cry.
We never really find out if they rescued the siblings or not, though the assumption is that they did (something that could be down to leaving things left to the imagination or simply, yet once more again, lack of budget or lazy screenwriting).
Dragon The Master is really a bad film (regardless of the bad dubbing which makes this movie terrible) but one that remains to be essentially a guilty pleasure.
Needless to say, I had a fun time watching the Bruceploitation genre being revamped for the millennium for mainstream audiences to savour. The movie isn’t so bad that I won’t check out Dragon Sek’s future work as the guy has potential (plus his appearance in Big Boss Untouchable {a shot on video remake of Bruce Lee’s The Big Boss} sounds intriguing and looks cool, so nonetheless I’ll check that out sometime soon) but it’s still bad.
Joseph Kuby’s Rating: 5/10
“Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind” Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director: Tsui Hark
Cast: Lin Chen Chi, Lo Lieh, Tse Bo-law, Lung Tin-sang, Ray Lui, Bruce Barron, Ronny Yu Yan-Tai
Running Time: 91 min.
By Mighty Peking Man
Okay, I’m not sure what was running through Tsui Hark’s mind when when he made this flick, but it takes a twisted, LCD-induced individual to pump out something so bizarre, yet so entertaining.
The best thing about Don’t Play With Fire is all the characters are pieces of shit:
The main female character (Lin Chen Chi), who apparently gets off on sticking needles through the heads of her pet mice, is a mental case who is very capable of pulling a Columbine. The main cop (Lo Lei), is no Riggs or Murtaugh, unless you can picture those guys slapping a family member around before a stakeout. Another pack of characters consist of trouble-making, nerdy school boys who go about their day after running down a pedestrian.
Mesh all of the above with gangsters, weirdos, mercenaries and Rambo-like killers (they basically look like the white bad guys from a Godfrey Ho ninja flick… wait a minute… one of them actually IS from a Godfrey Ho ninja flick: Bruce Baron!) and what you get is one of the most unexplainable, off the hook, ultra-violent Hong Kong flicks I have ever seen – and every single minute of it is a guilty pleasure that will leave you begging for more. Even the so-bad-it’s-good english dubbing is amusing.
Despite it’s 80’s exterior (an the fact that it looks like it was filmed where they serve fresh Adobo), Dont Play With Fire is ahead of its time in more ways than one. Tsui Hark’s flashy camera work is present; in fact, think of it as Time & Tide, minus the budget, but with more balls, and a lot less late-90’s flash.
The soundtrack, which features original tracks stolen (and I really think Tsui Hark wanted you to think it was stolen) from Fist of Fury, Star Trek: The Movie and some of that moody synth from Dawn of the Dead.
It’s titles like this that put the Hong Kong action film on the map. And believe me, my opinion counts. Back then, I watched them all. It was all about Tsui Hark, John Woo and Don “The Dragon” Wilson.
P.S. I just sent a DVD copy of this movie to peta.org. I’m sure they’ll appreciate the Anamorphic Widescreen.
Mighty Peking Man’s Rating: 8/10
By Vic Nguyen
In the late 1970’s, an aspiring filmmaker named Tsui Hark returned to Hong Kong fresh from his experiences in the United States (from film school in Texas to documentary filmmaking in New York City). After a brief stay in the television industry, Tsui was given the opportunity to direct his first feature film, The Butterfly Murders (a wonderful film which is unfortunately only available in horribly cropped editions on VCD and VHS), which ultimately turned out to be a failure at the box office. His follow up film, the deliciously weird We’re Going to Eat You, was another dud in terms of ticket sales. With his filmmaking future in doubt, Tsui decided to lay it all on the line, and forego any semblance of commercialism for his next film. What would result is Dangerous Encounters, a sick and twisted masterpiece, guaranteed to shock even the most jaded gorehounds.
For those of you who still question Tsui Hark’s abilities as a storyteller/filmmaker, I highly suggest hunting down this unforgettably disturbing piece, which is dark and nihilistic to the utmost extreme. From the horrific opening images (containing a scene of animal cruelty which would undoubtebly incite protests from animal rights activists in the states) to the carnage-filled finale, it is quite obvious that Dangerous Encounters was extracted from the mind of an angry individual.
According to Dangerous Encounters, the world is a festering shithole deprived of any modicum of goodness and humanity. This barren wasteland is clearly represented by the characters of the story, who are distanced from any positive traits whatsoever. The 3 teenagers are foolish creatins who show no regard for anyone but themselves. This is effectively conveyed in a scene in which they casually dismiss a child’s gravestone. The American mercenaries, in the mean time, are blood thirsty savages who are willing to spill buckets of blood in order to get what they want. And let’s not forget the main character (effectively portrayed by cute actress Lin Ching-chi, who is anything but in this film); a mentally disturbed teenage girl who spends her leisure time driving needles into the brains of helpless mice, among other sadistic shortcomings to numerous to detail in a single film review.
With a seemingly unlimited amount of stage blood, Tsui and action director Ching Siu-tung (who collaborated for the first time on this project) utilize experimental camera angles, expert editing, gloomy lighting techniques, and old fashioned ingenuity to craft some impressive action/suspense sequences. The finale, pitting the heavily armed American mercenaries versus the hapless teenagers in a cemetary, is one of the most intense setpieces Tsui has ever committed to film.
Not surprisingly, Dangerous Encounters ran into trouble with the Hong Kong censors (but mostly for political content). After extensive editing, the film was released, and predictably failed at the box office. Tsui Hark followed up Dangerous Encounters with the commercially successful All the Wrong Clues….For the Right Solutions, which is the antithesis of Dangerous Encounters in every sense of the word.
Tsui Hark has built quite a prolific filmography in the years to come, but it is unlikely that he would have the balls to make a film like this ever again.
Notes of interest: Finding a decent copy of Dangerous Encounters can be quite the task. Mei Ah did issue a laserdisc edition a while back, but it is of course out of print and nearly impossible to find. A European VHS edition (the version I saw) is more readily accessible, but it is cropped, dubbed in English, and subtitled in what appears to be German. Although it obviously isn’t an ideal release, the film itself still packs quite a punch. Finally, a letterboxed DVD was released in Japan, but it has no English subtitles.
– Political activist/prolific producer/Lucky Star John Sham Kin-fun has a minor role in the film as a cop. Also worth noting is actor Ray Lui (most famous for his role opposite Chow Yun-fat in the Shanghai Beach (aka The Bund) TV series), who also appears as a cop. Tsui Hark himself makes a brief appearance (still boasting the trademark goatee) as a men’s room attendant.
-The music in Dangerous Encounters consists entirely of cues from stolen sources. According to John Charles in his book, The Hong Kong Filmography (p 203), the music is derived from sources such as Dawn of the Dead and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (!?). In addition, I recognized bits and pieces stolen from the soundtrack to Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury.
Vic Nguyen’s Rating: 10/10
“The Delinquent” Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director: Chang Cheh
Co-director: Kuei Chih-Hung
Cast: Wong Chung (Wang Chung), Lily Li Li-Li, Booi Dai (Betty Pei Ti), Fan Mei Sheng, Dean Shek, Lo Dik, Fung Hak On, Tung Lam, Wong Kwong Yue, Yen Shi Kwan
Running Time: 101 min.
By Joe909
I was a little hard on this movie, because I felt that Chang Cheh’s handling of the (mostly) same story, four years later in Chinatown Kid, was more entertaining. In fact, I like Chinatown Kid a lot (glad I hung onto my Ocean Shores video release, as I hear the Celestial DVD features the Asian region-only “happy” ending), because it handles a tragic story with the Shaw Brothers vibe you love and expect. The Delinquent instead attempts to head down the “serious movie” route, but unfortunately veers into melodrama.
Wang Chung is our unlikable hero John, who’s near to bursting with rage. He lives with his dad, a burly warehouse security guard who is basically penniless. John’s just a misunderstood kid, given to actually shaking with rage (looks as stupid as it sounds) and fighting with his dad. Apparently the old bastard used to beat his mother around, and now she’s flown the coop, but John stays loyal to his father.
Things meander for a bit, with John getting into the occasional scrape with a group of thugs. Turns out these thugs are part of a larger organization, which has its goals set on a certain key ring that just happens to be locked up in a certain safe in a certain warehouse, which is guarded by a certain father of a certain young delinquent, who happens to be our certain hero John.
The thugs want John to get the lock combination from his dad, so they can get the key ring. First they try to persuade John with sex (lots of full-frontal here, but the way it’s filmed, I have a feeling we aren’t seeing our main actresses’ skin; you never see her face in any of the body shots), then violence, then with friendly persuasion, a new girl, and a fast car. The latter combination is the charm. John gets them the combo, but after a tragic twist of fate, his father ends up going to work the night the gang plans to break in.
The film’s previous fights were mostly down and dirty scuffles (save for a bit where John is impaled by a hook and dragged around by thugs, though I must mention that after this happens, it isn’t mentioned again, and John appears unharmed!), but here John’s dad engages in a bloodthirsty fight to the death with several punks. You can imagine how this fight ends.
Now John wants vengeance. He gets it, in several hectic and violent fight scenes. Lots of props are used as weapons, and Shaws blood spurts freely. It’s not as violent as Vengeance or Chinese Super Ninjas, but it’s not as tame as Disney, either. In fact, the fights in The Delinquent leave you feeling more disturbed than enthralled, and I assume this was the directors’ intent.
Chang Cheh co-directs this one, and I wonder what the level of his involvement was. The first half of the film comes off more as a drama, with the latter half morphing into your usual Chang bloodfest, so maybe that’s the part he took the biggest role in directing. Regardless, I still felt that the movie was a bit too melodramatic for its own good, and that you could see where the story was going from a mile away. The ending however saves the film, and elevates it above similar sob-story movies about troubled youth.
Joe909’s Rating: 6/10
By Mighty Peking Man
Fans of Chang Cheh’s later film, Chinatown Kid (1977), may get an equal kick out of The Delinquent, starring Wang Chung as John, a rebellious teenager who can hold his own during the toughest street brawls. The story, though not as complex, is a similar tale of poverty, struggle and one teenager’s careless decision to get involved with the violent underworld. Showered with sex, convertible sports cars, and thousand-dollar suits; The gangsters corrupt his mind and blackmail him into releasing secret information for a profitable transaction. Of course, his negligent actions come back to haunt him. Not only does it put him in danger, but also puts his hard-working father in a life-threatening fiasco.
Chang Cheh must have been pissed off at something during production of the film. The opening credits — which have Wang Chung’s character in a deep rage, smashing through boards of what appear to be past and modern illustrations of urban Hong Kong — hint that the movie is extremely dark and will not have a happy ending. Even the music is scratchy and distorted, releasing the sense of “a living hell.” It’s easily one of the most in-your-face credit sequences I’ve ever seen, and also one of the coolest (even surpassing Five Element Ninja’s “blood ring” opening).
The Delinquent is drama ridden, but obviously has enough action to be tagged a straight kung fu flick. It’s filled with crisp fights (courtesy of Lau Kar Leung), neat motorbike chases, and a bloody finale that only Chang Cheh is capable of; And of course, we get the eye-candy of modern day Hong Kong in the early 70’s; so expect lots of funky clothing, psychedelic sets and lots of Mascara on those call-girl babes.
It’s films like these that set the ground for movies years later like Brian De Palma’s Scarface and Benny Chan’s Moment of Romance. Considering the time it was made, it’s gutsy, and the true-to-life characterization, The Delinquent proves that Chang Cheh is the real deal when it comes to the genre of ultra-violence.
Mighty Peking Man’s Rating: 9/10
“Avenging Eagle” Chinese Theatrical Poster
AKA: Shaolin Hero
Director: Sun Chung
Producer: Run Run Shaw, Mona Fong
Cast: Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, Guk Fung, Si Si, Yue Wing, Johnny Wang, Dick Wei, Eddy Ko Hung, Peter Chan Lung, Yuen Bun, Yeung Chi Hing, Bruce Tong
Running Time: 100 min.
By Joe909
Sun Chung isn’t as well known as fellow Shaw Brothers kung-fu directors Chang Cheh and Liu Chia-Liang, but his films are equal to their best. In some ways, he combines the styles of the two directors, with Liu’s mature sense of pacing and Chang’s love of bloodshed and exotic weaponry. Sun also injects a little experimentation into the film, using still-shots and slow-motion to accentuate the action. This experimentation doesn’t always work, but it’s still nice to see someone pushing the envelope, even back in the old-school days.
Another unusual aspect of the film is the post-modern, out-of-order narrative. Like latter-day movies such as Ashes of Time and Legend of the Wolf, Avenging Eagle jumps from the present to the past in a free spirit, as Ti Lung tells Fu Sheng about the various missions he and his fellow Eagles were sent on. The Eagles themselves each specialize in a different style or bizarre weapon, giving the movie an all-around comic-book vibe, which is all a guy could want from an old-school film.
Fu Sheng has the best weapon: he wears a pair of metal bracelets, which he can place along the soles of his boots. Hidden inside the soles are a pair of wicked blades, which attach to the bracelets, giving his character the nickname “Double Blade.” Ti Lung fights with a three-section staff, which he uses to clobber just about anyone. Main villain Ku Feng, as the evil leader of the Eagles, fights with a pair of claw-like metal gloves.
Sun Chung adds some suspense into the film by clouding Fu Sheng’s character in mystery. It isn’t that big of a shock when we find out who he really is in the end, but I’m still not going to ruin it for the first-time viewer. Fu Sheng gets the best role, joking with his opponents right before he kills them. Ti Lung plays it more straight-laced as a guy trying to come to grips with the emotionless, cold-blooded killer he’s been raised to become, and trying to start a new life for himself. And Ku Feng, as usual, takes it over the top (in a good way) as the maniacal master of the Eagle clan. There’s a great scene at the end where he tries to turn Ti Lung against Fu Sheng.
Like most Shaw movies, there’s more of a concentration on weapons-fighting than actual kung-fu combat. But the ferocity on display and the bloody deaths more than make up for any lack of martial arts. The fighting isn’t as intricate as that of a Venoms movie, but Ti Lung’s an old pro, and can hold his own. Fu Sheng throws some good moves too, but doesn’t get to show off as much as he did in the superior Chinatown Kid.
Just as good as the Venoms’s best , Avenging Eagle proves that the Shaw Brothers were still at the top of their game, even toward the end of their movie-making empire. With its charismatic leading actors, witty rapport, hateful villains, and out-of-this-world weaponry, this one is a definite source of delight for the old-school kung-fu fan.
And if that isn’t enough of an incentive to pick up a copy, I’ve even read that the DVD release is in pretty good quality, albeit full-frame and slightly cut (roughly 8 minutes have been excised from the DVD release, I’ve read, but I’m not sure what parts have been cut out, as I have an uncut, letterboxed copy of the movie on video. Don’t get too jealous, though; the picture quality on my version sucks, and the audio’s all out of whack).
Joe909’s Rating: 9/10
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