Let's Get This Outta The Way

I once wanted to do another blog with reviews of Martial Arts films and the like but that didn't work out so not to let anything go to waste here are some of those reviews. Most of them are unfinished but what the hell.....

CANTONEN IRON KUNG-FU-1979-Typical but entertaining (and sometimes confusing) period martial arts movie with good fights and funny dubbed dialogue. Locals stand up to some thugs and action ensues. The DVD copy I saw was an excellent letterboxed transfer! Kind of unusual for this type of forgotten flick!

DANCE OF DEATH-1980-Although his semi-comic martial arts films isn’t that good, it’s nice to see Angela Mao in a change of pace role beating up guys in a Jackie Chan style story. It’s generally considered that Chan himself choreographed the fights under a pseudonym. The plot does have similarities to several movies Chan made around the same time. All the fights are great though!

IRON MONKEY-1977-A reckless gambler (director/star Kuan Tai Chen) goes after his father’s killers by joining a rival gang. It’s pretty boring until the last half hour when IM kills the bad guys. Chen also made IRON MONKEY STRIKES BACK (and many other Shaw Bros. productions) in 1978 but I don’t think it’s a direct sequel.

SHOALIN TRAITOROUS-1976-This is an overlooked Martial Arts film that deserves more attention. The letter-boxed version I saw was not dubbed but the sub-titles were so small I could hardly read them! It hardly matters though! A guy (Wang Chia-Ta AKA Carter Wong, also in BRUCE LEE’S SECRET) sees his family killed as a boy and seeks revenge. A woman (Polly Shang Kwan) helps him. Sammo Hung plays one of his few villainous roles (with gray hair) and has a terrific fight with Wong but all the fights are well choreographed. Yi Chang is the main villain who has a bloody fight with Wong and Kwan in the finale. I’ve read that director Sing Ting Mei’s follow-up SHAOLIN RED MASTER is pretty good too.

MY 12 KUNG FU KICKS-1979-Typical martial arts period piece with a hero (Bruce Leung) fighting for revenge after being trained by three masters who were maimed by the main bald headed villian. It features some nice "Jackie Chan" like slapstick fighting and some gore but by the time Leung vanquishes his foe all the sub-plots (including the rescue of his kidnapped girlfriend) are forgotten though that might be due to the English re-editing. Director Lu Po Tu (who also made THE SHAOLIN KID with Leung) made around 40 movies, many with the name "Bruce" in the title. In 2004, after two decades of not working in movies Leung returned as the villian in Stephen Chow's KUNG FU HUSTLE.

FIST POWER-2000-Jackie Chan style comedy-drama with usual villain Anthony Wong as a disgruntled ex-army officer whose son is taken away from him by his callous ex- wife and her unscrupulous gangster husband. He holds a grade school class hostage demanding the return of his son. A vacationing security chief (Man Cheuk Chiu) whose nephew also attends the school promises to bring Wong’s son back within 24 hours. Despite the serious plot there’s a lot of comedy and comic action.

MARTIAL ANGELS-(2001)-Kind of disapointing action drama from director Clarence Fok Yiu-leung (sometimes billed in the West as Clarence Ford). Qi Shu (also in the equally disapointing THE TRANSPORTER) leads a group of women (with names like Octopus, Cat and Monkey) planning a big heist. The action is there but it's really not enough as the story is more concern with Shu's relationship with her boyfriend (Terence Yin from DEAD OR ALIVE : FINAL and TOMB RAIDER: CRADLE OF LIFE).

COP ON A MISSION-2001-This is an excellent Hong Kong crime drama with Daniel Wu as a cop who goes undercover to bring down a Triad mob boss Brother Tan (Eric Tsang in a great role) but winds up becoming a gangster himself. He has an affair with Tan's wife (Suki Kwan), kills his friend who is also an undercover cop and eventually even kills his own police boss. When he tries to take over Tan's mob however he lives to regret it. The director Marco Mak also works as a film editor. Well, actually this review doesn't belong here....

This was too long! Thanks for reading!