It's Meng Yuan-wen (star of The Master Strikes) versus Kuan Feng in this wild and wacky wushu saga of a priceless pole with a spectacular secret. A master martial artist's silly disciple struggles to save it from an evil white slaver, the slaver's duplicitous wife, and even his own bone-headed, but greedy, companion. Hsu Hsia choreographs the abundant action, as he had for both Five Superfighters and Drunken Master. The result is both sublime (for its kung-fu) and engagingly ridiculous.
Meng Yuan-wen, Chin Huang, Pan Ping-chang, Kuan Feng
Talented director Chen Gang wrote and co-directed this tale of a Chinese Zorro who wages a one-man war against the venal and tyrannical county authorities. Chi yau-tung (actor/director Ling Yun) is the "bandit with a thousand faces". After holding up a caravan taking money to the capital and escaping with a slash on his face, police officer Ma Tak (Tien Feng) is on Chi's tail. So Chi calls on his twin brother, Yau-lan (also Lin!) to help. Soon he needs rescuing too!
Cheng Chung (Derek Yee) and May (Liu Hsueh-hua), a pair of lovers working on the police force, camp on an outlying island. Awakened by a strange sound, May goes out onto the beach where a violent frenzy grips her. After her return from leave, May insists Inspector Wang (Yueh Hua) in a bid to rescue some hostages. She shoots the thug under most peculiar circumstances. Then a series of tragedies occur. Her two colleagues die mangled in a lift accident and Inspector Wang is injured at his desk by a snake. Wang's exorcist sister (Hsia Ping), who performs rites for him, also dies in an accident. And so does a fortune-teller who refused to read May's fortune.
When super director Chang Cheh found new talent and blood with "The Five Venoms" actors, most of which were trained in the highly acrobatic Chinese opera and well versed with exotic martial arts weapons, this created a new spark for his use of bizarre weapons in his films. The Flag Of Iron is one of 20 movies that he directed featuring the utterly flabbergasting and physically exhausting action bits created by these five dudes. You have the good guys from the righteous clan versus the bad guys from the villainous clan and it's so filled with "don't-blink-or-you-will-miss-something" gags, you will need to watch it over and over again so you can see the things you missed.
Kuo Chui , Chang Sheng , Wang Li , Lu Feng , Lung Tien-chiang
The beautiful Ching Li works for her father's stocking company while treacherously becoming the secretary to her father's competitor Li Tzu-yang. They fall in love as she teaches him new meanings to the words 'mannequins' and 'hosiery'.
Ching Li , Tien Ching , Ling Ling, Ling Hsiao , Cheng Chun-mien
The U.S. TV documentary The Art Of Action declared this film as the foundation for a new era in Hong Kong martial arts drama. It created a sensation throughout Southeast Asia due to its unique combination of exciting action scenes and a stellar cast of established stars and new favorites. It also broke box office records and inspired two equally important sequels: The Twin Swords and The Sword And The Lute.
The noted actress Li Li-hua, star of more than sixty films since 1947, beautifully portrays the drugged, then disgraced wife of a peddler in the waning days of the Ching Dynasty. To make matters worse, she's soon framed for her husband’s murder by her rapist - the son of the local magistrate! And even that isn’t the end of her woes. It's best to have a box of tissues nearby as two expert directors ratchet up the emotional suspense in this consummate tearjerker.
Li Li-hua, Kao Pao-shu, Ouyang Sha-fei, Kwan Shan, Ku Wen-chung
Director Chu Yuan teams with star Ti Lung and famed novelist Chu Yu for this intriguing, exciting production which weaves mystery and suspense in with the kung-fu action. Ti plays a framed kung-fu master who's seeking revenge after fifteen years in prison, and must survive one attempt on his life after another...
When Ti Lung left Shaw Brothers, he dropped his stereotyped "lone swordsman" persona from the past six years and has since ventured into films with social themes. In his directorial debut, Young Lovers On Flying Wheels, Ti Lung replaces the "sword" with a motorcycle and then chooses the girl and happiness instead of dueling and a lonesome existence.
The "Venoms" are back in action in this thriller of Shaolin versus corrupt Ching soldiers... with the help of the Lama, Black Tiger, and Mantis clans... headquartered at a pugilism school, a dyeing mill, and a beancurd shop. The five men director Chang Cheh made famous in more than a dozen similar high-flying, blood-splattered adventures (starting with The Five Venoms) are all here. There’s the Taiwanese Opera artist Kuo Chue, his fellow light-skill acrobat Chiang Sheng, the evil Lu Feng, the Chinese muscleman Lo Meng, and Korean kicker Sun Chien, whose skills are specially spotlighted in this production. Together they create another wonderfully fun kung-fu showcase, filled with show-stopping sequences of martial arts expertise.
The beautiful phantom Hsiao Chien has haunted readers since her appearance in the classic haunted story collection, Strange Stories From A Chinese Studio. Many film makers have tried to adapt the tales, but none have captured the eerie, horrific beauty as well as this expressive, vivid, ethereal and haunting production. It is given extra significance by its star, the enchanting Betty Loh Ti who committed suicide later.
Starring the stunning, teenage heartthrob Pat Ting Hung, The Butterfly Chalice marks the important directing debut of the kung-fu film genre's most principle figure Chang Cheh, as he burst the martial arts and swordplay movie doors wide open, announcing the beginning of the end for the Cantonese musicals.
Director Chu Yuan has been hailed as the premiere screen interpreter of famed author Ku Lung's martial arts novels, and this is one of their best. This is an exciting tale of two rival swordsmen in imperial China vying with a power-hungry villain for possession of the dangerous "Peacock Dart"It showcases brilliantly choreographed fights, glorious settings, superb cinematography, exceptional scenes, and a strong cast. It all leads to a final showdown that stands out as a highpoint in kung-fu cinema.
One of the most respected, long-lived and powerful emperors in Chinese history, Chien Lung, travels to one of the most scholarly cities in China incognito, and there he indulges his interest in gambling and a certain courtesan.
