Of all the many kinds of films Ho Meng-hua directed for the Shaw Brothers, quite possibly his most internationally popular was THE FLYING GUILLOTINE. While he did not direct its like-titled sequel, he did helm this great flying guillotine follow-up, which critics considered among his best. It was also one of his last for the studio before continuing his filmmaking career in Taiwan. It stars the gorgeous Chen Ping (THE MINISKIRT GANG, LADY EXTERMINATOR) as the sole survivor of a despotic emperor's latest foray into decapitation. Fearlessly she takes on the entire flying guillotine gang, despite the fact that she's pregnant! Lo Lieh, Shaw Brothers' first international superstar, is brilliant as the vindictive gang boss, while revered action choreographer Tang Chia mounts stupendous battles between the soaring beheaders and an astonishing wushu woman warrior with child.
The lovely Michelle Mei Suet plays a spoiled girl Szu-szu who ignores her true love Yang Fan (Yuan Te) to go off in search of a swordsman Chin Ko (Chen Kuan-tai) she idolizes. The search sets off one great action scene after another, until she's threatened to be sold into slavery but Yang Fan arrives in the nick of time! This amusing and entertaining variation on the standard kung-fu film is definitely a winner.
When directors in the late '70s began jumping on the kung-fu comedy bandwagon renowned director Chang Cheh stuck to his guns of traditional brotherhood and moral code films made popular by him in the '60s. So in keeping with the spirit of the venomous success of the cultish THE FIVE VENOMS, Chang reunites the Five Venoms in arguably his second biggest cult hit in the West, THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM. As the film's lead martial arts instructor and one of the stars, it's also one of Lo Meng's finest moments on screen playing the righteous villain Golden Arms whose eventual showdown with the drunkard Hai Tao (Kuo Chue, fight choreographer for BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) is graphically artsy and balletically violent. You won't be disappointed.
The friendship of three men who are as close as brothers is put through the ultimate test when one of them gives in to corruption and decides to pursue his love for his friend's wife.
The Boxer Rebellion was one of the most incredible events in China's long history. Infuriated by the Western Imperialist power's intrusion into their country, the masses trusted rabble rousers who maintained that they had developed a kung-fu which was impervious to bullets...leading to wholesale slaughter at the enemies' guns. The "godfather of the kung-fu film," Chang Cheh, was given one of the highest budgets to date to tell this sweeping war story of disillusionment and revenge. Kung-fu choreographer Liu Chia-liang led an all-star fighting cast featuring international favorite Alexander Fu Sheng and Shaw Brothers' villain supreme Wang Lung-wei. Even the most avid fans of BLOODY AVENGERS, the heavily edited U.S. version of this film, will find this uncut, uncropped original a welcome revelation.
With Hong Kong cinema's new wave, high flying, martial arts action of the 1980's, came a new wave of actors; teeny-bopper, canto-pop singer/stars with little or no martial arts background. However, when a film like LITTLE DRAGON MAIDEN intelligently mixes the old with the new, the results are pure golden magic. This costume-action, drama, love story features relative newcomer Leslie Cheung, who falls in love with the Dragon Maiden while learning the art of swordplay. The recipe is complete when veteran kung-fu stars Chen Kuan-tai and Lo Lieh add just enough weapon-wielding spice to make this film really cook. Cheung garnered international recognition in John Woo's A BETTER TOMORROW and Ronny Yu's THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR.
Leslie Cheung, Weng Tsing-tsing, Chen Kuan-tai, Liu Hsueh-yua
Three young martial arts students and their teacher are beaten up badly by a wandering man who proclaims himself 'a corrector of bad kung-fu.' Determined to avenge their teacher and regain their honor, the three students go their separate ways to find kung-fu masters who will take them as students.
Agent 009 Lily Ho is back! Hong Kong's female James Bond returns to fight evil with this outlandish sequel to The Angel with the Iron Fists. This time Lily is on vacation when she is brought back to chase down the crazy Bomb Gang. They want money... lots of it. If they don't get it, they plant their sticky bombs in planes, stores and factories... Only 009 can save the world!
Real-life champion martial artist Chen Kuan-Tai plays a powerful role in this memorable saga of action and romance; fighting against gangsters for his true love.
In the arsenal of classic martial arts secret weapons, there is none more lethal than the Buddha's Palm, a technique by which an ordinary hand is transformed into a formidable force. Ku, a blind recluse living in a cave, knows its secret, which proves to be as much a blessing as a curse as it attracts all manner of mayhem...
It's a fact: the greatest martial arts movie character is Huang Fei-hung. But it's quite possible the second greatest character is "Beggar Su", one of the famous Ten Kwangtung Tigers, and a legendary Ching Dynasty figure. Little known director Liu Shih-yu decided to fill his telling of the character's life story with the best kung-fu actors Shaw Studios had to offer. He reunited the stars of Liu Chia-liang's landmark Dirty Ho -- Gordon Liu Chia-hui, Wang Yu, and Wang Lung-wei--added such other greats as multi-award-winning Ku Feng and Pai Piao, then gave workhorse Lo Chiang his shot as choreographer. Together they made a rare, colorful, action-packed adventure as Beggar Su and his brother train incessantly to defeat the brutally powerful thief called Centipede. Finally, after much death and destruction, Gordon Liu Chia-hui and Wang Lung-wei get a memorable rematch to follow their classic masterpieces in Dirty Ho and Martial Club. The result is not only reminiscent of preeminent director Liu Chia-liang's work, but essentially an homage to him as well!
A bandit became a warlord in the northern China by helping Russia fight against Japan. Because of his ignorance and silly behaviour, he was seen as a joke to the people. The warlord was finally killed by the daughter of a troupe master whom he had killed for no reason.
This intriguing effort has more than a touch of both westerns and detective films in the martial arts mix. It lives up to its title as a noble guard is both attacked by bandits as well as betrayed by a relative. Then it's nephew against uncle, daughter against father, concubine against hero, and the law vs. vigilante justice before the last plot is exposed and the lovers are able to ride off into the sunset...
