"Actor: Ka Sa Fa"

• The Thundering Mantis | DVD | (25/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Seriously weird as only the best, completely-barking-mad kung fu flicks can be, The Thundering Mantis is the story of Ah Chi, a martial artist who hooks up with a kid sidekick. However, an old grudge resurfaces, with the result that the boy's uncle is murdered and the boy himself kidnapped. So far so Arnie-in-Commando, but it's at this point we're reminded that indigenous martial arts movies are something else again, as Ah Chi's rescue attempt goes disastrously wrong and the boy is tortured to death before his eyes. Apparently driven to insanity by this experience, Ah Chi goes berserk, breaking free and systematically trashing everything and everyone in sight. End of movie. Devotees will absolutely want this in their collections, but those who have yet to progress beyond the Jackie Chan/Jet Li school of Americanised martial arts films will need to leave their preconceptions at the door. There's a nice touch to the dubbed English soundtrack, where the voiceover artists seem to have taken it upon themselves to imitate various British character actors: listen out for Wilfred Brambell, Kenneth Connor and so on. On the DVD: The Thundering Mantis has no extras on the widescreen DVD other than a one-screen guide to other titles in the Kung Fu Connection series. --Roger Thomas

• Hideous Kinky | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £12.97   |  Saving you £-3.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Hideous Kinky journeys back to the early 1970s to Marrakesh, that hippy mecca for everyone from Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix to Gillies MacKinnon, the director of this movie. Here you'll find one nice but confused middle-class young woman escaping the daily grind of a drab London with her two young daughters in tow. Whereas Esther Freud's book was told from the younger girl's perspective, the film-script places Julia centre-stage as she searches for what she describes wistfully as "the annihilation of the ego". Though fresh from her Titanic experience, Kate Winslet is no drippy hippy, bringing a refreshing feistiness to her role and looking fetching swathed in diaphanous layers. As her two daughters, Bella Riza (Bea, the wide-eyed younger one) and Carrie Mullan (Lucy, the sensible one) are brilliant discoveries--unselfconscious, charmingly quirky and enjoying a camaraderie that belies their difference in characters. Completing the family unit is Julia's lover, the endearingly unreliable Bilal (a fiery performance from Saïd Taghmaoui). When the money runs out, their adventures begin and the resilience and practicality of the girls is contrasted throughout with the dreaminess of their mother, her sense of duty vying with her quest for self-discovery. Visually, it's a veritable feast as we're pitched from the colour and cacophony of the market-place to the dusty harshness of the mountains. And that elusive title--which is never explained in the film--is in fact a phrase coined by the girls as a term of approbation. On the DVD: Hideous Kinky is presented in widescreen 16:9 with a Dolby Digital soundtrack. Additional features are disappointing minimal. As well as the usual theatrical trailer, there are brief interviews with the main players (though no marks for imagination as they're all asked the same questions) and approximately eight minutes of behind-the-scenes footage. There are no subtitles. --Harriet Smith

• The Story Of Drunken Master | DVD | (17/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Story Of Drunken Master

• The Postman Fights Back | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  During the Republican Era in China the country became divided by warlords and there was constant bloodshed. Needing able-bodied men to join their factions warlords paid a hefty price. However the one man that they all wanted could not be bought. This action-packed film stars action legend Chow Yun-Fat and is directed by acclaimed helmer Ronny Yu. Fight choreography is by Yuen Chun-yeung action director of 'Charlies Angels'.

• Wu Tang Presents The Story Of Drunken Master | DVD | (23/09/2002) from £26.32   |  Saving you £-10.33 (-64.60%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Wu Tang Clan and Ol' Dirty Bastard host the ultra rare kung fu classic 'Story of Drunken Master'. Sam the Seed calls upon his drunken boxing skills in order to save his students and the town's people from the evil Mantis Fist Master Chan Biu (played by Yen Shih Kwan of Iron Monkey fame). Helping Sam the Seed is his new protege the lovely but deadly Yang Pan Pan. Non-stop action great training scenes plus the ferocious kicks of Cassanova Wong make this flick a must for Kung fu fans everywhere!