"Actor: Kong Chu"

• Jet Li - The Legend | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £7.63   |  Saving you £8.36 (109.57%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Martial arts matinee idol Jet Li portrays a real life turn-of-the-century Cantonese patriot, the dauntless Fong Sai-Yuk, in The Legend. This is a much more blunt and straightforward effort than Tsui Hark's flamboyant Once Upon a Time in China films, but codirectors Ann Hui (Song of the Exile) and Yuen Kwai (Yes, Madam) deliver many lively and funny sequences. The film's revelatory performance, however, comes from Josephine Siao, a Cantonese star of the 1960s in both comedies and high-flying swordplay films, who here plays Fong Sai-Yuk's martial mother. Siao disguises herself as a man to enter a martial arts competition and ends up winning both the prize and the heart of a high official's daughter--mostly because the girl has never met a hero with so much poetic sensitivity lurking just beneath the surface. Chu Kong (Sidney in John Woo's The Killer) plays Fong Sai-Yuk's father as an anti-Manchu patriot so unbendingly upright that he's a bit of a prig. As the action heats up, political stakes emerge more clearly. In the grand finale, Fong Sai-Yuk squares off against a Manchu killer played with great panache by newcomer Chiu Man-cheuk. --David Chute, Amazon.com

• Once A Thief | DVD | (10/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  They only stop to reload! A close-knit trio of dashing art thieves (Chow Yun-Fat Leslie Cheung and Cherie Chung) undertake one last lucrative job before their planned retirement only to be torn apart when the heist goes awry as the result of a double-cross from their criminal mentor. Once reunited the team resolves to get revenge.

• Once a Thief | DVD | (27/06/2011) from £6.92   |  Saving you £4.33 (76.50%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A classic action movie from acclaimed director John Woo (Hard Boiled Mission Impossible II) Once a Thief is the explosive story of two fugitives fleeing the powerful Hong Kong mob. Mac & Michael are brothers... and bitter rivals. Raised by the Godfather of the Hong Kong underworld they vie for his attention to take on the most glamorous and dangerous missions. Now their affections for the same woman threaten totear the family apart and set in place a terrifying chain of events... Set against the pulsating Hong Kong backdrop Once a Thief is full of non-stop action and suspense that will leave you breathless.

• Twin Warriors / Fist Of Legend / The Legend | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Twin Warriors: An action-packed high-octane tale of two boys who grew up together but whose lives took very different directions and are in later life brought back together on a collision course! Fist Of Legend: When Chen (Li) discovers that his beloved teacher and mentor has been murdered he swears to avenge his death! Then with an unwavering commitment to vengeance Chen puts everything on the line to settle the score! International superstar Jer Li explodes on the screen in this thrilling martial arts action story about courage honour and revenge! The must see modern remake of a Bruce Lee classic 'Fist Of Fury' Fist Of Legend packs hard hitting excitement and incredible hand to hand combat into one unstoppable adrenaline rush! The Legend: Hard-hitting international superstar Jet Li (Romeo Must Die Lethal Weapon4) delivers nonstop action in this thrilling story of a young martial arts expert fighting to save his father's life! A ruthless emperor is targeting members of an underground revolutionary group that is attempting to overthrow his powerful regime. When Fong Sai Yuk (Li) learns that his father is part of the resistance movement and has been marked for retribution he boldly seeks a head-on confrontation with the might of this evil empire!

• John Woo | DVD | (05/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Ben Affleck teams up with John Woo for this explosive thriller about a top-notch engineer who wakes up from his latest top-secret job with no memory and the FBI on his tail.

• Once A Thief | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £14.42   |  Saving you £-5.44 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  They only stop to reload! A close-knit trio of dashing art thieves (Chow Yun-Fat Leslie Cheung and Cherie Chung) undertake one last lucrative job before their planned retirement only to be torn apart when the heist goes awry as the result of a double-cross from their criminal mentor. Once reunited the team resolves to get revenge.

• The Killer | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  John Woo's 1989 Hong Kong action classic, a stylish, bullet-riddled elegy to friendship under fire, firmly established him as the maestro of mayhem. Superstar Chow Yun-Fat, Asia's king of cool, plays the most charming hit man ever (and yes, he only takes contracts on those who deserve it), but when one of his killings leaves an innocent nightclub singer (Sally Yeh) blinded, he dedicates his life to giving her back her sight. Danny Lee is the cop on his tail, but the two adversaries become unlikely comrades when the mob decides to cancel its debt to Chow by taking him out, leading to a beautifully filmed and incredibly violent confrontation. Woo places the showdown in a church and punctuates the acrobatic gunfight with images of religious icons, flying doves, and burning candles. An ode to Jean-Pierre Melville's existential gangster classic Le Samouria, Woo's delirious mix of melodrama and stylized action recalls the balletic bloodletting of Sam Peckinpah, the elegant camerawork of Martin Scorsese, and the operatic, larger-than-life grandeur of Sergio Leone. Woo's love of American musicals (and his own background as a dance instructor) adds a touch of grace to the fluid choreography of the action scenes. In terms of sheer action, Woo topped himself a few years later with Hard-Boiled, his Hong Kong swan song, but most critics still rate The Killer as his masterpiece. --Sean Axmaker