Jackie Chan has become a genre unto himself, and watching Police Story, you'll understand why. The plot is minimal: Chan is a hero cop involved in a raid that goes wrong. He's assigned to guard a witness, the kingpin's attractive female secretary (Brigitte Lin). For the rest of the film, Chan's protecting himself from the secretary, from the gangsters out to silence her and from his own jealous girlfriend (Maggie Cheung). But watching Chan for plot is like watching porno for existential themes. While most modern action films steal cues from Westerns, Chan condenses those open mesas into the dense throngs of modern Hong Kong--and tosses in Buster Keaton slapstick. For example, when the opening raid goes haywire, there's an unbelievable car chase through the steep huddle of a hillside shantytown. That's through. No roads, just shacks. Flimsy shacks. As the film progresses, Chan scales a speeding bus using an umbrella, uses cow dung as an excuse to break into some Shaolin moonwalking and transforms an urban shopping mall into a demented gymnasium (think clothes racks, escalators, and lots of plate glass displays). Chan is amazingly versatile both physically and emotionally--and he's a secure enough star-director to let his co-stars shine, too. --Grant Balfour
Two rival pickpocket gangs face off on the streets to vie for the possession of a beautiful and mysterious woman who is kept, like a bird in a cage, by the boss of one of the gangs. Comedy caper with comparisons to French New Wave work such as 'Umbrellas.
A shamelessly low-brow parody, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist is a scrambling of footage from the 1975 Hong Kong martial arts epic Tiger & Crane Fist with new material shot by director Steve Oedekerk (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls) in which he doubles for original star Jimmy Wang Yu. Following the style set by Woody Allen in What's Up Tiger Lily?, Oedekerk also dubs all the voices, rendering the basic revenge story even more formulaic and ridiculous. The villain turns out to be working for flying saucers manned by French aliens (!) and the Chosen One hero has an odd habit of using animals as weapons (gopher nunchakas, squirrel padding) and, in the stand-out scene, doing a full-on Matrix/Crouching Tiger battle with an extremely agile killer cow. A lot of the film is just dumb, but it still manages to beat laughs out of you with its relentless goofiness. Though it might seem an ego trip for Oedekerk, he is actually a likeable leading man, pulling funny faces and deliberately dubbing even his own voice badly. On the DVD: Kung Pow: Enter the Fist on disc includes an animated draft of the kung fu cow scene, with special effects elements shown pre-mixing. There are also several deleted sequences and a director's cut of one extended fight scene. --Kim Newman
A showcase for the most rare and popular form of Kung Fu the Monkey style. The evil Snake Fist Master is searching for Ming Loyalists and only the amazing Monkey Fighters can stop him!
In The Black Sheep Affair special forces agent Yim Dong (Chiu Man Chuk--the brilliant wu shu marital artist star of 1995's The Blade) is transferred to the fictional ex-Soviet Republic of Lavernia, actually Hungary, where the explosive Now You're Dead (1998) was filmed. Soon he has arrested Mishima, played by Hoi Lin who delivers a chilling performance as a ruthless Japanese terrorist who believes he is Christ returned to bring bloody redemption. Before long Mishima's fanatical followers are causing mayhem, while in a bittersweet sub-plot Yim revives his relationship with the girl he loved in Beijing before the 1989 uprising. The comparatively low budget shows occasionally, and even in the Cantonese version all the Lavernians are dreadfully dubbed with American voices, one duplicitous official coming across like a camp Oliver Reed. Against that there is an attempt to offer some political substance, and the action--a mixture of martial arts and gunplay--is fast, furious and stunningly staged, so that even as it goes ludicrously OTT it remains exhilarating. The "shoot-the-hostages" finale reaches an emotional intensity and breaks rules no Hollywood action flick would dare, turning into a John Woo-like slaughterhouse which makes the likes of Die Hard (1988) look tame. On the DVD: The end titles carry the Dolby Digital logo, so why both the Cantonese subtitled and English dubbed versions of a 1998 film are presented in two-channel mono is a mystery. The anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 image is good but not exceptional, and exhibits some clear compression artefacts. The "music promo" is essentially one of Hong Kong Legends' own specially-made trailers, and is accompanied by more trailers for a further five films. The photo gallery is pointless but the text biographies of the two main stars are detailed enough to be interesting. Two minutes of poor quality video show Chiu Man Chuk demonstrating some wu shu moves, while a four-minute interview conducted at the same time via a translator for French television does little more than reveal the star as an amiable chap. Several of the features are also present on the DVD of Chiu Man Chuk's Body Weapon (1999). --Gary S Dalkin
Two rival pickpocket gangs face off on the streets to vie for the possession of a beautiful and mysterious woman who is kept like a bird in a cage by the boss of one of the gangs. Comedy caper with comparisons to French New Wave work such as 'Umbrellas
To Kill with Intrigue' is one of Jackie Chan's darker films as he takes revenge after the slaughter of his family. Here in a more serious role we get to enjoy Jackie's acting skills as well as some wickedly fast set pieces of action. Highly underrated but very much appreciated by today's audience.
Detective Bun was recognised as a talented criminal profiler until he sliced off his right ear to offer as a gift at his chief's farewell party. Branded as 'mad' and discharged from the force he has lived in seclusion with his beloved wife May ever since. Strangely Bun has the ability to 'see' a person's inner personality their subconscious desires emotions and mental state. When a missing police gun is linked to several heists and murders hotshot inspector Ho calls on the valuable skills of his former mentor Bun to help unlock the killer's identity. Bun's unorthodox methods point to a fellow detective and take a schizophrenic turn for the worse... Nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice and winner of multiple awards worldwide including Best Screenplay at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards 2008 Mad Detective is a fast-paced and furious yet also complex and disturbingly funny masterpiece.
Rarely is it possible to bring together an action box-set that is such pure dynamite as this pair of Jackie Chan classics. Police Story is regarded by fans and critics alike as the apex of Jackie Chan's celebrated career. Police Story: Winner of the 'Best Picture' and 'Best Action Choreography' Awards at the 1985 Hong Kong Film Festival 'Police Story' is regarded by fans and critics alike as the apex of Jackie Chan's celebrated career. Breaking new ground with its breathtaking fights and stunt sequences it very quickly became a standard-bearer for Hong Kong Cinema all over the World. Featuring a top-notch cast which includes multi-award-winning actresses Brigitte Lin and Maggie Cheung director Chan combines a compelling storyline of an honest cop on the run from a false murder charge with dynamic visuals and full-blooded fight action which is electrified with emotional underscoring. A true classic of Hong Kong cinema! Police Story 2: Kevin Chan demoted and harrassed for his one-man war against a gang of criminals decides to take a much needed vacation but is back in business when Hong Kong becomes the target for a string of bomb scares...
A must have for any kung fu fan - watch as Hwang Jang-Lee and Leung Ka Yan battle it out for the first and only time in their prolific careers.
Detective Bun (Lau Ching Wan) was recognised as a talented criminal profiler until he sliced off his right ear to offer as a gift at his chief's farewell party. Branded as 'mad' and discharged from the force he has lived in seclusion with his beloved wife May (Kelly Lin) ever since. Strangely Bun has the ability to 'see' a person's inner personality their subconscious desires emotions and mental state. When a missing police gun is linked to several heists and murders hotshot Inspector Ho (Andy On) calls on the valuable skills of his former mentor Bun to help unlock the killer's identity. However Bun's unorthodox methods point to a fellow detective and take a schizophrenic turn for the worse... Nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice and winner of multiple awards worldwide including Best Screenplay at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards 2008 Mad Detective is fast-paced and furious yet also complex and disturbingly funny film.
Evil Instinct: Steamy sex thriller 'Evil Instinct' is one of Hong Kong's most successful Category III movies ever. The most watched hotel pay-per-view film in Asia as well as a substantial box office smash it combines beautiful women and hot action with a powerful and intriguing story. Cop Sam Hui gets picked up by two gorgeous women in a bar and ends up having an intense sexual encounter with one. They are interrupted by a phone call from the scene of a grisly murder. The crime is just one of a series and the investigation leads Sam to an Insurance Company where the two girls work. Penny (Carrie Ng) fascinates him even when he discovers that the girls are selling sex in return for favours. Meanwhile Wendy (Pang Dan one of Cat III's hottest new stars) has set out to steal Penny's clients by offering them kinky sex. Penny starts to go off the rails as her clients defect to Wendy and Sam finds out she is addicted to a weird snake serum drug. When he discovers that all the murder victims have a snake DNA in their blood his suspicions turn to the object of his sexual obsession - but it seems she has the perfect alibi... Both stunning girls wear a succession of skin tight S/M outfits as they turn up the heat in this scorching thriller which pays homage to Basic Instinct - but with hotter women and far more style. Naked Killer 2: A suave and seductive serial rapist (Mark Cheng) is on the prowl terrorising an apartment block. Fearing her life to be in danger Chu (Jacqueline Ng) enlists the help of her old friend Yau (Chingamy Yau) as an avenging angel who will seduce the rapist and wreak revenge on behalf of the victims of his terrible crimes. Soon the two are embroiled in an erotic and deadly game of cat and mouse... Her Name Is Cat: It's been a while since 'Category III' movies (Hong Kong's own classification for films which mix sex and violence) have been in the news here but following Hong Kong Legends' release of the originial Cat III mega-hit 'Naked Killer' comes another all-action femme fatale thriller from Hong Kong Classics. 'The Huntress - Her Name Is Cat' is from 'Naked Killer' director Clarence Ford produced by the legendary Wong Jing ('Sex & Zen' and many more) and stars statuesque Chinese beauty Almen Wong - who stands out from any crowd of her countrymen by virtue of being almost six feet tall in her boots or stilletos! Clarence Ford expertly recaptures the thrills and atmosphere of the 'babes 'n' bullets' genre in this stylish action movie which features former Elle model Almen Wong as Cat - a highly trained assassin from mainland China forging a new career as a paid killer on the edge of the Hong Kong underworld. When her path crosses that of tough cop Michael Wong and another female assassin is sent kill her Cat turns huntress to survive.....
An untouchable classic, Ip Man is a glorious and evocative biopic of the man who defied an empire, pioneered the world's most explosive fighting art, and went on to mentor Bruce Lee - the greatest martial arts icon of all time.Set in Foshan, China, during the Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man vividly brings to life the brutality of the infamous Japanese occupation, where once proud men are forced to fight to the death for a precious bag of rice. Defined by courage and humility, one man rises to the fore, Grandmaster Ip Man (Donnie Yen): a Wing Chun impresario, whose matchless fighting skill is revered all over China. Upon refusing to teach his beloved fighting art to the invading Japanese soldiers, he is forced to fight for the honour of his country in a series of battles that will culminate in a kill-or-be-killed showdown with Japan's greatest fighter. With sumptuous production values, a career-defining performance from Kung Fu Superstar, Donnie Yen, and inspired close-quarter fight sequences by action-legend, Sammo Hung, Ip Man is an unforgettable event-movie experience that will define the benchmark in action-cinema for years to come. Special Features: Original Trailer, Teaser and TV Spots
To Kill with Intrigue' is one of Jackie Chan's darker films as he takes revenge after the slaughter of his family. Here in a more serious role we get to enjoy Jackie's acting skills as well as some wickedly fast set pieces of action. Highly underrated but very much appreciated by today's audience.
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