"Actor: Rocky Lai"

• Jackie Chan - My Story / My Stunts | DVD | (03/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Jackie Chan lays down the ground rules for the world's most dangerous game.......... He's the biggest action movie star in the world (and possibly the smallest too) already a living legend for the spectacular and death-defying stunts he performs which electrify movie audiences worldwide and often land him in casualty nursing sometimes serious injuries. He's Jackie Chan and he has himself produced and directed a 90 minute behind-the-scenes look at what amounts to the world's most

• Jackie Chan's First Strike | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £8.74   |  Saving you £8.51 (113.77%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Action-god Jackie Chan does his best James Bond impression with First Strike, an ecstatic sequel to the classic Supercop. The bare-bones plot has Chan in pursuit of international terrorists, but the narrative quickly gives way to an unceasing barrage of insane stunt work (including a nitro-fuelled ski chase and a grandiose fight scene set inside a functioning shark tank). As with most of the ageing star's recent films, there is more of an emphasis placed on big, impersonal (albeit impressive) stunts rather than the close-up combat that made him famous; but the end result is still a must-see rush for longtime fans and a great introduction for newcomers eager to see what all the well-deserved fuss is about. The scene where Jackie takes on multiple goons while armed only with a ladder is one of his most jaw-dropping set pieces ever--and that's saying quite a lot. Be sure to stick around for the closing credits of gags gone awry, which graphically prove that Chan is truly the hardest working man in show business. --Andrew Wright

• The Stormriders | DVD | (22/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Stormriders transplants Macbeth into a medieval China in director Andy Lau's reinvention of classical tragedy as CGI-laden blockbuster. Officially the source material is a best-selling Manga, and the flying heroes with magical powers and the wild camera angles do indeed have a real graphic-novel flair. As the warlord Sonny Chiba is a commanding presence, while Ekin Cheng as Wind and Aaron Kwok as Cloud are perfect contrasting comic-book warriors. Kristy Yeung is a suitably lovely heroine, while Shi Qi provides irritating comic relief. There is style to burn, with beautiful imagery bearing the influence of Ridley Scott and, in the "blur-motion" duel in a bamboo forest, Wong Kar-Wai; indeed, Lau has served as Kar-Wai's cinematographer. Spectacular yet laden with symbolism The Stormriders is a film to bridge the appeal of Ashes of Time (1994) and The Bride with White Hair (1993) with the Superman (1978) and Mummy (1999) movies. The fights and a romantic flying sequence pay homage to the former, the computer effects update the groundbreaking Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain (1983) with the technology of the latter. Sometimes overly ambitious or just plain bizarre The Stormriders is an emotionally charged darkly romantic adventure which outclasses any comic-book adaptation Hollywood has made in years.On the DVD: The first disc presents the 127-minute director's cut in its original 2.35:1 ratio with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. While the sound is clean, dynamic and makes great use of all the channels the picture is presented non-anamorphically, so that while well-focused, with strong colours and little sign of artefacting, it is not as solid or detailed as it could be. The main special features are two documentaries, a general "making-of" running 22 minutes, and a 20-minute "featurette" on the special effects. Both are promotional pieces made at the time of the film's release. The second disc features the US trailer and an object lesson in how to ruin a film, i.e. the "international" version ofThe Stormriders. Cut by 38 minutes, horribly panned and scanned and dubbed, this is a travesty that destroys all the beauty and atmosphere and renders the story incomprehensible. Why anyone would watch it when they have the complete film on the first disc is a mystery. The sound is again Dolby Digital 5.1 and the 4:3 image is fair. --Gary S Dalkin

• Body Weapon | DVD | (23/10/2000) from £12.73   |  Saving you £7.26 (57.03%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Beginning with a savage murder and gang rape, Body Weapon (1999) seeks to combine psycho-thriller, romantic drama and martial arts action into a provocative 90 minutes. Chiu Man Chuk follows up The Black Sheep Affair (1998) as one of two Hong Kong detectives in love with the same woman, Ling (Angie Cheung). The urgent need to solve the introductory crime is soon forgotten while the romance is settled and Ling marries the lead's best friend. That said friend predictably ends up dead; less obviously the "heroine" deals with being raped by taking some very strange lessons in revenge from an unhinged transvestite. Both the psychology and plot mechanics of what follows are unbelievable at any level, the outrageous finale even translating Ripley's disrobing at the end of Alien in the most misogynistic of situations. The identity and motivation of the chief rapist/killer make no sense in relation to what has gone before and for a Hong Kong crime film there is very little action. The best that can be said is the stars give as good a performance as they can from very poorly conceived and exploitative material. The following year Chiu Man Chuk reunited with director Aman Chang for the action comedy Fist Power which was much better received. On the DVD: The anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 image is good, coping with the many night and low-light scenes very well. Disappointingly, the sound is functional two-channel mono for both the Cantonese English subtitled soundtrack and the laughably clumsy English dubbed alternative. The "music promo" is one of Hong Kong Legends' own specially-made trailers, and is accompanied by more trailers for a further seven films. Also included are the original theatrical trailer and a photo gallery. 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 to be a pleasant chap. The text biographies of the two stars are good, though all the features relating to Chiu Man Chuck are also available on the DVD of the far superior The Black Sheep Affair(1998). --Gary S Dalkin