The Trouble-Makers (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)This often silly romantic tale stars Maggie Q from "Mission Impossible 3" & next year's "Die Hard 4." Maggie plays Clary who rents a room in a Chinese flat. Terence Yin from "Lara Croft Tomb Raider" plays the romantic lead who is transferred into this Chinese town. The landlord, the cop & Clary set up a scam to scare Yin out of the house by making him believe it is haunted so they can rent it again. There is a lot of dressing up in crazy attire, but this is not a spooky tale. Yin moves to his Aunt's house who also sets up a scam of accusing him of taking advantage his cousin so she can have an excuse to boot him out of the house. With nowhere to go, he returns to his flat to discover the first scam. Yin's buddies set up retro-scam and pretend to take advantage of Q. She then scams the scammers, which results in Yin taking care of a catatonic Clary. After the plot bounces back & forth a few times, the frame freezes just as Yin leans in for the big kiss. This entertaining lightweight romp teases more than delivers. Enjoy!

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Sword Masters: Two Champions Of Shaolin *Shaw Bothers* (1978) Review

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(More customer reviews)I can finally get rid of my pan & scan bootleg quality DVD, and I have Sword Masters to thank. First, it's directed by the Godfather of HK movies, Chang Cheh; second, it's got the Venoms in it. 'Nuff said. Despite missing Philip Kwok (Kuo Chui), he is listed as the head choreographer. Kuo was having "ego" issues with Lu Feng, and he got so angry he refused to appear in it. In spite of his absence, it's still a great film; I feel it's superior to "Showdown at the Cotton Mill" ("Two Champions..." is sort of modeled after that). Lo Mang got to show his leading man talent, and Chin Siu-Hou (Fist of Legend) got his big break. The 15 minute end fight is not to be missed. I don't know too much about "Sword Masters" (they're doing Chang's 1970 classic "Heroic Ones" as well), but they did a decent job here. Remastered, widescreen, uncut and your choice of Mandarin or English. I'd go with the Mandarin because not only are the subtitles well done, but the English track sounded a bit muffled. I think it's fabulous that these classic Shaw Brothers movies are being re-issued like this.

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A team that ranks high in the pantheon of cult kung-fu flicks is a quintet of martial artists who burst upon the screen in The Five Venoms, followed by Crippled Avengers and other cult classics. The five venoms are reunited in Two Champions Of Shaolin, with four of the fab five wreaking havoc on screen and the fifth venom active behind the camera as action choreographer. It s a battle between two Ching Dynasty clans, Shaolin and Wutang. The Shaolin champions are anti-Manchu and, naturally, represent the forces of good as they use their considerable force to crush the devious Wutang clan. The man behind the mayhem, director Chang Cheh, virtually invented the Shaolin genre of kung-fu movies and shows he has more than a few new tricks up his sleeve when unleashing his venomous heroes.

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The One-Armed Swordsman (1967) Review

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(More customer reviews)Jimmy Wang Yu starred in many Shaw Bros. swordplay films in the 1960s, but it was THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1967), directed by the prolific Chang Cheh, that put him on the map as the leading action star of Hong Kong cinema at the time and shifted the direction of HK sword films to a harder-edged, bloodier style with a greater emphasis on martial arts. It was the first film of its type to stress the training aspect of swordplay and gives the hero a half-burned manual which teaches him left-hand sword techniques after his right arm had been chopped off in a jealous pique by his master's beautiful but impetuous daughter. Having gone into hiding with a loyal farm girl (whose father had been a swordsman and was the original owner of the manual), Wang Yu goes back into action, after the requisite training period, to aid his former master when his school comes under attack from evil swordsmen led by Long-Armed Devil and Smiling Face.
The villains have a lethal device on their swords which locks on to the sword of their opponent and enables them to deliver the killing blow with a dagger held in their right hands as they fight. Only Wang Yu's broken sword (left to him by his dead father, who was killed when he was a boy) can counteract the effects of the sword-lock.
Wang Yu had the proper dark and brooding quality for such a role and he is well served by the violent, bleak tone of the film. He returned to the role in one official sequel, the nonstop slaughterfest, THE RETURN OF THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1968), and later went to a rival studio to star in ONE-ARMED BOXER (1971). Shaw Bros. countered with THE NEW ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1971), starring David Chiang in the title role, which had less intensity and more spectacle.

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(Action/Comedy) A young woman marries a dying senior member of a martial arts family in order to protect her family's fortunes, leading to a duel with a greedy relative.

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The Rebel (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)first, i mostly watch only chinese movies (about 99% of the time). so grudgingly i borrowed this movie from my brother to watch when i get bored. it's a good thing i wasn't expecting anything out of it.
about 10 minutes into it, i was riveted. the actions (fight scenes) were very solid and the casts were great! i was just going "wow!" whenever the characters fight. it was that good! everyone fought like they all learned martial arts when they were born which makes those scenes that much more convincing!
pay attention to the lead actress; for such a skinny gal, she sure fought with surprising agility and strength. she really impressed me!
the plot, action and storyline flow nicely together. quality of the film is very evident as the story unfolds - everything looked good. if you are a martial arts fan or just love kung fu or action movies, this will leave you satisfied. the story is fast paced so you won't get a chance to get bored! :D
pick this up (especially the new special release by dragon dynasty) and you'll have a great (action) movie on hand! i know i will!

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Johnny Nguyen (The Protector) stars as an elite double agent tasked with taking down his own country s freedom fighters. But when he meets a beautiful rebel (pop star Thanh Van Ngo), he rethinks his loyalty to the oppressive French regime and fights back against his sadistic captain (Dustin Nguyen, 21 Jump Street).

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Kill Zone (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Now this is how you make a crime-drama action film. The less said about this film, the better. This film is directed by Wilson Yip, and is without a doubt one of the greatest action films to come out of Hong Kong in a long, long time. My friend gave this DVD to me a few months ago, and I can't believe I waited so long to finally open up the package and watch this film. It's terrific. The other reviewers are not exagerating or over-emphasizing how great this film is. It's totally terrific! The beginning, middle and ending of the film is just great!
As for the choreographed action scenes--they are the best I have ever seen. Donnie Yen is just outstanding! The film centers around a group of cops who have attempted to put a crime boss named Po (Sammo Hung) behind bars. However, they have run out of patience and decide to frame him for a crime he didn't commit. And I can tell you, in the action scenes, Sammo can move as quickly as anyone can. Don't let his physique fool you. He's lightening quick.
When Ma (Donnie Yen) is pegged as the replacement for Detective Chan (Simon Yam) he finds that he is in a pretty tangled predicatment. With Detective Chan making up rules as he tries to nab Po, Ma finds his loyalties to Chan in question. However, he views things from a distance. He is a clean cop, and wants to catch the bad guys the right way. The fight scenes with him in this film are so realistic, they are incredible. Please viewers, do not give away this film's ending. It's incredible. I never expected the ending of this film coming. It totally floored me. Highly recommended. [Stars: 5+]

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