Mercenaries from Hong Kong (1982) Fantasia 2022

This is an insane Shaw Brother film that I have fallen madly in love with. An action packed popcorn film of the highest order this is a must see.

The plot of the film has a man hill the nephew of a Hong Kong crimelord.  Before he can flee the city he is hired by member of a wealthy HK family to go into Cambodia and kidnap the man who killed her father. It doesn’t go as plan and there is a traitor in their midst. Humor mixes with action and a bleak out look  as a team in put together and the plan is set in motion.  

I loved this film a great deal. It has a gritty  go for it style that pulls us in and drags us along. Yea some of it looks a bit dodgy, I mean some the cars that get crashed early on look beat up to start, but the pacing is intense and the turns are never quite what we expect.

I’m still trying to figure out why more love isn’t shown the Shaw Brothers modern day action films. Everyone I have ever seen has been lean mean machines that absolutely delighted. They never felt run of the mill, which some of their period martial arts film do at times. There is a real sense that they were trying to do something more than the usual and it resulted on stunning films like this.

I am so unhappy I didn’t see this at the Fantasia screening because this is a big screen movie that demands to be seen with an audience.

Go get some popcorn and a beverage of choice and enjoy

Highly recommended

Metrograph doubles down on Shaw Brothers with RZA's Dream Double Feature June 25

Metrograph announced that RZA is going to present his dream double feature at the theater on June 25 when they run FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS and SHAOLIN VS WU TANG. RZA will introduce both films and he will be doing a Q&A following FIVE ELEMENT.

This is a killer double feature. Its been ages and ages since I’ve seen SHAOLIN VS WU TANG but I know I really liked it. FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS is one of my favorite martial arts films ever. To me it’s a near perfect mix of plot and action. Back when the Voom HD service was in existence I would watch the film over and over again.

If anyone was going to be crazy enough to counter program against the New York Asian Film Festival, this is the only way to go- do it with two kick ass films. Yes, this really is counter programmed to NYAFF, but you know what since they aren’t programming classic films this year doing this at the same time isn’t a bad thing. If you want old school action go see this double feature, If you want modern drama head up to NYAFF.

Personally if I didn’t have plans for the 25th,(no,I’m not at NYAFF that night) I’d be down at Metrograph - with two classics how could you not go?

For tickets and more information go here.


ADDENDUM: Two days after posting this SHAOLIN VS WU TANG is out and replaced with the equally fun HOUSE OF TRAPS

Magic Blade (2014) New York Asian Film Festival 2014

Magic Blade is bat shit crazy.

It’s so crazy that even the minds behind the New York Asian Film Festival don’t try to explain the plot in their write up they simply talk about how they’ve wanted to screen it for a long time (You can see their write up here)

The plot of the film has two enemies meeting a year after a previous duel to fight to the finish. They end up interrupted by assassins who want to kill them. They end up joining forces to defeat them and end up on a quest for mystical weapons (the Peacock Darts) and some other stuff. There are demons, bare breasts, ninjas, weird weapons and lots and lots of fighting.

I’m not going to lie I have no idea what the happened. I don’t think anyone does. I’ve only really found one kind of synopsis of what happened on line, mostly people talk about the fighting, which is completely understandable because its wicked cool.

The action is the reason this film exists. It’s a series of widescreen battles (and they are widescreen so see this big if you can) that are pure poetry of motion. Swords clash, ribbons billow, bodies fly and magic happens. It’s a grand martial ballet of the sort that hooked generations of film fans on wu xia films. Its great and glorious and almost makes up for the missing plot.

As eye candy this film is great. This is the sort of film that you watch over and over again just to watch the motion. The trouble is the plot line is more plot idea. Yea there is a sketch and kind of through line, but you really have to take much of it on faith and rely on archetypes to keep things going. The result of this is that this is a film where you admire the pieces more than the whole. I know I’ll be talking about the fight scenes and the visuals long after the plot has faded from my mind…which was about twenty minutes after the film ended.

Should you see this? Absolutely. Actually if you can get to the Asia Society tomorrow and see it big it’s a must because this is way cool.

For tickets and more information go here

KILLER CONSTABLE aka KARATE EXTERMINATORS aka LIGHTNING KUNG FU (1980) New York Asian Film Festival 2014

When a huge shipment of gold goes missing a constable is sent to track down the men responsible. A no nonsense sort of a guy his method for dispensing justice is to kill the accused out right. This kill first attitude doesn't sit well with his brother who refuses to join him on the quest. Gathering up some reliable men the constable heads off to catch the bad guys and he'll let nothing stop him.

Bleak wu xia film is kind of akin to a Dirty Harry movie, but without the jokes. Actually its a series of bloody fights that leave a good number of people on all sides dead or dying. As an unending series battles this is exactly the sort of film that's perfect for a rainy Sunday when one can curl up with a big bowl of popcorn and beverage of choice. This is exactly the sort of film that drew in any number of my martial arts loving friends who fell in love with the constant action.

As a dramatic movie I'm not too sure it makes a whole hell of a lot of sense. There are times when the plot gets lost among the flashing swords. That doesn't mean that the film is bad, rather it's just a reminder that these films were never Shakespeare.

If you want to see a super action film that will leave you exhausted by the end make an effort to see this when it plays at the Asia Society tomorrow. Actually if you've never seen a Shaw Brothers martial arts film on a big screen you must make the effort to see this.

Say what you will about the film, it kicks serious ass and I can't wait to see it again with friends.

For more information and tickets go here

Vengeful Beauty (1978)

Last year as part of our Chinese new Year celebration we took a look at a bunch of the Flying Guillotine films. We didn’t get all of them and in order to work our way toward finishing the series I now present Vengeful Beauty

In the film the emperor is masquerading as a kind benevolent man, however he is using a secret team of executioners armed with flying guillotines in order to kill his enemies. His enemies are not only the people who oppose him but many scholars, writers, book sellers and proof readers. His purge not only kills the enemy but their entire family.

Ping Chen plays Rong Qiu-yan who opposes as the reign of terror, which she thinks is being run by a lower official. When her family is wiped out, she vows revenge but flees to her husband’s uncles house to protect her unborn child. However Gang-feng who lead the attack knows she’s still alive and having told the emperor that the whole family was killed he must secretly send his children out to kill her. Fortunately for her she reconnects with Wang-jun who is an old friend and Ma Seng who is ex-flying guillotine assassin now on the run.

This is a breezy action film where the plot is less important than the action (trust me the plot is WTF material at times with a late in the game twist thats out of left field). Filled with stunning action set pieces spaced every five or six minutes apart this is a film where you have just enough plot to drive things into the next action sequence. Nothing in the story is groundbreaking (though the pregnant heroine is a nice twist) and the characters are stock so you can pretty much fill in any blanks.

The action is the thing. The set pieces are these fluid fight scenes with flashing swords, jabbing knives and spinning guillotines. In no way realistic the fights are still exciting and full of oh wow moments. There is something about bowls that kill and exploding guillotines that gets the blood going. The battles aren’t technical marvels but visceral ones. They grab you on an emotional level and pull you along. You want to go to the next bit of eye candy.

High art it’s not. Damn fun it is. This is the sort of film you curl up with on a rainy night and just get lost in.

This is great fun.

Swift Knight (1971) NYAFF 2012

Ah, this is real wu xia.

Old school martial arts film from Chang-hwa Jeong and the Shaw Brothers, and who reteamed the next year for the landmark Five Fingers of Death (King Boxer)

The plot of the film has the title character, a robber who behaves kind of like Zorro or Robin Hood wandering the country side stealing from the rich and helping the oppressed. Meanwhile some bad guys wander in the town and kill two Imperial Envoys, taking their credentials and blaming The Swift Knight. It transpires that they are looking for a certain young woman and her brother...and so is a mysterious beggar. However things are slightly complicated since The Swift Knight is trying to buy the young woman for his own ends... Who are the young people and why do people want them dead?

You kind of have to forget the plot and just go with things since it really comes and goes as required. Yes, there is enough to get you from start to finish but at the same time they've knotted things up so much that the film requires a couple of longish expositional flashback sequences to explain everything.

On the other hand the plot isn't really the point. The point is watching the spectacle in beautiful Shawscope widescreen that as the various characters clashing with each other, and large numbers of enemies as they try and get the girl and stop the bad guys. The point is watching the flying swordsmen have at each other in some wonder ballets of choreographed violence.

Said to be director Chang-hwa Jeong's favorite film, it's easy to see why, it' a nice mix of action and humor. The tone is never heavy and has it some nice shadings of tone (for example the nominal hero, the title character, isn't completely a nice guy).

I really like the film and I'm upset that I won't get to see it on the big screen on July 1 when it screens with the director in attendance (I have a conflict). I suggest that you get yourself down to the Walter Reade and see some old school wu xia on the big screen- just be sure to have a big bag of popcorn and a beverage of choice.

Super Inframan (1975)

Due to the success of ULTRAMAN & KAMEN RIDER in Hong Kong, Shaw Brothers Studio came back with a HK phooey kaiju chop of their own, known as SUPER INFRAMAN! Literally translated from the chinese characters as Chinese Superman! I think the marketing folks wanted to name the movie as similiar to Ultraman as possible without stepping on the boundaries! This film is most certainly a fun filled mashup of colorful & evil monsters led by a pretty, but devilish lady princess with a one track mind to invade & destroy earth with the help of her radioactive goons! What stands in their ghoulish ways is a crazy scientist, his research team, & their nuclear bionic creation, a masked chinese heroine blessed with the extraordinary powers of kung fu, a thunder fist, laser beams, a fire bomb, & the ability to grow to an enormous size! For being a 1975 production, the special effects, costumes, and the Skeletor-He Man looking set design was pretty darn good in my opinion! The kung fu fighting was also first rate and flowed really well, thanks to the fighting choreography of the great Tang Chia! If you have ever seen a power ranger episode then you’ll have a decent idea of what to expect with this film! Super Inframan is eons better with a more twisted looking monster cast, crazy FX, cooler costumes, & more fighting! Some of these outrageous monster characters included the mutant drill, fire dragon, plant monster, the crabman that turns into a gi-normous version at will, and the skeletor mount devil soldiers! The evil princess & her henchwoman, the sexy witch eye had costumes that looked like Madonna might have copped’ for one of her world tours with her torpedo breasted inspired self! The chinese superman was played by none other than DANNY LEE! (The Oily Maniac, The Killer, The TeaHouse, Blood Brothers). Though, I’m pretty sure when the masked superman came on the screen, it wasn’t Danny Lee in the costume as I have never seen him kung fu fight like that before! Especially, when Super Inframan is doing backflips on the clouds and does butterfly kicks on the crabman! All would not be well on earth as the Professor and the Chinese Superman look for ways to save society from the mount devil demons! Some cool scenes (there are many) that stood out for me included the boat ride with the monsters & the professor to mount devil, the supersize fight scene, & the He Man like set melee between the mutant drill, skeleton soldiers, the research team, & Super Inframan!

As far as I know, there are two great options available on DVD for SUPER INFRAMAN. One is the hard to get copy of the IVL/Celestial-region 3 variety and the other more readily available, but still excellent quality which includes the english dubbed & subbed soundtracks distributed by Image Entertainment. There is a really neat DVD insert written by Damon Foster & August Ragone on the Image version that explains the background of the cast members, & the inspirations for the movie which will also explain the heavy assist from Japan and their most excellent cinematographer, TADASHI NISHIMOTO aka HO LAN SHAN! HLS was reported as having the most influence on Shaw Brother films and HK Cinema with his technical cine-bravado and ‘art’-look on film! A quote from Foster & Ragone on the IMAGE DVD insert states, "In the 60's, Nishimoto convinced the Shaw Brothers to convert their filmmaking processes to Cinema Scope (christened "Shawscope")." The writeup on the DVD also divulges that Danny Lee’s sidekick in the movie was played by the famed, brucesploitation actor, Huang Kin Lung AKA Bruce Le! No wonder the kicks were of the high flying & entertaining variety in the film! Another shocking revelation (for me at least) from the insert was that BASIL GOGOS (famous artist/illustrator of the "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine) did the international poster art for SUPER INFRAMAN! I've got to hit up BASIL GOGOS with a sketch at the CHILLER THEATRE CONVENTION this year! Whichever version of the film you get, you will not be disappointed with the radioactive crustaceans & powerplant monsters roaming about, waiting to get their scales handed to them by a kung fu demon kicking & backflipping, chinese superman!