DVD/Blu-ray Reviews

In which Alexander Fu Sheng fights against the exploitation of textile workers! Directed by the one and only Chang Cheh and featuring some stellar choreography from Lau Kar-leung, Disciples Of Shaolin is, ultimately, a very sad story.  Oh, it’s got some great scenes of ass-kicking audacity along ...

Dragons Forever, also known as Cyclone Z, is the final “three brothers” film but what a high note these three titans of Hong Kong Cinema - Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao - go out on!  They play against type - with Chan as the sleazeball lawyer, Hung as the Con Artist, and Biao as the accidental thief - and it  ...

Opening with an animated sequence of the main cast fighting each other, Two Champions of Shaolin takes its use of montage quite seriously as  the on-going feud between the Shaolin disciples and the Wu-Tang Clan expands to include flying razor-sharp boomerangs! Starring Venom Mob’s Lo Mang and ...

In which the five venoms return to save China from mass-starvation as ruthless thugs take over the land, leaving thousands of refugees in their wake! Directed by Chang Cheh and featuring explosive fight sequences throughout, The Rebel Intruders presents ...

In which fight choreographer (and soon-to-be director) Sammo Hung, making his last film with his mentor, director Huang Feng (Lady Whirlwind, Hapkido), gets a headlining part as a mad monk who wields two golden cymbals as flying guillotines.  How deliciously evil!!! The Shaolin Plot, while 15 minutes too long, is one hell of a  ...

There’s no return to normal cinema viewing after being exposed to ANY of director Yuen Woo-ping’s films.  This is an indisputable fact.  While most audiences know the director’s work 1977’s Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and 1978’s The Drunken Master due to his collaborations with a young  ...

Opening with the capture and the lopping off of legs and arms for the wife and son of To Tin Tao (Chen Kuan-tai), Crippled Avengers leaves quite the impression.  First, you might feel sympathy for To Tin Tao but, as he is skilled in tiger arts, he quickly disperses the would-be assassins and, turning to his now crippled son ...

In which the IRON MAIDEN is introduced as a torture device and several sparkling costumed fights take place while standing on walls!  Chang Cheh’s The Five Venoms is already a renowned cult classic and fans of chop socky flicks know the reasons ...

In which an opening credits lion dance against a blazing white backdrop sets the rules of this challenge!  Martial Club, courtesy of 88 Films, has arrived! Directed by Lau Kar Leung and featuring Gordon Liu as Wong Fei Hung (again), Martial Club is a film which seems to be forgotten by many ...

No, not the Jet Li film.  We aren’t quite there yet, Chop Socky Cretins.  This film, produced by Shaw Brothers, assembles a new wave of fighters to assist freedom fighters after the destruction of the Henan monastery.  Due to the changing times, we have fan favorites Ti Lung, Wang Chung, and David Chiang playing  ...

In which Bryan Leung’s ponytail ruthlessly kills! It’s no secret that director Chang Cheh and wuxia screenwriter I Kuang, who wrote over 300 screenplays for the Shaw Brothers, revolutionized the action films coming out of Hong Kong.  Especially for Shaw Brothers, Cheh especially was changing the face of their heroes ...

Capitalizing on the death of Bruce Lee has never been so damn out of control as the Special Branch of Investigations takes brain tissue samples from Bruce Lee, immediately after his death, and hires a mad scientist (Jon T. Benn from Way Of The Dragon and Jet Li’s Fearless) to create three clones of the deceased  ...

It’s time to enter the bizarro world, my Chopsocky connoisseurs! This is a world where, in the wake of Bruce Lee’s death, many film companies - including Golden Harvest, the production company that launched Lee into the world’s consciousness with Fist of Fury, The Big Boss, and Way of the Dragon - started  ...

It’s a rags-to-riches story by way of the fist! Directed by Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh Li and featuring a stellar performance from Chen Kuan Tai as Ma Yung Chen, who heads to the big city seeking his own path to fortune and fame, this Hong Kong gangster epic (clocking in at almost 2 and a half  ...

In which Jackie Chan takes down a hovercraft trashing the streets of NYC with an antique samurai sword while driving a doorless Lamborghini Countach (with a broken ankle)! For many Americans, Rumble In The Bronx was their first taste of Chan’s explosive style of fighting when it came to his choreography and his stunts, with Chan performing most of them ...