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Dragons Forever (1987)
Given the success of the previous two films co-starring Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao, it’s no surprise the Golden Harvest studio produced another, although it took a few years to come to fruition. In the meantime, Jackie had become a superstar and movie theatres were teeming with modern-day Hong Kong action comedies, so the formula was remixed for what is still — despite the pleading puppy dog eyes of millions of fans — the final big screen collaboration … (read more)
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Millionaires Express (1986)
This movie is ridiculous. I mean that in the best sense of the word, as in over-the-top silliness, expertly crafted to make you grin with glee or cringe with incredulity depending on your familiarity with Hong Kong’s special filmic sauce — equal parts broad visual gags, verbal comedy that doesn’t quite translate, kinetic action and a pinch or two of political incorrectness, all boiling down to a bubbling broth of good old fashioned fun.
Just look at that cast list! … (read more)
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Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
Hai-yah!!! If I was 10 and watched this film I would have high-kicked my way out of the cinema. But as a, *ahem*, mature and none-too-lithe adult… I just made do with imagining I was high-kicking.
Although I didn’t kick and punch my way out of the cinema, I can understand how Stephen Chow felt when he saw his first Bruce Lee film. If this was the feeling he was trying to recreate for his audience, his effort is not … (read more)
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Dragon Tiger Gate (2006)
‘BIF! KA-POW! CRASH!’
This is the comic book aesthetic viewed so fondly in retrospectives of those formative, younger years. Colourful garb and improbable science dominated those moments in the school yard in between those regularly scheduled beatings from the schoolyard bullies.
Such sentimental attachment brings a welling of emotion from within whenever there is a cinematic realisation of scenes previously locked in poses by the constraints of paper and ink — even in adaptations of source material that is otherwise … (read more)
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Eastern Condors (1987)
Eastern Condors is a hell of a lot of fun, and an interesting film to boot. It’s a modern war film (set in post-war Vietnam) which is a quite a rarity in Hong Kong cinema. It’s also got a very strong cast of late-80’s action stars, including Sammo Hung (who also directs), Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Corey Yuen, Yuen Woo-ping (in an acting role), Lam Ching-Ying, Chin Kar Lok… the list goes on and on.
The story starts in America, … (read more)
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Police Story 3: Supercop (1992)
The Police Story series is one of Jackie Chan’s best-loved series of films. The first one, made in 1985, is lauded by many as one of the best action films ever made. As well as showing off Jackie’s talents, they made stars of actresses Maggie Cheung (Jackie’s long-suffering girlfriend in the first three films) and Michelle Yeoh, who almost out-stunts Jackie in Police Story III.
It’s a slower film than the first two Police Stories, this one. Made … (read more)
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Fist of Fury (1972)
Fist of Fury was Bruce Lee’s second film in Hong Kong, after The Big Boss made him a superstar across Asia. It’s a much bigger film, shot with a larger budget and higher production values by the same director, Lo Wei. It follows the story of fictional character Chen Zhen, a junior student at the Jing Mo school run by real-life martial arts master Fok Yun Gap (Ho Yuan-chia in Mandarin). It’s been remade and referenced many, many times since … (read more)
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Hidden Heroes (2004)
It’s a rare event that I walk out of a Ronald Cheng comedy not completely appalled at the completely over-the-top antics and toilet humour that force me to just cringe and pretend it never happened.
With Hidden Heroes it seems there is a spark of promise that may make the next one to come out actually worth watching. Either that or an intense night out beforehand perhaps makes these things somewhat more palatable. So much for a detached objectivity.
The … (read more)
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