Knockabout (1979)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Justin

Fortune Star in Hong Kong have done us the incredible favour of releasing the Sammo Hung Action Collection, comprising three great films: hopping vampire flick Spooky Encounters, the Lam Sai Wing (student of Wong Fei Hung) story Magnificent Butcher, and this one, Knockabout.

Knockabout stars an actor who really deserved many more starring roles, given his incredible gifts as an acrobat and screen martial artist. I am, of course, talking about Yuen Biao, youngest of the … (read more)

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Jiang Hu (2004)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Eugene

There’s a certain amount of cynicism involved with walking into a film like Jiang Hu. There’s the niggling doubt in the back of your mind that, with the recent success of the Infernal Affairs films, Jiang Hu is a quick attempt to cash in on a fashionable trend. I mean you look at the cast and there’s the majority of the core cast of the Infernal Affairs films (which, OK, isn’t all THAT exciting for a very local industry) … (read more)

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Iron Monkey (1993)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Ching Yee

We love heroes here at Heroic Cinema as you probably know. And there’s no shortage of heroes in Iron Monkey. Correction: I should say, butt-kicking heroes. Iron Monkey has the sort of heroes that make your heart swell when they thump the baddies (and there’s plenty here), help the poor and save the day. So what if the plot is simplistic and the stereotypes are stretched to cartoonish proportions? So what if it’s a little cheesy and the dubbing … (read more)

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Hi! Dharma (2002)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Alison

Light-hearted fluff with some laughs and some warm fuzzies. The gang boss is good, and the lead monk is great (you will remember him from Bichunmoo, among other films), and the Korean scenery is, as always, nothing short of spectacular. The second film, Hi Dharma 2: Showdown In Seoul is a better film, and stars the talented Shin Hyun-joon, but this one’s still pretty fine.… (read more)

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Himalaya Singh (2005)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Ching Yee

What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment. I asked for it. I knew it was going to be pretty atrocious but the level inanity here is so incredible it whittles your IQ down to a single figure. However, you know you’re in dangerous territory when the film doesn’t even meet your already low expectations.

Himalaya Singh doesn’t quite achieve the beautiful and lofty heights of the Himalayas in its title. Nowhere near, unfortunately. If I’m being harsh, then … (read more)

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Ichi the Killer (Animated) (2002)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Alison

The moral of this story? Stop bullying, or it’ll all end not in tears but in detached body parts.

This is a hard one to review: on the one hand, most viewers will have all the emotional (or should that be traumatic?) baggage of having watched the movie version of Ichi the Killer first. This is not a Miike film. There’s no touches of the bizarre humour so beloved of Miike fans. Nor is there the glorious vision-in-purple that is … (read more)

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Hard-Boiled (1992)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Jonathan

There are two types of John Woo fan. There’s the John Woo fan who prefers The Killer, and there’s the John Woo fan who likes Hard-Boiled the best. Now, this is not to say that, in expressing a particular love for one film, the fan is immediately and necessarily prohibited from taking any pleasure from the Other Option – far from it! A fan of The Killer may still groove on Hard-Boiled and vice versa. But as much as … (read more)

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A Hero Never Dies (1998)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Mark Morrison

This is one for the true believers. If you long for the heroic archetypes of late 80s and early 90s Hong Kong cinema, here they are. The makers of Expect the Unexpected (director Johnnie To and producer Wai Ka-Fai) leave gritty crime realism aside for a moment and deliver up a glorious homage to the two-gun-blazing big-heart-pumping Hong Kong gunplay genre.

Jack (Leon Lai) is the big brother in Mr Yam’s gang. Martin (Lau Ching Wan) is the big brother … (read more)

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