Is it a historical, costumed kung-fu film or a gender-bending romantic comedy? You decide, but kung-fu film star, writer, and director Lu Chun-ku probably meant it as both. In either case, it’s a delightful and exciting surprise from the man who made Holy Flame Of The Martial World and Bastard Swordsman, starring a cast of both kung-fu stalwarts and incredible beauties -- all obviously having the time of their lives in this unique change of pace.
Frankie Wei Hung is the Swordsman At Large, who is hunted down by practically everyone. A superlative sword is created just for the purpose of taking his life, but the blade becomes more coveted than the hero's death by it! Bandits, beauties and blade masters battle for grandeur in this exciting story of deceit, betrayal and death; expertly guided by the director who brings showcases to the Shawscope screen!
Margaret Hsing Hui, Tina Chin Fei, Frankie Wei, Yu Feng
Fatherless as a child, Hsiang (David Chiang) supports his mother, but gangsters kill his mother, so he starts killing in revenge. Unlike his swordplay heroes, Hsiang admits guilt, expresses sorrow and is imprisoned. Directed and played by Ti Lung, the film features great fights by Yuan Hsio-tieng (The Matrix's fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping's father).
Cherie Chung Cho-hung, one of Shaw Brothers' most glamorous stars of the 80s has never been better showcased than this romantic vehicle. As a Flashdance-style teacher caught in a love triangle, Chung is radiant and erotic - especially in the steamy love scenes with Tony Leung Kar-fai.
The famed Ivy Ling Po (Temple Of The Red Lotus) stars as a mysterious swordswoman dedicated to keeping the five volume “Five Generations Fighting Methods” kung-fu manual out of evil-doers’ hands. She joins Ling Yun, star of The Iron Buddha, who plays a hero known only as the Roving Knight to fight, train, then fight again -- facing such characters as The Six-Armed Giant and The 1000-Cut in this action-packed adventure.
One of Shaw's greatest period directors, Yen Chun, directs this star-studded saga of impossible love, jealousy and ghostly haunting. Lady Jade Locket tells the story of Lady Jade Locket (Li Ching) who loses her life after killing a man to save her father. Years later, youngster Yan Yuwei (the ever radiant Li Li-hua) finds himself hiding in an old library while on the run. At night, he is confronted with the spirit of Lady Jade Locket, who has returned to her family home, and the two fall in love.
Hui Ying-hung stars in Long Road To Gallantry, a riveting swordswoman epic, in a quest to find a missing martial arts manual. This movie starts when roving swordsman Tu Meng-fei (Ho Chia-chin) chances to rescue a female pupil Mu Wan-erh (Rosamund Kwan) and later, another girl Li Sai-nan (Hui Ying-hung) from underworld leader Leng Tien-lei (Lung Tien-chiang). Li wants to take vengeance on Leng who murdered her parents. Leng, at the same time, is Mu's long-lost father...
Hui Ying-hung, Ho Chia-chin, Kuan Tzu-lin, Pai Piao
This is an extremely rare example of science fiction, Hong Kong style. But fittingly, it's unlike any sci-fi flick you've ever seen. Alien abductions, suicide pacts, superstardom, and the reality of science fiction itself is highlighted in this bright, crazy, and truly out-of-this-world epic--one of the more unusual movies in the Hong Kong cinema of the early 1980s.
19-year-old Alexander Fu Sheng pairs up with veteran martial arts star Chen Kuan-tai in this Chang Cheh masterpiece of heroism and self-sacrifice. Shaolin student Chen is badly wounded by the Qing army, and the young Fu hands him to the evil general by mistake. Now the two heroes must settle the score with the general once and for all. Top-notch performances with action choreography by the famous Liu Chia-liang.
Of all the many kinds of films Ho Meng-hua directed for the Shaw Brothers, quite possibly his most internationally popular was THE FLYING GUILLOTINE. While he did not direct its like-titled sequel, he did helm this great flying guillotine follow-up, which critics considered among his best. It was also one of his last for the studio before continuing his filmmaking career in Taiwan. It stars the gorgeous Chen Ping (THE MINISKIRT GANG, LADY EXTERMINATOR) as the sole survivor of a despotic emperor's latest foray into decapitation. Fearlessly she takes on the entire flying guillotine gang, despite the fact that she's pregnant! Lo Lieh, Shaw Brothers' first international superstar, is brilliant as the vindictive gang boss, while revered action choreographer Tang Chia mounts stupendous battles between the soaring beheaders and an astonishing wushu woman warrior with child.
Fresh from his smashing directorial debut comedy Let's Make Laugh, Alfred Cheung Kin-ting returns to the screen with this seriocomic look at the clash of cultures which result when a Mainland Chinese peasant brings his family to Hong Kong. Family Light Affair, whose Chinese title literally translates as "City Lights", is the director/writer's warm-hearted memoir of street life back in the early 1980s, featuring an eclectic cast of pop music and kung fu stars who shine in their poignant roles.
Film lovers and critics went out of their way to praise this Liu Chia-liang version of the Shaolin destruction and revenge epic. Many called it the preeminent kung-fu director's best and certainly his greatest on the theme of history, martial arts, and family. Little wonder, since, beyond the Shaolin story, it also shows how Liu's own family style of kung-fu, Hung Fist, was created. There are unforgettable sequences throughout, highlighted by Hung Hsi-kuan (the mighty Chen Kuan-tai) and Fang Yung-chun's (the wonderful Lily Li) wedding night... where the lovers inexorably test their Tiger and Crane kung-fu styles in a symbolic treatment of a couple's power struggles. Almost equally unforgettable are the training sequences and a full three titanic confrontations with the White-Browed Hermit (the impressive Lo Lieh), betrayer of the Temple. The critics were right: Liu has out-done himself...as usual!
Julie Yeh Feng gets to perform on a melodramatic platform to showcase her versatility in this poignant tearjerker. Yeh plays socialite Pai Li-lan, whose life is disrupted when she contracts severe tuberculosis. It is under harsh, trying circumstances that love unexpectedly blossoms between Li-lan and Chang Chih-ping (Ling Yun), the music teacher of her daughter Chin Shiao-lan (Fung Bo-bo). Unfortunately, the odds are stacked sky-high against their love. Can love essentially be enough to see them through?
