Besides his pioneering films based on authentic martial artistry and kung-fu comedies during the 1970's, acclaimed director Liu Chia-liang also embraced the master/pupil relationship to form the cornerstone of many of his other works where his characters exhibited physical and moral failure as a means to either "make them or break them". Besides directing MAD MONKEY KING FU, it's also Liu's debut as a lead actor playing down and out, monkey kung-fu master Chen, crippled by the ruthless villain Tuen (Shaw's penultimate bad guy Lo Lieh). Street boy Hsiao Hou (which means "little monkey" and played by popular martial arts aerialist Hsiao Hao) convinces Chen to teach him monkey kung-fu to avenge Chen's shame. The wacky training sequences and outlandish finale fight leave you stupefied.
Pan Lei, winner the China Literary Award for three consecutive years, wrote and directed this film about the lives and loves of a fishing village. It starred the glorious Cheng Pei-pei in her first film as a woman (she had debuted in a man’s role), and her much-lauded performance won her the prestigious Golden Accolade Award from the International Association Of Independent Producers a first for any Asian woman.
The story is simple(Shaolin vs. Manchu traitors), but the effect was anything but, as the screen’s most charismatic action team with a legendary and revered choreographers for scenes of unparalleled power.
David Chiang, Ti Lung, Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-chun, Meng Fei
A gritty, realistic Chinatown tale about the life of an illegal immigrant who went through a sham marriage is indebted to thugs in this critically-acclaimed film.
Ti Lung, plays Tieh Chiao-san, head of the Ten Kwangtung Tigers, who falls victim to opium. The tragedies and drama that ensue are as stunning as the kung-fu, created by a superlative team of six martial artists. It leads to a truly unforgettable climax, as a trembling Tieh, still weak from going cold turkey, must face the gangsters who have ruined his town while he was addicted.
Starring the stunning, teenage heartthrob Pat Ting Hung, The Butterfly Chalice marks the important directing debut of the kung-fu film genre's most principle figure Chang Cheh, as he burst the martial arts and swordplay movie doors wide open, announcing the beginning of the end for the Cantonese musicals.
Veteran filmmakers unite for one last blow-out before they make way for the new talent. Director Yen Chuan started acting in 1949 and directing in 1953, scripter Soong Shiao-waung started writing in the 1950's, star Ling Yun started acting in the 1960's. They all combine their proven talents for this tale of the Dragon Sword and the evil Security Agency guards, sensual swordswomen, and notorious bandits who want it.
Based on a novel by the great Eileen Chang and directed by the equally acclaimed Ann Hui, this sad but beautiful romance story sets during the World War II, where dreams of riches and love are shattered by reality.
Huangmei Opera movies like The Pearl Phoenix are unique to 1960s Hong Kong culture, a product of the Swinging Sixties but considerably more in touch with their Chinese roots. This one is completed with a gender-bending tale where the male lead is played by a female posing as a man, plus movie queen Li Ching and the singing voices of Ivy Ling Po and Jing Ting. Sit back and enjoy!
For lovers of the Shaw's sumptuous production and martial arts expertise, this action adventure in the "Jackie Chan style" is a special treat. A persecuted waiter turns to a "drunken master" for help when a restaurant customer turns out to be a kung-fu harbinger of doom!
Meng Yuan-wen, Yuan Hua, Wang Sha, Yu Tsui-ling, Wang Lung-wei
Asiapol agents Yang Ming-hsuan (Wang Yu) is in the Yokohama waterfront to intercept contraband gold being smuggled into Japan from Hong Kong by ADU, an international gang led by George Eaton. In a desperate bid to eliminate Ming-hsuan, George orders his mistress Chin-tse to poison him but got killed. Hsun-tse seeking to avenge her sister Chiu-tse and try and seduce him. Eaton next lures Ming-hsuan to another strip-tease place where he locks them up in the cellar with a planted time-bomb. The resourceful Ming-hsuan again escapes and in a savage life-and-death struggle the ruthless mobster Eaton is crushed to death.
Lo Chi, a selective writer/director/actor, both scripted and helmed this showcase for Hui Ying-hung, legendary director Chang Cheh's discovery, and the protege of equally legendary director Liu Chia-liang. In addition, he created a central role for Liu's nephew, Liu Chia-yung. Both are engaging in this fast-paced, action packed comedy of kung-fu characters. Liu Chia-yung is saved from certain death at the hands of drug smugglers by a fisher girl, played by Hui Ying-hung, whose godfather is a "drunken master" and whose leprous godmother is mistress of the fairly off-putting Leprosy Boxing style. Want to bet he'll need that at the furious finale? You'd win that bet, enjoying the martial arts antics all the way. Action choreographers Huang Hsia and Chen Ti-ke also appear in this amusing, entertaining winner where flesh really gets into the fighting.
The 18th century reign of Emperor Chien Lung has proven to be a treasure trove for Hong Kong filmmakers, and director Li Han-Hsiang, the acknowledged master of the costume drama, made a series of four blockbusters about the dashing young swashbuckler's exploits. The scenario won the Best Adapted Screenplay Award at the 1979 Golden Horse Awards, and told of the monarch's incognito journey from Beijing to southern China... and imperial mayhem that ensues!
