Made at the peak of the martial arts film craze, BLOOD BROTHERS stands out against the run-of-the-mill kung-fu flicks that flooded the market in the 1970s. It would be hard to find more legendary names in front of and behind the camera: director Chang Cheh, who virtually reinvented the genre; the brilliant martial arts choreography by Liu Chia-liang, before he himself embarked on a directorial career; and the number one buddy team in kung-fu, Ti Lung and David Chiang, joined by Shaw Brothers newest superstar, Chen Kuan-tai. Set in the waning years of the Ching Dynasty, Blood Brothers tells of one of the most sensational scandals in Chinese history, the assassination of a provincial governor (Ti Lung) by his lieutenant and sworn brother (David Chiang). Ti Lung, in a complex role that allowed him to flex his thespian muscles, was honored with Golden Horse Award of Outstanding Performance.
This is a heartstring-tugging Christmas story about a bar lady who serves drinks to a man that looks like her long gone husband. She convinces him to fulfill her son's wishes of having the father he's never seen show up for Christmas.
This innovative follow-up to the classic “The 36th Chamber of Shaolin” shows the Liu brothers at their best, with director Liu Chia-liang transporting Liu Chia-hui back to the Ching Dynasty with some new kung-fu tricks up his sleeves.
In The Sword And The Lute, Kwei Wu (Jimmy Wang Yu) and his partner (Chin Ping) are on a mission to destroy the "Phoenix Lute", a deadly weapon that shoots poisonous needles up to 500 paces and which can only be destroyed by the Kan curved sword...
Love and lust, passion and desire, and, man and woman make up Hong Kong Hong Kong. A critically acclaimed drama, Hong Kong Hong Kong sizzles with erotic tension in relating the destruction of three lives involved in a love triangle; a macho Thai-Chinese rogue (Alex Man), a prosperous, middle-aged carpenter (Kwan Hoi-shan), and the sultry, beautiful illegal immigrant whom they both love (Cherie Chung).
Gordon Liu plays an anti-Manchu rebel who escapes to the Shaolin Temple and learns what it truly takes to become a martial arts master by challenging the 35 Shaolin Kung Fu chambers in this award-winning film.
Ching Feng-sheng (Chin Feng) and Ching Feng-hsiao (Ivy Ling Po), who were constantly abused by their stepmother Hsia (Kao Pao-shu). Feng-hsiao was engaged to Li Ru-lung (Chin Han) since birth, but the greedy Hsia forced him to forfeit the marriage. When Ru-lung refused, Hsia framed him for thievery and put him behind bars. To rescue her lover, Feng-hsiao dressed as a young man and went to the capital with her maid Chun Lan (Li Ching). She then used Ru-lung’s name to enter the national exam and was ranked first place. Impressed by Feng-hsiao, the Emperor (Ching Miao) decided to let her wed the Princess (Fang Ying), with the Minister (Chiang Kwong-chao) as the matchmaker. On the wedding night, Feng-hsiao revealed the truth to the Princess, and persuaded her to follow the perfect plan…
Ivy Ling Po , Fang Yin , Chin Feng , Chin Han , Li Ching
It's mid-autumn festival, and hunchbacked, Liu To, out to avenge his sworn-brother, Chin Piao's death, calls for Li Kuei. (Who killed Chin Piao ten years earlier in a fight to possess a document about the "Poisonous Dragon Sword.") Later, the two fight, and Liu To loses his right arm, and swears vengeance on Li Kuei, during mid-autumn in ten years' time. Near death, Li Kuei asks Madame Chen (his sister) to send his daughter, Li Pao-chu, to learn the fighting tacties of the poisonous dragon sword. Ten years pass, and Li Pao-chu, now highly respected and feared for her swordplay skills, is called "The Young Avenger". Her quest is to avenge the death of her father. She meets her swordsman cousin, Chen Shih-lun. Mid-autumn comes, and with it Liu To and Chen Shih-lun, who leads the local villagers in an attack against marauding thugs. A bitter fight ensues between Liu To and Chen Shih-lun, with Liu getting the upper hand in spite of help from Li Pao-chu. At a critical moment in the fight, they are aided and inspired by Li Pao-chu's teacher (Chen Shih-lun's paternal uncle) and Liu To is finally killed by Li Pao-chu. The quest of the Young Avenger is at last over.
Cherrie Chung plays Rita, a rich merchant's mistress whose idyllic life as well as her neighbours' are shattered when violence visits the village. Both Rita and the coquettish Mrs. Wang are having affairs with the village postman. One day, Mrs. Wang disappears. A little lame girl, Marble, tells her grandmother that she saw two people quarrelling and one falling into the water one rainy night. When the police find no evidence of foul play, the precocious Marble and her friends carry out their own investigation. She gets in way over her head; now the killer knows there is a witness to his crime.
Cherrie Chung, Ku Feng, Chin Yen-ling, Tang Chen-yeh
Imagine pint-sized Godzillas fighting the DC Comic superhero "IRONMAN", have Shaw Brothers improve on this outrageous mix by adding kung-fu choreography, and then you have SUPER INFRAMAN, one of the most far-out, fantastical films ever made. Starring the up and coming Danny Lee (who achieved international superstardom in John Woo's THE KILLER), the film pits Lee as the thunderbolt-fisted Inframan battling maniacal monsters from the Earth's center lead by the evil Demon Princess (Terry Liu). Adding to the psychosis is the fast paced fights choreographed by the acclaimed action director Tang Chia, beautiful camera work by He Lan-shan (Bruce Lee's cinematographer in THE WAY OF THE DRAGON), and fights that feature an actor who later starred in kung-fu flicks under the moniker of Bruce Lee.
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.
Julie Yeh Feng plays a devoted wife and a mother dying of an incurable illness. Her goal now is to find a new mother for her child and a new wife for her husband before she dies. Because of all her personal tragedies and on-going hard life off-screen, audiences connect with Julie on a personal level, hence making her one of the most beloved actresses of her time.
From its evocative title to its gritty filming to its gutsy plot, this sizzling crime thriller struck a chord with international audiences. The robberies, ambushes, double-crosses, and murders multiply as a hitman, a robber gang, and two obsessed cops clash with increasing deadliness and danger. The director really hit his stride with this film, leading to a unique filmography which includes such other cult classics as The Seventh Curse and Story Of Ricky.
