When Shaw Studio decided to produce an epic about the famous Italian explorer Marco Polo and his meeting with Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan, they turned to one of their most famous and respected directors. Chang Cheh, who had already proven himself by making such sweeping sagas as ALL MEN ARE BROTHERS, co-wrote this adventure of four Han blood brothers and their quest to avenge their comrade's killing at the hands of three sadistic Mongol warriors. He then surrounded famed Caucasian actor Richard Harrison (as Marco Polo) with the best the Shaw Brothers kung-fu film units had to offer, including future lead "Venom" Kuo Chue, "Master Killer" Gordon Liu Chia-hui, and "Thundering Mantis" Liang Chia-jen. The result is a splendid historical tale as well as a superlative martial arts thriller.
Award-winning drama featuring a passionate performance by Lisa Lu, enhanced by sumptuous costumes and sets, produces a powerful, fascinating story. In five thousand years of Chinese history, there was never a more fascinating woman than the dragon lady of the Ching Dynasty, also the Empress Dowager, who was the power behind the throne for the last half of the 19th century. The vast tapestry of palace intrigues is vividly brought to the screen.
Sun Chung had been recognized as an expert comedy and crime thriller director, but he was to gain even greater acclaim for his soulful, powerful, intelligent, and beautifully-made martial arts epics. This stands alongside The Deadly Breaking Sword and The Kung-fu Instructor as one of his very best. It's not so much the plot - a master swordsman protects a treasure chest on a dangerous journey - that makes this great, but what Sun does with it, inspiring the cast and crew to some of their finest work.
A comedy about a naïve villager who arrives in the big city to seek his fortune. "The Crazy Bumpkins" is hilarious and bittersweet, much like its simple tragic-hero who has a heart of gold but pockets of lint.
It's the Sung Dynasty versus the Chin invaders as the "Iron Triangle" of director Chang Cheh and stars David Chiang and Ti Lung truly hit their stride with this crowd-pleasing kung-fu epic. When a handsome Prince is taken captive and guarded by a martial arts master, it's up to two powerful patriots to fight overwhelming odds to pull off the impossible: rescue the royal son and get out of the Chin stronghold alive. It's action as only Chang can film it, with supremely charismatic acting and fighting as only Chiang and Lung can perform it. From the first fascinating minute to the final desperate battle to the death -culminating in an unforgettably evocative conclusion - this duo is dynamic as well as deadly.
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).
An aging fighter (Ti Lung) relives his violent past mistakes through a poverty-striken, streetwise kid, who severely injuries his nemesis during a battle to win a girl's heart.
Ti Lung, Cheung Hing Lung, Leung Yuen Ching, Law Yun Ping
It is little wonder why Chang Cheh is considered legendary. Not only did he usher in a whole new kind of "yanggang" (macho) cinema, but he was also one of the most prolific and consistent directors in the world. He made more than 70 films in the period between 1960 and 1975, but this was considered one of the most notable. A nominal sequel to the equally acclaimed SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS, this powerful production came a year later and cemented Alexander Fu Sheng's superstardom with a performance many proclaimed the best of the young lead's career. It is also one of the last Chang Cheh films choreographed by Liu Chia-liang, who was becoming a legendary director in his own right. Together, they made this tale of the Shaolin vs. Manchu conflict -- played out at a textile mill -- one of the highlights in kung-fu film history.
Linda Lin Dai gives a soul-stirring performance as a real-life beauty that is tricked into sacrificing herself for the good of the Chinese people. Truth is revealed too late, and she kills herself. Life imitates art and years later, Linda committed suicide.
Lin Dai , Chao Lei , Hung Por ,Wang Yueh-ting , Chang Tsui-yin , Li Yin
Co-directed by Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh-li, and written by Ni Kuang, Chang Cheh and Chin Shu-mei, THE DELIGHTFUL FOREST revolved around the legendary hero Wu Sung (Ti Lung), who was sent to the prison in the Meng province after murdering his sister-in-law Lotus Pan and a local ruffian Hsi Men-ching. There he was acquainted with the prison officer "Golden Eye" Shih En (Tien Ching), who saved Wu from the baton punishment required for new prisoners. Knowing he had owed Shih a favor, Wu decided to offer any help in return. It turned out that Shih's restaurant "Delightful Forest" was taken by the local thug "Door God" Chiang Chung (Chu Mu), with the support from the Meng officials and military trainers. The furious Wu decided to get Shih's restaurant back at all costs...
Mr. Virgin is a romantic comedy about a twenty-nine year-old man Chao Yu-ting (Alfred Chang) who has seemingly been cursed. He becomes paranoid when a Feng Shui expert tells him it will be unlucky for him to marry before the age of thirty... so comical chaos line the days up to his next birthday!
As the names of Chang Cheh and Liu Chia-liang became legendary, all-too-often the name of their equally valued collaborator, Tang Chia, is omitted. That may be, because, unlike the previous pair, the veteran kung-fu choreographer only went on to direct three movies of his own. Of course, that makes this trio all the more special, and this first effort perhaps the most special of all. It may be an eye-filling, mind-bending martial arts tale of two royal princes battling for the rightful recovery of the throne, but it's also a party, where Tang invites two cinematographers, three editors, and no less than five other choreographer friends to almost literally shoot the works. The results are kung-fu configurations not only never seen before, but never even imagined!
After making such successful thrillers as THE CRIMINALS 2 - HOMICIDES, such well-received action films as BIG BROTHER CHENG, and such popular comedies as MR. FUNNY - BONE, director Kuei Chih-hung put his first "hex" on the audience. This eerie, frightening, supernatural mystery thriller was so effective, it led to HEX VERSUS WITCHCRAFT and HEX AFTER HEX. But this was the original, starring the lovely Tanny Tien Ni in a challenging role of a wronged, bed-ridden wife who is at the mercy of her evil husband... and so much more. What starts as an Asian variation of the classic Fench suspense film DIABOLIQUE becomes an exercise in fervid and frightening Hong Kong horror as one ghost after another appears to wreak havoc, insanity, and death.
Master martial arts moviemaker Liu Chia-liang wanted to make a movie about Chinese royalty’s relation to the common people. He accomplished it with one of the greatest kung-fu adventures ever made, incorporating at least three of the most brilliantly conceived and executed fight sequences ever caught on film. Wang Yu is the streetwise title character while the director’s adopted brother, Gordon Liu Chia-hui, plays an incognito prince who uses Ho as a dupe to try avoiding court intrigue. But any description of the plot cannot communicate the beauty and ingeniousness of Liu's invention and vision. Combining laughs and thrills, the monumental director adds to his legend with a film that only gets more impressive with each successive viewing.
