When Chang Cheh created "heroic bloodshed" swordsman films, he changed martial arts cinema by having more male than female characters in the genre. The Silver Fox is a throwback, the last of its kind where the heroic swordsmen are women. Lily Ho (before she became one of Shaw Brothers' great erotica actresses) portrays the feared swordswoman Silver Fox, who witnessed her father senselessly wounded and her mother raped. It's 18 years later and it's payback time.
Renowned director Yueh Fung (Lay General Hua Mu-lan, Silent Love) directs this sensitively toned melodrama focused on the rarely touched upon subject of single motherhood. In a time when single parenthood was a less acceptable in Hong Kong, attractive Wen-lan (Fang) finds herself the target of the desires of 3 men. But as a single mother, if Wen Lan wants to be loved, she has to give up her beloved son. In an era when female chastity and purity are valued over all else, how can a single parent woman to find emotional contentment and fulfillment? Watch out for a rare dramatic turn for action superstar Jimmy Wang Yu (One Armed Swordsman).
Liu Yung plays a young man at the wrong place at the wrong time. Simply because he displeased a police inspector, he’s thrown into jail. But even when he’s released, the police persecute him until he has no choice but to become a real criminal. Only a kind and beautiful probation officer, played by Fanny, is on his side, but she is not enough to help him…
This is Jenny Hu's stunning debut as a struggling singer who tries to keep her career and marriage intact. This movie also includes seven memorable hit songs.
Peter Chen Ho, Paul Chang Chung, Jenny Hu, Lily Ho
Asian fans of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon recognized that its director Ang Lee was actually inspired by director Chu Yuan and novelist Ku Lung's wonderful tales of a "martial arts world" where all wushu warriors try to attain the "Deer Sword" and escape from the insidious maze-like "Toy Land." Master kung-fu choreographer Tang Chia leads the king and queen of Shaw - Ti Lung and Lily Li - to engage in a fascinating and entertaining swordplay adventure of consummate swordsmen and sorceresses.
Wishing to achieve the same level of biting social satire as its humorous predecessor, The 82 Tenants boasts a cast that nearly rivals the whopping numbers on display in House of 72 Tenants. The film includes big name actors as Kara Hui Ying Hung (My Young Auntie and The Lady is the Boss), Nat Chan Pak Chung (The Conmen In Vegas and Hong Kong Playboys), Gordon Lau (Dirty Ho and Kill Bill), Law, Betty Ding Pei, Guk Fung and many more! Based on the casting alone, The 82 Tenants is definitely worth watching, and if you liked House of 72 Tenants, you won't want to miss out on this humorous, fun-filled sequel!
Liu Chia-liang is arguably the best martial arts film director of traditional style kung-fu action and was a pioneer in focusing on authentic martial arts techniques and training procedures in his films. This is the why stars in his movies looked more like kung-fu experts rather than actors simply going through the motions. So although David Chiang had starred in over 40 films as a martial arts hero, in Shaolin Mantis, where he plays a man who learns martial arts from a praying mantis then seeks revenge for his wife's death, the movie contains some of Chiang's best fight scenes ever. By casting his brothers Liu Chia-yung and Gordon Liu Chia-hui into the mix, Liu further ensures that the pugilistic mayhem will be even more outstanding.
David Chiang, Liu Chia-hui, Lily Li, Huang Hsing-hsiu
To the tune of the Osmonds hit song, this is a story of adolescent playfulness & innocence lost. Two best friends grow up together and teasingly meet two delightfully impish boys leading to the four to flirtatiously intermingle. However, the innocence of partner swapping eventually leads to a roller-coaster bouts of misunderstood emotions.
There is an old grudge between families among the Ching and Ming supporters in Kwang Tung. Tsai (Ku Feng) is concealed by pawnbroker Li Jen-chao (Ti Lung), a "Yun Chun" boxer, whose anti-Ching society Tsai later joins. Tsai narrowly escapes being caught in a brothel by Liang (Wang Lung-wei) and the Ching troops. He manages with the help of fellow revolutionaries to kill Liang and the other pursuers. Some years later, Liang's son Hsiao-hu (Chen Shu-chi) returns to avenge his father's death...
Wang Li, Lung Tien-chang, Chin Siu-ho, Ti Lung, Fu Sheng
The seminal Huangmei Opera adaptation from Shaw, The Crimson Palm features the unforgettable film song “Country Road” by Ivy Ling Po. The story evolves around Lin Shao-teh, a poor student who was engaged to Chien-king (Chin Ping), the daughter of billionaire Wang Chun (Yu Kuan-chao). To support her lover for the exam, Chien-king offered gold as Lin’s traveling expenses and asked to meet him at midnight. When Lin arrived as scheduled, all he could find was the bloody corpse of Chien-king’s maid (Li Ching)!
Rarely has a title been more accurate, but considering the action which fills this film, it also could have been called THE BRUTAL FIVE or THE CRUEL FIVE or THE VICIOUS FIVE.... if the title referred to the villains, that is. In any case, the heroes are certainly outnumbered as gang after gang of robbing rapists invade this poor town. At first the fiends just want a village locksmith to help them open a stolen safe, but soon the entire community is being held hostage, threatened, and tortured. Although reminiscent of THE SEVEN SAMURAI, the director and his revered action choreographers, Liu Chia-liang and Tang Chia, design each of the many struggles with gritty depravity and desperate power. The result is an especially realistic, even grueling, exercise in suspense.
David Chiang, Ti Lung, Wang Chung, Chen Kuan-tai, Danny Lee
Martial arts genre auteur Chang Cheh teams up with action stars Ti Lung and David Chiang again. Ti Lung is the "armour" of an armoured carriage taking silver to the capital. Along the way a mysterious knight (David Chiang) begins to stalk him. As Ti Lung is surrounded by various bandits, Chiang has to save his new friend and risk his own life. Later, the two happen to be involved in a love triangle with Li Ching.
Li Ching, Ti Lung, David Chiang, Ching Miao, Ku Feng, Chen Hsing
Two Con Men is a wonderfully twisted, pseudo-romantic comedy in the vein of "Robin Hood" meets "The Sting". Starring Liang Tien as Clever Chan and Chang Ying (who's done over 400 films) as Tricky Ching, it's the age-old competition between a rookie con artist versus the ultimate, experienced flimflam man. It's a game Chen cannot afford to lose, because people's lives - including his own, hang in the balance of good versus evil.
