Li attempts to make a fortune at the horse-racing tracks, but is subsequently entangled with loan sharks. Li becomes debt-laden while his sons are harassed by debt collectors, when more heart-wrenching events begin to unfold.
Lau Chong-yan, Huang Kun-hsuan, Cheng Pak-lam, Ng Man-tat
After beating several famous swordsmen, Chin Wu-hsin (Pai Piao) of the Mo Shan clan challenges Supreme Swordsman (Wang Jung) to a duel, hoping to win his title, and is beaten and humiliated. The winner taunts him to find a Supreme Sword made by Old Eagle, a famous sword-maker (Ku Feng). When his offer to buy a sword from Old Eagle, is turned down, he challenges Old Eagle to a duel, and snatches his sword in a foul play. Old Eagle's own son Shih Yen-peh (Derek Yee) vows to avenge for his father...
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
This is a film that has won the Best Colour Film Art Direction at the 1977 Golden Horse Awards. Liu Yung (one of Bruce Lee's favorite co-stars) takes center stage as the Ching Dynasty main character, who seeks out court corruption with the help of a streetwise youth played by Wang Yu (Dirty Ho). They use wit and style to teach the corrupt officials a lesson, and when those officials learn that Liu Yung is the emperor, they beg for his forgiveness. This production proved so popular that director Li Han-hsiang took over to helm two successful sequels.
The famous story of the Shaolin Temple's betrayal by the White-Browed Hermit, and the subsequent revenge by Shaolin firebrand Fang Shih-yu, is the stuff of legend. It has been filmed many times by many directors, but few are remembered as fondly as this production. The potent combination of director Chang Cheh and international idol Alexander Fu Sheng caught lightning in a lens. Even so, many were concerned, since this was one of the director's first kung-fu films without the collaboration of his long-time martial arts choreographer Liu Chia-liang. But with new action instructors Hsieh Hsing (future fighting star of Master Of The Flying Guillotine) and Chen Hsin-yi (who also choreographed Jackie Chan in To Kill With Intrigue) - not to mention his talented co-director Wu Ma (future director of the groundbreaking Dead And The Deadly) -- Chang continued his string of hits with this action-packed adventure.
Auteur Lo Chen helmed this tragic love story of the famed Peking Opera star Chiu Hai-Tang, his beautiful stage partner, and the warlord who stands between them. The superlative stars' traditional musical skills give an extra layer of professionalism to the film's fascinating music and intense interpersonal drama.
The last ruler of Tang, Li Yao (Chen Chia-chi) is deposed by Chao Kuang-jun (Wang Jung), the founder of the Sung Dynasty. Unfortunately his actions unleash a new plague - his brother Kuang-yi (Chao Kuo) - on the courts and his people. The marauding Kuang-yi rapes and plunders. As more people get involved, it turns into a bloody battlefield of betrayal. It is up to upright officials like Li Lang (Liu Yung) to put an end to it. But can one man take on the imperial army?
Liu Yung, Liu Hsueh-hua, Lung Tien-hsiang, Chao Kuo
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
Legendary director Chang Cheh was in a transitional period. The men he had made stars (Jimmy Wang Yu, Ti Lung, and David Chiang among them), had moved on to their own projects. Soon his new star, international idol Alexander Fu Sheng, would also look for other productions. So Chang used this opportunity to test the star power of some new talent, namely a Taiwanese Opera artist (Kuo Chue) and a powerful Chinese muscleman (Lo Meng) — who were soon to become the foundation for his internationally popular "Venom" series. Teaming the trio with the top supporting actors (Ku Feng and Wang Lung-wei) and the prettiest starlets (Lin Chen-chi, Shirley Yu, and Hui Ying-hung), he told an entertaining and exciting tale of a kung-fu blacksmith taking on four famous robbers while a villainous gambling boss plots to destroy them. The resulting thriller was another winner for the vaunted filmmaker.
This is no street gang or gang of mobsters. It's a Yuan Dynasty army, out to destroy the Hsien Lung "gang" of anti-Yuan revolutionaries. Their leader is the redoubtable Chen Kuan-tai, the real-life South-East Asian Chinese Martial Arts Tournament champion and master of "Monkey-King Split and Deflecting Arm" kung-fu, who must face paternal murder, brother against brother plots, and shocking discoveries that could change the course of history.
No list compiled of all the screen's comic geniuses would be complete without Michael Hui. He created a hilarious and lovable comic persona that was both uniquely Asian and universally beloved. The Warlord, his first film, not only showcased his incomparable sense of humour but also a revolutionized Hong Kong comedy. Evoking Chaplin, he plays a warlord in early 20th century China, but makes the role his own with comedy. Some of the sexiest ladies on the Shaw Brothers lot add on to the ingenuity of the movie.
Cheng Pei-pei, the screen's greatest swordswoman, teams with Lo Lieh, the star of Shaw's first international mega-hit to claim the famous "Jade Dragon Sword" in this fast-paced "Martial Arts World" adventure where everybody wants the famous "Jade Dragon Sword", no matter who they have to kill to get it. They all face death in the title location as the "Roaming Knight" takes on the Master of Dragon Swamp in this family feud which takes place over more than twenty years of attack and vengeance. In addition to many spectacular fights, this production is all the more special for the emotional wallop at the finale.
The beautiful Ching Li works for her father's stocking company while treacherously becoming the secretary to her father's competitor Li Tzu-yang. They fall in love as she teaches him new meanings to the words 'mannequins' and 'hosiery'.
Ching Li , Tien Ching , Ling Ling, Ling Hsiao , Cheng Chun-mien
In the same year, director/writer Chang Cheh and star Jimmy Wang Yu revolutionized Hong Kong kung-fu cinema with One-Armed Swordsman, they also collaborated on this epic of the Six Kingdoms era. Here, Yu is a two-armed swordsman who is also a Wei Empire patriot. Inside the Han Empire, Han Kuei who comes from the royal family, is actually assumed full power and he wants to eliminate loyal officer Yen Sui. Later, our main character is betrayed by a jealous rival and becomes a village butcher. When he meets Yen Sui accidentally, he is sent back on the road of vengeance. Chiao Chiao, the lovely and talented costar of One-Armed Swordsman, here plays Hsia Ying, the love of the hero's life, and the strong woman who survives to protect their child.
Wang Yu, Chiao Chiao, Li Hsiang-chun, Tien Feng, Huang Chung-shun
