Soon-to-be legendary director Chu Yuan had just joined the Shaw Brothers when he helmed this thriller of bickering bandits. Audiences loved watching three pairs of cunning male and female crooks trying to steal a million gold taels from the Fu Lai Treasury House … not knowing that one of them is actually an undercover hero. Even without him, there's no honor amongst thieves, so the double-crosses and deadly duels come fast and furious, all choreographed by Hsu Erh-niu.
Ivy Ling Po, Lo Lieh, Tsung Hua, Chin Han, Wang Ping
Frankie Wei Hung is the Swordsman At Large, who is hunted down by practically everyone. A superlative sword is created just for the purpose of taking his life, but the blade becomes more coveted than the hero's death by it! Bandits, beauties and blade masters battle for grandeur in this exciting story of deceit, betrayal and death; expertly guided by the director who brings showcases to the Shawscope screen!
Margaret Hsing Hui, Tina Chin Fei, Frankie Wei, Yu Feng
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!
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.
Tu Ku (Alex Man Chi-leung), having mastered the fatal skill, leads his eight section chiefs to Wu Tang to challenge Yun Fei-yang (Hsu Shao-chiang). But Yun has already gone into seclusion with his lover Lun Wan-erh (Liu Hsueh-hua). At this moment Tu receives a challenge from Chief Mochitsuki Soryu Han (Chen Kuan-tai) of the Japanese Ega clan.
Tsui Siu-keung, Liu Hsueh-hua, Chen Kuan-tai, Alex Man
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.
Prominent kung-fu actor David Chiang teams up with Chang Cheh's award winning screenwriter Ni Kuang to create a visual masterpiece full of exotic martial arts skills and fights in Shaolin Hand Lock. Chiang, who learned the secret 'Shaolin Handlock' technique from his father, is on a mission to avenge his father's death, which was ordered by the evil Ling Hao, played by Shaw Brothers' penultimate bad guy, kung-fu star, Lo Lieh. Adding to the great success of this film was the glamorous yet outlandishly inventive action sequences staged by acclaimed martial arts choreographer Tang Chia and an imposing visual edge and meticulously stylish directing by the brilliant director Ho Meng-hua who was responsible for giving early film breaks to Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.
The famed Ivy Ling Po (Temple Of The Red Lotus) stars as a mysterious swordswoman dedicated to keeping the five volume “Five Generations Fighting Methods” kung-fu manual out of evil-doers’ hands. She joins Ling Yun, star of The Iron Buddha, who plays a hero known only as the Roving Knight to fight, train, then fight again -- facing such characters as The Six-Armed Giant and The 1000-Cut in this action-packed adventure.
Directed by Chu Yuan, the film follows the ups and downs and love and losses of the large Yang clan. Set in the early 1920s, the household with the four distinctly different brothers go through love and heartaches, taking the audience along on a richly emotional ride. It is a classic tale of tradition versus individualism and family values versus freedom.
Li Ching, Wang Ping, Tsung Hua, Yueh Hua, Ching Li
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
19-year-old Alexander Fu Sheng pairs up with veteran martial arts star Chen Kuan-tai in this Chang Cheh masterpiece of heroism and self-sacrifice. Shaolin student Chen is badly wounded by the Qing army, and the young Fu hands him to the evil general by mistake. Now the two heroes must settle the score with the general once and for all. Top-notch performances with action choreography by the famous Liu Chia-liang.
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.
In swordplay movies, females played a more central role in the plots and the swordswomen created in the genre are some of the most charismatic figures in Hong Kong cinema thanks in great part to Cheng Pei-pei. In The Jade Raksha, Cheng Pei-pei becomes a human combine harvester as she hacks and whacks a path through life avenging the death of her family under the moniker "The Jade Raksha." Cheng Pei-pei gained international recognition in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
A Chinese costume version of the legend of French King Louis XIV, Shin Yung-Kyoon plays the double role of twin sons of the Emperor who are separated as children. One is a brave noble warrior, the other is a debauched ruler whose suspicion is so great he orders his very own sibling's face to be hidden by an iron mask. The ever-talented Li Ching co-stars as the princess, a love interest for both brothers.
