In River Of Fury, the self-discovery of a young man (Danny Lee), Lily Ho played a role which has helplessly fallen prey to the irresistible temptations of wealth under the influence of her mother. Ho demonstrates her remarkable talent in Chinese opera once again after her Beijing-opera showcase in The Warlord (co-starring Michael Hui Kwun-man).
The versatile and prolific Wang Feng writes and directs this ensemble epic which unites actors from both Shaw Brothers' film units and their television network, HK-TVB. The place to be is flat number 8 on the second floor of the Gossip Street apartment building, where all the neighbours gather to gossip. The sitcom turns serious when a local mobster wants to change the place into a gambling den -- leading to a satisfying finale where hearsayers turn into heroes to save their neighborhood.
The "Venoms" were no more. After five years and more than a dozen films together, the only one of the original five who proved so successful for the director was the muscleman Lo Meng. But with just that one "venom" and his incredibly agile new star Cheng Tien-chi, he made this spectacular, internationally popular, favorite. Evil ninjas (who attack with, and from, fire, sun, wood, water, and the ground) brutally slaughter a noble Chinese kung-fu school's students. The one survivor finds a teacher and four students who are ninjitsu experts. The five graduates take revenge. With this strong structure and exceptional kung-fu choreography (from the star and co-star Chu Ke), Chang Cheh produced platinum. This film was one of the director's best of his superheroic, grand guignol period. By any name, it could be called, almost literally, "bloody good" entertainment!
Lo Lieh plays a dedicated chief constable named Wu-ching for Tsang Chou village, who falls in love with the blind daughter Kuei Ku (Li Ching) of a bandit who is wreaking havoc. Joining him in all the action and emotion are such exceptional stars as award-winning actor Ku Feng, future superstar David Chiang, and powerful real-life martial artist Chen Hsing.
The Liu Chia-liang trained Hui Ying-hung was considered the top action martial arts female star in the 1980s. It is her martial arts abilities that Michelle Yeoh tries to emulate. In The Tiger and the Widow, Hui Ying-hung is somehow mixed up in a salt smuggling ring that stinks of missing persons and rotten dilemmas. The film gathered two Golden Horse Awards in 1981; Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction.
A talented young swordsman is brought to the edge of suicide when he encounters his first defeat in life. In his despair, he comes across a beautiful woman, daughter of the head of a mysterious sect. But will this encounter and his thirst for supremacy lead him onto a path of selfish rampage of violence?
Betty Ting Pei stars as a singer from Taipei who comes to Hong Kong in search of her missing sister; nearly getting raped by a street gang and rescued by a handsome composer. Among the girls she meets during her investigation are "queen of Shaw kung-fu", Lily Li, and elegant Ouyang Sha-fei. It's all handled with taste and verve by the studio's Japanese import, writer/director Inoue Umetsugu, who made viewers rediscover Hong Kong's splendors and dangers with an outsider's perspective.
Betty Ting Pei, Yang Fan, Lily Li, Ou Yen-ching, Hsia Ping
A huge success from the golden age of Hong Kong kung-fu, THE ANONYMOUS HEROES is dominated by two far-from-anonymous cinematic duos. Stars David Chiang and Ti Lung, the most illustrious buddy team in action movies, are joined by the acclaimed behind-the-screen team of director Chang Cheh and martial arts choreographer Liu Chia-liang. The action takes place just after the Chinese Revolution of 1911, an era when the fledgling Chinese Republic was plagued by powerful warlords. But these tyrants find they have met their match in a trio of "anonymous heroes" united by their patriotism and high kicks: the vagabond (David Chiang), the adventurer (Ti Lung), and the general's daughter (Ching Li). An exciting entry in the David Chiang-Ti Lung canon, and a top ten hit in 1971.
Superstar Linda Lin Dai in one of her most acclaimed roles. The story is about a forbidden love between a country maiden and the emperor. Emperor Cheng-te met Li Feng on a visit to South China. It was love at first sight for the lovely girl and the handsome emperor. Cheng-te left with a promise that Li Feng would be his empress. One year later, when the emperor sent for Li, her weak health cannot stand the arduous journey, she arrived just to die in the arms of her man.
Lin Dai, Chao Lei, Chin Chuan, Yang Chi-ching, Wong Yuen-loong
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.
Julie Yeh Feng gets to perform on a melodramatic platform to showcase her versatility in this poignant tearjerker. Yeh plays socialite Pai Li-lan, whose life is disrupted when she contracts severe tuberculosis. It is under harsh, trying circumstances that love unexpectedly blossoms between Li-lan and Chang Chih-ping (Ling Yun), the music teacher of her daughter Chin Shiao-lan (Fung Bo-bo). Unfortunately, the odds are stacked sky-high against their love. Can love essentially be enough to see them through?
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.
Chen Kuang (David Chiang) and Tu Fa (Wang Chung) are good friends who make an honest living as taxi drivers. Ma Hsiang-lung (Shih Chung-tien), a tenant in the same house as Chen, plots a bank robbery. They set a trap for Chen and the police identifies Chen as one of the robbers. Aided by his friends Tu Fa, Chen goes into hiding, trying at the same time to track down the real robbers.
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.
