Arguably, the greatest kung-fu film director of all time is Liu Chia-liang. Unarguably the greatest kung-fu film character of all time is Huang Fei-hung. So what do you think would happen when you put these two titanic talents together? You get one of the finest "pure" kung-fu films ever made, with nary a character getting killed, but the thrills coming a mile a minute as two pugilism schools tests each other for a full hundred minutes. Following the director’s only other Huang Fei-hung film, CHALLENGE OF THE MASTERS, Lau returns his dynamic adoptive brother, Gordon Liu Chia-hui, to the leading role, then gives the king of screen villains, Wang Lung-wei, one of his few anti-heroic roles... just in time for a stunning climax unparalleled in its adeptness and invention.
Whenever director Chang Cheh teamed up with Five Venoms, film plots were probably decided by flipping a coin - which of the fab five will play the good or bad guys, who lives or dies and which ones will do the fight. The Daredevils was just another example of Shaw Brothers’ sure fire formula to success: Venoms + Chang Cheh = maniacal frenzy x infinity. Of note, the only venom to make it in Hollywood was Kuo Chue, who choreographed the French film Brotherhood Of The Wolf and Michelle Yeoh's The Touch.
Cherie Chung headlines this sexy romance as the eponymous heroine, a fitness instructor who attracts the attentions of a wealthy businessman (Chu Yuan) and handsome artist (Tony Leung Ka-fai).
Accomplished film director Ching Siu-tung not only received international acclaim for his A CHINESE GHOST STORY film trilogy, but is also considered one of Hong Kong's top action directors and is regarded to be the father of the outlandish wire stunts and sight gags that Hong Kong film is so recently noted for. In MONKEY KUNG FU, Ching plays Wei Chun, a wayward underachiever that is given the key to unlock the secret of the gibbon fists tactic. Besides being the film's martial arts instructor, bearing first hand witness to Ching's remarkable martial arts skills on screen makes this movie a once in a lifetime catch.
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
Three young martial arts students and their teacher are beaten up badly by a wandering man who proclaims himself 'a corrector of bad kung-fu.' Determined to avenge their teacher and regain their honor, the three students go their separate ways to find kung-fu masters who will take them as students.
The martial arts world is plunged into terror when a mysterious figure known as the 'Embroidery Bandit' starts to attack convoys of precious materials. Seemingly unstoppable, the frightened clans decide to call on the expertise of Lu Xiaofeng (Liu Yung), an inquisitive fighter and detective to find the culprit.
In attempting to rescue some innocent people, swordsman Chiang Tzu-chao (Fang Mien) slays the son of Tsao Kang (Wang Hsia), leader of the ruthless Crimson Charm gang.The enraged father promises vengeance on the day of Chiang's 60th birthday...
Ivy Ling Po, Chang I, Shih Szu, Ku Feng, Wang Ching-ho
It's a fact: the greatest martial arts movie character is Huang Fei-hung. But it's quite possible the second greatest character is "Beggar Su", one of the famous Ten Kwangtung Tigers, and a legendary Ching Dynasty figure. Little known director Liu Shih-yu decided to fill his telling of the character's life story with the best kung-fu actors Shaw Studios had to offer. He reunited the stars of Liu Chia-liang's landmark Dirty Ho -- Gordon Liu Chia-hui, Wang Yu, and Wang Lung-wei--added such other greats as multi-award-winning Ku Feng and Pai Piao, then gave workhorse Lo Chiang his shot as choreographer. Together they made a rare, colorful, action-packed adventure as Beggar Su and his brother train incessantly to defeat the brutally powerful thief called Centipede. Finally, after much death and destruction, Gordon Liu Chia-hui and Wang Lung-wei get a memorable rematch to follow their classic masterpieces in Dirty Ho and Martial Club. The result is not only reminiscent of preeminent director Liu Chia-liang's work, but essentially an homage to him as well!
Of all the many kinds of films Ho Meng-hua directed for the Shaw Brothers, quite possibly his most internationally popular was THE FLYING GUILLOTINE. While he did not direct its like-titled sequel, he did helm this great flying guillotine follow-up, which critics considered among his best. It was also one of his last for the studio before continuing his filmmaking career in Taiwan. It stars the gorgeous Chen Ping (THE MINISKIRT GANG, LADY EXTERMINATOR) as the sole survivor of a despotic emperor's latest foray into decapitation. Fearlessly she takes on the entire flying guillotine gang, despite the fact that she's pregnant! Lo Lieh, Shaw Brothers' first international superstar, is brilliant as the vindictive gang boss, while revered action choreographer Tang Chia mounts stupendous battles between the soaring beheaders and an astonishing wushu woman warrior with child.
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.
Take three of the most attractive women - Maggie Cheung Man-yuk, Cherie Chung Cho-hung and Rosamund Kwan, to ever grace the Hong Kong screen, mix them with two of the most lovable rogues (Kenny Bee and Nat Chen Pai-chiang), place them in the exotic beauty of Hawaii. Prince Charming is one of the first huge hits by director-writer Wong Jing, Hong Kong’s most prolific filmmaker of the past twenty years.
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!
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.
