This sequel to The Empress Dowager surpasses its predecessor in some ways. The attention to historic detail in the sets and costumes is everything one expects from director Li Han-Hsiang, the master of the costume drama. Variety hailed the production as "lavish, the script tightly packed"; Variety also concluded that the "filmmaker's efforts to try to make things perfect, to put his audience back in the days of the Empress Dowager and her son, have come off once again."
Ti Lung, plays Tieh Chiao-san, head of the Ten Kwangtung Tigers, who falls victim to opium. The tragedies and drama that ensue are as stunning as the kung-fu, created by a superlative team of six martial artists. It leads to a truly unforgettable climax, as a trembling Tieh, still weak from going cold turkey, must face the gangsters who have ruined his town while he was addicted.
How far would you go for love? Or lust? These are the questions posed in this sinfully entertaining Sung Dynasty period effort. Split into two tales, the first one involves a devilish magistrate who tries to tempt a Buddhist monk out of his self-professed celibate control by hiring a pretty prostitute. The second story is the tragic tale of an exploited young girl, the queen of femme fatale Shaw Yin-yin, who is forced to work in an unscrupulous couple's brothel.
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.
The lovely Michelle Mei Suet plays a spoiled girl Szu-szu who ignores her true love Yang Fan (Yuan Te) to go off in search of a swordsman Chin Ko (Chen Kuan-tai) she idolizes. The search sets off one great action scene after another, until she's threatened to be sold into slavery but Yang Fan arrives in the nick of time! This amusing and entertaining variation on the standard kung-fu film is definitely a winner.
A poor, bare-footed young man from the countryside arrives in the city to work with the friend of his dead father. When their dye shop is burnt down by a local strongman, he decides to fight back to protect all of them and save the shop.
Lin Dai stars in this romantic classic as a nightclub singer who falls for a young architect. When he suffers grave financial difficulty, she does the unthinkable to help him.
Lin Dai, Kwan Shan, Kao Pao-shu, Lo Chi, Chiang Kwong-chao
Imagine pint-sized Godzillas fighting the DC Comic superhero "IRONMAN", have Shaw Brothers improve on this outrageous mix by adding kung-fu choreography, and then you have SUPER INFRAMAN, one of the most far-out, fantastical films ever made. Starring the up and coming Danny Lee (who achieved international superstardom in John Woo's THE KILLER), the film pits Lee as the thunderbolt-fisted Inframan battling maniacal monsters from the Earth's center lead by the evil Demon Princess (Terry Liu). Adding to the psychosis is the fast paced fights choreographed by the acclaimed action director Tang Chia, beautiful camera work by He Lan-shan (Bruce Lee's cinematographer in THE WAY OF THE DRAGON), and fights that feature an actor who later starred in kung-fu flicks under the moniker of Bruce Lee.
Mr. Virgin is a romantic comedy about a twenty-nine year-old man Chao Yu-ting (Alfred Chang) who has seemingly been cursed. He becomes paranoid when a Feng Shui expert tells him it will be unlucky for him to marry before the age of thirty... so comical chaos line the days up to his next birthday!
Heroes Of Sung stars one of the original kung fu ladies of the silver screen, Shih Szu, who plays swordswoman Meng Hung. She must work with Fan Tien-Fu, played by Lo Lieh to find and protect the royal seals of the Sung Dynasty. Shih's magnificent performance earned her the female hero role in another hit Dracula And The 7 Golden Vampires.
Wong Jing, who is now considered one of the leading lights in Hong Kong cinema, wrote, directed, and co-starred in this Asian-accented Cinderella story starring the glorious Maggie Cheung Man-yuk as a TV actress who inadvertently buys a shoe with a stolen diamond secreted in it. That makes her the target of the two bumbling thieves, as well as a bunch of greedy killers. After action, laughs, and romance, it, of course, turns out that she lives happily ever after…!
Wang Jing, Chan Pak-cheung, Maggie Cheung, Wang Yu
The aggressive and dangerous Chin Empire conquers the hard-put Chao kingdom while the Wei empire is drained of its heroes and paralyzed by an indecisive ruler. Adventure, intrigue, death and tragedy reigns before the triumphant clash of the armies.
Extraordinary filmmaker Wong Jing, known for his crazy comedies and thrillers, has now combined both the horror and romantic comedy genres to tell the tale of a man who is both blessed and cursed... he resists females with an innate power that is forced onto him by a dark wizard. Finally it's up to his true love and a skilled sorcerer to get them to the church on time!
