Long before "feminism" made it to Hong Kong, women proved themselves more than equal to men in this martial arts classic, a forerunner to CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. Set in ancient China, a matriarchal clan proves as adept with sword, fist, and gravity-defying leaps as anything conjured up by the Crouching Tiger ladies thirty years later. The cast is a veritable "who's who" of the golden age of Shaw Brothers swordplay adventures, and was not only a major box office hit (ranking fourth for 1972), but also a top prize winner, including Best Supporting Actress for Lisa Lu, a special citation for outstanding lead female performance for Lily Ho, Best Director for Cheng Kang, and an award for Honourable Mention For Drama.

castIvy Ling Po, Lisa Lu, Lily Ho, Yueh Hua, Li Ching

directorCheng Kang

Betty Loh Ti displays an ethereal loveliness that earns her the nickname "Classical Beauty" in this classic tale that combines a very contemporary comic sense with traditional Mandarin opera tunes. Add on a score by celebrated composer Yao Min and a script by future super director King Hu (a.k.a. Hu King-chuan) and you have a perfect showcase for subtle humor and legendary beauty - one of the Hong Kong's most legendary screen personalities. Betty is a perky maid who helps manage the love life of her young mistress (Ting Ning). The task isn't as easy as it sounds, with gender-bender twists such as a young scholar masquerading as a woman (Chiao Chuang), and a bandit's voluptuous sister (Chang Chung-wen) disguised as a man.

castLoh Tih, Diana Chang Chung-wen, Ting Ning, Chiao Chuang

directorYen Chun

When directors in the late '70s began jumping on the kung-fu comedy bandwagon renowned director Chang Cheh stuck to his guns of traditional brotherhood and moral code films made popular by him in the '60s. So in keeping with the spirit of the venomous success of the cultish THE FIVE VENOMS, Chang reunites the Five Venoms in arguably his second biggest cult hit in the West, THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM. As the film's lead martial arts instructor and one of the stars, it's also one of Lo Meng's finest moments on screen playing the righteous villain Golden Arms whose eventual showdown with the drunkard Hai Tao (Kuo Chue, fight choreographer for BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) is graphically artsy and balletically violent. You won't be disappointed.

castSun Chien, Lo Meng, Pan Ping-chang

directorChang Cheh

With Hong Kong cinema's new wave, high flying, martial arts action of the 1980's, came a new wave of actors; teeny-bopper, canto-pop singer/stars with little or no martial arts background. However, when a film like LITTLE DRAGON MAIDEN intelligently mixes the old with the new, the results are pure golden magic. This costume-action, drama, love story features relative newcomer Leslie Cheung, who falls in love with the Dragon Maiden while learning the art of swordplay. The recipe is complete when veteran kung-fu stars Chen Kuan-tai and Lo Lieh add just enough weapon-wielding spice to make this film really cook. Cheung garnered international recognition in John Woo's A BETTER TOMORROW and Ronny Yu's THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR.

castLeslie Cheung, Weng Tsing-tsing, Chen Kuan-tai, Liu Hsueh-yua

directorHua Shan

Director Chow Sze-loke brings to you one of the most famous stories from the renowned Chinese novel, The Water Margin. The Amorous Lotus Pan tells the story of a poor but beautiful girl, Lotus Pan (the radiant Diana Chang Chung-wen). Cruelly labelled "a delight to all men", Pan is raped by her young master. Stained with a past such that she is unable to be wedded to a rich man, she is then married to a midget who treats her like an animal. Lost and alone, Pan falls for his brother, playboy Wu Song (Paul Chang Chung)... but beautiful women do not have things easy. Pan is also lusted after by the murderous Men Ching (Pai Yun) and unwittingly becomes a pawn in the game of lust, egoistic desires and cruelty as she becomes the unwilling conspirator and ultimately, the victim in a vicious game of macho bravado and murder!

castChang Chung-wen, Pai Yun, Paul Chang-chung, Hung Wei, Li Kun, Chin Jen-shu

directorChow Sze-loke

It's this critically-acclaimed tale of mystery and the supernatural as well as swordplay. From its very first moment, the viewer knows they are in for something special, given that the protagonists are ex-swordmasters who now find joy in the creation of umbrellas. The intriguing sequences continue as our umbrella makers track down a kung-fu zombie burial party led by a disappearing hunchback carrying a red coffin which is filled with a living dead heroine. And that's just the start of an adventure pitting an umbrella maker against a zombie maker, who possesses the mythical title and power. Mystery thrills, horror chills and kung-fu spills await anyone fighting Madame Kung Sun's 'Finger Of Doom'.

castIvy Ling Po , Chin Han , Po Chih-hsien , Chen Feng-chen

directorPao Hsueh-li

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.

castLi Ching, Wang Ping, Tsung Hua, Yueh Hua, Ching Li

directorChu Yuan

The Golden Lion (Chao Hsiung) is a bandit with mysterious strength who robs from the rich and gives to the poor. One night, he is ambushed and poisoned by the evil bounty hunter Wang Ching-Tsao (Wang Hsieh) and his gang, who hunt him at the behest of legal authority. Friends take him to a righteous doctor, who cures the wounded bandit despite the threats of Wang Ching-Tsao. The doctor travels with the Golden Lion, his surly son and courageous daughter Lu Wen-fang (Li Ching) to a mountain to develop a life-saving antidote, and they are beset at every perilous turn by Wang Hsieh, who will stop at nothing to catch his quarry!

castLi Ching, Chao Hsiung

directorHo Meng-hua

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…

castIvy Ling Po , Fang Yin , Chin Feng , Chin Han , Li Ching

directorChow Sze-loke

Incredibly, the title serpent is not a harbinger of horror, but actually the film's hero. This virtuous viper sniffs out bombs, fights gangs, battles a baby-killing rodent and even takes on a duplicitous woman. This one-of-a-kind thriller will be applauded by reptile fans everywhere.

castTsung Hua, Frankie Wei, Dana

directorSun Chung

Martial arts master Lau Kar Leung directs and stars in this beloved kung-fu comedy as the psychotic nephew-by-marriage of the gutsy Kara Hui, which features a show-stopping finale.

castLiu Chia-liang , Hui Ying-hung , Hsiao Hou , Wang Lung-wei

directorLiu Chia-liang

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.

castLiu Tung, Hsang Yu, Ching Miao, Li Kun

directorLi Han-hsiang

Young doctor Lin Wei-tu found that many of his patients were suffering from strange symptoms caused by black magic of the wicked Lo Lieh, who has helped a rich young man to win the love of a beautiful woman for a lucrative reward. However, the woman was nothing but the illusion of a dead old lady. The young rich man was killed soon after he unveiled the truth. Lin's friend Ti Lung was reluctant to believe there was such a thing as the black magic, and his wife Tanny Tien Ni offered to be a guinea-pig. Lo then played a lethal magic on Tanny Tien Ni, who would die within 24 hours...Written by Hong Kong's science fiction guru Ni Kuang and directed by veteran Ho Meng-hua, the breath-taking BLACK MAGIC 2 is a rare modern horror starring Ti Lung, who has a long-standing reputation for his heroic roles in masculine martial-arts movies.

castTi Lung, Tanny Tien Ni, Lily Li, Lo Lieh, Lin Wei-tu

directorHo Meng-hua