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| Buddha's Palm (1982) Directed by: Taylor Wong |
Not the kind of nonsense you would normally associate Derek Yee with in this Taylor Wong directed Wuxia at Shaw's. Thankfully, it's very endearing nonsense in the tradition of Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain, but probably about 10 times more insane and creative. The lighting fast pace makes you quickly throw out any notions of analyzing the plot (and it's Wuxia fantasy anyway so it's not supposed to be grounded in any reality) and you just have to be swept away really when Wong showcases the high standard physical production values at Shaw's in combination with the crude, yet so thoroughly entertaining, animated special effects. Also starring Lo Lieh (who's character announces his presence well in advance for all other characters to take note. A scene stealing performance), Kara Hui, Alex Man, Shek Kin and Dameng, a rather compelling reject from Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Note that the English subtitles on the IVL dvd are synced up to the Mandarin track, which makes the narration often out of sync. For dialogue purposes, they work fine with the Cantonese language option. Buy the DVD at: |
| The Buddhist Fist (1979) Directed by: Yuen Woo-Ping |
A zany cast of characters comes and goes in Yuen Woo-Ping's recognizable genre piece but outstanding kung-fu overall erases some of the pitfalls The Buddhist Fist experiences along the way. Starring Yuen-Shun-Yi as Ah Shang who searches for his missing godfather (Cheung Hei) but stumbles upon a stock plot, Yuen Woo-Ping had 4 seminal and extremely noteworthy films under his belt at this point. It's still the casting of Shun-Yi that prevents the film from reaching the heights Snake In The Eagle's Shadow and The Magnificent Butcher did. He is sincere and a likeable enough hero for the film (and less annoying compared to Dance Of The Drunk Mantis) but the film can't gain as much status in the light of Jackie and Sammo's presences in said films. It's perhaps a trifle unfair to compare but many other parts of The Buddhist Fist are hugely enjoyable despite. Your tolerance for mugging and low-brow comedy will be put to the test here and Yuen Woo-Ping for our pleasure populates the film with perverts, stuttering men with birdcages, police conducting animal court, pale faced hunchback assassins and more. All colliding quite jarringly with some slightly more serious tones later in the piece. It all foreshadows the full on insanity of The Miracle Fighters and Shaolin Drunkard and these are fun times to go along with the tragic ones. As far as choreography goes, the Yuen's can't make all of the choreography within the skits work as smoothly as the subsequent Dreadnaught showed it can but largely Yuen Shun-Yi and Tsui Siu-Ming lead the frame with awesome skill. Performing the direction with the utmost clarity and speed, their double act is classic with a capital C and shows Yuen Woo-Ping's magic at its very best. Fan Mei-Sheng, Simon Yuen (in a variation of the Sleeping Wizard character Chin Yuet-Sang made popular in Last Hurrah For Chivalry), Peter Chan Lung, Yuen Cheung-Yan and Lee Hoi Sang also appear. Tai Seng's dvd includes multiple Chinese tracks and an English dub but omits any kind of subtitles. Buy the DVD at: |
| Bullet For Hire (1991) Directed by: Yuen Chun Man |
You initially think Bullet For Hire is going to be a cops vs. assassins movie, with Elaine Lui at center for the former crowd but director Yuen Chun Man turns almost completely away and goes the route of staying with the gangsters instead. Since this is not a particularly deep exploration of brotherhood and loyalty, the choice of "siding" with the outlaws seems ill-fitted. Then again, if you want your Hong Kong gunplay movies fair and balanced, you really shouldn't be watching anything out of the genre explosion in the 80s and 90s. Yuen Chun Man does have enough knowledge about what sells and while the gunplay isn't stylistically great, he really bathes the screen in blood. Not even the smallest ones are spared from neck breaks, chainsaws and the crew loaded up a good chunk of blood for the frequent squib effects as well. It attempts certain things, poorly, but Bullet For Hire delivers its selling points dependently. One note of acknowledgement I do want to point out is the inclusion of comedy that for once fits the situations rather than being tacked on and exaggerated as per usual. That is until some of the black humour enters, then it's the ill-fit again... Also starring Simon Yam, Jacky Cheung, Lo Lieh and Dick Wei. |
| Burning Ambition (1989) Directed by: Frankie Chan |
There is ambition behind this actioner but in terms of storytelling, the end result is a bit of a mess. Besides Frankie himself there are a slew of familiar faces appearing such as Oh Jung Hung, Simon Yam, Yukari Oshima, Kara Hui, Roy Chiao, Eddy Ko, Shing Fui On and Fung Hark On. Judging by some of those names it's not hard to then guess that Burning Ambition features action and that proves to be the movies saving grace. Action comes hard and fast with a handful of typical 80s Hong Kong cinema insane stuntwork. The grueling parking garage fight stands out in my mind but there is quality to be found in each set piece. To me it seemed that filmmakers could, during this era, do good action almost blindfolded. No wonder you miss it. A Universe vcd was once on the market but is now hard to find. |
| Bury Me High (1991) Directed by: Tsui Siu-Ming |
Tsui Siu-Ming juggles a very Eastern style plot (concerning the use of feng shui for world domination) and accessible action-adventure filmmaking that does scream Indiana Jones at various times (it's another production featuring the character of Wisely, created by Ngai Fong and played here by Chin Ka-Lok). Which is in itself a very good idea for Hong Kong cinema as the action directing could definitely make it a standout. Cinematographer Peter Pau certainly responds to this and is highly playful with his camera, creating an unusual epic feeling for a Hong Kong production. Director and co-action director Tsui does not thoroughly provide excitement though. While entertaining, he delivers only impressive fight scenes and epic warfare towards the end but Bury Me High easily comes recommended as the talents of Chin Ka-Lok especially gets ample times to shine eventually. Also with Moon Lee, Yuen Wah, Sibelle Hu, Paul Chun, Corey Yuen and Tsui Siu-Ming. Buy the DVD at: |
| Butterfly & Sword (1993) Directed by: Michael Mak |
A dizzying, fast paced Wuxia spectacle made in Taiwan (schlockmeister Chu Yen-Ping was the executive producer and has even been credited with the direction elsewhere) that I recommend visiting a second time because it's not easy to be prepared for the assault that comes at you during a virgin viewing, mainly referring to Ching Siu-Tung's action choreography. Centering around a group of childhood friends turned assassins in the martial arts world, director Michael Mak (Sex And Zen) has a focus, just not the greatest on this story that benefits the most from Michelle Yeoh's fine performance as a conflicted woman in this world. The star of the show is however Ching Siu-Tung's mentioned contribution and his team is in top form here. While the editing of the action leaves a little to be desired, the outrageous (and gory) high flying concepts here are some of the best during the 90s streak in the genre. In particular Tony Leung Chiu-Wai's human arrow technique has to be seen to be believed. A bravura fight in a bamboo forest would of course later be echoed by Ching in House of Flying Daggers. Co-starring Joey Wong, Donnie Yen, Elvis Tsui, Tok Chung-Wa and Taiwanese singer Jimmy Lin. The latter being a grating inclusion because it's purely designed to appeal commercially. The Hong Kong print ends rather abruptly, leaving out the actual downbeat fate of a few of the characters. The Taiwanese version was available on dvd as Comet, Butterfly & Sword and featured the full ending. Tai Seng's US dvd includes it as an extra but "blesses" the feature Cantonese track (that is just as suitable to watch with) with a 5.1 remix. The Ku Long novel the film is based on was also made at Shaw Brother's in 1976, as Killer Clans (directed by Chor Yuen). The John Charles book The Hong Kong Filmography 1977-1997 also discloses the fact that Chu Yen-Ping recycled sets, costumes and footage for his Slave Of The Sword (also in 1993). Buy the DVD at: |
| The Butterfly Murders (1979) Directed by: Tsui Hark |
Though finally available in widescreen and sporting readable subtitles, Tsui Hark's directing debut still comes off as a bit incoherent. Sure, these wuxia stories are about supremacy in the martial arts world so latching on to that story strand isn't impossible but what it all means on a deeper level and how everyone and everything relates, is trickier (but probably crystal clear to Tsui Hark). Despite that, it's a decent, though unspectacular debut from Tsui and a movie that ignited the new wave of films and directors (including Ann Hui and Allen Fong). On a visual level (one of Tsui's trademarks) the film offers some imaginative cinematography with nods to both Eastern and Western classic imagery. The ending battle is quite spectacular also and features some nifty ideas either from wuxia stories or Tsui Hark's mind. Could be either really. Mei Ah's newly remastered dvd looks good in terms of sharpness and detail considering the age of the film but suffers from heavy color staining that is highly apparent during several sections of the film. It's reportedly a negative damage trait that not only this Seasonal production has suffered from. HK Video's release in France also features this damage. Further more, as per the old pan and scanned vcd, the movie is clearly a missing a piece of footage detailing the reading of a letter. As it stands now, we get a really abrupt cut at the hour mark. The BBC showed a print during the 90s, in Mandarin, and its running time suggests that it was up to 3 minutes longer which could mean it contained the cut scene from the Hong Kong dvd but additional minutes of footage! As If this wasn't enough of a mess already, people have recollections of a screening at the 1997 Hong Kong International Film Festival that at least had a print in much better shape. If it was uncut however, no one has at the time of writing confirmed. Buy the DVD at: |
| By Hook Or By Crook (1980) Directed by: Karl Maka |
Thank god there's Sammo to balance up this very local kung-fu comedy that comes with an overload of Dean Shek. When he's at it, there's no stopping because he was a creative force behind the scenes usually. Who's to protest but us Westerners because I'm sure crews and audiences in Hong Kong could stand this a lot more. Director Karl Maka does try and be clever by injecting modern movie references into this period piece, mainly from Westerns but it's mostly tiring humour. Just because you feature it as an element, doesn't make it funny. Example: Eric Tsang has an easy 2 minutes of work as the Chinese Clint Eastwood. I'm not snickering even. It has to be said though that the latter half has a director with a better focus on how to deliver wit, in particular evident during a training sequence and a mock fight involving Lam Ching Ying and Wu Ma. Oh it's a character gallery with obnoxious and unsympathetic traits but Sammo is a fine standout here, flexing both his endearing comedic chops and bringing the expected power to the fight choreography. By Hook Or By Crook is for the majority of the time intolerable but ends up being entertaining eventually, despite the sins it commit. Chung Fat also appear. Buy the DVD at: |
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