The key team behind the Seasonal hit Snake In The Eagle's Shadow, Jackie Chan, Simon Yuen, Hwang Jang Lee, producer Ng See Yuen and director Yuen Woo-Ping assembled once again, creating another box-office smash with Drunken Master. As with the former breakout effort, this one still lives and breathes today.

Comedy is broad, with both Jackie and Dean Shek being culprits but Chan, giving us his take on the young Wong Fei-Hung, overcomes such negatives by displaying a lasting sense of childish charm and fun. With that solidified, the martial arts action (choreographed by Woo-Ping, Yuen Shun-Yi, Corey Yuen and Hsu Hsia), with emphasis on the comedic as that was a successful recipe to continue exploring, is intricate, lengthy and thoroughly entertaining. The various training sequences are arguably some of the most memorable aspects of the film as it shows a young Jackie at his very agile best.

Simon Yuen's veteran presence is always welcome, this time taking on the classic character of the drunken beggar (So Hat-yi in Chinese) but if there's a true niggle here for me personally is that the chemistry between the two leads is lacking compared to Snake In The Eagle's Shadow, where a genuine warmth existed between the two. Despite, Drunken Master became and still is an important martial arts classic which was topped tenfold by the Lau Kar Leung/Jackie Chan helmed sequel in 1994.

Mei Ah's remastered dvd is good although there seems to exist a difficulty obtaining a full length Cantonese audio master these days. Columbia's Region 1 release from 2002 filled in the blanks with English dubbing while Mei Ah in 2004, via branching, feature Mandarin instead. Shame that no effort was made to cull the audio master from older home video releases such as the Far East laserdisc but the branching works smoothly and it's a more preferable solution the Hong Kong disc provides. That said, the first fight scene in the film, between Hwang Jang Lee and Yuen Shun-Yi, is obviously newly redubbed. Madness. Thanks to John Charles of Hong Kong Digital for the above information.

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Gu Long Wuxia adaptation with all the bells and whistles that a 2000 production can offer. Premiered at the Lunar New Year and with successful director Andrew Lau (The Storm Riders) at the helm of yet another fantasy romp, of course The Duel would rake in the money. Plus it has the excuse of playing during a time where commercialism rule and therefore its shortcomings feels a little less offensive than they probably should. Still, Andrew Lau's attempt at heartfelt emotions, CGI enhanced Ching Siu-Tung action, mo lei tau comedy and a twisting narrative in the tradition of these Wuxia novels is largely a flat effort. Nick Cheung desperately tries to evoke the comedic chops of Stephen Chow but instead presents a highly forced and unfunny act. Ching Siu-Tung's action would've been a nice throwback to the new wave of the 90s had it not been for the added CGI that doesn't make the choreography fly and Andrew Lau again proves why cinematographers often make poor storytellers. But who am I to complain when the Lunar New Year output isn't supposed to be better than this anyway...

Reasonably clever hints to the modern era and Andy Lau bringing presence that will kick and scream long after he's gone are positives in Lau's big budget frame however. Also with Ekin Cheng, Norman Tsui, Jerry Lamb, Elvis Tsui, David Lee, Patrick Tam and Vicky Zhao.

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Shaw Brother's film stock reserve and costume department must've been raided before Chang Cheh went to shoot Duel Of Fists in Thailand. His middle of the road, lightweight effort sure bears some trademarks of his in terms of themes and the level of blood employed (an afterthought in retrospect though as it feels rather jarring when it does rear its head) but once you find out he's not out to make or is capable of making much of this David Chiang/Ti Lung collaboration, you easily sit back and watch a comedic travel documentary unfold. The beats Chang Cheh never misses concerns the fact that we're in Thailand. David Chiang is in Thailand. David Chiang's groovy outfits are in Thailand. David Chiang walks around with lady friend in all too prolonged shots OF Thailand. Despite the plot being that Chiang's character gets involved with the lethal shenanigans of the Bangkok boxing underground, where his long lost brother (Ti Lung) act as a fighter, there's rarely an ounce of danger here or character. It's a clothing and poor-pacing showcase of fun proportions and perhaps the legendary director felt a need to indulge. Again, once you acknowledge what you're in for, you'll have fun and Chang Cheh's upstanding reputation can hardly be tarnished anyway. The filmmakers do pay respect to the culture they're inhabiting though, especially in the various Thai boxing scenes that clearly showcases traditional fighting ring rituals. Ching Le, Ku Feng, Chan Sing, Wong Chung, Pawana Chanajit and Woo Wai also appear.

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Reportedly the only martial arts movie to be financed by the Hong Kong
Kung Fu Federation and as the extensive opening demo reel shows, the performers have solid credentials outside of the movies. Duel Of The Seven Tigers doesn't try to challenge the set in stone trademarks of the genre though. Familiar elements from Drunken Master are xeroxed as is the ever so popular anti-Japanese sentiments but the product is all in all passable. The action never feels polished as such but comes with the right kind of frenetic energy. The English dubbing also does its very best to ensure we're amused when the actual physical comedic hijinxs rarely are. With Cliff Lok, Phillip Ko Fei, Han Ying Chieh and Yueng Pan Pan, Tony Leung Siu Hung, and Casanova Wong logs a fine fighting cameo.

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Having finished his trilogy of films dealing with the effects of the 1997 Handover on various Hong Kong inhabitants, Durian Durian opened up the chapter of prostitution on behalf of writer/director Fruit Chan. Not yet a trilogy or even said to be one, it probably will come as a surprise that Durian Durian connects fairly closely to Chan's previous effort (and his masterpiece so far), Little Cheung. Taking place prior to the events of that film, we see Fan (Mak Wai-Fan reprising her role) and her family living illegally in Hong Kong as immigrants waiting for the handover that will lift the restrictions of traveling between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Washing dishes on the street everyday, she also frequently catches glimpses of Mainland prostitute Yan (Qin Hai Lu, who was awarded the Best New Performer award in both Hong Kong and Taiwan). Yan comes to Hong Kong legally, logging 3 months of work to earn money for her future in China. But what awaits in the future really for either of these two?

Viewers familiar with Chan's work will immediately recognize or feel comfortable with the workings of Durian Durian. Again employing Lam Wah-Chuen's talents (cinematography and music), this independent drama walks the dirty back alleys of Hong Kong in a naturalistic, gritty way, allowing the non-professional actors plenty of space to work with. It helps if you're a fan already and there's something oddly fascinating about Chan's almost voyeuristic eye sometimes as the most ordinary details feels unique (such as Yan's problem with dried out skin after too many showers with clients). Repetitive imagery seemingly going nowhere or just being tangents of no particular importance adds nicely to an partly quirky atmosphere. This is all well and good and trademark Fruit Chan but what's the purpose for this one? As with his other films, you'll have to wait until the end credits before everything is clear to the full but Durian Durian despite will be a tester for your patience.

Proceedings are about the tedious motions and cycles of worklife which generates tedious filmmaking as well, a choice I'm pretty much in agreement with as the Hong Kong locale does provide us with glimpses into lives we rarely are allowed to see on film. The shifting of setting to the cold, harsh Northern China does initially feel like a breath of fresh air as we've almost gone 1,5 movie now with the exact same aura Little Cheung possessed. Despite, Yan's story and journey does not so much falter but drags as the drab surroundings in China does beat the movie onto its knees a little bit. The thematic of Yan resigning to her fate and not following through on dreams as everyone urges her to do remains interesting to follow and does come full circle at the end. But again, it's a fairly tedious ride getting there, making Durian Durian one for initiated viewers of Fruit Chan. Not necessarily a bad thing.

And what about the symbolism of the smelly, spiky durian fruit then? Well, I can only come up with feeble theories that goes hand in hand with Chan's thematics of the past. Namely that of outcast characters but with this film it also symbolizes taking next steps, pursuing the roads ahead after struggles etc. For Yan, the durian brings out a contrast in her bravery, leading to her ultimate decision. Whether you like it or not, it's there for the taking. Or maybe it's just a fruit.

The film also bagged a Taiwan Golden Horse Award for Best Picture while Fruit Chan's screenplay was awarded both in Taiwan and Hong Kong

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There's a tedium early on in Hsu Hsiao-Ming's drama, showing weapons deals by the docks that is punctuated by bloody killings. But while achieving an effect and potential intelligence for later usage gets our attention, you soon realize Hsu can offer nothing BUT tedium. You can't build an entire feature on the mundane that occasionally is interspersed with more realistic violence. Ok you can but first you have to somehow make your narrative clear and several long takes of dialogue later, we know nothing of the lead youth characters, who is playing who, their connections etc etc. Dust of Angels does touch upon how this particular Taiwan set gangster world slowly wipes away anyone and everyone and left is youth anarchy which may mean the flick has some effect on those closer to the society it's portraying. The "responsible" adult world seems to contribute nothing, especially not since police is steered by politicians instead but viewer opinion still boils down to the life chosen by youngsters being quite feeble. They show nothing we'd like to sympathize with or that we can comprehend. Hsu Hsiao-Ming may see things differently but that's no reason to see his film. Blacky Ko appears briefly as well as Jack Kao and Chan Chung-Yung (Asian Connection, Her Fatal Ways III).