After not being allowed to complete work on The Big Heat, Andrew Kam had to wait 2 years before another chance came, with Fatal Termination. By the numbers action-thriller initially, Kam gives the film some serious teeth and grit after the half way point, showing us what merciless cinema can be like. A particular outstanding and completely inappropriate scenario involves the little girl of the Ray Lui/Moon Lee unit being hung through the window of a fast moving car. And it's a fast moving car! Only in Hong Kong...

But this is intensity I find extremely thrilling, not ashamed to admit that and Kam doesn't let go until the very end, having fired off extensive bullets and gore by the time the final credits roll by. Big ups goes out to Moon Lee who is very dedicated to the emotional state of her character, be it big or subdued. Simon Yam, Robin Shou and scenery chewing Phillip Ko also stars.

Action-drama about a group of Hong Kong tourists in the Philippines that are taken hostage by a local rebel group.

Unexpectedly grim and dark coming from Eric Tsang which is why Fatal Vacation ranks as an interesting but flawed 90 minutes. Tsang throws in the odd commentary about the cynical media and the importance of uniting but overall it's a character drama of shaky proportions on offer here. Writer Nam Yin gives sufficient backgrounds to the people from different walks of life that comes together in the face of this hardship but Tsang, while doing passable work, isn't up to the task of getting the drama to greater heights despite good performances from himself and Tommy Wong.

Cinematographer Jingle Ma provides some well-captured images in the Philippines and the action by Ng Min Kan shows an eye for destruction but unfortunately not style as such. Co-starring Irene Wan, Victor Wong, Tang Pik Wan and Nam Yin.

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It's quite a task to try and follow in the footsteps of an effort such as A Touch Of Zen but director King Hu successfully did it with The Fate Of Lee Khan. Largely set in the iconic setting of the inn, also featured to great effect in Come Drink With Me and Dragon Inn, Hu has a much smaller, intimate story to tell despite the rulers vs. the rebels plotline. He almost delights in being tedious for a good 40 minutes as he shows the inner workings of the inn, its sometimes dopey guests, adding a little humour in the process. But as soon as the mighty and ruthless Lee Khan (Tien Feng) and his entourage arrives, Hu kicks the tension into high gear and doesn't let go. His varied staging's within a single location is thoroughly captivating and edgy and his prior light touches only sprinkled with what's to come aids these latter sections of the film greatly. With his regular cast in place, such as Han Ying Chieh and Pai Ying in addition to Golden Harvest and Shaw Brother's profiles such as Angela Mao, Hu Chin and Kok Lee Yan, the stage is populated with dependency and Hu does indeed get excellent performances to aid this tension, especially from Tien Feng and the fiery eyed Hsu Feng as his closest guard.

When the action climax hits (action was directed by Sammo Hung and Han Ying Chieh), it can be argued that The Fate Of Lee Khan goes down conventional territories but for a smaller in scale story, the choice to erupt into fighting is valid and Hung and Han's work registers as exciting. Also with Roy Chiao and Li Lihua.

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Also known as Two On The Road, despite the high division pairing of Leung Kar-Yan and Phillip Ko, much of these light shenanigans mixed with pretty well done action choreography not so much annoys but it's simply not funny. Concerning a missing gold shipment the conmen/thieves Leung and Ko plays are accused of stealing, in between there's much twisting, arguing, comedy accentuated with sounds, music (James Bond villain Jaws gets referenced in its own, long action-skit) and it reeks of those unnecessary but inevitable imitations of a better product. At least the martial arts action stands out, especially towards the high concept ending involving the leads and Johnny Wang. With Horse and Dragon Fist featured and therefore the sole noticeable wirework in the film, it's exaggerated fun for a reel anyway. Also with Kong Do and Addy Sung.

Quick, efficient, to the point and with no unnecessary dialogue, Fearless Fighters is one of the very best Wuxia pieces of its kind, providing terrific energy, creative weaponry and only running 82 minutes. There's a good explanation though as to why all of a sudden a production such as this got polished and streamlined. It was a 1971 film originally but picked up in 1973 by Richard Ellman's independent distribution company. Dubbed and re-edited, Fearless Fighters went on to become a noticeable success in the relatively early days of exposure of this genre to American audiences. The now less complex movie features some simple strands of clan feud, betrayal, deceit and a case of gold but what a continually exciting blast it is. Mo Man-Hung (director of fan favourite Stormy Sun) lets the action speak, something that could've gone on a dull repeat but there's a seemingly endless creative force behind the film. Crude creativity but creativity nonetheless. As it's mainly a weapons movie and the US movie poster rightly showcased the versatile range we're about to witness, it's a decision paying off as we see the usual poisonous darts, flying hats but also crippled fighters with sneaky weapons, assassins dressed as vampires, whips, twin swords and more. Chen Hung-Lieh (Come Drink With Me) walks away with the highest honor in cool as the twin sword master.

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After acclaimed features Over The Rainbow, Under The Skirt and The Golden Girls, Joe Ma took a nosedive into mediocrity but not commercially as the twentysomething's rom/com Feel 100% (based on a comic book) became a success at the local box-office. Starring Ekin Cheng, Eric Kot and Sammi Cheng, they portray three friends since school who are now living life in a shallow way and not growing up. All not breaking pattern except Sammi's Cherie who is feeling the crush she has on Ekin's Jerry. He is feeling nothing but to fool around and Kot's Hui Lok goes on a risky venture by meeting up with a phone flirt (Christine Ng) who turns out to be all out insane. The "I learned something today..."-statements are not far away.

From a hot year for in particular Ekin Cheng, star of Young And Dangerous, the main men Andrew Lau and Manfred Wong behind that franchise perhaps looked to spawn more series but thankfully stopped early (Feel 100%, Once More followed, then key personnel except director Ma were out) despite the figures being in their favour. Feel 100% attempts a mix of upbeat, light and clownish behaviour mixed in with so called drama as our characters finally understand what the true love is in their lives. All fine and well but striking that balance in an awful way, Ma's film is the equivalent of tasteless chewing gum and that's not enough to earn any acclaim. Decent parodies of A Moment Of Romance and Mission Impossible rises the off-beat nature of the flick but lacking devotion towards anyone hurts it severely. The cast is pretty, wacky and are not asked to venture far outside of that realm. A sappy end montage offends the viewer, Christine Ng is earlier basically seen raping Eric Kot and then trying to commit suicide with him in the most odd tangent of the flick. Watch Ng, better style and emotions in Riley Yip's Love Is Not A Game, But A Joke instead.

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Cheap, poor, boring and even a little embarrassing action-drama from Wilson Tong, featuring his recurring teaming up with old school chums Norman Tsui and Gordon Lau, all once under the mighty wing of Lau Kar-Leung. Ending up being just another gangster actioner of its time, if you face direction where characters walk into camera as a way ending scenes and sappy montages for fallen characters, you know you're not in good hands. Even the action, blending some fisticuffs but mostly gunplay, is routinely staged and doesn't get enhanced one bit even as the blood is thrown around freely. Lo Lieh also take part in this one.

Imagine Dean Shek (Drunken Master) and Karl Maka (Aces Go Places) team up and do exactly what they do "best" (cue audience groans) and you can well imagine how this Taiwanese indie feels like.

Starring Lu Feng and Chiang Sheng, two out of the team that Chang Cheh assembled from Taiwan for his Venoms films at Shaw's (although Chiang didn't participate in the original The Five Venoms) as the god of plates and chopsticks respectively, the two have a tradition of dueling it out every 10 years. After the last ferocious battle involving, you guessed it, plates and chopsticks, they decide to challenge each other to find the best human disciple instead. The choice falls upon two teahouse waiters and the gods begin to put them through all kinds of embarrassing hell.

Best described as a kung fu cartoon (complete with the expected sound effects), director Huang Kuo-Chu is clearly having a ball! Pace and energy is borderline frantic, surely making a lot of jokes fly by without knowing they were ever jokes in the first place. The Drunken Master influence is definitely well on its way into the picture but it's quickly a thought ejected considering the craziness otherwise on display, in particular wonderful opening duel between the gods. The bizarre nature makes it very much less a carbon copy, I'll tell you! It all makes for entertaining viewing even though honestly nothing on display will tickle your funnybone to the extreme. Fight Among The Supers is also a good tester to see how receptive you really are to the low-brow comedy of Asian cinema, especially since it occupies most of the running time here.

As for traditional action, various skilled acrobatics from the leads crop up during the running time and the final reel becomes more of a conventional showdown but one with the Taiwanese players strutting their stuff in a lively way. Shame about some of the undercranking but somehow it makes sense and adds on to the entertainment value of this slice of Taiwanese kung fu cinema.

Stephen Chow plays Sing who goes undercover in a school in order to retrieve a stolen police gun. A sufficient frame plot-wise for Chow and co-star Ng Man Tat's antics, this time directed by the reliable Gordon Chan.

While the films of this period are no cinematic showcases, they are Chow's funniest works without a doubt, even though Fight Back To School elicits "only" chuckles for some stretches with some inspired laugh out loud moments from Chow sporadically. However all that's ok because director Chan keeps entertainment level high and intrudes very little on Stephen's excellent work here. A choice even Wong Jing knew was a suitable one when directing Chow. A particular strong point is Chow's observation of his bizarre surroundings (a scene with a rather dim-witted chemistry professor becomes the culmination in that regard) and the interplay with Ng Man Tat is as always great, with relatively little full on verbal gags employed. Also with Sharla Cheung, Gabriel Wong, Roy Cheung, Paul Chun, Dennis Chan and Barry Wong.

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No need to change a winning concept but that's ok because the original Fight Back To School actually was a winner. This time Gordon Chan and company add synch sound to the hilarious, if slightly calmer antics of Stephen Chow, proving his masterful handling of the range concerning verbal dexterity and in my opinion the most hilarious of the act here, him in his odd surroundings trying to cope. Gordon Chan again knows to not interfere but the direction is as always solid, with a decent gunplay ending worthy of his talents. Perhaps not Chow's though. Reprising their roles are Sharla Cheung, Ng Man Tat, Gabriel Wong while Athena Chu, Deannie Yip, Michael Chow, James Wong, Spencer Lam and Blackie Ko are added to the mix. Since the plot revolves around foreign terrorists, some of the resident gwailo players such as Mark Houghton, Mark King and John Wakefield also appear. Paul Fonoroff however plays a head of the police force.

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