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| Heroes Of The East (1978) Directed by: Lau Kar Leung |
Known internationally as Shaolin Challenges Ninja, this one of many fine Lau Kar Leung efforts comes out way ahead of the pack with its nigh on perfect blend of martial arts action and valid thematic excursions. Gordon Lau plays Ho To, a kung fu master who chooses a Japanese woman (Yuko Mizuno) as his wife. A feud is soon ablaze between the couple as they can't come to terms and agreement on the philosophies of their individual martial arts. She returns to Japan and after Ho To sends a challenge letter to her, the best of the best of Japanese masters turn up to challenge him. One by one they go at it... Set amongst the upper classes of Chinese society in the late Ching dynasty, Lau Kar Leung weaves a pretty decent narrative from I Kuang's script that is far from one big excuse to feature martial arts action. Hell, he even takes his time to set the stage for the differences of the characters before unleashing his choreography. Heroes Of The East, in many other filmmakers hands, would've simply derailed and turned into a bloody struggle between the Chinese and the Japanese. Lau is not interested in any revenge motifs but instead puts forth valid arguments from both sides, with the final message being that we have to examine the values of each others cultures instead of naively rejecting them. In between this fairly serious narrative, doses of off-beat humour turns up, most notably through Lau Kar Leung's wonderful cameo as Beggar So, the role Simon Yuen (who also appears) would become the symbol for the very same year in Snake In The Eagle's Shadow. Eventually, Lau lets it rip with his action choreography and it's a furious multi fighting showcase of Chinese and Japanese weaponry that ranks as some of Lau's best work in the 70s. At the same time, a notion is retained concerning cultures in need of enlightening each other and it's no surprise that Heroes Of The East is almost completely bloodless therefore. It's a rare treat when audiences get to ponder in martial arts cinema but Lau Kar Leung proved on several occasions that the merging worked. Gordon Lau and Yasuaki Kurata shine and the supporting cast includes Cheng Hong Yip, Cheng Miu, Norman Chu and Lee Hoi San. Buy the DVD at: |
| Hero Of Tomorrow (1988) Directed by: Poon Man-Kit |
If you haven't seen this story before, then you haven't seen much "heroic bloodshed" movies. With a little bit of A Better Tomorrow and Just Heroes mixed in, only with less refined storytelling skills at the helm, Hero Of Tomorrow has little to offer if it wasn't for the inclusion of, however bad it is to express it the way I'm going to, exciting, gory and intense violence. Poon Man-Kit also caps his generic story off with a fine gunplay finale in the middle of the Hong Kong streets, having made sure that there is no tomorrow for any characters so blood flows freely. Fans should dig that. Starring Miu Kiu Wai, Max Mox, William Ho (in a typical broad bad guy turn for the actor), Cheung Wing Jing, Ku Feng, Joan Tong and Gam Siu Mooi. Tommy Wong, Phillip Kwok, Blackie Ko, James Tien, Phillip Chan and Lam Chung logs cameos. Buy the DVD at: |
| Heroic Duo (2003) Directed by: Benny Chan |
My initial hopes regarding Heroic Duo and the director Benny Chan was that it would equal something a notch or two below his 1996 movie Big Bullet. I.e. a few notches better than his last two films (Gen-X Cops and Gen-Y Cops) combined. The end result though is an uninteresting mix of slick looking action filmmaking, ever so slightly touching human drama and short bursts of fun action. The script, with a decent premise revolving hypnosis, doesn't try to change the world but if you do want your characters to come off the page, cast interesting actors. Unfortunately we're stuck with Ekin Cheng and Leon Lai, not the poster boys for movie charisma. Ekin is actually a bit better than usual in a not so challenging cop role while Leon is saddled with the most complex character in the film. Leon's character could've worked under another director and sadly Benny has lost that touch of directing actors like we saw in A Moment Of Romance. Francis Ng, despite sleepwalking his way through the film, is the only barely watchable thing in it while Raymond Wong logs this year's worst supporting performance. Also starring Karena Lam (much better in July Rhapsody) and Xu Jing Lei. Buy the DVD at: |
| A Heroic Fight (1986) Directed by: Chiu Chung-Hing |
Taiwanese madness is the order of the day and a number of incredibly odd tangents starts early as director Chiu Chung-Hing clearly isn't interested in conveying the plot. Triad boss behaviour of the bizarre kind towards dogs and then we're off in ninja ghoul territory but wait, here's where the plot actually kicks in! Concerning gangsters and a family of movie special effects makers, Chiu unleashes all manners of creativity on screen because this family are masters at what they do, plus good fighters and acrobats too as it turns out. The energy isn't quite on par with Jackie Chan's work but it's almost equally infectious. As a movie, A Heroic Fight doesn't matter but it sets itself up as nonsense and is fun to follow because of it. Starring Lin Hsiao-Lan, Dick Wei and Yuen Cheung-Yan. |
| The Heroic Trio (1993) Directed by: Johnnie To |
In other places Ching Siu-Ting has been credited as CO-director which is not illogical since he did action direct this fan favourite. Starring three of Hong Kong cinemas most gorgeous women (Anita Mui, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung), this one won't have you looking at the clock. Filled with wire enhanced action, gory imagery, a flying guillotine and battling babes but I do have to say that The Heroic Trio isn't as amazing as the reputation may suggest. Johnnie To injects well meaning but ultimately misplaced emotional weight to a story that isn't anything more than basic and Ching Siu-Tung's choreography, while entertaining to watch, does comes off as too edited for my liking. Set design however is a notch above your average Hong Kong action production and Anthony Wong steals every scene he's in. In other words, there's enough here to like. Buy the DVD at: |
| Her Vengeance (1988) Directed by Nam Nai Choi |
Decent rape/revenge thriller but at the same time remarkably solid considering it's Nam Nai Choi directing. Yes, gone is the outrageousness b-movie excesses that The Seventh Curse and The Cat offered and Nam goes for full on gritty brutality instead. Some of which is eerily effective and has seldom been outdone in 80s Hong Kong cinema (despite suffering from noticeable censoring). Only Alfred Cheung's On The Run springs to mind that regard. Not that the revenge motive is particularly deep or polished as is normally the case whenever Hong Kong cinema attempts something like this. Therefore, pretty much all men are portrayed horny and evil but you do sense that there's no ambition to be the smartest exploitation flick on the block either. Lam Ching Ying brings solid dramatic weight to the piece and Pauline Wong, while being saddled with limited traits to work with, equips herself well, in particular during the intense action finale (co-choreographed splendidly well by Lam Ching Ying). Also with Shing Fui On and Billy Chow. The vcd re-issue by Deltamac cut out most of the violence while adding a whole slew of new and alternate footage compared to the Cat III rated out of print Megastar vcd. For a breakdown of the additions and differences, visit the Her Vengeance Deleted & Extended Scenes Gallery. Buy the VCD at: |
| He's A Woman, She's A Man (1994) Directed by: Peter Chan |
A little slow but quite an affecting romantic comedy starring Anita Yuen, Leslie Cheung and Carina Lau. Yuen plays Wing that goes to a singing audition dressed as a boy and surprisingly gets a shot at the big time. Living with producer Sam (Cheung) she falls for him and he is drawn to, what he thinks is, the boy. In the middle then is Sam's singer girlfriend (Lau). Anita pulls off the transformation to boy quite convincingly and Peter Chan explores the themes of homosexuality and idol worshipping without resorting to cheap gags or being distasteful. The cast gel with each other and Jordan Chan in particular has a likable supporting part. Same cast turned up for the sequel Who's The Woman, Who's The Man in 1996 but that failed to capture the spirit of the first. Buy the DVD at: |
| Hidden Desire (1991) Directed by: Ho Fan |
Veronica Yip's path from being a coveted Category III girl to acclaimed dramatic actress started intensely with three films streaking down the finish line towards Call Girl 92. First out of the gate was Hidden Desire. with Yip in a supporting "role" in what barely could be qualified as a movie. Ho Fan (Brief Encounter) pays extremely little attention to plot but instead seems to give his all in creating high class erotica. Valiant attempts but laughable execution in its pretentious ways. However, Hidden Desire is harmless crap right up till a final reel that turns it into offensive crap. Good of Charlie Cho to spoil it all and try to find any sense in the excruciating rape finale if you can. Yipes. Buy the DVD at: |
| Hidden Hero (1990) Directed by: Chang Cheh |
It seems appropriate that one of the last films from legendary Chang Cheh last would be a collection of elements from his prior Shaw Brother's flicks but it's a rather failed best of-collection that barely touches upon the excellent character-skills the Chang Cheh of the late 60s and early 70s possessed. The career trajectory was indeed quite notable/bizarre in that regard but clearly Chang found the combination of plastic heroes and bloodshed to his liking in his latter filmmaking life. While low-budget and utilizing quite embarrassingly empty, large scale sets, Hidden Hero is not unlike what Shaw's did turn out. Therefore we get an oversized character gallery, endless talking, plotting and backstabbing. All later interspersed with fairly lively bursts of martial arts that echoes weapons- and gore elements of past flicks. But it's an art that was dying and the screen results are very watered down. When Chang Cheh lets preferred leading man of this era, Tung Chi-Wa speak of the corrupt evil of our world, proceedings also turn corny beyond belief. Still, with a legacy left behind with classics such as One-Armed Swordsman and Blood Brothers, any amount of bad genre filmmaking won't be able to shake the foundation. |
| Hidden Passion (1991) Directed by: Leung Dung-Lei |
Chu (Ng Jan-Wei) reminisces of his youth island adventures, being a virgin turned über horny teen and in love with neighbourhood woman Tak (Lau Wai-Han). In the mix is also Tak's handicapped husband and her outgoing niece Pauline (Asuka Tamami) and since we're also dealing with a Category III rating here, the drama is all about da sex! Yes, Tak's husband has troubles in that area and when not satisfied, Tak is both drawn to Pauline and Chu, creating jealousy in Pauline who has forced Chu to be her boyfriend and further bla bla bla... Desires and fantasies collide in low-budget, run down environments which surely is representing a village reality but with such inept drama at hand (despite the "art" above in the screencap), it's no wonder Leung Dung-Lei focuses on the sex...A LOT. What feels like a dozen sex scenes in 90 minutes, the erotica could've gone places had it not employed your typical jazz/lounge porno score plus at one pivotal point where Tak REALLY gets what she wants, angelic choirs are heard on the soundtrack! Hilarity ensues then and even great inserts of big engine vehicles during a sex scene has the laughing center getting a workout. The end credits show brief behind the scenes footage of yet another Asuka Tamami vehicle which is possibly Love In Sampan. Remembering nothing of that flick, it all doesn't matter but is a choice by the filmmakers to welcome us to the next sex-marathon. Who's willing...really? Buy the DVD at: |
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