Covering the legend of So Hat Yi, the wealthy boy who gets manipulated by Ching interests, becomes an opium addict, loses his family but is re-born as Beggar So, Donnie Yen takes on the role and as one of the other legendary 10 Tigers Of Canton and Wong Gok is Wong Fei-Hung. In another division than the benchmark movie Once Upon A Time In China or Yuen Woo-Ping's own Drunken Master (with his father Simon Yuen in the So Hat Yi role), Heroes Among Heroes is pale entry in the new wave 90s wire fu cannon. Merely the basic beats are covered and even if Woo-Ping was on his way of achieving a majestic, affecting feeling, it's buried under grating comedy courtesy of Ng Man-Tat and Sheila Chan as So's parents. Not unlike a lot of Hong Kong movies then but the combination isn't entertaining. Add to the fact that Donnie Yen change of character consists of putting on a hat and you get an idea of the lack of passion available. Action is technically efficient but features very few standout moments. The standouts are more often about when the action relies less on the wires but at other times the Yuen Clan is a few frames off in the film speeds department. It detracts and makes the action fade from memory easily. Also with Fennie Yuen and Hung Yan-Yan as the main villain.

Tu Tashan (Chan Sing) defeats Hsiao Hu's (Ting Wa-Chung) father and subsequently the father commits suicide. Wanting revenge but being offered training by Tu Tashan, Hsiao Hu is allowed to attempt revenge anytime. All while the two are on a mission to defeat traitors that are now siding with the Manchu's...

William Cheung (Calamity Of Snakes) presents expected morals surrounding revenge but in quite solid fashion. Solid chemistry between his old and young lead coupled with quality action choreography throughout makes Heroes From Shaolin very serious but never to an unbearable, arty degree. The film knows it's basic and expectedly has its highlight moments via Yuen Biao's and Corey Yuen's work as action directors. Especially their own scenes featuring weapons are a fluid treat, beating anything co-stars Lo Lieh and Hwang Jang-Lee take part in.

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:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

Ambitious on every level but skill is not put forth that showcases the combo of war with drama. Cheung Chang-Chak (River Of Fury) certainly got the cast, the effects work that mostly deals with aerial fights, the scope and the design that speaks to the Chinese spirit overcoming (or almost) oppressing forces (in this case the Japanese). Leung Sau-Geun's pilot and leader is a bit more compelling as a character too, being hard on his pilots to the point of accidental deaths happening and suffering on the outside when injured while the war in the skies go on. That war is quite exhilarating as captured on film with fine usage of miniature to re-create mayhem and that's essentially what Heroes Of The Eastern Skies brings. It may have spoken on a more profound level to its local audience but as it stands now, it's a major, truly awesome technical achievement with empty stretches in between.

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:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

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.

While the connection to Chang Cheh's Boxer From Shantung is there according to reports, Heroine Susan, The Sister Of The Shantung Boxer can be judged on its merits thankfully. Lacking in much merits however, at hand is revenge for a fallen brother by a sister (Wang Ping). Target: the axe gang and a drugs operation. Grit and fighting fury does rear its head but far too infrequently and most of the action comes off as devoid of power. Igniting a little towards the end with select sections of Chang Cheh-esque gore as Wang Ping fights alongside Charlie Chin, it's hard for the movie to walk away with its head up high after being so decidedly normal and weak before. Also with Suen Yuet.