TROY'S REVIEW: Talk about screwed up timelines! This IFD effort is about as illogical as humanly imaginable. One minute it's set in the second World War and the next... in a sleazy 1970's metropolis with our protagonists seemingly not a day older! Well, what more could we expect from our old pal Godfrey Ho? But of course, if the above wasn't confusing enough, Ho also manages to edit in another tale featuring IFD regulars Richard Harrison and Mike Abbott as mortal enemies who spend the entire film trying to bump each other off. As you can probably guess, the two inevitably meet up for the grand finale which ends in typically abrupt style with one of the combatants sent to the great beyond with a well placed grenade. Yes, rousing stuff indeed... this is not. Whilst a sadly very rare title to come by, it's one that will be sure to please all fellow IFD fans immensely. Ah, God bless IFD.

The constant fight for supremacy within the martial arts world gets a wild and colourful treatment by Liu Jun Guk (Bastard Swordsman), a director not caring much about the fact that Shaw Brother's was on its downhill slide. It's obviously the response to Tsui Hark's Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain but with the polished Shaw Brother's touch to the spectacle. Ejecting King Hu-esque grace from this type of Wuxia, martial arts fans may have little to rejoice about as the majority of the film takes the undercranked, high flying, special effects route for its fights but boy what a fun time action directors Phillip Kwok and Yuen Tak delivers. There is some excursions into good caliber swordplay but elements such as Kwok's character being an expert at the Ghostly Laughter technique and Donald Kong keeping an English speaking demon at his lair overpowers the grounded elements if you will. But it's no trouble keeping up with Liu Jun Guk's manic direction as it's straightforward, small and witty (the use of what seems to be computer game style music is an oddly appropriate choice). Phillip Kwok also gives a wonderfully balanced performance, handling stoicism and the needed sense of fun perfectly. Also starring an adorable Mary Jean Reimer, Max Mok, Yeung Jing Jing, Lau Siu Kwan, Lau Suet Wah and Jason Pai.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

The Royal Court sends one of their Royal Guards (Yu Rong-Guang) into Shaolin Temple as Lian Kong in order to destroy it within. Making a vicious and violent impact by injuring and watching the high priest sacrifice himself himself by stepping into fire, several of the monks manages to flee onto different paths while protecting the coveted holy robe. One of the monks, Hui Neng (Chui Heung-Wing) finds refuge with a group of Mongolians who are terrorized by the Royal Guard. Here he finds infatuation with a girl. Infatuation under grave circumstances...

Tsui Siu-Ming (director of the recent Champions) adds another big vehicle to his resume, with Mirage and Bury Me High belonging to that group as well. Capturing impressive scenery and extensive amounts of players in his frame, in a way it's a effort wasted because Holy Robe Of The Shaolin Temple doesn't impress equally story-wise. There's no lack of attempt and certainly not a waste of time but untested talent called upon to provide the heart of the film is a risky venture that doesn't pan out that well. But the framework of the story is sufficient and gives way to the real meat, the insanely talented Mainland players. Impressing greatly under Tsui's action directing, these guys and gals literally bounce, display acrobatics of the highest order and are put to use in fight choreography that certainly isn't about only showcasing said traits. A demonstration would've been the wrong way to go.

Around 1990, Taiwanese thrash meister Chu Yen-Ping (Fantasy Mission Force) had a rare outburst of actual creativity when he delivered Island Of Fire and the war drama A Home Too Far (quoted as a favourite of his). Although this was not so much evident in the Hong Kong versions of said flicks as they were substantially shortened in that territory, Chu's full length 2 hour cuts reveals fine intentions and instincts, some very much applicable to the presence of actor Tok Chung-Wa (largely cut from the shorter edit of Island Of Fire).

It's the horrors of war through the eyes of the desperate little man. Horrors concerning losing your buddies, futile fighting against a larger enemy, the toll it all takes on family and how you define national pride in the face of all this. Not as much of a propaganda movie as you would think, A Home Too Far involves through intense battles and a sense of humanity. The latter examination being portions of the film that do run a bit too wild with sentimentality which is a bit of a shame as the fairly involving drama can't reach any great poignancy therefore. It's still welcome, especially at 2 hours, to see Chu Yen-Ping showcase some actual strength and skill as a director. O Chun Hung and Andy Lau do solid, reserved work and Ku Feng also appear in a supporting role.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com

A constantly arguing husband (a coward) and wife (spoiled and whiny) travels to Jakarta, continues to bicker, stumbles upon some diamonds and ends up being chased by a henchman with a cold. Oh, and the couple are in the jewelry business too and knowing what they now possess, greed sets in and threatens to destroy the marriage. What drama, eh?

A dopey, predictable comedy shot on video, while a snicker or two can be found in the sitcom situations that occur, this is otherwise, as expected, a poor production that thinks throwing a repetitive, computer game score at us will equal fun when the on screen gags are not.. No, it's annoyance and not even hilarious subtitles help. Oh well, they got to see Indonesia at any rate. Cheung Kwok-Keung stars.

From the cast & crew that brought us Body Lover, anyone who can make that reference probably watches too many crap Hong Kong movies. But the hell with it, Hong Kong Eva is a step up from Cheng King-Ping as he here logs a relentlessly poor action-erotica-drama-sleaze vehicle as appossed to the relentlessly boring exercise that was Body Lover. There's a difference you see. Starting out with three girlfriends at center, real estate professions with sex attached to it, robbers and perverts galore running amok, Hong Kong Eva creates little steam across the sex scenes but the biggest surprise is that the following darker parts of the film does not bore completely. Focusing on ex-triad Tong (Lau Siu-Gwan) who washes and watches cars for a living, he encounters the girls of the piece that soon will lead into match-up's with triads. Gone is the girl's reaping the benefits of horny apartment buyers (including Japanese men with a penchant for S/M). In is cheap melodrama where friendships are jeopardized and a gunplay ending is offered up. It's not really in the details and any viewer wanting it to make sense will stop early. At 80 minutes, Hong Kong Eva doesn't bore by being poor and that makes stuff watchable for some stretches of time.

Musicals in Hong Kong cinema had by this time taken on a Hollywood style and there was no better place than to provide colour and lavish sets to the various numbers than at Shaw Brother's. Japanese director Inoue Umetsugu was drafted in to helm, and remake his own Odoritai Yoru, his first of many features at Shaw's in this story of three dancing sisters (Cheng Pei-Pei, Lily Ho and Chin Ping) and their hardships trying to make careers for themselves. Despite a colourful and sometimes goofy surface, it comes as a surprise that Inoue sets out to depress the hell out of us throughout. He really punishes our main characters and the main theme about families torn apart doesn't so much resonate greatly but proves to be engaging emotionally nonetheless. Not always on the money with his character-drama and throughlines to each and every one of them, Hong Kong Nocturne is a minor delight thanks to a trio of actresses that light up the screen. None more so than Cheng Pei-Pei who simply radiates during this high point in her career.

The musical numbers themselves (including a fair amount set in fantasy land) feature very little to almost no fancy choreography which may seem surprising considering the industry this comes from and the performers involved. However Inoue again injects his so much flair into his images that you're swept away suitably that way instead rather than by some Gene Kelly-esque put together number.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com
Yesasia.com

Although requiring some better tuned spirituality than I have myself, the visual splendor combined with quite a minute but tragic story makes Tian Zhuangzhuang's (The Blue Kite) introspective tale quite the experience. Shooting in Tibet, casting untrained locals and highlighting as much of Tibetan culture as he can, the scope frame is incredible, with Tian's cinematographers Hou Yong (The Road Home) and Zhao Fei (The Emperor And The Assassin) capturing vistas of unparalleled beauty. It's not hypnotizing enough however to make us forget there's a largely non-dialogue based plot revolving around Nowre's (Gaoba) fate as a horse thief caught, banned from his town and struggling on the cold plains of Tibet. Tian rarely highlights the why's of Nowre's initial reasoning to actually betray Buddhist learning's but human nature isn't always written in the clear, concise reasoning. What's clear though is that Nowre enters a hell that can't be escaped from, no matter what right steps are attempted after sin.