Kwan Tak-Hing's return to the Wong Fei Hung role, 4 years after the last of long running series had ended with Wong Fei Hung: Bravely Crushing the Fire Formation. Kwan would go on to reprise the role yet again in movies such as The Magnificent Butcher and Dreadnaught.

As an anticipated comeback vehicle, The Skyhawk is far from remarkable, containing standard plotting and simple but well-meaning philosophies. It rises to solid thanks to Sammo Hung's action (Hung also co-stars) that partly recalls the style of the era but contains enough of Hung's powerful traits as a choreographer. Whang In-Sik obviously gets a good kicking showcase, Kwan Tak-Hing performs an admirable amount of his own fighting but it's Carter Wong that Hung has blessed with several moments of smoothly executed action. Also with Nora Miao, Lee Kwan and amongst the stunt players Lam Ching Ying and Wilson Tong can be spotted.

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

Chang Cheh completists need only apply for this modern day blend of traditional martial arts and gunplay. The opening demo showcases what clearly is a budget constraint on the film although the martial arts is of a good caliber. Gunplay isn't however, nor is this standard story about police corruption. Some decent trademark Chang Cheh gore and mayhem does sporadically rear its head but when all parts are added up, Slaughter In Xian is only marginally better than the crap Joseph Lai and IFD churned out...sadly. Dung Chi-Wai was Chang Cheh's leading man of choice during this period and he's recently been employed by Stephen Chow, playing the character of Donut in Kung Fu Hustle.

Oh, and if you had your doubts about the homo-eroticism in Chang Cheh's movies, I think Slaughter In Xian will firmly seal your opinion. Not subtle. I'll leave it at that.

Kenichi (Takeshi Kaneshiro) finds himself in the middle of a gang war between the Chinese, 3 days prior to the New Year. He's on a reluctant mission for Shanghai crime boss Yuan (Eric Tsang) to find an old partner Yuan needs to exact revenge on. In comes the mysterious Natsumi (Mirai Yamamoto) who's offering Kenichi his target...a little too easily perhaps.

Lee Chi-Ngai (Lost And Found) once again utilizes Takeshi Kaneshiro to excellent effect in this Hong Kong/Japanese co-production. Largely set in Japan, it's the award winning technical merits to shines the most in this rather ordinary and overly complicated noir piece. Cinematographer Arthur Wong gives the perfect polished surface for the gritty gangster world while Lee makes Takeshi Kaneshiro and Mirai Yamamoto an effective couple. All up till the end, we're never sure of their loyalty towards each other and with that achieved chemistry, Lee Chi-Ngai gets some grade A remarks sporadically throughout. Although the standard he set for himself with Lost And Found is obviously lacking though. However, The Sleepless Town contains genre standards in a slick package which is a ride worth taking. Also with Kathy Chow (Beast Cops) and Ang Lee regular Lang Xiong.

Dark and off-beat comedy from Sammo Hung that juggles all kinds of elements that only Hong Kong cinema can for 90 minutes. Dealing with relationships, there's first Hung himself as a phone salesman trying to outdo his fiercest rival Ling (Carol Cheng). Being witness to a brutal murder by the whack job Bat (Jacky Cheung) and his calmer sidekick Owl (Lam Ching Ying), he manages to flee to report the case to the police. Difficulties arise because one, his wife (Yu Li) is a cop and the object of desire of another cop (Ngai Sing) and Hung's testimony doesn't get taken seriously. Then there's the shrink (Joyce Godenzi) who has Hung as her patient and gets involved as the killers go after him...

Slickers Vs Killers is involving but a little bit lacking in focus, mainly in regards to Carol Cheng's Ling who doesn't seem to have a proper spot in the narrative in the latter half. A few characters too many really occupies the film although Hung and backup leading lady Cheng's feisty interactions are probably the funniest throughout. Joyce Godenzi also gets ample time to shine as she tries to manipulate the underlying tension in the Hung/Yu Li relationship and Sammo hard hitting action, with a few stunts thrown in, has a decent showcase in what in the end, despite darkness, really is light, entertainment "only". Richard Ng and Tommy Wong also appear.

When the action directing isn't particularly distinctive, Taiwanese martial arts filmmaker Joseph Kuo easily gets into trouble and The Smart Cavalier (The Cavalier in Mei Ah's newly generated credits) is further proof why. While the likes of leading man Sze Ma Lung comes off well during the fights and various acrobatics are noteworthy, Kuo's film rather represents a haunting memory of poorly paced and grating comedy bits that perhaps may have worked in the local market but are a cruel tester for anyone else. Lo Lieh's end fight cameo adds some colour to the film but by then it's way too late.

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

KENNETH'S REVIEW: Also known as Kung-Fu Gangbusters, all the bone crunching bashing in the world can't help this boring trek amongst cops, drug smugglers and raging brothers out for revenge. Tony Liu (director of Holy Flame Of The Martial World) is in the latter part and certainly possesses a physique fit for anger but Ed Wood-inconsistencies by director Suen makes everyone take the descending trip. Even when cop Jason Pai takes center stage and bones are literally broken left and right, you have scenes with a three section staff appearing and it all turns totally baffling. Yep, Smugglers has one consistent factor: It's terrible.

When Eastern Heroes in the UK released Wilson Tong's Snake Deadly Act on video back in 1995, it had reportedly been hard to obtain ever since its run in 1980. It's notable for that as well as being the only starring vehicle for Ng Kun Lung and for also featuring one of the most abrupt endings in martial arts cinema history.

But that's not really notable positives as such and Snake Deadly Act doesn't come off as anything special, even though it certainly doesn't try either. The obvious template is the successful one set by Snake In The Eagle's Shadow and in particular Drunken Master with Ng Kun Lung being launched as a Jackie Chan style hero here. Ng does have abilities, no doubt, but doesn't possess any of the winning charisma that Jackie had brought. Even with solid players outside of Ng's casting such as Wilson Tong, Fung Hak-On, Chan Wai Man, Phillip Ko and Angela Mao, the end result is just an assembly line product. Tong's action is lively and intricate but lacks a certain polish that the best of the action directors had. Despite, Snake Deadly Act is a harmless waste of time and don't expect a gem just because it once was rare. Also with Bolo, Tai Po and Cheng Hong-Yip.

In an odd move, Eastern Heroes dvd presentation uses the same subtitled print found on the VHS release but drops the original Cantonese track in favour of an English dub only. The tape is still readily available though.

Buy the DVD at:
HK Flix.com