Produced by Columbia for the Asian market and feeling more like the West invited to the East, Hong Kong actor Tony Leung stars with David Morse as they try and solve a series of murders where a man drowns in his own office without being submerged in water, a woman is burned to death and there's no traces of fire etc. All possibly connecting to an old prophecy of achieving immortality. Confident handling by Chen Kuo-Fu and the entire production runs through Double Vision that build mystery with clarity and intrigue. Not shying away from details but not verging on being gratuitous either, amidst all this a solid double act between Leung and Morse develops. The former handles his English dialogue and the clichés of being haunted of trauma from the past well and Morse plays being out of place as naturally as you'd come to expect from the veteran actor. Getting a bit tricky and complex as exposition takes us into dialogue about various stages of hell and a multi-reality ending, nevertheless Chen's film is competent, approachable and a fine example of this West-East corporation that was a major push by Columbia at this time. Unrated version adds a couple of extended scenes, slightly different ending and way more gore and violence during the temple massacre. Also starring Rene Liu.

Produced in Taiwan under the title The Dragon And Tiger Kids, in Hong Kong known as The Hell's Windstaff and internationally tweaked a little in the form of a Z in that Hong Kong title, the action directing team (Yuen Shun-Yi, Hsu Hsia, Chin Yuet-Sang, Corey Yuen & Brandy Yuen) makes this a treat in the fights department. Choosing to highlight the acrobatic skills of stars Meng Yuen-Man and Mang Hoi, at their disposal is also the ultimate whirlwind of fury, Hwang Jang-Lee. Suffice to say, all participants are highlighted to a terrific degree. What we get is varied, which isn't the case always and co-directors Tony Wong and Tony Liu (Bastard Swordsman) provides ever so slightly sharper instincts for the genre. Comedy isn't all that exaggerated, standard story beats for the villains in a way subdued, making the film so much less intrusive that it's never a long trek between the fight scenes. A small but classic genre treat. Jason Pai also co-stars.

The Eastern Heroes presentation in widescreen, Cantonese language and subtitles is unfortunately missing at least brief fighting footage at the very end. Cropped, English dubbed versions such as the one available from World Video is complete in that regard.

It doesn't make Hong Kong a player on the market for computer generated animated films but DragonBlade contains enough of its locally rooted charms to entertain. Within the story of young martial artist Lang trying to get the famed DragonBlade (which you could only obtain if you're pure of heart), we get fun references to genre material made long ago and live. Iconic imagery from Drunken Master is one instance where a genre love is flashed while elements of corrupt officials, a kooky master (who apparently has the same speech pattern as Yoda) and slimey Dean Shek-esque characters occupy this fairy tale land with the utmost Wuxia flavour. Clownish initially and tough to get into therefore, director Antony Szeto finds a pretty decent flow as soon as the elaborate tournament sequence hits and then fantasy is allowed to roam more free. As an adventure, this is serviceable, short stuff overall but you should look all the way back to A Chinese Ghost Story The Tsui Hark Animation for a better view of one man's fantasy, the use of CG in animation while making the product very Hong Kong which in turn leads to international flavour. I think it's due to quality also. Voice acting for DragonBlade is provided by Stephen Fung, Karen Mok, Sandra Ng, Jim Chim and Daniel Wu.

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Hanging around in Europe in the early 80s directing films for his own production company, location work in Paris (for Zen Kwun Do Strikes In Paris aka Kung Fu Leung Strikes Emmanuelle) is ejected in favour of location work in the Canary Islands (thank you Jesús Manuel Pérez Molina for the info) acting as a backdrop for his Mexico-set story. In awe of the locations available to him, Liu showcases them... a lot. In fact elongating in favour of actual, varied, meaningful content is a theme here. Liu is a Chinese immigrant who is blinded by bandits after a coveted Dragon amulet but is nursed back to health and trained by Pauline (Cyrielle Claire). Clearly wanting to tell the history of Chinese immigrant labour in America, the history lesson comes off as filler and even the training as blind goes on for ages (as does the tragic ending that Liu definitely does not earn). When all you have is a few actors, locations and a small budget, you do what you can but Liu is not able to muster up memorable imagery. Fight action when involving Phillip Ko Fei shows flashes of brilliance and what an amazing kicker Liu is but Dragon Blood never comes alive beyond its cool concept of being a kung-fu movie shot on these locations.

Also known as Big Boss 2 and looking more like Fist Of Fury, it's neither a sequel to anything seemingly or resembles distinct plot beats out of Bruce Lee's classic. Dragon Lee is Lee Han San, part of the Chinese resistance that wants to take down the maniacally laughing Japanese. He gets hurt along the way and also along the way, bland storytelling and only sporadic action flair pops up. In a vehicle that seems to initially dump all elements of Bruceploitation, over the course of the movie the always massive looking and acting Dragon dones the Bruce-persona fully and within a unfulfilling frame story- and action-wise, this is Dragon Bruce Lee Part II's saving grace for those sporadic moments. Trying to depict fury and dramatic acting leads to unintentional humour, attempts at iconic moments (in order to make Lee come off as a patriotic hero) comes off as really sloppy instead so thank god someone tapped into the goofy Bruceploitation side of it all. Also with Phillip Ko and Bolo Yeung.

Also known as The Dragon Chronicles - The Maidens Of Heavenly Mountains, it's 100 mph plotting right out of the gate, adhering well to the Wuxia tradition of storytelling and being a possible turn off for those not accustomed to the style. However when the narrator settles down, Andy Chin's (Call Girl 92) movie reveals itself to be an off-beat pleasure that even dabbles, albeit lightheartedly, in the consequences of the usual power struggles within the martial arts world. The two fighting the most intensely are Li Chau Shui (Brigitte Lin) and Mo Han Wan (Gong Li). Han Wan is drawn to Chau Shui's twin sister Li Ching Hoi (Lin again) as well while sect leader Ting Chun Chou (Norman Tsui) is plotting his possible dominance. One of his disciples Purple (Sharla Cheung) is literally a kid within all this, getting giddy at the thought of being a ruler and she stumbles upon the tools all involved desire in order to achieve superiority. The secret lies within a Shaolin monk (Frankie Lam) and the ancient sutra he's been asked to guard...

A big scale production, combining the often used animated effects but also suitable inclusions of computer generated imagery, the frantic pacing and wild battles are definitely Tsui Hark and Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain in style which is a high compliment to Andy Chin's work here. The flying battles take place over some quite impressive sets, being both done in the shaky cam tradition but also wire work is captured in a variety of one-shots going across the width of the sets. With his remarkably beautiful leads at center stage, it's no wonder the movie gets a boost visually as well while Sharla Cheung performs the light side of the story impressively. Overall quite an evil character that force-feeds chicken to the monk and gets her senior to cut off his legs, sprinkled throughout are notions of power being quite repetitive and boring, something one character will possibly learn after it's achieved. This is not one, big dramatic intention but a clear train of thought that has a place besides the wild, frantic, hypnotic, hyperactive side of The Dragon Chronicles - The Maidens. You can never blame it for being boring or predictable as Andy Chin showcases the Wuxia world is anything but. It's also decidedly human at points. Also with Liu Kai-Chi.

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Triad actioner with an extensive list of recognizable players but coming from this golden era of modern action filmmaking in Hong Kong, gathering up all these, including Andy Lau, Max Mok, Norman Tsui, Alan Tam, Ku Feng, William Ho, Miu Kiu-Wai and Kara Hui, was highly plausible. With Lau Kar Wing directing and brother Lau Kar Leung handling the action, you would expect something marvelously exhilarating, right? Well, yes...eventually.

It's a very talky piece with quite an overabundance of characters, making The Dragon Family a generic borefest so the interruption of action should really redeem this downtime, right? No. While stunts are generally good (one fire stunt is quite admirably performed by actress Chiao Chiao), the gunplay is disturbingly stale and poorly staged for something that has Lau Kar Leung's name on it. One suspect he was only there for the final reel when things really take off or rather concentrated only on the final reel.

That finale, although too short, sees Lau mixing gunplay, stunts and even weapons action, much of it involving actors Andy Lau, Alan Tam and Max Mok, to a truly exhilarating effect. It's further proof of Lau Kar Leung's excellent transition from traditional martial arts to modern day action. The Dragon Family is short enough to easily get to the final reel but you'll probably return to that many times rather than sit through the feature.

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They all want gangster boss Lung (Eddy Ko) dead from the beginning or along the way so modern action veteran Wong Jan-Yeung (Dreaming The Reality) connects a whole bunch of characters as an excuse to fire off a whole lot of bullets in a compelling, intense way. Starting with Japanese assassin (Nishiwaki Michiko), leading to small time hoodlum Bull (an excellent Alex Man), continuing with Bull's assassin friend (Alex "Jet Pack" Fong), the women (Carrie Ng) Fong falls in love with that is engaged to be married to right hand man of Lung, Ben (Francis Ng), you of course have the actual long arm of the law represented by Sibelle Hu hassling both Bull and determined to bring down Lung's entire gang...

Lead by Alex Man who enjoys playing the lowest of the low of hoodlums on the streets, Man's lack of glamour in the role that others might've unwillingly played up aids him greatly even when the character borderlines on being the comic relief of the film (good moments having to do with his hero status not being one he transfers easily into). Director Wong isn't breaking new ground with this or anywhere else in the picture but the focus on a character gallery ending up together by many coincidental meetings is handled with a sharp eye as well as the premium attraction, the action. Skipping any acrobatic or balletic excursion, Wong's key (and action director Chui Fat's) is firepower, intensity and energy. This way of pouring on works wonderfully well, mixing edgy and explosive scenarios coupled with a few fights to add to quite a perfect spice.

Reportedly filmed in early 1978 but not completed and released due to lack of funds in the Lo Wei camp. Eventually did get released in 1979 after the loan of Jackie Chan to Ng See-Yuen’s company Seasonal had generated the kung fu comedy hits Snake In The Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master and now the actor who had previously found it tough to generate box office working for Lo Wei was a bankable name. Perhaps due to Dragon Fist telling a dark, serious story (especially now that comedy was the name of the game when making kung fu movies), the returns weren’t on the level of Drunken Master but the gloom of it all makes Dragon Fist an exceptional standout in Jackie’s filmography. Simple revenge setup leads to thoughtful plot developments where the target of revenge (Yen Shi-Kwan's character) is filled with remorse and Jackie's Tang Hao Yun takes a job (to pay for medicine his Master's wife needs) with Yen's rivals in another clan. Lo Wei's direction therefore shines for the first time in years and this is also short for him (96 minutes). That's perfect space for the layered narrative for the genre and also perfect space for Jackie's astounding choreography. A fast, violent and ferocious aura is present in nearly all the fight scenes and it's such a treat seeing Jackie excel at making straight kung-fu because you take it (and him) seriously technically as well as within the context of the story. An underrated classic buried underneath Jackie's big breakthrough in the late 70s. Also with James Tien, Nora Miao and Ouyang Sha-Fei.