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Eastern Condors
Encounters of the Spooky Kind
Enter the Fat Dragon
The Evil Cult
Executioners from Shaolin
Expect the Unexpected
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If Woo's "A Bullet in the Head" is “The Deer Hunter”, then Sammo Hung's adventure is, defiantly, “The Dirty Dozen” - but "Eastern Condors" is up there with the rotund one's best. A group of Chinese and Vietnamese Americans are freed from military prison to undertake a suicide mission into the Viet-Cong infested jungles, where they meet a team of female guerillas, Yuen Biao's opportunist middle man, and Dr Haing S Ngor (of Roland Joffe's "The Killing Fields"), driven mad by the horror of war. To his credit, Sammo adds scenes of trauma and horror to remind the audience that war is all too real, but much of the film is taken up with jungle-bound martial arts and over the top shootouts. By the time the finale rolls in, with Yuen Wah's giggling, hiccuping bad guy taking center stage, you'll be on the edge of your seat and rooting for the good guys. Triumphant, and triumphantly daft. |
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Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) |
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Influential beyond measure, Sammo Hung’s spooky martial arts opus is one of the true essentials of Asian cinema. An episodic account of a braggart’s run-ins with the supernatural when his boss steals his wife, it’s full of vampires, ghosts, zombies, wizards, possessions and some mighty kung fu clashes with Lam Ching Ying’s police squad as well as being funnier than a bag of monkeys. Check the scene where Sammo’s arm starts misbehaving, or the fight with the big man taken over by the spirit of the monkey god… it’s almost impossible to conceive that a man of Sammo’s stature could move like he does. It should be on the National Curriculum. |
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Enter the Fat Dragon (1978) |
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Silly Bruce Lee tribute directed by and starring Sammo as a pig farmer who idolises Bruce and gets into a load of scrapes when he travels to the city. Though the choreography lacks Sammo’s usual golden touch, the comedy factor is immensely high and his Brucie impression (facially and physically) borders on the spooky. It feels as if all concerned are having a right laugh, and cameos from Leung Kar Yan, Yuen Biao and Lee Hai Sheng (in upsettingly bad make-up as an afro-ed Black karate expert) add an air of fun. |
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A box office disaster that effectively ended the run of period kung fu films in the 1990’s, this messy but fun Jet Li film abandons all sense and physical realism (well, it is a Wong Jing film) but does offer Sammo Hung, Chingamy Yau and an odd, stops-dead ending which was designed to lead into a sequel. Needless to say, we’re still waiting… but I’m not going to be holding my breath... Also known as "Kung Fu Cult Master". |
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Executioners from Shaolin (1977) |
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Liu Chia Liang’s superb Shaw Bros film is based around the same events as Chang Cheh’s earlier “Shaolin Temple” and Ringo Lam’s later “Burning Paradise”, with legendary fighter Hung Hsi Kwan escaping the ransack of Shaolin. He marries Wing Chun, and they have a son, but Hung’s attempts at revenge upon the White Eyebrow Priest and his tricky invincible style fail. Can the son, played by Wong Yue, succeed where his father could not? Innovative and very exciting, "Executioners from Shaolin” is the kind of spectacle that rarely gets made nowadays… and if you want to know why Lo Lieh is one of Quentin Tarantino’s
favourite actors, watch his typically skill performance as the bad guy here. |
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Expect the Unexpected (1998) |
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Jonnie To and Wai Ka Fai really know how to craft an ensemble crime thriller, and this entertaining and unpredictable film is one of their finest achievements. Simon Yam and Lau Ching Wan head an organised crime unit, tracking a rubbish mainland gang who bungled a jewelry shop robbery - then finding themselves on the trail of some far deadlier criminals. By turns lighthearted, with a charming romantic subplot, then brutal and surprising, the only other thing I can give away about this film is that it really lives up to its title. Oh, and you really ought to watch it! |
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