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Fallen Angels
Fat Choi Spirit
First Strike
Fist of Fury
Fist of Legend
Five Deadly Venoms
Flaming Brothers
Flying Dagger
Fong Sai Yuk
Fong Sai Yuk 2
From Beijing with Love
Full Alert
Full Contact
Full Throttle
Fulltime Killer
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Entertaining mahjong comedy from Jonnie To, with Andy Lau as a ‘Mahjong Hero’ trying to teach brother Louis Koo to play while managing temperamental (and other kinds of mental) girlfriend Gigi Leung with his complicated life. Generally, it’s very sweet and romantic, but To keeps it interesting by throwing in some deft parody, a blood-pressure raising bust enhancement for lovely Gigi, and Lau Ching Wan as Andy’s crafty rival, prone to childish rages and inexplicably dressed as a wannabe gangsta. Odd. |
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Ostensibly it’s Police Story 4, with Jackie Chan playing the same role he does in, well, nearly all of his films, this time on an espionage trail which takes him from Russia to Australia. Part of a series of mid-nineties JC films that were becoming dangerously formulaic, this still has much entertainment to offer: a great fight with Jackie swinging a stepladder around, an exciting chase down a ski slope, and Chan the man in an underwater fight against some nasty goons. In an occupied shark tank. Even on autopilot, Jackie is still astonishing – and you even get to see his bare arse. Peachy! |
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Much revisited drama starring Bruce Lee as a Chinese student standing to the occupying Japanese forces in Shanghai. Bruce himself is astounding - almost lighting up the screen with his charisma – but he’s much better than the material he has to work with. It’s poorly paced in comparison to “Way of the Dragon”, and the crude stereotypes of the Japanese do leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth – but it’s easy to criticize dodgy attitudes with 30 years of hindsight. Yuen Woo Ping’s version (“Legend of a Fighter”) is better, and Jet Li’s remake is far better: for more, see below… |
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Gordon Chan directs Jet Li in this vastly superior remake of “Fist of Fury”. Partly a tribute to Bruce Lee (his fighting philosophy and open-mindedness are espoused), but more importantly a knock-em-dead thriller, Jet has rarely been better. Smouldering with power, charisma and checked emotion, “Fist of Legend” handed Jet the plane tickets to Hollywood, and it’s a shame that he hasn’t had a performance showcase like this since (in HK or the US). The treatment of the Japanese, ostensibly the bad guys, is much more even handed, with good (the amazing Yasuaki Kurata) and bad (Billy Chow, menacing as ever), plus we get some superb fights choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping. While his fights are always reliably entertaining, it’s a joy to see what he’s capable of when restraining the wirework a little. |
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Five Deadly Venoms (1978) |
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Seminal kung fu film from Chang Cheh that throws a whodunnit element into the carnage, livening proceedings up no end. A teacher in the Poison Clan sends his youngest student to check on the previous five graduates, each a master of a different poisonous style (centipede, snake, scorpion, lizard and toad), because he's worried about them misusing their abilities. The catch is that they trained at different times and all wore funky Peking Opera masks with big plastic animals stuck on the top, so no-one's really sure of who the others are. Though limbs remain attached (unusual for Chang) there is plenty of nasty action, including a couple of (gulp) brain gougings using a little hook. Pick your poison! |
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Solid heroic bloodshed flick of the type churned out by the hundred in late eighties Hong Kong, but elevated here by high production values and by Chow Yun Fat - as watchable as ever. Chow and Alan Tang play inseparable gangsters (but, y'know, the nice kind of gangsters) who are on the brink of settling down when other gangsters (the nasty kind) force them into a battle of wills that is going to result in an almighty bang up. And it does, in acceptably crazy style! Though much of the action in the middle of the film is carried by Tang (not a great leading man) while Chow is embroiled in romance with Pat Ha, this won't disappoint genre devotees. Written by Wong Kar Wai, fact fans. |
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Deeply silly and ultimately unsatisfying martial arts fantasy starring Tony Leung Kar Fai as a swordsman on the trail of lascivious master criminal Nine Tailed Fox (Jacky Cheung) and his moody wife Flying Cat (Maggie Cheung). Ng Man Tat and loads of others pitch in goofy support, and it all looks like they were having a lot of fun, but by the time a bewildering plot about a 'poison abortion baby' comes round I guarantee that most Western audiences will be scratching their heads. Great "Evil Dead"-style disembodied hand, though. |
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Jet Li stars in (and produced) this very entertaining martial arts caper directed by Corey Yuen, which is shot through with great action and a big streak of weird. Jet is the titular Sai Yuk, a young and exuberant fighter who owes much of his skill and attitude to his crazy mother, played by the wonderful Josephine Siao. They get into a kung fu contest to win the hand of a rich beauty (Michelle Reis), which turns into an amazing fight with Sibelle Hu atop the heads of onlookers, and are drawn into a fight with a tyrannical prince (Chui Man Cheuk) who's not averse to some bone popping, face tearing murder to secure his rule. Funny, exciting and original, this movie (also known as "The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk" or just "The Legend" in horrible dubbed form) is top hole. |
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Shot back-to-back with the first, part 2 of the Fong Sai Yuk story doesn't quite meet the same standards: that said, there's still fun to be had here. The production values are high, and the great cast is back, but the middle of the film drags badly. The finale is smashing though, with Sai Yuk and his sassy mother teaming up against a bad guy on a makeshift gallows. |
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From Beijing with Love (1994) |
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In the wake of "Austin Powers", Bond spoofs may seem redundant (of course, Bond is a spoof anyway) - but Stephen Chow's groovy comedy wrings laughs out of the secret agent genre like a secret mangler attachment in your Aston Martin. Playing a top (yet hopelessly naïve) Chinese operative and part time butcher, Chow is great, Anita Yuen is a fine Bond girl, and the whole has a fresher approach than you might think. |
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After misfiring in Hollywood with Van Damme, Ringo Lam returned to HK in spectacular style with this excellent thriller. Lau Ching Wan, as entertaining and believable as ever, plays the leader of a police squad on the trail of explosives expert Francis Ng, who gives a superbly sympathetic performance. The well paced plot takes in a brutal car chase and some engrossing detective work, before taking a decidedly personal turn as the men enter into a mutual battle of wits. |
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Set phasers to DEMENTED! Ringo Lam directs Chow Yun Fat, Anthony Wong and Simon Yam in an excellent film about revenge, robbery, double dealing and impossible gunfights. Chow plays a hard-man biker Jeff (with his own guitar riff whenever he appears!) who hooks up with Yam’s flamboyant gay thief for a heist and gets more than he bargained for – as do the audience. “Full Contact” is bizarre and over the top action film that is at once completely unique and somehow typical of the Hong Kong school of filmmaking: it never holds back. Beginning with a nightclub dancer Anne Bridgewater (Jeff’s girl) shaking her booty to the sound of poodle rock criminals Extreme, we go through car chases, explosions, knife fights, gore, more dancing and some very black comedy before a series of shootouts that set a new precedent in action films… Ladies and gentlemen, welcome the point-of-view bullet cam! |
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Andy Lau stars in a melodrama set around illegal motorcycle street racing – and though there are some great racing sequences and stunts, the real meat of the film is in the drama. The acting is excellent, with actual character depth (rather than the archetypes often thrown in to HK films) as we explore the relationships between Andy and his girlfriend Gigi Leung, his friend Chin Kar Lok, his father Paul Chun, and racing newcomer David Ng. It’s handled very well and is quite entertaining, but the title is somewhat misleading – it never gets out of third gear. |
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MilkyWay Studios output is generally a little more thoughtful than much Hong Kong action cinema, and so even though "Fulltime Killer" doesn't gel quite as well as it could it's still an entertaining and interesting film. The plot is routine - two hitmen, Takashi Sorimachi (calm, cool, professional) and Andy Lau (flamboyant and loudmouthed) vie for the crown of 'number one killer' - but directors Jonnie To and Wai Ka Fai throw in a surreal, detached love story and a subplot about an increasingly deranged policeman (Simon Yam, who is excellent here) trying to write a novel about the conflict. Some great action scenes, a designed in homage to some of HK's finest films, an impressive production design (there's no mistaking a well spent budget) and an intriguing denouement are plus points, but the mix'n'match stylistics affect the mood badly. |
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