71% (1) Executioners from Shaolin 98 min, R, [Action, Drama] [Chia-Liang Liu] [16 Feb 1977]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 71%, External Reviews
Actors: Kuan Tai Chen, Lieh Lo, Lily Li, Yue Wong
Writer: Kuang Ni
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: Mandarin Country: Hong Kong
Plot: A couple unite - she is fluent in the crane style of kung fu, he in tiger style. They have a son, but the boy's father is killed by the evil eunuch Bai Mei. Disguised as a girl, his mom trains him in crane style while he secretly learns tiger style from his father's training manual.
Rotten Tomatoes: This classic kung-fu flick, directed by Lau Kar-leung, opens with the legendary Shaolin temple getting burned to the ground by Manchu troops and its head monk, Chi San, getting murdered by treacherous priest Pai Mei (Lo Lieh). The surviving Shaolin follows escape, posing as an itinerate opera troupe. Along the way, ace Shaolin student Hong Hsi-guan (Chen Kuan-tai) marries the beautiful though deadly Fang Yung-chun (Lily Li). Soon the couple gives birth to a son named Wen-ding. As Hong practices the Tiger style, Fang teaches her son the finer points of the Crane style. Ten years later, Hong challenges Pai, but manages to barely escape with his life. Seven years later, Hong is a much improved fighter, but sadly, so is Pai. Soon Hong's son, Wen-ding (Wong Yue), vows vengeance and starts training in earnest. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
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69% (1) Challenge of the Masters 95 min, R, [Action, Drama] [Chia-Liang Liu] [07 May 1976]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, External Reviews
Actors: Chia-Hui Liu, Kuan Tai Chen, Lily Li, Yue Wong
Writer: Kuang Ni (screenplay)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: Cantonese, Mandarin Country: Hong Kong
Plot: Slow moving kung fu flick that focuses more on plot than martial arts what a novelty! Basic story of the village kung fu chump who leaves his village and does the horse stance for two years under the supervision of a grand master. Having conditioned his legs and fought endlessly with a wooden coat rack, our hero is ready to return to his village and take on the bad guys.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this Shaw Brothers Kung Fu actioner, a young man named Wong Fei-hung must undergo difficult training under the tutelage of his father's teacher, in preparation for a match that will regain the honor of his school. Will years of training against a mere wooden rack prepare him for the real-life battle that awaits him?
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68% (1) The Flying Guillotine 111 min, [Action, Drama] [Meng Hua Ho] [01 Oct 1981]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 68%, External Reviews
Actors: Feng Ku, Hung Wei, Kuan Tai Chen, Wu Chi Liu
Writer: Kuang Ni
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: Mandarin Country: Hong Kong
Plot: Chen Kuan-tai battles assassins that use a deadly, beheading weapon to kill dissidents. Based on true events, the film's weapon was completely fabricated because in real life, no one ever survived to tell what the weapon actually looked like.
Rotten Tomatoes: The Emperor's armies have developed a new weapon: a thrown blade that can remove someone's head from long distance. As the paranoid Emperor begins decapitating anyone he fears might be a threat, his guard Mau Tang becomes disillusioned with the excesses of his master. He leaves his post and takes up the quiet life of farming and raising a family. Eventually, though, his past catches up with him, and he must find a way to fight the flying guillotine if he is to save his head.
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68% (1) The Water Margin 81 min, R, [Action, Drama] [Cheh Chang, Hsueh Li Pao, Wu Ma] [01 Sep 1973]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 68%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Chung Wang, David Chiang, Kuan Tai Chen, Lung Ti
Writer: Guanzhong Luo (novel), Kuang Ni
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: Mandarin Country: Hong Kong
Plot: Tells the story of the 108 Heroes who stood up against a corrupt government. Each hero has his own unique fighting skill, but they are all willing to die to uphold justice.
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66% (1) Gallants 98 min, Not Rated, [Action, Comedy, Drama] [Clement Sze-Kit Cheng, Chi-kin Kwok] [01 Jun 2010]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 66%, External Reviews
Awards: 6 wins & 6 nominations.
Actors: Kuan Tai Chen, Siu-Lung Leung, Teddy Robin Kwan, You-Nam Wong
Writer: Clement Sze-Kit Cheng, Chi-kin Kwok, Frankie Tam
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: Cantonese Country: Hong Kong
Plot: Weedy office worker Cheung is sent to a remote village to secure property rights for his real estate company. Two martial artists run the village's teahouse, which was once the kung-fu school of their teacher Master Law. Law is in fact lying unconscious upstairs in a three decades-long coma, but he awakes when gym boss and local landlord Pong attempts to secure the teahouse for redevelopment. Law mistakes Cheung for a former student and starts training him in preparation for a martial-arts tournament at Pong's gym that will decide all their fates.
Rotten Tomatoes: Two aging martial arts experts get back in the game after a three decade layoff in this mixture of action and comedy from the writing and directing team of Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng. Dragon (Chen Kuan-tai) and Tiger (Bruce Leung) were once kung fu masters who could defeat any opponent and were eager to serve their master (Teddy Robin), helping out as the school he founded. However, that was before the master fell into a coma; thirty years later, he's still lingering and Dragon and Tiger are still waiting for him to regain consciousness and tell them what to do, while they've turned the school into a tea house to make a living while he's out of commission. A less-than-scrupulous real estate agent is eager to buy out the shop, and they dispatch young but timid Cheung (Wong You-nam) to negotiate. However, Cheung ends up siding with the elderly kung fu champions when the master is accidentally roused from his coma by a blow to the head and insists on taking on Master Pong (Chan Wai-man), the devious proprietor of another martial arts academy. Da Lui Toi (aka Gallants) received its North American premiere at the 2010 New York Asian Film Festival.
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66% (1) 7 Man Army 100 min, R, [Action, Drama, War] [Cheh Chang] [01 Aug 1976]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 66%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: David Chiang, Kuan Tai Chen, Lung Ti, Sheng Fu
Writer: Kuang Ni
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: Mandarin, Japanese Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan
Plot: Another iconoclastic work from the action auteur Chang Cheh, and winner of Honourable Mention for Dramatic Feature at the 13th Golden Horse Awards, 7-Man Army retells the legend of seven patriots defending against 20,000 Japanese soldiers and 50 tanks for 5 days, at a strategic key point of the Great Wall known as Pa Tou Lou Tzu
Rotten Tomatoes: Stories are told about a group of Chinese who fought so valiantly against the Japanese during the 1933 Sino-Japanese war that the Japanese buried them with full military honors. This martial arts epic shows the filmmaker's imaginary re-creation of the final hours and days of these legendary heroes. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
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