Carry on Pickpocket - Sammo Hung, Frankie Chan, Dick Wei, Chan Lung, Richard Ng
5/5
An early Sammo piece, another experimental effort by the big man at 80's kickboxing. In the beginning it's a bit sloppy with bad camerawork and editing, except the pickpocketing scenes more than make up for it. But toward the end it gets really good with loads of stuntwork, and the finale is huge, Sammo and Frankie go all through a ship dealing with bad guys. Frankie's kickboxing isn't especially great here. Sammo though gets the acrobatics, falls, good fighting, and a finale against Dick Wei that will impress everyone, no doubt. Chan Lung fights Frankie, Chan easily outperforms Frankie too with joint locks and he's actually intimidating but dies anyways. Total satisfaction on this end. Also an extremely funny movie.
Champions (The) - Yuen Biao, Dick Wei, Cheung Kok Heung
5/5
Biao and soccer. A great showcase for acrobatics actually. Biao and Wei are on opposite teams and are experts with the ball on the field. The training scenes are awesome too. The last game is something like 15 minutes long and is equal to a really good martial arts movie in my eyes. If you like Soccer, Biao, or both, then you definitely need to get this one if you can find it.
Cheetah on Fire - Donnie Yen, Ken Lo, Gordon Liu, Woods and Salvitti
3/5
Another cop movie, but it's a little sloppy. Some ok fights, others are pretty good. Ken Lo and Donnie fight in the dark which would be visible on a VCD or DVD, but on a VHS it was hard to see. Gordon Liu performs well at the end, and so do Salvitti and Woods. But the fights are short, and the plot is boring boring boring. Not bad if you wanna see more Donnie Yen.
China Strike Force - Mark Dacascos, Kenneth Lo, Kim Won Jun (!!!), Aaron Kwok, Coolio, other lame pop stars
3/5
What would be another lame pop-idol action flick is saved with the help of Dascasos, Ken Lo, and the back-from-the-dead Kim Won Jun, who is the shining star of the movie. He has the best scene, stunt filled (by himself) and the best chain kicking anywhere. Ken and Dacascos come second, they're both good, Dacascos has a longer scene where he shows off his great kicking skills as well. Ken is killed too fast at the end. Aaron is a bit sloppy and has to rely on wirework to win a lot of fights. Coolio is aweful allaround. English acting by the HK idols is atrocious, cliches everywhere.
Cinema of Vengeance - Many HK actors
4/5
A compilation of HK fights ranging from complete crap to great stuff. Odd films appear here and there, though there should have been at least SOME time devoted to non-American women. I mean there was nothing on Khan, Yeoh, Moon Lee, any of the old female fighters, nothing. Some short Donnie shots, but they had long segments of Bruce Li and other non-popular people, so I guess it's an interesting study of the OTHER HK actors.
Circus Kid - Yuen Biao, Donnie Yen, Kenneth Lo, Nina Li
2.5/5
A lightweight movie about opium. Donnie and Biao have a few scenes, one of them fighting together in a jail which is very well filmed but the action is only soso. The other scenes are dizzying in the way they edited even though the camerawork was pretty good overall, good steady stuff. However, a lot of the shots of fighting aren't consistant and you get a bit confused as to where everyone is. The finale is a good example, Ken and Biao are all over the place and the editing doesn't help there either. The action gets silly between them but starts off fairly well and lasts for a minute. Donnie's finale is against a talentless Brit who gets doubled for everything.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun Fat, Zhang Zi Yi, Chang Pei Pei
3/5
An extremely overhyped movie that feels American. Some good action scenes, mostly weaponwork, but the camerawork is dull and has no taste whatsoever. The first fight is fast but not special by any means, just handwork and some doubling, the second is a weapons fight in the dark which is better, and the third one is an indoors one which is the only reason to see the movie. The rest is wire bs. Story, boring... zzz. Chow Yun Fat was the only interesting character. Zhang Yi Yi's character should have been edited out.
Crystal Hunt - Donnie Yen, Ken Lo, Woods and Salvitti
1/5
A bad Donnie Yen movie. Probably a Filipino production. Terribly low budget. Ken Lo plays it seriously, while everyone else screws around. Woods grunts the entire time, at least in the dubbed version. Sometimes it's undercranked which makes Salvitti look like a maniac. Woods is agile, but the fight between him and Donnie is forgettable. The best scene: Ken Lo sweeps through an office by kicking every singly guy in sight, tactically too. He looks good, and is the reason this doesn't get a 0. He gets no other good fights though except for 2 4 second long punch exchanges.
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